hunttones

Make sure you anchor in the same place every time. This will help you see through the peep sight the same way everytime. If you are doing that then get a bigger peep or remove the peep all together. As for controlling buck fever, breath out and do not breath again when you are readying and shooting. My father was on the Marines rilfe team and this was the practice they used to steady the shot. Right before you are ready to settle in and shoot blow your air out and then take the shot. This will help steady your nerves.

Good Luck!

okie_legrant

Thanks guys for all the help. You guys are my best help option, the guy that runs my town proshop is a jerk. He never is willing to help so I just quit going their. Again Thanks

badshotbob

All great advice, especially about the breathing as hunttones mentioned. Try this for the breathing as well: From the very second you see the deer to right before you draw, concentrate on your breathing. Force yourself to slow down by first taking a long deep quiet breath, then force yourself to take full breath cycles rather than allowing your breathing to go nuts taking in short fast breaths. This will help you settle before pulling that bow back and allow you to breath through your shot, not to mention calm your nerves a bit.

I hunted without a peep for 20 years before going with a peep for the past 5. At first I hated it because I was so used to my anchor point with tabs and no peep, but soon realized that anchoring was actually easier and more consistent with the peep. I have always shot bows and guns with both eyes open so I'm used to it. I'd suggest practicing paying attention to both eyes open, and forcing yourself to your target, not the whole deer. Then, if you do have to look away from the target, this will help force yourself back to the little patch of hair behind the deer's shoulder rather then the whole deer before you shoot. Never pull that trigger until you are locked on a very small spot on the deer, and after you have exhaled - breath through your shot. One of the most important things I've learned in shooting well is the follow through. Kind of like golf, bowling, darts, whatever... if you have no follow through you have no accuracy or consistency. Don't move that bow until well after the arrow has hit its target. Don't fire and then immediately watch the whole deer or look up at the entire deer while firing - that bow should be locked in the same place it was locked in before the shot. Hope this helps.

Talondale

I shoot instinctive and it's a lot of work to stay proficient. I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have the time to practice ALOT. You could try drilling out your current peep.BTW, my dad started hunting the year after I did because I was seeing so many deer. He went through every manifestation of setup you can imagine and had all kinds of mishaps. Last year he finally decided to shoot instinctive like I've been doing all along. He still has the release but he shot his first deer instinctive shooting this year.

As far as concentrating two suggestions:
Try to find a local competitive 3D club in your area and join. High pressure shots on deer shaped targets will help with the real thing.

Before your next practice round jog for a while (however long it takes to elevate your heart rate) and then try to make one shot. I usually try to think of my first shot of each practice as the hunt shot. Will it be a kill or not?

pjhunts

I would get rid of the peep, I haven't used one for 7 years now , and as for calming your nerves, try spending more time with the deer. By this I mean go out and just watch them (preferrably in the offseason) and learn their mannerismsand such. By doing this often, you will get used to seeing deer at close distances. Also, instead of looking at the antlers while waiting for a shot, try doing the math and guess a score for his rack, in other words keep your mind busy. We have a refuge nearby that we go through often and it really helps

Arthur P

You're right, Talondale, poke-n-hope instinctive aiming does take a LOT of practice and, honestly, not many people are very good at it. I'm not... gave up on it years ago, in fact. That's not what I'm talking about though. I recommended Ferguson's book because what he teaches isn't instinctive shooting at all.

It's a barebow aiming method with as many aiming references as you want to develop. It's a form of gap shooting, knowing how far under or over your target to hold the point of the arrow at full drawto make it hit center. Where the pure gap shooter will concentrate more on the tip of the arrow, this method concentrates more on the target. Howard Hill calledthe method'split vision' aiming: concentrating on your target but, at the same time, using your peripheral vision to be aware of the relative distance between the target and the point of your arrow.

Frankly, it doesn't take much more work to be good at split vision shooting than it takes to be good at shooting with sights. Both require practice. A good sights shooter will usually - but not always - beat a good gap shooter at an archery tournament, but a good gap shooter can shoot plenty good enough to kill a truckload of deer, especially within 30 yards, without having to deal with SO many obstacles: like it being too dark to see pins, or having a peep they can't see through, or having pins so bright they can't see the animal beyond them, or having a twig get stuck inside the pin guard and snap off a pin...

A.D.D. BOY

Shoot in your house that will get you nervous cause if you have a wife or gf she will kill you if you miss and hit a wall.

dynatec

when it comes to getting excited when you know deer are coming I'm the worst , but I talk myself through it. If I first only hair them coming I tell myselfit's onlyrabbits coming.As far as not seeing the spot on the deer you want to shot, try shooting squirles from your stand.That gets me focused in.