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Zen Hunting

Zen in Hunting: Part 3

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Zen in Hunting Part 3

By now you probably have a pretty good understand of what Zen is. But how does a person go about achieving Zen enlightenment? What is the process?

Students in traditional Eastern Zen often spend many years in painstaking study to achieve Zen enlightenment. Since most of us don’t have the wherewithal to travel to Japan for formal study, my aim is to guide you through the basic process. The following steps show how to achieve Zen through archery.

  1. Concentrate on your breathing.Whatever activity you are doing, Zen begins with meditation, and meditation begins with conscious breathing. When you concentrate solely only on breathing you are brought into the present moment. I’m talking about deep, slow breaths from the bottom of your stomach. Here’s a simple exercise: Breathe in through your nose for four seconds, hold it for two, exhale through your nose for four seconds, count to two, and repeat. Since breathing happens in real time, mindful breathing will bring your focus into the present moment. Zen is all about increased awareness by keeping the mind present. To make way for Zen you must not let your mind wander into the future or the past. Consciously acknowledge any thought that enters your mind, and say to yourself, “I release you.”
  2. Make archery a ritual.Whatever you are doing–whether sitting down to play the piano or shooting archery—take your time and make each step—each movement—deliberate. Break the process down into multiple small steps and focus intently on each step individually. Do not anticipate the shot, rather stay present throughout the process. Turning your activity into a meditative ritual will pave the way to higher awareness, or Zen.
  3. Practice makes perfect.Practice shooting in a quiet, calm, yet focused manner. Release all expectations, all physical and mental stress. Begin by shooting at nothing; just a blank backstop. Let the shot come by surprise. Let the bow shoot itself. Do not judge any shot as a hit or a miss. Blank bale shooting removes your self from the process. The arrow will hit the bullseye every time as long as you don’t let your self get in the way of the arrow. Practice in this manner until the basic fundamentals of archery are set firmly in your consciousness. Shooting with a Zen-mind is like playing music. The first time you sit down at the piano you can’t expect to play a symphony, but just a single note. Zen only happens after countless hours of mindful practice. Suddenly the piano plays itself. You are able to conduct pure, enlightened inspiration by letting the process happen through you, not from you.
  4. Let go.Whatever you are doing, don’t force it. Zen happens by letting go of expectations and dissolving your ego. Only then can a greater force work through you. In Zen you become as a “hollow bamboo.”The Zen-master encourages his student to stop trying so hard. When you finally master Zen in archery—following countless hours of shooting—you will hit the bullseye every time with little to no effort. You only miss when your ego takes over and you begin to over-think the shot. As your skill increase, your ego tries to take credit for success. More and more you believe you are in control. You seek praise. That’s just human nature. And that’s where things fall apart. Progress stifles and you fall into ruts. Instead, let go of your self and let the bow—in it’s perfect, precise form—shoot itself.

Is that it? Did I miss something? Like I said from the start, Zen isn’t something to be explained, but experienced. Practical Zen doesn’t always require you to go through a specific ritual or meditation. These are just guidelines to help you learn the process.

Zen is actually more common than you might think. In fact, I am certain that just about everyone has experienced Zen at one time or another. Have you ever hears someone say, “Man, I’m really in the zone today?” What they mean is, they’re really in the Zen today. For some unknown reason you just feel unconquerable, like you can do anything. The problem is that it’s fleeting; we can’t repeat it. Why?

Most of the time we don’t reflect back on what factors led up to that fleeting moment of enlightenment. Other times we call it luck; and since luck can’t be repeated, it’s dismissed.

The goal of Zen enlightenment is to summon those powers at will and use them to your benefit. The famous virtuoso guitarist Steve Vai explained it like this (and I paraphrase): Every once in a while a person latches onto a fleeting moment of inspiration. For some mysterious reason he can suddenly play beyond his normal abilities—beyond anything he’s ever experienced. But then, a moment later it’s gone. Vai goes on to explain that his unwieldy virtuosity is the result of learning how to hold onto that moment—to summon it at will. Incidentally, Vai is an adamant student of Eastern philosophies. He is speaking specifically of Zen.

Zen isn’t a religion per se, nor does it conflict with any religion. It is simply a heightened state of being and awareness. It brings clarity through meditation and focus.

At its peak, Zen enlightenment channels energy so that God can work through you. In other words, you are able to achieve great feats because you’ve removed yourself as a stumbling block to the great flow of energy.  As the late, great Zen-master Alan Watts once wrote, “What the culture of Zen proposes is that one might become the kind of person who, without intending it, is a source of marvelous accidents.”

Best of all, Zen is universally available to everyone. It’s your birthright. It comes with the gift of consciousness. Personally, I’m only at the beginning of Zen understanding. But lately I find myself making more frequent, conscious, ritualistic efforts to channel those forces. I can also recognize when it happens and hold onto it longer.

What I’m attempting to do here is share this understanding with you. Through Zen practices one can achieve greater success in whatever aspects of life he wishes to pursue.

Zen in Hunting: Part 1

Zen in Hunting: Part 2

Zen Hunting

Zen in Hunting: Part 2

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Zen in Hunting Part 2

Trying to explain Zen to people has been difficult, not just for me, but for all Zen teachers, even the Japanese Zen-masters themselves. Reason being, the meaning of Zen is not something you can just tell someone, but rather something that must experienced.

In Western culture we expect things to be tangible and definable. But in Eastern culture some aren’t explained with words, but  through experiences. If you were to ask a Zen-master to explain Zen, he’d likely turn his back on you. Zen is a sacred art, and not something to be handed out like candy. Its power is beyond mere words, even beyond the teacher’s full range of understanding. It is  also something that should be earned through hard work, humility, and sacrifice.

If you haven’t read the epic novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, you should probably be deported. It’s an important and powerful Western perspective of Zen. It also predicts the downfall of Western civilization via our own greed and self-centered worldly perspective. He goes on to explain that the Western business model will increasingly dictate our values in the near future. The fallacy of the Western business model is this:  If a thing or idea cannot be quantified, monetized, or assigned a tangible value, then it must be dismissed. Why do you think society hates religion now more than ever before?

Like it or not, this bias is the driving force behind all decisions regarding Western business, values, morality, emotions, decisions, relationships, the stock market, the government, etc. Have you ever noticed that every elected official is a living pile of crap, and the “good guy” politician always loses and no one knows why? He loses because his truth and his goodness can’t be quantified. The dirt bag politician, on the other hand, wins because he tells so many lies, and lies are data which can be added up and quantified. So he wins by numbers. But I digress.

Pirsig was a great prognosticator. He understood that the Western business model would inevitably lead to our destruction. He foresaw it very clearly, but felt so helpless in preventing it that it drove him certifiably insane.

What proved Pirsig’s theory was simple: The word QUALITY is indefinable in Western culture. Everyone he asked seemed to have  only  some vague idea of what Quality is, but they couldn’t really define it. That’s because Quality can’t be defined. Quality can’t stand on its own. Quality is only useful for comparing two objects. For example, this toothbrush is better than that toothbrush, so this  one is a quality toothbrush.

Quality is very similar to Zen insomuch as it’s something to be experienced, not explained. You know when you have a quality experience–like shooting a giant buck or watching your son being born–but trying to explain why it’s a quality experience is impossible without comparing it to something lesser. And since it can’t be defined, it’s often discarded by our culture. Now, more than ever, it’s easy to see what Pirsig predicted 40 years ago is coming true: quantity over quality in all things. Don’t believe me? Just look at Walmart!

Before we continue, I want to make it clear that I am not a Zen-master; not even close! I’m only a traveler along the Great Path. I only happened upon Zen because of the meditative rituals that I experienced while hunting. At the same time, I believe that the purpose of life is to follow the one true path, and that is the path leading to enlightenment. If I have any understanding of Zen, it’s only because I’ve traveled farther along the path than most. And if this is true, then I can help others.

Are you seeking Zen in your life, or are other forces (dogmas, hope, ignorance, etc.) guiding you? Can the ancient art of Zen really be used for hunting? Is God and Zen really the same thing? These are all questions that I ponder every day and hope to answer in future posts.

As of now, we’ve only scratched the surface. For the final piece of the puzzle, see…

Zen in Hunting: Part 3

Zen in Hunting: Part 1

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Zen in Hunting: Part 1

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You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you…me…the tree…the rock…everywhere!  – Yoda

Zen in Hunting Part 1

Where do you think the idea for ‘the Force’ came from? When you first saw Star Wars as a kid, you knew it was fiction, but didn’t you also feel some connection with the concept of the Force? Could there be some validity to the existence of a Force? Did you ever point to an object and command it to you? The idea of the force–in many ways–parallels the very real concept of the Zen force.

For me, the concept of this magical force makes up a three-part triangle: 1) The fictional/fantasy/magic force that exists in movies and our imagination, 2) the religious force that uses the power of God to “move mountains;” something we learned from our parents, church, or society, and 3) the Eastern Zen Buddhism force (or just Zen) that is understood and used mostly in the East, but exists universally everywhere.

In this article I’m writing strictly about the Zen-force and how it can be used for practical things like archery and hunting.

For more than a decade I’ve been researching and implementing Zen into my life in practical ways. Specifically I discovered a Zen-force via hunting and my deep connection with nature. Today, I continue to use the Zen-force to achieve greatness in archery, bowhunting, and almost anything else I do.

For all intents and purposes, Zen is similar to religion, but also far from it. Zen is not in conflict with any religion; it is simply a higher level of conscious awareness.

To give you a better understanding of Zen, think of it as a natural force that flows through all things…just like Yoda said. Then, think of life, or “the miracle of life,” and the life energy or spirit that exists in all living things. Aside from religious texts, no one really knows what life is or where it came from. We just accept that we’re alive and go about our business. But we must never forget that life is both a miracle and a mystery, no matter what dogma says about it.

What we do know about life is that everything is made up of energy. And yet again, no one knows what energy is; we only know some basic properties of it. For instance, we know that energy is conductive and it’s constantly moving or flowing. The idea of Zen is that we can align ourselves in a way that we connect with the infinite source of energy and conduct more energy through ourselves than we could otherwise. In this way we can do incredible things. For example, we can attract other energy to us.

This is all theoretic of course, but so is life, so let’s move on.

Have you ever noticed that Yoda looks like an old Japanese Zen master? Do you think it’s a coincidence? Zen Buddhism originated in China in the 6th century A.D. and was later adopted, perfected, and practiced in for centuries in Japan. Zen is continually taught through various meditational methods including swordsmanship, calligraphy, dancing, and even flower arrangement. And surprise, surprise, one of the most revered Zen disciplines is archery. But what is Zen exactly, and what does it have to do with archery?

In 2002 I had a major paradigm shift. A few days after harvesting an impressive trophy deer, I had a sudden realization that my success came neither from my hunting skills nor from luck. I seemed as though some mysterious force was guiding me toward success. Years later, when I learned about Zen, I was amazed at how perfectly it coincided with my unorthodox hunting meditations and practices.

For today, think of Zen as a oneness with the Universe. Oneness comes from humility. Zen can only be achieved through humility. Humility comes from realizing you are infinitesimally small relative to the infinite universe. You are not an ocean, but a single drop in a vast ocean. The ocean you are part of is unfathomably large and powerful. Your little life might seem important, but it’s really just a tiny part of an infinite universe.

And that’s where Zen comes in. What if you could take your tiny, insignificant life and harness the infinite power of the universe. There’s nothing you couldn’t accomplish. Zen simply provides the key to unlocking that immense power.

On a final note, Zen is far easier to achieve in Nature because there are so few distractions. Zen is associated with meditation because meditation is a practice of quieting the mind. In my early years of hunting, I couldn’t quiet my mind. I spent the days frantically flailing around the woods looking for a deer to shoot before I ran out of time. Consequently, I achieved little success.

In later years I spent more afield and hunted alone. I also spent more time just sitting and breathing. I noticed after about three or four days my mind would quiet down to the point of total awareness. There was no future or past. This state of being is sometimes referred to as the infinite now. Time is meaningless. Desire melts away. It was in these moments that I achieved wonderful success in the woods.

Nowadays, my spirit enters the woods long before my physical body. My physical body is here, working, driving around, answering calls, etc., but I’m just going through the motions. In reality, I’m already gone. My energies are focused on the impending bowhunt. I am living in a continual state of meditation and mental preparation; I am preparing the way for Zen in hunting.

This topic is further discussed in part 2 of this three-part series:

Zen in Hunting: Part 2

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Secret Bowhunting Tip #6: Put in the Time

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Secret Bowhunting Tip: Putting in the Time

Bowhunting in August sometimes feels like doing time. Spending sixteen hours straight in the woods can be incredibly boring, hot, and seemingly futile. Because deer are most active in the morning and evening, most hunters return to camp for lunch and a nap during the day, and then head back to the field in the afternoon. But hunters beware: your odds of bagging a big buck at midday might be low, but your odds of bagging a buck at camp are near zero. However, if you learn a little bit about mule deer daytime habits, you can increase your odds of success.

In low hunter pressure areas, bucks bed down for the day around 9:00 a.m.  Between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. deer get up for a short time to stretch, grab a quick bite, and maybe change beds to avoid the changing sun angle. Then, between 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. they unbed again to use the restroom. Depending on factors such as temperature, cloud cover, and pressure, bucks will either continue to feed or bed down until evening.

The reason we can count on these times is simple: Mule deer are browser-feeders and their digestive systems run like clockwork. Since a buck is most vulnerable when he rises from bed, we can watch for them to move during the slower midday hours.

When the hunters roll into high-pressured public areas, deer change their behavior quickly. The worst place I know of is Monte Cristo in Northern Utah. I’ve hunted this area for several years and never saw a big buck up and feeding during the day. Eating may be the primary drive for deer, but sheer survival is more important than eating.

When their lives are on the line, deer will bed before daylight and remain bedded all day until the sun goes down. They simply adopt a temporary nocturnal lifestyle in order to survive. When hunting nocturnal bucks, don’t get discouraged. They still exist somewhere; you just have to find them.

When the hunting pressure is on, bucks leave open country where they might live all summer and move to steep secondary ridges where there’s more protective cover. When looking for pressured bucks, begin your search in the steepest and thickest terrain possible. Sometimes they move to heavily wooded north-face, dark timber where elk like to live.

Learning a little about a deer’s diet will help you pin-point good secondary areas. Depending on the time of year, the primary food sources for deer in the West are bitterbrush, cliff rose, aspen leaves, and sage brush. It’s imperative that you learn you identify key food sources in your area. The best method to determine a deer’s primary food source is to cut the stomach open. Of course, you’ll have to harvest one first.

Once you’ve located these secondary ridges and hideouts–based on actual deer sightings, tracks and droppings, or other sign–the next step is to get there before first light. Deer that aren’t feeding midday still have to eat at night, and they won’t be traveling far to bed down for the day.

When hunting secondary ridges, start by still-hunting the steepest and thickest terrain you can find. Move very slowly and glass every ten steps or so. There’s nothing more difficult than hunting bedded bucks, but remember you have all day to do so!

It’s also a good idea to locate nearby water sources. Deer don’t require daily water because they get most of their moisture from the plants they eat. But they still need to water every few days, and even more frequently in hot, arid regions. Any small seep or spring will do. One way to locate water is too look for willows. Willows are easy to spot because of their tall, reddish stems. As an aside, deer also love to eat willow branches.

In my time, I’ve seen some real monster bucks up and feeding during midday, however, this is rare. Whenever possible, spend the entire day in the woods and it will eventually pay off. Hunt smarter, not harder. The fastest way to increase bowhunting success to put in more time afield.

For other “secret tips” to bowhunting success, refer back to these previous articles:

Secret Tip #1: Weight is Everything

Secret Tip #2: Success is a Decision

Secret Tip #3: Be Patient

Secret Tip #4: Hunt Alone

Secret Tip #5: Enlarge Your Consciousness

Secret Tip #6: Put in the Time

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Secret Bowhunting Tip #5: Enlarge Your Consciousness

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arrowheadEnlarge your consciousness. If your consciousness is small, you will experience smallness in every department of your life.  –Robert Pante

Secret Bowhunting Tip: Enlarge Your Consciousness

I always wanted to find an arrowhead. I always felt a great romanticism in stumbling across an ancient bowhunting artifact that paralleled my own plight as a modern hunter. Well, in 2013 it finally happened. On opening morning I headed out across a steep ridgeline on my annual quest for deer. I laid my bow on the ground and pulled up my binoculars to view the new surroundings. When I reached down to pick my bow up, I noticed a small, shiny, black object lying right next to my bow. My heart leapt! For a second I imagined an ancient hunter following his instincts—just as I had that morning—and walking the same path that I was on. It was a wonderful, serendipitous moment.

Big bucks are like arrowheads. What I mean is, you might hunt for years and years without seeing a truly giant buck. But given enough experience, inevitably you’ll stumble across one. Still yet, it may take several more years before you actually get an arrow in one. But if you persist in strengthening your skills and keeping an open mind, one day you’ll wrap your hands around some trophy antlers. After that, it won’t feel impossible anymore, but inevitable. It’s all about enlarging your consciousness.

Two weeks after finding my first arrowhead, I found a second one. I was hunting an entirely different section of the unit, and after setting up camp I hiked to a nearby stream for some water. Just before I got there, my eyes locked onto another black, shiny object. This arrowhead was even bigger and more perfect than the first one. I’m not sure it was entirely coincidence.

Bigger bucks are like bigger arrowheads. It might take many years to finally bag a big buck, but once you do, they come easier. That was also the case in 2013 when I found two arrowheads and bagged the biggest buck of my life, dubbed Superbuck. The story I wrote for that deer was based entirely on building greater success off of previous success.

Entrepreneurs frequently tell a similar story: It took them years and years to earn their first million dollars, but only a short time and a lot less effort to earn their second million. As it turns out, success has more to do with our state of mind than anything else.

So, what does it mean to “enlarge one’s consciousness? When I first read this quote, I asked myself the same thing. Was I infinitely UN-successful in my finances, relationships, hunting, etc., because my vision of life was too small? Was I limited by my physical brain capacity to have a small consciousness? Was I limited by negative influences during my formative years? Yes, I think so. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me from having success in bowhunting. What I needed to do was enlarge my consciousness beyond the old-fashioned style of hunting that mostly leads to failure. So I struggled, studied, and fought against mediocrity, and after years of doing my own thing, I was finally a trophy hunter reborn.

When I set my annual goal to harvest a trophy deer, I envision a real monster buck with huge mass and a wide, sweeping set of antlers. I am conscious of the fact that there are at least one of these stud-bucks in every general unit in the state; I just have to find it. I can set this goal because I know I will consciously and subconsciously do things differently than most hunters who are just hoping to luck out on a nice four-point. I am also conscious of the near impossibility of the goal, but instead of getting discouraged, I just try harder. As it turns out, life is about dreaming big and expecting excellence.

I always wanted to find an arrowhead, and now I’ve found two. I always wanted to shoot a 200-inch trophy buck, and now I have two. I’ve always wanted to enlarge my consciousness, and now I have too.

Click here for the next tip, Secret Tip #6: Put in the Time

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Secret Bowhunting Tip #4: Hunt Alone

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Secret Bowhunting Tip #4: Hunt Alone

As a young hunter I frequently hunted with a buddy, whether it was out of fear of being alone or just to have some company. But in most cases we both failed to get a deer. Consequently I quickly learned to hunt alone.

The main reason why you shouldn’t hunt with a partner is because it doubles your scent, noise, and visibility to the deer. And since a partner will probably be chatting about something, it actually triples the noise you’d normally make.

An equally important reason to hunt alone is because another person is prone to challenge crucial decisions you might make when relying on your hunting instincts. Oftentimes, and for no logical reason, I’m suddenly compelled to go left instead of right. But my hunting partner is simultaneously compelled to go right! Or maybe I feel strongly about traveling uphill, but he thinks we should go down. So instead of making a simple, subconscious, instinctual decision to  do anything, you stand in the woods arguing your case. Finally you reach a compromise, and instead of going left or right, you go straight ahead into failure.

The problem with compromising—or splitting the decisions equally—you shoot each other in the foot. Your God-given instincts are rendered useless. You cease to be a predator and become a lemming. That’s the main real reason I hunt alone. Other than elk hunting where you might need a caller, or if you happen to be mentoring a youth or novice hunter, I can’t think of a single situation where it would be beneficial to hunt with another person.

That being said, each year I participate in other people’s hunts, whether it’s my son, my wife, a friend, or a family member. It’s important to pass along bits of the wisdom or woodcraft to the next generation. But these are special cases, and I’m usually not the one hunting anyway.

Sometimes, out of pity or just for fun, I’ll let someone tag along with me on a bowhunt. Some people just haven’t learned to hunt alone, or maybe I’m bringing someone to a new area and want to show them around. What I’ve noticed with most “buddy-hunters” is that they’re usually stubborn know-it-alls. The reason they don’t hunt alone is because they haven’t learned that they should. These people sometimes heed my advice, but for the most part they go right back to doing their own thing, but rarely having success. When I hunt with these people, I have little expectation for success. Sometimes I don’t even take my bow out of the sling.

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in life is that you can’t help people who aren’t willing to help themselves. You can lead them to the best areas, but they’re gonna make the same mistakes they always made: underestimating deer, making too much noise, moving with the wind instead of against it, over-packing, resting when they should be moving or moving when they should be sitting.

When hunting alone, safety is a much greater concern. Some areas—such as the High Uinta Mountains—are just too big and rugged to venture into alone. One false step and no one will ever find your body. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I should hunt with another person. I’m really camping with them. In the morning when the hunt begins, I’m going out  on my own. In dangerous areas it’s good to have someone else in the general area—just not right next to you.

In two decades of bowhunting, I haven’t arrowed a single animal with someone standing next to me. Bowhunting is not a team sport. If you have a regular hunting partner, that’s great. Just make sure you set out in opposite directions when your hunt begins.

Click here for the next tip:  Secret Bowhunting Tip #5: Enlarge Your Consciousness

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Secret Bowhunting Tip #3: Be Patient

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Secret Bowhunting Tip #3: Be Patient

Never underestimate a buck! If you hunt long enough, this will ring loudly in your head. Bowhunting is a game of patience. Rushing in on any animal usually results in failure. Here are some examples.

Patience Example 1

A few years ago I went elk hunting with a person whose name isn’t Joe, but let’s call him Joe. After a long, fruitless, half-day hunt, we finally spotted a herd of cow elk bedded on a steep hillside. Since I was holding out for a bull, I let Joe lead the charge on the unsuspecting elk. What transpired was a little ridiculous.

I crouched behind Joe as he steadily climbed through the thick scrub oak towards the elk. There were probably 20-30 animals total, but we could only see bits and pieces of them. As we got closer, a bedded cow came into full view at about 90 yards and was looking right at us. I pleaded with my Joe to slow down and wait for one to feed into view, but he persisted forward, trusting in his camo to fool the elk’s eyes. At about 40 yards the bedded cow leapt from its bed and blasted away, taking the whole herd with it. Surprise, surprise.

Had Joe been just a little patient, I’m certain he would have gotten a shot. The wind was perfect and the cows couldn’t see us crouched in the brush. Some of them were even feeding around us. They felt safe and weren’t going anywhere. Even if it took two or three hours, inevitably one of the cows would have wandered close enough for an easy shot. Instead, we went home empty-handed.

Patience Example 2

In 2012 I was hunting the extended hunt for deer. On the second day I spotted a massive, tall-racked, mature 4×4 buck. He was a true giant. Unfortunately, I spotted him late in the morning as he was bedding down with a group of does. The ground was blanketed with crunchy snow and I knew it would be nearly impossible to stalk close. But I had to try. For the next seven hours I worked carefully into the area. As I got closer I literally had to break the frozen ground with my hand before placing my foot down. It was the most arduous stalk of my life. Finally, I knew I was close, but the thick oak brush made it impossible to see anything. So I just sat and waited.

Right around 4 pm I heard the crunching of hooves in the snow. By some miracle, the group of deer were up and feeding in my direction. Long story short, the buck appeared briefly in the only window I had. I misjudged the distance and sent an arrow sailing harmlessly over the giant buck’s back. Game over.

Although I failed with my shot, I succeeded in my stalk—a stalk that burned up then entire day. The failure still stings today, but not as bad as if I’d simply rushed in and blew out the deer.

Conclusion

In bowhunting, the hunt only just begins when a deer is spotted. Having patience and getting close is the real challenge. But if you are patient, there is almost no buck you can’t get close to. Since hunters are really predators, we can learn from studying other predators. Have you ever watched a lion stalk a gazelle on TV? Have you noticed how carefully, calculated, and slowly it’s done? Wild predators have innate and instinctual patience. Otherwise they will starve.

Next time you’re on a stalk, remember the lion in the grass. He might not be successful every time, but he never gives up and he moves with eternal patience. Be a predator; be patient and let nature unfold at its own pace.

Click here the next tip: Secret Bowhunting Tip #4: Hunt Alone

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Secret Bowhunting Tip #2: Success is a Decision

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Secret Bowhunting Tip #2: Success is a Decision

It took me half a lifetime to really understand that success in bowhunting is a decision. Failure comes not from luck, but from failure to commit to the goal. The decision to succeed is not made a week or two before the hunt, but the very second the last season ends.

Setting Goals

In sharing this insight with other bowhunters, I’m usually met with some hesitation. They want to agree with the premise, but don’t really understand it. So let me explain:

When I make the decision to succeed—to arrow a great buck—I set a goal for the entire year. And it’s not just any goal, but the most difficult goal to reach. It’s so difficult because there are just too many variables in bowhunting and no guarantees. What if I simply can’t find a good buck this season?

By setting such a lofty goal, one’s mind begins making immediate preparations to accomplish it. Throughout the year, this goal is broken down into planning, studying, shooting, equipment preparations, mind-set, and a myriad of other sub-goals.

Keeping this primary goal in the forefront of my mind, I find myself making daily decisions to achieve it. One example is to block out my intended hunting dates on the calendar. No matter what opportunity or responsibility arises, I absolutely refuse to alter my schedule. This year alone I’ve turned down two potentially profitable jobs that would’ve interfered with my hunt dates.

Admittedly this can be very difficult for some people. Most jobs will allow one week off work, or two if you’re lucky. The sad fact is, if you let your all-important job interfere with your hunting schedule, then you can’t set the goal in the first place. The decision isn’t yours to make.

Setting such big goals sets a precedence upon which failure is not an option. If you are truly committed to a goal, subconsciously you will make mental and spiritual goals which you aren’t even aware of; goals which will seemingly magically bring you and your quarry together into a single space and time. I believe there are unseen forces in the universe that want you to succeed; that are willing to help you if you let them. You just have to want it bad enough. This is the only way to beat bad luck.

Conclusion

As mentally and physically prepared as I might be, bowhunting often feels overwhelming at times. I believe that bowhunting trophy bucks–both successfully and consistently–is the hardest thing a person can do. I also know that there are greater forces at work than I can ever understand which increase my odds. Some call it the power of positive thinking. Some call it Zen hunting.

There is nothing more magical than the breaking dawn of a season opener. And there is nothing more deflating than last light of an unsuccessful season closer. I have no intention of ever experiencing a failed season again. I’ve made the decision!

Click here for my Secret Bowhunting Tip #3: Be Patient

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Secret Bowhunting Tip #1: Weight is Everything

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Bowhunting Tip: Weight is Everything

Be prepared. – Boy Scout Motto

Be prepared, not OVER-prepared. – My Motto

In this article I’m going to address weight issues. No, I’m not talking  about your waiste line. I’m talking about unnecessary items we carry into the field that may be hampering our success.

Utah offers a great opportunity for bowhunters who still have unused archery tags at the end of the general elk and deer seasons. It’s called the Wasatch Extended Archery Hunt. The “extended hunt” runs from the middle of September through the end of December, and encompasses the entire Wasatch Front and the deer rut. I usually see more giant bucks during the extended hunt than the whole general season. The biggest downside to the extended hunt—particularly in November and December—is the steepness of terrain coupled with deep snow and cold weather.

In November of 2012, I hunted the extended hunt for a few days alone. There’s always a little apprehension about venturing into those freezing mountains alone; I really never know where I’ll end up exactly either. To feel more secure on that trip, I brought tons of extra gear, including extra clothing, food, water, hand warmers, boots, and even some reading materials. In other words I over-packed, and that was a big mistake. Instead of taking three hours to drag my sled to camp, it took five hours and I didn’t get to bed until 1:00 am.

For the duration of the trip, my legs cramped, I blew through my water, ate more food than usual, and was forced to rest more frequently. Although it was warmer than previous years, I was more tired and miserable. Miraculously I arrowed a decent buck two days in, but with so much camp weight on top of my deer, I had to leave half my gear on the mountain and return the next day to retrieve it. Not fun!

Extended Hunt Redo

In 2013 I returned to the same spot, only this time I brought my brain. Before the trip I went over the list of junk I hauled up the mountain last year and then crossed out almost half of it. Most of that extra stuff served only to make me feel safer and had no real use for hunting. Some of the items included extra food, water (I could just filter water as I went and /or eat snow), extra boots, a pillow, books, propane, extra knives, hand warmers, utensils, batteries, archery tools, a handgun, extra flashlights, lighters, etc.

I also noticed that my big, leather hunting belt weighed twice as much as my skinny “church belt,” so I wore that one instead.  I even cut the tags off my clothes and the handle off my toothbrush. All in all, I probably removed 30% of my original pack weight, and man did it pay off. I got up the mountain in record time, ate less food, and covered more ground. You might be surprised at how difficult it is to be quiet while wearing a heavy day pack. In the end, I didn’t miss any of the junk I left home. Well, I did miss my handgun when I learned there was an active cougar den with kittens only 300 yards of my tent!

It’s hard to believe that such small items matter so much. It’s the result of the compounding effect. You never know which erroneous item will be the straw that breaks your back.

Weight and Snow Hunting

Weight is especially  a negative factor when hunting in snow. More than anything else, a pair of heavy boots will fatigue you out in the snow. For years I had two boot options: First, a heavy, high-top, insulated cold-weather boot, and second, a lightweight, breathable, un-insulated stalker-style boot. In 20I3 I stopped using heavy boots altogether. What I found was the heavy boots always got too hot due to the extreme terrain. They were also noisy and very heavy compared to my stalker boots.

Now, the stalker boots weigh half as much (similar to tennis shoes),  but there are two minor drawbacks. First, my feet always got cold when I wasn’t moving, and second, they had minimal traction, or tread. To counter the cold, I simply wore two layers of wool socks. As for traction, I simply strapped on a pair of lightweight ice cleats which worked wonders in the snow.

Conclusion

The next time you return from a grueling backcountry bowhunt, I suggest you empty everything in your backpack onto the living room floor and make a list of whatever you didn’t use. Is there still a tag on your tent? Why did you pack it into the woods? Were you going to eat it? Is there half a tube of toothpaste left in your toiletries pocket?  Extra paste is a waste of space.

Weight is everything. That was the lesson I learned in 2013. And surprise, surprise, fear is your worst enemy. Fear is why we over-pack. The more afraid of the mountain we are, the more extra stuff we cram in our packs. And then there’s the great gear paradox:  the more we fear failure, the more hunting gear we tend to carry around in our daypacks.

Bowhunters need to realize that they are the predator, not the gear on your back. You are too be feared, not the mountain. All that extra weight is an anchor keeping you from your goal. Pack light. Don’t be your own worst enemy. Be prepared, not over-prepared.

Click here for my Secret Bowhunting Tip #2:  Success is a Decision

Zen Hunting

Part 4: The Good Fight

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BSM

What is “The Good Fight?”

“Keep up the good fight.”

How many times have you heard that? “Keep up the good fight!” What the heck does it mean?

In my last post, I wrote about adversity and how each year, right before the bowhunt, the symbolic ‘steely claws’ tighten their grip on me and makes life downright miserable. As this disrupts my focus on the hunt—the one thing I fight for all year long—then I have no choice but to fight back. So today, I’m addressing the good fight.

My research tells me that “the good fight” is a reference to the biblical figure, Paul, who said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7). As a modern axiom, the good fight refers to anyone who fights for what he believes.

For me, the good fight is the fight against evil and injustice. It’s the fight against selfishness and those who take advantage of others. It’s the fight against a government that intrudes upon our God-given freedoms. I’ll fight against anyone who tries to steal or destroy my freedom, property, or peace of mind. Sometimes I simply fight weeds in my garden or insects in my house. I fight daily for my tiny little space on this planet.

Now, let’s get back to the Christian reference. In Christianity there’s a whole lot of gospel about forgiveness and turning the other cheek. That’s nice and all, but it doesn’t apply here. After all, Paul was a fighter. He fought the good fight (whatever that was), and ever since, Christians have been fighting against something, whether it was persecution, evil, or their right of religious expression.

Occasionally throughout history, Christians even went looking for a fight, as was the case with the Crusades and the Thirty Years’ War. The point is that good people have always fought and will continue fighting for what they believe in. That’s the good fight!

Years ago I was on a bowhunt and just minding my own business. When I returned to my truck one night, I found that someone had cut up my back tires with a knife. Long story short, I was lucky to get off the mountain. But for a long time I was filled with pure hatred and ready to fight. But with no known assailant or motive, I couldn’t fight; nor could I forgive. Thus, the fight stuck with me for a long time.

As with any marriage, my wife and I occasionally have a good ol’ fashioned brawl. We’re both somewhat bull-headed and prone to skirmishes. But later, after we’ve made up, she tells me how she hates fighting. And in a jovial way, I tell her that I love fighting! Fighting is how you address and resolve problems in a relationship. Like it or not, fighting is progress. After a good fight we usually feel much better. It’s just a matter of perspective, I guess.

In the recent past I had two conversations about the good fight with two different people with whom I’m close to. They are both good people, but each had an exact opposite opinion. The first person said something along the lines of, “You shouldn’t fight! It’s a waste of energy. Instead, lie low and stay out off the radar. That’s what you need to do to protect yourself and your family.”

At first this made sense, but after further contemplation I realized I’d never heard anything more selfish and ignorant. His argument accepts that there will always be evil and we shouldn’t do anything to stop it. What a pile of crap! In his defense, he was trying to convince me not to be a martyr; not to waste my energy fighting against “the system,” a battle which I could never win. But I still disagree. Fighting the system is how America was founded in the first place.

The second person I talked to is a fighter. He believes you should always fight against evil wherever it’s found. He actively fights against liberalism, ignorance, government intrusion, corruption, and whatever evil dares rear its head. He’s a family man, a devout father, and a Christian. He’s humble and kind and one of the few great people I know personally.

I say fight the good fight! Fight evil where you can. Avenge the evil done unto the innocent. Hunt the hunters. Any person or entity that exacts purposeful harm upon another person should be fought. Fighting is a righteous cause.

By absorbing all the stress from unchecked aggression, you invite despair, depression, and madness into your life. When I was a kid, my dad said, “If anyone bully’s you at school, I want you to punch them square in the nose as hard as you can. Don’t worry about getting in trouble; I’ll back you up.” Now, my dad was a very peaceful man, but he knew that by allowing myself to be bullied would set my life up for failure. Cowardice is never the answer.

Kids these days are rarely encouraged to fight back. When my son was very young, I told him what my dad told me: to fight back against any bully who would harm him. Much to my chagrin, he refused adamantly, pleading that “it was against the rules.” This pacifist attitude is very unhealthy in the long run, and completely unnatural.

Without the fight, some kids absorb so much mental torture that one day they crack and bring a gun to school and kill a bunch of innocent people. And every time this happens, society divides the blame into three categories: 1) blame the gun, 2) blame the bully, and 3) blame mental illness. But they’re wrong. Society is to blame for taking the fight out of kids. Fighting is natural. It’s nature’s way of establishing balance.

In conclusion, life can turn on you in a second. There is too much evil and too many controlling entities always collaborating against you and your freedom. Happiness is fleeting also, and no one is immune to calamity. By ignoring the good fight—by allowing evil to thrive everywhere—you indirectly hurt the innocent.

It reminds me of a quote by Edmund Burke, who said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Evil thrives in a pacified society that teaches kids never to fight. Fighting for what you believe is healthy and natural. If you never fight, you’ll eventually lose your freedom and your mind.

Keep up the good fight!

Click below to read the three previous articles:

Part 1:  Overcoming Adversity

Part 2: The Steely Claws

Part 3: Constants, Controls, and Variables