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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: buckeyebowhunter on October 15, 2022, 09:53:18 AM
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Seems like every year when hunting season creeps up on me, my TP seems to increase. I think it's the pressure i put on myself to make as clean a shot as possible. I'd love to do a program that would help control it, but i refuse to give up hunting and it seems like life just takes up the rest of my year.
I seem to find ways to control it to a degree during hunting season. Usually by incorporating a clicker or like right now im using the RMS grip clicker to help. I guess I'm just curious to see what others do to keep their confidence up when they get into the woods. I know a lot of us suffer from this and it can really kill one's confidence when looking to make a lethal shot.
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OH!, TP = target panic.
I hunt with TP and have sens the 1960s.
Use it to help tracking blood trails. :saywhat:
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Ya I was thinking about regular TP….was gonna suggest baby wipes ha
Don’t give up huntin whatever you do
Tim B
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Man i wish the only TP i hunted with was the regular kind :bigsmyl:
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I'm more of a folded up paper towels kind of guy. Sturdier in use and in the pocket or pack.
No idea about the other. Haven't had to cross that bridge yet.
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I was fortunate enough to have a friend with several light poundage left handed bows.Struggled withTP for years, but switching to left handed eliminated it completely.Its been close to 10 years now and still no problem getting to anchor left handed.Took some time getting used to,but not as hard as I thought it would be.Probably something for the off season though.
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I practice my release at a close distance to the target with eyes open. I also like to do draw holds. 15-20 yds from the target and do everything just like when shooting at game but don't release. Every once and a while let one go.
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I also forgot, I use only one arrow when prepping for season. The bow and arrows are tuned so I'm just working on my form and my mental game.
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Seems like every year when hunting season creeps up on me, my TP seems to increase. I think it's the pressure i put on myself to make as clean a shot as possible. I'd love to do a program that would help control it, but i refuse to give up hunting and it seems like life just takes up the rest of my year.
I seem to find ways to control it to a degree during hunting season. Usually by incorporating a clicker or like right now im using the RMS grip clicker to help. I guess I'm just curious to see what others do to keep their confidence up when they get into the woods. I know a lot of us suffer from this and it can really kill one's confidence when looking to make a lethal shot.
I think I own the rights to this TShirt …
I make sure I am stumping a lot , a bunch of draw and hold on small targets both close up and far away . I run an RMSG Grip Trigger on a few rigs and as long as I make sure I’m only pulling through once the trigger pops ( yeah , I know , that struggle is real ) but then I’m good
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You need Joel Turner. Stop wasting your own time.
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Joel Turner x 2
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I did the same as MKane. I switched to LH shooting in 1996 after shooting RH for 28 years. It was easier for me because I'm left-eye dominate.
No issues since.
I started having issues after joining an indoor league in the early 80's. I was able to control it until around 1994. I did so by leaving myself something to "do" before drawing the bow, such as getting into final position. That stopped working after a couple of years. I remember wounding a small buck and a turkey on the same PM hunt in MO, 1995. That was it for me. Had to fix it.
The key, I know now is to focus on the process rather than the result.
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I never really had TP but for loss of confidence a sight helped me.
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Same here. The further the distance the worse my TP was. I’d shorten my draw focusing on the target. I got over it by the doing what others have suggested coming to full draw at various distances, holding draw and letting down. Then after getting comfortable coming to full draw shooting one arrow then doing it all over again. I guess focusing more on the draw and anchor instead of the target helped me. Oh yea…I keep tolled up TP in my pocket too. For emergencies and marking blood trails.
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Same here. The further the distance the worse my TP was. I’d shorten my draw focusing on the target. I got over it by the doing what others have suggested coming to full draw at various distances, holding draw and letting down. Then after getting comfortable coming to full draw shooting one arrow then doing it all over again. I guess focusing more on the draw and anchor instead of the target helped me. Oh yea…I keep tolled up TP in my pocket too. For emergencies and marking blood trails.
I think this is a good method for those situations where you have the time to do it. Fortunately, I’ve never had this problem when shooting at an animal. My TP rears its ugly head when I’m shooting repetitive arrows in a group, like in a 3D tournament, or even just informally. The greatest problem I had was forcing myself to do the things you suggest while other people were watching me and waiting for me to shoot. Finally I just decided that I really had no alternative, since jerking the release on a partially drawn arrow was unacceptable, and I would prefer quitting than to continue to do that. So the other people just have to put up with me drawing and letting down, etc. Frankly, I think we worry too much about what other people might be thinking, because the truth is, they're probably not thinking about us anyway.
But to return to the original question, how do we control TP when we only get one shot, and there is no time to wait or to do practice draws? I really have no good answer to that, other than the one offered several times already, which is to attend Joel Turner's course, either on-line or in person.
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McDave, i always enjoy your input on these topics.
I guess i could've elaborated more. I can't say for sure if ive ever experienced TP per se on an animal. I've always just tried to focus on "the spot".
I guess was alluding to experiencing an increase in TP even shooting informally before and during season. Which historically is my case. I seem to find band aids to keep confident up to a degree in order to keep hunting.
I need to take the time in the off season to correct the problem appropriately. But i just never seem to actually do it.
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Focus on the game.... The shot will just happen. :archer:
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I’m not really sure what target panic really is… but what ever it it is, you are obviously thinking about it too much.
I’m not trying to be sarcastic here at all. The power of positive thinking is huge. Talking about target panic, and insisting you have a problem with it, is not helping matters at all…. It is all In your head, so quit talking about it and reinforcing your lack of confidence.
I choose to believe there is no such thing as target panic. TP is what I use in the bathroom or even the woods when necessary for obvious reasons.
Instinctive archery isn’t a shooting form or method of aiming. Archery becomes instinctive as you learn to just focus on where that arrow is going to hit, and don’t think about anything else.
Become one with the arrow and learn how to relax at full draw. I know that may sound strange. How the heck do you relax holding 50-60# at full draw?
You practice by improving your form and using your back muscles to hold that tension instead of your arms, and breath slowly…. If you concentrate on your point of impact and learn to regulate your breathing….. that moment of release is in a relaxed state as you let your breath out every time.
Practice this on a blank bale with your eyes closed until it becomes instinctive…..and quit thinking about TP. .02 cents…. Kirk
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Kirk, thanks for the post. A lot of truth in it. :thumbsup:
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Snap shooting, no time to think. Also helps if you hunt on the move. Having something to do keeps the mind on track.
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I doubt that anyone who doesn't have TP can either understand or prescribe a cure. There really is such a thing. The absolute best approach I have had with the stuff is Jim Casto's program. He has sent that out free to over 600 folks who requested it. The problem is, what the program calls for most guys are unwilling to do.
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David, agreed. I have Jims program and have stopped and started it numerous times. The problem is me and i know that. I need to stop making excuses and devote to the program. However when it's winter time im still hunting, when it's spring time we start shooting 3D. And then all of a sudden it's fall again and time to hunt.
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I also went through Jim's program, and it helped me a lot. It is not a panacea, but it is a good program for people who's target panic has become so ingrained that it has become a conditioned response, like mine had. An example of a conditioned response is Pavlov's dogs, who learned to salivate at the sound of a bell, whether food was present or not. When target panic becomes that bad, one feels it every time one does the action that activates it. In my case I had a fear response that manifested itself as a nervous compulsion to release the shot prematurely whenever I drew the bow with the intention of shooting it. When the target panic reaches the stage of a conditioned response, it is no longer directly related to anything real, even though it feels like it is. In my case, I had nothing to be afraid of when I drew the bow and I logically knew that. Programs aimed at addressing the problem that originally caused the target panic are no longer effective, because whatever the original problem may have been, it no longer exists. It has been replaced by a physical nervous reaction to a stimulus, like a startle reaction to being unexpectedly touched.
Jim's program was effective for me because it numbed the fear response through many repetitions without feeling it. Every draw is aimed in Jim's program, whether it is shot or not. It is critical under Jim's program to start at a level when target panic is not felt, and to continue to the end of the program without ever feeling it again. If one takes time off in the middle of the program to shoot a fun round and experiences target panic again, one has wasted all the time in the program until then. Frankly, boredom is one of the tools Jim uses in the program to dull whatever destructive feeling is accompanying the target panic, until it can be replaced with a new conditioned response of relaxed concentration.
After completing the program, I have felt flashes of the old fear from time to time. When that happens, I go back and repeat the drills until the conditioned response is dulled again, which doesn't mean repeating the whole six weeks, just enough to feel confident again. Frankly, just understanding that the nervous reaction I was feeling had nothing to do with anything going on in the present, but was something carried over from the past, was a great help in itself: why should I let something bother me that has nothing to do with anything that is going on now?
Everything I said relates solely to my own experience with Jim's program. He just presents his program for whatever benefit people may have from using it, and has not, to my knowledge, discussed conditioned responses or any other specific cause. People whose target panic has not devolved into a conditioned response may benefit from his program for reasons that are different from mine.
Target panic has many causes. Some programs are very successful for some people without the many repetitions required in Jim's program because their causes are different. I'm not sure that the original poster has a conditioned response, because he describes his target panic as being transitory, but it could be headed in that direction. I truly believe that if someone with target panic looks hard enough and tries enough different things, they will eventually find something that works.
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Well said, David.
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What I would recommend is this... When you are hunting, HUNT. When you are shooting, SHOOT. When I hunt, I think and analyze and worry about what I may be doing less than ideal on my approach, and worry about concealment, etc. When I see something that I know I am going to shoot at my heart rate rises like everybody else. Then right before I pick up the bow I sigh, clear my mind, and focus intently on the SHOT. I don't think about the animal, or the meal, or anything else other than just making a good shot. Mentally I am seeing a TARGET, not a wall hanger or something. I think very intentionally about the mechanics of making a good shot. Then I continue to mentally follow through the SHOT until I see the arrow hit. At that point, my SHOT is done and I am back onto hunting where I start noting the reaction of my animal, where it goes, etc. When I separate the excitement of the hunt from the mechanics of making a good shot I can find myself calm and focused during the shot on almost any class of animal. Coincidentally I also find I shoot better when I focus on the shooting more than the hunting too.
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Garrett, nice post. I was able to take a big doe last Thursday. I experienced no target panic on the shot. The only thing i remember about the shot is coming to anchor, following her as she walked and then seeing the arrow disappear. Almost every shot ive ever taken at game has been this way. I know for certain my clicker did not click. But i really don't care as the shot was lethal and she was dead in less than 60 seconds.
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I just use a clicker. Works for me. Have had one on my bow for over 30 years
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Mine was “cured” by a session with Rob Jenkins. Breaking the shot into steps gives control back to your conscious brain.