Calming nerves

[BackWoodsHunter]

What is your routine before shooting a deer (or other big game animal) specifically bowhunting to calm your nerves and make a good shot. I'm still a novice bowhunter and do LOTS of missing. I get so dang nervous and jumpy is a huge part of my problem. Everything about my hunting "game" is coming together. I'm getting far better at finding spots on maps, my spring scouting went awesome. I know/decide what to pack in when going in beast style and how to pack it all properly and quietly. I know how high to hang my sets, where to hang my sets, how to hang them. I'm getting good at setting up on deer at all different heights in the tree and ranges from where they are coming to me without them busting me or seeing me in the tree even. Best of all I know where to set up I can tell where they will be. My weakest point is the shot. I practiced all summer long my bow is scary accurate. It's my nerves/excitement when it comes to the shot causing me to rush and make bad shots missing or worse wounding deer. I don't know what to do to calm down. Does anyone have any tips?

[Zap]

I would recommend getting in a good spot and watching deer a few times.

Get used to being in close proximity without the expectation of a shot, your nerves will calm after a few close encounters.......

[BigHunt]

one thing i do is just conferm its a buck then start looking for my fisrt shot opertuinty ...key thing dont look at the rack...draw back fallow the pin up the leg let it float around before you shot so you r right on ...years ago i used to put it on it and shoot right away ...not good just let it float for a cople seconds and then SQWEEZ the realse not pull it sometimes your body knows your going to shot and it does it for yu ...you know what i mean just like when i shoot my rifle sighting in the frst cople shots are all over becasue im not relaxed........just stay calm and breath and consintrate


once you get acople does under your belt you should just find man its all in the head

[Uncle Lou]

I like to drink lots of coffee.

[Uncle Lou]

Oh, and kill a lot of animals before you expect to get good at it.

[Zap]

I know a fellow that really got shook up his first chance with a bow......

Doe comes in and he misses her high......calls his son to tell him......doe comes back.......he misses again......calls his son back......son says yeah I know you just called me and told me you missed a doe then we got disconnected.......turns out the guy had doe fever so bad he forgot he called the first time.

[BackWoodsHunter]

I have been hunting with the bow for 6yrs now. Tons of close encounters I will have to try the not shooting technique and just observing. I did that over the weekend it didn't much help. I am doing a lot of hunting for this city doe hunt I have posted about and over the yrs I have noticed I get the shakes so bad shooting at does I don't know why. I've never sent an arrow at a truly large or mature buck but I get less shaky shooting at bucks than does thus far. This yr I will be hunting beast style and may encounter a big boy but now I'm not too confident I will make a good shot.

I like the tip to let the pin float and pause at full draw on the deer for a few seconds. Thanks bighunt. I do just what you said you used to do draw and shoot. Its not good.

[cornfedkiller]

Get a routine and follow it every time..it will keep yourself calm and keep your head in the game..

[BackWoodsHunter]

Get a routine and follow it every time..it will keep yourself calm and keep your head in the game..

I do the same thing every single time I target shoot. I'm very accurate. When a deer is in the equation game over it all goes out the window.

[Brad]

I have the same problem on does as well. I have shot 6 deer with a bow, 5 were bucks. It seems on a buck I focus more but on a doe there so god dang jumpy that all heck breaks loose. I think a buck seems to stick with a movement and follow it through while a doe is like a squirrel on caffeine all jumpy and going all different directions at the same time.

[cornfedkiller]

Get a routine and follow it every time..it will keep yourself calm and keep your head in the game..

I do the same thing every single time I target shoot. I'm very accurate. When a deer is in the equation game over it all goes out the window.

Go through it in your head as you are getting ready for the shot.. draw, anchor point, pick the spot, follow through, etc, etc...

Recite it in your head as you are getting ready, and it will help calm you down and keep you from letting your nerves screw up the routine..

[Zap]

Aim small......miss small.......pick a hair.

[bowhunter15]

I second BigHunts strategy of looking for the first shot opportunity. When a deer comes in all I'm thinking about is, "can I get away with movement now? wait... okay you can stand up now... turn slowly...wait...okay to draw" by the time I get the bow back, I have no shake at all. The pin just sits in one spot as if I were target shooting.

The only time I do shake is when I have time to think about the situation. Its like playing wide receiver in football. The short passes are easy to catch because you just do it. The long bombs give you time to think "what if I drop it" and then you get nervous and fudge it up. When a buck comes in and sits behind some brush for a few minutes, and I have time to think, "what if i mess it up? I gotta get a shot at this deer! is my bow shooting straight? what if I can't hold steady? what if I punch the trigger" then I start getting nervous and am more likely to screw it up. Mind Games... The key for me is, "Don't think. Just do"

[lungbuster]

Plan your draw so the animal can't see you, once your at full draw the hard part is over........Just concentrate on where you want that arrow to blow through and burn a hole in that spot with your pin.........relax,and release. I always aim for the exit and never look at the rack or get caught up in how big the animal is, if you can keep your nerves in check, you should be able to relax and take an accurate shot..........once the blood starts spilling I usually start to shake alitle.

[Lastoneout]

I don't have the experience of other guys on here as its only my second year bow hunting but I have been lucky enough to harvest 130in buck and 4 does. Here's what works for me... Try to focus on the task at hand which is to make a clean kill shot on the DEER try to treat every situation the same doe or 200"iner. I still get the shakes when I see DEER that are going to offer me a shot ...but when it comes time to let it fly I try to play it down a lot in my head. I try not to think a lot about things after the kill like pics, bragging rights, the track etc. Ok back to the shot, when its about to happen my eyes are only looking at one thing the vitals through my peep I set the pin in the golden triangle check my level and let it fly! My would be first buck a 6 came in and I could barley hold my bow and my shoot went high over his back...after that I told myself that it wouldn't happen again and on my last 4 deer all have taken the plunge within 70 yards of my stand ! I even put a heart shot on the doe I shot opening day of this year!

Anyway hope this helps!

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