Target Pannic?

[Elkwhisper]

I generally consider myself a "good shot" with my bow...... I practice often and on the range I can generally shoot decent groups.... Like 6" at 60 yards and even keep em all in a pie plate at 100 most of the time (just for fun).

That said, the last couple of days have been pretty frustrating.... I had family obligations Saturday and Sunday, but made it out to hunt elk Monday and for bit this morning. I have a bull and a cow tag and a great place to hunt with lot's of critters.

After a few close calls with non-responsive bulls first thing yesterday morning, I stumbled into a small group of cows and calves..... One yearling cow, held up and offered me a chip shot at what I know now was 23 yards. It happened fast and she was close, so no time to range.... I guessed it at 25 yards, with the intention of putting my 30 yard pin at the bottom of her chest... I came to full draw, she held tight.... I anchored, leveled my sight and as I normally do was dropping my pins from the top down into the vitals .... and bam... let the arrow rip before I had even got my pins down on her chest. Arrow sailed an inch or two over her back and she was gone.... I wrote it off as a one time brain fart and continued hunting. Was actually able to call in a group of turkeys and had no issues center punching a jake at 32 yards. I felt better after the shot on the turkey and wasn't too worried about my shooting.

This morning the elk were moving well and starting to get more aggressive with the cow talking and bugling... it was a good morning to be in the woods. Had a legit 360+ bull with close to 80 cows, spikes and raggies doing elk stuff a couple hundred yards from the tree line out in the field... Was fun to watch, but they wanted nothing to do with my calls and stayed out of range. As they moved off I spotted a satellite bull the opposite direction, and the wind was right, so I took off after him. I was able to slip into 70 yards of him as he came down a fence line. I cow called to try and get him to close the distance and second 6x6 stepped out between us, well within range. Should have been another chip shot, but the same exact thing happened. I drew, anchored, and as the pins were dropping down into the vitals I punched the release before they got there and sent it over the elk's back again.

Now I am frustrated and over thinking it.... Do you guys think this is some sort of "target panic" that I need to work through or just a couple of isolated incidences. And a second question, when you are lining up for a shot, do you "drop your pins into the target" like I do, or maybe come up from the bottom, or just randomly move them in where they are supposed to be? I am going to be hitting the range a bunch this week to try and work this out. Any advice is most appreciated.

 

[Aussie_hunter_JD]

Where I'm from its called buck fever, cost me a deer this year. Target practice doesn't help nor is there anything else you can do other than keep going and getting more exposure to deer and taking a few more shots. It'll sort itself out in time.

I don't know how I get on to my pins, I guess I do it randomly until it gets to where I want.

 

[ElkHunter11]

What kind of release are you using? I don't put my finger on the "trigger" until pins are in the vitals and then touch it off. I have the Scott release I believe, which has the lever to the side and makes it easy to not get my finger in the way before I'm ready. Good luck!

 

[duckhunt]

Buck fever. It happens to me all the time.

 

[Festus]

I was always taught to focus on the 'spot' and when you get to full draw, your pins should be right there - no moving the bow or the head. Not as simple as it sounds. For those of us that don't have perfect form, dropping down is always better than trying to come up (unless maybe if you're always flinging arrows over their backs!). I know 3D shooters that will let down and start over if the pin falls below the 12 ring instead of trying to raise back up.

I've read a good cure for target panic is to practice drawing on your target, center the pin, then just let down. It's way harder than it sounds. Repeat this dozens of times, actually shooting only a few random arrows (when your brain cooperates and lets you actually settle in on the bulls-eye and execute a proper release). It supposedly teaches muscle control instead of allowing the brain to automatically 'tell' the finger to pull the trigger.

Not sure if what you have is target panic, but I hope you get it worked out! Best of luck........

 

[Muskeez]

I used to go top down, and had a bad habit of spining deer or hitting them in the loins or top of lungs if I was lucky. I now settle by going below target and raising up. Won't say what is "correct", as I'm certainly no instructor, but maybe if you force yourself to do it differently it will make you focus more and the end result will be better. I keep my finger on the top of my release, just like on the side of a firearm, before I drop it into the trigger guard of a handgun or onto the trigger of my release. Best wishes, and keep after em !

 

[Tkaldahl2000]

Definitely going to go with "buck fever". I always hold my finger behind the trigger pushing it forward until I'm ready to release. Then I try to make it go off using back tension by expanding my draw just a little bit. Having said that, I missed a doe at 20 yards on Sunday morning because I was so excited that I didn't anchor properly. I wound up shooting under her. I'm just glad is was a clean miss instead of a bad hit. That's what happens when you have to take a year off I guess.

 

[TRS_Montana]

Yeah, I have definitely had some experience with this. One thing that has helped me is to get in the habit of making myself aim for one second before I even think about shooting. So I draw back and just aim for a second. Then I go through the shooting routine. Not perfect, but I find (if there is time for this) that it helps me get control of the "punch"

 

[Deleted member 20812]

It's not target panic, its' a bad habit of not keeping your finger BEHIND the trigger until you have made the decision too shoot.

Buck fever, head up your ass, the yips, whatever you want to call it. Keep your finger behind the trigger until you are ready to execute your shot sequence. This should be a conscious decision.

 

[Elkwhisper]

Thanks guys.... I would like to think I have the "buck fever" thing under control pretty good, as I have taken lots of big bulls with my bow... and bears... and bucks... etc. But I do get excited still, so I am sure that has a part in it. There are some good tips here. I think keeping my finger behind the trigger until everything is perfect will work..... If nothing else it will force me to focus on the shot routine more because I will be adding a deliberate step.

Gonna go put some arrows down range tonight and see what happens. Hopefully punch more than just my turkey tag next weekend.

 

[IABoilermaker]

I have had to work through some of these same issues as I developed a bad habit of punching the release a few years back. One word of caution, try not to overthink it, I got in a bad rut of the harder I worked to correct the issue the worse it got. I finally was able to get things under control when I started letting down and restarting my sequence during practice if I felt myself getting punchy. Also I dialed back the practice for a while and that helped as well by concentrating on just a few good shots per session instead of a bunch of arrows each session.

 

[Matt/VT]

I've dealt with this as I started to shoot targets at longer ranges. Staying calm is key, along with a good shot sequence. I just listened to a Gritty Bowmen podcast with the guy that runs Ironmind Hunting where they talked about this stuff, there were some decent insights there.

 

[Fire_9]

I agree that it may be more buck fever than target panic but it might not be a bad idea to invest in a back tension release. I used to have a wicked case of target panic and a back tension was the only thing that was able to bring me back. I wouldn't want to hunt with one but it might get you back on track

 

[Eyeguy]

Target panic....buck fever...who knows. I think the best solution was stated above. Keep you finger behind the trigger until you get the pins on the bull. Then let it fly. Good luck. I had this with deer my first shot or two when I took up bow hunting. That tends to be what I do. Plus I keep my finger behind my trigger to "brace" it so that I don't accidentally bump it when drawing back and send an arrow 15 feet up into a tree....

 

[MooseCaboose]

Plus I keep my finger behind my trigger to "brace" it so that I don't accidentally bump it when drawing back and send an arrow 15 feet up into a tree.

Same here. Just an extra precaution so that there's no possible way for the release to disconnect from the string until you want it to.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

Seems more like target panic than buck fever to me, but it's an issue that needs to be addressed no matter the label. I have had a bout of target panic, which I think began with some weakness on my left shoulder (my hold shoulder) combined with practicing on the DART archery system, which tends to encourage shooting quickly. I raise my pins to my target because I practice mainly in my backyard, which is in a subdivision, so any errant arrows on draw *should* go into the ground, not a neighbor's house. I found myself anticipating when the pin would be getting to the desired spot and releasing - almost guiding it into place by my continued movement - a very, very bad habit and terrible form. Worse, my accuracy was still good which only reinforced the bad form even though my conscious self knew it was an issue.

I have been fighting through it by setting a 15-second timer when I shoot, with the idea that I will release only after I settle and hear the beep. Oddly enough, I still often release before hearing the beep because my brain seems to be telling my finger to trigger the release when I'm good and settled, regardless of time. I've also had someone stand with me and only after I've come to full draw they designate which dot I'm shooting at my target, so it makes me wait a bit. My wife and youngest son don't understand why they're standing in the heat doing this, but it has helped me.

Hope you get it straightened out in short order and can punch both tags, but not your release.

 

[huntid73]

I lift my pins up to the vitals, I was always taught that whichever method you use to bring the pins to the target and can be consistent with is the way you want to keep shooting. One thing I noticed, and it might just be creative verbage, but you said you "punched" the trigger. Jumping the release trigger along with buck or even target fever seems to cause my arrows to fly all sorts of interesting directions even when by bow is tuned in. I try to shoot my bow release like a rifle trigger, by making sure I have a nice controlled squeeze.

 

[Slim Pickens]

I am very new to archery hunting but having my finger positioned behind the trigger really helps me feel more comfortable when I draw. I have even been putting my release on my string while having my finger this way when hiking around. I feel like the more I get used to the feeling, the less I will think about it and just do it by muscle memory. The way I draw makes it much more natural to bring the pins down to the target but I have far from perfect form.

 

[HUNTMAN]

I call it overwhelmed by the pressure of the moment!