If you are an avid bowhunter, you have probably had buck fever at some point during your hunting career. The scenario typically starts out this way: you are practicing in your backyard. At twenty yards, you are driving tacks. You hit your mark or close to it with every shot. You practice at thirty yards and still you are hitting your mark. You step back to forty yards, feeling good about yourself and just like every other shot, you are hitting the bulls-eye every time you let an arrow fly. Satisfied with your shooting, you head for the woods.
Three hours after you could have given Robin Hood a run for his money, a big buck walks in front of you at 23 paces. You come to full draw, shoot and watch in amazement as the buck of a lifetimes runs off with every hair on his body intact. You replay the shot in your head one hundred times and you can’t believe you missed. After all, just a few short hours before you were shooting well. The problem: buck fever.
There isn’t a cure for buck fever but there are ways you can deal with it and concentrate long enough to make the shot when you need to. If you are like me, when you get buck fever, your mind races, your heart beats so loudly that you are afraid the deer will hear your heart beating in your chest. Your arms are so weak you can barely come to full draw. If you have any chance of being able to deal with these problems, you need to try to recreate them while practicing.
To simulate buck fever, do 25 push-ups (or as many as you can physically do) just before you practice. When you go to pull your bow back, your arms will feel like rubber and your heart will be racing. At this point, force yourself to focus on making one good shot. Do this routine every time you go and shoot. Over time, you will learn to keep your wits about you, even when your mind and body want to short circuit.
Another option is to regularly shoot in a league. Shooting with twenty or one hundred people staring at you while you try to concentrate on making a good shot will force you to bring your mental game to the next level. Over time, you will be able to drown out everything around you and focus on making a good shot.
You may want to consider dropping the number of pounds you are pulling back. Most guys are macho. We want to prove that we are strong so if our bow will shoot 70 pounds, we shoot 70 pounds. Today’s bows are extremely fast and pack a lot of kinetic energy. An older friend of mine has his bow set at 50 pounds and consistently kills deer, elk and even moose. The less weight you pull, the easier your bow will be to hold at full draw and the steadier you will be able to hold your bow when you are at full draw. Don’t worry about being macho, worry about being a good shot.
After you have your treestand hung in your favorite tree, shoot a few arrows out of it. Once your shooting lanes are picked out, imagine a buck walking down a runway and go through the shot sequence several times. Envision making a great shot. Practicing your shot sequence before a buck arrives will help you develop a routine and become more comfortable and relaxed when he shows up. If you read the last few sentences closely, you saw that I said, “Envision yourself making a great shot.” Pro archers always think positively about their shooting. Thinking positive thoughts and envisioning themselves hitting the mark often results in them hitting the mark. If you have a positive mental attitude, you will probably have a better chance of making the shot of a lifetime when you need to.
Good luck in the woods!
