It’s the decisive moment. All your efforts of scouting, preparing, and trekking for the past hours, days, even weeks has led up to this very moment.
You carefully maneuvered through the forest to avoid being spotted by any deer, as well as took proper note of the wind direction to avoid your scent being taken into a place you didn’t want. You sat patiently on your deer stand and waited. Waited for the perfect moment.
And then a deer finally appears in your sights.
Cut your excitement and adrenaline in half because the battle has only started. This is all or nothing, and you want to bag something that you can be proud of. It’s not over until it lays dead on your feet.
The heat of the moment is where we are the most prone to making mistakes, and while sometimes it’s unavoidable, examining things that you can do wrong is important to remember so you can at least minimize the chances of that happening, so let’s take a look at mistakes a hunter shouldn’t make at this very important moment.
Rushing your shots
By far, one of the biggest mistakes that rookie hunters make when the deer finally appears is getting overeager, aiming without bothering to make sure you have a clear shot, and shooting.
More than likely, you will have missed this shot completely, the deer will be scared off, and you will have nothing to show for it. Even worse, the shot hits, but on an inconsequential part of the deer, and it just prances away with little injuries.
Do not do that. You have kept your patience all this time, do not go and ruin it with a premature shot. Yes, it feels so tempting to want to get the gun shooting, especially since the deer is so close that you could practically reach out to it but hold your horses.
As we asserted earlier, the deer is still free until it lays dead on your feet, so slowly prepare your shot, take deep breaths to clear your mind, then take the shot.
Taking too long to shoot
On the opposite side of the spectrum, there is taking too long to take the shot.
Earlier, we said that you should not get too excited with guns blazing while you are unprepared just because a deer showed up on your sights. Well, here, you should not wait too long either.
For what reason, you may ask?
A deer is always on the move. It is not going to stay in the same spot forever, waiting for you to shoot it.
But it is not like most hunters do this on purpose, they either hesitate because of the chance that they will miss, or are continuously assessing the situation and considering it not an appropriate time to shoot yet, thanks to following tip number 1.
But remember, take too long and the deer will get away. You will need to prepare yourself physically and mentally if you want to strike the right balance between shooting too early and shooting too late.
Making grunt calls at the wrong time
If you want to attract deer, then yes, grunt calls are helpful for that.
However, do not just use them immediately whenever you see a buck in the distance.
Examine it first, is it approaching you? If so, then there is no need to use any calls.
If it decides to turn away or starts wagging his head back and forth, then it is likely that it has decided to change directions, in which case you can do some calls.
Aiming your shots too high
You may have found the sweet spot of the timing for your shots: You are patient enough to practice proper trigger discipline before shooting, but you do not wait too long that you give the deer the opportunity to flee.
And despite all these things, you still miss. Why?
As the title of this header suggests, your aim may be a little off, thanks to your perception of how far a deer is.
When aiming for something big like a buck, you are better off aiming straight for the heart, instead of going for the spine. Deer are much closer than you usually think.
Aiming for the wrong parts of the deer
Another scenario. You see a target deer that you can hit and make the shot.
Success! You score a hit on the deer, now all that is left is to pick-
Oh. The deer is bleeding slightly and shocked, but otherwise fine. And now it’s making its getaway. You give chase after it, but it is too fast, and its survival adrenaline instincts kicked in. You did not even slow it down, but made it escape faster, while also making it spook other nearby deer as it runs!
Yes, what part of the deer you aim at matters. Most hunters aim at either the heart or lungs. Other spots for shooting are brain shots from the side, and shots in the neck part from behind, just under the skull of the deer.
Aim for these spots to drop a deer for good. One shot should be all you need, and sometimes, will all you will be able to do.
Wrapping Up
Even with all your preparations beforehand, you aren’t out of the woods (pun intended) until you bag that buck, so don’t rest easy until you are absolutely sure that you managed to drop them for good.
The mistakes listed here are common mistakes by those new to the scene, and it is understandable since it is something you have never done before.
What matters the most is that you try to improve so that over the next seasons, you won’t freeze up when a buck shows up.