Help..for people who miss game after practicing on targets all year!

[maxfit]

In response to a recent post, i feel it is only fair that i move this up to help fellow struggling
Tradgangers...
Hi my name is Chuck and..
I am a peeker and have been working this year with my therapist to cure it. Once i found out that i was a peeker and came out, it was much easier to confront my issue head on. I have been going to a traditional archers support group for 6 mths now and feel better now that i know there are others with the same problem. My therapy support group has all kinds. Peekers, short drawers, string pluckers,flinchers, bad aligners and arm slappers. The guys i really feel bad for are the ones who suffer from pre-mature releasing(they have the hardest time admitting it). So all i can say is to look for a local TRADGANG Reformers chapter near you.

[Lone Ranger]

I have missed a Doe twice now, one bad 18yard shot and again at 8 yards shooting right over her back. We have a love hate relationship. I love seeing her and she hates me shooting at her!

L.R.

[Rik]

There is only one cure that works.

You need practice killing things with arrows.

Shoot squirrels. Shoot birds. Shoot rabbits.

Hunt and as many wild boar as possible.

The main thing is, you have to get used to killing things, and doing so often.

If you only hunt the once-per-year deer season, that won't do it. You need to kill all year long.

Plus-------you get the added advantage of eating lean, organic, wild meat all year. It's a win win situation!

[jonsimoneau]

I doubt many people have had as much a problem with that as I have!  When I first started hunting with traditional bows...I was also fortunate in the fact that I had a couple of really good areas to hunt, and I had ALOT of time to devote both to scouting and hunting.  
    I started hunting with traditional bows right about the time, I was beginning to have some success at getting big bucks in range.  The problem was, I could not seal the deal.
   The first one was a big 5x5 I named big ten.  I had watched this buck all summer.  I had a huge logbook with notes on this particular deer.  I lost track of him in October, as so often happens.  Then a few days before gun season came in, I was sitting on the downind edge of a scrape that was located right next to a doe bedding area, and here he comes.  The big one came in on a string..right to the scrape and started working the licking branch.  If I remember right he was a whoping 12 yards away, and had no idea I was there.  I drew shot and MISSED! How do you completely miss a 250lb. Whitetail at 12 yards?  I never saw him again.  I wrote an article about it for Traditional Bowhunter.
    If that were not enough...a similar scenario began the following season.  I again had been watching another big 5x5 in a completely different area.  He was living in a pretty small section of woods within the Carbondale city limits, and I had permission to hunt there.  During a scouting mission, I found that there were only 3 white oaks, in the entire 40 acres of woods, and they were all right next to each other, and all full of acorns.  I went in a few days before season to check them again, and they were dropping like crazy and the deer were really hitting them.  I already knew one of the bedding areas for the big boy...so a few days into season, I went in and hung a stand between the oaks and his bedding area.
    First night on stand...here he comes with 3 other bucks.  He was eating acorns at under 15 yards and I missed him by a FOOT!
   Fast forward to November.  I'm in a stand in a funnel, and the same buck I missed in October is chasing a doe all over the place.  The doe comes by me, and he is hot on her trail.  He stops 7...yes 7 yards from my stand, and I again have a meltdown and completely miss him.  
    At this point, I was worn thin, and extremely depressed.  I asked Gene Wensel for help, and he gave me some encouragement that I will never forget.
    Thankfully, these days, I shoot much better, and do not succumb to "buck fever" as badly as I did in my younger days.  Even though I do not get to hunt as much as I did back then...the main reason I do not kill a buck these days is due to being very picky as to which bucks I want to shoot.  I have a habit of singling one out...and going after him.  Normally I fail...but every now and then....

[jonsimoneau]

I just read Riks post, and agree with him 100%.

[Thumper Dunker]

+ 2 What Rik said. What gets me is the antlers can,t seem to look away from them no matter the size. And never look in the eyes of a coyote you will miss.

[Friend]

Focus! Focus!! Focus!!!

-Possibly incorporate relaxation check pts w/i your shot routine execution.

- Do not alter key elements of your routine

- All too often, as many with other activities, the tendancy may be to continually practise our strong aspects and avoid our our weak areas. Take every opportunity to prioritize practising the weak aspects.

- Hunt critters as often as possible

- Learn to have unshakeable faith in your bow and your bow arm. A tuned set-up can not help but virtually hit the mark every time unless the critter moves.

-Confidence and faith in yourself will do wonders
 Imparting a lack of any one of the aforementioned into a shot will guarentee a vital hit will be left to chance.

-Also keep in mind that missing occasionally even when it seems all facets have been adressed is human. We are not machines.

- Use your shot routine in the field, remain relaxed and you can celebrate after the shot conclusion. The success will bring much fufllment.

Believe in yourself
Believe in your bow
Believe in your own personal shot routine.
Believe!!! For failing to believe will serve to confirm you are right.


**No expert here - just a product of decades of errors; So far, no vaccine or remedy holds them firmly at bay.

[Trad-Man]

Gents...you are not missing what you are aiming at.  You are shooting over the back because that is where you are looking.  Promise...

The head and the back of a deer are the very first lines you see when the animal comes into shooting range.  If you are not looking at the chest...you are all done before you even draw your bow.

The post about killing stuff.  Very true, killing makes you better because it developes confidence in your shooting under pressure, without the adreneline/fear of getting picked off by said deer. That self imposed pressure messes with your ability to FOCUS on the chest of the deer and not the back.

Stop worrying about getting picked off and go kill a deer. That's right KILL a deer.  Harvest is one of those words that implys this is an activity whereby you stroll through the fields and put crops in a basket. Killing is far more personal and requires willful wanton focus.  Eventually like shooting at targets it will become just as predictable and automatic.

[Whip]

I agree 100% with Friend.  Confidence that you will make the shot is the key.  If you absolutely know that you will make the shot, you will.  

If your thought as you draw back is "I hope I don't blow this" you are almost guaranteed to blow it.  

Of course even the best occasionally have something go wrong.  But you need to be convinced that you WILL make that shot!

Shooting a bow, like many skilled activities, is 90% or more a mental game.  If you can control the mental aspects you will be a much better shot on game than the guy who can pound targets but melts down when he draws on an animal.

I was sitting on the edge of a picked bean field the other day.  I took shots from 20 yards to maybe 70 yards. I had arrows out as far as the eye could see laying all over that bean field. I lost just two of 24 I had with me. I may go out and try it again today, I think I have worked out what I am doing wrong. Many of the shots were so close I thought sure I was going to hit, but no. Pass shooting doves is hard.

[joe skipp]

I agree with Rik/Friend/Tradman....they said it best. Put the bow in your hands year round and chase critters. Early Fall its squirrels and rabbits before deer season, spring/summer it's Woodchucks.

Have confidence in your ability and your equipment. Learn from your mistakes...I try to teach the students in our NY Bow Courses to develop the "Zombie" effect. Eyes glued on the chest or vitals once you determine your going to get the shot. Never take your eyes off the vitals.

Then when the shot opportunity arrives, shoot to kill. Be mentally positive through the entire process. Any negative thoughts entering your mind will cause you to miss. The more animals you take with your bow will boost your confidence level. You will stop thinking and just react to the situation.

All the problems you mentioned are a hunters form of TARGET PANIC. Just calm yourself down, tell yourself "It's just an animal and I'm going to kill it." Concentrate and Focus.......

[dnovo]

Totally agree with you guys. Years ago I was guilty of the same problems. I can't tell you how many deer I shot over the back of. I had good success hunting squirrels, rabbits, groundhogs, but when it came to deer, I was lucky to get 1 or 2 shots a year at best and put so much pressure on myself that I was bound to fail. After I killed a few it got easier.

[RickE]

I think I can rival Jon’s ability in this area.  LOL!  I’ve missed 2 big non-typical mule deer under 20 yards after stalking up to them and 1 big whitetail at about 12 yards in the last 2 years.  All have been just over the top by shooting at the whole deer.  Even worse is that I’m not a new or beginning hunter.  I’ve shot tons of deer and hunted for a long time with bows.   That just makes it all the more painful.  The good thing is that it has forced me to do some hard thinking about this.  
All of the above suggestions are good and will help but I don’t think they address the root cause.  To me the root cause of these easy misses is when we become results focused instead of action focused.   I’ve been lucky enough to take shotgun shooting lessons with a professional shooter and one of his main messages was this very fact.  It certainly helped my shotgun shooting a lot and I think it will work for traditional bows because the acts are very similar.  We’re so focused on killing the deer or breaking the target (the result) that our form falls apart at the moment of truth.  Everything is fine when there’s no pressure and you’re shooting at targets in your back yard, squirrels,  does (when we’re more action focused) but put a big buck in front of us and we turn to jello because we want to kill it so badly.  That’s why we hurry the shot, short draw, fail to pick a spot, shoot at the whole deer, etc.  What we really need to do the next time a huge buck is in front of us is not focus on killing the deer, but focus on executing  a perfect shot at the deer and just let the results happen.  Don’t try to ‘make it happen’……just let it happen.  
Or if someone comes up with a magical cure let me know, because I’m all ears.    
Good hunting ,  Rick.

I have seen cases that one can shoot very fluid and natural with his feet on the ground, and even pretty smooth at small game from a tree stand. but then, turn into a robotic mess when shooting at deer. It makes it hard to hit game when the only thing in your head is to recite the 'how to shoot a bow' orthodoxies.

[Dirtybird]

So Jon what did Gene tell you?

[dnovo]

As an add to my post above, don't ask about the year that I missed THREE different 8 pointers in the same day by shooting where? You guessed it, right over them.

[Blaino]

Originally posted by Dirtybird:
So Jon what did Gene tell you?

yea that's what i want to know!

[Hit-or-Miss]

RIK is correct, if you want to hunt big game more effectivly, hunt SMALL game. Targets are ok, but they don't wind you, move behind brush or jump the string. And, targets don't get your heart pumping like hunting small game, which is great practice for big game. With small game, you have to FOCUS HARD ...REAL HARD, in order to pick a spot. Plus, some of those little critters taste real good!

Small game hunting is very important to me. My good old cocker is too old to hunt hard any longer. I know where I could get a young cocker for free, but I was thinking more about a beagle because hunting rabbits is just about as much fun as deer hunting.  My wife says I cannot get another bow if i get another dog and she is afraid a beagle will be too much for my good old buddy, she is maybe right about that. My friend who also shoots a longbow wants to get this registered german sheperd and something else dog I cannot remember what he called it, but it looks like this.  

[Hud]

Pick a spot, if you aim at a whole deer, or rabbit you'll miss every time.