Of course not - it's only you, you poor sucker!
:-)
What allowed me to finally gain control of my shooting, rather than it controlling me, was to buy a back tension release (Carter Backstrap) and follow the program outlined in Bernie Pellerite's book "Idiotproof Archery". It was hell, but after 6 weeks of religiously following the program, I had developed a surprise release and was able to shoot anxiety-free for the first time in nearly 20yrs. That was back in 2008, and I haven't looked back since.
Basically, I use the same shot sequence whether I'm practicing, shooting a tournament, or shooting an elk. I focus on the spot I want to hit, float my pin on that spot, burn a hole in that spot, and slowly increase pressure on the trigger until the release fires, and then follow through. Because I've shot enough to gain trust in my sequence, I don't feel the urge to rush a shot. I know it's easier said than done, but you have to learn to ALLOW the shot to happen, rather than MAKE the shot happen.
Put a deer in front of me and poof, there goes the arrow. The absolute WORST for me is drawing in a broadside deer. They are already in great shot position and I have a LARGE tendency to rush that shot. No idea why.
When I draw and settle on an animal that I can't shoot yet, due to angle etc. I can hold all day, once they turn I then rush the shot. I did it with my one and only elk, drew as he stepped onto a trail at 75 yard. He then walked directly at me. Finally shot him at 2 yards as he passed me. Never felt rushed while he was walking in because there wasn't a shot to take.
I believe it's all habit and practice. The habit has to be from shooting over and over, the practice well you just have to have the deer/animal there, take your time and have them not get away.
Somehow you have to talk yourself through the shot and WAIT.
PS: Most of my hunting has been for whitetail deer and this has hurt me on other species which are not as wired. Takes some getting used to when hunting other species.
On the contrary, once I went back to trad archery everything became totally automatic...with several thousand practice arrows of course. Now, at age 62 and for the past couple of decades, I have literally zero "swing thoughts", to use a golf analogy, when drawing on a critter...wasn't always the case :^).
My best whitetail...long story...was shot from the ground at 8 yards after sneaking in when I heard 2 bucks REALLY going at it. When in, what I hoped, the best position, I quickly set up in some low, thick pines in a tight funnel spot between an open meadow and a corn field.
After about an hour I saw close movement to my left, out of the corner of my eye...from first sighting til he stepped into an opening wasn't more than 5 seconds. In my compound days, no way would I have been able to execute the shot...no time to draw, anchor, sight, and shoot.
With the recurve's ability to shoot fast, he stepped behind a pine...raise the bow...came open, behind a 2nd pine...draw...stepped out...shoot. double lung pass thru and down in 30 yards. wow...no time even for the old pitter-pat heart beat to develop!!! It happened so fast, it took a moment to realize it actually occurred.
Not thumping trad...not for everybody...but works for me.
OK, OK...maybe I am thumping trad a little...try it, put in the time and effort, you may never go back.
I figure if I can pull this off, I will get used to making a "quick shot", and I will have the bull where I want him. Also, the bull will not have time to figure out what is going on.
So not rushing, but executing quickly and in a controlled manner.
Best of Luck, Jeff
I developed this after contracting target panic a few years back as well.
I think shooting at a deer/elk 3d target helps a little, but not completely. Its not much of a problem for me when shooting at paper target.
I do think while target shooting, one should concentrate on the first shot of the day, because it is more realistic to a hunting situation. I also think small game hunting with multiple target opportunities also helps. However, I still have the problem.
I have admitted it. Now will it go away? lol
I can kill paper and foam all day long with zero panic. You put an animal in front of me and I do the same thing you described. I'm calm right up to the point of drawing the bow, then it sets in and I feel I need to rush through my entire shot sequence before the animal runs away. So, I am rushing the shot and punching the trigger well before my pin gets settled on the animal.
It's weird, last season I missed two does 15 minutes apart standing in the same exact spot 25 yards on a known trail. The next weekend, I did it again on another doe while I was telling myself that I need to relax on the shot.
The same evening I missed my third doe of the season, I had a buck come in chasing a doe and I throttled him and watched him tip over. The next morning, I shot a coyote that was cruising by and she didn't make it 10 yards.
It's been on and off over the past few years for me. I still have it, but I'm dedicating this spring to fixing it some how. I'm going to try a back tension release and following the target panic program hoping that it will reprogram my shot sequence.
Good luck and thanks for posting this thread.
I'm TERRIBLE about rushing shots at turkeys while deer hunting from treestands. Those suckers never stick around long, and I've spooked so dang many of them out of a tree. I almost always rush my shots. As a result, I've missed more turkeys out of a treestand than I will ever admit on this site :)
Bake
I used to have severe anxiety once I got to full draw on an animal. Now, I when I get to full draw, the hard part is over, and I just focus on my "target" as opposed to what the animal is doing. I remind myself that my bow will do what it needs too if I let the pin find its mark -- no sooner.
I've also lost two animals due to anxiety and that's a sure fire way to make any honest hunter look in the mirror. This is the year long pep-talk I give myself: "its harder to track a wounded animal for hours/days than it is to wait a few seconds for your mind to calm and settle the pin." It's been my mantra.
If the shot sequence unfolds quickly, I do much better I've noticed. I think I revert back to instinct when I don't have time to think about the process and only get to act.
Great question, since the answer is totally different. If it's TP, that's something that's much more complex. If it's simply impatience, that's much more easily remedied. Since Andy, the OP, has had issues with TP in the past, I assumed that was the case now?
If someone is in control of their shot and decides to rush the shot because he/she feels the shot opportunity will quickly disappear, the shooter is still in control of the shot.
If someone has TP, they are no longer in control of the shot. Telling themselves to wait because "they aren't going anywhere" and "take your time" might as well be like telling themselves to hold their breath for 2 minutes...it simply isn't going to work. For someone with TP, you can hold on a spot all day long IF you know you aren't going to shoot. The second you know you're going to shoot, your brain screams "HAMMER IT!!!!". Doesn't matter if your pin is close to where you want to hit or not.
For those that truly have TP, and be honest, you know if you do, then the ONLY way to truly rid yourself of the disease is to get to the root of the problem. Bandaids may help in the short-term, but they WILL fail sooner than later. Develop a surprise release and it will serve you well, even when that bull is screaming at you from 10yds away.
FWIW, the longer you put off taking care of the problem, the worse it gets. The worse it gets, the harder/longer it will take to end the misery, once you decide to. I had a world class case of TP. If I can learn to overcome it, anyone can!
I've been a trad shooter all my life and only recently got into the compound/sights/release. On the target range it's (impatience) not a problem, but a couple times when shooting at an animal with the compound my subconscious forgets I'm shooting a compound and tells me to settle and release with the same rhythm I've used for 100,000 shots with a trad bow. This is what I need to work on.
There's a great little book called "Advanced Archery, How to stay calm at the center" that gets into the mental aspects of executing the shot, at the zen level. Visualization and establishing the flow to eliminate rushing and TP. I read it years ago and am rereading it now. Great resource.
Every case of target panic has to be handled differently, by what works best for the shooter.
It's worse with my recurve currently.
I've always treated it by taking a short break and it always goes away.
It's never been a problem on animals. I think mostly because I usually am drawing on bushes or dirt and waiting for vitals to present.
Like Joe, I have a line I say in my head before I drop the string on animals that's very effective for me and gives me confidence, although mine's a little more disturbing than his which is why I've hesitated posting. I have a quick version and a longer version, but it works.
To me, it seems that you go from hunter to killer by adding in a dash of the automation of the target practicer, but there's still that element of intent to kill that is so important in the shot, at least for me. I have to decide the animal is going to die or I rush the shot and miss.
Until I found that intent to kill, I launched arrows all over the place at animals, missing by several feet, sometimes due to TP, sometimes due to rushing, sometimes due to shaking or indecision.
It's funny how different hunting and killing is than target practice even though it's the same motion.
On the flip side I have never experienced target panic! I usually take really fast shot, like split second is all it takes for me to get on target when I decide to shoot! Somehow I have always managed to stay cool as a cucumber until after the shot! Once the arrow hit I fall apart!
I hope I never get target panic!
"Is it a target panic thing? or is it an "I want the animal so bad I'm not waiting for the best shot" thing?"
That is a really good question. I would say it has definitely been an, I want the animal so bad thing, at least a few times. I wait for a good shot, I just don't take the time to settle in on the target.
As others have mentioned, if I could get my arrow aimed on the critter, the bow will send the arrow where it needs to go. My problem is getting it there.
It is bad enough where I wouldn't trust myself by drawing and holding on non target deer. (Fawns). I wouldn't trust myself to not panic and let the arrow fly.
I am going to blow things up in the off season. (I have already started) I have been blind bale shooting. The next thing I am going to work on is coming to full draw, aiming and letting down. I might end up doing this for a few weeks.
I am NOT the guy to help you! I wish I could.
Rob, that is one of the best descriptions of target panic I have ever heard. I practice getting to my anchor and holding by aiming at something I don't want to shoot. If I do that I'm fine. I'm getting better now but back when I had TP bad I could hold off target and float the pin all day. As soon as I put the arrow on target, BAM! It was like my brain had no idea my finger was going to hit the trigger.
I have recently been shooting a recurve a lot. I would like to move that direction this year, although I am finally starting to enjoy shooting my compound again. I've got to say, I could see rushing the shot being as much of a problem with a trad bow as a compound but the difference is I seem to hit where I want with the trad bow.
One thing that has helped me with not rushing a trad shot is I try to imagine holding for the shot. I come to fully draw and pretend the animal hasn't stepped into the shot window. I don't even look at the target. Then after a couple seconds, I imagine the animal steps into the shot window, I pick a spot and let it ride.. It works pretty well.
