How do you practive for "THE SHOT"?

[WapitiTalk1]

How do you folks practice for THE SHOT? That's really what it's all about isn't it........to prepare yourself to draw with minimal conscious thought (muscle memory) and place an arrow into the vitals of a big game animal when the moment dictates...yes? I assume a bunch of you (like I do for the most part) practice with targets in the backyard, targets in the woods behind your property, on an indoor range, or on a 3D range and attempt to place several arrows in a tight group at 30, 40, 50 yards, etc., using sound shooting techniques. Do you practice drawing, floating the pin on the objective, and touching off the arrow within several seconds? Practice in similar clothes you'll be hunting with? Practice while being a little short of breath? Just curious how WT members practice during the off season in anticipation of "the moment".

[olympushunt]

I find simulating a high pressure situation to be helpful as there is nothing quite like the adrenaline surge of a big bull standing in front of you. Heart pounding....nerves rattling and sweat beading on my forehead. So I have Stringuner stand beside me with a ball peen hammer ready to strike me in the groin if I miss. Let me tell you.....I am deadly accurate.

[Swede]

I just do my regular practice. I like to extend my range when I can, and I like to shoot broad-heads often. I have no special routine or practice.

[Mathewsz7-elkridge]

I try and simulate as much as I can to what I am going to be hunting. One thing I need to do this year is shoot on a steep slope with my weighted pack on. Shooting with a weighted pack on seems to be the hardest for me while standing. Dropping to my knees really helps out with that. I do try to get my heart rate up by jogging. Normally though I can stay focused until after the shot at an animal. Look out afterwards twice now I have seen a big mature buck go down in sight and not be able to climb down for a half hr. I just try and stay focused on what the animal is doing and not about harvesting the animal. I think shooting a lot helps with being calm up until the shot and I go on auto pilot.

A couple other things I do is practice shooting in different body positions. Standing and on my knees I will twist my torso around as much as I can at about 40 yards taking shots. I feel farther then this range I can probably move a little to get in the proper position. Also I shoot more at 60 plus yards then inside 60. I shoot at least 3 time a week. The first thing I do is check my equipment and make sure nothing is lose. I have little marks on my sight that let's me know everything is in the right spot. Then I shoot 3 arrow at 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 yards. If I am shooting good and the weather permit I will shoot at 100 yards. Then if I have time I will shoot at 30 and 20 yards but normally only do that once a week. Anytime I go on an evening run I drop my bow off in the yard and when I get back I shoot three arrows at 40 yards. Every once in a while I will shoot with gloves on but not often. If I can help it my gloves are coming off if wearing any. I practiced last year holding up to 2 minutes at 40 yards but I think this year I am going to three 3 plus minutes.

[Tigger]

Sometimes when I am ready to shoot, I visualize a big bull....no make that a REALLY BIG BULL....walking broadside and he is going to be at my target in about 15 yards. I watch him and when he stops right in front of my target, I drill him. It is always a big bull and he always stops right in front of the bullseye somehow. But by visualizing it, I think it kinda helps me on the timing.

[TimeOnTarget]

Sometimes when I am ready to shoot, I visualize a big bull....no make that a REALLY BIG BULL....walking broadside and he is going to be at my target in about 15 yards. I watch him and when he stops right in front of my target, I drill him. It is always a big bull and he always stops right in front of the bullseye somehow. But by visualizing it, I think it kinda helps me on the timing.

This is how i practice the mental part of it. Then I'll add in sprinting a 400 to the equation, then add in having xx seconds from draw to shot to make the shot. Or i'll have to hold at full draw for xx seconds.

[Lefty]

I practice shooting from all sort of positions, twisting my body to extremes; standing and kneeling.



uote="Tigger"]Sometimes when I am ready to shoot, I visualize a big bull....no make that a REALLY BIG BULL....walking broadside and he is going to be at my target in about 15 yards. I watch him and when he stops right in front of my target, I drill him. It is always a big bull and he always stops right in front of the bullseye somehow. But by visualizing it, I think it kinda helps me on the timing.[/quote]

Becareful. I took visualizing the shot to the extreme when I first started ( Have you read Dr David Grossmans book On Combat) I was the guy that handed the pistol back to the perp,.. Or in my case a 6x6 bull I used my 22 yard pin on a 11 yard bull,.. not a problem except the bulls head was back.
And the next year a pair of 350-360 bulls walked 14 yards passing down wind ,.. Im going to cry now.

I practice shooting from all sort of positions, twisting my body to extremes standing and kneeling.

[>>>---WW---->]

Joel Turner has some excellent videos on Youtube about this. He also has an on line course you can do.

[WapitiTalk1]

Joel Turner has some excellent videos on Youtube about this. He also has an on line course you can do.

Yes sir, Joel is from my neck of the woods. He's not too shabby of a caller either

[lamrith]

Don't let him fool you folks; RJ has a real full emersion Elkwoods archery range. Complete with fresh forest air, steep footpath, low light filtered thru trees, lots of shadows, uneven, root and stick covered ground, wildlife singing all around. It is a challenging and peaceful setting that really sets the mood.

A few of these things others have touched on already, I started writing this right when RJ posted the thread but work got in the way.

Probably the biggest two items to account for practicing for "The shot" (imho) would be Heart and breathing rate. That said there are a number of factors people often overlook when practicing for hunting season, but they can be accounted for very easily. I am going to focus on the archery side of things as that is what I know, but many of these can be applied to rifle hunting as well.

• Heart rate and breathing. These are ones that can easily be incorporated into your practice routine, and often have the biggest affect on "the shot". I tend to take hikes right from home, and while it is not hilly, I load my pack up with weight and when I hike I push the speed. My goal is both muscle and cardio training. Typically it will be 2-3mile at a brisk pace with my full pack on. Thru the year the pack weight climbs as I get in better shape. I setup my target before I leave on my hike and have my bow already out back where I shoot, and have my release with me on the hikes. When I get home I am usually in the 130-150bpm range and I do not rest. No water break, no cool down, no removing the pack, nothing. I put the release on as I approach home and go straight to the range and fire a full quiver as fast as I can load and settle the pin on the target. Heart and lungs pounding it is a real eye opener and helps you work on relaxing body and mind after excursion. I always limit this type of practice to one quiver after each training session of this sort; it is not meant for long term form practice as it is too easy to have improper form you do not want to train yourself into.
• Nothing can fully simulate the adrenalin spike quite like actual hunting. I have found that small game hunting with my bow to be a decent way to work on that aspect. Check your local regs for what is legal, and then check with local farmers if you can help them out with animal depredation if there is nothing around home to safely use. I have been successful hunting both starlings and squirrels with my bow. The small size, skittish nature and need to get close really get you working and the adrenalin pumping.
• Positions - practice shooting from every position you possibly can. Standing, sitting, kneeling on one knee, kneeling on both, all the above from uneven ground. Mix up shooting locations too, 20-3040yrd is great, but walk out staring at the ground and not at your target, stop randomly and estimate range and shoot from there. Remember those hikes into shoots I mention above? As the season approaches I also start incorporating positioning into those as well as random locations/distances. I will even take a shot, hurry and change positions/locations and take another shot.
• Weapon - I might get some counter on this, but I firmly believe in setting your bow up to your natural draw. The human body is an amazing machine. Numerous studies over the years have proven how incredible muscle memory is. While it can be trained, why not harness the x number of years of base muscle memory you developed before you ever picked up a weapon and make that training just reinforce your natural tendencies? There are of course certain form considerations, but by and large as HUNTERS, we should set our bows to fit us naturally. Maybe I am lucky, but to this point when setting up my 3 bows I have always drawn the bow with my eyes closed, settled into a comfortable and relaxed position using the same anchor on every bow. I then had the shop set up peep and sight at that point. No holding either hand at odd angles, or hard to duplicate anchor point or fitting your body to the bow. I like my bow setup so it comes up and holds naturally with me behind the sight.
• Gear: shoot with ALL your gear on, every single piece you may have on during a hunt, as well as the foreseeable combinations of gear. Then shoot in your gear from all those positions previously mentioned. Your thicker morning jacket may get slapped by your bowstring. Your pack may restrict some part of your ability to get into normal shooting form. You may be fine standing, but kneeling your binos may foul your bowstring, etc, etc.
• Quick shooting. This falls hand in hand with weapon setup and muscle memory. Hold off on this until you have your basic form and shooting consistently so you have some muscle memory developed. Game does not cooperate, often we have mere moments to get weapon up on target and shoot. So we need to practice that too. We all talk about floating the pin, but I have found the longer I hold on target (even floating) the shakier things get and less consistent my shots. Our body knows what to do and if we get our BFH (big fat head) out of the way our body will often do things automatically. I tried this last year and was surprised at the results. I am not condoning rushing shots or putting yourself on a timer, I am just harnessing the body’s ability to do things automatically. For obvious reasons only do this from closer distances until you are comfortable and consistent. I draw my bow and as I bring it up and get settled I bring the pin "up the leg" and onto target. As soon as the pin stops on the target I squeeze the shot off. Not rushed, not jerking trigger, not forcing it to happen in a second, I just float the pin up to the target point and squeeze when I get the proper site picture and hold. No trying to hold it on target for any amount of time, get site picture and release.

Those are some of the things I do, I don't claim to do them all all the time, but I do hit them a few times a season. This year I also plan to add using mouth calls while shooting to my practice routine.

[Elkhunttoo]

I know a guy that for the last few weeks before the season will just shoot one arrow a day. His theory is you only get one shot so make it count.

One of the things I do is put a elk hunting DVD on and pause it with what would be shot opportunities, then I draw and hold and pick a spot on the elk.

[Mathewsz7-elkridge]

I know a guy that for the last few weeks before the season will just shoot one arrow a day. His theory is you only get one shot so make it count.

One of the things I do is put a elk hunting DVD on and pause it with what would be shot opportunities, then I draw and hold and pick a spot on the elk.

I know a guy who drew his bow in the house looking at himself in the mirror. I forget what he was looking at but he ended up bumping the release. Shot into the closet!

[Mathewsz7-elkridge]

Lamrith well said.
Another thing to add to all of this is how you get on target helps a lot in your quick shooting. I personally come from above my target and once the pin settles on my spot I want to hit I squeeze. Some people I know come from the bottom I let gravity help its a personal thing. One may work better for you then the other, but I feel up or down is best. You want to get your pins in a straight line left to right above or below your target and slowing moving in the direction of your target. I practice this while holding for a long time as well I just hold my bow back not aiming or holding in any one spot just watching my target. Once I am ready to shoot I go through my motion of get above the target and coming down.

[Tigger]

As I think about this topic more, I think about people that have trouble with big game. Some people just seem to "have it" when the moment of truth comes and others struggle with it. I was really worried about my daughter after the first couple of years, but this year she did awesome (and shot two whitetails all by herself at 12 years old).

As funny as this sounds, I think shooting trap (or skeet or sporting clays) helps with this. You get plenty of repetitions and you need to make an instant decision each time. results are instantaneous and you learn speedy target acquisition.

[Swede]

I practice to ensure my muscles and shooting form are ready for hunting. It has only a small emphasis on any one shot. I need to know my equipment is working perfectly for me. When I start shooting in the Spring, it is a little hard to draw my bow and hold, but by August, drawing my bow is smooth and relatively easy. If there is something I need to concentrate on it is Follow-Through on the shot. It seems over time I can forget this important aspect of shooting. When that happens, my shot pattern widens considerably.

[stringunner]

I have Stringuner stand beside me with a ball peen hammer ready to strike me in the groin if I miss. Let me tell you.....I am deadly accurate.

Now that's funny right there!!!!!

[lamrith]

Lamrith well said.
Another thing to add to all of this is how you get on target helps a lot in your quick shooting. I personally come from above my target and once the pin settles on my spot I want to hit I squeeze. Some people I know come from the bottom I let gravity help its a personal thing. One may work better for you then the other, but I feel up or down is best. You want to get your pins in a straight line left to right above or below your target and slowing moving in the direction of your target. I practice this while holding for a long time as well I just hold my bow back not aiming or holding in any one spot just watching my target. Once I am ready to shoot I go through my motion of get above the target and coming down.

Def up or down is best. I find if I try to adjust left/right that there is a bigger chance of torquing the bow, or pulling with an arm that then pulls farther on release. I prefer coming up the leg, I think it is a carry over frim firearms and always keeping your weapon aimed down and not up.

An offshoot of that and another thing I practice a little bit in training is moving while at full draw. I do not spend a ton of time on this, but will add it in once in a while just for a situation like Phantoms Elk Tactic Episode 7. When you need to make a sidestep for clearance or move around a tree after you have already gone to full draw. During a normal practice set I will come to draw, settle pin and then while keeping the bow at full draw bring bow down out of full shooting position and move in a random direction a few steps while facing the target and then come back to shooting position, come up to target, settle pin and shoot. Again not something to spend tons of time on, just once in a while so that if you have to do it in a pinch it is not a completely foreign action.

[Swede]

lamrith, I just read your post with interest. I have not thought about what you wrote before. I agree going up or down is best then just make micro adjustments for left/right. I find raising my fully draw bow to be difficult, though not impossible. Since it is easier to lower it into position I have always started by aiming a little over a target or critter, then lowering the bow into position.