How nervous do you get?
 

On a scale from 1 - 10. 10 being you pee on yourself at the mere suggestion of shooting a deer and 1 being you are so calm and cool it dont bother you at all. I get so freaking nervous that I would hae to rate myself at about a 8. I dont pee down my leg but my legs shake relentlessly. I would say what can I do to cure this, but I love it and thats part of it for me..

RE: How nervous do you get?
 

Man it really varies for me. EVERY time I know I'm gonna shoot I get a jolt of adrenaline, but it doesn't always affect me the same way. I go on "auto pilot" and just.....do it. I pretty much always get the shakes, at bare minimum. When I shot my buck last fall, it was a good half hour before I could even stand up.

RE: How nervous do you get?
 

Defenitely not wanting a sure for it but I would rate mine on about a 5 if its a good buck. I dont usually get too nervous around does when all is going smoothly, but when she gets a hint that I am around and starts acting nervous I think that makes me more nervous.

RE: How nervous do you get?
 

I got so nervous the first year I hunted.....thatI remember one day having some small bucks under me and a couple does....and I wasn't even gonna reach for my bow.

I STILL had to prop my right leg against the tree I was in because it was shaking that bad.

It's gotten better.

I've become very much more .....I wouldn't say "relaxed".....but "focused". I just look at it like I'm there to do a job. MOTOWN told me last year to pick a spot on the deer as soon as I could.....and burn a hole in it. Don't focus on anything else. That's helped, tremendously.

When the arrow's downrange and I assess the shot, though......Katy bar the door. I am a mess.

If I could bottle that feeling and sell it......I'd retire tomorrow.

I hope I never get to the point where I don't have to fight to control my anxiety. That little inner struggle is what it's all about.;)

edit**

Forgot to answer your question....

Before the shot? about a 5. After the shot.....9.

I can honestly say, though....that the biggest buck I ever saw (inches-wise)....I was completely calm. Can't explain it.

RE: How nervous do you get?
 

Hell I get all fired up the first few seconds but then its a controlled anxiety for me. All my kills ive had time to watch these animals first before
getting the shot off. I believe for me this was a big help to keeping me calm. I give myself a 5.

RE: How nervous do you get?
 

I used to get excited before the shot, but now I get excited after the shot. I guess I have done it for long enough (and screwed up enough) that I know that there are a lot of things that can and do go wrong between when you start to draw your bow and when the animal is recovered.

RE: How nervous do you get?
 

I somehow manage to keep it together until after I shoot. Then the legs get wobbly.
When I was in my second year of hunting I climbed into this deformed birch tree. It had a big limb coming off the side about 6' off the ground. A 5 pointer walked right up to the tree and was sniffing my boot. My legs were shaking so bad I don't know how he didn't see them. He backed away and circled about 20 yds out. I cut the top of his back with an arrow. I was a mess:)

I try to focus on the shot, not the deer. As soon as I decided I'm going to shoot I start focusing on the spot I want to hit and where I can draw and where I can shoot. I think that distracts me from thinking about the deer. I don't look him in the eye. that freaks me out!
If I get to the point where I don't get excited I would probably quit hunting.

I don't get as excited as Stan Potts:D I bet he has to wear depends!

RE: How nervous do you get?
 

my breath gets shallow and i get shaky

RE: How nervous do you get?
 

You can, but it also likely will get youarrested.;)


I would rate myself about a 6. I realy have no significant physical effects (before the shot anyway) by in my head my brain is doing jumping jacks. I have never had any problem drawing my bow, or doing something dumb out of buck fever.

RE: How nervous do you get?
 

I still get nervous but the shakes always come after I the shot. Sometime I feel like I'm about to shake right out of the stand when I'm giving the deer time.