Well a typical archery shot takes about 5-8 seconds. You wait for a living target to stop (typically to survey food on the ground) until you have a clear shot behind the shoulder blades, through the heart and lungs. In that amount of time you can settle your shot, aim, and wait for the surprise release to go off. Keep in mind you can also adjust the sensitivity and trigger point of a surprise release device, so that it doesn’t go off too unexpectedly.