Do you wait to shoot?

[Robert.Connell]

I shot a doe the other day at 203 yards. She come out the woods and stood still. I took aim, made sure I had a good shot. Slow steady squeeze and down she went. I did not waste no time setting up the shot and taking it. I watched a youtube video of hunters and they watched the deer for a while before they took the shot. Atleast it seems like they took a while. I never sat and watched the deer before I took a shot and I wondered if anyone else has? Maby ill see more deer come in the field following that first deer I seen.. Is there any benifit to waiting to take the shot? I feel like that deer ive been waiting hours for just showed up and isnt gonna stay long so I dont feel I have time to wait and watch.. what are your thoughts?

 

[kcebcj]

If the animal is broadside giving you a good shot do as you did. No reason to fool around. Now if you hunt large bucks like I do then yeah you spend time looking at them deciding whether you want him or not. Other than that bang away.

 

[J E Custom]

I shot a doe the other day at 203 yards. She come out the woods and stood still. I took aim, made sure I had a good shot. Slow steady squeeze and down she went. I did not waste no time setting up the shot and taking it. I watched a youtube video of hunters and they watched the deer for a while before they took the shot. Atleast it seems like they took a while. I never sat and watched the deer before I took a shot and I wondered if anyone else has? Maby ill see more deer come in the field following that first deer I seen.. Is there any benifit to waiting to take the shot? I feel like that deer ive been waiting hours for just showed up and isnt gonna stay long so I dont feel I have time to wait and watch.. what are your thoughts?

This is a question that many have ask them selves many times after passing up a easy shot, hoping for a better deer.

Most "Bigger" deer hang back and let small bucks or does go ahead of them for safety. sometimes
you just have to take a chance and pass if you want something special.

I prefer hunting a specific dear and passing everything else up. with the advent of game cameras
the selection has become simple because after a while you know what most of the deer where you hunt look like and you can make the choice to shoot or wait.

Once you see the deer that you want, take the time necessary to make a good shot (Don't rush it)
The longer the range, the more time it takes to make the shot because of the planning and getting the best position for a one shot kill. But don't take too long because adrenalin will become an issue
to some and things start to go bad, If this happens (Some don't like to admit it) simply stop and wait for the next chance.

Each shot takes a certain amount of preparation and if everything goes well you must have taken enough time.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[HARPERC]

I waited pulling the trigger on as good a whitetail as I've seen.I had a really good set up, that was getting better every step. The doe he was following made an unexpected change of course, and it all unraveled.

I'm generally slow to shoot, and can be guilty of overthinking a situation. I also rarely experience ground shrinkage.

 

[TJAY]

Where I hunt in Mn. waiting is not an option, when I hunt out west, read more open country, I take a lot more time making sure it is an animal I want and a shot I can make.

 

[Robert.Connell]

Good advise.. I believe everyone gets the excitement shakes when that deer finally shows up. I pride myself on taking a good, clean shot so I take time to try and hit the heart. However I never waited to see what else may be waiting in the woods. I hunt for meat so waiting may hurt me more then help. Seems like waiting is for hunting trophys or buck only. Sound about right? I never thought to wait to take the shot so I wondered..

When I was field dressing the doe it got dark. I was in the field and I could hear other deer snorting at me. I couldnt see what size or sex they were bc it was dark but they knew I was there. You think they had sent that doe i shot out there first to check for all clear? This was a good size doe..

 

[J E Custom]

Good advise.. I believe everyone gets the excitement shakes when that deer finally shows up. I pride myself on taking a good, clean shot so I take time to try and hit the heart. However I never waited to see what else may be waiting in the woods. I hunt for meat so waiting may hurt me more then help. Seems like waiting is for hunting trophys or buck only. Sound about right? I never thought to wait to take the shot so I wondered..

When I was field dressing the doe it got dark. I was in the field and I could hear other deer snorting at me. I couldnt see what size or sex they were bc it was dark but they knew I was there. You think they had sent that doe i shot out there first to check for all clear? This was a good size doe..

No, She was just less cautious that the rest. The more cautious they are the later they will appear normally.

If I am meat hunting I will take the first one that fits what I want to bring home.

J E CUSTOM

 

[benchracer]

I am mostly a meat hunter, but that doesn't mean I won't wait to take a shot. It depends on the situation:

A few years back, I spotted two deer coming directly at me. I don't like taking a chest on shot if I don't have to. Moreover, the second deer was directly in line with the first. I didn't feel comfortable taking the shot because I was concerned I might wound the trailing deer. Knowing the layout of the trails around me, I was pretty sure that the deer were going to turn and give me a broadside shot, so I chose to wait. Meanwhile, the range was getting shorter, so I felt it was worth waiting for a cleaner shot. I was right. I got a broadside shot, literally at spitting distance, and a clean kill, DRT. I let the second deer walk and my partner took him (I thought I was seeing two does, but it was actually a doe being trailed by a button buck).

Last year, I had an easy shot on a small doe, but decided not to take it because I really wanted more meat than I was going to get from that deer. It was the only shot I ended up getting, so I went home empty handed. I don't consider that to be a failure. It was a conscious choice on my part. I didn't really want that particular deer, so I didn't pull the trigger. I don't regret my decision to wait in that circumstance, either.

 

[Greyfox]

I think there are two aspects to this question.

First, if you have decided to shoot the particular deer, do you wait? I believe that once you have the shot you want, take it. Lots of experience and judgement at work here. I believe that there is always the risk of something causing the deer to spook, coyote, another deer, etc., particularly with bigger bucks. The watch out is not get anxious and rush the shot......

Second, if I am after a particular deer and another lesser, but acceptable animal shows up, do you shoot? Tough call that depends on the individual hunter. This year I spotted a really good buck on my first hour of sitting, but I felt it would be a low percentage shot. After sitting for 3 more days, about 30 hours total in sub zero temps, a doe comes out checking her back trail. About a minute later a nice buck comes out from behind but it was not the same deer I had seen the first day. If it was my last day of hunting, I probably would have shot him. Since it wasn't, I decided to wait, and a minute later the big guy from the first day comes out, gave me my shot, and I took one of my best whitetails.

 

[Rhino Hunter]

I usually shoot on the quick side for deer. We hunt in thick national forest where the deer are few and the shots are fewer. If I think I can push a bullet through the brush, then I'll shoot without waiting for a better shot.

 

[RT2506]

When I am meat hunting the moment that I see a deer and it presents me a shot where I can get into or exit a shoulder or a front on chest or with it's head down between the shoulders were the neck meets the shoulders. I shoot right then. It all depends on the range as to which shot position I will take. I have found over the many years of hunting that if you snooze you loose. My wife gets mad at me yelling at the TV watching those hunting shows when a huge buck shows up and they sit and watch it for an eternity. I am yelling "shoot it shoot now, it is going to run off. Well by this time I would have had that buck half skinned out."

 

[WildRose]

I shot a doe the other day at 203 yards. She come out the woods and stood still. I took aim, made sure I had a good shot. Slow steady squeeze and down she went. I did not waste no time setting up the shot and taking it. I watched a youtube video of hunters and they watched the deer for a while before they took the shot. Atleast it seems like they took a while. I never sat and watched the deer before I took a shot and I wondered if anyone else has? Maby ill see more deer come in the field following that first deer I seen.. Is there any benifit to waiting to take the shot? I feel like that deer ive been waiting hours for just showed up and isnt gonna stay long so I dont feel I have time to wait and watch.. what are your thoughts?

It all depends on the situation, circumstances and what my goal is.

Generally if I'm shooting does I want to take only old does who don't have a fawn with them so if I have the opportunity to do so I'm going to wait till I have several to choose from and I'm sure the one I picked doesn't have a fawn.

Barren does consume resources that a younger doe who's still breeding or a buck could eat.

If it's the end of the season and I still have tags left over and I'm in "fill the freezer mode" as long as it doesn't look like a yearling and I have a good clean shot I'm going to shoot the first doe that steps out.

 

[Corey Schwanz]

If I see a deer that I want to shoot, buck or doe, I take the first quality chance I get. No sense in waiting around. Most of the videos you see online delay a little bit simply to get footage for their video. TV hunting shows do the same thing. Try to wait it out a bit and let the cameraman get some good footage before the shot. The show would be pretty short (and boring) if they took the first shot available 10 seconds after the deer stepped out. Just my opinion on what they do. I don't film my deer hunts, so I'll take the first shot I feel comfortable with.

 

[savagekindaguy]

This is a question that many have ask them selves many times after passing up a easy shot, hoping for a better deer.

Most "Bigger" deer hang back and let small bucks or does go ahead of them for safety. sometimes
you just have to take a chance and pass if you want something special.

I prefer hunting a specific dear and passing everything else up. with the advent of game cameras
the selection has become simple because after a while you know what most of the deer where you hunt look like and you can make the choice to shoot or wait.

Once you see the deer that you want, take the time necessary to make a good shot (Don't rush it)
The longer the range, the more time it takes to make the shot because of the planning and getting the best position for a one shot kill. But don't take too long because adrenalin will become an issue
to some and things start to go bad, If this happens (Some don't like to admit it) simply stop and wait for the next chance.

Each shot takes a certain amount of preparation and if everything goes well you must have taken enough time.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

"Most "Bigger" deer hang back and let small bucks or does go ahead of them for safety. sometimes you just have to take a chance and pass if you want something special."

You might also add that most times if a buck is following a doe, the doe oftentimes looks back behind her. I have seen this many times and invariably there is a buck following. It is a doe's "tell" that she is just scouting for the buck.