Game Panic

[GroundHunter]

Worst start of hunting season I've ever had missing 8 consecutive easy shots at deer and hogs - shooting over every time. Just not picking a "spot" when it comes to game this year.

After the 8th miss, I was loosing my confidence in shooting at all. So, I picked a 1-inch mesquite limb hanging to the ground about 18 yards from my groundblind. I pulled out a blunt, picked a spot on the limb I judged to be 24 inches up from the ground ( where the killzone center is on these small Texas whitetails), and failrly casually drew and shot. Hit that branch dead-on at the 24 inch spot. I even measured the spot here the bark was knocked of - 24 inches.

Nothing wrong with my shootng - at spots. I guess I've just got "game panic" this season.

[BLACK WOLF]

I've had that problem also where I was deadly on the target range but would miss a whole animal well within my effective range because I didn't pick and focus on a spot.

In the cases where that has happened to me...I shot over the animal like yourself because I was shooting at the whole animal rather than a spot.

Ray  

[Terry Green]

Wayne.....yep, it can be humbling to shoot over the back of a 6 year old deer at 20 yards on the ground in the wide open broadside.  How can you miss an animal that big when you just shot 3 pine cones in a row out to 30 yards on the walk in.....one word.  FOCUS.  Ya gotta focus on that spot and go 'brain dead' on the rest of the world...and not have a 'brain fart' instead.

I feel for ya Sir, 8 in a row in one season has got to be tuff.

Get back in the saddle and go make good!!!

[tamure]

I feel for you too. I've been there - back when I was shooting well, I was hammering those 3D targets, but I couldn't hit a real deer to save my life. Always shot over.

I think I've figured out my problem with the real deer, though. When I finally got within range of a real deer, I was always scared to death that I'd spook him and blow it. So I was always watching the deer's face to try to read whether or not he was aware of me, or nervous, etc., instead of picking a spot and just focusing on that.

[shot2high]

I feel your pain, happened to me this afternoon, see my name. Big doe <20 yards. Hit a 20OZ water bottle on the way back to the house w/ a blunt. Oh well...................Keep trying!

[Wile E. Coyote]

Been there, wore the T-shirt out! My suggestion would be to make a mental change in your game. It's the only thing that helped me.

Consider that the next opportunity all you are going to do is draw and aim. No focus on making the shot or the kill. I would even go so far as to draw, aim and let down if possible. Burn into your mind the site picture of where you would shoot if you were actually going to shoot. Now you've changed the focus so that the goal is aiming, not making the shot. Once you feel solid about the aim then change your mind and release.

It's a little mental game, but it works.

Best of luck, give it a try and let me know if it works for you.

[Scott J. Williams]

Been there, as recently as this weekend....LOL. Terry and guys are correct, got to pick a spot. I have to focus on the easy ones, even harder than the tough ones.  

I can attest that most of us will shoot high when we rush the shot.  I took a much tougher shot, from the same blind two weeks before and connected. I did everything right except, I rushed, and did not pick a spot.  When I rush, I most often fail to focus.  

So, don't beat yourself up over it.  I still do it from time to time, and I have a couple of dozen hogs, and twenty whitetail to my credit with archery tackle.  Look at the bright side, it seems obvious that your hunting skills are pretty sharp,  you did get close enough to take those shots.....I feel your pain.

[Stan the bow man]

i fell ya .misseted 3 doe 1 hog twice.never had so much fun missing.i to have lots of trd. bow kills under my belt, don t be hard on your self. keep hunting an shooting
good luck

[Larry247]

Adrenanlin comes in to play when the shot oppertunity arises, and it sometimes can be hard to pick a spot.

Terry said it well, "Go brain dead".

You know you can hit the spot you're aimming at, so let muscle memory and you're mind take control.

Don't "over think" your shot.

[BEN]

I can't add anything here, but my same experience.

This is my 3rd. year trad-hunting. first year, I missed one deer, then gave it up and went back to wheelie-bow. Last year, I missed 4 times at 3 deer---and hit a buck high/forward on the shoulder with a  LOUD CRACK----tracked him witha buddy for over 3 hours----trail went out and nothing!    I did shoot a coyote on the run though---key there: I didn't think about it. I just drew back and shot---33 paces from my tree-stand and drilled it!! On deer though---I kept thinking about my misses and wounded one and couldn't bring myself to shoot!    

This year, I'm hoping to change this---I keep telling myself if I can hit a 30# 'yote, I can hit a 150# deer---as long as I don't think about the shot itself--"just do it!"

I hope this theory works----havne't had a chance to really try it yet this year--that will change starting this week

ben

[Stripstrike1]

Man I thought I was the only one.  I have missed 3 deer on my private land and am also on a excellent lease in Refugio, Texas where there are big racks all over the place.  I am terrified at wounding a trophy there also so this thread really helps a lot.  I tend to always miss high and completely lose my mind when I have an animal close to me.  Seems as though all the practice I do goes out door. My buddies tell me to hang in there and keep plugging away and it will come.

[Clint T]

Have the same problem. Can split hairs on target range and have complete control in practice. But meltdown city when animal comes out. Biggest problem is loss of control and short draw at the very moment I try to aquire the "exact spot" I want to hit. Working on this at the practice range does no good because the effects of "pressure" cannot be duplicated. Not sure where to turn now as I have missed more deer this season that I would rather own up to!!! Any help out there??

[BLACK WOLF]

Clint T,

The only thing I can think of is to try and put yourself into high preasure situations by hunting small game year round, competeting in archery competitions or playing a shooting game with friends where they pick the target and you have only a few seconds to shoot it. It's a fun game while out stump shooting but you can also do it in an archery range.

Ray  

[Clint T]

Blackwolf

I compound hunted for 20+ years and got to the point where I knew without a shadow of a doubt before I pulled the trigger the animal was going home with me. Do you ever get to that point with traditional equipment??? I killed 4 deer last season with trad equip in what was my first season but every shot was like a "controlled wreck" in which to be honest, I got very lucky!! I vowed to work on my execution and control all summer and be dead on this season. Boy have I done just the opposite. Game panic seems to be even worse than last season. Acheiving full draw (index finger in corner of mouth for me) is the toughest thing to aquire when shooting at an animal. Just curious if you finally get used to this at least to the point you can function effectively???

[junker]

i bought a recurve last year and shot almost every day getting ready for my first bow season ever.  

opening day i missed a 6 pointer at 12 yds. i filmed that same deer 2 weeks prior in velvet.  but i got my revenge the saturday after opening day.  same deer...same stand....same time of day...the 6 pointer is coming right to my stand but some barking dogs spooked him and he ran about 48 yds away and turned broadside.  i decided to try my luck.  luck paid off.  48 yd shot with a 65 lb recurve and the deer took 20 steps and fell.  the next saturday i dropped a doe at 23 yds.  since then i've missed 2 does...both under 15 yds.

[BLACK WOLF]

Clint T,

Changing weapons can definitely cause doubt or anxeity in your ability to effectively and accurately shoot an animal.

I definitely recommend that you get and read Jay Kidwell's book, "Instinctive Archery Insights" to help you with your issue.

Another suggestion that just came to me...would be to place yourself around deer year round with your bow in hand but don't shoot. Draw on them without an arrow and pretend you're gonna shoot. I don't know...it's definitely something you can try and it surely can't hurt. If nothing else...it gives you another reason to be out in the woods    

You can definitely get over this...but it may take some creative ideas for you to do this. Some people have even taken it as far as getting hypnotherapy.

Learning to focus on a spot helps destract you from thinking about the whole animal also.

The blank bale has worked wonders for my target panic.

Do whatever you can...but don't give up.

Ray  

[Daddy Bear]

I'm unsure of your past experiences and/or training. If you get a chance to read any of the books written by Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman, do so.  His DVDs would probably be too cost prohibitive for an individual to purchase. But, if you have any friends who graduated West Point in the last decade, have had any advanced combat training involving effects of hormonal or fear induced heart rate, autogenic breathing, PTSD, etc., or who are in law enforcement and have recieved advanced training from Grossman, ask if they have any material they would share with you.

I can tell you this, you can run in place and do all sorts of crazy exercises and not get your heart rate over 180. But, if you are lacking stress inocualtion through your experiences and training for arrowing a deer, you can experience "buck fever" which is a hormonal induced heart rate increase of well over 200 beats per minute steady with spikes to around 250! At 175bpm your cognitive processing deteriorates, you lose peripheral vision, you lose depth perception, and you lose complex motor skills. At this point it is impossible for you to focus. You should learn how to avoid going into this condition black which is the same as buck fever, it is not difficult with proper training.

If nothing else, try these two things:

1. Realistic Simulation in Training Transfers to Reality. This is why realistic practice on realistic targets is so important as this is a Stress Inoculator. Round Targets will not do this. I repeat, round targets are not and cannot be a Stress Inoculator for arrowing a deer. This cannot be stressed enough.

2. Learn Autogenic (Tactical) Breathing. This will help you stay in the 115 to 145bpm optimal performance range. Most of the top pro basketball teams hire Lt. Colonel Grossman to teach this to their players so they can bring the heart rate down while making free throws. It is used in combat, high risk tactical environments, sports, etc. etc.

Good Luck

[Clint T]

Well, good news and bad news. Slowly getting some bit of control on my game panic issue as I arrowed a big doe Saturday at 22 yards. Picked a spot and everything. However, it was a short lived success as the very next day I had a 125+ class ten point at 15 yards and I melted down with buck fever, shot under him from a brush blind. I am curious about something, when I shoot at targets in the yard I am always able to hit full draw but when I am shooting in a stressfull situation (like at a deer) I always short draw, is this common??? Can it be cured?? Its like my arm stops pulling and I can't draw back any further!?!?!

[Wile E. Coyote]

Clint, I would say that yes it is common to short draw on game. I think that the main reason is that unlike when we shoot in the backyard, when we shoot at game we tend to be trying to pick the opportune moment to release. Our concerns are whether our movements will be picked up, what the game is doing, predicting their next move etc. We don't think about those things when we are in the yard.

I will bet that next time if you make your goal  to get to full draw and pick a spot(NOT SHOOT, GET TO FULL DRAW)you will be able to get the string back. Once back just release into the shot. Focus on getting full draw and picking a spot as your major objective, don't even think about the release. Once you've succeeded making full draw and picking a spot its an easy switch to dropping the string.

Give it a try.
Best of Luck to ya.

[Clint T]

wish I had some good news to report, but the mental breakdowns continue on live animals!?!?! Everytime I go to shoot at a deer I get the string drawn back severals inches short of my anchor and its like it rips out of my hand totally on its own. Helpless feeling to be that "out of control" and can do nothing about it!!!! There has GOT to be some kind of technique that will aid this problem??!! I shot 10 arrows today in practice from distances 15 to 35 yards and every shot was in the kill zone!!! Anchor was solid, form was solid and release was crisp. I have tried every way to Tuesday to repeat this form in the feild and I just can't make it happen on a deer?!?!?! Not sure where to go from here?? Soon as a deer starts creeping in on me I get a week feeling inside that just totally cripples my ability with my bow!! I have no control at all, soon as I begin to draw I am immediatly fighting an uncontrolable desire to release WAY before I am on target. This never happens in practice, but never "doesn't" happen on a deer!!! Is this just something trad hunters have to deal with??!! Would welcome any thoughts on this matter!