Trigger jitters

[RedBeard383]

Last season was the first time I was able to deer hunt in several years. I spent the majority of the season waiting on one buck that frequented the property. Week after week I watched does through the scope...calm and steady as could be...I wasn't after them. Running out of time I decided to give up on the buck who was clearly far more wise than I'd given him credit for. One evening the does came walking out...I watch them for a bit, decide on the one I want to take...pull the hammer back on the old marlin...and i proceed to go to $@#*. Just pure jitters. Shaking, couldn't get comfortable, couldn't keep the reticle on the vitals....I lower the gun, watch them for a bit, taking a deep breath. I place the crosshairs back on her and as soon as my finger touches the trigger, I lose it again. I ended up pulling two shots like this and missing completely on two separate occasions. Many of small woodland creature has met their fate at my hands, never once did I get the jitters. Even not being the steadiest individual, I can usually lay down respectable groupings on paper.....but what happened with those deer baffled me. Has anybody else experienced anything like that and what did you do to calm your nerves.

[Ravin R10 man]

Buck fever, usually dont get it until after I shoot. have heard of guys unloading the entire magazine of a rifle and never fired a round...lol

[wtnhunt]

Shakes usually hit me after the shot.

Had issues last fall with a buck(10 pt) at about 170 yards that i squeezed on several times before my ml'er primer finally fired. I was a total wreck with the last squeeze when the gun finally went off but had a solid enough rest and squeeze to get a good shot.

Best advice i have been given is to pick your spot and then visualize a target focusing on That spot and not on the deer. Not always easy to do with a deer out there but practice.

[RedBeard383]

Just kind of blew my mind. Not to sound cold or calloused, but ive never had a problem shooting anything else. Like I said, I was calm and cool watching them through the scope, but the second I decided to take a shot, my nerves would get the best of me. Would've been better off chunking rocks at them.

[Ultradog]

Lol,

Not laughing at you but at myself.

I too have taken my share of deer in the years I've hunted and I too have had the jitters and either missed or lost my only window for a shot.

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

It just happens sometimes.

I took a friend hunting in my enclosed blind 2 years ago.

Lots of sitting and waiting so of course you talk about this and that.

I told him my theory about hunting - how it's really all about adapting to circumstances. How those circumstances are always different and how there about a gazillion different things that can go wrong and cause you to miss your deer.

So that evening a big doe walks out and gives him an easy 40 yd shot.

So he's got his rifle out the window and I'm waiting and waiting for the shot. Finally the doe starts moving off and into the thick stuff.

Then she's gone.

I asked him what went wrong and he said he couldn't find her in the scope. Just couldn't get on her.

He was pretty bummed.

So afterwards you can tell it's all going through his head and he's aiming at stuff through the scope.

Then it dawns on him that he had his 3X9 scope set on 9 and he's really bummed.

Later we go out to dinner and he's still thinking it over.

Finally he asks if having your scope set on too high a power was just another of those gazillion circumstances.

I said yeah, it sure is.

[dbHunterNY]

my biggest buck i watched for almost a half an hour. he ripped through cedars, pawed the ground, and chased doe. I started to get buck fever and that decided his fate. I took some deep breathes and started thinking about the shot. it could've been a paper target at that point. kept taking deep breathes and only thought what needs to happen to make the shot go where I want it. ranged the buck, cranked up the power not to see his rack (didn't have any deer right next to him), and picked an exact spot. put my elbows in front of my knees with the bipod out and I ended up being rock solid. I put the sabot right through the center of the heart at 104 yards.

my largest bow buck was the same thing. heck after that one happened I even called my parent's house phone asking if they were at breakfast/diner yet. then after that convo I was still shaking so bad I dropped my cell phone out of the tree while talking to my wife.

[RangerClay]

Even after 30+ years of deer hunting I still occasionally get a little buck fever. I missed a nice 6 point several years ago because of it. First get yourself mentally ready for that buck to come out at any time. Two once you make your mind up to shoot stop looking at the horns. Three, get your sights on the deer as quickly as possible, this is not a hunting tv show.

[Shaun_300]

Yeah I definitely get it! Almost every time lol. Sometimes they come out so fast and everything happens quickly, it doesn't hit me til after. But if I'm sitting and have to watch the deer for a while I can hear my heart pumping in my ears and my breathing gets shaky. This year will be the first year hunting with my compound, and there is a huge 8 pointer that's been hanging around. Everyday I think about it walking out to my stand and hoping I can hold it together to make the shot count!