What the heck?

[bear bowman]

I try to practice every day. Fortunately for me I have the ability to shoot inside at work during my lunch. Well today, I was getting bored with my normal practice routine and I was spraying arrows a bit. So I picked up a spent .223 casing and put it down in front of my target. First shot at 20 yards, I hit that thing! I hit it one other time during my session. It really helped me slow down and tightened my groups considerably.
So how does a guy that can hit something so small miss multiple deer? I'm trying to figure out how to pick something out that small on 3d targets, real deer etc.
What sort of concentration exercises or whatever do you do to help during the moment of truth?

[John146]

I try to mentally put a orange dot on the deer where I want to hit it if there is nothing to focus on (tuft of hair, etc.) This is a technique that Chuck Adams used and wrote about in his book. I actually have an orange dot on the inside limb of my bow to refresh the image in my mind. I sometimes put an orange dot on my target when I shoot just to refresh the image. Hope this helps.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Focus changes things.  I often manage to shoot a better group at 30 yards than I do at 20.  Same shooter, same equipment but different focus.

[Jack Hoyt 75]

Focus small.  Aim small, miss small. On a 3D target I focus on a arrow hole or a line or darker spot on the target.  On a animal is tuff of hair or small mark of some kind.  (no new info there)

One point to remember is that you can only have total concentration for  a few seconds at a time.  Focus 100% of a few seconds, if can make the shot then blink or look away for a second or something then refocus 100%.

Check out Joel Turner's Iron Mind Academy.   www.ironmindacademy.com  or get his book and dvd. Joel's info is way more than target panic.  Also Rod Jenkins clinics and info is great

Focusing small and learning to gap shoot helped me a lot but I am no expert for sure.

[Sam McMichael]

There is no adrenaline rushed involved with shooting a .223 case.

[crazynate]

I carry a quarter in my pocket at all times with an orange sticker on it. Whenever I'm just standing around i pull it out and stare at it. When I shoot i it's like a focal point and I can out it on anything I shoot at. I learned this from the book archery insights. The best book I've ever read. If you do this no matter what your aiming at you will always be shooting at the same target. No more tricking your subconscious and you will be surprised how much your groups will shrink.

[wingnut]

We went on a hunt with Rusty one time and were shooting a 3D turkey in camp in the evening as it was getting dark.  Rusty said hold it I can't see the target and walk down and put a pocket laser pointer in a hole in the center.

He came back and said go for it.  Jason shot and took out the laser on the first shot at 25 yds.

Mike

[kevsuperg]

Aim small miss small.
You'll hit closer to the center of a golfball than a basketball .
 I've heard the same thing about shooting in the dark with a small laser pointer on a target.
 A deer or other big critter just gives you too much to look at.

[MCS]

I guess Sam can do that with every shot.

[Sam McMichael]

Only in my dreams.

[Shadowhnter]

Its easy.....you dont feel the same shooting at a target (or in this case, a .223 casing), as you do a deer. Many people shoot and miss maybe dozens of deer, blaming everything under the sun, except the RIGHT thing. Target practice gets you ready to make the shot, but it does nothing to ready you for operating under pressure and more then anything adrenaline. Only self control can make you excersise what you learned at the target. Bottom line is, if you do what you do while facing a target,  on a deer? You will rarely miss. Getting to that point takes time, and just doing it... until you start getting it right. Its a mental and emotional game that many never figure out that they really need to conquer it.

[warpedarrow]

I find that if I nock an arrow and then immediately shoot, I don't really have the best focus.  So I have started trying to nock an arrow then look off in the distance or at the spot that I want to shoot for a few seconds prior to drawing the bow.  It helps.  I think that is probably what the casing is causing you to do.  It takes my old eyes a little while to go from eighteen inches to twenty yards.

[LongStick64]

I do a lot of aiming practice without a bow, work on focusing and using a band to mimic the bow. It's amazing how much you can commit to aiming without worrying about the bow. After practicing like this for a while, the mental memory is easily transferred to the bow. My big issue was in the pre draw I was focusing hard, once the bow shelf or limbs obscured the target bam lost focus and everything would fall apart. Now I work on making sure I maintain focus and eliminate anything that gets in the way.

[tomsm44]

Not necessarily advice, but just a recent observation.  It's amazing what learning/picking a spot can do.  I've been shooting at the end of a round hay bale with a leaf for my aiming point.  Earlier this week, I went out right at dark to fling a few.  All I could see was the round outline, so I "picked a spot" right where I knew the leaf was from 15 yards.  Due to the low light, I could only track my arrow about half way to the target, but couldn't see it once it hit.  About half of my shots hit the leaf, and most of my groups where less than 4-5".  It proved to me how consistently you can hit a certain spot on a big monocolored target when you pick a spot, and just as importantly, know exactly where that spot needs to be in the relation to the overall shape.