Alot of fellow hunters pissin me off AGAIN!

[Nomad]

Ya 25 years of bow hunting 2 bows, first one for 18 to 20 years I guess. I don't tinker,change, adjust a thing, bring it to a shop every few years to have it looked at . my 'new" bow i take it out end of August and it shoots as great as the end of last season.

I practice more with the shotgun , but thats me YMMV.

[Skillet]

Elmo, I know it's tough to shoot where you live, but shooting for "hours on end" is probably not helping you at all. In a hunting situation, your 1st shot is usually your only shot, and it usually comes when your body & muscles have been at rest for awhile. Shooting tons of arrows at once is a tough way to gauge your perforrmance and the performance of your equipment. After a few shots, your muscles start to tire, and you are not shooting as naturally as you would be in a hunting situation. I used to shoot for hours, but I found that the more I shot, the worse I got, the worse I got, the more frustrated I got, & I would deteriorate even more. Shoot all you want to initially dial your bow in, but once you know it is shooting well, I would take only several shots at a time & focus on dialing yourself in. Barring some equipment malfunction or sudden gust of wind, any variation in accuracy is due to you. Sometimes I go to pieces if I had a crap day @ work, or I forgot my crazy pills, or when my girlfriend reminds me that she still wears the pants. After my initial sight in session every year, and testing every arrow, I go down to one practice arrow. I like using only one because I avoid damaging my arrows with following shots, and it forces me to take a break as I walk downrange to remove my arrow from the block. Most mornings, I take one shot. I try to envision that it's a real deer standing in front of me, and it's a pass or fail kind of thing. If I blow it, I'll try once or twice more, and usually find that it was just me pulling the shot. Usually though, the one shot thing works for me, because I really feel like I need to make it count. Just an idea, though. Whatever works for you is cool.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Skillet

[Skillet]

i missed 4 deer clean with my bow last yr... ive been shooting 5-6 arrows everyday since April.. a wounded deer is unacceptable.

I've missed a lot of deer. I've wounded a few too. It is unacceptable, and it feels like hell. It happens though. Anybody who hunts long enough will miss or wound an animal. It happens, you get sick over it, and then you try to move on and learn from it, to avoid making the same mistake again.

[Skillet]

I didnt practice at all this spring/summer, just didnt have the time or even a decent place to do so, I know my bow is in top form as it was when I packed it away last fall, but dont be afraid, IF I even buy a license this year, I'll probably just watch the deer run around the woods.................losing interest sucks

Hate to see anyone hang it up. You'd be more than welcome to hunt at my place if you need a place to go.

[Guns&ReligionCop]

I like to shoot l summer because I enjoy it but closing in on hunting season I take 10 mins a day to throw 2 dozen or so hairs just for a little muscle memory so when I'm all nervous looking at a deer my body moves on autopilot

[Elmo]

Elmo, I know it's tough to shoot where you live, but shooting for "hours on end" is probably not helping you at all. In a hunting situation, your 1st shot is usually your only shot, and it usually comes when your body & muscles have been at rest for awhile. Shooting tons of arrows at once is a tough way to gauge your perforrmance and the performance of your equipment. After a few shots, your muscles start to tire, and you are not shooting as naturally as you would be in a hunting situation. I used to shoot for hours, but I found that the more I shot, the worse I got, the worse I got, the more frustrated I got, & I would deteriorate even more. Shoot all you want to initially dial your bow in, but once you know it is shooting well, I would take only several shots at a time & focus on dialing yourself in. Barring some equipment malfunction or sudden gust of wind, any variation in accuracy is due to you. Sometimes I go to pieces if I had a crap day @ work, or I forgot my crazy pills, or when my girlfriend reminds me that she still wears the pants. After my initial sight in session every year, and testing every arrow, I go down to one practice arrow. I like using only one because I avoid damaging my arrows with following shots, and it forces me to take a break as I walk downrange to remove my arrow from the block. Most mornings, I take one shot. I try to envision that it's a real deer standing in front of me, and it's a pass or fail kind of thing. If I blow it, I'll try once or twice more, and usually find that it was just me pulling the shot. Usually though, the one shot thing works for me, because I really feel like I need to make it count. Just an idea, though. Whatever works for you is cool.

I do agree with you. When I'm shooting, I'll take a couple of shots then sit down by the bench, watch people, read book, then go back and take a few more shots. The last two sessions though, I did over do it and was pretty bad at the end. I didn't get frustrated though because I knew my performance was due to fatigue so I stopped after that. I do appreciated being reminded though because I tend to burn myself out here and there.

[Skillet]

I do agree with you. When I'm shooting, I'll take a couple of shots then sit down by the bench, watch people, read book, then go back and take a few more shots. The last two sessions though, I did over do it and was pretty bad at the end. I didn't get frustrated though because I knew my performance was due to fatigue so I stopped after that. I do appreciated being reminded though because I tend to burn myself out here and there.

It's easy for me to get burnt out too.

[fasteddie]

I take a couple of arrows with field tips along when i hunt . After sitting for a length of time the muscles aren't loose so I shoot the field tips at a clump on the ground just to check everything out .

[Guns&ReligionCop]

I take a couple of arrows with field tips along when i hunt . After sitting for a length of time the muscles aren't loose so I shoot the field tips at a clump on the ground just to check everything out .

I use to do that to and stopped for two reasons. 1.)I got busted by a deer that I didn't realize was there yet 2.) I had another walk up sniff my arrow and take off without giving me a shot.

[fasteddie]

I use to do that to and stopped for two reasons. 1.)I got busted by a deer that I didn't realize was there yet 2.) I had another walk up sniff my arrow and take off without giving me a shot.

Maybe i'll spray doe pee on those 2 arrows .

[Geno C]

yeah i agree shooting for lengthy periods of time is no good, well at least for me its not... i find the more arrows i shoot the more i become tired the looser my groups get and the more frustrated i become which is prob part of the reason i developed TP. Now its no more then 10-15 minutes 3 arrows at a time and im done for the day.

[Doc]

yeah i agree shooting for lengthy periods of time is no good, well at least for me its not... i find the more arrows i shoot the more i become tired the looser my groups get and the more frustrated i become which is prob part of the reason i developed TP. Now its no more then 10-15 minutes 3 arrows at a time and im done for the day.

Target panic and fatigue go hand in hand. take it from a guy who has been known to flinch a shot right off the 4'x4' back-stop .... lol.

[Geno C]

Target panic and fatigue go hand in hand. take it from a guy who has been known to flinch a shot right off the 4'x4' back-stop .... lol.

LMAO!

oh absolutely is does...