Bow Hunters: Avoid Tunnel Vision

Tunnel vision occurs when a person is in a high-stress situation. The buck is seen approaching, and ever so slowly it moves closer, and you want to shoot that buck. You have a very strong desire to take that animal.

It stops, rubs a tree briefly, then stands back to admire his handiwork, hits another lick on the bark, checks it out again, and continues toward you. He stops, and can't smell you or any danger, but he is in no hurry.

The anxiety level of a hunter builds after the third or fourth stop for the deer to putter around doing big-buck things, and then the animal moves forward again. He is now 50 yards away and will soon have a date with destiny. Your breath is labored and ragged, and you feel a bit light headed.

His antlers are big, possibly the largest whitetail buck you've ever seen in the wild. He stands, out of bow range, and surveys the area. He doesn't smell or see any danger, but he didn't grow a rack with 10 good long points and a 20-inch inside spread by being stupid.

Preparing for a bow shot

He stands, motionless, head up and looking around. He's not spooked, but just being extra careful.

Satisfied, he moves to within 40 yards. The rack seems to grow even larger the closer he gets. The hunter is sucking air, and begging silently for a 20-yard broadside shot. The thought of shooting this buck makes him dizzy with excitement, and his heart is racing and beating hard.

Sucking air, the hunter draws his bow

A full load of adrenalin is streaming through your system, and the buck closes to 35 yards and then to 30, where he stands behind a thin screen of brush. Jolt after jolt of adrenalin has you as wired as drinking 10 cans of Ya-Hoo!

He offers a brief 25-yard shot but your eyes are riveted on that rack, and you don't want to make a mistake. He's coming slowly, just let him move into the 20-yard range and then wait for a broadside or quartering-away shot at this huge buck.

Finally, he steps into range, turns to offer a quartering-away shot at 20 yards. The buck stares off toward other deer 100 yards away in the field, and you raise your bow, stare at the antlers again, come to full draw, aim and turn loose an arrow.

There is a large thwack, and the buck races off while the arrow and broadhead sail off into the brush. Excited, gasping for air and feeling you made a killing shot, you climb down and follow the Game Tracker string to the arrow. There isn't a drop of blood on it.

A victim of tunnel vision

Tunnel vision had set in and when the hunter aimed and shot, he aimed at the major focal point on that buck -- the antlers. He forgot to force himself to pick a spot behind the front shoulder. His continuous focus on the buck and his majestic rack was his undoing because that is where he aimed.

Total concentration is paramount during the aiming process. Once I know a buck has antlers, and decide to shoot, I never look at the antlers again. I focus on the heart-lung area, shoot and the deer dies.

A buddy of mine went on a wild boar hunt down to Tennessee with me many years ago, and I warned him against studying the length of the boar's tushes. These big curved teeth are fascinating, and my friend looked at the teeth, aimed and hit the boar in the top of the head. It wasn't an immediate killing shot, and I hollered to "shoot for the heart-lung area." He did, and the boar died a quick death.

Tunnel vision doesn't just happen to police officers in a fire-fight with the bad guys. It also happens to hunters all the time, and most often to sportsmen with very little hunting experience.

It can ruin a hunt, but there is no need for that to happen. The trick is to determine whether it has antlers, and if it is what you want. Once that has been determined, forget about them, and intently focus on the vital area.

Sound hunting advice

Once you draw back an arrow, and aim, do not look at the antlers again. Pick a tiny spot behind the front shoulder, concentrate on that spot, make a smooth release, and do not drop your bow hand until the arrow makes contact with the deer.

Big bucks come often to the television hunters, but for most bow hunters like you and me, it can be a once-in-a-lifetime deal. The timing is too important to waste time missing an easy shot. Deep 100 percent concentration, and not tunnel vision, is the key to success.

TITLE: Bow Hunters: Avoid Tunnel Vision ((tags: adrenalin, antlers, anxiety, bow, buck, concentration, Dave Richey, destiny, focus, forget about antlers, heart-lung area, high stress, hunting, missing, pick a spot, rack, success, tunnel vision, Tennessee, timing, tushes, wild boar))

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors