Great post Greg! I am a big self talker to work my way through my shot.Intense focus on your aiming point and focusing on excellent form takes the emphasis off the excitement of the moment.
Fortunately there havn't been that many blown opportunities in the past but the memory of them and the feelings of disgust do a lot to help me keep my head on straight.
Chuck Adams uses some denial self talk to keep from getting to excited,he tells himself I probably wont get a shot upon seeing an animal he wants to take and he repeats this type of self talk all the way through his shot.I do something similar with big bucks,with no disrespect intended to doe's I tell myself that the buck is just a doe with horns,it's just a doe with horns,it desensitizes the process for me.
Do you guy's prefer when the shot opportunity happens quickly so that you have less time to think about it?Or do you do better watching the animal for an extended period of time?