How to deal with overthinking and a negative mindset?

[Deerkins]

I think to really be an accomplished hunter, especially big buck hunter, you really have to take to heart “the this too shall pass” mentality. Otherwise, the shear complexity of what you’re trying to accomplish, will take you down.

There are so many things that are completely out of any one persons control, when it comes to sealing the deal on mature deer, that when it occurs, it almost takes on a supernatural experience, where the hunting spirits gifted you an animal for your efforts, rather than your particular decisions coming into play. The winds will switch, the deer will decide to move when they want. Other hunters will interfere, with the hunt.. the list goes on of the things that that you cannot control.

[Mtn_Hopper]

Great topic! I went through a negative spell a few years back. I have been hunting for quite a few years, and at that point, I had not killed a decent buck for the area I live in. I had killed plenty of deer but none of my bucks were over 100". All of my buddies that I had started hunting with had already put some nice bucks down. It all started getting at me, and I was putting tons of pressure on myself. I found myself getting frustrated, discouraged, and honestly mad at times. I was seeing big bucks, but it seemed they were always out of range. That or I would blow the shot, and a couple that I know I hit good but never recovered. At the end of the season that I was feeling this way, I started thinking about everything. My pressure to "hang with the boys" was nonsense because I was bowhunting public land the entire deer season. They were all out killing these nice bucks with guns on prime private property. The next season I bowhunted the majority of the season, but I did go with my rifle a couple times. I didn't kill any big bucks, but my mindset that season was completely different. I had a blast that season. The following season was the season I had been looking for. I was on some really nice public land deer and had some great encounters with them. I went on a trip with my buddies on a gun hunt and killed a little buck. Late in the season, my buddy invited me to hunt with him on one of his private spots. I immediately went to the spot on the property nobody ever went into on a rainy evening to scout for the following morning. That morning not 20 minutes after shooting light, a nice 3yo 110" 8 point came in running a doe. Came into to 24yds and I smoked him with the bow. He piled up just out of sight. It was the best feeling that I have ever had. It all came when I dropped the pressure on myself and just started having fun again. That was a few years ago now. Last season I ditched my compound bow for good and only use a traditional bow now. It was very humbling as I didn't fill a tag at all, but it was a blast the entire time. Remember have fun!

[Bowtech1]

Here's the deal. Only you care what or how you kill it, if your concerned about impressing people or people know you can kill deer it has to stop or you will hate hunting and stop all together. I have had seasons like you described before to the point I was flat out disgusted with myself. Find some new areas to hunt sounds to me like your getting burned out hunting the same stuff and the past few years just haven't been as consistent for you. Hunting some new landscape can do the mind good.

[briar]

Time has certainly altered what deer hunting is really all about. A lot of great hunters cut their teeth before the equipment changes, internet, and technology completely took over the sport.

Many of these guys were woodsman first and foremost. They lived when there weren't enough deer to be picky or have the technology to have a hit list.. They were already good at killing deer and hunting big bucks became a way to spend more time outdoors. When it was accomplished it was eaten like any other deer and the rack maybe tacked on the wall at camp, or in the garage. It was rare that a photo was even taken. Stories were told to close friends, not posted to the world. There was no pressure....because by golly people has more important things to worry about like feeding families and paying bills.

Sometimes you need to take a step back to take a step forward. Where is the pressure really coming from? Why is killing a specific quality of deer so pivotal to your contentment. Always remember this is a hobby we choose to participate in and should enhance your life rather than make it more stressful than it already is. Perspective is reality. Hunting is so much more than killing. The sooner anyone is able to have that belief, the sooner every chance to experience that privilege will be appreciated like it should be.

All the best my friend. Take a deep breath and soak in this life.

[Swamp Beast]

Here is what I will tell you. What you will find on this site or anywhere else where people enjoy success at ANYTHING is that they sincerely enjoy the process of whatever it is they are doing. They are motivated and of course looking for results but their END result isn't the only result. They love what they are doing, because of that are passionate about it, the time spent doing that activity is important to them and as a result the success comes.

For years I was involved in bodybuilding. In my early 20's it defined me. Because of that the pressure in my mind was huge and basically I trained myself until my body quit working with me. At age 26 I quit for 10 years.

At age 38 my girlfriend and later wife decided she wanted to give it a go. I agreed and the focus was no longer on me. We dieter and trained and for once I enjoyed the process. I was calm throughout.. My body responded so much better and I came in at my best because of it. I carried that love of the process to age 40 and 42 and I was never better.

Really it's the same thing. Ive done it with hunting also. Start enjoying your process. Surround yourself with people that love to hunt just don't look at it as a definition of their manhood. Stay off social, be positive to every person you talk to about hunting and just go enjoy the outdoors. Life can be so short. Any moment you waste feeling bad about something you love you never get back!

I am in PA also..if you ever wanna shoot the breeze shoot me a PM. I've been where your at and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Such great advice. From everyone!! I’ve been reading every post and commenting on a few here and there. To touch on a few things, I do shoot does every year and I always have. Don’t really seem to ever have too much trouble doing that. I see a few real goods bucks each year too, which for my area is definitely an accomplishment. So many guys i know don’t see any. I’ve never been good at giving myself the credit I deserve I guess. I Will do my best this year to just lighten up a bit. It’s real tough though when that clock is ticking. I made it a point this year to just focus on a good attitude and do my very best. We will see how it all goes. I’m glad this thread got this much attention…seems I’m not the only one…thanks fellas

You are not the only one. I also struggle to give myself enough credit. I am way to hard on myself sometimes. That goes for hunting and my every day to day life.

Something you may want to try that I have made myself start doing is take the time to evaluate the work you've done. Did you see deer? Did you find a good area that you might can check out later in the season or next year? Often I don't make it in the stand, just mostly scout. Sometimes I have to count "eliminating an area" as an accomplishment. Take the time and micro analyze what you accomplished each day and each season.

[Trout]

I used to have the same problem and now I feel like I'm gonna kill every time I go hunting. I think there are a lot of little things I did to get in the right state of mind but the biggest was reducing the number of areas I hunted. Keeping it simple took a lot of the self doubt away that I picked the wrong area to hunt. I'm still mobile and all that stuff but I'm only one person and can only cover so much before I'm just trying to get lucky.

The other thing that made a big difference is knowing the areas I'm focusing on better. That's a product of focusing on less areas, now I have more time to walk every inch of them and really learn how the deer use the landscape.

Now that I know how the deer use the landscape, I know what areas to avoid, then I can in season scout the places that the deer use, find the fresh sign and set up on it.

Personally, I take a sit where I don't see a deer as a success. Now I know where they're not, or I can make an educated guess as to why they didn't come through where and when I thought they would and learn from it. Hard to feel like it was a wasted sit when you are learning something from it or narrowing down the area. It gets me even more excited for the next sit cause I feel like my odds are increasing.

Not sure how much time you're spending post season or spring scouting but that's been a game changer for me. The more I scout in the spring the more deer encounters I have the following season.

[szwampdonkey]

Time has certainly altered what deer hunting is really all about. A lot of great hunters cut their teeth before the equipment changes, internet, and technology completely took over the sport.

Many of these guys were woodsman first and foremost. They lived when there weren't enough deer to be picky or have the technology to have a hit list.. They were already good at killing deer and hunting big bucks became a way to spend more time outdoors. When it was accomplished it was eaten like any other deer and the rack maybe tacked on the wall at camp, or in the garage. It was rare that a photo was even taken. Stories were told to close friends, not posted to the world. There was no pressure....because by golly people has more important things to worry about like feeding families and paying bills.

Sometimes you need to take a step back to take a step forward. Where is the pressure really coming from? Why is killing a specific quality of deer so pivotal to your contentment. Always remember this is a hobby we choose to participate in and should enhance your life rather than make it more stressful than it already is. Perspective is reality. Hunting is so much more than killing. The sooner anyone is able to have that belief, the sooner every chance to experience that privilege will be appreciated like it should be.

All the best my friend. Take a deep breath and soak in this life.

I think you hit the nail squarely on the head with all you said here. I remember the days you describe. In the 80s my Dad would take me to the local bar to register the deer him and i killed and guys would come out to check out what you got. Any deer was reason to celebrate and a trophy buck was as rare as they come. No one went out with the idea to kill trophy bucks every season the goal was to kill a deer, any deer. Heck, all my trophy racks STILL go in the garage!

Those were the good ole days for sure.

[G-Patt]

There are no magic bullets to this one. Coming from a holistic point of view, whenever I'm slumping in something, I try to remind myself of the reasons I started something, remain true to the basic fundamentals and block out distractions of measuring my value and comparisons with others. This isn't a kcid measuring contest. In your situation, try to remind yourself of the fun and excitement that got you into bowhunting, the reasons you pursued it over the years. Get back to scouting year round, understanding deer movement during early season, pre-rut, rut, post rut and late season. Get back to woodsmanship, understanding the plants, trees, food sources, cover, watering holes and terrain of the woods. Then just hunt deer and not get hung up on the size of the antlers for now. Don't forget to have fun and try new things. After you lock in the fundamentals, then it's time to every now and then focus on killing a big slob and try not to beat yourself up if you don't. This is supposed to be fun. You got nothing to prove to anyone, so leave the measuring to the skcid.

[PublicLandOwner529]

I had something similar happen to me awhile back and honestly what i finally figured out it was, was i just wasnt having fun anymore. I was so focused on scent control and a perfect wind and the perfect set up that i found myself talking myself out of even hunting that day because nothing was “right”.
If i blew an opportunity i got so frustrated.

Now i just hunt..worst case scenario is a have a great day to myself in the woods, and if i have an experience with ANY deer, i try and learn from it and just admire the experience im having and think to myself that there are millions of people in the world that will never experience this..

And since doing that, my encounters and success have increased dramatically. Remember its called hunting, not killing.

Just my .02

[3531usmc]

I want to get back to having real fun out there.

Focus on the fun and the pressure might lift. Any day in the stand is time well spent, hopefully one of them will pay out.

Agree 100% any time spent hunting is a win for me regardless if I shoot something or not. Even if I screw up which happens a lot lol still learning here! If I’m taking away something at the end of the day I’m glad I went.

[PK_]

Such great advice. From everyone!! I’ve been reading every post and commenting on a few here and there. To touch on a few things, I do shoot does every year and I always have. Don’t really seem to ever have too much trouble doing that. I see a few real goods bucks each year too, which for my area is definitely an accomplishment. So many guys i know don’t see any. I’ve never been good at giving myself the credit I deserve I guess. I Will do my best this year to just lighten up a bit. It’s real tough though when that clock is ticking. I made it a point this year to just focus on a good attitude and do my very best. We will see how it all goes. I’m glad this thread got this much attention…seems I’m not the only one…thanks fellas

Some great posts already but I have a few things.

I have struggled off and on with burnout and negative mindset and still do from time to time. For me, it’s not directly linked to whether or not I am killing bucks, but not killing them sure doesn’t help matters and 5 years is a long time. Almost too long for me to think it is strictly Murphy’s law and there isn’t at least some minor things you can do to increase your chances, but that could also depend on how much you get to hunt in a season…

The overanalyzing things is tied directly to confidence. Doesn’t matter if you are a new hunter, hunting a new area or a seasoned hunter in a slump. When you are on a roll it’s when your confidence is high and you aren’t second guessing everything. It’s sort of like standing on the free throw line hoping not to miss.

If you are encountering the kind of bucks you want to kill than just take an honest look at those encounters and figure out why they didn’t work out. Many times it’s things out of our control and that’s fine, but if you made a mistake, don’t make it again.

That what I highlighted is the best thing for you to focus on. I had one of the toughest seasons of my life last year in terms of putting bucks on the ground, however it was one of my best years overall with the amount and frequency of mature buck encounters. I would rather have 10 mature buck encounters and come up empty than to have only one and kill it. Even though it is discouraging when opportunities slip through your fingers, in the long run, the numbers will work out in your favor.

[RidgeReaper]

When I need a confidence boost I go right into a suspected buck lair and bust them out. Seeing is believing, and when you see that nice buck go running away you can believe your suspicion that one would be there. If you don’t want to burn an area you typically hunt pick a new area look at the maps then go for a walk it’s refreshing to see the sign right where you expect it to be.

Not a bad idea!