Why You Missed That Deer

Why shots at deer go wrong, from the hunter-education list: range, an alert animal, unclear vitals, fatigue and excitement, brush, moving targets, poor follow-through, and deer jumping the string. How to judge distance (including from a tree stand), and what to change, following the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course.

By Fjords Team · Sep 11, 2026 · Updated Oct 28, 2026

Most misses have a cause you can name and fix. The Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course lists the usual ones and how to avoid them; many apply to rifle hunters as well as bowhunters. This guide follows that course.

Why shots go wrong (Alaska course)

Shooting beyond your effective range.
Shooting at a deer that is looking at you or alarmed.
Not knowing the vital area well enough.
Muscle fatigue from holding a shooting position too long.
Poor technique or release, usually from excitement.
Too little practice with your hunting equipment.
Brush or limbs between you and the deer.
Shooting at a running or moving animal.
Not keeping your aim on the spot long enough after the shot.
Poor mental or physical condition.

Bow-shooting errors (Alaska course)

A jerky release, flinch or twitch (often “target panic” or “buck fever”); gripping the string or bow too tightly; fatigue or nervous tension; bending the bow arm; and losing focus on the sight picture. The course’s fix for follow-through: keep aiming until you see the arrow hit, because dropping your bow arm too early throws the arrow off.

Jumping the string

The course explains that deer can react to unnatural sounds, including a bow’s twang, so fast that slow-motion video was needed to see it: the deer drops its chest to spring away and ducks under the arrow. Shots that seemed “too high” were often deer reacting. To reduce it: keep shots well within your effective range, and shoot a quiet, well-tuned bow.

Judging distance

It matters: the course says judging distance is critical for shot placement because arrows have a short trajectory. The course says a responsible hunter learns to judge distance to game within 90 to 95% of the actual distance, and recommends having your eyesight checked.
Pre-measure: from a stand or blind, pace off or range the distances to stumps and trees in advance, so you aren’t calculating when a deer appears.
Rangefinders: accurate, but there is often no time to range an animal, and the extra movement can give you away; the course recommends them especially in mountain or tundra country, where judging distance is hard.
From a tree stand: use the horizontal distance, not the longer line-of-sight distance; some rangefinders calculate it for you.

Before the shot

Wait for the eyes: the course compares a deer’s eyes to sweeping headlights; move only when they point away or are behind cover, and don’t shoot at a deer that is looking at you.
Wind and movement: a deer that smells or sees you is alarmed before you shoot; see our wind and scent control guide, and our weather and animal movement guide for how conditions change deer behaviour.
Know the vitals: our shot placement tool shows where to aim.

For rifle hunters

Much of the list fits rifle shots too: range, an alert deer, brush, moving targets and follow-through. Confirm your zero before the season with our how to sight in your rifle guide, which follows Alaska Fish and Game and West Virginia DNR. More deer-hunting background is in our whitetail guide and why bucks go nocturnal.