Don't try to replicate good shooting.

[dryheat]

I've sat down at the bench and shot a great group(I've never shot in competition). What happens next? I get excited and "get serious" about shooting an even better group. It's one of those God's joke on you things. You will shoot a horrible group. It's a fact. It's one of those phenomenons of nature. Or maybe it's just me,but I've learned to never try to duplicate good luck or success or a great time.
I went on a camp out in the mtns. after spending my first summer baking in the AZ desert. It was the best times every. Fishing, canoeing, camping out. The next summer I tried to duplicate the same outing. It just wasn't the same. The lesson? Well, you can come close to your best score and you might best your best score, but ease into it. Don't expect success based on luck, let it sneak up on you with preparation. And relax. Success and luck favor the prepared.

[free1954]

shooting is like fishing. you only do good when your mind is free of other thoughts. and as you get older you think "are my best groups behind me?" I like to think not.

[Bodyman]

The score is only a number - try to just enjoy the shooting.

I used to hunt the same property every fall. Back then, starting a new business, raising a family and just all the demands of life made it virtually impossible for me to do much more than opening day or so. All the craziness and time and effort and made it hard to accomplish everything that went into getting away for even that little one day trip, but each fall I was out sitting under the same tree half in the same spot well before first light trying to be as still as I could. Year after year, as I watched the sun come up, it was as if the 364 days since just melted away - it was a blink of an eye and as if I was in only the very next moment. And in that moment, all the craziness of getting there and all of the trials and difficulties and pains of the last year melted away as well. I was just happy to be there watching the horizon as it slowly became an expanding edge of light and dark. Little if anything else mattered and I was simply thankful to be in that moment again. If I was lucky and sat extremely quietly, the turkey would start to come in which told me any deer in the area might do the same, and the challenge became how close could I get the turkey - absolute calm.

It doesn't get much better than sitting with a loaded firearm in a free country that I love with the freedom to do what I so desire - a happy member of the pumpkin army. Fishing is much the same for me and in stressful moments I picture my line tracing an arch over perfectly calm water as dusk approaches, wishing the sun would slow down as the lure plops at the edge of a lily-pad field, hearing the bail flip and then listening to the reel while waiting and watching intently for a swirl that jerks my pole. The deer, the fish, the score, ... they are all just a bonus; icing on the cake.

I wish only that everyone could experience such moments - they are sublime. But many do; some play golf, some write poetry, some fly planes, some climb mountains, some poke holes in far away paper with a lead squirter. There are any number of ways to experience it. If you concentrate on a score you can miss the sublime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFPjQhl1eYE

Just my humble opinion.

[Former Cav]

I learned when shooting NRA highpower that you don't "add up your score" while shooting.
I'm sitting on 70 points and I cant remember how many X's in 7 rounds.
I start thinking oh boy, I can make a 100 in this string. (slow fire, prone, 600 yards)
next shot TEN... okay, way to go 80..... next shot 8.....What da.... oh man, but 98 will still be my "best"
next shot SEVEN..... WTF.... ended with a 95 which tied my all time best.... oh well.

[Major Tom]

I gave up trying for those small groups. I'm happy if I can hit a torso sized target at 100 yards. That's all the accuracy I need.

[togor]

There's a winding river not far from here where mallards will sometimes congregate during the migration. One year a buddy and I floated a canoe down it, with my young retriever along for the ride. I was up front coming around the first bend and shot a double out of the gate. We took our limit of 6 drakes that day. I've been on and past that river many times since and never seen anything like the action of that day. Like others say, enjoy the good fortune, the moment, when it comes.