An experiment to answer a couple of bow hunting questions

What causes a deer to "jump the string"? It happens within standard hunting ranges (20 to 30 yards),  but I often wonder, why?  Is it the sound of the string snapping upon release? Perhaps the deer sees the arrow in flight or better yet hears the arrow approaching. This weekend I conducted a simulation, an experiment of sorts. From a distance of 33 yards, I shot six arrows at a 5 inch target approximately 6 inches above my iPhone.  Of the six arrows, five were in the 5 inch circle and the outlier was about three quarters of an inch high and to the left.

The recording may not capture the audio as well as being there in person, but from this distance you can clearly hear my feet on the deck and the bow on the table.  You cannot hear the string snap or the arrow's release, but you can definitely hear a whisper just before impact.

This video makes me wonder: is the deer responding to the sound of the shot? This video raises another question: perhaps they're not responding to the sound at all, but instead they are catching movement associated with the process of shooting a bow and the arrows release.  Deer are acutely attuned to any movement. This may explain why shorter shots tend to have more"string  jumping" then longer shots.

http://youtu.be/bucfxIpj090

Based upon the video what is your opinion?

A fishing trip, bike ride and all around fun day with my boys

So this weekend the boys and I decided to take a little bike ride (14 miles round trip) along the Neuse River and do a little fishing. The water was very high.  We tried a few spots and had a couple of short strikes but nothing was landed. We did enjoy a few wildlife sightings on a very mild late spring day. The high light was probably this black rat snake.  He was was about 6 or 6.5 feet long (the gravel easment is just over 3 feet from path to grass and he had another foot in there). Really beautiful snake solid black because a garden hose.

The fishing may have been slow but it was a productive weekend for herping.  While downtown looking at some gardens, I happened to notice what I consider to be a rather unusual site in the upper North Carolina peidmont, let alone downtown Raleigh. In a small walkway between bushes I looked as a way to catch a glimpse of a small green anole.  Warmed an active I watched him chase small bugs and flies for minute or two.

All in all it was a fun adventure.