Shooting spots requires repetition, precision and routine. Shooting deer requires a very basic ability to hit a milk-jug sized target. 99% of being a successful deer hunter is knowing how/when/where to find a deer. Shooting it is the easy part. Just pull back, point and click. Competitive archery should never be compared to hunting, because honestly, they couldn't have much less in common. Show me 10 successful competitive archers, and I'll show you 7 lousy hunters. True. When you're hunting, you have no time to screw around. No time to go through any pre-determined "routine." No jacking around with "judging yardage." No dialing your bino's in and out. No looking for the lines on the ten-ring. No 8x scope. No 36" stabilizer. If you miss, you don't drop ten points, you waste an entire season. Your dreams are shattered with one ill-flick of the wrist. There is no "next target." There is no "next tournament." You just **** or get off the pot. It's that simple. Hunting... Just shoot the damn deer. It's not rocket science. It's not hard. Finding a target... That's the hard part.
Any one who has shot back tension for any length of time knows that with out punching you can get the shot to go if you need it to.Between adrenaline and focus I have never had any difficulty in getting my shot off.The beauty of back tension is that it really forces you to aim.As many others have said,the repetition of having done it so many times previously just takes over.Once you get to full draw,pick a spot,aim,aim,aim,bang the shots off,keep your head aligned with the peep,exagerate your follow through,go get help for dragging.
I absolutely agree, there is a dramatic difference between target shooting and shooting an animal while hunting. You just have to have good instincts, know when and where to shoot, people either have a knack for it or they don't. Whatever goes down, you just have to make it happen and get the job done.
You may close on your estimate. I'll place my money on the 3 good competitive archers/hunters over Backwoods Billy Bob as far as who can shoot deer the best. The whole reason I became a competitive archer, besides my love for archery, was to better my hunting game. You can't begin to imagine how much it helped. Especially from the confidence side of the equation.
I don't punch in a hunting situation at all, but can easily dump a shot pretty quickly when needed. It's just a different way to execute the shot, instead of hammering the trigger you just pull through quickly using the same proper execution. I don't have to think about it, I don't have to be patient, you just do it when it's needed. Quick, I'd seriously question how much time you have spent around top end archers with that statement. If that's truly the case in your area, I can tell you in my experience living in 3 different states that the top end archers I've seen consistently know how to put horn on the ground. Sure, there will always be good archers that are terrible hunters, but I can honestly say in my experience that by far the majority of the top end archers I've known in many places can get it done in the woods.
Many of the best hunters I know are also great archery shooters. One of them has been the MN state champion of field archery several times. His collection of trophy animals from "do it yourself hunts" is incredible (elk, whitetails,mule deer, antelope, bears). But yeah, being a great shot certianly doesn't mean you will also be a good hunter. But to be a good hunter you need to be proficient with a bow.
I'm kind of like Schultzy in that I go through my pre-shot mental routine if I have a deer approaching. It serves two purposes. First it let's me remind myself of what to do when the moment of truth arrives. Second it keeps me from focusing too much on the deer so that buck fever does not set in. However, once the string comes back I'm fully on autopilot until the shot. That is where the ad-nauseum practice comes in.
I can say for me that becoming a target archer has made me a better shot in the stand.I don't consider myself a great hunter.I am average at best.I used to be a buck fever sufferer from hell but learning how to shoot for the win has taught me to stay calm under pressure and execute my shot when the time comes.
