How much does it affect you?

[lockmaster]

If you hunt, you know what it is! Let's all be honest in this, and maybe help others. If you had it in the past and overcame it, tell us how you did it or if time just took care of it. It can cause us to shoot very poorly, make us forget all the basics of form, and make our adrenalin reach it's peak.

In the long gone days, it was "the common practice" that if you MISSED your deer, or hit it and it gets away...you got your shirt tail cut off....no matter what! You soon learned to shoot well and get your deer or lose your shirt tail for ALL to see...no matter if it was your best hunting shirt even!

It's funny sometimes but really does seriously affect our ability more than we even know. We just attribute it a lot of times to nothing more than a bad shot, bad form or something else. Still..."the fever" is very much with us and will be a part of hunting for the rest of our lives and beyond.

It's a GREAT feeling in a lot of ways just for the "excitement" it brings on. What we call excitement is that sudden rush of things in us that takes a lot of us through a metamorphosis that makes us wonder "what happened?".

If it affects you, please take this poll and explain how you deal with it. You may help many others and prevent a few more lost deer. Not all deer are lost because of it, but I know you ALL have to agree that it's a major factor we have to deal with....and for many, it's a real problem.

If your bow is well tuned, all your equipment is well matched, you have practiced hours on end, you have a broadhead that is awesome, and your form has been honed perfectly...and then when the "moment of reckoning" arrives and "buck fever" takes hold of you with a grip.......all the preceding becomes a blur and can not even factor in!

[BT]

Holy Crap!....you gotta allow at least 6 choices on a poll like this!! ;D
I am all over the place
The coyote this year was such a lay up shot that this fact alone caused my heart to beat so hard that my bow arm was jumping up and down like a butter churn handle ;D
Many times it's the fact that I cant miss or that the shot is so perfect that will get me going.

Sometimes, it's the fact that the deer is getting away and I am trying to make it work while trying to estimate gaining distance, watching for debris,ect..

Sometimes I am so calm it's as if it was all a dream.....super smooth and similar to shooting a target alone in my back yard.

I picked now and again

______________

Now...to answer your question...

My release hand is the #1 aid in calming me down.
Huh?
Yes....my release hand and the way I position it.
I found that many times, while shooting 3-D (with a group) that I would get wild and shoot way under my average score
This was due to many reasons and many of those reason related straight back to hunting situations.
PRESSURE!
So...instead of using my release hand in a comfortable position...I turn my hand 90degree's outward and shoot with my ring finger on the trigger.
For me, this is a very painful position due to the fact that my right hand has been damaged many times and that wrist has suffered many fractures over time.
It always hurts to write, and drawing/holding and then turning that hand under that pressure is painful!
SO why?....because it focuses me and if I don't do it right....it doesn't hurt as bad.
SO....if I am not perfectly locked in...I know it
Crazy?....no, not really....it's what works

The no-peep is another great aid that follows the same logic of necessary distraction.
I have to check it and I cant simply come back, lock in and shoot
I have to check it to make sure that I am perfect.
This helps a tremendous amount in keeping those shots spot on and where I intend them to be

I guess what I am saying is that making things for myself to do in order to shoot perfectly is what keeps me from thinking too much about the other things such as the shot itself.
If I think about the shot, I am doomed most times
Once I am all set and locked in, I don't have time to think about anything else
Just like a bulls eye, I prep and then put the pin on the spot and fire.

This is what works for me...at this moment

[mtshooter]

Wow, great question

I will start with my very first encounter bowhunting. I was 150 yards from a bull elk that was raking a juniper bush. There was a clearing between us and then a stand of timber, all I could see was his legs and the bush he was raking was shaking wildly. I hyper-ventilated, everything was shaking to the point I almost couldn't stand up My husband had to reach out and touch my arm and remind me to breath slowly. Never got close enough for a shot, but that was the moment I vowed that I would never let it happen again. Later that same day I had 3 cow elk come crashing through the timber and stop 30 yards from me, I came to full draw but never released an arrow. I was still unsure of my abilities with a bow and wouldn't take the shot, but learned that I could control my nerves in the heat of the moment.

I am lucky enough to have deer pass through my yard everyday. I spent the next summer and fall stalking the does and their fawns to see how close I could really get.

Now as a general rule I stay extremely calm until after the shot. Once my arrow is released, and I see it hit its mark, that is where I loose it everytime My arm starts shaking, sweat starts running down my neck, and my legs turn to rubber bands. Only after several deep breaths and a thank you prayer can I start dancing my little jig

This is the reason I chose sometimes more than others

[BT]

Nov 22, 2008 8:04:23 GMT -5 mtshooter said:

Now as a general rule I stay extremely calm until after the shot. Once my arrow is released, and I see it hit its mark, that is where I loose it every time My arm starts shaking, sweat starts running down my neck, and my legs turn to rubber bands.

I am surprised that more people act like you than the other way around.
(getting the shakes before the shot)
I only got your condition a couple of times,,,,years and years ago.

More times than not, I would get weak in the knee's and shake like a leaf before I even drew the bow
As I said, last year (for no reason) I did the same thing on a Doe and this year on a Coyote.
Funny thing is that on the Yote, I had just dropped a deer not 15 minutes before he came and I was dead calm ;D

[mtshooter]

I'll admit on the outside I am calm and cool. I spend hours on my form and picking a spot to make sure I am always focused on the shot. Inside my mind is going 500 miles an hour.

[smj]

I find that every season - that first animal is tough to get past. I can stalk animals all summer, get close and take pictures or just watch them... But the first time an animal comes in close and I have my bow in my hand and a tag in my pocket, I feel it! If I take the shot and get the animal, it's over till next season. If I don't get a shot, or hit a branch or what ever, likewise it is over till next year - won't bother me again that season. No matter how many shots I get (or don't get) after that first animal I become much more of a machine: wait, wait, pick spot, draw, shoot. I can't say that I dance afterwards, but I certainly have a mixture of feelings that pass through me post kill. Kind of a full spectrum experience!

[rreda]

For me, it is all about timing. If I have to wait long for the deer to come in, the anticipation can get me real excited. It doesn't matter whether it is a buck or a doe. It gets me breathing hard and my heart pumping. But that is why I bowhunt. To get that feeling.

Now on the 2 bucks I shot this year, in both cases the bucks came in quick, and the shot happened within seconds. Like MTShooter, I did not get excited until the deed was over and done!

[murphy617]

the buck with the bow this year i didn't miss(never shot at), but i managed to scare it off by doing something i shouldn't have!!! my heart was pounding so hard it was good and bad at the same time!!! then thanksgiving morning, i caught buck fever with a shotgun in my hand. around 45 yard shot with a shotgun, clean miss, it was the biggest buck i've ever seen in the woods. i'm still replaying that miss in my head , just ask tedicast!!! he'll tell you!!! both times i think my heart hit the forest floor, even with the missed shots, it's still the best feeling when you see that deer!!!

[BT]

Dec 11, 2008 22:29:34 GMT -5 murphy617 said:

.... both times i think my heart hit the forest floor, even with the missed shots, it's still the best feeling when you see that deer!!!

[bowman]

I love the rush I get. but as with MT it hits me after the shot. If you start to lose this feeling find something to do different. put away the compound and pick up a Trad bow. Or put awat the rifle and get a MZ do something different or as with me I am filming all my hunts now and that adds an extra bit of excitment.
any way try something different you won't regret it.