PLEASE HELP!!! I can't kill anything!!!!

[Bjorn]

Many of us have been there and especially looking at the whole animal and the scene.
Join a club, find a mentor and let him/her help you along. Making it social will get you fixed up sooner. Also stop shooting groups and from the same spot. Change up everything on every shot: distances, angles, elevation up down you name it "make every shot your only shot". And above all keep us posted.

[akaboomer]

As stated its in your head. You have trained your mind for shooting targets now you have to train your mind to shoot animals. Many pro  athletes use visualization techniques to be prepaired for the moment of truth, try it it will help. It helped me.

Chris

[ron w]

Take a breath and relax, pick a spot and be confident. Hey your getting chances and that's a big part of success. I'm a confident as can be but have only one shot on big game in 41 years.....take your time it will come!

[gringol]

Let's put this in perspective.  You have taken a lot of shots.   You are doing a lot right.  I believe saxton pope hunted with Ishi for 5 years without bagging a deer.  A lot of it is just experience.  The more shots you take, the more comfortable you'll get.  Your nerves will settle down and you'll put meat on the table.  Just stick with it.

[Dave Lay]

back in the 70's it took me 8 years of hard hunting to ever kill a deer with my bow (recurve) this past year was the first year in about 41 years to not do that. once ya kinda learn how, it just starts flowing. i have re evaulated my past season and plan to fix that... your doing the right thing, find a fix, then relax and have confidence......a big part of target panic or freezing up on a animal is fear of failure,  lick that and your on your way...

[will_hunt]

Try thinking about it in different terms. Are you there simply to kill? When you use the phrase "I don't want to miss because of this 'kill fever' I have", you already missed. Hunting is a process.  The very nature of hunting is to out wit an animal on his terms. Missing is part of the process. You certainly must understand this premise deep inside your soul or you would not handicap yourself with traditional archery equipment, much less an osage self-bow. So, give yourself credit for that much. MISSING IS ALL PART OF IT. While I never go into the deal thinking I am going to miss...I DO MISS.
 You are not out there to KILL. You are not out there to hunt. You are out there TO HAVE HUNTED. Again, you are out there to HAVE HUNTED. If all you want to do is kill, take a gun. If you are all about BECOMING A HUNTER, then let your pride go and enjoy the process. When the day arrives that you hang a red Lifesaver on a toothpick placed on a white paper plate on your target butt and hit it dead center from 30 yards, killing an animal will mean very little to you.
 BTW, YOU MISSED THE QUAIL BECAUSE IT IS NOT QUAIL SEASON. THE POWERS THAT BE CHECKED YOU ON THAT ONE.
 You are not having fun. TAKE TRADITIONAL ARCHERY SERIOUSLY, BUT DON'T TAKE YOURSELF SERIOUSLY. I honestly believe that the next critter that presents itself to you, IN SEASON, you are going to complete the process--I really believe that!!!

[Arkansas Osage]

Thank you everyone for the responses, I didn't expect to many replies or such helpful ones. I was mostly expecting a "cause you suck!" kinda reply lol. Too many helpful responses to reply to each one individually, but I think the general consensus is right, I am not picking a specific spot. Thinking back on as many of the misses as I can I have not once picked any spot on the animal, just the vitals area. Someone asked how much I'm missing by, and if the animals were just dodging, one rabbit did enitirely jump my arrow, he jumped straight up and did a 180, the funny part is he jumped a millisecond before I released. He jumped, my arrow went under him, and he landed. It was weird. Other than that, its just inches at the most. Several times I've had rabbit hair on my judo points where the spring arms grazed them.
Again, thats everyone, I'm be picking spots on my target turkeys, and on the real things come April.

P.S. Forgot to check on small game seasons. No more rabbits, squirrels or game birds lol. Squirrel season opens may here though.

[kadbow]

Pick a spot pick a spot pick a spot.  When you see a critter you are going to shoot start the chant.

[Sam McMichael]

We may laugh with you, but we certainly can't laugh at you, since we have all been there, too. I missed the same deer twice this year standing in the same place on 2 different days. It sounds like your basic archery is pretty good, but when hunting it truly is hard to pick a spot and concentrate solely on that spot. When it does finally happen, it will truly be sweeeeet!

[GRINCH]

It could be you just don't have it your heart to kill anything,otherwise I'd agree with pick a spot.

[Arkansas Osage]

Originally posted by GRINCH:
It could be you just don't have it your heart to kill anything,otherwise I'd agree with pick a spot.

Oh I do Mr. Grinch, I do. I've shot rabbits and squirrels and birds with small arms my whole life. I've hooked, killed and cleaned tens of thousands of fish. I know to pick a spot, but after hearing everyone suggest it I realize now in the heat of all those moments I completely forgot to do it...

[Mudd]

Originally posted by Stone Knife:
Your most likely looking at the whole animal instead of picking a small spot, we have all done it one time or another. You need to focus on a very tiny spot on the animal.

I think this nails the problem.

Sure you want to kill the "whatever" but don't shoot at the "whatever" but pick out a hair, a feather, a something small.

Chances are if you miss your small target by an inch or two, you will still kill it.

My 2 cents worth.

God bless,Mudd

PS: Never give up!

[jonsimoneau]

I just wanna add one more thing here because it may help you. Like I said. I missed six deer with my recurve before I killed one. After that though I killed plenty of critters. Yes I still miss and buck fever can override good form. But when I miss a shot at a game animal that I know I can make 100 percent of the time on a target I know it was a mental thing. I think Biggie Hoffman once said that the best way to get good at killing things is to kill things. Keep at it and I promise you it will happen. When I was first getting started I remember getting ahold of Gene Wensel. I told him my story of wo about missing a shot at a very big buck that I had watched all summer. His response was so light hearted that it made me feel better. It let me know that everyone misses. It's part of it and I'm glad it is. But ihe also gave me the encouragement I needed. And it worked. Again. Keeps at it. Do not lose sight of your goal. It will happen. But also do not put too much pressure on yourself. If you mess up, and keep trying, you absolutely will get another chance.

[jonsimoneau]

Take your time when the shot comes. I still do this. You have limited time to hunt due to school, work, etc. when the deer gives you the chance in the back of your head you are saying "shoot it now before it gets away!". In that process you rush the shot and mess up. It has happened to all of us. It's hard to do but when the animal you wanna shoot gets in range, try to pretend you are shooting at a tame cow or pig. I do this and it works for me. Act like you have all the time in the world to pull it off. Because in reality you probably do have more time than you think. You can do it. And once you do it once, you can call your compound shooting buddies Pansy's!  HA!

[Juan Matos]

I heard that "Arkansas Osage" is an old Indian phrase that means vegeterian.  Just kidding  

[Shawn Leonard]

Jim has it for me, pick a very small spot on the critter you are shooting that will help a lot!!Also from your post you seam anxious about it, like it is getting to you. Best thing is relax and not worry about the killing and more about just making a good shot. Shawn

[Big Ed]

To much pressure on yourself it sounds to me! Relax and let it happen.