Target panic has me wanting to switch

[NMSbowhunter]

Another thing I would recommend is trying your best to set up your potential shots to 20 yards and in. Ideally you should try to get them in that 12 yard sweet spot. Pass any iffy angles. Be disciplined. This will help you too because if a deer is out at 30 yards think to yourself that it might as well be 300 and that deer is perfectly safe. Tell yourself if the deer is not positioned right, it is safe. Wait until it all is perfect. In my opinion, you just need to get them close and get one success. After that you will most likely have this monkey off your back.

TV and social media, etc has people, especially new hunters, believing that 30 and 40 yard shots are normal. For a very small number of folks this may be true but most bowhunters will be best served sticking to 25 yards as max. I count myself in the close-range club.

Also, this is another part of that mental gymnastics that I was talking about. Stop telling yourself you have target panic. Get on your target range at 12 yards and tell yourself I am going to put that arrow 2 inches up the crease right behind the shoulder. Then just do it. Be matter of fact. Draw, pick a tiny spot, tell yourself what you are going to do, then do it.

 

[woodsdog2]

Another thing I would recommend is trying your best to set up your potential shots to 20 yards and in. Ideally you should try to get them in that 12 yard sweet spot. Pass any iffy angles. Be disciplined. This will help you too because if a deer is out at 30 yards think to yourself that it might as well be 300 and that deer is perfectly safe. Tell yourself if the deer is not positioned right, it is safe. Wait until it all is perfect. In my opinion, you just need to get them close and get one success. After that you will most likely have this monkey off your back.

TV and social media, etc has people, especially new hunters, believing that 30 and 40 yard shots are normal. For a very small number of folks this may be true but most bowhunters will be best served sticking to 25 yards as max.

Also, this is another part of that mental gymnastics that I was talking about. Stop telling yourself you have target panic. Get on your target range at 12 yards and tell yourself I am going to put that arrow 2 inches up the crease right behind the shoulder. Then just do it. Be matter of fact. Draw, pick a tiny spot, tell yourself what you are going to do, then do it.

I will add to this excellent post is try to practice on 3d targets as much as you can. The dimensional target differences can be daunting if you just shoot paper or flat targets all the time and then go in the deer woods. It never seems to be much of an issue for me but some people do have an issue with this.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

I will add to this excellent post is try to practice on 3d targets as much as you can. The dimensional target differences can be daunting if you just shoot paper or flat targets all the time and then go in the deer woods. It never seems to be much of an issue for me but some people do have an issue with this.

Great point. I only ever shoot a bullseye target sighting a bow in, then it is a deer shaped target only. I need to get a 3D deer but I am too frugal for my own good and just cut out a deer shape from cardboard, lol. Shooting at a deer shape is very important.

 

[Blacksmith]

Have a friend who snap shoots and cannot settle on the target w/his recurve. As a last resort I installed a clicker and it makes him hit full draw and slow down. Not sure if there's anything like that for a five string though. I would suggest also the Dart Shoots, 3D,and maybe have a friend video your release. I've helped some by making them stay at full draw and slow down. I, like others are not sure target panic is the issue. Sounds like you are just falling apart on a live critter. Switching to a Trad bow will probably even make it worse, though I would never discourage anyone from shooting the stick bow. Wish you were close here so I could try to help you.

 

[MattMan81]

For whatever reason I have a lot easier time shooting deer with the ezv sight than using a conventional pin sight. Getting the pin in the exact right spot on a deer could be panic inducing for me.
Some people I’ve heard don’t like the ezv but I love it.

Gonna say X2 on the ezV . It is definitely more about instincts than precision. It wasen't for me. But that's why we are all different.
Also are you in a tree? Do you get enough tree reps in shooting? It's eazy to change your form from a saddle or stand.

 

[deerfly]

Great point. I only ever shoot a bullseye target sighting a bow in, then it is a deer shaped target only. I need to get a 3D deer but I am too frugal for my own good and just cut out a deer shape from cardboard, lol. Shooting at a deer shape is very important.

I will add to this excellent post is try to practice on 3d targets as much as you can. The dimensional target differences can be daunting if you just shoot paper or flat targets all the time and then go in the deer woods. It never seems to be much of an issue for me but some people do have an issue with this.

I'm probably odd man out, but I actually disagree with this. Imho 3d does nothing to help be a better shot on a live game, esp when the problem is anxiety and focus related. 3D targets don't see, hear, smell or move when you draw down on them. There are no deep emotional consequences to a miss or wounding hit. All these things are in play on a live animal, more so for a big game animal.

I think a much better solution is to hunt small game. Go out and try to put a few squirrels in the bag some morning or afternoon. You still have to aim for lungs or eye, the aim small miss small thing. You'll invariably wound a squirrel or two in the process, which should make you feel bad enough to do better on the next shot. No one likes to see any animal suffer from our direct actions. This is the kind of mental feedback you need to get your focus where it needs to be.

Most of us never really conquer buck fever but we learn to manage it and killing small game will go a lot further to getting your head in the game so to speak vs inanimate targets.

 

[woodsdog2]

I'm probably odd man out, but I actually disagree with this. Imho 3d does nothing to help be a better shot on a live game, esp when the problem is anxiety and focus related. 3D targets don't see, hear, smell or move when you draw down on them. There are no deep emotional consequences to a miss or wounding hit. All these things are in play on a live animal, more so for a big game animal.

I think a much better solution is to hunt small game. Go out and try to put a few squirrels in the bag some morning or afternoon. You still have to aim for lungs or eye, the aim small miss small thing. You'll invariably wound a squirrel or two in the process, which should make you feel bad enough to do better on the next shot. No one likes to see any animal suffer from our direct actions. This is the kind of mental feedback you need to get your focus where it needs to be.

Most of us never really conquer buck fever but we learn to manage it and killing small game will go a lot further to getting your head in the game so to speak vs inanimate targets.

Stump shooting or range roving for small game is indeed excellent practice. It would also assist with shot timing issues on live game for sure. Be sure to get some same weighted judo tips and/or blunts or bludgeon style heads though.

 

[kbetts]

If you can't drop the trigger with a sight (reference point) and a release (cleaner), you in no way need to be considering traditional right now. One of the first things that freaks a person out is not having a "pin" to put on your target.

 

[woodsdog2]

I know people who have great difficulty when switching from shooting paper to shooting dimensional targets. They have to practice on dimensional targets before deer season or they have issues shooting live game due to the target shape as compared to a flat
Fixed paper target. Some people
May not have the time or small game seasons may prevent them from having adequate time in the spring and summer months to be ready for deer season.

 

[Tim0712]

How many deer have you killed?

How long have you been bow hunting?

You won’t use a crossbow, because you think it’s not fair. But you are willing to switch to a trad bow, which will have a shorter effective range, be a slower projectile, with a worse trajectory, that relies more on your skill and focus on to be accurate and precise, because you can’t hit deer with a compound.

I don’t really know what my third question is. I’m just confused on what you think fair is.

I don’t know the exact number. I haven’t shot mounds of deer but enough to be comfortable and familiar enough with what I’m doing. I’ve only been truly archery hunting for the last 3 years I’d call the 12 years before that an extensive learning curve of even find deer. I’d say the last 3 years I’ve seen 2-3x the amount of deer I saw in the 12 years prior. I should retract my crossbow statement because I cannot figure out my issue I may consider that a personal handicap and use one out of state but personal preference I’d prefer not to. I by no means want anything to do with wounding any animal. And in fact if I wounded more than just one I probably would have put the bow down and just gun hunted from that point forward. Basically I’m here for criticism to try and help me sort out my mental weakness in the pursue of game. I’ve scrolled through endless hours of forums and blogs trying to make sense of myself and can’t seem to pin point what I need to do to help

 

[Tim0712]

For whatever reason I have a lot easier time shooting deer with the ezv sight than using a conventional pin sight. Getting the pin in the exact right spot on a deer could be panic inducing for me.
Some people I’ve heard don’t like the ezv but I love it.

I looked into the ez v when I switched to a single pin but the mixed reviews shy’d me away

 

[kyler1945]

I don’t know the exact number. I haven’t shot mounds of deer but enough to be comfortable and familiar enough with what I’m doing. I’ve only been truly archery hunting for the last 3 years I’d call the 12 years before that an extensive learning curve of even find deer. I’d say the last 3 years I’ve seen 2-3x the amount of deer I saw in the 12 years prior. I should retract my crossbow statement because I cannot figure out my issue I may consider that a personal handicap and use one out of state but personal preference I’d prefer not to. I by no means want anything to do with wounding any animal. And in fact if I wounded more than just one I probably would have put the bow down and just gun hunted from that point forward. Basically I’m here for criticism to try and help me sort out my mental weakness in the pursue of game. I’ve scrolled through endless hours of forums and blogs trying to make sense of myself and can’t seem to pin point what I need to do to help

I think you should set up a single pin sight on a compound, shoot razor sharp fixed blade broadheads, tune your bow perfectly.

I think you should set a max distance of 25 yards to shoot at deer.

I think you should shoot 10 deer.

Then I think you should reevaluate your results, and see what could be improved.

 

[Tim0712]

shooting trad isn’t a cure for target panic and a few will probably disagree but, I’m fairly confident in saying that shooting quickly is more likely to cause target panic then fix it. You need to be in control of your shot, regardless of what type of bow you are shooting. You can shoot a gun because you focus on the act of squeezing the trigger under control and it is a surprise when it goes off.

You need to listen to everything you can by Joel Turner. Here is a podcast that he did with Trad Geeks. https://tradgeeks.com/podcast/podcast41/
This is more Trad focused but Joel has a ton of information out there about shooting compounds also. Joel does an amazing job explaining the causes of target panic and how to fix it.

So I just listened to that podcast and it honestly really helped me make sense of the mental issue in the shot sequence. Like I said I would consider my self rather proficient when it comes to 3D. I’d assume that’s because it’s a controlled environment. The words that stood at best to me in that podcast were “stop thinking in the future” the explanation of shooting subconsciously really makes sense and really applied to my personal battle

 

[Tim0712]

I think you should set up a single pin sight on a compound, shoot razor sharp fixed blade broadheads, tune your bow perfectly.

I think you should set a max distance of 25 yards to shoot at deer.

I think you should shoot 10 deer.

Then I think you should reevaluate your results, and see what could be improved.

I switched this past year to a single pin and a thumb release which greatly improved my proficiency as an archer. I would say all of my preset locations 90% of the lanes are within 20 yards most being less I can only off hand think of 2 30 yard lanes and I wouldn’t even think about drawing back on an animal that far. I do however shoot mechanicals and was thinking about switching over to fixed blades. Thank you for your input I really appreciate it

 

[overspined]

I have target panic. It’s super common. Trad won’t help i shoot both. I say Joel will help identify and understand. But it takes hard work and patience to get through it. I’ll bet you have with gun too just don’t know it. Anyway good luck but you can get through it

 

[BTaylor]

As to the buck fever vs target panic thoughts, if it interferes with executing a perfect shot, it is target panic. That said, target panic is a huge catch all name for all the ways we can screw it up. For some that is not being able to hold a pin on the spot, for some it is not having control of breaking the shot, for others it could be lack of mental or emotional control when a live animal is the target. To be a deadly bowhunter requires intent and repetition on game. Every shot on game should to be intentional and perfectly executed which means under absolute control. Keep in mind every perfectly executed shot will not yield perfect results because the critter always gets a vote in the outcome.

Joel has a sequence analogy he uses talking about being in control of the shot. Extend that to the "hunt". The most deadly bowhunters I know, understand the animal they are hunting, they understand where they need to be to get a shot, their mindset is "when he gets right there I am going to kill him" not "if one comes in I hope I get a shot". When the animal gets to that spot, the hunt is over and it is killing time, all focus is on one thing and one thing only, executing the shot. The weapon of choice is irrelevant.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

I don’t know the exact number. I haven’t shot mounds of deer but enough to be comfortable and familiar enough with what I’m doing. I’ve only been truly archery hunting for the last 3 years I’d call the 12 years before that an extensive learning curve of even find deer. I’d say the last 3 years I’ve seen 2-3x the amount of deer I saw in the 12 years prior. I should retract my crossbow statement because I cannot figure out my issue I may consider that a personal handicap and use one out of state but personal preference I’d prefer not to. I by no means want anything to do with wounding any animal. And in fact if I wounded more than just one I probably would have put the bow down and just gun hunted from that point forward. Basically I’m here for criticism to try and help me sort out my mental weakness in the pursue of game. I’ve scrolled through endless hours of forums and blogs trying to make sense of myself and can’t seem to pin point what I need to do to help

On the issue of wounding. It is good you are evaluating everything to do your best to not wound deer but understand, if you hunt long enough it is going to happen. I have hunted long enough to have seen and personally experienced deer wounded by high powered rifles and not recovered. These were shots under 100 yards at calm deer hit well and they just vanished at the end of a blood trail that would put an 80's slasher film to shame. There was no explaining it.

It is a variable we have no control over, and we just have to do our best to make good shots but sometimes it won't work out.

 

[kbetts]

I switched this past year to a single pin and a thumb release which greatly improved my proficiency as an archer. I would say all of my preset locations 90% of the lanes are within 20 yards most being less I can only off hand think of 2 30 yard lanes and I wouldn’t even think about drawing back on an animal that far. I do however shoot mechanicals and was thinking about switching over to fixed blades. Thank you for your input I really appreciate it

If you haven't killed with what you already have, why change? At this point you have no personal experience to reference what works and what doesn't. Mechanicals kill just fine and tune easier. Keep it simple and work on YOU

 

[thedutchtouch]

I was having trouble getting my pins to settle year one (3.5 years ago) so switched to an ez v sight pretty early on. Some people think they are a gimmick but it works for me. I do still somewhat cheat and have the yardage tic marks facing me but it's worked well for 3 deer and unknown foam target hits.

One could make an argument that it was simply the amount of practice and repetition and small amount of experience that has been the larger factor, but the EZ-V does have a decent sized fan club, and most shot pins longer than I did before switching.

 

[Nutterbuster]

So I’ve never harvested a deer with a bow yet every deer I’ve shot with a gun it was a no brainer just second nature grab point pull. No nerves no getting giddy no shaking just straight to the point and done. So I’ve been reading and reading and reading more about guys switching to trad for the reason of target panic. I feel that knowing I need the precise shot will calm my nerves greatly rather than looking for the first shot and the speed of shooting a recurve is from what I understand to be a fast tempo like drawing a gun. Any guys here switch off compound to trad for these reasons? I’m not big on social media. In fact this forum is about my only form of communication with people I don’t know lol so figured this would be my best shot at getting straight forward answers

I don't know much, but I know that nothing about picking up a recurve bow will result in you killing more deer than you could kill with a compound bow.

I too am plagued with excess energy and an anxious personality. I've oh-so-slowly learned to hold off on the brilliant ideas until my eye stops twitching, and to value the input of friends who disagree with me.

Missing deer and putting bad shots on them is part of hunting. If you've never missed a deer with a gun, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you haven't shot that many deer. I've missed 2 this year alone and I've put something like 70 deer and hogs on the ground in 10 years. There's no cure for missing deer like shooting deer. Keep flinging arrows. Don't add a problem to your problem by going trad.