How do you stay calm!

[Thadbow]

I was sitting in the tree in MD yesterday and heard some noise behind me.  My heart started to race about out of my chest as I stood up and turned around to see a squirrel cutting acorns behind me. Later on a mom and a fawn came walking in and I got the shaking knees again and had no intent of shooting either one!
  When I was younger everybody always told me that if you ever loose that, you should quit hunting.  I don't want to loose it, I just want to calm it down.  
  I see all of these pictures of these trophy hogs, elk, whitetail, ect. and wonder how you have kept your cool long enough to make the shot.
 It got me thinking yesterday, what do you all do?  How do you keep it calm, Do you go to your happy place?  Where is it?
    Thanks

[Duker]

I dont (stay calm)    Just hope the deer keep pace with your shaking knees when you shoot  

[adeeden]

I repeat to myself, stay cool, you have been here 100 times before, pick a spot, pick a spot pick a spot. It may sound silly but it sure helps me control the excitement!

[Gen273]

I try to stay focused on the task at hand, that is picking the right time to draw and make the shot. I also try to remind my self to breathe. I know it may sound crazy, but when you are excited you do not take as deep of a breath as you need to, or at least I do not.

However, it is hard to keep it all together, but that is why we hunt. I will say this, the more you are close to the game you pursue, the easier it will become.

Good luck and stay after them!

[maineac]

Some times I really get the shakes, most often if I can hear the deer for a while before I see it.  The longer this goes on the more unglued I get.  Once I see the deer I can focus and zone in.  If I get the chance to release an arrow the shaking starts as soon as the deer is gone  I really focus on slowing my breathing and looking just at the spot I want the arrow to go, not at any other part of the animal.

[Marc B.]

I can normally stay very concentrated until the shot. After the shot is when it gets me.

[Aunty]

When I got the shakes like you I had to start asking myself how am I going to kill it. Front leg swing forward, pick a spot ect it seemed to calm me down until after the shot anyway. O if it has big antlers DONT look at them!!!

[Shortlongbow]

Try to channel that adrenaline into picking a spot.

[Longrifleman]

No need to get excited when hunting deer on public land in PA, you usually don't see any!!!      

[joe skipp]

After practicing all summer and finally finding myself in the woods opening day..I want that rush of adrenaline when opportunity arrives.

I grip the bow a little tighter, fingers tighten up on the string...this is what I've practiced for. However...to ease the rush, I just tell myself "It's just an animal and I'm going to kill it." My focus is on the vitals and hopefully my arrow finds it's mark.

I believe the more animals you take, the more relaxed you become when making the shot.

Here is how it usually works for me:

I am sittng in a stand and a critter (deer, hog, whatever) walks out. I feel my heart start to beat fast and get a bit nervous. I watch the critter for a while as it moves about in front of me. At some point, the critter makes a mistake and gets in a position where I think "It's time".

At that point everything fades away. I am not nervous, and can no longer detect that my heart is racing or that I am breathing faster. I draw my bow and loose an arrow.

At that point, when I see my arrow zip through the critter, is when I go to shaking like crazy. I get the shakes so bad (esp if it is cold out) that I have to hold onto the tree or a minute if I am hunting in a tree stand.

That's how it usually happens for me.

Bisch

[stik&string]

I try to repeat my shot sequence over in my head and focus on a spot. But I think it is also important to try to practice these types of scenarios too. I try to do this by shooting after vigorous exercise at least once a week. After a run and some push-ups my body feels close to how it feels when that buck of a lifetime is coming in. Knowing that I can pull off the shot when sweaty, shaky, and out of breath gives me the confidence to make it happen.

[Rob W.]

I remember looking through the platform of my stand at a doe looking up at me thinking I must look like a leafy Elvis my leg was shaking so bad. That was last year after being in that situation many times over the years.

If everything happens in a hurry I'm fine til after the shot.

I usually try to tell myself "Full draw pick a spot" "full draw pick a spot" til I shoot. That doesn't always work.

[manitou1]

Medium bucks and does... no problem for me.  Huge bucks, I tend to fall apart!

[kbetts]

Best thing to do IMO is to shoot as many live targets as you can.  Even small stuff like squirrels can work a person up if it is the intended quarry.  Try stalking stuff.  It doesn't seem as bad when you think you're the one controlling the situation.  The mind is a funny thing.  Focus on the task.

Bisch x2.  That's how it works for me.  There is still some concentration time after the shot, but that is a matter of picking up any detail you can about what just happened.  That should come automatic.   Then shake......

[Duncan]

I do better if things sorta fall into place and it all happens quick enough that I don't have time to get buck fever. If the deer is cautious and comes in slow or something looks wrong I have too much time to look at it and then I might get the shakes. A tactic used by anxiety sufferers is to metally acknowledge that you are getting the shakes. Say to yourself, Hey I'm getting shakey again, OK, go ahead and shake and get it over with. That helps me get control of it. Another trick is to practice tensing and releasing various muscle groups one at a time. This "resets" your system. Next practice breathing from the belly instead of filling your chest. Filling the chest rapidly might make you hyper-ventilate. Belly breathing re-centers your breathing and will calm you. You can't get rid of it but you can live with it and kill deer.

[Sam McMichael]

Usually, I stay fairly calm, but, admittedly, sometimes I still get the shakes. When you get to the point of actually drawing the bow a few times, you will eventually find yourself concentrating on distance, picking a spot, etc. and the buck fever tends to give way to planning the shot. This is the old saw about falling back on your training and getting the job done.  Still, if all the excitement ever goes out of the shot, I will give up hunting.

[iohkus]

I believe there IS something to the theory about the more game you shoot the less nervous you become. When I first started squirrel hunting with a rimfire I got nervous as can be spotting, stalking, and aiming. Since then I've killed a ton of squirrels, and although I still enjoy hunting them, I'm no where near as excited as I was back then.
   The problem with bowhunting deer is, I'll never kill all that many, so ....................
but, I don't get out much, but if you do, keep in mind, even if it doesn't get easy, you'll become less nervous.  :D

[emac396]

It gets me after the shot, sometimes I have to calm down before I can climb out of stand.

[longbowben]

When i quit getting nervous its time to quit.Just try to focus on the spot i'm trying to hit. Aim small miss small.