Vectrixman

I always take my bow hunting seriously.

One time I did have a job interview from my deer stand. I should have left my phone at home.... LOL

buckeye

I wanted to ask...... Back in the day when whitetail's weren't taken so seriously by the masses....... How long did it take for you to realize the importance of the mental game?

How does the mental aspect today compare to say 20 years ago? The game and tactics have changed so much over that time. Has the mental aspect evolved along with the times?

wis_bow_huntr

heres what those to truely equal:

jmbuckhunter

20 years ago for me was gun hunting only. And it was more of an excuse to go partying with the boys. I usually got a deer but it didn't take that much skill, and any deer would do.

Now it is serious business with bow only. Hunt only mature bucks and enough does to keep the population in ckeck.I hunt from my house, go to bed early so I am sharp in the morning and practice year round. So the answer to your question is YES IT HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST 20 YEARS!!

GregH

For me, confidence has always been easy when it comes to seeing deer. I've always felt like I was going to see something from my stand. I've gone as long as 12 days without seeing a deer but each time I went out, I was confident that today would be the day. I still feel this way today.

Back in the '70s, I took up weight training. I used to read as much as I could about it. This is where I first heard about confidence and visualization. So I started practicing it and it worked. I used confidence, concentration (focus) and visualization. To me, all three were important. It didn't come overnight, it took practice. A lot of talking to myself, "yeah, I can do that", then picturing myself doing it perfectly then just doing it the way I saw it in my head.

After a while, I found that you could apply this technique to almost anything that you were trying to do. It didn't matter if you were trying to shoot your first 300 or benchpress your first 300. It helped. Then I started reading about it in the hunting mags and I thought, why not, it seemed to help with everything else. So I began using it for hunting.

I feel that, like everything else that evolves, so does your technique for this mental aspect. Are the changes that different from 20 years ago? I don't think that there has been any drastic changes in my mental approach, more like a gradual refining process that fits me personally. I've found that it is important to keep an open mind and be willing to try new things as they come into view. Always give them your best shot with full confidence. Otherwise, you may discard a valuable technique or idea that wasn't given a fair chance.

This works for me.

huntingson

The buck I killed this year had the nerve to wake me up! He won't make that mistake again.

In my defense it was only about 3:30 or 4:00 and I didn't think any deer would be up moving yet.

buckeye

Thought I would bump this up for any newbie hunters out there this fall. Try it... It works [8D]

Germ

You know buckeye I was not mentally ready on Saturday when those bucks came by. It may have cost me a nice buck. i was whining about the weather to myself. I can say I spend most time thinking about what i would do if a buck came in. Where I would shoot him, draw my bow, etc.

My mind was not on deer hunting on Saturday[:@]

Guys stay focuse, even on bad days!!!

rybohunter

Excellent post again.

More gospel from gregH too.

I am a HUGE believer in visualization to prepare one for the real thing. I'd visualize my races in track, and I sit there in the tree and see deer come in at every angle so when the real moment of truth comes, it's like I've already shot it. I think this is also key in not getting too excited to make a good shot.

mathews outback

yeah all this is true but havin a good spot to keep you on your feet is the best thing if your confident