String jumping....

[Beendare]

I had the TV on in my office the other afternoon tuned to the Outdoor channel and though I really wasn't paying much attention my ears perked up when a guy started his show talking about all of the deer THEY SHOULD HAVE ON CAMERA but out of 6 guys [I think it was] they had 5 misses in a row.

He framed it as; "Its hard to do a hunting show with all of these misses"- Ha ha

They showed a few and the deer sure reacted on the shot....a couple could have been a legit swing and miss........but it looked to me like a few of the deer jumped the string.


Did anyone see that?


I setup my bows to be as quiet as possible just for that reason......but man they were having some trouble.

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[Beendare]

FWIW, I had a course buck jump the string on me in AZ a month ago.....dead quiet morning.....and even with my recurve he jumped it- total whiff. I typically don't like those dead silent conditions but thought since it was my quiet recurve it would be fine- Nope.

I redeemed myself later with a slight breeze....

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[Derk1890]

5 of 6 ducking the arrow seems a little extreme. Seems like a case of out-shooting their lethal range.

 

[willfrye027]

I missed the biggest buck of my life in October, he was bedded broadside at 58 yards. The shot was quiet and it was a little windy. The arrow made some fairly loud noise en route and it looked like he reacted to that. Got to his feet as the arrow stuck in the dirt between his legs. I think we’ve debated this before but I’m a believer in them reacting to the whistling of an arrow coming, and alerted by the sound and/or movement of the shot going off.

 

[doverpack12]

I didn’t see the show. I’ve had my fair share duck my arrow. 5 of 6 seems extreme but then again one doe got me on 3 shots in a row. The past few years they might duck once but then tend to stand and take the second if they circle back or I move back into range.

I can guarantee at 50-60 yards a deer has time to hear the arrow and move. I’ve stood down range listening to different fletching combinations a lot. I could move if need be before the arrow got to me and the shot isn’t that audible on a reasonably quiet bow

 

[TheGDog]

OH they most certainly can "jump the string" or in my case "duck the string". In my case, the buck was standing upon a small slope coming out of the gullie. The kicker was... the act of him ducking caused his low-side front leg to slip out from underneath of him as he ducked the shot... so in the moment I got excited thinking that it happened because it hit him. Moments later to realize that it did not.

Then a little later the only other shot I had involved the arrow trying to go thru a bush just beside the trail line he stopped on. That was a nogo. Figured as much, but still had to try. These are lengthy shots, about 45yd. That first shot was a little high too. Was my only shot opportunity during bow season 2019. 2020 no opportunities, and when I went back to the truck, with plan to go home, regroup come back for another 3 days, they'd closed the damn forests. Left a note on my truck instructing me on how to unlock the gate they had a combo lock on since I was still left inside when they closed it. So at least they were nice enough to do that.

 

[Billy Goat]

I'm still a believer in it's not the bow, but the arrow they react to. Having a quiet bow probably helps, but a single noise they generally don't react to. I'm fortunate to frequently be in a target rich environment and can play with things. A single noise won't make a deer duck and spin. Drop a rock or bottle. Hit the stand with something, they will perk up, but they don't act anything like they do with an arrow coming at them.

I work to make my arrow as quiet as possible. Try getting down range of some blazers on a helical. It sounds like a bee coming thru the air.

Best thing is to not shoot at alert animals, but even calm grazing whitetail will duck at 20 couple yards from an arrow sometimes.

 

[NB7]

I'm still a believer in it's not the bow, but the arrow they react to. Having a quiet bow probably helps, but a single noise they generally don't react to. I'm fortunate to frequently be in a target rich environment and can play with things. A single noise won't make a deer duck and spin. Drop a rock or bottle. Hit the stand with something, they will perk up, but they don't act anything like they do with an arrow coming at them.

I work to make my arrow as quiet as possible. Try getting down range of some blazers on a helical. It sounds like a bee coming thru the air.

Best thing is to not shoot at alert animals, but even calm grazing whitetail will duck at 20 couple yards from an arrow sometimes.

I agree with this.

My son and I spent some time last summer testing different arrow and broadhead set-ups to see how much of a difference in noise they made. We CAREFULLY set up to have one of us downrange near the target, but in a safe position, just to listen to incoming arrows. I never realized how much noise they make when they are coming in. You hardly hear that at all as they go away from you, or at least I don't anyway. But they can really sizzle when they are inbound.

FWIW, we found a solid fixed blade was just a little more quiet than mechanicals and fixed points with an open design, but not by much. I think that incoming noise may be more of a factor to causing string-jump than the actual noise of the bow.

 

[justin davis]

I truely think loud arrows can account for lots of animals ducking arrows. I’ve argued it before and many guys say I’m stupid and it’s only the bow noise they are reacting too. But I think animals can react to either arrow or bow noise or even a combo of the two.

I had a coues deer one year completely unaware at 50 yards. I was up absolve him. I shot and he literally moved out of the way when the arrow looked to be a foot away. He then stepped back and looked down the hill at where the noise went (arrow.). He was unaware of me. I loaded another arrow and shot again and it was the same exact thing. He swung his body out of the way of the arrow.

At the time I was shooting blazers and they were sure loud. From that moment I realized the importance of a quiet arrow. Although many will argue and say that it’s only the bow noise

 

[Laramie]

Animals react to the sound of the shot prior to hearing an arrow. Simple math will tell you that any animal that actually jumps the string inside of 25 yards HAD to react to the sound of the shot as they would not have had time to hear the arrow and then react. In example- It takes a deer .28 seconds to fully load it's legs and react to the fully ducked position. It takes a 275FPS arrow .25 seconds to travel 22.91 yards. At 300 FPS, it takes .25 seconds to travel 25 yards. At those distances arrows will lose a fraction of a second in speed but the deer also has a fraction of a second for the initial sound to reach it. At 25 yards that time for sound to travel is .06 seconds.

At longer ranges it is possible, but still unlikely, that a noisy arrow alone can cause an animal to react prior to impact. There is a lag as it takes time for the sound to travel. The speed of sound in FPS is 1,125. If an arrow is travelling at 300 FPS, the speed difference is 825 FPS. Basically this means that the animal is hearing the sound of the shot long before it can hear the sound of the arrow.

For a simple example, I'll use a 50 yard shot with a 300 FPS arrow. An animal will have .379 of a second to react to the sound of the shot. The same animal will only have .317 of a second to react to the sound of the arrow- assuming the arrow is making loud enough sound at the precise moment it leaves the bow. In reality, that time will typically be much less for the arrow reaction time if a person is shooting a well tuned bow that has good arrow flight.

The bottom line, focus on quieting your bow as much as possible to lower the chances that an animal will jump the string.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I think both bow AND arrow noise can cause a deer to duck! What a rebel, right?

@Beendare you might try threading foam ear plugs into your recurve string as silencers. I picked that tip up from a guy in Texas and I've found it's considerably quieted my Black Widow. I'm also looking at setting up my hunting arrows with trad vanes, just to make them quieter.

 

[NB7]

Animals react to the sound of the shot prior to hearing an arrow. Simple math will tell you that any animal that actually jumps the string inside of 25 yards HAD to react to the sound of the shot as they would not have had time to hear the arrow and then react. In example- It takes a deer .28 seconds to fully load it's legs and react to the fully ducked position. It takes a 275FPS arrow .25 seconds to travel 22.91 yards. At 300 FPS, it takes .25 seconds to travel 25 yards. At those distances arrows will lose a fraction of a second in speed but the deer also has a fraction of a second for the initial sound to reach it. At 25 yards that time for sound to travel is .06 seconds.

At longer ranges it is possible, but still unlikely, that a noisy arrow alone can cause an animal to react prior to impact. There is a lag as it takes time for the sound to travel. The speed of sound in FPS is 1,125. If an arrow is travelling at 300 FPS, the speed difference is 825 FPS. Basically this means that the animal is hearing the sound of the shot long before it can hear the sound of the arrow.

For a simple example, I'll use a 50 yard shot with a 300 FPS arrow. An animal will have .379 of a second to react to the sound of the shot. The same animal will only have .317 of a second to react to the sound of the arrow- assuming the arrow is making loud enough sound at the precise moment it leaves the bow. In reality, that time will typically be much less for the arrow reaction time if a person is shooting a well tuned bow that has good arrow flight.

The bottom line, focus on quieting your bow as much as possible to lower the chances that an animal will jump the string.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely agree with making one's bow as quiet as possible. I ditched the monkey tails and went back to good old rubber whiskers because my bow is significantly more quiet that way. I don't care if I lose a few fps because of it.

And of course the science of sound-travel-fps and arrow-travel-fps is accurate. Perhaps I should have said that arrow noise can be at least a big, or equal factor, not neccesarily "more" of a factor. Our test shots were from 20 out to 50. Yes, less time to react with a tight 20 yard shot, but even then you still had time to hear the arrow coming. And considering I'm not as wound up tight as a deer is when hearing a strange noise, nor do I have the same reflexes, I think that incoming incoming sizzle still can give them plenty of reaction time. Especially at distances beyond 35.

 

[Beendare]

I’m Very familiar with animals jumping the string.

I used to shoot for Onieda back in The late 80s and early 90s. The sharp slap from those Oneidas made them string jumping machines. I know for a fact that bow noise was the main cause of string jumping with those bows.
Of course the faster we would try to make them with lighter arrows, the louder it became.

Sound travels at 1127 ft./s at sea level..... so the animal does hear whatever noise your archery set up makes before it gets there.

I have my recurve pretty quiet and shooting a fairly heavy Arrow but in the case of those Coues deer it was a long enough shot so they had time to react.

A big factor is hard hunted animals. It could be that on the TV show I referenced those could be hard hunted whitetails which makes them even jumpier than they already are.

Anyone that has hunted Coues dear or Axis deer knows those animals are in a whole different category of jumpy.

...

 

[Buffalomtn]

Arrow noise is a factor and it has been demonstrated with videos showing both a group of hogs and also with more than one deer present at the shot and the first animal to react is the one that the arrow is coming at, not the closest animal to the bow When the arrow was released

 

[TheGDog]

It's not just sound though. Remember, their eyes spot motion VERY well. (And the speed of light is faster than sound.) The shot I made, he just barely moved out of the way in time. Because it was 45yds, and because it was a little high up... and he was broadside and looking around since he just came out of that gullie and stopped and paused for a second to look around. So going off just visual accuity, it could totally be done if the conditions were right, such as me shooting it a little on the high side. Since he just had to go downward a bit. That's 32ft per second per second. So I feel confident that the 4-5 inches could be dropped down. The other gentleman said .379 for 25yds @ 300fps. So figure roughly double that is .758 - That's a lot of time to react, and you assume their brain isn't going to register it's coming at THEM until about 1/3 of the distance is traverse by the arrow maybe.. so that still leaves like .56 so a half a second. That's plenty to move 4-5 inches downward.

 

[nphunter]

I've never had any animal jump the string and I've shot deer from 15-80 yards with my bow. Every deer I shot was with a bow shooting between 295 & 315fps with a 400gr (ish) arrow. I don't think any of those bows were quite at all.

I think every single deer I've shot has know I was there prior to the shot. Same with Elk they have all know of my presents and most have been looking in my direction. I feel like them knowing I was there made them less spooky than if everything went from dead silent to a loud or quiet twang. I know for 100% sure that elk will spook less when approaching them making noise, I don't think I've ever had an elk spoke due to me breaking brush or walking down a road. The only noises I've seen spook them are noises that they don't hear naturally.

 

[Billy Goat]

My thought that I didn't clearly articulate, it's a combination. The bow gets the attention, perks the ears. The arrow confirms the noise and gives them a direction. Frequently it's more than just *******, but a duck and spin.

 

[Billy Goat]

I've never had any animal jump the string and I've shot deer from 15-80 yards with my bow. Every deer I shot was with a bow shooting between 295 & 315fps with a 400gr (ish) arrow. I don't think any of those bows were quite at all.

I think every single deer I've shot has know I was there prior to the shot. Same with Elk they have all know of my presents and most have been looking in my direction. I feel like them knowing I was there made them less spooky than if everything went from dead silent to a loud or quiet twang. I know for 100% sure that elk will spook less when approaching them making noise, I don't think I've ever had an elk spoke due to me breaking brush or walking down a road. The only noises I've seen spook them are noises that they don't hear naturally.

I haven't had one bit of issue with mule deer or elk. Whitetail are a different story, and I believe Coues are next level.

 

[NB7]

That's probably a lot to do with it, species wise. I've only ever arrowed one bull, but he took it without moving until it hit him, That was from 50 yards and he was watching me the whole time. I've never arrowed a muley. Whitetails on the other hand...seems 9/10 of them are at least beginning to move when the arrow gets to them, especially if it's out past 20 yards.

 

[Southforkguy]

I missed the biggest buck of my life in October, he was bedded broadside at 58 yards. The shot was quiet and it was a little windy. The arrow made some fairly loud noise en route and it looked like he reacted to that. Got to his feet as the arrow stuck in the dirt between his legs. I think we’ve debated this before but I’m a believer in them reacting to the whistling of an arrow coming, and alerted by the sound and/or movement of the shot going off.

Exactly why I switched to Flex Fletch silent knights, these Blazers make way too much noise at 300fps