Where Do Folks Lose It Mentally?

[Newtosavage]

You are right about that Wrench. It has come to that where I live in Georgia. We have very little public lands in Georgia. However when I was young all the millions of timber company acres served that purpose. You could hunt, fish, look for arrowheads, hike, camp, or whatever. Then the timber companies learned they could get some extra revenue leasing lands to hunters. Add to that all the people that have moved here. I had 20+ private properties I could hunt 20 years ago. Now I am down to my brother's property. There is no way around it. If I am to continue hunting here in Georgia I am going to have to join a club. It is terribly depressing.

Been that way in TX for 40+ years, although on a rare occasion an eldery farmer or rancher has allowed me to work off my deer lease because they need the work more than they need the money. But these are working lands and not timberlands. In E. Texas pineywoods, you don't find that as often because they don't need as much done around their properties. I wish you luck. I wouldn't live East of the Mississippi ever again.

 

[Professor]

back in the 70's and early 80's when there were so few deer

Yes Sir!! I think one reason I can enjoy hunting when I see no animals is that I grew up hunting deer when there were none. It was a big deal - really big deal - to see a deer during the season. When someone saw a track back in the middle 70s it was news and we all talked about it. The first time I took my children hunting - all three kids during three different seasons - we saw deer before we made it to the stand.

 

[Newtosavage]

Yes Sir!! I think one reason I can enjoy hunting when I see no animals is that I grew up hunting deer when there were none. It was a big deal - really big deal - to see a deer during the season. When someone saw a track back in the middle 70s it was news and we all talked about it. The first time I took my children hunting - all three kids during three different seasons - we saw deer before we made it to the stand.

Yea, things are way different now. I felt like we were hunting ghosts back in those days. LOL It was a great adventure for a teenager though. As tough as it was, it just made it that much more enjoyable when we finally did shoot one. My brother and I both shot our first deer with a bow and at the time, we didn't know anyone else who had done that.

 

[nphunter]

I lose it big time when I’m not prepared or out of my knowledge base. Hunted the Church a few years ago and tried hunting from a base camp in the wilderness boarder. We go snow early and didn’t have anything with us to spike camp. It was about 4-6 miles into the wilderness where we were finding elk and after a couple days of that we realized we were over our heads.

If I go back it will be with my floor less and backpacking gear. I will just sleep where we find elk and camp our way back out. That hunt we pulled out 5 days early. We planned two full weeks and after the first week we decided to pull stakes and move our camp. Not a easy task when your hunting out of a wall tent. After pulling and getting back out to civilization we decided to cut our losses and go home. That decision still haunts me, I wish we would have pulled out and moved much sooner and continued with our hunt.

 

[nphunter]

Another time I pulled out early was two years ago in northern Idaho whitetail hunting. I missed out on buying my mule deer tag and decided last minute to go. I am a novice at best hunting white tail, after 5 days up there seeing nothing but white flags running away in thick wet brush I shot a doe and came home.

I don’t really regret that choice, I do regret not shooting a small buck I saw the second day there. I will defiantly go back there for that hunt but only with my buddy from PA who is an accomplished whitetail hunter.

I can grind out any archery elk hunt because I know what to do if I’m not finding elk and where to go to find them. That is the area I’ve focused on most in my hunting career and so I know it well enough and have to confidence that if I stick it out I will have opportunities and even if I don’t feel my tag I’m chasing bugling bulls.

With the whitetail hunt I just felt like I was walking my rifle around the woods.

 

[ChrisAU]

This is an aspect that I think is actually a pro of being a dirty easterner vs living in the West. Just being in the mountains and seeing them is enough to make a trip seem wildly successful to me.

 

[BuzzH]

Seems many on this board lose it mentally when an elk unit number is mentioned...

 

[JPD350]

I just went turkey hunting and I was lucky enough to have my 23 year old daughter join me, by the end of the week she was tired and beat, she was falling asleep everywhere we stopped to sit and at one point she mentioned getting home for some rest and a shower, my reply was that I wanted to stay for a few more days didn't want to leave. Anyway she asked me how do I do "It" my first answer was I don't know, I just do it. After a few minutes of thought I told her that there isn't anything about being out in the woods that I don't love, lack of sleep, intense weather, physical fatigue or lack of success, the hardship encountered is an intricate part to the overall experience as is the easy good stuff, if you truly love something you would do whatever it takes to do it regardless of how hard it may be, so for me there is nothing negative about being out here, I just love doing it.

I do agree with some that having experience hunting elk or deer or whatever species can make things easier to deal with adversity and maintain a positive attitude but for me it has never mattered what I was hunting as long as I was hunting, heck a new species to hunt was met with an intense drive to hunt it even harder! regardless of failure to kill. When I was young we didn't have the internet or forums full of wise guys...... helping me deal with things, failure and hardship was rampant but I had the exact same mentality then as I do now 40 years later, basically negatives were not really negatives, they are just a part of hunting.

So where do people lose it? they lose it by not understanding and loving the whole concept of what they are doing.

 

[bracer40]

I use the same mantra whether I’m on my first day or 10th day of my elk hunts.....”it only takes one.”

It reminds me that the entire hunt can change in a single moment...so stay alert, stay positive, stay mentally strong...if I’m grinding day after day, leaving and coming back in the dark, I’ll make time during the middle of the day for a field nap..

 

[Newtosavage]

I use the same mantra whether I’m on my first day or 10th day of my elk hunts.....”it only takes one.”

It reminds me that the entire hunt can change in a single moment...so stay alert, stay positive, stay mentally strong...if I’m grinding day after day, leaving and coming back in the dark, I’ll make time during the middle of the day for a field nap..

Bracer, I have the same mantra. It has probably cause me to hunt more poor areas, longer than I ever should have. LOL But it's true!

 

[CApighunter]

For me, it is whenever I lose confidence in my plan. Usually at some point, I wonder What the hell im doing and whether I actually have any chance at all at finding or shooting Something.

I try to combat it with multiple spots, multiple back up plans, multiple strategies, and enough planning that I can convince myself that what I’m doing is based on a good strategy.

Hit the nail on the head here. You start second guessing your plan, your area, your methods. I just have to take a breath, relax and remind myself why I’m out there. A kill is the goal, but I always just feel so blessed to just be out there, whether I’m bringing home meat or not.

 

[Elkoholic87]

very interesting thread, love all the responses..... for me, I run into issues because I’m so excited to be out elk hunting, and amped up with all the possibilities of how to spend the next day, that I don’t sleep well, so every day I wake up a little more tired than the previous day, which after 3 days or so, requires a rest day, otherwise I’m worn down and useless. Combine that with seeing no elk and it feels all my efforts are worthless. And on my rest day, I’m anxious because I feel I should be out hunting...aasahhhhh. IF I could just relax at night and sleep like a baby, I would be a much better hunter. I struggle with this when hunting and the rest of my life, been fighting it forever, and tried everything thing under the sun and then some.

On a side note, having a long hike back to camp in the dark is a weird thing, I do it, but don’t like it but can’t figure out why, but yet it’s exciting also and I feel really alive when I’m doing it.

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I have never been able to sleep at night when elk hunting. It's due to the excitement and anticipation. I also continue to play out in my head what I experienced that day and what I could've done differently.

 

[Newtosavage]

I have never been able to sleep at night when elk hunting. It's due to the excitement and anticipation. I also continue to play out in my head what I experienced that day and what I could've done differently.

I’m usually so worn out at the end of every day that I sleep better at elk camp than I do at home

 

[netman]

You have to play mind games with yourself. Just like sitting in a tree stand and not seeing anything. The deer sign is there telling you that the deer are using the trails your watching. But you start thinking about getting down and go walking around. After a while you talk yourself into getting down. You walk about fifty yards and come face to face with a 200 incher on the trail you had been watching just minutes before. He bolts out and all you see is a whitetail and whopper rack running off. You tell yourself just a few more minutes and I would have the shot of my life. This has happened to me several times over the years. Now when I sit in the stand I tell myself today is your day!
I feel the same way about out west. Todays my day to shine!
I just keep on keeping on.

 

[Ndstevens]

Usually starts In the cerebral cortex.

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[trophyhill]

Great post JP! If guys aren't noticing all that the wild is showing them, they really are missing out. Particularly if they aren't looking. We are raising a nation of beta males who want instant gratification. If they don't get it, they start whining and crying.....and giving up

 

[5MilesBack]

Seems many on this board lose it mentally when an elk unit number is mentioned...

I'd change that up a bit and say that many lose it mentally "by mentioning" specific unit numbers.

 

[jspradley]

You are right about that Wrench. It has come to that where I live in Georgia. We have very little public lands in Georgia. However when I was young all the millions of timber company acres served that purpose. You could hunt, fish, look for arrowheads, hike, camp, or whatever. Then the timber companies learned they could get some extra revenue leasing lands to hunters. Add to that all the people that have moved here. I had 20+ private properties I could hunt 20 years ago. Now I am down to my brother's property. There is no way around it. If I am to continue hunting here in Georgia I am going to have to join a club. It is terribly depressing.

There is the extra cash but to be fair to the private landowners we live in such a litigious society I can understand the hesitance to allow anyone to carry a loaded gun or stick full of razor blades around on their property when the land owner will be the one on the hook for any stupid stuff the hunter does...

Sucks but that's the culture we have fostered...

 

[mdp22]

I don't use seeing/killing something as the ultimate goal. Everyday there is something seen in nature that makes it a successful day. Might be an eagle catching a fish out of the river, a grizzly on the hillside, etc. So to me, every day is a success in some respect and that keeps me going.

I’m with you on this. Anything you see while hunting that is different than the day to grind is special. Little events in the woods come back to life in stories later on. I used to think that flushing grouse/pheasants while not hunting them was the most frightening thing till I busted a raghorn bull about 20 yards away in six foot tall oakbrush. It’s occurrences like this that make hunting fun. That and the last text to the wife saying I’m out of cell coverage and will parked at X marks the spot.

 

[mooretitan]

I think the hardest thing is dealing with the mass of hunters and ATV's in non ATV areas. If I can find a spot away from people I am good to go for a week or so in the back woods. Now if I am at a set up camp or trailer/hotel I could go for 10-12 days pretty easy before I start missing the wife and family.