Are you a psycho? (A discussion about Psycho triggers)

[traddad_MI]

I’ve been shooting trad archery for 5-6 years on and off. I killed a couple bucks a few years back with a Bear K Mag off the shelf with trad vanes with an untriggered shot. One of the shots was 7 yards and the other was 30 just for reference. Idk if this matters either but I shoot 3 fingers under and shoot instinctively until my point on comes into play. I was coming into the next season with high hopes and shot all summer but I started to notice some flyers that were starting to become more frequent. The next season I had a series of 3 debilitating misses that just broke my heart and actually pushed me to finish out the season with compound and I killed two bucks. I shot an archery league last winter with my recurve and cut a vane to “shield cut” and tried that as a draw check/psycho trigger but still wasn’t where I want to be. I also started referencing my string on my riser(string blur over riser) which helped with the left to rights but I could never get the tune right but I’m not the greatest at tuning. I shot all summer but my inconsistent shooting was just irritating me and I could just tell I wasn’t where I wanted to be and used my compound with success. Well in December I got a the itch and bought a brand new 56” Fred Bear Takedown in Bubinga/phenolic with a green cap. I love the look of the bow and being a Michigan boy I love the story of Fred Bear and him starting the Michigan Archery season in 1937. I ended up having to build the shelf though because of vane to hand contact on bow hand and it actually helped with quieting down the bow because I had to bring the nock point up and that seemed to give the tune of a split finger shooter which I heard bears shoot better with. I’m still having spotty shooting with moments of pure archery bliss to just straight up why am I doing this to myself moments. I forgot to mention that when I first started shooting a recurve that I bought “Solid archery mechanics” and bought the whole shebang. Clicker execution, back tension and all of that good stuff. I don’t like the clicker though both aesthetically and functional. I just don’t know where to go from here and what the best road is for me. I love the idea of an untriggered pure shot but I just don’t think it is as replicable in the woods for me as I like. Any advice that has helped you guys through the years? I do think that an elevated rest would improve my accuracy and in conjunction with a feather to nose psycho might be the move. Thanks for any input. I attached the photos of those bucks I killed with the K Mag. Very proud of those deer and I’ll forever be chasing that feeling! PS if a moderator could flip that bottom photo to look like the top one, that would be great!

[jess stuart]

Check out Joel Turner he has some solid stuff.

[Terry Green]

Not sure if you have been to this thread, it's been running for years.....

https://www.tradgang.com/tgsmf/index.php?board=5.0

Have a look and let me know if it helped any. 

[traddad_MI]

Thanks for the input! I’ll check out that thread!

[EHK]

When you get your fliers, do you think it's due to a form break down, or are you struggling to understand why it was a flier?

[PrimitivePete]

I would say it's of incredible value to establish the foundations of physically executing the shot before adding the extra items like a trigger, clicker. I recently switched hands to shoot left handed and had to learn again how to shoot. It was the best thing I have done archery wise as I had to start from the beginning. I still shoot right handed from time to time but my form shooting left handed is about as perfect as I can possibly get. All those years of studying the shot and putting it into practice has paid off handsomely.

[Ryan Rothhaar]

I think I’m understanding that you are pretty new to this (on and off for a few years). I’d suggest finding a mentor and learning good, simple, fundamentals of shooting. Add complexity, if you want, after that. Maybe it’s just the way your original post is written, but it sounds like a fart in a skillet. Fundamentally, shooting a stick bow is simple.  It’s tough enough just to pick a spot and execute a shot with good form.  Adding 15 other variables, and varying them continually, will only be frustrating.

R

[ozy clint]

The psychotrigger stuff is all well and good on the 3d course when you have no time pressure but I don't find it helpful in actual hunting scenarios where you don't have the time to execute it properly.

The deer walks into the shooting window and you have 1 second to shoot but you don't know when it's going to walk into the window.
You have to stop the fox you just called in and you have an instant to shoot before it bolts.

Etc, etc.

Joel admitted his system doesn't work in fast paced hunting scenarios where the animal dictates when it has to be shot when he was here in Australia. (Told to me by a reliable source)

[Ben Maher]

The psychotrigger stuff is all well and good on the 3d course when you have no time pressure but I don't find it helpful in actual hunting scenarios where you don't have the time to execute it properly.

The deer walks into the shooting window and you have 1 second to shoot but you don't know when it's going to walk into the window.
You have to stop the fox you just called in and you have an instant to shoot before it bolts.

Etc, etc.

Joel admitted his system doesn't work in fast paced hunting scenarios where the animal dictates when it has to be shot when he was here in Australia. (Told to me by a reliable source)

Clint , he can shoot any which way 
If it’s moving the trigger doesn’t necessarily work ….. but for me , they saved my archery from a debilitating TP .

It ain’t for everyone but if you suffer from TP , it’s an invaluable set of tools .

I wouldn’t wish TP on my worst enemy eh 

[Kyle85]

Check out the grip triggers sold on the RMS website.  For a trad bow I've put the small trigger just under where my thumb rests naturally during the draw, and I can slowly press and get a non-anticipatable pop to use as a psychological trigger.  It helped for a while but I actually feel like I've grown out of them.  And like others have said, you sometimes have to shoot when you have to shoot, and it can slow you down if it becomes too much of a crutch.  Good luck!

[JR Chambers]

I just use a clicker. that is about as difficult as I want to make it. How you get to full draw is up to you as long as you get there.