I felt like I was beyond getting the shakes but last spring I was shooting a Dixie Jaeger .54 out of a tower on some Texas feral hogs. It was getting dark and a nice big sow was working toward me. I wanted her to get within 50 or 60 yards before I took the shot. She took her time coming in and I had the gun sights on her from a solid rest all the time. Suddenly I realized that my legs were trembling and my hands were shaking. I had a hell of a time settling myself down. Just goes to show what happens when you start thinking too much about the shot. By the way, I finally took a shot at 70 yards and shot over the top of her back... clean miss. Easy mark but my nerves lost out and the hog got a big break.
-
Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.
We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.
Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103
Preparing your self for the shot?
- Thread starter walley
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
KyFlintlock
50 Cal.
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2004
- Messages
- 1,199
- Reaction score
- 0
A mental checklist is always good...you can shave it down as the years go by if you find you are not whiggin' out at the time of KER-Flatch-BOOM!
Plains99 said:
That's what happens to me. And probly lots of others.
If you hadn't spent so much time "preparing" for the shot, you woulda been fine. Until you decide to take the shot, it's just an animal you are watching. When you decide that you are going to kill that animal the whole ballgame changes.
As soon as the gun is loaded you are as prepared as you need to be. (Assuming you have sighted in, practiced, etc.) Then all you have to do is wait for a good opportunity. As soon as that opportunity presents itself, take the shot. Don't mess around. Just shoot. Only takes a couple seconds.
Like Paul said, staying in the zone too long will exhaust you, both mentally and physically. Too long may be less time than you think.
Practice, practice, practice with the rig you'll hunt with. Turn it into muscle memory. Your brain mostly gets in the way.
We have a slogan here where I work:
"The more you practice, the better you'll do. The more you prepare, the worse you'll do."
We have a slogan here where I work:
"The more you practice, the better you'll do. The more you prepare, the worse you'll do."
As the others have said with one additional caveat.
This may sound like some new age horse puckey but visualization helps.
If on stand think about where you will see the deer appear. Picture yourself making the shot. Do this with each location & every possible permutation.
This way when the shot presents itself & your heart is hammering & your knees are weak you have a plan :thumbsup:
This may sound like some new age horse puckey but visualization helps.
If on stand think about where you will see the deer appear. Picture yourself making the shot. Do this with each location & every possible permutation.
This way when the shot presents itself & your heart is hammering & your knees are weak you have a plan :thumbsup:
Bill Bounds
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2004
- Messages
- 102
- Reaction score
- 0
I love to take my son hunting, You want to see something funny, you should see him when he has a deer in the sights. You can see the steam flying, he's breathing hard like a freight train. He stops, holds his breath, you can see the gun jump with his heart beat. Takes a shot, the smoke hides where the deer dropped in it's tracks and he thinks it ran off with the rest. The look on his face is priceless. I hope we never get over the excitement.
Swamp Buck
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2005
- Messages
- 227
- Reaction score
- 0
Besides practicing shooting and getting all the equipment prepped for the season, there are a few things I've found that help.
#1) Create a mental check list of what you have to do to prepare for the shot - to eliminate as much as possible "murphys law".
#2) Be prepared to take the first "best" shot opportunity.
#3) Focus on the mission of what you are doing - only. Letting thoughts creep into my head of how excited the kids will be when they track and find this buck or see the antlers has saved more that one deers life....
#1) Create a mental check list of what you have to do to prepare for the shot - to eliminate as much as possible "murphys law".
#2) Be prepared to take the first "best" shot opportunity.
#3) Focus on the mission of what you are doing - only. Letting thoughts creep into my head of how excited the kids will be when they track and find this buck or see the antlers has saved more that one deers life....
paulvallandigham
Passed On
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2006
- Messages
- 17,537
- Reaction score
- 89
The brain is constantly " thinking" and cannot stop thinking while you are alive. To stop thinking about your kids, or other distractions, you have to fill your mind with something else to think about. That is why I create that magical imaginary line in the middle of my front sight. it gives the mind something difficult to do, so it can stop thinking about distractions. On the target range, where rhythm is more important to getting that shot off between 4 and 7 seconds after letting my breath out, and holding the rest of it., I use music. It provides a beat, and rhythem for me to concentrate on, and use to time my body movements. Others have different ways. My 2 cents, only.
GrizzlyBear
36 Cal.
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2006
- Messages
- 53
- Reaction score
- 0
Happened to me last fall. I hadn't hunted with a ML in 20 years. I had a spike walk under my stand and I had a misfire! It was opening morning and after the misfire i realized it was a good thing the gun didn't go off...cuz when I pulled the trigger the sights were point a foot over his back! The nerves!!! :youcrazy: :shocked2:
Worst case I ever had was in the early 90's when I was sitting over a harvested soybean field...several does and a couple small forkies were slowly spreading out over the field a little before dark when the two forkies turned and ran out of the field...I looked over and saw the biggest racked, mature 8 pointer I'd ever seen, stepping out into the field about 200 yards away...I watched him slowly lumber into the field towards the does, coming towards me...they all turned and scattered and he continued on to where they had been, sniffing the ground, etc...which I later paced off at 165 yards.GrizzlyBear said:
Minutes had passed by the time I was ready to take the shot and I thought I was going to have a heart attack...was lucky to put him down as I was almost hypervenilating...what a rush!
Swamp Buck
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2005
- Messages
- 227
- Reaction score
- 0
In #3 I was refering to trying to prevent the old adage of "counting your chickens before they hatch" from occurring.
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2004
- Messages
- 2,703
- Reaction score
- 2
My Dad and my father-in-law both have killed many bucks. Each has told me that as you are preparing to shoot a buck, don't look at the rack or focus on the whole deer, but "pick a spot" and just focus on the spot as you squeeze off the shot. Besides the "aim small, miss small" concept this implies, it helps one to be mentally focused, thus eliminating anxieties, doubts, and distractions. Yes, the mind is going to be thinking, but you can channel the thought processes to obtain your goal.
I don't really have the "buck fever" thing to deal with. To me it's just harvesting an animal and it doesn't effect me any more than drawing a bead on a squirrel. I do get a case of the nerves as I prepare to take the shot though.
It seems like every flyer I've ever thrown jumps into my mind and I have to force myself to focus and stop analyzing things. If I can do that, I can place the shot. I've had to pass on a shot occasionally because I couldn't get it together.
Where I have trouble is when I haven't got my deer and it's almost end of season. I'm always tempted to take the "farther than I should" shot. I always fight the temptation, but it's hard. Sometimes I know it's a shot I could make on paper, but don't trust myself to attempt it on an animal.
It's funny how we're wired.
It seems like every flyer I've ever thrown jumps into my mind and I have to force myself to focus and stop analyzing things. If I can do that, I can place the shot. I've had to pass on a shot occasionally because I couldn't get it together.
Where I have trouble is when I haven't got my deer and it's almost end of season. I'm always tempted to take the "farther than I should" shot. I always fight the temptation, but it's hard. Sometimes I know it's a shot I could make on paper, but don't trust myself to attempt it on an animal.
It's funny how we're wired.
Last year I had still hunted all morning, and stalked
from mid day till late afternoon. I setup on the
ground in a clump of sweetgum trees at the edge
of a greenfield. I had two does come within 50yrds
of me. I braced my rifle against one of the
trees and tried to take a fine bead on the largest
doe. My arms were tired and shaking from carrying
the rifle during the stalking as if I'd been running
a weedeater all day. I couldn't hold steady for nothing.
The more I realized the sights weren't going to
behave, the more the nerves kicked in the worst
the shakes got. Needless to say, I had to pass up
the shot. But I did learn a lesson from it. Pace
your self, and don't go past your limit. You can
over do it and not realize it until your down to
the finial moment.
from mid day till late afternoon. I setup on the
ground in a clump of sweetgum trees at the edge
of a greenfield. I had two does come within 50yrds
of me. I braced my rifle against one of the
trees and tried to take a fine bead on the largest
doe. My arms were tired and shaking from carrying
the rifle during the stalking as if I'd been running
a weedeater all day. I couldn't hold steady for nothing.
The more I realized the sights weren't going to
behave, the more the nerves kicked in the worst
the shakes got. Needless to say, I had to pass up
the shot. But I did learn a lesson from it. Pace
your self, and don't go past your limit. You can
over do it and not realize it until your down to
the finial moment.
I can see what that'd be a bit stressful. I think with all the rushing and distractions, that's where I'd dry ball or launch a ramrod. I don't have freezer space for more than one, so I've never shot more than one at a time.
I've done it several times.Nothing like having one laying there kicking and another 20 yards from you watching you reload.
Did it my first Season hunting with a Muzzleloader.Shot a Doe at 5 yards,had the Buck that was following her standing 20 yards,I reloaded shot him.Thought to myself whats all the fuss about hunting with a Muzzleloader :grin:
oneshot
Did it my first Season hunting with a Muzzleloader.Shot a Doe at 5 yards,had the Buck that was following her standing 20 yards,I reloaded shot him.Thought to myself whats all the fuss about hunting with a Muzzleloader
:grin: oneshot
oneshot said:
And if you have two or three wounded deer to track when the blazing away stops how do you decide which one to follow up on first? :hmm:
I know; they always fall "like they were thunderstruck". Or the score flashes on the screen. :haha:
Stumpkiller said:
Truth if I shoot them with my .54Cal. I'm really surprised if they do run.Only had about 4 or 5 run.But most drop within sight
I know one time I had 3 Bullets and 2 Tags.Wife told me I had enough Bullets.Well get out there wouldn't you know I miss the first shot.Deer just started walking towards me while I was reloading.I pull up shoot it goes down.I'm reloading,here comes another one,I BAAAAA at it,it stops I pull up shoot it.
My Brother in Law says I'm the Lukyest he has ever seen,things happen with me that just don't happen with normal Folks.
oneshot
mountaintrash58
32 Cal.
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2006
- Messages
- 8
- Reaction score
- 0
I've hunted 35 years now for antelope, mule deer, and elk in Wyoming. That said...I'm just a year into this BP thing...but probably won't ever hunt with anything else again.
I've found that for me...the stalk is everything. Getting as close as possible to an animal that is unaware that you're even in the same county. To get close I feel that I must kind of "mask my mind". Don't know how to explain it but I feel that animals can sense your presence if you are too intensly in "predator mind" That and never make direct eye contact. I've had elk look right through me at 50 yards if I was stock still, wind right, veiling my mind and my eyes.
So the point is that I find I can't want the animal too much or it may sense me. I know this all sounds weird it just the way I've alsways hunted.
By the time I squeeze the trigger I'm in a calm almost meditative state. I try never to take an animal that knows I'm there. The perfect hunt is one where the animal is bedded down and completely unaware of my presence.
Be respectful and treat hunting as a sacred experience and your "jitters" will calm themselves.
Hope this helps. :winking:
I've found that for me...the stalk is everything. Getting as close as possible to an animal that is unaware that you're even in the same county. To get close I feel that I must kind of "mask my mind". Don't know how to explain it but I feel that animals can sense your presence if you are too intensly in "predator mind" That and never make direct eye contact. I've had elk look right through me at 50 yards if I was stock still, wind right, veiling my mind and my eyes.
So the point is that I find I can't want the animal too much or it may sense me. I know this all sounds weird it just the way I've alsways hunted.
By the time I squeeze the trigger I'm in a calm almost meditative state. I try never to take an animal that knows I'm there. The perfect hunt is one where the animal is bedded down and completely unaware of my presence.
Be respectful and treat hunting as a sacred experience and your "jitters" will calm themselves.
Hope this helps. :winking:
