What is your pre-shot routine?

[ofor]

I completed my first year in the saddle this year and had a couple ups and downs. One of my lessons learned is that I need to develop and practice a better pre-shot routine during the off-season. I am a respectable target shooter but had a couple instances this season where I came unglued during the moment of truth on nice bucks. Looking for some input from my saddle brethren on what your pre-shot routines are and if there is anything different or specific you do in your routine when shooting from the saddle.

 

[sureshotscott]

Switch off the safety.

 

[Rg176bnc]

Id say if your a good spot shooter a you already have a routine. What you need is some blood on your hands. Its the only thing that will calm you down and get you thinking straight.

You wont become a stone cold killer over night and really the ride is the fun part. I haven't had hard core shakes in several decades and honestly a critter will probably have to try and kill me for it to happen again.

 

[tim_dawg22]

Not sure if you are shooting with a rifle or a bow.

I primarily hunt with a bow. No real pre shot routine to speak of. I just draw early, settle in, and wait for the deer to stop where I want it or I attempt to stop it where I want it with the ol “meh”.

Haven’t shot a moving deer in years as I had some bad experiences doing that when I first started bow hunting.

I went through some rough times last year where I was a little too worked up in the heat of the moment. Made a few bad shots and they compounded as the season progressed.

I switched from a 5 pin sight to a single pin slider this year and it has made a world of difference for me. Much easier to focus now and I’m confident I can place the arrow where I want it.

Another thing I did was start practicing exclusively with a back tension/hinge release. I hunt with my thumb activated release but I don’t use it for practice.






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[Blinginpse]

Id say if your a good spot shooter a you already have a routine. What you need is some blood on your hands. Its the only thing that will calm you down and get you thinking straight.

You wont become a stone cold killer over night and really the ride is the fun part. I haven't had hard core shakes in several decades and honestly a critter will probably have to try and kill me for it to happen again.

This.....you gonna half to get ya hands dirty. Only way your gonna get to being in auto pilot when time comes is time and experience. We can give all the advice you want but learning small things like on holding your bow without all weight on your arm awaiting time to draw or setting your feet as you see the shot panning out. Just lots of small things you just gonna half to just do. My advice is yes you can shoot targets from a tree all day long but put that heartbeat under you and its mental then for most. When you get shots at does freakin take em. Dont be stuck on the horns. Kill the does for meat and the experience

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[ImThere]

when practicing use a ladder stand as your platform, climb down and go get your arrow every shot, as soon as you get set back in the tree take your shot, keep your heart beat up from the work out of climbing it will help,
and kill a bunch of critters soon you will get in to auto pilot, they don't have to be deer
get in to position for a shot on every deer you see for awhile, that will get your body to know the routine, I like to practice this in observation sits in the scouting season,

 

[mattfish]

“When you get shots at does freakin take em. Dont be stuck on the horns. Kill the does for meat and the experience”

Couldn’t agree more. Practice from your saddle in real life scenarios. It’s great. But actually shooting deer while hunting is even better!!

 

[Allegheny Tom]

Its easy to say, but you really need to stop pressuring yourself. Guys get all nerved up because they feel desperate to kill the critter. So what if you don't get the shot?
Multiple encounters with tons of deer, over time, will help calm your nerves.
Shooting groundhogs, squirrels, starlings, etc also helped to make me more focused on the shot and less on the animal.

 

[TNbowhunter]

Its easy to say, but you really need to stop pressuring yourself. Guys get all nerved up because they feel desperate to kill the critter. So what if you don't get the shot?
Multiple encounters with tons of deer, over time, will help calm your nerves.
Shooting groundhogs, squirrels, starlings, etc also helped to make me more focused on the shot and less on the animal.

I’ll go on record as recommending against shooting starlings and other non-game species. Squirrels are great practice because they’re also great table fare!

 

[robstewart]

This reminds me of a story. I was out during the shotgun hunt with about 15 min left in the season. I had a deer follow my foot prints straight to me (buck bomb strayed on my boots). Unfortunately it was getting dark and I couldn’t see if it was a spike horn or a doe when it stopped at 15 yards.

As I stood there hiding behind a tree my hands were BURNING. The pain was unbelievable and after the deer realized I was there and took off, I started dealing with the pain.

What had happened was that I was wearing thin gloves and in the sub zero cold all the blood had left my hands. The moment my adrenaline started and the blood rushed back into my freezing cold hands it felt like FIRE!

Now my favourite piece of kit is a HSS muff. I run those chemical hand warmers when deer hunting and a Zippo when doing small game etc.

Generally I wear thing work gloves and use the hand warmer to keep me comfortable before the shot so I don’t have a repeat of this situation.




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[BTaylor]

You might want to check out Joel Turner's teachings with Shot IQ

 

[Allegheny Tom]

I’ll go on record as recommending against shooting starlings and other non-game species. Squirrels are great practice because they’re also great table fare!

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this. Would you pass on a chance at a coyote because it's not table fare?

Groundhogs are close to public enemy #1 around here. They are highly destructive. They chew the furniture on my deck. They invade drainage pipes and clog them and cause erosion and water back-ups. They dig holes in hay and crop fields which leads to broken machinery and lost harvest time and farm revenue. My neighbor rolled a 6,000 lb tractor over on himself because he hit a groundhog hole while making hay. My buddy had his barn collapse because a ground hog decided to dig a hole directly under a support post. I hate them and I will kill every one I can. I usually kill 40 or 50 per summer. And a dead one doesn't go to waste. Hawks, vultures, coyotes, fox, possum, you name it, they all quickly find and eat a dead groundhog.

Starlings are a horrible invasives from Europe introduced to N America by humans. They are one of the prime reasons why the American Bluebird is in decline. They are hard on seeded fields and other grain. And dead starlings are also quickly eaten by a host of carnivores and scavengers.

So, you guys that need some bow practice on live critters can shoot 'hogs and starlings with a clean conscience.

 

[TNbowhunter]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this. Would you pass on a chance at a coyote because it's not table fare?

Groundhogs are close to public enemy #1 around here. They are highly destructive. They chew the furniture on my deck. They invade drainage pipes and clog them and cause erosion and water back-ups. They dig holes in hay and crop fields which leads to broken machinery and lost harvest time and farm revenue. My neighbor rolled a 6,000 lb tractor over on himself because he hit a groundhog hole while making hay. My buddy had his barn collapse because a ground hog decided to dig a hole directly under a support post. I hate them and I will kill every one I can. I usually kill 40 or 50 per summer. And a dead one doesn't go to waste. Hawks, vultures, coyotes, fox, possum, you name it, they all quickly find and eat a dead groundhog.

Starlings are a horrible invasives from Europe introduced to N America by humans. They are one of the prime reasons why the American Bluebird is in decline. They are hard on seeded fields and other grain. And dead starlings are also quickly eaten by a host of carnivores and scavengers.

So, you guys that need some bow practice on live critters can shoot 'hogs and starlings with a clean conscience.

Consider me educated! I had no problem with shooting groundhogs and coyotes because I was aware of their destructiveness, but was unaware of the starling problem. FIRE AWAY!!

(My first "hunting" as a kid was my dad giving me a BB gun and telling me to shoot all cowbirds off our bird feeder because they're harmful to songbirds--good times.)

 

[Rg176bnc]

Its easy to say, but you really need to stop pressuring yourself. Guys get all nerved up because they feel desperate to kill the critter. So what if you don't get the shot?

Theres a couple of statements to live by if your a bowhunter. The few times if have forced a shot have almost always ended up in a nightmare. Especially if your amped up. I bet it took me a solid 4 seasons to get buck fever under control.

First deer I ever shot at was a cruising buck when my dad and I were walking out. First shot was pretty close but high. I pulled an arrow out and it totally fell off the rest to the ground TWICE! My leg was bouncing so hard I could barely stand. It was awesome and I'll never forget it. Over 30 years later Im still tore up on that drug.

 

[Nutterbuster]

Several game warden friends of mine told me to shoot every hog and let them lay. In Texas they just made hogs open season all year WITHOUT a license because they are getting so bad. We don't have starlings but we have grackles that are horrible. Some folks might reconsider if they had any clue how much w have to go through to keep these flying menaces out of the flight path of incoming/outbound aircraft.

How does that work with out of state guys on WMA land? My backyard pigs all died off in last year's flood, or most of them did anyway. Texas is close enough that if I could get in on a cheap hunt I'd go.

 

[dlist777]

Its easy to say, but you really need to stop pressuring yourself. Guys get all nerved up because they feel desperate to kill the critter. So what if you don't get the shot?
Multiple encounters with tons of deer, over time, will help calm your nerves.
Shooting groundhogs, squirrels, starlings, etc also helped to make me more focused on the shot and less on the animal.

This. 100%. I started 6 years ago. I didn't want to shoot "small bucks" because that's what the internet told me. When I finally encountered a mature buck I nearly sh&t myself. Then, I said, screw that and just started working my way up. Yearlings...2.5 y/o's...etc. etc. Killing a few really takes the pressure off. You don't feel like you'll never see one again. When I see a nice buck, I just keep telling myself it's OK if I don't get a shot, I'll see another one later. Then, I'm only taking a shot when everything is right and not worrying if he never presents a good shot.

 

[TNbowhunter]

This. 100%. I started 6 years ago. I didn't want to shoot "small bucks" because that's what the internet told me. When I finally encountered a mature buck I nearly sh&t myself. Then, I said, screw that and just started working my way up. Yearlings...2.5 y/o's...etc. etc. Killing a few really takes the pressure off. You don't feel like you'll never see one again. When I see a nice buck, I just keep telling myself it's OK if I don't get a shot, I'll see another one later. Then, I'm only taking a shot when everything is right and not worrying if he never presents a good shot.

Same story here. I couldn't get the monkey off my back for years, despite shooting softball-sized groups at 20 yards on the range. I repeatedly missed deer completely (not even wounding them is better ethically, but reflects how off-target I was), despite only shooting at broadside deer 20 yards and in. Killing a couple little 3-pointers in successive years helped my confidence a TON. The next year, I shot three great bucks (two in TN, one in KY), and while my heart was racing, the experience of killing those little bucks cooled my nerves a bit since I could pep-talk myself and say I'm a killer. Haha But, putting literally thousands of arrows downrange the next offseason made huge difference too. Without all that practice, I wouldn't have been confident enough to execute a 35-yard PERFECT shot on my biggest buck ever.
One more mental trick: When you're aiming at the deer, say in your head or under your breath "Execute this shot." Sounds silly, but it helps me remember that killing the deer is not what I'm doing in that moment--it's the outcome of it, but my "task" in that moment is to execute a perfect archery shot.

 

[Nutterbuster]

Things NutterBuster doesn't believe exist in the woods:

Fairies
Bigfeet
Gnomes
Perfect T form or shot sequences

Deer have a way of coming out from your 3 to 6 while you have your fly down looking dead at you for no reason while running 50mph through the woods at last light.

Luckily, deer are big and not particularly arrow proof. If you can hit your block target in your backyard but can't hit deer, it isn't about form or a shot sequence. It's about your body dumping adrenaline into your system, which increases blood flow and pressure so you can use dem big muscles, dilates your pupils to allow for better night and peripheralvision, and expands your air passages so you can suck in that sweet, sweet oxygen. It does lots of beneficial things if you were to be tangling tooth and nail with that whitetail. Might give you a chance.

But, none of that is conductive to a good bow shot. Kill enough deer, and your body will recognize that you don't need that stuff to fill your belly.

 

[bigjoe]

I agree with all that has been said. The more practice you get in, the more comfortable you will feel. It should be a relaxed moment when you take your shot, like being in The Zone. No thoughts other than concentrating on that little tuft of hair behind the shoulder. I say yes to shooting does to put meat in the freezer. It will help you gain confidence.

As far as my routine goes, it is pretty simple. If possible, I wait until the deer is behind a tree, so it cannot detect movement. If the deer is in range or going to give me a shot, at that point I draw. If not I wait, with the bow at the ready to draw.. All depends on the situation. Having a smooth draw is very helpful, you should not have to muscle the arrow back to your anchor point, it is imperative. You should not be having to dip the bow etc. it needs to be a fluid draw. This reduces movement, and allows you to stay at full draw longer should you have too. Too many men want to shoot a 70# or higher and should really be shooting something lighter.

Just my $00.02.

 

[ofor]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I definitely was pressing too hard during the 2018 season and went into 2019 with the attitude that I would take the first 1.5+ year old animal (buck or doe) that gave me a shot opportunity. Like many of you have commented, I needed to learn how to kill em.

I did take a 1.5 year old 6 pointer on Oct. 27 at 8:15am. Just 10 minutes earlier I had sent an arrow over the back of a spike at 25 yards for a clean miss. Rushed the shot and didn’t settle my pin. My shot on the 6 was at 8 yards and was a spine shot. I emptied my quiver on it to finish it off. I will never forget The feeling of satisfaction that I had at that moment and the feeling of relief of finally getting it done.

This success is what has me now striving to improve my pre-shot. I had a lot of failures leading up to that moment of success and I’ve taken lessons from each of those failures.