Advice/Target Panic Help

I got my first compound when I was in Jr High, and shot and hunted off and on throughout college. I was never too serious about it, but I did enjoy it. In college I developed a bad case of target panic. I got so frustrated that I sold my bow and bought a crossbow. I recently decided to give it a second try. I ran across someone with a heck of a deal on a Hoyt Faktor Turbo and bought it. It’s got a 28.5” draw. I feel like it’s a 1/2” too long. I was hoping my target panic would be gone, but unfortunately it isn’t. I bought a back tension release and used it for a while, and it has definitely helped me, but I’m still not there yet. I’ve tried wrist straps and thumb releases. I do shoot a thumb release better as it’s made the same way as my back tension release, but I still want to punch the trigger. Sometimes I get in a groove and shoot very well. Other times I’m probably shooting a 7-8” group at 30 yards. I’m hoping y’all can give me some advice on a few questions I have.

1. Does the draw length being 1/2” too long really make that much of a difference?

2. I’m considering selling the Hoyt Faktor Turbo due to it being a 6” brace height. I’m thinking a 7” brace height might be better for me since it’s more forgiving. Do you think it will really make that much of a difference?

3. Does anyone have any tips to overcome my target panic?

JMO
1. A half-inch can make the difference between a moving pin vs a rock solid pin, especially with back tension. While a rock solid pin is great, you still have to execute a release, but it does give you better confidence to execute the shot.
2. 7" brace "may" hide some flaws, but if you are executing the shot and follow-thru.....6 or 7 won't make any difference.

3. Keep using a BT release. You can try blind bale shooting, but it really comes down to not worrying where the arrow hits. Trying harder to be perfect only makes things worse. lol

best thing I have seen is to get close, under 5 yards, to target and shoot without using sights. Just et the pin somewhere on the target and concentrate on form,

Trying too hard to keep the pin on the bull will only make target panic worse. form form form is the answer

My cure for target panic is practice, practice, practice. I practice from elevation with a 3-D target at various ranges and angles but mostly from 30 yards and out. Makes the 20 yard shots seem like a chip shot.

Get the bow adjusted to your draw length, keep using the back tension release and blind baling have all been mentioned. Something else to try are some drills where you draw, aim and let down. There isn’t a magic cure for target panic. You only learn to control it. What works for someone else may not necessarily work for you. Don’t give up. A good buddy of mine had it bad. He learned to control it and went on to win the Buckmasters Top Bow World Championship twice. You have to learn not to put so much pressure on yourself. People with OCD tendencies are normally the ones that develop target panic.

Target panic is all mental. Just stop thinking about it.

Ok, thanks for the advice. So no one thinks the 6” brace height should make much of a difference for me?

No 1 yes
No 2 no
As for no 3. Blank bailing will help as will doing aiming and let down drills Getting a bow or your bow set up to fit you draw length, draw weight etc...a hinge release will also help but any release will work as long as you learn to fire it correctly using back tension.

I had it too. I’ve never been great shooting “dots.” I work on form and hitting the dots at close range every year for weeks before I start moving out further. 10-15 yards. The main thing that has helped me is realizing you can’t hold the pin steady on the dot. It’s going to float around. You need to blur the pin in your sight picture and focus on the target where you want the arrow to hit. Doing that at 10-15 yds for several hundred arrows builds up your confidence and then you can step back 5 yards at a time.

Not sure if this will help - but I will tell u what helped me - mine was with a rifle - we both talking about a trigger

For 15-20 years after I got my rifle - I never missed nothing - several running shots - what ever - one and done

One day in my 30s I missed - then I missed again and again and ......

Took me a while to figure what heck was going on - I was absolutely jerking the heck out of the trigger and I did not know it - I missed a buck at 15 yards - it got mental. I remember one opening weekend - 5 racks jumped out in field - I missed and 8 2 straight - he ran into tree line and gav me broad side - I told myself - relax stupid and squeeze slow - I put deer down on 3rd shot - only shot I did not jerk. I started studying it more - I missed a good 10 and i was coming up several times while pulling to catch my breath - I thought dang - I am pulling this trigger a mile. I realized I had crappie trigger so I got it checked out. Took 8 pounds to pull - should be closer to 3. I Think what happened - I lost some of my nerve as I got older and the bad trigger exposed that
I got my trigger set to 2 1/2 r so. Now my trigger is so quick - it’s hard to jerk and like others said - I practice and practice - my jerk went away but for me a much lighter trigger helped. If u can get a quick release or one with quick trigger - maybe that help - and breath - try to be calm and practice

Fred probably spot on as the others - good luck - lot of mine was mental - i practice still in summers

I went through a bad case of it. I never had a problem with it til I got competitive in 3d tournaments. The 3 things that helped me the most was
...1.. blank bailing with a back tension release. Stand 5 yards from your target, draw your bow ,put your pin on a spot then close your eyes and work through the release like your supposed to working on shot execution. If you have to put your target up on something so your not having to bend over a bunch to make sure you hit your target. You will feel what its supposed to be like when you release and the follow through after release.....2nd ...Stand at 30 yards from your target draw your bow knowing in your mind your not gonna pull the trigger. Hold the pin on a dot the best you can for as long as you possibly can. When you feel yourself starting to break down and the pin starts going everywhere let down. Take a short break and do it again ...... 3rd..The last big thing for me was realizing that the pin is going to float some don't panic when it comes off the dot your aiming at. Target panic is mental and when you have a bad case of it like i did it gets to where shooting is no fun and it's supposed to be fun just remember that.

I don't have any great, profound advice like others, but what I do know is that you just need to be ok with the fact that your pin is going to float around your target.

Back tension is probably good advice you simply can't get over that fact. I've also shot from the beginning with a thumb release, it appears to me that a wrist release may lead to more panic as you may punch the trigger like some do on a rifle rather than squeeze. A thumb release set to release under light pressure gives you a good surprise when you shoot and can maybe help mitigate the target panic, too.

And also, I shoot at "dots" when I practice, but the dots are volleyball size and not a couple of inches. This gives you a good area to let your pin float around in, even out to 40 yards or so, and not freak out that you aren't exactly on the colored dot area like when shooting 1 or 2 inch dots. I am simply aiming to get into the vitals and not worrying myself with "heart shot" or "lung shot" or being super exact. Obviously, I want to hit in the center of said volleyball size dot, but as long as I am getting close to center I am happy.

Bingo. Aiming a bow is not like aiming a gun. You’re not going to hold your pin perfectly still on the spot you’re aiming at. Your pin is going to float. Seems like a lot of people don’t understand this. A lot of things factor in to how much it floats such as bow fit, bow balance, draw weight and your mental state. As stated above, when the bow fires you should be focused on the spot you want to hit and not the pin.

I didn't see it mentioned but I may have missed it but do you shoot with both eyes open?

I shoot with one eye closed.

Good luck specialK - hope u stick w it! I battled it a while - think mine was both mental and a bad trigger

I just got back from range- shot twice - put both in the black at 90 yards which was about the size of 50 cent peace. My trigger so lite - I don’t hav time for any target panick - when I aim and put any pressure on that trigger - it goes off - use to hav to pull it a mile. I am guessing it 2 to 2 1/2#

We may hav 2 totally different problems but the lite trigger has helped me tremendously

Both eyes open unless there are eye dominance issues…. When I hit 40 a couple years back, I had to go up a size on my peep from 3/16 to 1/4 and I also switched from a meta-peep to a R.A.D. Super Deuce 38 peep. I’ll never have another Meta-peep on any bowstring of mine. You wouldn’t think something so simple would make such a huge difference but it does.

I’m left eye dominate and shoot right handed with both eyes open. 😳

That’s amazing

Me too!! Shoot everything left handed except my bow.

I had the same thing as you about ten years ago and I was a one eyed shooter too. I switched to shooting with both eyes open and it helped me overcome it.

I made a paper tuner in the garage and shoot bareshafts from 8yds back in the garage. I don't get to go out and shoot at actual targets until I shoot 10 bullet holes in a row. Just helps my confidence that my fundamentals and technique are where they need to be. More of a confidence thing.

Just saw this on tv - May be bunch of dodo - but it was about what you say u struggle with. They said - Thru fire by trueFire will take away your target panic- was saying this release - it works by pulling your finger thru and once it touches trigger - arrow is gone. Kind of like what i was telling you about finding a quick or very light trigger

U can research it - they touted it as taking away target panic

Good luck

man - i hope you overcome this ... one thing that surprised me my 1st year was the difference between shooting my bow in my yard/at the range vs in the woods ... i’m over 50 yo & my damn eyes have started to decline - but i learned to keep both my eyes open, esp to target the deer ... if i close one eye, i cant see the deer 😳🤦🏻‍♂️😐 still need to replace the peep on my newered Bear in fact ... David Blanton IIRC had some good videos/tips on TP

I’m starting to feel more confident, but I’ve still got work to do. I shortened my draw to 28”. Here is a pic of my last 5 shot group from 30 yards. As you can see, I’m still punching the trigger on occasion…

I started pulling more in the shoulder and it stopped the trigger punch

Back in the dark ages (before Matthews first solo cam) we had a range at our office. My boss, and best friend, had purchased the scope mount for a bow from Paul Bracknell and significantly refined it. I was tasked with selling the scope mount to archery shops across the Southeast and training the bow techs to mount and tune it. I shot the scope mount competitively to promote it. I mounted a 6X pistol scope and started to develop a little target panic. The magnification magnified the tiniest of motion (float). I began to practice by shooting at distance and train myself to ignore the tiny movement. Arrows were expensive and if you “popped” the trigger at that distance you were likely to skip it off the pavement. It didn’t take long (or too many road rash arrows) to settle down and overcome the target panic. Lots of sound advise in this thread, but the bottom line is you have to overcome it in your mind. It is completely mental (unless you have an 8lb trigger) and you CAN overcome it. Best of luck to you sir!