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Target anxiety

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Black Moshannon:
I have made good and bad shots while hunting. Recently I made a really bad one. Thankfully the arrow just went off in the bushes and I later found it. I can say my form is not ingrained, in fact I only recently added some tweaks to my shooting style. I’m not real experienced in shooting nor bowhunting. I spend at least three days a week practicing. My shooting has really improved but it went to pieces when under hunting stress. I have never in my life made such a poor shot. My muscles just relaxed and I let the arrow go wherever. My head felt fuzzy and stupid and I was angry. It probably didn’t help that my sixty pound bow is a little heavier than I was formerly used to (used to shoot forty to fifty pounds, average). But while practicing on targets I really was doing well with it.
I will have to practice on groundhogs this summer. I will not screw up while deer hunting this fall. Does anyone have any ideas for dealing with this? I dont want to waste arrows and opportunities and really don’t want to hurt an animal without making a clean kill.  I know I need to make my form subconscious and get a lot of practice on small game. Any tips are appreciated.

Pat B:
Lots of practice and plenty of concentration! For practice it's not how many arrows you shoot but making each one count. You do have to practice enough to build your muscle memory and your archery muscles in general so shoot one arrow at a time and make it count, recover that arrow and shoot it again with purpose.  As far as buck fever I try to concentrate on where the arrow will hit the deer from first sighting. Concentrate on the kill zone and not on the deer. If you shoot at the deer you will shoot over it.
 When I first started shooting I would shoot 50 to 100 arrows at each session. Once I got my muscle memory I reduced that to a dozen or so each session and a week or so before my hunt I'd take one shot a day, either in the early morning or after sunset when I usually saw most deer. Being over bowed can really put a hurting on your shooting when crunch time comes. Trying to draw a heavy bow while everything else is happening can lead to failure so if you are shooting the heavier bow be sure you can draw it smoothly with very little extra movement. A 45# to 50# bow will kill a deer just as easily as a 60# bow especially if you are more comfortable at shooting it.

JW_Halverson:
My target as seen me shoot many times. It feels no anxiety, whatsoever.

Black Moshannon:

--- Quote from: Pat B on May 22, 2020, 12:17:34 pm ---Lots of practice and plenty of concentration! For practice it's not how many arrows you shoot but making each one count. You do have to practice enough to build your muscle memory and your archery muscles in general so shoot one arrow at a time and make it count, recover that arrow and shoot it again with purpose.  As far as buck fever I try to concentrate on where the arrow will hit the deer from first sighting. Concentrate on the kill zone and not on the deer. If you shoot at the deer you will shoot over it.
 When I first started shooting I would shoot 50 to 100 arrows at each session. Once I got my muscle memory I reduced that to a dozen or so each session and a week or so before my hunt I'd take one shot a day, either in the early morning or after sunset when I usually saw most deer. Being over bowed can really put a hurting on your shooting when crunch time comes. Trying to draw a heavy bow while everything else is happening can lead to failure so if you are shooting the heavier bow be sure you can draw it smoothly with very little extra movement. A 45# to 50# bow will kill a deer just as easily as a 60# bow especially if you are more comfortable at shooting it.

--- End quote ---
I’m sure I’m overbowed right now for hunting. Maybe I’ll have changed that by October. Sounds like a workable routine. I think focusing on one spot will help with the anxiety, maybe. I hope so. Thanks for the insight.
 
--- Quote from: JW_Halverson on May 22, 2020, 07:30:03 pm ---My target as seen me shoot many times. It feels no anxiety, whatsoever.

--- End quote ---
. I mean to throw some fear into mine.

Hawkdancer:
No pictures?!  It didn't happen! 

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