WEBVTT - Ep 551: Randy Ulmer’s Archery Masterclass 0:00:01.360 --> 0:00:05.200 Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, home of the 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:12.119 modern whitetail hunter and now your host, Mark Kenyon. Welcome 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:15.600 to the Wired to Hunt podcast. I'm your host, Mark Kenyan, 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:17.840 and tall In the show, I'm joined by bow hunting 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:22.440 legend and world champion tournament archer Randy Almer to discuss 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:25.440 everything you need to know to take your archery accuracy 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:39.640 and effectiveness to the next level. All right, welcome to 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:43.440 the Wired Hunt podcast, brought to you by First Light, 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:47.600 and today we're kicking off Shooting Month. All this month 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:50.640 of July, we're gonna be chatting with the best bow 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:53.760 hunters and shooters in the world about different ways to 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:57.600 improve our accuracy and effectiveness, both with a bow and 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:00.200 with a firearm, all with the goal of making this 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:04.959 next season are very best. Today, no more mrs, no 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.120 more shank shots or wounded deer. I'm sick of it. 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:10.280 I bet you're sick of it too. This is gonna 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.160 be the year that we can all take a significant 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:16.800 step towards becoming a better shot than ever before. That's 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.399 my goal, and today we're gonna kick things off in 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:21.960 about the best possible way that I can think of. 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.080 With Randy Almer. He's on the show of Me and 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:28.040 Tony today. If you're not familiar with Randy, he is 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:32.080 a long time outdoor writer and television personality. He's a 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:36.040 world champion ternment archer and one of the very most 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.200 regarded and most successful bow hunters in the country, if 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:41.560 if not the world. He's truly one of the best 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:44.040 has ever been and I'm thrilled he was willing to 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:48.920 join us today to dive deep into all things archery. 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:52.440 Today's episode it's it's really a masterclass, I gotta say 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.320 for taking your archery skills to the next level. We 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:58.400 cover some of the most important gear upgrades to improve 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:00.960 your accuracy, and whether or not gear is really all 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:04.120 that important these days when it comes to accuracy. We 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:09.000 cover uh target panic, we cover buck fever. We talked 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:12.640 about the keys to improving your archery form, Randy's step 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:16.840 by step shot process, a series of in depth instructions 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:20.560 for creating a perfect archery practice regiment, and a whole 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:22.919 lot more. I mean, this is, without a doubt, one 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.560 of the very best podcasts we've ever done about archery 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:29.799 and the skills necessary to become a more effective bow 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:33.800 hunn So sit back, and get ready to be inspired 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.320 to grab that bowl and hit the range, because that's 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:38.000 at least what it did to me. I mean, I 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.240 was fired up to get out there and do some shooting. 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:42.200 So I hope you feel the same way and hope 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:46.320 you enjoy this one. Here we go all right here 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:49.120 with me and Tony on the line, we have the 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:52.560 one and only Randy Almer. Randy, thanks for being on 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:56.600 the show. Hell, thanks for having me. We are we're 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:59.920 excited for this one. We've got a new series kick 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.800 and off this month. It's all about shooting, all about 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:06.760 taking our you know, skill set with a bow or 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.079 a firearm to that next level. And I don't think 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:11.520 there's anyone else we could kick this off that would 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:13.800 be better at this to help us talk about these 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.639 topics than you, Randy. So the pressure is on though, 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:19.400 because you're you're leading us off. Can you can you? 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:26.239 Can you care that? Okay? From everything I've seen of yours, 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:28.959 read of yours, heard of yours, I don't think we're 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:32.160 we're gonna be in trouble of of missing expectations. But 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:34.760 I gotta ask you this, Randy, I kind of want 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:39.960 to start with a low point with a missed expectation. 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:44.240 This is what I'm curious about. Can you remember the 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:48.200 course of your illustrious hunting and archery career. Is there 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:52.040 any moment in your past that you can remember some 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:55.200 kind of breaking point or some kind of fork in 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:59.120 the road low moment where you said to yourself, I 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.960 gotta fix this, or I gotta get better at this, 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:03.960 or I got to crank this up to a new 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:06.680 level when it comes to your shooting, has there ever 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:10.800 been that moment where you had that conversation, well, how 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:16.000 many hours do we have? Yes? Always? It's the thing 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:20.280 um about archery. It's a lot like golf. You can 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:25.719 never perfected and and you have always got to be 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:31.080 working on on issues that you have. Um. And if 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:34.440 if anyone ever tells you, any professional archer or any 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.680 really good shot tells you that they don't have any issues, uh, 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:44.960 they're lying here because um, it's it's a constant, constant struggle. Yeah. 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:47.800 Can you can you think of any specific example or 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.600 story of one of those moments that you could could 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:54.080 share with us both like what that what that incident 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:58.840 or moment was that kind of caught you or shook you? 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:01.240 And then what did to try to address it. Is 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:04.520 there anything that stands out over there, bed? Um, I'll 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:08.880 just I'll just start with the most recent one. Last year. Um, 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:12.120 I had to have last spring, not this this spring, 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.840 but the spring before two thousand twenty one, I had 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:19.600 to have cataract surgery and they didn't get my eyes 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:25.000 quite right, and my right eye was the worst. Well. 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:30.440 I Uh, my first hunt was a deer hunt in 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:35.360 Colorado in the high country, and we backpacked in about 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:40.400 seven miles and uh, this deer lived in the in 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:43.520 in in cliffs like goat cliffs and just about the 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:47.680 toughest country you could imagine. And I had snuck up 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:50.599 on this deer several times, uh, you know, within a 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:52.599 couple hundred yards, and he was just never in a 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:55.080 place where I could get up through the cliffs or 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:59.359 the wind wasn't right. About the fourth day, I was 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:02.599 able to get into position and I had a good shot. 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:07.560 It was fifty yard broadside shot, and I pulled back 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:12.680 my bow and was pretty steady, and I shot well, 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:17.600 I missed the buck about twenty to the left and 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:22.000 I had and he ran off, obviously, and I had 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:26.400 absolutely no idea what had happened. So I thought you know, 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:30.080 maybe my arrow had come off the arrow rest, maybe 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:33.960 my arrow was banned something. I didn't think much about 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:38.159 it other than I was very disappointed. Um. It was 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:40.520 the last night that we could the last day we 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:42.120 could stay, and I had to have I had to 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:46.160 go back to to Arizona to to get some things 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:49.359 done and the hike out. We we got out about 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:51.680 three o'clock in the morning, and I had to drive 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:53.960 home that night. And I just thought about it, thought 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:57.400 about it, thought about it. Couldn't think why I missed. Um, 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:00.960 Sometimes things just go wrong and you really don't know why. Well, 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.719 fast forward, UM, I had an Arizona elk tag and 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:08.880 there had been a bull that I knew about, uh 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:11.000 for a couple of years in the unit. I got 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:13.680 drawn and we couldn't find the bull, and my son 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.679 and I climbed up to the top this giant mountain 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:19.240 where we could last for three or four miles in 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:22.760 every direction, and we finally found the bull. Long story short, 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.840 about three or four days later, I was able to 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.760 get on the bull. And again it was a is 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:32.280 that easy shot? Well it should have been an easy shot. 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:34.840 It was forty forty yards shot broadside. He didn't know 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:39.800 I was there. And I shot, and I missed him 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:43.760 about fifteen ft to the left, and he ran off, 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:49.400 and all of a sudden, I thought, wow, this something's 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:54.000 going on. Well, what I did not realize is, in 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.480 the heat of the moment, I practiced all summer with 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.760 my bad right eye, and and and I was able 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.600 to shoot. But what I didn't realize is both of 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.720 these shots were in low light. Uh. And what I 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:09.000 didn't realize is in the heat of the moment, my 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:14.880 left eye had taken over and I was actually sighting 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:20.080 with my left eye, and that's why I had missed 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:24.800 fifteen ft to the left. And I'm sitting there, and 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:27.120 I actually sat on the ground. It was. It was 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:29.360 raining in Arizona, and I was sitting on the ground, 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:30.840 and all of a sudden it dawned on me what 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:36.800 had happened. And so I I always keep some duct 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:41.160 tape on my walking sticks, and so I underrolled some 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:44.360 of the duct tape. I made a little patch that 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.040 I attached to my hat for my left eye so 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:51.280 that when I drew back, um, I couldn't see through 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:53.680 my left eye when I was at full draw, and 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:58.280 it blocked my left eyes vision and the bull didn't 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:00.800 know really what happened. It was lighting and raining when 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:06.120 I shot, and he just ran off. And so I 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:09.960 thought I knew which group of trees he was in, uh, 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:13.800 several hundred yards away. So I waited there and and 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:17.400 that later that evening, Um, I heard him bugle, and 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:20.600 I snuck in. And I wasn't a hundred percent sure 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:24.040 that it was my eyes, but I was pretty sure. 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:26.880 But anyway, I snuck in as as absolutely close as 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.120 I could, while I ended up sneaking into about ten 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:32.280 yards and uh, and I and I shot him, and 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:36.400 and uh it turned out that that was what the 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:40.000 issue was. So um, yeah, you're kind of always trying 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:46.319 to figure out what what's going wrong and why and 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.559 and with our archery, archery, just like golf, there's just 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:55.160 so many mental and physical as well as equipment issues 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:59.480 that it's just a constant battle. So so we're Randy 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.840 Kent on that at first encounter with that high country buck, 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:06.160 when you missed that far or missed by that much, 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:10.240 I'm assuming you went and shot, and when you shot, 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.200 you know, target practice, you didn't have that adrenaline going 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:15.520 and your eye didn't you know, your non dominant. I 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:18.559 didn't take over. So did you just kind of get 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:20.120 to a point where You're like, this had to be 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:25.280 just an anomaly with with my gear because I had 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:29.719 been literally climbing through cliffs and and brush. There's a 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:31.800 lot of brush in the cliffs, and I've been dragging 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:35.320 my bow, plus I had backpacked it in um So 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:38.400 you know, I thought, what, you know, maybe the air arrest, 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:43.000 maybe the maybe what I really thought happened is that 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:45.120 the arrow had had not come up with the air 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:48.480 arrest because I missed by so far, and so you know, 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:52.000 you kind of have to just let it go otherwise 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:54.400 you know it's going to affect your confidence on the 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:56.800 next shot. So yeah, I shot. I shot a lot 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:00.120 between the deer season and the elk season, and ever 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.560 had an issue because you know, I'm one of those 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:06.120 fair weather practicers. I always practice when I'm hunting in 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:08.720 the middle of the day, when you know there's plenty 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:12.800 of sunshine and and and you know it's not raining, 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:17.840 nothing's going wrong, and and and so when I practiced 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:19.160 in the middle day, I was just fine. I was 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:23.320 completely confident until I missed that out at fifteen feet 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:28.480 or missed him by fifteen feet at forty yards. Then 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:32.320 I knew something was wrong. So just ballparking fourth quick? 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.599 How many big game animals heavy shot with archery tackle brandy? 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.199 Oh boy, I have no idea. I've been hunting for 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:42.520 forty five years with the bow, so I don't know 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:46.959 a couple right, Oh yeah, yeah. And yet you still 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:51.400 had a situation where shooting, you know, no pressure target practice, 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:54.400 you were dead on, and then something happened to you 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:57.400 in the excitement of the moment where you changed you know, 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.000 you changed your shot process in a way that probably 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.000 be like if we would have told you that beforehand, 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:03.800 you'd be like, no way would I do that. But 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:07.600 it still happens, No, exactly. And and the thing is 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:10.440 is is in the heat of the moment is when 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:15.760 everything goes wrong. Um And And that's why I kind 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:17.720 of changed the subject a little bit. That's why I 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:22.200 discourage people from shooting long distant shots, because you'll get 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:24.640 a false sense of confidence at the range or in 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:29.400 your backyard. Um. I I like to tell people that. 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.600 And and and for me personally, I think my effective 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:36.960 range in the field in in true hunting conditions, especially 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:39.599 in the West, may not be true so much for 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:43.439 white til hunters, but for hunting in the west. Um, 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:46.040 in true hunting conditions where you're hanging from the side 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:49.080 of a mountain, the winds blow and could be raining, 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.360 and your adrenaline is all kicked up. I think your 0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:56.920 effective range is about half what it is at the 0:12:56.920 --> 0:13:00.839 shooting ranger in your backyard, so I can insistently hit 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.559 you know, uh, vitals of a deer hundred twenty yards. 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:07.640 Well that's with you know, with with no win, no nothing, 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:11.600 sitting in my backyard, warmed up, very comfortable. Um. And 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:16.520 but I will not shoot um at game past sixty yards. 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:21.080 That's my dead stop limit. Yeah, I think this is 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.680 a This is a really good place to start with 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:25.720 with a lot of what I was wondering about, because 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:28.840 I think a lot of folks, you know, coming into 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:32.040 the new year or maybe even they'll have this kind 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:35.240 of moment in season, but they'll have this realization like 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.040 I've got a problem or I'm not doing this well enough, 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:40.600 or something's not quite right, or I know I can 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:44.320 do better. But that next step of figuring out, like 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:46.840 what's the thing I need to do to get better 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:49.360 is a lot harder, Like how you diagnose what your 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:51.440 problem is, like what your issue is, or where your 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:55.520 opportunities for improvement are so randy, like what's your what's 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.640 either your process or your recommendation for someone else to 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:01.960 go about trying to diagnose, like what your issue is 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:04.520 or what your weak spots are so that then you 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:10.760 can start addressing them. How do you figure that problem out? Well, 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:14.400 I've had just about every problem there is to have, 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:17.800 so most of the time I've had the issue before, 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:25.040 just because I've been doing it so long. But the 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:28.840 the you end up having a lot more problems early 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:31.800 on in your archery career than you do later because 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.920 later you've kind of figured most things out and and 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:38.840 when things start going wrong, you oh, I've seen this before. 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:43.640 But what I really encourage UM beginners to do is 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.600 if they're having a problem, and if you live in 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:48.720 a place that you know it's big enough or it 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:52.040 has somebody that that can coach you, most of the 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:56.680 time they'll be able to figure out your problem very 0:14:56.800 --> 0:15:00.560 very quickly. And that's one of the reluctance but hunters 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:04.760 have is to get somebody to actually watch them or 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:09.280 coach them. UM and most bow hunters, most people that 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:13.000 are not target shooters are not three D shooters that 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:18.560 just primarily bow hunt have a lot of issues that 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:22.040 they don't even know they have. And that's the other 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:26.320 thing I'll say is you have to be honest with yourself, um, 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.920 and once you've addressed the problem, be honest with yourself 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:34.520 and and do what you actually need to do to 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:38.000 make it better. And while we're on that, the main 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:43.920 problem most people have is is not having a surprise release. 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:48.040 They punched the release, or they have target panic. And 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:51.400 if you punch the release or you have target panic. 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:54.480 And just so some of the listeners that don't know 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:58.400 what target panic is is, oh, it's a whole plethora 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:02.560 of conditions. It's it's a lot of different psychological conditions 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:07.840 kind of placed under one roof. And the most common, uh, 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:11.400 the most common manifestation of target panic is that you 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:16.320 can't put the pin on the spot or the place 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:18.360 you want to hit on a deer and squeeze the trigger. 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:22.000 You have to kind of do a fly by or 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:25.600 a drive by shooting. Um. And then punching the trigger 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:28.520 is something that most people have that are bonners that 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:31.880 don't realize And the problem with this is just like 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:36.000 my situation. The more stressful, the more high pressure the 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:39.400 situation is, the more likely that those conditions are going 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:43.359 to manifest themselves. And that's why people get so frustrated, 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:46.720 because you know, they can sit and and they can 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:48.400 get in their tree stand and they can hit at 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.920 deer sized vitals over and over and over again at 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:54.800 thirty or forty yards in practice, but when a deer 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:59.960 comes uh comes by, the intense pressure will cause there 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:06.959 they're you know, they're subconscious issues to manifest themselves. So 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:09.840 the main thing is get somebody to help you. And 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:20.080 the second is is just um, try to stay focused 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:25.120 when you're making that important shot. Otherwise again on those 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:30.000 important shots where your problems are going to manifest themselves. Randy, 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.560 do you think when you talk about this, you know, 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:35.200 there's obvious benefits to shooting with somebody who really knows 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:37.960 what they're doing, watching you for your form and your execution. 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:40.240 But you know, most people when they're sitting up in 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:41.920 a tree stand and they shoot out a buck, you 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.879 know nobody's watching. And you know you said something a 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:47.280 little bit ago about being really honest with yourself. Do 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:49.400 you think a lot of people are a little bit 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:52.360 too dismissive of their misses and don't really reverse engineer 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.080 them in the field to try to figure out what 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:57.119 actually went wrong, because you know how it is. You 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:00.600 hear the same excuses over and over. You the wrong pin, 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:04.800 hit a twig, you know, jump to string, whatever. But 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:06.239 we know that a lot of it is just a 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:09.440 mental meltdown. Yeah, and n tell you you know. And 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.640 I discovered this when I started competing years and years ago. 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:17.560 Is um. I found that a lot of my competitors 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:22.880 and myself originally, uh had issues. And it's you get 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:26.440 into this comfort, You get into this comfortable groove where 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.840 you like doing things the same way. And you know, 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:33.679 and again you liken to any sport. If you have 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:39.160 a bad swing in baseball, um, you have to fix 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:43.840 that swing if you're gonna be a great baseball player. Um. 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:46.720 And again, those things manifest themselves, those bad problems to 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:53.560 manifest themselves, always under under stressful conditions. So you just 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.440 you have to be honest with yourself and say, oh, 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:01.560 this is my problem. I've got to figure out a solution. 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:03.760 And you have to take it all the way back 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:07.560 to the source of the problem before you can truly 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:10.360 fix it. And And one of the things I did 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:14.240 when I was competing so much is I would write 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:17.919 down my problem. Okay, let's say it's punching the trigger um, 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:19.800 and then I would say, Okay, here's what I'm gonna 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:22.520 do during this practice session. I'm going to focus completely 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:26.360 on this practice session on fixing that problem. And what 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:28.639 most people do when they practice as they just go 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:35.680 out and fling arrows and they don't actually work on anything. UM. 0:19:35.760 --> 0:19:37.920 In order to get better, you have to work on 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:40.720 the things that you have issues with, and that's where 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:44.280 a coach comes in because they'll identify your problems and 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:48.400 they'll give you a program to fix it. And most 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:53.439 individuals just won't go through that multi step process to 0:19:53.520 --> 0:20:00.160 solve their issues. So if I I might be wrong 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:02.280 on this, but if I had to break down the 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:07.000 different types of problems that might be impacting our archery accuracy, 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:10.320 I feel like there's a bucket that could be you know, 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:13.560 process or form related. There could be a bucket that 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:17.600 could be like the mental game target panic, punching the trigger, 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:20.800 like that melted mental meltdown stuff Tony mentioned, and then 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:22.639 the other bucket might be just like your gear and 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:26.639 your setup and getting that stuff right or wrong. Um, 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:28.920 I want to address all three, but since you brought 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:31.520 it up as the most common, let's start with the 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:35.040 mental side, the target panic side. Um, that's something that 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:37.400 I personally have been dealing with. And this year I'm 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:41.040 trying to break everything down and rebuild again to really 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:44.200 finally not put a band aid on it, but but 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:48.160 but replace the but the full organ transplant new thing 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:51.680 that's going to finally break through this barrier' head. Uh. 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:55.400 When you hear about somebody having those problems, in my case, 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:58.040 it's rushing the shot and like as soon as the 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:01.440 pens on the vitals, man, it's it's usually gone that 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:03.199 the arrow is usually sent. So that's what I've been 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:04.560 dealing with. And like you mentioned, there's a lot of 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:06.919 different ways it's manifest. But when you talk to somebody 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:10.320 who's having problems with that target panic, rushing the shot, 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:14.120 punching the trigger, whatever it might be, once you recognize 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:17.159 that's the issue, this is, this has been diagnosed. Okay, 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:19.600 now now what what's what do you do or what 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:22.560 do you recommend someone do to start addressing that? Both 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:24.520 you know what the simple fixes, and then how do 0:21:24.560 --> 0:21:26.560 you actually practice that enough or do it enough that 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:34.879 it becomes part of your being well. First of all, yeah, 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:38.439 it's it's it's like having a disease and you really 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:43.520 need a doctor to help you get rid of that disease, because, um, 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:49.040 you're going to if you don't know how to fix 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:51.520 the disease, you're gonna be putting duct tape and chewing 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:54.320 gum and bathing wire on it. And it's not ever 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:55.720 going to be fixed. You have to go all the 0:21:55.720 --> 0:21:58.680 way to the route of the psychological problem and and 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:02.080 almost all of the sleeves can be UM. All the 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:06.160 things you mentioned are kind of lumped under target panicum, 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:10.040 because really the complete lack of target panic would be 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:12.439 being able to put your pen on the spot you 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:14.480 want to hit and squeezing the trigger and having a 0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:17.439 surprise release. So if you can't do that, I'll just 0:22:17.440 --> 0:22:20.760 put that all under the umbrella of target panic and 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:25.679 target plant panic. Uh. There's many different methods people have 0:22:25.960 --> 0:22:28.679 used or tried to use to get rid of target panic. 0:22:29.160 --> 0:22:31.239 I have one particular method that I like to use 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:38.000 and it's been very very successful. UM. And I've had 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:41.080 and and and what it involves with me is is 0:22:41.800 --> 0:22:43.720 during the off season not during the honey season, but 0:22:43.800 --> 0:22:48.239 during the off season, UM switching to a hand your 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:51.960 back tension style release that's a surprise release, and shooting 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:54.560 with your eyes closed for a long period of time 0:22:55.320 --> 0:22:59.879 until you get ready, until until you've actually until your 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:04.159 actually able to have a surprise release without any of 0:23:04.200 --> 0:23:08.800 that weird tension that you build up in your shot process. 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:12.120 And once you've done that, you start shooting with your 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:15.800 eyes open, and then you slowly back up and anytime 0:23:15.800 --> 0:23:20.480 you start feeling that that tension, that anticipation, that that 0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:25.240 feeling of panic, h then you have to back up 0:23:25.640 --> 0:23:28.879 a step and start over again until you're able to 0:23:29.600 --> 0:23:34.119 uh execute a shot. And then it goes further. And 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:37.080 I've actually never had what I would say was even 0:23:37.119 --> 0:23:40.680 close to full target panic, but yet it's always there 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:44.600 in the background for every shooter. And that's why all 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:51.240 year long I practice with a hand release UM. And 0:23:51.280 --> 0:23:55.440 then when it actually comes time to hunt, I typically 0:23:55.560 --> 0:24:00.399 hunt with a a index finger release, and I always 0:24:00.440 --> 0:24:02.760 carry a hinge in my pocket in case I have 0:24:02.800 --> 0:24:05.240