Stay calm and don't force it when the animals are relaxed, the wind is good, and you've got plenty of daylight. This was on my first archery bull and while I did recover it, it was an ordeal.
I had snuck up on a small herd, crawled up to a rise, and watched the bull coming into position. I'd love to blame anything other than myself, but I was just so excited after so many blown opportunities, I flat out rushed the shot and hit him way back. The whole thing was a blur. Surrounded by elk and punched it real hard.
He crashed in sight, but just out of range and blocked by some trees anyway. The only saving grace is none of the elk knew what happened, so the rest just kept on feeding away and he laid there for awhile hurt but not going down. I was able to crawl around closer and get a followup shot that put him down, but it took a couple hours of belly crawling and sliding my bow forward an inch at a time. Took that second shot right at last light.
The lesson for me was how much archery is a mental game. Having a consistent shot process, learning to stay focused in the moment, and honestly just getting more comfortable with being that close to so many eyes. Having the patience to get in tight on a herd and wait for the right moment. My practice was so focused on the technical proficiency that I didn't appreciate how bad it can fall apart if you let it.
