The only competitive shooting I have done is at the local Deer Stalker club annual shoots & inter branch shoots. However I have been involved in university level sport.

The pressure I have felt when about to shoot an animal has been much higher. Most times I am relaxed & "cold" enough to calculate my shot. But there are some occasions when I have had my heart racing & hands shaking. This has never been the case at the range shoots. The greatest "pressure signs" are the butterflies & bats in my stomach which suddenly trun to pheasants after the shot. The pressure is even greater if the animal runs after the shot - "Oh no! have I lost it?" syndrome. The satisfaction when I find the animal drilled throuhg the heart or the shoulders is greater than a top place at the club shoot.

I have never shot at charging game or at dangerous game. But I have been charged by elephants on 5 or 6 occasions and once by a sloth bear with a cub. The pressure & excitement on those occasions was incredible. If I was hunting under those circumstances & needed to shoot, that would certainly be far greater pressure than when shooting at deer or non-DG.

I am currently reading Capstick (again). His DR shot at a charging lion that hits him & which he finally kills with a spear belonging to his tracker ....that must have been some pressure!