Controlling adrenaline?

[Spring_Woods]

In the moment of truth, how do you control the adrenaline rush enough to pull it off?


I always tell myself "concentrate now, drink beer after and retell the story over and over later."
Seems to work sometimes. 

[drenalinld]

Sometimes I don't. I make bad shots and worse follow up shots!

[TRKYHTR]

I don't usually get the big adrenalin rush until after I pull the trigger. Then everything is a mess. Don't get me wrong I get excited before the trigger pull but I can control that part. The other part is uncontrollable.

TRKYHTR

[Spring_Woods]

Sometimes I don't. I make bad shots and worse follow up shots!

Well okay, I see a dead bird in your profile pic. How'd you control the rush prior to dropping the hammer?

[DeWayne Knight]

I don't get the shakes until I actually see the bird...lol.  When I'm getting ready to pull the trigger I just take deep breaths and let half out of the last one and hold it until I shoot.  After the shot when he's flopping the the big rush really gets me going!

[redarrow]

The last time I got the shakes was on an archery bear hunt. I got such a muscle spasm in my low back that I had to let down my bow ,turn my head and look away for a few. The prayer helped too,cause I turned around picked up the bow and killed the bear.

[guesswho]

I always considered Adrenaline a good thing.  The Adrenaline is the reason I turkey hunt, so I don't try to control it.  I let it run it's course, and enjoy every second of it.

[TauntoHawk]

take some deep breaths and remind myself that i can do it, ive done it before, and that relax, take aim, and squeeze the trigger

[njdevilsb]

I can usually feel my heart start pounding more than anything as the moment of truth gets close.  Normally, my hands will shake after the shot, but if it's a cool morning and a bird is coming in, you'd think it was 20 below by how much my body wants to shake.  I seem to be pretty steady on the bird as he's coming in.

[barry]

I always considered Adrenaline a good thing.  The Adrenaline is the reason I turkey hunt, so I don't try to control it.  I let it run it's course, and enjoy every second of it.

Me too. I love the rush!

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

I focus on what I need to do to get the bird killed and I try to be as proactive as possible once I know the bird is coming.

Upon the point where I identify that he's definitely playing the game (typically that means a gobble much closer than the last time I heard him) I begin to anticipate exactly where I think he's going to show up but I begin evaluating my body's positioning just in case he throws me a surprise.  Once I feel comfortable with my body's positioning and where my gun is pointed, I bury my head in the stock, take the safety off and fervently begin scanning with my eyes.


For me it's a process that preoccupies my mind.  Yes, my heart rate goes up but I am not consumed and I maintain focus on the task at hand: GET THE BIRD KILLED.

Upon seeing the bird, I identify the first DECENT shot (*note: not perfect, not almost perfect) I'm going to get and I take it the second it becomes available.

Once the bird goes down my adrenaline kicks in and I'm just all smiles.  Nothing more, nothing less.