Attitude

[Buckbreath]

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got" - Doug Pearson

[Buckbreath]

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got" - Doug Pearson

Dick Pearson not Doug. My bad. He says this in regards to musky fishing but I believe this carries over to life in General. Point being is don't expect different results from always doing the same thing.
An old high school coach of mine used to tell us Attitude Effort and Talent were the things that would get us on the team. In that order. I think that also carries over into life as a determining factor to your success.

[magicman54494]

I have preached positive attitude for years... But, all the attitude in the world won't help you if you hunt the same stand in a bad spot every day...

you recently told a story about a guy who just lost his mother do exactly this. I know this might be a controversial topic but I have opened my mind to the possibility that when we have the right frame of mind things happen. In my own life I have noticed that when I'm "in the zone" things just seem to go my way. When I am not "in the zone" there is seemingly nothing I can do to make things happen. my skill level and past success didn't change. My attitude did. A lot of the responses to this post deal with the physical aspect of a positive attitude. push harder, hunt longer, exert more physical effort. I believe that is true. I also believe that there is a "spiitual" degree involved as well and the more I study it , the more I see that it plays a bigger role than we are aware of. science technology has evolved to the point where now we can actually start to prove this. an example of this is an experiment where they placed a vial of water thousands of miles away and asked a group of people to focus on changing the PH level of the water. It changed!
Again, I understand that this might be strange or hard to believe but I think it is well worth investigating.
The reason why I think it is worth investigating is there are a lot of people who are learning how to be better hunters. They are here learning tactics and techniques and gear. then I see posts that show doubt or fear. I believe that your mind set will dictate your success or lack there of and it extends past the physical.
In my own life I hunted for many years hoping or wishing I would shoot a big buck. The very year that I decided that I was going to shoot a big buck it happened. I know this could be spun many different ways but one fact remains. When my mindset changed, my results changed. There is a lot of info on this subject and with your blessing I will share more.

Your attitude helps give you the confidence to keep pushing harder and further, and to believe in what your doing... If you look at my journal, I have been hunting non-stop since the beginning of bow season. The biggest buck in front of me has not even been close to a trophy. Without the attitude, confidence, and belief that the next hunt will be the one, many others would of crawled home by now with tail tucked.

Success gave you that attitude and that confidence. Your skills gave you that success... You still need skills and tactics.

I believe that my attitude is the most important aspect of my success. Much more important that any tactic or deer knowledge.

[Stanley]

Attitude is a mental state. Success takes a combination of things. Skill helps, experience helps, mentoring can help, attitude helps, even luck can help. Just because I tell you I will kill a good buck this year doesn't mean it will happen. Quite often the biggest bucks are not killed by the best hunters or hunters with the best attitude.

[headgear]

science technology has evolved to the point where now we can actually start to prove this. an example of this is an experiment where they placed a vial of water thousands of miles away and asked a group of people to focus on changing the PH level of the water. It changed!

The placebo affect is also scientifically proven to work, mind over matter is very real and measurable. There are also proven studies where humans can guess what is on the back of a card, now obviously they get them wrong far more often that right but the math tells us we are better than the odds and that is very telling. However in our society we seem to choose to ignore these things instead of focusing on them. I have experience things where 6th sense comes into play, not to mention witness young kids say things they couldn't possibly know, there is a whole lot more out there than the mainstream is letting out the bag that is for sure. I suspect the next 50-100 years are going to be one wild ride, hope I live long enough to see some amazing changes.

[headgear]

Attitude is a mental state. Success takes a combination of things. Skill helps, experience helps, mentoring can help, attitude helps, even luck can help. Just because I tell you I will kill a good buck this year doesn't mean it will happen. Quite often the biggest bucks are not killed by the best hunters or hunters with the best attitude.

Ruling things out because they don't apply to every case doesn't mean that these things don't exist.

[Stanley]

Attitude is a mental state. Success takes a combination of things. Skill helps, experience helps, mentoring can help, attitude helps, even luck can help. Just because I tell you I will kill a good buck this year doesn't mean it will happen. Quite often the biggest bucks are not killed by the best hunters or hunters with the best attitude.

Ruling things out because they don't apply to every case doesn't mean that these things don't exist.

So true, not everything is as it appears to be. If I stand in the doorway and beat my head against the door frame. It will feel good when I stop. Doesn't mean I should do it, to feel good.

[JoeRE]

Yea I agree that Attitude is a crucial ingredient. Usually don't have any "luck" with out it.

It is a bit of a circular argument though. What comes first - the right mind set or the preparation and work that for me go hand in hand with that mind set? Might depend on each person and how they are wired.

I have never been able to flip a switch and change my attitude. But I can look at why the heck I am thinking a certain way, and work on the root causes - both good and bad.

I know that sense of confidence though you talk about Magic. Its a great thing because there is suddenly no pressure and you know its going to happen and you are ready, just a matter of time. i think of that as sort of the predator instinct, smell blood in the water.

[magicman54494]

Yea I agree that Attitude is a crucial ingredient. Usually don't have any "luck" with out it.

I've noticed that people who are "lucky" seem to believe they are lucky and vise versa.

It is a bit of a circular argument though. What comes first - the right mind set or the preparation and work that for me go hand in hand with that mind set? Might depend on each person and how they are wired.

It is very hard to have confidence before success. The "experts " all seem to agree that you need to feel like it has already happened to make it happen. Again, that is hard to do. Imagination seems to be the link here. imagine how it feels to be posing with that big buck, imagine that buck coming out of that bedding area and walking right by your stand. one trait that all successful people have is the ability to see the outcome they desire instead of failure. the difference seems to be confidence they will succeed instead of fear that they will fail. It seems to be a common thing that people need to taste success before they believe but its also amazing how fast success accelerates once success is tasted.

I have never been able to flip a switch and change my attitude.

me neithor and it ticks me off! lol

But I can look at why the heck I am thinking a certain way, and work on the root causes - both good and bad.

yup, thats basically how I try to refocus. Once the negative train heads down the tracks it takes a while to stop it.

I know that sense of confidence though you talk about Magic. Its a great thing because there is suddenly no pressure and you know its going to happen and you are ready, just a matter of time. i think of that as sort of the predator instinct, smell blood in the water.

I agree, especially the part about no pressure. that is an indicator to me if things are going right. I can recall two different hunts that I felt exactly like this. They both ended very quickly!

[magicman54494]

If I stand in the doorway and beat my head against the door frame. It will feel good when I stop. Doesn't mean I should do it, to feel good.

why would you start beating your head in the first place?
Thats like saying i'm going to burn down my house so I will appreciate how nice it is to have a house.

[creepingdeth]

Magic, as usual a post to make us think...so many different ideas...all good points. I need to keep things simple, all I know is w/o attitude, I will never put anything on my wall...I'd shoot the first legal deer I see. I need to believe and I do

[muddy]

Attitude can trump everything. If your attitude is positive then whatever the outcome may be the end result is a success. I shot a half rack bully buck 2 years ago on the day before gun opener, youd have thought I shot a booner if you'd have talked to me.

[Eddiegomes83]

You guys should pull up you tube videos on the G-man. If you don't know who that is it is professional bass fisherman Gerald Swindle. Does great talks on the power of a positive mental attitude and he is hilarious to boot. Just type in Gerald Swindle positive mental attitude and you will see what I'm talking about. You won't regret it and you will be begging for more.

[Jonny]

My best hunting and fishing days were days I was happy and having fun. Worst days were when I had other stuff on my mind and wasn't having fun.

Don't need science to tell me what I have experienced. Hunted hot sign I found in the middle of a tract of hardwoods last night and this morning. Saw it and said I gotta hunt it. Sat it, and just loved the scenery, the sounds, and had fun. Had 3 deer in bow range which about how many I have had the last 3 years combined.

My dad was 75 yards away and was grumpy over something. Never saw a deer.

Was it my attitude? Was I lucky? I don't know, but if I can control it, I will

[Edcyclopedia]

I find that after the hunt is when I need to have a more positive attitude.
When you spend a better part of a season
(season after season)
without any mature deer stimulation I can easily lose confidence.
Take it down a notch and enjoy, sleep in once in a while or don't hunt when it's pouring rain.
Little things once in a while can rejuvenate your tude!
One speed (full throttle) burns me out!