Target panic.

OKRattler

Well-known member
How many still get it? The only time it ever sets in is if a coyote is coming in and suddenly takes off or circles downwind and I'm losing sight of it in the brush. I don't know why but that stresses me out more than anything. I can keep my cool as long as that doesn't happen. I've been known to miss when something unexpected happens and I have only seconds to squeeze the trigger when a coyote is on his way downwind.

What's crazy is I have been predator huntin for over half of my life and that still messes with me. I missed a coyote last night because of it. It irritates me to no end. I don't know how to get over it. It's not the first time I've missed a shot that under different circumstances wouldn't be a problem for me.

Getting over "coyote fever" comes with experience or it seems that way to me. The more times you do it the less it messes with you. You'd think that would apply to this situation as well but that doesn't seem to be the case. My heart starts racing and I start shaking and I can't get my breathing under control that well. One of these days I'm probably gonna trigger an anxiety attack from holding my breath too long and have a mental breakdown right there in the frickin field.
 
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Happens to all of us ever now and then,a few months ago I did the same thing,just part of the game.Do stay a lot calmer now than when I called my first one in 1972.
 
I haven't been at it quite that long. Maybe someday it won't bother me as much but I don't know.

So what happened was I got settled in and turned the call on. The wind had really started blowing pretty hard so I turned the call up after about 5 seconds of it playing and within 10 seconds I had eyes shining 300 yards out and getting closer by the second. No big deal, I take the safety off and wait. Everything is cool until it gets to about 150 yards and it checks up. Gives no indication that it's going to leave so I didn't shoot. I was gonna let it come straight to the call and stand by it if it would. The coyote takes a hard right and starts downwind. It's pretty thick with yucca plants and sagebrush so I lost sight of it for a few seconds. That's when my heart rate ramped up. I get in the scope and the coyote stops between two yucca plants. I put the crosshairs on it and begin to squeeze the trigger and it starts walking again, faster this time. I get another breath and hold it so I can get ready to shoot. I bark to stop it and it happens again. It took off before I got the slack out of the trigger. Now I'm shaking like a leaf. I bark two more times and the coyote is quartering to me. I put the crosshairs on his neck and exhaled as I squeezed which moved the crosshairs to the left of the coyote. I knew immediately when the gun went off. I wanted a redo immediately. No do overs, that coyote turned and disappeared faster than he appeared.

It's probably just me being hard on myself but that never gets easier. Talk about high,highs and low,lows. I can't believe I let stuff like that happen.

I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to that. I'm way harder on myself than anyone else ever will be. It's not like I've never killed a coyote before. But the guy that lives in my head acts like it's the first one I've ever called in. I could kill 100 in a row and I'd still beat myself up over 1.
 
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I been on a lull as well lately. Haven’t been able to connect .. missed a few 70 yard shots in last month. I been pretty hard on myself as well. Spent some time at range with nothing found to fix, that was even more frustrating.
Just gotta keep trudging forward.

I missed a rushed shot at 50 yards lastnight- he decided to play wack a mole with me in a hilltop. I bit on his game , but missed.

I got the last laugh , upon his exit he stopped at 274 yards broadside. I squeezed and it fell over. Put a smile back on my face after missing the short rushed shot
 
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The only thing I can think is I had been awake for about 18 hours so I was tired. Also I was shooting from a standing position off of a Cabela's bipod,which I'm not used to yet. The wind probably didn't help matters as I was shooting through a crosswind. It was a combination of things I think.

I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses for myself. There are a lot of guys here that could have pulled that shot off pretty easy. I just wasn't able to and aside from nerves I think the other stuff had a factor in it all. When you're tired it's even harder to get your mind and your body to work together smoothly. And I was definitely tired. But still that's no excuse. I should have hit that coyote.
 
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Love that rush...I think I'll hang up my call if I lose that feeling...keeps me coming back for more...
 
Target Panic, and Coyote Fever, are two different things to me.

I still get Coyote Fever, missed a slam dunk last time out, no legitimate excuse for it, but I'm going with Coyote Fever. Just the rush of excitement.

Target Panic, that's something I worked through in my hard and heavy archery days when I first went from instinctive to using a sight on my bow. That's where, when the pin is centered on the target, some sort of weird "panic" sets in and I'd punch the release instead of squeezing it off smoothly. Completely different than Coyote Fever. Not that, I don't think both wouldn't be possible at the same time with a rifle on a coyote,
laugh.gif
.

But I've never experienced what archers call "Target Panic" with a rifle, only with a bow.

- DAA
 
Originally Posted By: OKRattlerI got the slack out of the trigger. Thats one thing I changed that made a dramatic improvement. I went to solid wall 3.5 lb clean brake triggers. Put the crosshairs where I want with no wandering around getting the trigger pulled. It’s a rush.
 
Missing shots doesn't upset me. Not seeing coyotes does.

Getting to watch them and having a chance at a shot is thrill enough for me.
 
Originally Posted By: OKRattlerHow many still get it? The only time it ever sets in is if a coyote is coming in and suddenly takes off or circles downwind and I'm losing sight of it in the brush.

Can you describe this panic in more detail? I am not sure I understand what you are thinking / feeling / fearing at that moment. This isn't a trick question. I'm not setting you up to tell you how "dumb" you are or how "smart" I am. I would like to understand it better.

One of the reasons for asking is that I have had to conquer similar mental blocks in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I used to get a position and hang on fearfully for dear life. I was afraid of things being out of control. It's actually a feeling that applies to all of life. What I learned over the years was to accept I never was in control in the first place! And, I learned that the more I focused on having a "plan B", the less desperately I had to try to maintain "plan A" when plan A wasn't working. Knowing I had a strong plan B allowed me to relax and implement plan A because everything isn't riding on plan A.

For me, it was a way of learning not fear being out of control. I love the line from the movie "Point Break"

"Fear causes hesitation. Hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true."
 
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There are times I've rushed shots because I waited too long on the coyote before it. That might be panic but it is a rare occurrence.

What rears it's head for me I'll call "Target Complacency". Before the first of the year my year was going great making long and close in shots with ease. I took the month of an off to do a kitchen remodel for my daughter. Feb went down hill fast with most of the kills taking two shots to kill and three easy misses. I've thought about the shots I've made and really think that I'm just getting the coyotes centered in the scope and not picking the spot and getting the crosshairs on it, hence the fringe hits and close misses.

I had this happen a number of years ago, I don't know how many times I went to the range to check scopes before I switched to a rifle that I had built and shot for a number of years things picked up after that and I realized what I was doing. This year I think I've got it figured out in a lot less time, but now it will be next fall to find that out.
 
One thing is for certain, you remember you missed shots WAY more than your hits. I can still picture missed shots from 2005. They haunt you.
 
Originally Posted By: BJJ223Originally Posted By: OKRattlerHow many still get it? The only time it ever sets in is if a coyote is coming in and suddenly takes off or circles downwind and I'm losing sight of it in the brush.

Can you describe this panic in more detail? I am not sure I understand what you are thinking / feeling / fearing at that moment. This isn't a trick question. I'm not setting you up to tell you how "dumb" you are or how "smart" I am. I would like to understand it better.

One of the reasons for asking is that I have had to conquer similar mental blocks in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I used to get a position and hang on fearfully for dear life. I was afraid of things being out of control. It's actually a feeling that applies to all of life. What I learned over the years was to accept I never was in control in the first place! And, I learned that the more I focused on having a "plan B", the less desperately I had to try to maintain "plan A" when plan A wasn't working. Knowing I had a strong plan B allowed me to relax and implement plan A because everything isn't riding on plan A.

For me, it was a way of learning not fear being out of control. I love the line from the movie "Point Break"

"Fear causes hesitation. Hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true."

I never played sports besides paintball growing up so it's hard to compare it to anything else. The closest comparison I can think of is how the person on the free throw line to win a championship game would feel after seeing their first shot bounce off the rim. Something along those lines I think. It's weird because during those times the trigger feels like it can't be light enough. My senses are heightened to the max. But hesitation sets in like you describe because I have to make it count. The only thing I can think of that would best describe it is the fear of failing. Even if I'm the only person in the world it will matter to that's what it boils down to. I'll let myself down. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to things I think are worthwhile. I think about things a million times it seems, before I make a move. That's probably why it bugs me so much when a plan falls apart on me.

I don't know if that makes sense but that's the only way I know how to describe it.

 
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Originally Posted By: DAATarget Panic, and Coyote Fever, are two different things to me.

I still get Coyote Fever, missed a slam dunk last time out, no legitimate excuse for it, but I'm going with Coyote Fever. Just the rush of excitement.

Target Panic, that's something I worked through in my hard and heavy archery days when I first went from instinctive to using a sight on my bow. That's where, when the pin is centered on the target, some sort of weird "panic" sets in and I'd punch the release instead of squeezing it off smoothly. Completely different than Coyote Fever. Not that, I don't think both wouldn't be possible at the same time with a rifle on a coyote,
laugh.gif
.

But I've never experienced what archers call "Target Panic" with a rifle, only with a bow.

- DAA

Yes, that's true. Seeing a coyote coming in gets my blood pumping. That I can control. When things take an unexpected turn I lose my composure. I can't pull it off and hit what I'm shooting at most times.

Which is completely weird to me. You'd think a guy that can pin a big rattlesnakes head down and pick it up wouldn't be bothered by much. That doesn't seem to be the case all the time. A coyote about to wind me or take off the other direction wears on my nerves.
 
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Best you can do, is concentrate on taking a breath and exhaling controlled. You may have to repeat, just need to slow the adrenaline rush and restore some clarity. The rush while calling is another level above spot/stalk or sitting on bait.
 
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