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Tips and advice on "picking-a-spot" on game, its ruining my hunting

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ptaylor:
Missed the same turkey twice this past weekend on consecutive days from less than 15 yards. Several deer last season all misses at less than 20 yards.

I get so freaked out I just pull my bow up and shoot, and every time I realize later that I never have picked a spot.

"Picking-a-spot" is the only factor that is keeping me from becoming a succesfull trad hunter. I can't take another year of near misses.

Should I buy tagets that look like the game I'm hunting? What specifically should I be practicing on? Any tips or hints, I'm becoming desperate.

Snakeeater:
Using targets that look like your intended game should help you to get past the buck fever some.

Some folks find that getting  your shooting down to a routine helps to overcome the excitement. Add concentration on a single hair or patch of color on the target to your practice regimen.

Bill Curlis:
ptaylor,

You are having the same trouble that many hunters have. It sounds like you are looking at the entire animal when you shoot.

You may have heard people speak of having tunnel vision when they shoot. That is picking a spot. You only concentrate on the area of the animal you want to shot it at. A hair out of place, light hitting a feather. You get the idea.

Shooting at 3-D targets can help you get the feel for this. You must still concentrate on the smallest spot that you can see well. For some that is the size of a pin head, for others it's the size of a baseball, and for others it may be larger yet. The point is to aim at the smallest possible point that you can see and try to let everything else, the rest of the animal, go out of focus.

Hope this will help. It takes time and practice but once you are able to do this you will see great improvement on hunting shots.

Bill

Carcajou:
Best thing to do is, not to look at the animal as a "whole"...by that I mean, once you make the decision that you are going to shoot that animal, start by focusing on one spot behind the wing, or shoulder and concentrate! Pick a tuft of hair, a ruffled feather, a dark feather, etc....

go out in the back yard and shoot at a ping pong ball in the grass next to a basketball, you will probably hit the ping pong ball more often than you'd expect...it narrows your focus down....

and dont get intimidated by the critter! it happens to a lot of people. just focus, pick a hair, and shoot!

Bill Curlis:
Carajou,

We must have been thinking the same thing at the same time. Very good advise.

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