Positive thinking helps bow hunters

Never take bad shots; Wait for a broadside or quartering-away shot
photo courtesy Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

It's difficult to do things that require skill without having a good attitude. A problem I find with some hunters is they lack drive or motivation, and this usually comes from not having a proper attitude.

There are good attitudes and bad 'tudes, and a bad one isn't conducive to being an effective deer hunter. Hunters with a bad 'tudes are constantly griping about the weather, the lack of deer, too many does, too many hunters, and on and on.

Can't remember the name of the guy but years ago he held classes that praised the power of positive thinking. He believed that thinking in a positive way made a big difference, and I completely agree.

The power of positive thinking works while bow hunting

Think of deer hunting this way. You climb into a tree stand or ground blind, feeling good about yourself and your ability to sit still and shoot straight. You know you can shoot that buck if it comes your way.

This positive thinking attitude doesn't work every time. If it did, we would all soon tire of deer hunting, rolling a 300 game while bowling, or clobbering two home runs in the local softball game.

What this positive thinking does do is allow a hunter to do everything else right. A buck starts heading your way, and you spot it immediately. You sit still and don't wiggle around, and you've got the wind in your favor at all times.

Stay alert and pay attention to your surroundings; Don’t move

Turn this whole scenario around, and head into the woods with hope in your heart, and a good feeling about hunting. There is a feeling that you sense more than feel, that today will be a day when a nice buck will offer a shot. You can sense that buck, and you sit tight with bow at the ready, and when he shows up, you are fully capable of shooting it.

The power of positive thinking is something that many people rarely acknowledge. They might be thinking about a beer after the hunt, and be thinking of that brew when they should be thinking about a deer.

This is a mental concept that is very difficult to explain, and in all honesty, hunters must have a few bucks under their belt. They must know their way around the deer woods, and must learn to think like a deer. If I was a deer, where would I enter this area from and why? You study the terrain, figure it out, and sure enough, on many occasions the deer will travel the trails you've puzzled out.

Hunters with a positive attitude have their game face on whenever they enter a stand. They are out there to hunt, not just spend time outdoors, and they are constantly running the angles through their brain. They are, without knowing it, trying to will a buck to them.

Now, that is a bit of a stretch, and although I'm not saying a person can will a deer to them, I believe the hunter with the right attitude will do more things right than hunters with a different mind-set.

Hunters often refer to those people who always shoot a nice buck to be "lucky." They are not lucky in the normal sense of the word; instead, by having the proper attitude, and the willingness to think things through and do everything right, they can make their own luck.

Hunters who always take a buck with a bow are prepared for a shot

This positive attitude allows hunters to scout more efficiently, pinpoint key buck areas, and to be in the right spot at the right time. This occurs because they believe in themselves and what they are doing.

Hunting means you must believe in yourself, your abilities and hunting skills. If you think negative thoughts, chance are good you'll be daydreaming about the boss you intensely dislike, and a buck will sneak past and be out of range or back in thick cover before it is seen.
You've blown an opportunity.

I can't teach you or anyone else how to develop a proper deer-hunting attitude. You either have it or you don't, and those who do, know what I'm talking about.

Those that don't will never know unless they put this column aside and read it every day before they go hunting. Then, maybe with a tiny bit of common sense and the right attitude, a buck may walk within range of a hunter who is mentally and physically prepared to shoot.

A touch of spring fever

George Richey unhooks an 8-pound Manistee Lake walleye.

A breeze, as soft as an angel's kiss, drifted through the warm air. The temperature hovered around 40 degrees, but it felt like summer.

The ground is still a bit too soggy to sit outside under a tree and luxuriate in the perceived warm of a gentle sun. The sun rays beat down, and instead of sitting, I sprawled out on my deck railing to stare up into the sky.

Today was the my first taste of spring fever, and with it came thoughts of life, death and renewal. The end of a tedious winter, and hopefully the beginning of a new growing season.

Relaxing and thinking grand spring outdoor thoughts.

It felt nice about 2 p.m. to lay back for nearly an hour and do nothing. Sure, I could have been writing my blog or whatever, but I was doing what I most wanted to do -- nothing, but be outside in the sunshine.

Laying back and thinking. Remembering the past, and looking forward to the future. Mixing some good and not-so-good thoughts. Thinking of other days when I would sit on the bank of a steelhead stream in drowsy warmth, and spend an hour watching two steelhead spawn.

I didn't feel like a voyeur; instead, it was as if I were watching the rebirth and renewal of steelhead at that one point in time when fish eggs were fertilized and covered with gravel. In time, those eggs will hatch, and of the multitude of fertilized eggs from one hen steelhead, only a few fish will live long enough to return to recreate their kind.

I was momentarily touched by thoughts of twin brother George, and how he and I enjoyed this special time and place on the Platte River, sharing a wild spectacle of spawning fish, and knowing full well we could be fishing for and catching those fish. However, we also knew that watching the spawning act was more important to the future of this fishery than us catching those fish.

Remembering 63 years of outoor life with twin brother George Richey.

George is always in my thoughts, and even though it is closing in on eight years since his death, I think of him daily. I wish we could have shared today, but I know that we shared many other days when fishing was far less important than us being on the stream.

I heard the brief put-put-put of an early but ardent male ruffed grouse practicing his love song on a drumming log. In the distance came the throaty gobble of a turkey, and a few whiny sounds of a hen turkey complaining about something.

I thought about getting the second-season hunt in this heavily hunted Area K, wondered about the apathetic folks who own land but can't draw an early-season tag. I wonder why more people don't complain to the DNR and ask why private-land tags are available in the U.P. and the southern Lower Peninsula, but not here.

There were fleeting thoughts of trolling for spring brown trout off the piers at Manistee and Frankfort, and the chance -- albeit slight -- of catching a 25-pound brown. Only had one that size hooked, many years ago, and it was lost at the boat. Caught thousands of browns to 18 pounds, but never personally cracked the 20-pound barrier.

There were somewhat pleasant thoughts of upcoming work that must be done to lime and fertilize our food plots this spring, and try to get rid of the grasses and weeds that invariably grow with the clover. That is coming up in the next month or so, and it is a busy back-breaking time.

This year will mean cleaning out some overhead limbs on some food plots to allow more sun to hit the clover. Our crops were new last year, and while they produced, it seemed the weeds came and choked out the other crops. Planting food plots means a major investment in sweat equity, but my neighbor and I believe in helping nature thrive.

Some thoughts about spring fishing and hunting.

Now, if only we could make Mother Nature rain enough so we didn't have to water our plantings. We, along with other farmers, either get too much or too little rain.

My tranquil hour on the deck railing delivered several thoughts on the upcoming turkey season, the upcoming trout and walleye opener in about about six weeks, and then it's fixing up ground blinds and tree stands once again. One or two tree stands may have to be moved.

A sportsman really has little time to kick back and relax, but an early spring day like today is a wonderful time to take a well-deserved break, and think about what we have and how we can make it better.

Thanks for sharing some of my spring fever dreams with me.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

The right attitude for hunting

It's difficult to do many things that require skill unless one has the proper attitude and dedication. One thing I find about some hunters is they lack any drive or motivation, and this usually comes from not having an attitude.

There are good attitudes and bad 'tudes, and a bad one isn't conducive to being an effective deer hunter. Hunters with a bad 'tude are constantly griping about the weather, the lack of deer, too many does, too many hunters, and on and on.

Can't remember the name of the guy but years ago he held classes that praised the power of positive thinking. He believed that thinking in a positive way made a major difference, and I completely agree.

Putting a positive attitude on your deer hunt gives one confidence.

Think of deer hunting the same way. You climb into a tree stand or ground blind, feeling good about yourself and your ability to sit still and shoot straight. You know you can shoot that buck if it comes your way, and offers a high percentage shot.

This positive thinking attitude doesn't work every time. If it did, we would all soon tire of deer hunting, rolling a 300 game while bowling, or clobbering two home runs in the local softball game.

What this positive thinking does do is allows a hunter to do everything else right. A buck starts heading your way, and you spot it immediately. You sit still and don't wiggle around, and you've got the wind in your favor at all times.

This positive attitude allows hunters to scout more efficiently, pinpoint key buck areas, and to be in the right spot at the right time. This occurs because they believe in themselves.

Hunting means you must believe in yourself, your abilities and hunting skills. If you think negatively, chances are good you'll be daydreaming about the boss you intensely dislike, and a buck will sneak past and be out of range or back in thick cover before it is seen. You've blown perhaps the best chance of the season!

Daydream long enough, and a buck will slip in behind you, squire a doe, and she will lead him past your stand too fast for a shot. You won't shoot because your bow was not in your hand where it should have been, and you were ill prepared to take a shot.

Pay attention, stay alert & don’t daydream.

Turn this whole scenario around, and you head into the woods with hope in your heart, and a good feeling about hunting. There is a feeling that you sense more than feel, that today will be a day when a nice buck will offer a shot. You can sense that buck, and you sit tight with bow in hand, and when he shows up, you are fully capable and prepared to shoot it.

The power of positive thinking is something that many people rarely think about. They might be thinking about a beer after the hunt, and be thinking of that brew when they should be thinking about a buck that just slipped by without a shot being taken.

This is a mental concept that is very difficult to explain, and in all honesty, hunters must have a few bucks under their belt to make it work. They must know their way around the deer woods, and must learn to think like a deer. If I was a deer, where would I enter this area from and why? You study the terrain, figure it out, and sure enough, on many occasions the deer will travel the trails you've puzzled out.

Hunters with a positive attitude have their game face on whenever they enter a stand. They are out there to hunt, not just spend time outdoors, and they are constantly running the angles through their brain. They are, without knowing it, trying to will a buck to them.

That is a bit of a stretch, and although I'm not saying a person can will a deer to them, I believe the hunter with the right attitude will do more things right than hunters with an indifferent mind-set.

Make your own luck by working harder than the next guy.

Hunters often refer to those people who always shoot a nice buck as being "lucky." They are not lucky in the normal sense of the word; instead, by having the proper attitude, and the willingness to think things through and do everything right, they make their own luck.

I can't teach you or anyone else how to develop the proper deer-hunting attitude. You either have it or you don't, and those that do, know what I'm talking about.

Those that don't will never know unless they put this column aside and read it every day before they go hunting. Then, maybe with a tiny bit of common sense and the right attitude, a buck may walk within range of a hunter who is mentally and physically prepared to shoot it.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors