Being a picky shooter.

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PK_
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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby PK_ » Thu May 12, 2016 10:48 am

I can say with 100% honesty that the only deer I have ever hit/lost have been on 'perfect' shots, less than 25 yards broadside or quarter away. I have taken some shots that some guys would not agree with, whether it is frontal or kneeling on platform or whatever, but I always 10 ring those shots, it is as if my focus gets laser sharp when the shot is more difficult. It is a subconscious thing I have had to work on with the 'chip shots', I think I was mentally field dressing the deer before hitting the release.

Back to the original question, I practice every shot position I can reasonably see myself needing to make in the field and will not hesitate taking the first kill shot I am comfortable with.


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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby Dewey » Thu May 12, 2016 10:56 am

No doubt confidence especially in your shooting ability and equipment is huge but OVERconfidence is what tends to get many in trouble. I see it a lot in many younger guys who are awesome shots on the range and not afraid to tell everyone how great they are. Problem is these same guys tend to take shots at deer they have no buisiness taking no matter how good of a shot they are. Every notice how it's the cocky one's that wound the most deer? It's no coincidence. :think:

Confidence is only good if you know how to apply it properly. So many throw it around like some kind of macho term but eventually learn there is so much more to it than just that.

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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby Lockdown » Thu May 12, 2016 12:15 pm

Dewey wrote:No doubt confidence especially in your shooting ability and equipment is huge but OVERconfidence is what tends to get many in trouble. I see it a lot in many younger guys who are awesome shots on the range and not afraid to tell everyone how great they are. Problem is these same guys tend to take shots at deer they have no buisiness taking no matter how good of a shot they are. Every notice how it's the cocky one's that wound the most deer? It's no coincidence. :think:

Confidence is only good if you know how to apply it properly. So many throw it around like some kind of macho term but eventually learn there is so much more to it than just that.

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Yep... confidence and cockiness... Two entirely different worlds. You can be confident and cocky, or confident and humble.

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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby Bonecrusher101 » Thu May 12, 2016 2:09 pm

Sorry this is off topic a bit. I get the shakes (buck fever) with a bow. I'm ice cold with a ml or rifle. Being ice cold comes with confidence and experience. I spoke to a friend of mine who is a very accomplished bow hunter, with over 150 bow kills under his belt. He gave me some very sound advice that has helped keep me calm when it's time to launch an arrow.

He said visualize the shot happening in every hunt, and expect it to happen at any moment. He also told me to stay positive the entire time. He said, Instead of saying to yourself oh no, oh no, oh no, I've got the shakes. Say yes and yeah to yourself constantly as you are going through you shooting routine, and enjoy the excitement. He told me to openly put buck fever into my arrow shooting routine. So for me without any big buck bow kills, I want to get excited I want to embrace that thrill and I'm not ashamed about it. His advice helped me out greatly last season on does.

Basically turn buck fever it into a positive pleasure that you can control instead of a negative psych out. With a few more seasons and a few more bow bucks I shouldn't

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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby Lockdown » Thu May 12, 2016 2:41 pm

Bonecrusher101 wrote:Sorry this is off topic a bit. I get the shakes (buck fever) with a bow. I'm ice cold with a ml or rifle. Being ice cold comes with confidence and experience. I spoke to a friend of mine who is a very accomplished bow hunter, with over 150 bow kills under his belt. He gave me some very sound advice that has helped keep me calm when it's time to launch an arrow.

He said visualize the shot happening in every hunt, and expect it to happen at any moment. He also told me to stay positive the entire time. He said, Instead of saying to yourself oh no, oh no, oh no, I've got the shakes. Say yes and yeah to yourself constantly as you are going through you shooting routine, and enjoy the excitement. He told me to openly put buck fever into my arrow shooting routine. So for me without any big buck bow kills, I want to get excited I want to embrace that thrill and I'm not ashamed about it. His advice helped me out greatly last season on does.

Basically turn buck fever it into a positive pleasure that you can control instead of a negative psych out. With a few more seasons and a few more bow bucks I shouldn't

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Great advice

To this day I even get worked up if I'm going to shoot a doe. The difference between me now and me from my teens is I used to do the best I could and hope I didn't screw up.

Now I wait for him to screw up. My heart still gets pumping, and it always will, but I'm the one in control.

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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Thu May 12, 2016 2:52 pm

Bonecrusher101 wrote:Sorry this is off topic a bit. I get the shakes (buck fever) with a bow. I'm ice cold with a ml or rifle. Being ice cold comes with confidence and experience. I spoke to a friend of mine who is a very accomplished bow hunter, with over 150 bow kills under his belt. He gave me some very sound advice that has helped keep me calm when it's time to launch an arrow.

He said visualize the shot happening in every hunt, and expect it to happen at any moment. He also told me to stay positive the entire time. He said, Instead of saying to yourself oh no, oh no, oh no, I've got the shakes. Say yes and yeah to yourself constantly as you are going through you shooting routine, and enjoy the excitement. He told me to openly put buck fever into my arrow shooting routine. So for me without any big buck bow kills, I want to get excited I want to embrace that thrill and I'm not ashamed about it. His advice helped me out greatly last season on does.

Basically turn buck fever it into a positive pleasure that you can control instead of a negative psych out. With a few more seasons and a few more bow bucks I shouldn't

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Its really interesting and I think it applies to the topic. There is a difference between buck fever and getting excited. When you cannot execute, its buck fever. Lots of guys get excited and still can execute.

My best friend has killed some nice bucks here in Maine. 2014 killed a 118" and 120"...one buck was a known 6yr old we have been hunting. Both killed dead. Great shots. Tough shots. No issues.

But put a 140" deer in front of him, he is 30%. The big racked bucks just get to him. Tough to fix when the fever hits when the racks get big. Because we do not get many chances to kill 140+" deer. The size of the animal changes the level of excitement for him.

Its hard to choose a spot when your brain is misfiring.
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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Fri May 13, 2016 12:59 am

mainebowhunter wrote:
Bonecrusher101 wrote:Sorry this is off topic a bit. I get the shakes (buck fever) with a bow. I'm ice cold with a ml or rifle. Being ice cold comes with confidence and experience. I spoke to a friend of mine who is a very accomplished bow hunter, with over 150 bow kills under his belt. He gave me some very sound advice that has helped keep me calm when it's time to launch an arrow.

He said visualize the shot happening in every hunt, and expect it to happen at any moment. He also told me to stay positive the entire time. He said, Instead of saying to yourself oh no, oh no, oh no, I've got the shakes. Say yes and yeah to yourself constantly as you are going through you shooting routine, and enjoy the excitement. He told me to openly put buck fever into my arrow shooting routine. So for me without any big buck bow kills, I want to get excited I want to embrace that thrill and I'm not ashamed about it. His advice helped me out greatly last season on does.

Basically turn buck fever it into a positive pleasure that you can control instead of a negative psych out. With a few more seasons and a few more bow bucks I shouldn't

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Its really interesting and I think it applies to the topic. There is a difference between buck fever and getting excited. When you cannot execute, its buck fever. Lots of guys get excited and still can execute.

My best friend has killed some nice bucks here in Maine. 2014 killed a 118" and 120"...one buck was a known 6yr old we have been hunting. Both killed dead. Great shots. Tough shots. No issues.

But put a 140" deer in front of him, he is 30%. The big racked bucks just get to him. Tough to fix when the fever hits when the racks get big. Because we do not get many chances to kill 140+" deer. The size of the animal changes the level of excitement for him.

Its hard to choose a spot when your brain is misfiring.


This is where taping a checklist to the upper limb to walk through may help. When buck fever is happening it is an emotional thing firing from the right side of your brain. Using a very deliberate step-by-step checklists will move that process to the more analytical left brain side and may help. Visualization also does this - changes form right to left. Of course learning how to breath properly when heart rate elevates also helps control some of the "misfiring"

I guess am I blessed as I tend to lose focus of everything except the buck when I am drawing down - then a couple minutes after the shot the adrenalin starts flowing and I sometimes get low back and leg shakes and even cramps. haven't figured out how to stop that :)
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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby whitetailassasin » Fri May 13, 2016 1:06 am

It all boils down to practice, knowing your equipment, knowing your effective range, following through with your shot, and taking killing shots. The human error comes into play even on short shots that are "perfect" and guys miss and even wound. Cockiness has nothing to do with it, we just pay attention to it more because it's being voiced and most are offended by that. Normally there is a reason a guy gets cocky, could be a good shot, maybe lots of bone hanging on his wall. Some people don't like guys with confidence and like to through out cocky or arrogance.

In my experience, it's the guys who usually pipe up and voice opinions of cockiness and humbleness, that are the guys who usually do more wounding, missing, or flat out don't get the job done enough to voice an opinion. My example is a close friend of the family came by and watched my dad and I shooting. We were standing at 50 yards and he was like that's way too far to kill a deer and kinda went on about the way he saw it. As he stood there my dad and I pumped about 4-5 arrows a piece in a coke can diameter group. Just like a gun you need to know your effective ranges and if they can kill elk at 80 yds with same now setup I don't see an issue if a guy can shoot well at 40-50 yards. This guy, great guy, but has bounced arrows off antlers, and wounded many a buck, but he's stuck in his way of thinking. This was not meant to offend anyone just wanted to deliver devils advocate point from a perspective that feels being told cocky, or certain distances are too far, etc. It all depends on the skill set and set up of the person taking the shot. Why tell a guy what he can't do, I'm the type to show you it can be done and at a high %. Some people are offended by confidence. Results are what matters to me. If my weapon of choice can effectively kill an animal at 50 yards, why limit that because certain people feel it's not acceptable?

Don't let the box define you and be kept in and limit yourself.

No one will ever have a 100% success rate. Look at sports player even HOFers, even the best hitters in baseball bat under .400 which means 60% of the time they fail. Take one guy who never takes "iffy" shots and has 5-10 nice bucks on the wall, or the guy who did, lost some along the way and has 40 hanging on his wall. I'll be the later anyday of the week. It all comes down to skill level of the person performing.
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Last edited by whitetailassasin on Fri May 13, 2016 2:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Fri May 13, 2016 1:59 am

DaveT1963 wrote:
mainebowhunter wrote:
Bonecrusher101 wrote:Sorry this is off topic a bit. I get the shakes (buck fever) with a bow. I'm ice cold with a ml or rifle. Being ice cold comes with confidence and experience. I spoke to a friend of mine who is a very accomplished bow hunter, with over 150 bow kills under his belt. He gave me some very sound advice that has helped keep me calm when it's time to launch an arrow.

He said visualize the shot happening in every hunt, and expect it to happen at any moment. He also told me to stay positive the entire time. He said, Instead of saying to yourself oh no, oh no, oh no, I've got the shakes. Say yes and yeah to yourself constantly as you are going through you shooting routine, and enjoy the excitement. He told me to openly put buck fever into my arrow shooting routine. So for me without any big buck bow kills, I want to get excited I want to embrace that thrill and I'm not ashamed about it. His advice helped me out greatly last season on does.

Basically turn buck fever it into a positive pleasure that you can control instead of a negative psych out. With a few more seasons and a few more bow bucks I shouldn't

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image


Its really interesting and I think it applies to the topic. There is a difference between buck fever and getting excited. When you cannot execute, its buck fever. Lots of guys get excited and still can execute.

My best friend has killed some nice bucks here in Maine. 2014 killed a 118" and 120"...one buck was a known 6yr old we have been hunting. Both killed dead. Great shots. Tough shots. No issues.

But put a 140" deer in front of him, he is 30%. The big racked bucks just get to him. Tough to fix when the fever hits when the racks get big. Because we do not get many chances to kill 140+" deer. The size of the animal changes the level of excitement for him.

Its hard to choose a spot when your brain is misfiring.


This is where taping a checklist to the upper limb to walk through may help. When buck fever is happening it is an emotional thing firing from the right side of your brain. Using a very deliberate step-by-step checklists will move that process to the more analytical left brain side and may help. Visualization also does this - changes form right to left. Of course learning how to breath properly when heart rate elevates also helps control some of the "misfiring"

I guess am I blessed as I tend to lose focus of everything except the buck when I am drawing down - then a couple minutes after the shot the adrenalin starts flowing and[glow=red]I sometimes get low back and leg shakes and even cramps. haven't figured out how to stop that :)[/glow]


X2 -- my buddy laughs at me because when I call him to come and help my jaw is quivering like I am frozen. The adrenaline courses through my veins like a river once the deer is down and dead. I cannot think straight. Leave stuff in my tree. Useless when it comes to a blood trail. Before the shot...dead calm. I used to have the leg shake when the deer was coming in...once I got a hold of the fever that left me.

Heck, sometimes its so bad after the shot...I have trouble finding someones number to send them a text. Hopefully that never changes.
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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby Rich M » Fri May 13, 2016 3:07 am

[bbvideo=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiq8uVMTaBY[/bbvideo]

[bbvideo=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv2KNq4Ib0U[/bbvideo]

She's definitely a lot cuter than you guys are.

3 years ago I had buck fever bad...couldn't breath. 3 yearlings walked out under my stand at 10 feet while bow hunting. LOL! After about 15 minutes of watching them feed I was still not ready to shoot anything. LOL! Shot a spike w crossbow the next day with no jitters. Missed an at the ears 8 the next hunt by pulling the gun off to watch him fall (oopsie). Shot an 8 and a big, old 3x1 without buck fever. It was a great season. The following 2 seasons were similar in that I expected to see deer and shoot them. Missed two 2014 season, but not due to buck fever, instead due to lack of preparation. 2015 I shook after my wife's deer but not my own.

To me it is about expectations. I used to hunt and NOT expect to see anything. Now I hunt and expect to see deer. It really takes the surprise out of it and allows me to do what I came to do.
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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Fri May 13, 2016 3:28 am

Rich M -- too funny, thats the video he sent me ...tagged me in facebook on it. Yep. Same reaction. Just a lot bigger a lot uglier.
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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Fri May 13, 2016 3:29 am

* double post
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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby stash59 » Fri May 13, 2016 4:02 am

Lots of good stuff guys. Just like to add. Yes practice all those crazy shots. It will show which ones you can and can't do.

One thing alot of people miss while practicing. Is figuring out your bows trajectory. When I shot with my elk hunting mentor. He would always find some super tight tiny window where the actual 3-d targets vitals were covered. I blew up alot of arrows at first but soon learned what could and couldn't be done.

Doing this all leads to confidence. Confidence helps bet buck fever.

You sound like your on your way.

Good luck and have fun.
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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby briar » Fri May 13, 2016 4:39 am

This may be useless to a lot of people, but something that really helped me was starting to shoot a much lighter bow. I can handle my #50 like its a toy and it helps me draw smoother, sooner, and hold easier while a deer moves into position or past a tree or what not.

With the right setup and correct broadheads it was just as effective as my #60 peak bow. I just never feel "rushed" shooting that little thing.
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Re: Being a picky shooter.

Unread postby Dewey » Fri May 13, 2016 5:27 am

briar wrote:This may be useless to a lot of people, but something that really helped me was starting to shoot a much lighter bow. I can handle my #50 like its a toy and it helps me draw smoother, sooner, and hold easier while a deer moves into position or past a tree or what not.

With the right setup and correct broadheads it was just as effective as my #60 peak bow. I just never feel "rushed" shooting that little thing.

Great point. Plenty of wounded deer caused by rushing shots due to being unable to hold at full draw any longer. Higher let off in modern bows helps a lot but still a few pounds at full draw really can make a huge difference.

Most times I draw, aim and release in a matter of seconds but been caught at full draw quite a few times and had to let down. Needless to say that was the end of the hunt. I'm sure that has happened to everyone at some point but lower draw weight can be the difference maker. I dropped from 70 lbs down to 58 lbs and with 85% let off I'm holding less than 9 lbs.

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