36 BOW&ARROW HUNTING

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Edmund Joseph
5 years ago
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1 36 BOW&ARROW HUNTING

It was frustrating to work so hard for a moment of truth to present itself, but then, when all I needed was one good shot, I just couldn t seem to put it together.

2 When I look back at my adolescent hunting experiences and my early target career, I can easily sum it up in two words: missed opportunities! Unfortunately, there were many trophy bucks and tournament trophies that slipped through my fingers time after time because my shooting just wasn t that great. It was frustrating to work so hard for a moment of truth to present itself, but then, when all I needed was one good shot, I just couldn t seem to put it together. The common problem to all of these missed opportunities was target panic a term that almost every hunter will most likely encounter at some point. Target panic, or buck fever, as it is sometimes referred to by hunters, is a problem that has made many hunters like me Target Panic is an Archer s Worst Nightmare, as It Prevents One From Holding Steady on Target. However, With Some Honest Effort, Determination, and an Effective Game Plan, Anyone Can Stop This Disease From Ruining the Sport TEXT AND PHOTOS BY JOHN DUDLEY unsuccessful and has also been the reason behind many people stepping away from bowhunting altogether. The good news is that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and you can overcome it. My light came on back in 1997 at an ASA World Championship. I was shooting in a Pro-Am event and was lucky enough to have Randy Ulmer as my pro counterpart. Randy had seen me for several years at tournaments and recognized me as someone who was serious and dedicated. He also recognized how the pressure of a big tournament, as well as shooting with a pro like him, was affecting me. Let s just say I wasn t much help to his team that day because target panic got the best of me! After the last arrow was shot, he looked at me and said, You are a good archer, kid, but you will never get anywhere until you get over your target panic. Randy then reached BOW&ARROW HUNTING 37

Photo A Photo B Photo C Image D The author demonstrates a simple exercise in order to recognize the muscle group you are trying to use during back tension.

He handed it to me and said, If you work hard and learn to shoot this, you will become better than you can imagine. This action from Randy totally changed my life.

The first step in problem solving is to identify the problem. My problem was that I knew I punched the trigger during tournaments or when a big buck was in front of me.

3 Photo A Photo B Photo C Image D The author demonstrates a simple exercise in order to recognize the muscle group you are trying to use during back tension. This group is known as the rhomboid muscles, as shown here. into his rock-climbing pouch filled with his release aids and pulled out a Carter hinge release called a Revenger. He handed it to me and said, If you work hard and learn to shoot this, you will become better than you can imagine. This action from Randy totally changed my life. #1 IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM When I left that tournament with Randy s words in my mind, I first wanted to identify the disease I had and learn more about it. The first step in problem solving is to identify the problem. My problem was that I knew I punched the trigger during tournaments or when a big buck was in front of me. My uncontrollable instinct was 38 BOW&ARROW HUNTING to hit the trigger as soon as I saw the target or some fur. I knew I didn t have that urge all the time; it only came when I got anxious for whatever the reason. The key word here is anxious, which comes directly from the word anxiety. Simply put, target panic, or buck fever, is directly connected to anxiety. Since my father is a psychologist, I was easily able to define anxiety, which is an uneasiness of the mind. Like most problems in life, you can t fix something if you don t know what the problem is. I knew that my target panic at the time was specific to punching the trigger, but for some people there are other kinds as well. If you suffer from freezing the sight pin beneath the target, flinching while shooting, collapsing or, in extreme cases, not being able to put the pin near the target at all, then you have target panic. You are in the same boat I was once in. But with some work, I was able to get into another boat that, believe me, has a much more enjoyable ride. THE REAL PROBLEM: BEING SHY OF THE BULL S-EYE Many people and coaches say that someone with target panic is just afraid of missing, but I strongly disagree. When you break down all the things that affect your anxiety and target panic, it all boils down to you actually being afraid to hit the middle! You may think I m crazy for saying that, but it is true. You are afraid of the middle or afraid of the kill zone. Here is some proof: Do you ever notice how steady you can hold the pin on target if your finger isn t on the trigger? Try it! Pull back and aim on a target without your finger on the trigger. I am willing to bet that you can hold perfectly for a long period of time and have no negative or anxious thoughts in your head. The direct connection between anxiety and target panic is anticipation. If you are anticipating the shot, then you are at a very high risk of battling target panic. I am here to tell you that the key to all shooting sports is simply to trust your pin in the middle and learn how to make a surprise shot. It has been proven by Olympic-style recurve shooters. They do this by using a clicker, a simple device that tells them to release as they pull the string back using back tension. They simply focus on aiming at where they want to hit, and subconsciously they release when the click sounds. The shot comes totally by surprise. You may think it is because they hold steadier, but I am here to tell you the sight picture of a recurve shooter is far from steady as compared to a compound bow. Yet their accuracy is far above the average hunter. Why? This is simply because they focus on a dynamic pull and an unanticipated shot. With training, they have convinced their minds to know that nothing bad can come from the pin being in the middle. Beating target panic will only happen when you get it straight in your mind that no harm will come from being able to keep your pin on the target. Still not convinced? Let me give you another thing to ask yourself: When you drive a car, do you hold the wheel perfectly still when you want to drive in a straight line? No, you naturally look down the road at your target and let your subconscious mind float the steering wheel softly left and right so that the car tracks down the road, adjusting for bumps, wind or curves. You need to think of your sight pin in the same way as the steering wheel and learn to let it float naturally. Don t let it be chaotic and bounce all over the place, just let it do

its thing and keep it in the general area of where it needs to be. Your subconscious can steady your bow much better if you don t let your conscious mind get in the way.

#2 LEARN THE SURPRISE SHOT To perform a surprise shot, you must absolutely be able to pull back, move your pin to the target, stare at the spot you want to hit, and go through the motion to make a

There are many different ways of making a surprise shot, and truthfully, you can make a surprise shot with any kind of release device as long as you aren t anticipating it.

4 its thing and keep it in the general area of where it needs to be. Your subconscious can steady your bow much better if you don t let your conscious mind get in the way. Once you understand all this, the next step is to learn a surprise release. #2 LEARN THE SURPRISE SHOT To perform a surprise shot, you must absolutely be able to pull back, move your pin to the target, stare at the spot you want to hit, and go through the motion to make a good shot until surprisingly the release fires and the arrow is gone. There are many different ways of making a surprise shot, and truthfully, you can make a surprise shot with any kind of release device as long as you aren t anticipating it. However, that is where the hard part comes in. Most of us hunters use a mechanical index-finger release aid, which means it is activated by the very tip of the most sensitive finger on our hand. For the vast majority of shooters out there, feeling the trigger on this finger and applying more pressure to it to set the arrow in motion, is very, very difficult without relaying some sort of anticipation signal to the brain. It s that signal that gets us in trouble. That is why there is so much hype about shooting back tension for archery. The muscles of the back are much larger and much less sensitive compared to our little index fingertip. Because of this, if you use these muscles to activate the shot, it s easier to trick you brain into not anticipating the shot. Randy Ulmer, my hunting partner, Darin Cooper, Bow & Arrow Hunting Editor, Joe Bell, and I are all proof positive that, regardless of your release-aid choice, you should use back tension to cause the release to fire unexpectedly for maximum results. Between the four of us, we use four different release models, yet we still properly pull using our backs to trigger the shot. BACK-TENSION AND ITS MOTION Lots of archers get all this, but the part that most have confusion about is the understanding of the back-tension motion. They don t really understand how it s done. I have worked with people that have all sorts of things they are doing to perform what they think is back tension, making it more complicated than it is. The pulling motion is very simple and uses a very small group of muscles. I personally am more of a hands-on kind of person, and I suggest doing a small exercise to grasp the intended muscles we are trying to activate. Start out by standing with your arms to your side, and then raise your arms straight out up to shoulder height with your thumbs pointing up. (See Photo A) Bend your release hand elbow so that the release hand comes towards the body and your fingertips Randy Ulmer helped the author recognize his target panic problem early on in his archery career. In many ways, because of Randy s feedback and help, the author was able to overcome his shooting flaws through proper archery instruction and work. Randy is pictured with a great mule deer taken this past fall. touch the center of your chest. Look back at your elbow and think of it as a clock hand being on 12. Once in this position try moving your rear elbow back to the 2 position on the clock, causing the fingers to slide about 2 to 3 inches along the chest. Do this a few times from start to finish. Raise the arms, bring release hand to the center of your chest, and move the elbow back causing the fingers to slide along the chest. (See photos B and C) You should feel a muscle in the back getting tight between the spine and rear shoulder blade. This muscle group is called the rhomboid muscles. Its purpose is to retract the scapula, The author learned how to overcome shot anticipation by using a tension-activated release, otherwise known as a back-tension release. Because this style of release has no trigger, it s nearly impossible to "time" the shot once your sight pin reaches the target s center. This forces you to roll the sight pin around the target, focusing on aiming while pulling with your back muscles. Eventually, the handle twists and the shot fires totally by surprise. Continued on page 42 BOW&ARROW HUNTING 39

BEATING THE CURSE Bowhunter Darin Cooper demonstrates what your follow through should look like as a result of using good, steady back tension to fire the shot.

D) When you are doing this exercise it will be easy to feel this muscle group getting tighter.

5 BEATING THE CURSE Bowhunter Darin Cooper demonstrates what your follow through should look like as a result of using good, steady back tension to fire the shot. Note the release hand coming back and the bow arm moving out and toward the target. pulling it towards the spine. (See Ill. D) When you are doing this exercise it will be easy to feel this muscle group getting tighter. Do it a few more times now, thinking about the muscles you are using to move that rear elbow and slide the fingers. In a nutshell, that is back tension or at least the movement needed to properly fire a release by pulling. Now that you understand the movement, let s get into using that same motion to fire your release aid. PUTTING IT TOGETHER Continued from page 39 Here is a step-by step method to making a back-tension shot. I would highly recommend first doing this at a blank target at a very close distance so you can focus specifically on the feel and the motion. Beating target panic is first done by learning this motion and worrying only about the motion in the back half of the body. For now forget about the front half! It is important that you have a release aid that does not have trigger travel or movement before it fires. You will not find a top-level shooter that has a sloppy release trigger. You should adjust your trigger much like the trigger on a gun. It should be firm enough to not fire by brushing past it but also free of movement. You need to be able to wrap your finger around the trigger without worrying it will fire. Once your release is ready, then it s time to make your best shot ever. First, grip your release tightly around the release body or strap and draw the bow to the max length; focus on finding your anchor point and centering your sight pin in the peep. Next, acquire the target and focus on the target and center your pin to that position. Through this entire process you should allow your pin to float freely on the target. Do not put emphasis on aiming. If this even causes anxiousness for you then remove your sight and shoot a blank bail until you perfect this movement. BACK-TENSION WRIST-STRAP RELEASE Even though I have mastered a surprise shot with any release, I still personally train with a tension -activated release during practices. Carter makes three special release aids that fire only when pulled on with tension and are unlike any other back-tension releases you have seen. The Back Strap is a revolutionary tension-activated wrist-strap release. The archer holds the trigger during the draw cycle until reaching the anchor position. The trigger acts as the safety. Once anchored, you simply let off the safety (trigger) and then pull. When you pull enough to increase the tension to about 5 pounds above your holding weight, the release will fire. You can t fire this release by punching the trigger! This allows you to learn to hold the pin in the middle and focus only on the pull until you master a surprise shot. I am a firm believer in training with a tension-activated release. Depending on your shooting style, Carter makes two other tension models, including the Squeeze Me and Evolution. J.D. Now, take your index finger and wrap it completely around the trigger forming a solid hook. You should have the trigger placed between the first and second joint of the index finger. Remember, we are avoiding the tips of the fingers. It s important to feel the pressure of the trigger, but do not continue to squeeze the finger. Keep it in the index finger solid in the hook position. Feel the trigger but don t build pressure yet. Next, softly relax all the fingers on the release body other than the index finger. This is done so that the thumb, middle, ring, and pinky fingers are not restricting the pressure of the trigger on the index finger. The weight of the bow will be focused only on the wrist strap and the index finger. Finally, focus on pulling your elbow to the wall or an object directly behind you. You should consciously be thinking about this pulling motion while keeping your index finger hooked in a solid position around the trigger. Keep pulling your elbow to something directly behind you. The release should fire while pulling without having to move your finger at all. While you re going through the pulling motion, let your conscious focus only on the motion; feel the rhomboid muscles building pressure as you move your elbow back. The pin is floating and the back is working the shot will fire unexpectedly, and your bow arm should continue to the target as your release hand moves away from the target. If it is your first surprise shot, then you may want to be careful not to let the bow go forward out of your hand. I have done that many times! If you have troubles getting the release to fire while doing this, then adjust the trigger tension slightly until you can experience what I am describing. #3 ENFORCE THE NEW HABIT When you are able to do that shot sequence, you will have made a huge step in becoming a great archer. It is the off-season now for many of us, 42 BOW&ARROW HUNTING

When you focus more on shooting correctly, rather than where your arrow hits the target, then you are well on your way to overcoming target panic and enjoying archery more than ever before.

Overcoming target panic won t happen the first day you make a good shot or the second, but it will happen in time. Be patient and shoot up close at big targets.

6 When you focus more on shooting correctly, rather than where your arrow hits the target, then you are well on your way to overcoming target panic and enjoying archery more than ever before. The results will simply speak for themselves. and this is the absolute best time to learn new things and start new habits. It is another psychology fact that any habit takes about 21 days to learn. Overcoming target panic won t happen the first day you make a good shot or the second, but it will happen in time. Be patient and shoot up close at big targets. Build your confidence and belief that you can make great shots. From there, slowly move to other targets and 3-D targets. Focus on the shot, not the target! I would also recommend not practicing this new technique on windy days or at a moving target. I know it is fun to shoot novelty-type targets, but practicing on moving objects is a recipe for disaster! When I first started working on back tension with the release that Randy Ulmer gave me, it was the offseason. I won t lie and say it was easy, but I stayed with it for several weeks, focusing only on the release and not the sight. Back then I had no help and didn t understand what it took to make a good shot or what back tension really was. What I did know was that I wasn t happy with how I shot my bow with panic and I made my mind up to do what every other good archer was doing. It wasn t easy trusting the pin on the kill zone all that time. I made sure that if the shot wasn t going to be good I wasn t going to shoot. Don t ever be afraid to let the bow down! Not making that bad shot is often the best thing you do all day! Finally, it all came together and I still remember vividly the day that I pulled back, settled my pin on the kill zone at 40 yards, and slowly worked Learning how to execute shots using a surprise release is the only real cure for overcoming target panic. To do so, you must learn how to use your finger trigger as a hook, then relaxing the rest of your hand, while your back pulls the rest of your hand through the trigger, creating a surprise release. that release until my bow fired unexpectedly. It seemed like slow motion, but when that shot fired, my arrow hit perfectly in the center of that 12 ring. From then on I started believing that there is no reason to be afraid of the middle! Target panic and buck fever are the most difficult parts of archery to overcome. However, you can overcome them if you set your mind to it. Remember, that nearly all the top-level archers and hunters you see being successful have been through the same problem. The most important part of all this is patience. Two months after I started shooting without panic, I went on and set a new indoor record. At the end of that tournament, another great shooting pro named Randy Chappell came to me and said, Kid, you need to turn pro if you can shoot like that. So that s what I did, and my hunting success has tripled since perfecting a stress-free shot. I am here to tell you that if you learn a surprise shot, then the accuracy of a bow will, like Ulmer told me, Be better than you can imagine. He is absolutely right. BOW&ARROW HUNTING 43

STEP 1. STANCE. The stance must be a consistent, repeatable and comfortable.

STEP 1. STANCE. The stance must be a consistent, repeatable and comfortable. STEP 1. STANCE The body can be divided into 2 parts the upper body from the hips up and the lower body from the hips down. The upper part of the body must maintain consistent position from shot to shot