"Never, never, never, never, never give up"
The most successful Beasts have THAT mindset. They do whatever it takes, no matter the circumstances or consequences.
I've got two stories detailing why you should "NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!!"
A few years ago my good friend Zach and his brother Gabe were chasing a GIANT 8 pointer. He was 30 some inches for mass and way outside his ears with 16" g2s. A slob anywhere in the country. This was the 2nd year they had him on camera, and Gabe had him at 100 yards the first year. He was following a doe. Close but no cigar.
Year #2 The big 8 was on camera again and Gabe had tagged out early. Zach hunted him all season, then took a week off work for rut. Catching a quick glimpse a few days prior to his vacay, he was PUMPED.
He hunted every day and he hunted hard. It was either day 5 or 6 of his rut vacation when I talked to him on the phone and he told me he was going duck hunting that night with Gabe. "I've been up early every morning and hunting hard... I just need a change of pace for a few hours"... I understood how its fun to change it up and get rid of the monotony, but I felt he was making a mistake. He was burnt out from all of the early mornings and long sits with minimal results. We've all been there. You guessed it... Zach went back to bowhunting the morning after his waterfowl reprieve and checked the camera later that day. The big 8 had passed by the camera at last light about 75 yards from his stand, heading right to where he would have been sitting.
I felt really bad for him, but at the same time he was foolish to give it a rest. The stands they had were low impact as far as enter and egress, there were lots of does in that tract, and it was rut. He mentally cashed out from deer hunting for one hunt and it cost him a monster. 2012
Like Zach in the previous story, I had a full week off of work just prior to gun season. On day 1 (Monday morning) I had an incredible experience. 4 bucks chased a doe into the small grove I was hunting. One was the 7.5 or 8.5 yr old 8 point I had been chasing, and another was a smaller 10 that I considered a shooter. Big 2 y.o. or small 3 y.o. Long story short I was in perfect position and they skirted around me.
I was SO close. I did see the 10 that evening but he never came closer than 100 yards. In 18 years of hunting I had never seen 2 bucks chasing a doe before, let alone 4. Tagging out didn't seem like it would be a problem.
This grove had been money in the past.Tuesday was a bust. Wednesday I hunted a different area and saw 1 fawn. Thursday I went back to the farmer's grove but nothing again. I had lost all faith in my spots. Not only was I not seeing any shooters... I wasn't seeing deer period. I saw one fawn Tuesday thru Thursday. All I had left was one day before gun season, and around here things get cleaned out pretty bad. To say I was at the bottom of the barrel is an understatement. I'm not sure if I was more mad or depressed. 1 day left.
Thursday night after the hunt I decided to go get a trail camera from one of my private parcels so it didn't get stolen by the gun hunters (I only had bow rights on that piece). When I got home and checked the card, a new buck had showed up.
Looking at the dates on the pictures, I think gun opener was November 3rd, and I pulled the camera November 1st.
This tract of land is NOTORIOUS for night time activity, so the fact that he was there didn't help my mood all that much. This was the 3rd year I'd hunted this piece and I'd never laid eyes on a shooter there in the daytime. Not once. "So what... he's big but nocturnal. Same as always for this place!!"
Like Zach, I was burnt out from giving it 100% with little to no results. I made my mind up that I'd sleep in, recharge, then head out for a 11 to dusk hunt. A quick break would help my moral.
Laying in bed with my head on the pillow, the guilt set in "What are you thinking?!? Its rut! Anything can happen! Stop feeling sorry for yourself and GO HUNTING IN THE MORNING.... don't take the easy way out." I reset my alarm and headed after the newly discovered 11 pointer.
I had a doe come by at 10 yards just before legal shooting time, and a yearling buck worked a scrape and swung thru on the same trail 15 minutes afterwards. "Well holy %$&# I saw some deer!" Bowunting was all of the sudden fun again just like that.
Just as the sun peaked over the horizon I caught movement to my left. No way... it was him! He was on a trail 60 yards away heading right to me. For some reason he took a right angle and veered off but I was able to grunt him back for a slam dunk 8 yard shot.
The morning that could have easily been spent with my head on the pillow turned into the biggest archery deer of my life. 
NEVER (5x) GIVE UP! Ever since I killed this deer, going 3-5 hunts in a row without seeing a single deer (which happens to me every year) doesn't mean much anymore. Hunt smart and hunt hard.
If anyone else has a relatable story, let's hear it!
