# Trouble hitting targets in trees



## ChrisMan (Jan 3, 2011)

Hey guys,

Went out for a mooch the other day and my dog put a pheasant out of its roosting spot and it ended up in a tree about 30 ft away from me, I got a perfect spot on the bird and stalked as close as I could, the closer I got the more aggressive angle the bird was.... I had fork hits conscutively!!!! It was very frustrating to say the least! I shoot, gangsta style with the anchor point on my cheek.

Wondered if this has happened to anyone else? I am very confident shooting at all angles except the super high ones!

Any tips?

Peace and Love


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## Nico (Sep 10, 2010)

Hi Chris,

It seems to me that what happend to you is something that could be called hunter's anxiety.

What happens is you became too excited in the moment you saw your prey and you were so concerned with making the kill that this impaired your judgement in shooting.

I have made these mistakes myself

For me I find that the less I actually think about killing the quarry and just focus on hitting the target that I make better shots this way.
In fact all my kills with a catapult are due to not worrying about the kill and just focusing on shooting the target before me; the trick is to do this automatically.

The less it becomes technical the more automatic the shooting becomes. I know I dont aim when I shoot but the detached/clinical mentality to shooting game still applies to aim shooter among slingshot hunters.

If that is not enough for you use the stick shooting exercise I mention in a post I made in the hunting section two weeks ago where I talk about the stick target exercise regarding my rainy day dove kill.

Hope this helps..

Nico


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## ChrisMan (Jan 3, 2011)

Thanks Nico! Yeah it helps a huge amount! I have been noticing the less I think about hitting targets and the more I focus on the target with a clear head, the more I hit!

It all changes when I go out in the field but your words have given me some insight to work on! Come to think of it, I have the most fork hits when I am hunting!









Ill check out your stick hunting exercise!

Peace and Love


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## philly (Jun 13, 2010)

ChrisMan said:


> Thanks Nico! Yeah it helps a huge amount! I have been noticing the less I think about hitting targets and the more I focus on the target with a clear head, the more I hit!
> 
> It all changes when I go out in the field but your words have given me some insight to work on! Come to think of it, I have the most fork hits when I am hunting!
> 
> ...


Chris, Nico is right as usual, anxiety is the culprit, I have had to learn to stay calm and with the basics and concentrate on the target. I would tend to overdraw subconciously thinking I had to have more power to kill my target and concenquently the shot would be way off. Normal basic style that you use when shooting targets is the key. I also think shooting up is alot harder than shooting level, IMHO.
Philly


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

philly said:


> Thanks Nico! Yeah it helps a huge amount! I have been noticing the less I think about hitting targets and the more I focus on the target with a clear head, the more I hit!
> 
> It all changes when I go out in the field but your words have given me some insight to work on! Come to think of it, I have the most fork hits when I am hunting!
> 
> ...


Chris, Nico is right as usual, anxiety is the culprit, I have had to learn to stay calm and with the basics and concentrate on the target. I would tend to overdraw subconciously thinking I had to have more power to kill my target and concenquently the shot would be way off. Normal basic style that you use when shooting targets is the key. I also think shooting up is alot harder than shooting level, IMHO.
Philly
[/quote]
Odd, I seem to shoot better at things above head level.


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## TheSquid (Feb 23, 2011)

I also shoot gangsta style and one thing that I noticed that I did was, when shooting upwards, I didn't keep the the face of my SS parallel to the surface of my target. So, when I'd raise my arm the fork that was being supported by my left index finger was tilting slightly towards the target while the bottom fork (supported by my thumb) was tilted just slightly back towards me. This threw my aim WAY off and I also had fork hits when I never had them when shooting at my catch box. When I started actively keeping this in mind, my shooting improved dramatically (my average degree of stinkdom). I'm still a big time n00b but hope this helps.


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