Archery Tips to Prevent In-Field Misses

It was a cool crisp morning, and I had only been in stand for about an hour. Noticing some movement to my right, I was shocked to see a pretty nice buck standing on the same trail that I had come in on that morning. He was cautiously checking the field from the safety of the woods edge, scoping for any danger that might be present. The three bucks, that were already in the field, eased his fears and he headed on out to rendezvous with them.

I was smiling from my perch, already imagining how this glorious beast would look in the back of my pickup truck as I showed him off to my brother who had choose to sleep in on this absolutely perfect morning. I had been watching the three bucks feeding in the bean field in front of me for quite some time and this particular gentleman was exactly what I was looking for. He did catch me a little by surprise, but I knew he would be my one and only chance this morning and I wasn't going to let it pass by.

After he glassed the bean field for quite some time, and watched the three antlered specimens already inhabiting the field, he was finally assured that the coast was clear and started making his way cautiously into the field. Little did he know that only 30yds away a quick death was waiting for him.... or so I thought.
I slowly relaxed and came to full draw, waiting for the perfect broadside shot, and when he finally cleared a tree limb in front of me, I hit the release and painfully watched the arrow hit the dirt directly in front of him and harmlessly bury itself into the earth.

How could this be? I had been practicing for months and I had made this shot a hundred times, but now here at crunch time on this absolutely perfect morning I whiffed. I was heart broken and mad at myself. What did I do wrong?

Unfortunately this happens to the best of us and I have learned a few tips, in the years since, to prevent me from being a bumbling archer when the moment of truth arrives. Having a shot regiment, and sticking to it no matter what the situation, will pay off when the moment you've been waiting for arrives. I try to stick to a few simple rules to make every shot count.