Controlling the Human Element

There have been many days where James and I have sat down and talked about the day’s hunt. We’ve reflected on the successes and failures of a particular outing and tried to figure out how we could improve on what we had done. We’ve asked ourselves, what can we do better? What can we control? And ultimately, there is really only one thing you can control, yourself.

When you’re out in the field the variety of factors working for or against you are endless. Sometimes you wake up for a bird hunt and the sun is shining. The wind is slowly weaving its way across the landscape and you’re able to remove your gloves for the day. Other times the rains begin to fall. The clouds darken the sky and the winds serve only to enhance the numbness in your fingers. The same goes for big game hunts. You wake up and the mountain is dry, easy to climb, and quickly you are on a ridgeline, glassing the slopes around you. Other days you wake up to a fresh coat of snow on the ground. You suddenly find yourself slipping up the rocky slopes. Your clothes quickly become wet and your daily energy supplies are tested early on. These are the unknowns. These are the factors that make hunting, hunting. They make it both frustrating and exciting and in the end, what they really represent, are the variables that you will never be able to control.

 So what can we control? What can we manage? How do we take the most inherently unpredictable variable, ourselves, out of the equation, so that we can address the multitude of other forces acting upon us? The answer is simple: hard work, practice, and attention to detail.

Early on in my hunting career James instilled in me the importance of controlling what I could control. For me this was perhaps best personified in my preparation for the archery season last year. I had to ask myself, how can I make sure that when it comes time for that shot, my body does what I need it to without question or delay? How do I contain the human element?

What it came down in the end was countless evenings after work adjusting my technique. I set up straw bales against my trailer, tied some carpet onto the front and began sending arrows down range. I took it step by step. First, it was all about getting the arrows on target from 10, 20, 25 yards, placing my hands and feet properly. Then I moved on to my cheek placement along the bow string. Repetition and more repetition; bring the bow up, put it back down, bring the bow up, and put it back down. James even suggested closing my eyes, bringing the bow up, and seeing if I could clearly see through my peep-sight once I felt positioned. You’d be amazed how quickly your body begins to adjust.

Then it became about controlling my breathing. Deep breath on the way up, slowly out at full draw, and then, release. Eventually I began to coordinate the pieces. At first, hundreds of arrows into the bales, then thousands. My arms got stronger, my eyes focused more quickly, the motion became instinctual. Every time, the same position, the same technique, developing muscle memory. The goals, become a machine, control the human element, and give yourself the best possible chance to take an animal. I could feel it all coming together.

With hunting, misses are simply a reality of being in the woods. We all hope that as we progress through the years we are never the victim of losing an animal but the fact that it may happen is never lost on us. In the end it comes down to an ethical question. Have I done everything I possibly can to ensure that when I go after any species, whether it is birds or elk, I am fully prepared and confident that I can make the shot? If you have worked tirelessly, given the practice your all, and then you miss an animal, such is the game, but it will not be for lack of effort.

Hunting seasons can be short. You wait an entire year to hunt for 30 days, and often times less. For many of us, the preparation will begin months before. It will include late nights running through the motions in your head. It will include night sessions where the fading evening light is all you have to acquire your practice bales. The season is only so many days. Why not get the most you can out of those days? You may only get one chance during the season to take your animal and it would be the ultimate shame if a variable that you could have controlled, that you could have worked on, caused you to miss. There’s just too much at stake for you to not give it your all.