The letters “IQ” stand for Intelligence Quotient. A person’s IQ is derived from several standardized tests that measure cognitive ability. But, these tests measure cognition in the skill sets of math, science, languages, etc. Have you ever taken a test to measure your cognitive ability during a high stress shooting event?

I shot my first bow at the age of seven. From the first time I saw the spinning flight of that arrow, I was completely immersed. Archery became my life.  However, by the age of eight, target panic had engulfed me. This frustration carried all the way through to my adult life. I read everything, tried everything, hoping for that magic method to cure me of this ailment. It wasn’t until I began the analysis process of my firearms shot that I realized there is no method out there that will work for me, I had to work for it, but I didn’t know HOW to do the work. Research into my many failures and my few successes began the workings of the blueprint to control. Once I realized the two facts that target panic is the mind’s natural path of efficiency and the core problem of the shooting mind is pre ignition movements, I was able to develop the system of Controlled Process Shooting. More importantly, I was able to present a system of instruction that conveyed this message in common sense terms. Target panic is within all of us. It takes decisions, determination and knowledge to even be able to take the first steps down the path of shot control. The path, however, is very short when you put those key components together. Myself and those I instruct enjoy archery one perfectly controlled shot at a time.

I began hunting while riding in a backpack carried by my father. I harvested my first deer with a rifle at the age of 12. That shot was completely out of control and it was only luck that made that bullet connect. My early hunting career was fraught with failure.

I harvested my first deer with a bow at the age of 15. That shot too was completely out of control. I was deep in the throws of target panic in my early days and that malady followed me into my 30’s. It took me 13 years to harvest a bull elk with my bow. My lack of success was not because of a lack of opportunities. I have been fortunate enough to hold two RMEF Professional World Championships in elk calling. That being said, I have no problem getting bulls close, I just didn’t know HOW to control my shooting. I had to take the science I had figured out in the firearms realm and transfer it into my archery shot, it only made sense. Now that I have complete control of my shot, my hunting success has grown exponentially. I can now predict my own future in shot control. When I get a shot in the field, I will shoot a controlled arrow, no matter what. Further, I have a very specific blueprint on HOW I will do that. I now know WHAT decisions to make in a shot, WHEN to make them within the shot, and scientifically HOW to carry those decisions out. What a powerful feeling it is to know how your next moment of truth will be controlled.