High opportunity archery hunts?

[GBoyd]

I just got back Monday evening from a my yearly elk hunt in the Eagle Cap wilderness, where five guys hunting 10 days didn't fill a single tag. We had four missed shots and I don't know how many opportunities with elk within archery range. All that close range failure got us thinking that we need to shoot more animals with our bows. One elk tag a year won't cut it to learn how to shoot well while in an adrenaline blackout.

Do you have any ideas of hunts we can do to practice killing animals? I'm thinking of three or five deer or hogs in a weekend, just to put meat in the freezer and build up some muscle memory with the bow.

Texas is the first thing to come to mind, but I'm interested if there's any other thoughts. Maybe an outfitter in one of the whitetail states would sell a doe hunt?

[theleo]

The only thing that'll get you used to shooting elk is shooting elk. Shooting a pile of pigs isn't going to get you ready for a bull at 10 yards.

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[NorseNW]

I'm not an expert archer by any means but have a bit of background in "stressful shooting situations".  What I have learned is to react well in those stressful situations is to train under the most realistic ones you can.  Adrenaline blackout I'm not familiar with but the bodies physical reaction to what you describe is increased heart rate,  narrowing of vision, blah blah blah.

My suggestion and practice is shooting under pressure.  Run hills in between shots.  Don't have a lot of room try 20 burpees and take a shot with no rest and repeat it.  When you have multiple shoots on animals in a weekend your stress isn't going to be there because no one really gives a darn about small deer and piglets.

My two cents

[jstone]

 
Also shoot at different angles. Just shooting flat range won’t get you ready much.

[GBoyd]

Maybe it's just lack of experience, but I definitely still get high levels of adrenaline from shooting small deer. I do the running drills, but I feel the missing ingredient is the sense of uncertainty that comes from having a live animal in front of you. I don't know any way in the backyard to practice the timing of drawing your bow and making a shot with an animal in front of you.

The adrenaline blackout: have you ever had trouble remembering what happened in an elk encounter? Your buddies ask you where the arrow hit or where you were holding your pin and you can't remember? I thought of this as a fairly common occurrence.

I'm not an expert archer by any means but have a bit of background in "stressful shooting situations".  What I have learned is to react well in those stressful situations is to train under the most realistic ones you can.  Adrenaline blackout I'm not familiar with but the bodies physical reaction to what you describe is increased heart rate,  narrowing of vision, blah blah blah.

My suggestion and practice is shooting under pressure.  Run hills in between shots.  Don't have a lot of room try 20 burpees and take a shot with no rest and repeat it.  When you have multiple shoots on animals in a weekend your stress isn't going to be there because no one really gives a darn about small deer and piglets.

My two cents

[Jellymon]

One of the biggest mistakes made under pressure is shooting at the entire elk without picking a small spot to aim at. Doing so will cause misses on otherwise easy shots. The two things going through my head on a live animal is distance first, then pick a spot, pick a spot, pick a spot.

[Elkrunner]

Sounds to me like a bit of buck fever.   

[Stein]

If you have the resources, there are several states where you can get reasonably affordable deer tags in multiples.  The flip side is that if I shot 3-4 deer I wouldn't need an elk in the freezer on top of that.  I think there is a guy on here that hunts waterfowl with a bow, so there are small game options as well.

Other options are to do shooting drills where you have tons of activities - do 20 burpees fast and then crank off a shot within 10 seconds (or whatever number is challenging).  Just being in better shape helps accuracy.

3D shoots where people are watching you and there are semi-realistic scenarios (shooting up, down, around trees & bushes, etc.).

Finally, just shoot more.  If you can regularly shoot all year you will have better hold muscles, more muscle memory and the ability to focus on the elk and your aim point instead of thinking about the mechanics of the shot.

[mburrows]

I used get the same thing, a blackout of sorts when it came time to launch an arrow at an animal. Its gotten better with more opportunity for me even if its shooting at antelope, deer, grouse, etc. Definitely not the same thing as an elk crashing through the brush towards you but get all the reps you can at live animals, 3d targets under pressure, shooting for money with friends, it all helps to build your confidence under pressure.

[buckfvr]

As a bow hunter, you can succeed as a hunter, only to fail as an archer.  Honing your archery skills can be done without trying to kill stuff that your archery skills may not be up to.  Get involved with archery year round, do any event that comes up and your skills will/should improve to the point that you do not miss slam dunk shots. 

I think most guys believe they are better shots than they actually are under pressure......there is an emotional part to archery and hunting that you have to overcome in order to not get target panic/buck fever at the moment of executing a shot.

Dont push the envelope and force shots on animals as its a sure way to loose an animal, if not miss.

Get more exposure to the animals you intend to hunt so you are more comfortable, less shook up once you are in a hunting situation.

Shoot year round if you can.......probably the most important thing you can do, be second nature with a bow in your hand.

[kselkhunter]

My misses on bulls in the past were a result of buck fever.  Funny part is I didn't get buck fever when launching an arrow at a deer.  Just an elk.  Part of it is I've been surprised by a bull showing up when I wasn't expecting him, multiple times (yes it can happen).  I think the other part of it on those first bulls was just the sheer size and proximity.  That's when buck fever took over.  Didn't use range finder, and "guessed" the range as I was in a hurry....brain wasn't functioning like it should in that moment.  Shot low every time, on my first few bulls experience. 

Only way to get over it is more experience at elk hunting, at least for me.  Also my 3-D targets in the yard were all deer.  One challenge I had with elk is range appears different with a bigger animal than a smaller one, and my brain was calibrated for deer size targets.  So I spent more time shooting at larger targets to help calibrate my brain better.

I don't think shooting deer or pigs will help you with elk.  But, that is just based on my experience. We're all different.   

[ribka]

Buy a 3 d elk target or join an archery club with 3 d range and elk size targets

limit yourself to one arrow and shoot at different ranges and positions

pretty easy fix

My misses on bulls in the past were a result of buck fever.  Funny part is I didn't get buck fever when launching an arrow at a deer.  Just an elk.  Part of it is I've been surprised by a bull showing up when I wasn't expecting him, multiple times (yes it can happen).  I think the other part of it on those first bulls was just the sheer size and proximity.  That's when buck fever took over.  Didn't use range finder, and "guessed" the range as I was in a hurry....brain wasn't functioning like it should in that moment.  Shot low every time, on my first few bulls experience. 

Only way to get over it is more experience at elk hunting, at least for me.  Also my 3-D targets in the yard were all deer.  One challenge I had with elk is range appears different with a bigger animal than a smaller one, and my brain was calibrated for deer size targets.  So I spent more time shooting at larger targets to help calibrate my brain better.

I don't think shooting deer or pigs will help you with elk.  But, that is just based on my experience. We're all different.

[syoungs]

Do you turkey hunt in the spring?

turkey hunting can be real similar to elk hunting in the fall. I'd do that this spring.

[Rainier10]

Practice all year with your bow building muscle memory.  Also practice in whatever gear you hunt in.  Gloves, hat, backpack all of these alter the way you shoot just a little.

As for the adrenaline if you can control it you will be good to go. How I have found to control it is to get out in the off season and get as close as I can to animals and try to control my heartbeat and breathing when I do.  Being able to do this in a non hunting situation seems to help me when I get in the real deal.

[GBoyd]

If you have the resources, there are several states where you can get reasonably affordable deer tags in multiples.  The flip side is that if I shot 3-4 deer I wouldn't need an elk in the freezer on top of that.  I think there is a guy on here that hunts waterfowl with a bow, so there are small game options as well.

Other options are to do shooting drills where you have tons of activities - do 20 burpees fast and then crank off a shot within 10 seconds (or whatever number is challenging).  Just being in better shape helps accuracy.

3D shoots where people are watching you and there are semi-realistic scenarios (shooting up, down, around trees & bushes, etc.).

Finally, just shoot more.  If you can regularly shoot all year you will have better hold muscles, more muscle memory and the ability to focus on the elk and your aim point instead of thinking about the mechanics of the shot.

Well, I doubt I'll get an elk this year so some extra meat is definitely part of this plan.

As far as the training tips, I agree with everything in this thread. My group all shoot regularly, place bets on our shooting at 3-D ranges, haul block targets to the ski slopes to practice shooting at angles and out of breath, etc.

We're just inexperienced bowhunters. I've killed two deer and one elk with a bow. My four buddies have killed 3, 1, 0, and 0 big game animals with theirs. I can't believe that bringing those numbers up to 15 each over the next few years wouldn't help us do better on elk.

Any particular states you would recommend that I look at?

[Stein]

Midwest or back east, you're too late for anything out here.  I haven't done any hunting out there, but have family and friends in IL and VA that want me to come out and hunt OTC deer.  I think my brother said his license has 6 deer tags a year with it, three doe and three any deer.  He can buy additional doe tags to hunt his private property, unlimited.

If you weren't picky, my guess is you could hunt several does a year on reasonable tags.  Where I hunt out of state, nobody shoots does and other hunters are almost always willing to tell me where they saw does.

[Bluemoon]

Shoot me a text message. Central MT.  OTC antlerless Whitetail. Owners of our lease wants them thinned down. 

[ThurstonCokid]

Shoot me a text message. Central MT.  OTC antlerless Whitetail. Owners of our lease wants them thinned down.

Can i come too? Lol


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[andrew_in_idaho]

Nebraska has unlimited nonresident archery tags and you can buy antlerless tags in bundles for $70 a piece. Regs state you are limited to 2 tags allowing antlered harvest and no limit on antlerless tags(each unit does have a quota but no individual person has a limit within those quotas)


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