Confidence at the range Part 2

[Bearhunter]

Wapiti

I dont know the person calling you out on the 100 yard shot comment but dont tell him he is a liar.  I cant comment on the missed bulls or wounded bulls but I can comment on the 100yard shot bet.  I was there you said you could hit a 50 cent piece at 100yards, I said Ill put $100 on it that you cant.  But dont call me or any of us liars!  Remember you know who you are and what your shooting abilitys are, you have nothing to prove to any of us.  Great shooting!  Peace

[ribka]

There is shooting then there is hunting. Probably a lot of guys on here can shoot groups like that at 100 yds. Not too difficult with today's equipment, releases, light arrows .

Take a camera and on the off season get out in the woods and see how close you can get to elk, deer, moose, turkey, bear, etc and try and take close quality photos.The more time out in the woods won't get nervous and can concentrate on shots. When I practice before season I take six arrows and shoot one arrow say at 37 yds kneeling, then maybe go to 18 yards and sit down and shoot then maybe back out to 50 yds etc and shoot up hill , down hill, angled shots until the arrows are gone and do again. I put my 3d target in the woods and shoot at the same way thru brush etc. Standing at one distance and flinging arrows does not make good practice for hunting in my opinion.

[WAPITIHUNTER]

Thank you Bearhunter. I will point out that the bet was a 50 cent piece at 80 yards not 100. Maybe you could have lost that 100 bucks. I have never bet in my life so you were safe

My point for posting the first part of this post was to point out that very fact. What happens in the field is very different than what happens at the range so we really need to practice all the different scenarios. I am a very good archer at the range but my nerves got the best of me and the fact that I was taken out of my element by having others along as it was distracting to me. I am not blaming them for anything. I should have known that it would have cramped my style but I was trying to be nice and let the locals who want the tag so bad enjoy a hunt that they may never get. I will point out that Bearhunter was very sincere and gave me alot of upbuilding text messages and phone calls after the crap hit the fan. Bearhunter you are an upstanding individual and in my opinion an outstanding hunter.

Hope to hunt with you again sometime. Sorry about implying that you were a liar.

[bear]

Thank you Bearhunter. I will point out that the bet was a 50 cent piece at 80 yards not 100. Maybe you could have lost that 100 bucks. I have never bet in my life so you were safe

My point for posting the first part of this post was to point out that very fact. What happens in the field is very different than what happens at the range so we really need to practice all the different scenarios. I am a very good archer at the range but my nerves got the best of me and the fact that I was taken out of my element by having others along as it was distracting to me. I am not blaming them for anything. I should have known that it would have cramped my style but I was trying to be nice and let the locals who want the tag so bad enjoy a hunt that they may never get. I will point out that Bearhunter was very sincere and gave me alot of upbuilding text messages and phone calls after the crap hit the fan. Bearhunter you are an upstanding individual and in my opinion an outstanding hunter.

Hope to hunt with you again sometime. Sorry about implying that you were a liar.

Good post

[carpsniperg2]

 

[colockumelk]

Here's my take on the subject.

I think that Wapiti makes a good point and one that should be looked at.  Just because you can shoot well at the range doesn't mean you will be a good shot when it counts in the field.  When I was in the Marine Corps I considered myself to be an excellant shot.  With  peep sights I could hit a man sized target at 500 yards 9-10 out of 10 times.  I looked down upon the police officers we all saw on tv in those shoot outs who missed time after time with their pistols at close distances, alway saying I could have done better.  I knew in my heart that if I was ever in a gun fight I'd be calmly taking well aimed shots because that's what I did in training.

Then in 2003 I deployed to Kuwait and then Iraq for the invasion.  When I got in my first gunfight I pulled the trigger and nothing happened.  Nothing happened because before I knew it I had emptied my 30 round magazine as fast as I could shoot three round bursts and hadn't yet realized I had even fired a single round.  After a few encounters I calmed down enough to take carefull shots using the controlled pair method like I had been taught in training.

The point is is that it has been found that when your adrenaline goes through the roof and your heart is beating at 170 bpm you lose all of your fine motor skills which is what you use for accurate shooting.  There is nothing you can do about it.  When you are that excited you WILL lose all of your fine motor skills.  The only thing you can do about it is to learn how to control your excitement and adrenaline so that you do not hit 170bpm so you maintain your fine motor skills.  And like someone else said the only way to do that is to go out there in the woods. 

So next time on tv when you see a cop or soldier firing rapid fire at a guy 20yds away and he misses every time don't be like me and say "I could do better" because you wouldn't be able to do better.  Unless you've been in multiple gun fights. 

[matlockmike]

I think you got an excellent point colockumelk, I see it all the time with one of my friends. He has never killed an elk so his excitement gets the best of him and blows the opportunity.  I'm not saying that I don't blow my chances either but I do have confidence in my ablility to control myself and seal the deal

So on the flip side this isn't Wapitihunter's first elk or elk hunt??? 

We all get excited, if we didn't get excited about killing an elk then we wouldn't do it.

[ribka]

That's the point making above.
Train as realistically as possible. I have learned this after over 25 years in the military and law enforcement

We always trained under stressful and realistic conditions. Shoot houses, jammed mag drills on the move, low light, shooting on the move etc. Next time you go the range do 30 push-ups and run 100 yds then shoot. See how you do

Did the same in the military. I have personally seen Police bad guys empty firearms at less that 10 ft at each other and miss. Have to learn to control small muscle movement under stressful situations.

That is why I practice before season I shoot up hill , down hill, in brush and only one arrow at each range. I do not use a range finder because in real bow and arrow hunting situations, ( except on moronic hunting shows) you rarely get the time to range and a lot of times animal is so close cannot risk movement. I practice determing ranges and one can become quite good at it.

Just my opinion

[AKBowman]

I have a comment on the subject;

I dont claim to be a great shot with a bow (I use a slightly older bow that is conducive to shooting fingers) but I can shoot a decent group at 60 yards (4 arrows into a pie plate).

I practiced like hell all summer for an archery dall sheep hunt up in AK Oct 1-10. I shot a dozen or so 3-D shoots as well as the walk through and static range at least 2-3 times/wk. Let me tell you I wish I would exchange practicing half the time with realistic archery hunting situations;

-shooting after a short sprint
-quick releases
-moving targets
-extreme down hill/uphill shots
-drawing my bow in awkward positions
-etc

I was so preoccupied with shooting tight groups I failed to practice these situations and as a result I failed to notch my tag. I EARNED 2 shots. The first was a running shot (I was sliding downhill and the ram was running over a knife ridge) at 40 yards. The second I had just commenced an absolutely brutal gruelling uphill push to get above a ram and had to sprint sidehill about 150 yrds to a boulder to get a very quick 70 yard extreme uphill shot which went just under the rams front arm pit.

I'm sure had I practiced these realistic situations I would have been able to connect but I did not. The only shot my partner had was on the last day of the 9 day hunt...a 25 yard awkward sidehill shot off balance through alders. He hit the ram in the horn and snapped his 125 grain Montec broadhead off in the right horn.

From now on I will be practicing to kill an animal not practicing to shoot groups.

It's like practing for shooting waterfowl or upland game birds by shooting a still target...doesnt make much sense if you think about it.

[colockumelk]

Good point.  This is why in the military the majority of our weapons training is no longer punching holes at known distance targets.  This does absolutely nothing for you combat shooting.  Instead we shoot at either pop up targets at random ranges or we shoot sim-rounds at us (high velocity paint bullets)  Not only do you train with the weapon you will take into combat but it also gives induces you with real stress, because those suckers hurt like hell. 

Stress induced training is THE most realistic and worth while shooting you can train for.  Obviously you can't have 350 inch bulls bugling in your face but practising real world type shots is the best you can do.  I recommend shoot at your block target to sight in all of your pins.  Then after that go into the mountains and shoot using realistic scenarios. 

Such as shoot up and down hill.  Twist your body.  Do a 50 yd sprint with all your gear on and then give yourself 3 seconds to draw, settle the pin and shoot etc. 

[WAPITIHUNTER]

I have done alot of scenario's sitting on my behind and turning way left or way right and practicing that way. Also dropped my bow off the roof one time while trying to practice downhill shooting. All my broadheads ended up through my quiver. The walk through at the Tacoma Sportsmans Club was good as it had alot of tough angle shots and shooting through small holes in the brush etc etc. All this still does nothing to prepare you for the adrenaline rush when the bull or buck is ontop of you. Maybe we can setup a walk through course on an elk farm where they raise them like cattle.

[Matt]

Never stop practicing.  The better you are in practice, the more confidence that you will have in a hunting situation.  Just learn to take controll of the situation while hunting.  Even if it means letting the animal pass.  Whether it's a 400 class bull or 90lb doe you owe it to them to make your best shot.

Nuff said on the hunt.  If you normally shoot that way I want to see you out at the tournaments around the state.  That is some good shooting.  I know the best shooters in this state and Oregon and they don't shoot groups like that at a 100 yards.  Not to mention tournament shooting can inject some pressure shooting practice.  Besides it can be a lot of fun.