Believing...

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Lockdown
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Believing...

Unread postby Lockdown » Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:53 am

We’ve talked about much of this on the forum before. But I’ve got deer on the brain and felt like rambling:

The older I get the more I realize all the old comments/threads on here are right. In order to be successful it is TREMENDOUSLY helpful to believe you will be successful.

For me, last year was an excellent example. When I still hadn’t punched my tag mid muzzleloader season I was starting to let some doubt creep in. Then I thought back to my 2013 season when I killed literally in the last seconds of archery season. December 31st at sunset.

I thought back to 2016 when I was down in the dumps, then looked up to see my #1 buck standing right in front of me, completely unaware of my presence.

Those lessons learned definitely helped shape my current mindset. Eating tag soup a few times has helped as well. But it’s hard to explain how good I feel now. 5-6 years ago I was full of questions about this tactics. I had plenty of doubt fogging my mind. Now I have completely 180’d my mind. So last year I headed afield on the very last day of gun season with a positive attitude. Low and behold... I punched my tag on a nice bodied 3 yr old buck. :P even though it was the last day I still believed I was going to kill one.

The sooner you can learn to train your brain (if you haven’t already) the sooner you will unleash the best, most focused you. When you’re focused you learn more. And you’re more efficient.

I think what has helped me the most was when I made learning my #1 priority. Whenever I had a question, whether it was during spring scouting or in season, I did my best to answer it. My mind is so focused on this learning perspective that not seeing deer doesn’t bother me much. Not seeing a single deer might seem like a fruitless hunt for many people. But for me it tells me where the buck is NOT. I often pick a sit or observation that will teach me the most. I trade the likelihood of a kill for KNOWLEDGE.

And even in the whitetail woods, knowledge is power.

Thoughts?


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Re: Believing...

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:12 am

I agree.

My first few years as a beast I doubted, hunted bad bedding ,setup wrong ,entered wrong. I did shoot at a nice buck missed and got caught drawing on another. Looking back i did a few things right but I think only one spot from my first 2 years do I still hunt. And it is the spot I got caught drawing on a large 8 point.


Year 3 I saw alot of bucks and was successful due to hard scouting. I scouted smarter and found better bedding.
I dunno how many bucks I saw but it was quite a few. Sadly alot of the great spots I found in year 3 are now logged.

Last year 4 I was confident also until I found a large buck in a area I didn't know. I spent my season hunting a specific deer in a area I didn't know much about. I hadnt pre scouted it. I never hunted my best spots last year looking back I should have thrown in the towel and killed elsewhere.

Coming into this year 5 I feel very confident.
I've scouted hard.
Planned well and feel confident in my camo and gear.
I've stealth stripped everything.
Will camo help I dunno but if im more confident with it in my mind it helps. I have 27 brand new stands picked for this fall and ready to hunt.

I'm going to kill this year I've put more boots on the ground then ever before.
Never give up Freedom for imagined safety.
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby Thesouthpaw » Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:19 am

Confidence kills, period.

I say this because people that are confident are able to keep their head on straight even if things aren't going well. Having a lot of confidence is key to continueing to make good decisions all of the way through the season. Eventually it works out. I think confidence is what sets consistent killer apart from everyone else.

Witht that being said, confidence mainly comes from experience, which is something that only comes from spending as much time on the woods as possible.
Anything worth doing, is worth over doing.
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:04 am

The most important tool anyone can take into the woods with them rests just north of their collar bones.... And yet it is probably also one of the most neglected. Targic panic cripples some and that's 100% a mental process and awareness.

It seems the trend these days is to try to reproduce lacking in mental capability (everything from knowledge of browse, basic woodsmen skills, to accurately judging distances.... And these are easier things to overcome) with a device that replaces the need for any such mental learning or training. Our modern world wants, heck demands, to have immediately what took many decades for most to acquire and put into practice. The problem is, technology only covers up flaws in our game, typically for a short period of time, where as true mental acuity overcomes them as they occur. A case and point is all the recent hype about summer bucks relocating to fall areas..... being preached to the point where it's almost creates an air of hopeless to be out studying bucks over summer..... while in reality, we all know, or we should know, these deer do not simply disappear off the face of the Earth and probably most of them haven't moved as far as most want to believe. A poor mental attitude will create excuses and frustration where as a Mentally tough hunter will simply track them down and/or anticipate where they will be and WHY. Another example is how many will Google natural deer browse and then never learn to identify it out in the field.

Confidence is exponentially increased as we train our mind through experience, knowledge and time.... And consistent success usually isn't far removed after that. And IMHO, we cannot "Fake"it...... as in trying to convince ourself to believe something when we know deep inside we are lacking. To try to do so is in most cases, futile at best.
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby muddy » Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:22 am

If you dont have faith in your spots then you need to take up knitting or amateur (porn. 3/4 of the battle is between your ears. Even if you seem to be sinking you need to look at all those "negative" hunts and figure out what went right.
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:13 pm

I’ve said it before if you don’t feel confident that the spot your hunting will produce a deer your looking for based on current sign it’s probably best to pack up and move. Stanley always said never waste a hunt in a garbage spot. If your not feeling it…..move. Confidence is everything. Your more focussed and tuned into things around you when you get that gut feeling that something special is about to happen. Hunt with a purpose.

I always go into a hunt with the mindset that this is the day I’m going to kill my biggest buck. When my hunt is over for the day and it doesn’t happen then tomorrow is the day. A positive attitude kills WAY more deer than a negative attitude and if you don’t kill one at least you had fun trying. I try to find joy in every single hunt no matter how bad it was. Self doubt and being hard on yourself just ruins the experience. Do your best to eliminate negative thoughts completely. Hunting’s supposed to be fun.
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby Dhoff » Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:26 pm

I agree. In the past 5 years with growing a family and everything that goes along with life my priorities have drastically changed. Obviously... As my time to commit to deer hunting has decreased i have drastically changed my style and methods of hunting which has made me a better hunter. I haven't ran cameras the last couple years and when i have time to hunt, i hunt. I go in off old intel from seasons past and use my mind and gut.
In doing that it makes you really have to trust in yourself and what your doing. At first i felt like i was wasting my own time because i didnt know what the deer were doing in the woods. I thought i needed sightings or pictures to know. It made me get more mobile and really read the deer sign and find the deer. The last few years have been hard but the most fun and rewarding since i first started. Believing and confidence are key.
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby PaPublicLandHunter » Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:17 am

I agree. I have gotten better with this every year but still struggle with my confidence from time to time. The more experience I get the more confident I become. I don’t get a ton of time in the woods to hunt/scout so the lack of confidence sometimes has come back to bite me a few times.
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby greenhorndave » Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:45 am

PaPublicLandHunter wrote:I agree. I have gotten better with this every year but still struggle with my confidence from time to time. The more experience I get the more confident I become. I don’t get a ton of time in the woods to hunt/scout so the lack of confidence sometimes has come back to bite me a few times.

This
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby jkelley1487 » Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:51 am

Dewey wrote:I’ve said it before if you don’t feel confident that the spot your hunting will produce a deer your looking for based on current sign it’s probably best to pack up and move. Stanley always said never waste a hunt in a garbage spot. If your not feeling it…..move. Confidence is everything. Your more focussed and tuned into things around you when you get that gut feeling that something special is about to happen. Hunt with a purpose.

I always go into a hunt with the mindset that this is the day I’m going to kill my biggest buck. When my hunt is over for the day and it doesn’t happen then tomorrow is the day. A positive attitude kills WAY more deer than a negative attitude and if you don’t kill one at least you had fun trying. I try to find joy in every single hunt no matter how bad it was. Self doubt and being hard on yourself just ruins the experience. Do your best to eliminate negative thoughts completely. Hunting’s supposed to be fun.



Good stuff.
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby Trout » Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:54 am

I also agree. I think we all still have primal instincts buried deep in our brains and when we are not confident in a spot, its because that instinct is saying this ain't the right spot. That doesn't mean the instinct is always right but learning from that bad spot choice can develop the instinct to be better.

I love that feeling of thinking you are in the right spot when I listen to my instincts. Makes hunting a lot more fun and enjoyable cause you feel like its going to happen any second instead of hoping its going to happen eventually.
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby Ghost Hunter » Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:54 am

I can not sit in an area and not believe. I will move in heart beat.
I'm reason they call it hunting and not shooting.
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby greenhorndave » Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:10 am

Trout wrote:I also agree. I think we all still have primal instincts buried deep in our brains and when we are not confident in a spot, its because that instinct is saying this ain't the right spot. That doesn't mean the instinct is always right but learning from that bad spot choice can develop the instinct to be better.

I love that feeling of thinking you are in the right spot when I listen to my instincts. Makes hunting a lot more fun and enjoyable cause you feel like its going to happen any second instead of hoping its going to happen eventually.

I’ve gotten burned a couple times by letting overthinking overpower that gut instinct. I’m going to listen to that instinct a whole lot more this season.
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby tbunao » Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:24 am

This is why I listen to journey before hunts
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Re: Believing...

Unread postby seazofcheeze » Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:28 am

greenhorndave wrote:
Trout wrote:I also agree. I think we all still have primal instincts buried deep in our brains and when we are not confident in a spot, its because that instinct is saying this ain't the right spot. That doesn't mean the instinct is always right but learning from that bad spot choice can develop the instinct to be better.

I love that feeling of thinking you are in the right spot when I listen to my instincts. Makes hunting a lot more fun and enjoyable cause you feel like its going to happen any second instead of hoping its going to happen eventually.

I’ve gotten burned a couple times by letting overthinking overpower that gut instinct. I’m going to listen to that instinct a whole lot more this season.


In my opinion "gut instinct" is simply the subconscious mind expressing accumulated past experiences. If a spot (or type of spot) didn't work out in the past several times, then gut instinct tells us "this is not the right spot" even though we may not recall exactly why and vice versa if a spot has worked out in the past then gut instinct tells us this spot seems right when we recognize some similarities to spots that have produced in the past.

With that said, confidence to me is a "chicken or the egg" type of question. Too much confidence early on can have a guy sitting a whole lot of spots that he believes in, but for the wrong reasons, or interpreting sign in a way that is incorrect. Not enough confidence after a fair amount of learning can have a guy second guessing himself and not sitting spots he should be, or throwing in the the towel too early. Unfortunately, I think real confidence can only be earned by paying dues in time and experience. The more time and experience, the more confidence.


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