shot control

[pinemarten]

How do you handle shot control? Buck Fever ever an issue? I've had problems with it over the years in both my longbow shooting and with rifles. I tend to shoot the gun real fast and don't take enough time. Usually I hardly recall the actual shot. I'd like to learn how to control my target anxiety and squeeze the trigger with control. Any thoughts on what has worked for you?

Dan

 

[robinsroost]

I don't look at the antlers, they can be a major distraction. I pick the spot where I want the bullet to hit, usually about 1" behind the knee. The advice given in the movie "The Patriot", aim small, miss small, is still true. Keep yer powder dry.........robin :wink:

 

[Critter Getter]

In target archery it is called " target panic". It can be a crippling disease! A surprise release is the cure. In this case a heavier trigger pull might help you have to work to get the trigger to break and help with that surprise shot. If you google target panic I am sure you can find all kinds of information, in which some of it may be helpful. Greg

 

[BrownBear]

Any thoughts on what has worked for you?

One word answer is "time."

I spend lotsa time before the season just being out with the animals and learning from them. I also spend lotsa sime shooting. Then during the season I spend lots of time hunting before I get around to dinking an animal. I pass up animals for quite some time before I finally find the "right" one, even if it's a littlun. I stretch short seasons by passing up game till the last possible day, just so I get lots of time actually hunting, rather than sitting out the last 90% of the season because I shot too soon.

With all that time invested, actually shooting the game is pretty much an afterthought.

 

[Black Hand]

Work on controlling your breathing. Don't shoot until you can keep the sights on target.

 

[hanshi]

It's been decades since I've had actual "buck fever". I still get excited and sometimes "zone out" but no shaking or anything like that. I do remember when it would hit hard but that was a long time ago.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Usually I hardly recall the actual shot.

Just the opposite with me....I can play it back in my head as if I were watching it on TV...Even being able to play it in slow motion....
Something you learn from target shooting..

Try hunting with an unloaded gun.....(no joke)

 

[Patrick Thomas]

That is actually very good advice! Kinda like catch and release. Also, shoot, shoot, shoot. Practice the concentration required and the smooth squeeze.

 

[bender20]

I've always said when I stop getting excited I'll stop hunting. The first buck I ever shot I actually had to pull the gun down and tell myself to calm down and start all over. I just constantly tell myself calm down and focus on the front sight and remember to breathe.

 

[coloradoclyde]

That is actually very good advice! Kinda like catch and release. Also, shoot, shoot, shoot. Practice the concentration required and the smooth squeeze.

Stalking instead of still hunting will also give you "nerves of steel".....It also teaches you better patience that still hunting.

 

[sidelock]

I have never had the shakes while shooting, but my Dad couldn't point a shotgun at a squirrel without shaking, even though he killed quite a lot of game. I have always been more steady at shooting, especially at game than any other shooting. I started shooting when I was 6 years old firing my Daisy BB single shot at mice and rats in the barn. The best white tail I have killed was in 1962,(I have killed about 200 so far)a 5x5, at very close range, and I remember well seeing the bullet hitting him about 1" behind his right elbow.

 

[pinemarten]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I do shoot longbow and have had a terrible time with Target Panic with that...shooting right over the deer's back if I don't get ahold of myself and pick a dang spot...LOL!! Even then, I rush the shot and its the same with the rifle. I'll keep at it....

Trying to hunt some small game can help too know...

Dan

 

[Patrick Thomas]

Very often, when the shot goes over the target, the shooter is lifting his head to see the result. The lifted head causes the shot to go high. Keep that solid cheek weld...like a chipmunk...and follow through...try to see the shot hit through the sights.

 

[Patrick Thomas]

More fun too

 

[Stumpkiller]

DO NOT make eye contact with the deer. Focus on a spot just below the centerline of the chest horizontally and use the foreleg armpit for the vertical line.

On angled shots I think about where the ball (or arrow) will exit.

 

[Critter Getter]

I have years of experience with Target Panic in archery. Shooting close range only ( no more than 10 yards) on a blank bale ( even with your eyes closed) and working on form will help but beware that it can take months to beat it, if ever. A surprise release will help more than anything and believe that the same can be said with helping cure your buck fever. For those who have never experienced this form of anxiety ( really a fear of missing) you don't want it and I would only wish it on my worst of worst enemies! Greg.

 

[rushlake1]

Dry fire till your arms ache...every day....
Use hardwood instead of a flint.

 

[Spikebuck]

Any thoughts on what has worked for you?

One word answer is "time."

I spend lotsa time before the season just being out with the animals and learning from them...
With all that time invested, actually shooting the game is pretty much an afterthought.

EXACTLY! If the problem is Buck Fever as opposed to Target Panic...meaning, you have this issue with firearms when you are going to shoot an animal, but not when shooting targets, then I agree with Brown Bear...get in the woods a LOT outside of hunting season. Be around those animals you are going to hunt as much as you can. Pretend you have a weapon and take aim concentrating on the spot you want to hit. This is kinda sick...but when I visit a zoo, I shoot lots of animals! :shake: :grin:

I have had target panic with archery gear...on targets. I still fight it, though it's mostly under control. Yet I have never experienced it on game. Literally my heart rate does not even noticeably increase for the last 10 or 15 years. I always just say to myself...concentrate on the spot NOW and you'll have the memory of this deer forever.

 

[pinemarten]

Thanks for all your good ideas! I am putting then to use...

Been dry firing and that is helping a lot. Also, loading just the pan with powder and firing that over and over trying to control the front site without flinch.

I am picking spots on squirrels when I see them..LOL!

Dan

 

[Eterry]

I think spending time looking at game up close helps. When I started deer hunting you could only shoot 1 buck, so you looked at a lot of does. I would often "count coup" on the deer, unloading the rifle, taking aim, snapping the rifle, watching the deer react to the sound. In fact I did this last week. I've done this with my caplock; pulling the cap and using my glove to protect the nipple. Would be a little harder with a flinter.

The downside to "buck only" was you shot the 1st buck that walked up. Increased bag limits allowed you to be picky about what you shot, but public land almost forced you to shoot because if you didn't the next guy would.

About 8 years ago most counties adopted the "antler rule" where the buck had to have 13" inside spread. Again, good to keep flinching down, as you see lots of non-shooter bucks.

Also, I was raised by a meat hunter; dad always said you cant cook antlers to where they taste good. Meat was much more important to my family than horns.

I've never had a problem getting nervous, buck fever, whatever you want to call it. My brother gets so excited its a little worrisome to be in the woods with him. I chalk it up to time spent in the woods; I'm in the woods most days off, he doesn't.