Should I try to shoot them walking at that distance? A 30-yard walking shot is certainly no slam-dunk.
I have grappled with this dilemma ever since. The first escapee was bad enough, but when the second one got away three weeks later, I was heartbroken.
At the shot, they dropped as if a trapdoor had opened beneath them. Both bucks locked up, presenting the nice still, broadside shot I sought. I drew my bow and then stopped them with a mouth grunt. Success or failure often boils down to one quick decision: What are you going to do with an alert buck? I ran into this tough spot with two bucks that were walking past my stands last season, a common event during the rut. Well, that was my old opinion and it has since been shattered by the events of last season. I thought that a relaxed buck would rarely drop at the shot and that even alert bucks only dropped occasionally. I’ve had more does than bucks drop at the sound of the shot. While not a new phenomenon, this was not something I was used to when hunting in the Midwest however, the more people I talked to about it, the more I realized this is a major problem for many bowhunters. I had two very nice bucks get away because they “jumped the string.” In other words, they dropped at the sound of the shot to load up their legs before leaping away, thus unknowingly eluding the arrow. The most painful lesson from last season was likely the most valuable, as they always are.
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