You are on the last day of a six day hunt. It’s cold, wet and you are at full draw with a 160 inch mature whitetail buck broadside at 40 yards. You release the arrow from your bow, thwack, only to find you just impaled a sapling. The monster buck runs off and disappears into the thick brush. You ask yourself what went wrong, what just happened? You stare at your bow as if it was its fault, but in your head you know it was neither the bow nor the arrow. It was the hunter behind it. I refer to this scenario as a hunting error, just as a major league baseball player would chalk up a bad hop on a ground ball as an error. We all make errors, its how you overcome them and what you learn from them that separates the amateurs from the professionals.
You are not guaranteed to be successful on every hunt. Failure is reality, but how you work through it will determine your success. If you are afraid of failure, you will lose the drive to keep trying. Some hunters are extremely hard on themselves after a near miss. Keep your head up. What if just after you missed that 160 inch trophy buck, there was a 180 inch behind it? Would you be ready? Overcoming your mistakes allows you to build mental toughness. When a plan is in your favor, we are all tough. The meaning of toughness is being successful when real challenges present themselves before us; whether it is an impossible shot, the weather, or the emotional roller coaster of a never-ending stand-off between you and your patience. You have to keep your composure and keep on improving. After all, the most successful hunt lasts just five minutes longer!
The key to a fatal shot is practice, practice, practice. Just as an infielder takes ground ball after ground ball from various angles to prevent an error, we as hunters must shoot from different positions and angles with obstacles in our way to achieve a fatal shot to the vitals. You never know from when or where the next world trophy buck will appear, and you cannot predict how your body will respond to the excitement. Practice shooting when your heart rate is elevated to mimic the adrenaline flow you will experience when a trophy buck is in range. For example, drop down and do as many pushups as you can immediately followed by a shot to your 3D target. Practice shooting your bow while facing into the glare of the afternoon sun, or in the rain or wind. Practice holding your bow drawn back for a long period of time before releasing the arrow. All of these exercises will help you to be successful when the big moment presents itself.
Hunting is different from every other sport because we have no control over the object of the game. We have no control if the trophy animal approaches us from this trail or that one, quartering away or quartering to you. When should you draw, how fast or slow? You have to be mentally tough and constantly prepare for the unexpected to overcome obstacles. If you miss, which you and I will, brush it off and perfect that shot. If you do fail, it only takes one more encounter to succeed. Every successful athlete critiques their actions to conquer a dream, a dream of VICTORY! The most important product is You. Hunt Strong, Train to Hunt!