Target panic???

[leftysixgun]

In the past week I have missed two coyotes at40-50yds and some hogs at around 90. Theres nothing wrong with the gun. I think I have a case of target panic.
How do you get past target panic, particularly the targets with fur! I tend to get VERY excited when I see game, lol

[magnumwheelman]

Take a deep breath, & talk yourself through the proper sighting & firing routine in your head, as you get ready to fire... & don't jerk the trigger at the end

[whitworth]

Keep shooting!

[squigz]

Practice practice practice. I shoot in every imaginable position.

I put one of those political signs up in the woods about 50 yards out and just walk towards it shooting from standing, sitting, off tree's, off hand from a single shooting stick, bi-pod sticks etc. I lean to sides to get around brush tree's and make the situation try to happen as fast as possible. In most cases, I've never had the ideal situation to shoot from so I'm always practicing the worst case more than the best case closer to the season.

Also, I always have a revolver on me when hunting. I always "play" hunter against squirrels and chipmunks, trying to following them, their bouncing, bobbing and weaving. In the off season when checking stands, I'll usually take an unloaded gun and dry fire against them as they're moving and just imagining the slim chance in hell I have at hitting them.

[jfs]

Lefty, It is frustrating to have game that close only to miss...  Many years ago I cut pages from sporting mags with photos of the game I would be hunting and tape them to the wall. I would try to find pictures of as many different positions as I could. Then using snap caps I would dry fire while aiming at the vital area... It help take away and surprise when I laid eyes on the critter in the field... Best of luck to you. James

[potatojudge]

Adrenaline causing shaking is still my biggest hinderance on game, but I've (mostly) got control over it now.

It's 100% a mental thing being able to block out that initial feeling of excitement that leads to shaking. Once the adrenaline has dumped, you're gonna shake for a while. Picture game walking out and you staying cool. Practice staying cool when game that you don't intend to shoot walks out. Put your sights on them and practice calming yourself to make a shot, but without the pressure. Practice shooting after a little cardio or caffeine for those times when you don't have full control- it becomes a lot about positioning, a good rest, calming yourself the best you can, and timing.

Beta blocker medications inhibit this response, but it's impractical for hunting and potentially unsafe unless under a doctor's supervision.

[leftysixgun]

Fridays hogs I was proud of myself in a sense. I had my 35 Remington with me and put it down once I had a clear picture of how the hogs were arranged. They were blended very well. I then pulled my 45. The last shot was at the rear pig running and it wasnt far behind him. Just needed a bit more lead.....I was a rush!
In hind sight I should have used my rifle, but thats the internal conflict. Im out there to kill these hog for the farmer, bottom line. But I also want to be able to call myself and be considered/thought of as a handgun hunter!
If I didnt get excited I likely wouldnt get out there....

[potatojudge]

It's kind of foolish of me, but I'll carry a Contender pistol and a sixgun sometimes. That way I get most of the benefits of a rifle while getting handgun hunting experience either way.

Ultimately I hope to be comfortable enough with a revolver to make all my shots with one.

[leftysixgun]

I dont see it being foolish!

[junebug]

I always carry a scoped pistol, Contender, Savage striker,or Competitor for long range and a .45 Colt for 60 and in
As Potatojudge said shooting is a MENTAL GAME and controlling your mind helps control your body. If safe to do so put your sights on every animal you see and go thru the sequence of making the shot.Make the shot in your mind, down to the trigger squeeze,and follow thru,train your mind. The more more animals you look at thru your sights the easier it is to control emotions thru the shot. MAKE THE SHOT FIRST,then the emotions can take over. When I stop feeling that rush at seeing game I will stop hunting.

[sixshot]

First off you need to know that no one ever masters a six gun, you just have to constantly work at it because it's a never ending process. I would first make sure my targets were close & that I was shooting from a rest, hits create confidence!! Then work your way back but keep shooting from a rest, you need to keep hitting the target.

Only after you've gained complete confidence in your trigger control do you start shooting offhand again but when you do this you move back up because you need to be hitting the target to maintain confidence. CONFIDENCE is everything & with a six gun you have to keep your hand in it, that is, you have to keep shooting.

I always shot a recurve bow all my life & I had to shoot constantly, with a compound a new shooter could out shoot me in a week! If you're going to commit to a six gun, shoot mid level cast loads, close range, hopefully NOT paper, something that reacts like steel, balloons, neighbors chickens, etc. There's no easy road.

Dick

[bradshaw]

“.... you just have to constantly work at it.... a never ending process..... targets.... close.... shooting from a rest, hits create confidence!!..... work your way back but keep shooting from a rest, you need to keep hitting the target.

Only after you've gained complete confidence in your trigger control do you start shooting offhand again but when you do this you move back up because you need to be hitting the target to maintain confidence.

..... shoot mid level cast loads, close range..... something that reacts like.... neighbors chickens...."
----Dick “six shot” Thompson

*****

leftysixgun..... nothing throws a shot as wide as flinching the trigger. Excitement is a good thing, but not when it takes hold of your trigger. Nothing pacifies nerves as well as a deep infusion of oxygen. It is impossible from this distance to know whether your eye is on the animal or the sights at the moment you propose to accumulate pressure on the trigger. If your eye is on the animal you atart at a disadvantage by abstracting the whole animal into a target, instead of sharpening your eye on the front sight like the blade of a knife turning the whole world around it fuzzy. That moment of sharpness liberates you to SQUEEZE the trigger----straight back, as though squeezing toward your eye. Your mind has come to rest on a vital spot no larger than the print of your fist. This spot continues a mentally visible line for the bullet to ride through the body mass.

Arranging your shot in this manner quells fear & anticipation, removes past & future, clarifies life to the squeeze. There are no shortcuts to living in one second. There are no shortcuts to deep breathing. There are no shortcuts FOLLOW THROUGH, as without a dead-clean squeeze there is no follow through. Without follow through you cannot ride the bullet. If a second shot is needed, squeeze it the same way. If a faster shot is needed, practice has tined your mind & muscle to speed the process. The process is always SMOOTH.

I did not learn my marksmanship shooting from a rest; it was all position shooting. I see Dick’s point and agree the trigger must be learned before accuracy comes together.

We did not have a neighbor’s chickens to practice on. Instead, our neighbor turned his pigs loose to vacuum our pecan orchard. This inspired me, handgun in hand, to harvest pork. It wasn’t quite “shooting fish is a barrel.” It was better, "shooting pigs in a pecan orchard.” Unfortunately our neighbor may have known how to count, and built a better fence.

Since you have live game to practice on, commit to some DRY FIRE. Of course, you already educated the coyotes you missed, but dry fire on critters may show the value of breathing deep to control nerves, putting your mind on the target, and fixing your eye on the sights. Others on singleactions work hard at scoring with a handgun and whatever their approach, everyone makes his or her shot through the trigger.
David Bradshaw

[COR]

Or... maybe it was just a couple of misses.

[crossdraw]

In 30 years of hunting I've made the experience, that I make mistakes if I'm under the impression:"Now! Fast shot, otherwise it's gone. Shoot now!"
That often causes an aiming point, which is slightly high. And lots of curses afterwards... But a clear miss is better than wounding the animal.
If there's enough time for planning and aiming: no problem.
If it has to be REALLY fast: no problem. Afterwards the thought:" I'm the greatest! But how have I made it...?"
The "semi fast" situations are problematic. Mostly it seems to be better, not to shoot but to wait for a better occasion. Even if afterwards you think:"Probably I could have ..."

[bigbrowndog]

One of the things I tell new hunters is to watch the animal for several minutes if possible. Get yourself to calm down from the initial rush of adrenaline, look at it thru your sights, watch it walk, and move, even dry fire on it. It won’t be the end of the world if it walks off, but it could be the end of your enjoyment if you make a bad shot on it.

Dicks last paragraph holds a lot of wisdom and experience in it,.......I went from compound bows to traditional recurved many years ago but haven’t shot in awhile, no doubt I’d be a flinging arrow fool if I tried to jump back in on a traditional bow. Practice, rest, repeat,

Trapr