Lower Adrenalin

Sedgewick19

New Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2009
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4
Hello,
I am new to distance hunting and have been reading up on the subject for a few years now, but I can't seem to find any information on how to lower my adrenalin level after I place my first shot. I don't particularly enjoy the increased heart rate and worse it throws off my aim, which makes the whole hunting experience less enjoyable. Does anyone have some tips or a book you can recommend about this problem?
 
Im more of an addrenelin junkie, but get a few under your belt, and youll be better able to controll it., Practice getting your heart rate down by pushing the kids(if you have any) around fred meyer in the shopping cart as fast as you can, then go to the free blood pressure reading machine. get a reading, then make yourself relax, and lower your heartbeat. Do this every time you go to the store, and learn how to controll your breathing, and heart rate. as for the addrenelin, after you get a few under your belt,it will ''calm down'' but probably never go away. With practice you can teach yourself to overcome most anything.
I take physical, and mental things like this as a personal challenge, to better myself, but I love the rush, and dont ever want that to go away, as long as I can controll it.

Try doin something that scares you and realy challenges you to continue. I rodeoed, riding bulls, and buckin horses. I, like most, took some pretty hard knocks, but Untill I learned to overcome the anxiety/addrenelin, and be able to think my way through it, I was just hangin on for dear life. One day it clicked, and I was able to controll myself, not just react. Then I got better. I was still nervous before each and every ride, but I learned to controll it, and the rush came afterward.
Now Im not telling you to go give roughstock a go, but try doin something that challenges your core to continue..........Sky diving maybe.......I dont know, youll think of something. And when you conquer it you can apply it to your shooting. It works for me.
 
Sorry, but I can't help laugh at the difference between both of your techniques. However, each answer seems like it will work, so I think I will try to build up my adrenalin stamina and work on being more relaxed when I shoot.
 
Yep, probably couldnt get more opposite than that, but I bet his way works for him. I have way too much of a hyperactive nature to try yoga, but I can see how it would bennifit your shooting. Same with martial arts. I wrestled when I was younger cause technique and physical challenge had to be togather to work right. I gave taekwando a try, but it was just not my style. Way too ''regimented'' for me. Dont get me wrong, Im possitive Bruce Lee could whoop my hind end no matter how good I wrestled, but I enjoyed the challenge of wresteling. Built mental toughness, and I stayed in awesome shape.
To each thier own. Were all trying to be better shooters, we just take different roads to get there. Aparently my road is carved out of the side of a cliff, cause it holds my attention better:D
 
I don't think our responses are that different actually, we're both talking about mental control of physical action and reaction. I just gave a couple of examples that teach techniques, such as breath/muscle control exercises and meditation, that focus on that. Using your bull riding example, look at any good bull rider before they open the chute and tell me they aren't in a meditative state. We're talking about the same thing I think just in different terms and you have some first hand experience there. Over all physical conditioning plays a big role also of course.
 
Practice shooting with an elevated heart rate or do what we call a stress fire. We run from 100 meter/yard line to the next or throw some crazy variables in there to add chaos and a little of the unknown. Now mind you I know you aren't training for combat but I have been in some hunting situations that almost seemed chaotic. Just ask AJ Peacock what I look like scrambling around the side of an almost verticle hill side trying to find a place to get into a prone shooting position for a 700+yard shot on a bull elk. :D
The point is this: you don't always have time to calm yourself and need to know how you will react (and shoot) and when to walk away from a shot.
 
Take a look at Lanny Bassham's Mental Management books and seminars, specifically, "With Winning In Mind." It's about mental preparation for competitive shooting, but equally applicable here. Truly incredible stuff, and once you start hearing some of his stories concerning mental failures (too much adrenalin) in competitive shooting, and ways to overcome this, it'll make all the sense in the world to you.

Apologies in advance here, but yeah, I'm a true believer in his system and methods.

Kevin Thomas
Lapua USA
 
When I was a smoker and I got stressed, I would grab a cigarette and smoke it slowly. That action of taking slow deep breaths help to create a calmness within myself. Now that I have quit (8yrs, thanks to my wife) I have been able to use the same type of method in my shooting discipline. I watched a guy that is sniper/operator in Iraq and Afghanistan. One thing he did before pulling the trigger for each shot was take 3 huge deep breaths and exhale them. On the third breath when he exhaled to a certain point he squeezed the trigger. Practicing this helped my groups to shrink. This also help to eliminate the heartbeat movement in the scope. You have approximately 3-5 sec at the bottom of the exhale where all is still. Well at least that is what happens for me.

Tank
 
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