Poor shooting mechanics and the fear of missing are what causes bowhunters to blow easy shots. To restore shooting confidence, bowhunters must slowly re-program their minds to shoot correctly and with good control.
October 28, 2024
By Joe Bell
The morning was crisp and cold — perfect conditions for deer hunting in early November. My good friend Randy Templeton and I were bowhunting prime real estate in western Iowa. Randy put me in a good spot at the edge of a bean field, about 200 yards inside the wood line. Near the field’s edge, I tethered scent pads soaked in doe-in-heat urine to my boots, then quietly sneaked into my stand setup. Prior to ascending the tree, I removed the scent-pad strings and placed them about 10 yards from the base of the tree.
Before long I had my safety harness fully secure and my bow up on a hook — I was ready for action. About 1 1/2 hours later, I caught a flash of movement up on the ridge. It was a nice 10-point buck and he was coming my way.
As I tracked his every step, I could feel the intensity of the movement ramping up quickly. The closer he got, the more my heart thumped. Once he closed inside 50 yards, I knew the shot would happen. Soon, he was inches from my shooting lane. I set my bowhand, slowly cranked the bow to full draw, and felt my release hand glide into its familiar spot. With the pin centered in the peep, I eased the sight upward, trying to settle it just above his heart — but it froze. Buck fever and the fear of missing had hit, and I frantically snapped the sight pin near the deer’s heart and released the bowstring. I watched in horror as the arrow glided a mere inch from the buck’s brisket line — a 28-yard chip-shot, totally ruined! I quickly grew disgusted with myself.
Days after the big miss, I took an honest overview of the situation. Was my botched shot due to lack of practice and focus? No, it wasn’t. I had practiced regularly on 3-D targets leading up to the hunt. Instead, my ruined opportunity at a good 10-point came down to poor shooting mechanics. In other words, my shooting style was not mentally strong. Nowadays, I shoot differently, and I’m much more controlled despite intense shooting pressure. With that in mind, here are some recommendations for improving your performance at the moment of truth.
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Start With Good Form Good shooting form is simple, consistent, and relaxed — three facets that promote accuracy and repeatability. To establish good shooting posture, you must stand correctly to the target with your feet about shoulder-width apart. I prefer to keep my feet slightly less than 90-degrees from the target. But you should experiment to see what’s most comfortable for you.
Once you’re in a comfortable stance and drawn back, your body should look like a “T.” This means the torso is straight up and down, and the head and neck are in a natural, upright position — nothing should be leaning back or forward. Your bow arms should be parallel with the arrow, while the draw-arm elbow is in-line with the arrow’s position. This illustrates proper T-form.
T-form promotes maximum relaxation, proper draw length, and added shooting strength. All of these features feed into the mental mechanics of shooting correctly. When you’re shooting at a sharp downward angle (i.e. from a tree stand) or upward angle (i.e. upslope on a hill), always try to draw your bow perpendicular to your body, then bend at the waist to aim on target. This will help keep the torso straight, so you can maintain proper T-form.
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Improve Your Mental Mechanics We blow easy shots because our shooting technique is not ordered. In other words, we tend to approach the shot willy-nilly by picking a spot and drawing back — but beyond this there isn’t much of a plan other than pulling the trigger. Well, that’s usually not enough.
The string-bow is highly effective for learning a new way of shooting. The author is demonstrating how to shoot a wrist-strap release using the middle finger, which can reduce or eliminate trigger punching for a lot of archers. When practicing in the backyard, your mind is at ease, unless you have a crowd of folks watching, then things can get more intense. Even then, the intensity is nowhere near the level of drawing back on a big buck. Typically, punching the vitals on a 3D target becomes routine since real pressure is lacking. Once pressure hits, this ordinary shooting plan tends to fold up like a cheap lawn chair! This is where a shot plan becomes essential.
A pre-shot checklist helps keep the mind focused and the body breathing properly — two things that will lessen the effects of buck fever. Come up with a good mental sequence and follow it on every practice shot until it becomes automatic.
Everyone will have a slightly different sequence, but here’s mine:
Nock arrow Set foot position (stance) Hook up release Set bow hand Raise bow to level position Apply tension on bowstring; set “pressure point” on bow grip to hand Draw bow (slowly and without raising bow much if any) while inhaling a deep breath Find my anchor point, then bend at waist to acquire target Glide sight pin up to the target – do not aim yet! Exhale half breath Begin pulling with my back muscles while my finger is comfortably hooked around the release's trigger Jump into aiming mode and then switch focus to tightening my back muscles Say my mantra: pull...pull...pull... Let aiming become subconscious. Shot breaks in about four seconds Keep my bow arm up until the arrow strikes the target. Don’t be intimated by the complexity of this list — it’s long, but as you practice it over and over, it will flow smoothly and with little conscious thought.
Also, don’t ever shoot when tired or distracted. Wait until your fresh so your mind affiliates relaxation and strength as part of the shot process. Remember, you’re feeding your subconscious important messages on how to do something correctly. By keeping your mind ordered and calm every time you shoot, it will lay down the right kind of mental medicine to keep you focused even under the most intense shooting conditions.
Change Your Release Method The biggest hurdle in overcoming poor shooting form is learning how to trigger the shot smoothly. Most bowhunters tend to smash the trigger as soon as the sight pin touches the target. This may work decently for a little while, but eventually, the archer begins to swing into the target drastically — what they call “drive-by shooting” — and punches the shot with intense anticipation. This style of shooting drastically erodes shooting confidence and eventually causes errant shots and wounded animals.
The Carter Wise Choice is an excellent thumb-trigger release. The author shows his preferred way of shooting this style of release — by placing the thumb on the release body itself, then using solid back-tension to gradually force the trigger into the thumb’s knuckle region. Releasing the arrow with control is imperative to shooting well under pressure. Typically, this means relying on your back muscles to actually “let the arrow go” rather than just pressing the trigger with your finger.
To do this effectively, shorten the stem on your release so the index finger bisects the trigger at about the second knuckle. This will do two things: it will keep the pad of the fingertip away from the trigger — which happens to be super-sensitive — and it will help you form a hook around the peg that can be pulled on using arm-and-back tension.
Once the release is adjusted correctly, practice pinching your shoulder blades together while at full draw. This is the motion that will help pivot your shoulder blades toward your spine, causing your draw-side arm and elbow to move away from the release hand, eventually causing the “finger-hook” to tug on the trigger until the shot breaks.
This is a slow, steady muscle progression that keeps the triggering sequence smooth and controlled. As you practice this method over and over, it’ll become very natural. I’ve shot this way for more than 15 years, and it has dramatically transformed my shooting performance.
Any time you’re learning a new shooting method, give yourself a solid 30 days or more of repetitive shooting. This will code the right amount of information in your mind and build sufficient muscle memory.
Quick Fixes For some of you, deer season is still in full swing with only a few weeks left — you may not have a month or more to sort out major shooting problems. If this is the case, not all is lost. Here are three quick-fixes I recommend for offsetting poor shooting control, so you can build confidence and get back to hunting.
The author is a big fan of the hinge-style release with a safety, such as the TRU Ball Sweet Spot and Carter Honey. He’s used both releases successfully for hunting. Consider Switching Trigger Fingers: Most bowhunters use a wrist-strap release and pull the trigger with their index finger. To improve control, try grasping the trigger with your middle finger instead. It tends to be less sensitive and, consequently, more reliable.
The switch is relatively easy to make, too. Prior to drawing the bow, simply place the index finger on the opposite side of the release’s body and trigger, while the middle finger curls behind the trigger peg. Once at full draw, swing the middle finger up and around the trigger, then grasp it. As an alternate method, you can place the index finger behind the trigger as normal, draw back, then move the index finger to the opposite side of the release’s body while positioning the middle finger on the trigger. With either technique, you should form a finger-hook around the trigger peg and use back-tension to activate the shot. Experiment to see what works best for you.
Thumb-Trigger Release: The thumb is considered the least sensitive finger on the hand, making it extremely dependable for activating the shot. The key, of course, is to use a high-quality thumb release and to shoot it correctly.
I favor thumb releases with large, knurled adjustable triggers. I’ve shot the Carter Wise Choice and First Choice with superior results.
To maximize shot control, place the tip of the thumb on the handle itself, while the middle portion of the knuckle curls around the trigger bar. Once back-tension is applied, the handle will naturally rotate due to the rearward movement of the arm and elbow, forcing the middle part of the thumb into the trigger bar. This tends to fire the arrow by complete surprise. After shooting this way a few dozen times, you’ll become much more relaxed, controlled, and less anxious about missing.
Back Tension with a Safety: A standard hinge doesn’t have a trigger or a safety, and to use it properly you need lots of training — or it can easily misfire and smash you in the face! For this reason, it’s not a quick fix for shooting problems.
On the other hand, the hinge with a safety is fairly easy to use. This style of release has done wonders for my shooting, since there is no trigger to hook my finger around and to “pull past,” greatly simplifying the shooting process. My favorite models are the TRU Ball Sweet Spot Pro Flex and the Carter Honey. I’ve used both successfully while hunting.
Keep in mind, with any of these quick fixes, you must adopt the new shooting method and stick with it. I suggest you practice the technique repeatedly using a simple parachute-cord “string bow,” then transition to your regular bow by shooting at a close-up target with your eyes closed. The string-bow and blind-bale shooting will help with minor strap and trigger adjustments, while you learn proper muscle memory. After about 45 to 60 blind-bale shots, transition to a 15- or 20-yard target and shoot for three to four days. Focus on making a smooth, strong shot each and every time — no exceptions. If your form begins to diminish, quit for the day, so your body can rest.
During the hunt, be sure to shoot a few arrows in the morning, before heading out, or at midday, if you happen to come in for lunch. Maintain this routine to ingrain your new shooting method. Trust the process and it will help restore your shooting confidence, putting you in a positive mindset, so you can deliver at the moment of truth when it matters most.