Taking the Shot

Shot placement

The preferred shot placement is a heart/lung shot with the animal quartering away from you. This area will be behind the shoulder blade and down midway of the body. If the animal seems extremely cautious then it may have picked up scent or movement coming from the hunter. In this case it may be wise to aim a little lower than normal to counteract the effect of the deer jumping the string.

Patience

If time is not a critical factor then wait to release the shot until the animal is taking a step and one of the front legs is in the air. This will lessen its ability to crouch and jump before the arrow hits.

Draw

Always pull to full draw with the bow sighted above your target because it takes less energy to lower the sight to the target than it does to bring it up to the target. This translates into a smoother more powerful pattern with a better ability to hold the pull for long periods of time. Make sure your form is correct and that you are smooth on the draw and that the anchor point and release are consistent. You've worked on that during the off-season...right?

Breath and relax

Sure it's exciting when you see a monster buck coming down the trail but you have to try to keep your mind calm and your muscles relaxed. If your not focussed you will end up watching that monster buck bouncing off into the bush, never to return.

Don't stink

Remove all human scent from your clothing and body before you start hunting. Doing this is much more effective than a cover scent will ever be. Be sure to bathe thoroughly in a non-scent type soap each time you plan to hit the woods. Other common mistakes are cooking or even standing near a camp fire or coming into contact with anything that has a strong odor while wearing the gear that you plan to hunt in. More on scents can be found here...BowHunting Tips

Silence

Noise is also a bigger factor in Bowhunting than other things simply because of the effective range. While many people will boast that they have accurate ranges comparable to that of Robin Hood, the fact is that most successful kills with a bow are taken with 5-30 yard shots. Take each piece of equipment that you have and do everything possible to eliminate any noise that it makes. Moleskin placed anywhere that may come into contact with an arrow works wonders. String silencers, rubber grommets at accessory mounting points, and loctite on all threads are good noise reducing methods. Don't forget your tree stand or clothing either, imagine that monster buck hightailing it out of sight after you stood up and the stand creaked or your camo backpack makes a scraping noise against the tree. A good rule of thumb is that if you can hear your fingernail scraping against the clothing then it is too noisy.

Be prepared

Above all else....Practice, Practice, Practice. Know your target, know your abilities and ranges. Get your patterns down to as small as possible (if you can't get consistent patterns under 4" at a certain range then you have no business taking the shot at that range). Once you are comfortable at the distances you plan to hunt then start shooting out of the your stand from the height you plan on being opening morning. Practice with as much realism as possible. If you can, simulate real situations with foam targets partially hidden or in tight quarters. Simulate the terrain where you hunt, whether it is wide open plains or thick cover. Last but certainly not least, practice in full gear. It will be very frustrating going for that shot of a lifetime only to find out that the Camo Netting you just bought has a flap that covers your sight line at full draw, or the jacket has buttons that catch the string on release! Judging range also seems to be one of the biggest problems that Bowhunters have in the field. Practice range estimation in terrain like that which you intend to hunt. A good tidbit to consider is to set your sights and learn your ranges based on your personal stride. For example, set a pin for 10 strides this will eliminate the worry of forgetting the old tape measure on scouting trips (everyone does that, right?), because your measuring device will always be your stride.