Me and you both Jeff.

Great post.

I know when I killed my first big buck, my nerves were on the edge. I had glassed him at about 500yds, and was trying to lure him across the field. A doe had come through earlier and I thought she was in Estrus because how spooked she was when I touched the horns together. Anyways the buck was following her trail, nose to the ground, I grunted, but he did not want anything to do with it, I hit the horns hard and he picked his head up and made a B-Line towards me. I grabbed my bow and prepared for the shot, he got to a point, and stopped. He was weary since he heard the bucks fighting, but did not see them now. He then picked me off in the tree. I was at full draw and shaking like a leaf. He stood behind a branch, where I had no shot to vitals, stomping his front foot into the ground unsure of me. I had to turn away from him, so I could gather my composure while at full draw. He finally stepped out from behind that branch getting ready to turn tail, I put the pin on him and let it go. Hit him perfect from 20yds, watched him make his death sprint across the field for about 85yds, and fall. I could not stand I was shaking so bad, I had to sit down, and just sit there for a half hour...

Now fast forward to last season, it was the first season I shot a doe, I was totally composed for the doe, I watched her for 15 mins, and shot her at a total of 7 yds, complete pass through double lung shot. She never phased me. Then later last season, I shot another Pope and Young buck, and was not phased by him either. I was super excited after the shot, but I knew I put the smackdown on him. I watched and heard him crash 60yds away.

What am I getting at?

I believe confidence in yourself is the biggest key to success in avoiding the "fever". Once you have killed a deer, I believe it becomes easier to control your nerves and mental thoughts. All of the points from the first post, can be correlated to confidence in someway. The more you shoot, the better prepared you will be, the more deer you kill the more prepared you will be. In this case, practice makes perfect, but that practice never quits, you will do it your whole hunting career!

awesome advice Greg. I am going to read this again before heading into the woods next saturday. The most important part for me is going to aiming at a hair on the deer, exactly where i want to hit.

Its the ones that appear out of no where that makes my scalp draw up and gets the old heart pumping hard, Bears are great for it. When I dont get that feeling anymore somewhere from seeing it, to getting my hands on it, I will go back to jumping out of airplanes and cliffs or something.
Good post Greg!

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great post....another annual sticky?? gets my vote!

i love #2. your right on. when i see a deer i immediatly melt down. but i already learned to control it by just what you said...take a deep breath...look away...FOCUS. after that i try to keep my mind clear. i shoot 1000s of arrows all year long...once the deer is in range my focus is like you said, picking a spot and making the shot.

now that i got all that down, i gotta work on the details...like putting my arrow on my rest where can i fit that in there between melt down and autopilot mode??? hmmmm lol

Very good post.

I've always described my emotions with a deer coming in more of being anxious rather than nervous. I don't get flustered before the shot, but after I shake like a leaf. Often time when it clicks in my mind that I am going to shoot(actually starting my draw) my head goes real clear and I zone out.

As for prefering time or things happening quick, I don;t really know. Last years buck I watched for 30-35 minutes of some of the most intense activity I've ever experienced and it was cool. Most times it happens much quicker. I don;t seem to be affected much either way.

Excellent point. I too am a self talker and should have included this in my original post. My self talk may go something like this ...... Wow! Look at that thing!.....come this way....come on....that's right....wait until his head is behing that tree.... ok.... draw... aim....stop...stop...ok...squeeze........Wack!.... . Did you see that!!?? (out loud).

This can be very helpful in calming the nerves.

Thanks for all of your comments and input. This was a very good thread and hopefully will help people to hone their skills and bag a deer.

Good luck!

Great post. One of the things that helped me get over the shakes was to sit in my stand for a few hours a couple of times before the season. This not only gives mt the oportunity to get used to seeing deer, but also valuable information on when and where they are traveling to and from. It seems to help, i think it becuase i am used to seeing the deer by the time seasson opens.

Something I would like to add to this conversation is that a number of years ago when I had made the decision to shoot bucks that only met my own personal criteria,it settled me down.Being more analytical in judging bucks has kept the adrenaline at bay quite a bit,it has allowed me to watch quite a number of bucks in a pretty detached way.
Any time the decision is made to take a shot the adrenaline still definitely flows.