I assume you are talking about a hinge. Many hunt with them but I prefer a thumb trigger like my Hot Shot Eclipse. I shoot it with back tension regardless of whether punching paper or punching holes in game.
Take a trigger release and rotate your shoulder at full draw toward the bow riser as if you were going to touch your nose with your trigger finger.
Now you should be able to put trigger in fatty second joint of trigger finger which reduces tactile stimuli received from trigger.
Now the hard part......
Practice squeezing your shoulder blades together while keeping a relaxed (very,very the better) bow arm.
I promise you it will come.IF you will practice every single shot like this FOREVER you will be able to hunt with a trigger and even snap shoot occasionally on game if you never do it practicing.
You may need to close your eyes on a very large target to start but whatever it takes to embed and disassociate the physical aspects of shooting with the anticipation of the shot.
Relax,stay calm and don't care where the arrow hits and it will work closer and closer over time.
Like alcoholism.....always respect your propensity to flinch and NEVER punch trigger in practice.Your are a flinchaholic and will fall off the wagon if you think you aren't :)
You are never cured, just stabilized.....
I never punch the trigger any more. When target practicing it takes about 3-5 seconds for the release to go off using back tension. When I take a shot hunting though I can't tell you how long it takes - all I ever remember is concentrating on aiming at a small spot on the animal and wham the release goes off.
Good luck!
Absolutely right about disassociating the anticipation of the shot. The book Instinctive Archery Insights has a great chapter on target panic.
Here's an exercise I do that I got the idea from that book. Go through your shot routine just like you are going to shoot only you are NOT going to shoot. Put your pin on the bull's eye, move it off the bull's eye left- back to center, right- back to center, up- back to center and down - back to center. Mix it up but you get the idea. You'll find you'll soon be able to move the pin onto the bull's eye with no anxiety because you are not going to shoot.
After awhile, I mean days and longer than you will want to do, start holding longer on the bull's eye until you get to the point you can put the pin on the bull's eye and just hold it there without shooting. When you think you are ready maybe shoot every 3rd or 4th shot. If TP starts creeping back in go back to the drill.
Hope this helps.
But if you want to remove the click, reverse the half moon. You first need to loosen a bolt/screw coming in from the back side and than you punch out the little rod that holds half moon in place. Rod should come out easily once you loosen the set screw. Switch half moon around, reinstall rod and tighten set screw. Moving/rotating the moon up or down increases or decreases how hot or easily the release fires.
PM if you need more info.
As far as the question about using a back tension release to hunt with. I can't think of any reason a person would hunt with an actual back tension release (shooting with back tension on another release is different). When I draw my bow back to shoot an animal, I want to be in total control so I can shoot exactly when I need to. Nothing like being able to squeeze off a shot in that 1-2 second moment that an animal offers a small window of opportunity. You can't do that with a back tension release.
If one "has to" hit the trigger at precise moment, or not at all.... those are the moments we look back on after a failed all day tracking job and say to ourselves, "I should have just waited for another opportunity on another day".
I don't hunt with a hinge, but if I practiced with one, I would definitely hunt with it. I wouldn't want a rooky hunting with a hinge, but if you shoot with it all year, then switching to something else just for hunting, could cause serious confidence problems at the moment of truth. IMHO
You give advice concerning target panic..."The mind is a very powerful thing. It can overcome anything, to include target panic". However in the very next sentence you admit "Then again, I've never had it..."
Unless someone has experienced it, they have ZERO idea how completely destructive it can be. No one says a back tension release is the best option for hunting, however for those trying to control TP, it's the ONLY option! Causing that release to fire in 1-2 seconds is one of the main factors that causes TP. If you've never had TP, then thank the Lord above. However, if you have, you need to learn to LET the release happen, not MAKE it happen.
I understand what both of you are saying but, in the end....a persons mind is what is used to overcome any obstacle in life, including TP.
I dont have target panic with my index trigger release... BUT I cannot hold as steady and I cannot make the trigger go off.. I will sit there and look at my spot until i cant see strait and it wont go off.. BC the strap is attached to my wrist I cannot make it go off with backtension
I shoot a MUCH smaller group with my back tension and if i need to shoot it in less than 2 seconds i am really good at speeding up my shot without completely dumping it..
I have taken a dozen animals with it I the last few years. Hinges can be shot quickly despite popular belief. I have yet to have a moment when I couldn't shoot. I have over come target panic and can shoot a trigger very well, but I love my tru ball sweet spot. I do anticipate buying a tru ball gang four finger soon.
Your post implied you "hit", "punch" or "consciously" squueze the trigger because you wrote,
" When I draw my bow back to shoot an animal, I want to be in total control so I can shoot exactly when I need to. Nothing like being able to squeeze off a shot in that 1-2 second moment that an animal offers a small window of opportunity."
Shooting in this style, without a true surprise release can and will lead to target panic for many people. It may never affect you but it's not good advice for many shooters and especially bad advice for someone who's trying to overcome TP. If you had you'd understand but I hope for your sake you never do....
I've had it with both trad gear and wheels and finally overcame it with the wheels this year after reading "Idiot Proof Archery" and developing a true surprise release using a trigger.
There were two things that worked for me. I needed to look through the pin to the target (rather than trying to focus on the pin) and I switched to a thumb release. These two things have helped me tremendously. I'm not saying it will work for you, but it just may. Might be worth a try...
