why do you believe you succeed or fail?

[magicman54494]

What is the real cause of your success?
Some people just seem to have the ability to walk into the woods and kill big bucks. Are they just lucky? What is luck? Where does the “luck” come from?
Just as any topic there will be people on both ends of the spectrum in their personal beliefs. There will be some that claim hard work and dedication are the key. Other people will believe that some people are just luckier than others. Where does the truth lie? Somewhere in the middle?
Is success a function that is solely in our control or are there outside forces at play as well?
I read the book “The secret”. A very interesting and thought provoking book. The book basically states that you can “will” anything into being. Do you believe this line of thought? Can I shoot big bucks each year just by “thinking” it?
Thoughts have frequencies just like a radio station. Do we broadcast success or failure by our thoughts?
For those who believe success is solely a function of our actions is it possible that because you “believe” so strongly in your setup that you broadcast success and as a result are successful? One would argue that if they did no prep that their success would drop way off but what about those who do tons of scouting and set up perfectly yet never seem to get it done? Do these people still broadcast failure because of lack of belief?
Since it’s the off season I thought it might be a fun topic to discuss. What are your thoughts on the subject?

[Crazinamatese]

I dunno Magicman, I know a few guys who never go into the woods all year until the first weekend or two of bow season and tag very nice bucks almost every year. The same guys rarely scout, shine, or glass open fields, and do not use trail cameras either. They simply find a good spot to set up and wait. I makes me wonder if we really try to hard to kill a fur bearing animal with cool looking bones sticking out of it's head that actually lead to our failures.
For myself, I don't force myself into hunting. If I wake in the morning and I have a good feeling that I may launch an arrow into an animal, I won't hesitate to get up and go. Some days I just really don't care and stay home. Same with being on the stand. If I feel something may happen where Im set up, I will sit there until I can't see anything. Sometimes I just come down and go home. Maybe its some sort of energy given off?

[Arrowbender]

A lot of it has to do with confidence. That is what gets broadcast so that reinforces that ideal.
We also must include ability and preparation. Which of course also helps our confidence but is also necessary to pull off the feat.
Think Peyton Manning vs Tavares Jackson.
Both are physically able buy mentally they are not in the same league.
It's definitely a sum of many attributes. But the common denominator is confidence.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[magicman54494]

It would be interesting to hear what peoples mindsets are and match that with their success rates.

I know that I have my share of success and that I truly believe that I am going to be successful each time I go out.
That wasn't always the case and my success was not very good.
But maybe I just got better at hunting as time went on?

[Bucky]

Success is preperation meeting opportunity.

Personally, I research, figure out what I need to do to prepare, prepare, then spend the time for the opportunity to arrise based off my research and preperation. It really is not that hard to due... but it takes time, dedication and persistence. The guys that do it year in and year out are not lucky... they work harder at it.

My group of hardcore hunting buddies say all the time... "You gotta want it!"

Some will have a reply of $$$ can create opportunities... I agree it can, but if you tackle your earning potential with research, preperation, dedication, and time... you can make lots of $$$ too!

[headgear]

I feel I have always willed myself into good hunting situations. For a long time I did struggle but over time that will has led me to more knowledge and confidence and a better understanding of my area. Lots of credit to the people of this site who have helped me along in many different ways. Like a lot of things in life its hard to pin down one attribute/cause but instead a combination of things leading to a positive or negative outcome.

[magicman54494]

Success is preperation meeting opportunity.

Personally, I research, figure out what I need to do to prepare, prepare, then spend the time for the opportunity to arrise based off my research and preperation. It really is not that hard to due... but it takes time, dedication and persistence. The guys that do it year in and year out are not lucky... they work harder at it.

My group of hardcore hunting buddies say all the time... "You gotta want it!"

Some will have a reply of $$$ can create opportunities... I agree it can, but if you tackle your earning potential with research, preperation, dedication, and time... you can make lots of $$$ too!

Prep is your groundwork but where does the opportunity come from?

[ Post made via Android ]

[dan]

Complicated thought provoking question... Obviously hard work plays into success, but really, ones attitude, confidence, and follow thru have a lot to do with ones success. If you don't believe your in the right spot, don't believe you have a chance, and think its wasted time... Your probably not going to sit long enough, your not going to pay close enough attention, your probably not going to work harder, or move locations, and I could go on and on...

"The smart man will out smart himself"
"The rich man will not have the drive or ambition"
"The Lucky man will eventually run out of luck"
"But the man who works hard and strives for success will always succeed"

[Bucky]

Success is preperation meeting opportunity.

Personally, I research, figure out what I need to do to prepare, prepare, then spend the time for the opportunity to arrise based off my research and preperation. It really is not that hard to due... but it takes time, dedication and persistence. The guys that do it year in and year out are not lucky... they work harder at it.

My group of hardcore hunting buddies say all the time... "You gotta want it!"

Some will have a reply of $$$ can create opportunities... I agree it can, but if you tackle your earning potential with research, preperation, dedication, and time... you can make lots of $$$ too!

Prep is your groundwork but where does the opportunity come from?

[ Post made via Android ]

Research... I want to catch the elusive 50" muskie (took me tons of prep, but only two days of actual fishing on the water dark to dark)... where is my best chance = research. I need to know time of year, location, technique, moon phase, line, leader, baits, water depth, etc etc. Then I get that all together and spend the time in that local.

I want to catch a monster northern pike... where is my best chance... see above, took me years to accomplish this one = LOTS of time

I wanted to shoot a world class whitetail... not gonna happen where I grew up. So I went to an area 500 miles away that the opportunity would exist.


On and on.... the moral is YOU can make it happen within reason

[Stanley]

Great topic for sure. I understand and know what it takes to knock down big bucks. Man is not created equal in his abilities this is key. Just because Dan makes killing big bucks easy doesn't mean it is for the rest of us. We have to know and understand our capabilities. A 90 Lb string bean hunter can't physically pull a 235 lb dressed buck out of the woods (he may think he can but in reality he can't). A 250 lbs hunter in good physical shape can (he thinks he can, and in reality he can).

The same goes for a lot of hunting techniques. If your way overweight and think your going to haul a stand/sticks a bow and what ever else you need to hunt 2 miles into a swamp. You won't be able to do it. Some guys say he is too lazy and won't do it. I say he is incapable of doing it, so he needs to take another route. The overweight guy is maybe a Beast member and reads all the threads on carry and hunt.

Problem is he cannot do it. Does this mean he cannot be a big buck killer? No, he needs to find a way he can do it. In my opinion what separates the men from the monkeys is not what is between the shoulder blades but what is between the ears.

A good friend of mine was going to a job site hauling a trailer with a generator on it. He was on the interstate and ran out of gas. He had no tools no gas can but the generator he was hauling was full of gas. Did he call for help or figure a way to get some gas into the truck from the generator?

Put 20 people in that situation and how many call for help, and how many get some gas into the truck from the generator some how? Could a doctor with an intelligence of genius get the truck going? Could a house wife with great baking skills get the truck going?

Big buck hunting is the same thing, some can do it some can not. How many times do you hear the guy say if I would have done this or that, I would have as many bucks as Dan does on the wall? Guys that can do it don't say that, they don't have to they have done it. We are all not created equal. Using what you can do and not what you think you can do,or need to do, will take you a long way into the journey.

[briar]

Great topic for sure. I understand and know what it takes to knock down big bucks. Man is not created equal in his abilities this is key. Just because Dan makes killing big bucks easy doesn't mean it is for the rest of us. We have to know and understand our capabilities. A 90 Lb string bean hunter can't physically pull a 235 lb dressed buck out of the woods (he may think he can but in reality he can't). A 250 lbs hunter in good physical shape can (he thinks he can, and in reality he can).

The same goes for a lot of hunting techniques. If your way overweight and think your going to haul a stand/sticks a bow and what ever else you need to hunt 2 miles into a swamp. You won't be able to do it. Some guys say he is too lazy and won't do it. I say he is incapable of doing it, so he needs to take another route. The overweight guy is maybe a Beast member and reads all the threads on carry and hunt.

Problem is he cannot do it. Does this mean he cannot be a big buck killer? No, he needs to find a way he can do it. In my opinion what separates the men from the monkeys is not what is between the shoulder blades but what is between the ears.

A good friend of mine was going to a job site hauling a trailer with a generator on it. He was on the interstate and ran out of gas. He had no tools no gas can but the generator he was hauling was full of gas. Did he call for help or figure a way to get some gas into the truck from the generator?

Put 20 people in that situation and how many call for help, and how many get some gas into the truck from the generator some how? Could a doctor with an intelligence of genius get the truck going? Could a house wife with great baking skills get the truck going?

Big buck hunting is the same thing, some can do it some can not. How many times do you hear the guy say if I would have done this or that, I would have as many bucks as Dan does on the wall? Guys that can do it don't say that, they don't have to they have done it. We are all not created equal. Using what you can do and not what you think you can do,or need to do, will take you a long way into the journey.

I have been a message board participant for several boards for several years. This is bar none without a doubt the best single post I have ever read and it is the gods honest truth. We live so much in a society where the mantra is " if you just work hard enough little boy or girl you can do whatever you set your heart to"......BS......you can maximize your god given talents for sure and they should be the goad of any person, but at the end of the day you cannot get out what isn't bred in and the sooner you realize your strengths and accept your weaknesses the happier you will be. Stanley my hats off to you sir, well done.

[Dewey]

Complicated thought provoking question... Obviously hard work plays into success, but really, ones attitude, confidence, and follow thru have a lot to do with ones success. If you don't believe your in the right spot, don't believe you have a chance, and think its wasted time... Your probably not going to sit long enough, your not going to pay close enough attention, your probably not going to work harder, or move locations, and I could go on and on...

"The smart man will out smart himself"
"The rich man will not have the drive or ambition"
"The Lucky man will eventually run out of luck"
"But the man who works hard and strives for success will always succeed"

Pretty much says it all right here.

[Bucky]

^^^ I agree... there are some things that you just cannot accomplish given your physical attributes. Dunking a basketball for example... not gonna happen for most of us no matter how hard we try.

Most readers are frequenting this website because they wanna get good at killing BIG deer... that I think is obtainable by almost everyone that is reading this... following the path of research, preperation, persistence, and TIME

[JoeRE]

Well the simple answer is preparation, hard work, build confidence and tilt the odds in your favor so that you can get it done when the cards are down. I beleive that is true but in my opinion thats not all of it...I think many hunters who have spend a lot of time in the woods agree sometimes there seems to be something beyond that. I feel like I have gotten lucky more often than I have a right to expect in my hunting career and know a few other guys who seem to fall in the same category. I also know some guys who just seem to be chronically unlucky. I'm talking beyond what I would attribute to preparation and experience based skill. Whats the difference - is it something to do with believing?

There have been many times where I knew I was going to get an opportunity hours before I set foot in the woods. Its strange stuff when I get that feeling, and its always been right. I literally am certain I am going to have an opportunity, its been the case on most of my biggest/oldest bucks. It only happens when I am taking my time and not in a crazy rush...did my belief cause it to happen or did I believe because at some level my inner predator being knew it would? Like I said, strange stuff.

[cbigbear]

Big buck hunting is the same thing, some can do it some can not. How many times do you hear the guy say if I would have done this or that, I would have as many bucks as Dan does on the wall? Guys that can do it don't say that, they don't have to they have done it. We are all not created equal. Using what you can do and not what you think you can do,or need to do, will take you a long way into the journey.

Great post Stanley, but this paragraph really speaks volumes. Some have what it takes & will do whatever it takes & some don't!!!!