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Who hunts with a thumb release .

Sometimes been struggling with target panic, just wondering if thumb release would help , I know blind bale shooting helps.

I doubt it will help. Buy the book by Jay Kidwell, instinctive archery insights. He teaches psychology at a college. ThreeRivers archery sells it, Amazon probably does also. It will most likely cure your target panic.

The 2 things that worked best for me to help with target panic are to take 2 weeks and never fire an arrow. Go out every day just like you would normally practice draw your bow, settle your pin and the let down do this as many times as you would normally shoot. It helps train your mind that you don't have to shoot when the pin gets close to the target. After you've done that try shooting at a close distance. Its amazing how easy it is to settle your pin on the target after you've done this. The other thing that helped me was shooting a back tension (Hinge style) release. I know that a lot of the tournament shooters hunt with them but I haven't. They take a lot of getting used to but I saw a huge improvement in my scores once I got comfortable with it. Levi Morgan who's probably one of the best shooters in the world swears by hunting with a back tension, He says it helps him to not rush his shot.

Thanks for the input.

Having battled with target panic myself I concur with what MRW stated. I practice and hunt exclusively with a back tension release. Once you re-train your mind, the back tension will re-train your shot sequence. Good luck with your battle. You can overcome it.

I hunt with a thumb release. However, I do ALL my practicing with a back tension release. As stated above, a back tension release will retrain your shot sequence and will improve your all around shooting. It did for me,anyway. Just don't give up. It is worth the effort.

I don't thick I have it too bad , I just notice every once in a while I will drop my bow and not release my arrow , so I think that's bad it dont happen alot but when it does scared me, but I do notice I punch the trigger. I been tryin to curl my whole index finger on the trigger just getting use to shooting that way, been shooting 50 60 yards and hitting balloons on my target. I heard the back tension release takes alot of time getting use too, and heard some guys won't hunt with one cause u can't get a fast shot off with one if you had too like with a wrist release. Again thanks for the input.

I don't thick I have it too bad , I just notice every once in a while I will drop my bow and not release my arrow , so I think that's bad it dont happen alot but when it does scared me, but I do notice I punch the trigger. I been tryin to curl my whole index finger on the trigger just getting use to shooting that way, been shooting 50 60 yards and hitting balloons on my target. I heard the back tension release takes alot of time getting use too, and heard some guys won't hunt with one cause u can't get a fast shot off with one if you had too like with a wrist release. Again thanks for the input.

Trigger? Ya shooting a crossbow?

No, I shoot a hoyt defiant, no crossbow for me. I love shooting archery.

Bowhunter S. Having worked in an archery shop for 20 years, I can tell you that target panic rears its ugly head in various ways. In essence if you are “anticipating” your shot, and hammering the trigger as you move be by the target, you have it. I’ve seen all types. Take my advice. Work on it now, before it gets worse. I almost gave up bow hunting. It’s all mental, and you need to re-train your mind what a perfect shot feels like. Many pro archers have had this. I would look up John Dudley, he has some great vids. Good luck.

Yea thanks bsked, yea I follow john dudley watch him on YouTube and on histogram, he would never shoot a wriststrap release I wanted to try in noc2 thumb release , he hunts with it too, that's where I got the idea of a thumb release the one he sells is 200 dollars if I'd like it , it would be worth it. But it is always sold out on his store.

John Dudley said in one of his videos that he had mild target panic for years before becoming a pro. He said he switched to a Hinge release exclusively for about 8 years and he ended up becoming an excellent tournament archer. Now he can shoot any style release without issues. I know he likes the resistance style release with a safety one it, Ive never tried it but I did shoot with a kid at an indoor tournament this winter and he said it helped him get past severe target panic.

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