My General Tag

[Benfromalbuquerque]

If a kid asks me where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is “God is crying.”
Then when he asks why God is crying another cute thing to say is “Probably because of something you did.” -Jack Handey

We’re all rooting for you. I know that sometime here you’ll stop taking shit so seriously and get out there to blast one with a gun!

 

[TOGIE]

We’re all rooting for you. I know that sometime here you’ll stop taking shit so seriously and get out there to blast one with a gun!

absolutely.

it's a lesson we all should all know well if we've been older than 15 for any amount of time. attitude going into something effects the outcome.

the first 2.5 days of archery in my whole life... my attitude driving up there might as well have been one where there was no need to even be bringing the bow. I had the attitude of a scouting trip. Like, of course i wasn't going to shoot a bull elk on my first archery hunt ever, right? So why bother really even trying?

No doubt, that hugely played a role in what my brain was doing and, keeping me from doing, up there.



When having a partner you say things to your partner like "dude, if we have to go all the way up into that hell hole, than that's what we have to do if want to fill this tag."

"Let's get it done."

As I think about that stark dichotomy that exists between solo hunting and partnered hunting, when you say things like that to your partner you're mostly saying them to yourself, all the while you're making the public proclamation to those around you something you then have to live up to and you can't be the one the keeps the group from success.

I could've tailored this story when I got back to make it sound like the elements were beyond my control and I did everything I could. I didn't want to do that.

Consider this thread, in some part, my public proclamation to you all, that I will go up there, wherever it needs to be. Because, in the end, "that's what we gotta do."

 

[SAJ-99]

absolutely.

it's a lesson we all should all know well if we've been older than 15 for any amount of time. attitude going into something effects the outcome.

the first 2.5 days of archery in my whole life... my attitude driving up there might as well have been one where there was no need to even be bringing the bow. I had the attitude of a scouting trip. Like, of course i wasn't going to shoot a bull elk on my first archery hunt ever, right? So why bother really even trying?

No doubt, that hugely played a role in what my brain was doing and, keeping me from doing, up there.



When having a partner you say things to your partner like "dude, if we have to go all the way up into that hell hole, than that's what we have to do if want to fill this tag."

"Let's get it done."

As I think about that stark dichotomy that exists between solo hunting and partnered hunting, when you say things like that to your partner you're mostly saying them to yourself, all the while you're making the public proclamation to those around you something you then have to live up to and you can't be the one the keeps the group from success.

I could've tailored this story when I got back to make it sound like the elements were beyond my control and I did everything I could. I didn't want to do that.

Consider this thread, in some part, my public proclamation to you all, that I will go up there, wherever it needs to be. Because, in the end, "that's what we gotta do."

I was thinking of doing a similar story of my 10-day solo NM elk hunt. I decided against it, but I love the way you have told your story. Luckily you have a rifle hunt still to go. Every time I go I remember the stories about things being found as glaciers melt and think back to hunters thousands of years ago pursuing various game in a situation of life or death for them and their family. Very humbling when you think about it.

https://www.science.org/content/article/canadians-find-ice-man-glacier

 

[TOGIE]

I was thinking of doing a similar story of my 10-day solo NM elk hunt. I decided against it, but I love the way you have told your story. Luckily you have a rifle hunt still to go. Every time I go I remember the stories about things being found as glaciers melt and think back to hunters thousands of years ago pursuing various game in a situation of life or death for them and their family. Very humbling when you think about it.

https://www.science.org/content/article/canadians-find-ice-man-glacier

and it's funny isn't it?

quick googling shows that roughly 100 people a year die in a hunting accident. now, that stat is focused on firearm fatalities. perhaps a few more die from getting lost and to over exposure. maybe a few a year to animal attacks. i'd be curious what the total in all categories is of people that don't come home after going hunting. I bet it stays well under 200.

and then i read that somewhere around 3500 to 4000 people drown each year.

on some of my peak bagging ventures I suspect I have an astronomically higher (albeit still not that high) chance of not coming home or sustaining a life altering injury than in going hunting.

so why is it when one goes out on a solo hunt the constant thing in the back of ones brain is "I sure hope, and have to do everything I can, to come home." and can be a lingering worry before and during until you're back in the driveway. Or maybe that's just me?

obviously, if i die, it's going to be on 287 between fort collins and laramie. so why is it the hunt itself that flares such an anxiety?

maybe it's some primal thing in our brains extending back tens of thousands of years. hunting used to be, very likely, one of the primary ways folks didn't come home. and maybe the ancient part of our brains will never forget about that.

 

[TOGIE]

ugh. finally pouring over onX since getting back.

last day bull was 430 yards across a canyon from the exact point I sat while eating a McDouble on day 1. that's starting to approach and fall into the realm of my ethical rifle distance.

I didn't quite realize that at the time I saw him where he truly was relative to where I had been. Still woulda been 2.1 miles to backtrack and trace a route through passable deadfall and back up to get on top of him.

first day bull (or first day location of bull) was about 600-700 feet above last day bull.

 

[SAJ-99]

and it's funny isn't it?

quick googling shows that roughly 100 people a year die in a hunting accident. now, that stat is focused on firearm fatalities. perhaps a few more die from getting lost and to over exposure. maybe a few a year to animal attacks. i'd be curious what the total in all categories is of people that don't come home after going hunting. I bet it stays well under 200.

and then i read that somewhere around 3500 to 4000 people drown each year.

on some of my peak bagging ventures I suspect I have an astronomically higher (albeit still not that high) chance of not coming home or sustaining a life altering injury than in going hunting.

so why is it when one goes out on a solo hunt the constant thing in the back of ones brain is "I sure hope, and have to do everything I can, to come home." and can be a lingering worry before and during until you're back in the driveway. Or maybe that's just me?

obviously, if i die, it's going to be on 287 between fort collins and laramie. so why is it the hunt itself that flares such an anxiety?

maybe it's some primal thing in our brains extending back tens of thousands of years. hunting used to be, very likely, one of the primary ways folks didn't come home. and maybe the ancient part of our brains will never forget about that.

Speaking of ways to die in the woods, I walked by this tree a couple of times before finally realizing it got hit by lightning. The picture doesn’t do it justice. The top was blown clear off and about 40ft away. If you look in the background you will see a 6 ft section straighter than a Home Depot 2x4 sticking in the ground. Made me think hard every afternoon when the storms started popping up. Thought harder when I found another tree that had the same thing happen to it but blown into even more and smaller pieces and the bark completely blown off.

I would like to think we still have some of those primal fears, but then I see tourist in Yellowstone and think all are long gone.

 

[Hem]

Speaking of ways to die in the woods, I walked by this tree a couple of times before finally realizing it got hit by lightning. The picture doesn’t do it justice. The top was blown clear off and about 40ft away. If you look in the background you will see a 6 ft section straighter than a Home Depot 2x4 sticking in the ground. Made me think hard every afternoon when the storms started popping up. Thought harder when I found another tree that had the same thing happen to it but blown into even more and smaller pieces and the bark completely blown off.

I would like to think we still have some of those primal fears, but then I see tourist in Yellowstone and think all are long gone.

View attachment 294182

I've mentioned before the time I came across a tree that had been struck by lighting..bolt went down the middle and blew the tree apart almost perfectly symmetrical. Full length segments of the tree lay down in a circle around the stump in an erie radius.
Keep after it @TOGIE . Everything you are doing makes you a better elk hunter in the long run. Stay determined to ignore the mind games. A little time away from the family only makes you love and appreciate them more.
Good thread!

 

[Irrelevant]

So a little thing I tell myself in those moments of self doubt is something I heard the idiot Rogan say years ago. "You gotta tame your inner bitch". It's not super accurate but it reminds me that it's mostly in head. And if I was tougher this wouldn't be a issue. But I have quite a bit of self loathing

 

[SAJ-99]

And if I was tougher this wouldn't be an issue.

I’m not sure about this comment. It isn’t an issue of weakness. We all have self doubt, it just depends on the situation. It seems more an issue that we tend to go toward what is comfortable. Those that go for long solitary excursions in the forest only gain comfort by doing it over and over. And they learn something new about themselves every time. I am just glad we have forests to do them in.

 

[TOGIE]

Speaking of ways to die in the woods, I walked by this tree a couple of times before finally realizing it got hit by lightning. The picture doesn’t do it justice. The top was blown clear off and about 40ft away. If you look in the background you will see a 6 ft section straighter than a Home Depot 2x4 sticking in the ground. Made me think hard every afternoon when the storms started popping up. Thought harder when I found another tree that had the same thing happen to it but blown into even more and smaller pieces and the bark completely blown off.

I would like to think we still have some of those primal fears, but then I see tourist in Yellowstone and think all are long gone.

View attachment 294182

I think it’s the same reason those tourists don’t feel afraid at the local zoo. Plop them in the Bob alone for a few days and I bet they start feeling some primal fear again

 

[Irrelevant]

I’m not sure about this comment. It isn’t an issue of weakness. We all have self doubt, it just depends on the situation. It seems more an issue that we tend to go toward what is comfortable. Those that go for long solitary excursions in the forest only gain comfort by doing it over and over. And they learn something new about themselves every time. I am just glad we have forests to do them in.

I'm not sure about it either but it feels like mental weakness, and I loath weakness in myself.

 

[BuzzH]

I can't relate to much of this thread. I enjoy hunting solo, never has bothered me a bit. The longer I'm out there, the more focused I get on worrying only about the task at hand.

It's impossible to hunt right if your head is somewhere else.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

Well there used to be the way back when we hunted with a bad hunt area or Forest map printed off some gov’t website. And we got there following another printed MapQuest map/Rand McNally atlas. Sometimes once we got there then we had a large topographic map that was a bitch to fold and a baseplate compass. If we planned right then we had left our family with the forest name and when we should return. We had cell phones, but service was spotty even in more metropolitan areas back then.

Now we have high detail apps on our phones that can do gps better than we ourselves can operate a gps. If we get lost or damaged then we hit the beacon and SAR activates. Oftentimes we have service and can even FaceTime the kids at home from the woods. I still carry a baseplate compass because of the assurance of not relying on electronics.

 

[Hem]

I’m not sure about this comment. It isn’t an issue of weakness. We all have self doubt, it just depends on the situation. It seems more an issue that we tend to go toward what is comfortable. Those that go for long solitary excursions in the forest only gain comfort by doing it over and over. And they learn something new about themselves every time. I am just glad we have forests to do them in.

I think this ring true.^^
I am always disappointed to come down from the high country. The long solo walks are therapeutic to get there.

 

[TOGIE]

I can't relate to much of this thread. I enjoy hunting solo, never has bothered me a bit. The longer I'm out there, the more focused I get on worrying only about the task at hand.

It's impossible to hunt right if your head is somewhere else.

some of us geniuses just have tortured minds Buzz

 

[westbranch]

Enjoying the thread. I unfortunately can relate to Togie's struggles on a solo hunt. I enjoy being out in the woods and remote areas solo but after a few nights I drive myself crazy. My ideal situation is sharing a camp with someone and hunting solo during the day, helps quite a bit. I'll admit I don't have the mental toughness. Some of it is the pressure I put on myself while hunting, when fishing or just a backpacking trip are different. Not genius, just tortured.

 

[BuzzH]

some of us geniuses just have tortured minds Buzz

I can relate to that, I'm misunderstood in my genius, as genius always is...

Just without the tortured mind part.

 

[Magnum Sherpa]

TOGIE,
Go get them during rifle season. I’m confident you’ll be posting a photo of one of those bulls soon!

 

[Potter89]

Good luck in rifle season TOGIE,

I just spent 10 days hunting this general region until 9/22. Shot over a bull on the 7th day and would have a solid rifle plan if I can make it back. Just not sure it is doable being from PA and having a 24 hour drive or dealing with the complications of flying. I could get a week off I think which would leave about 6 hunt days. And would likely be solo this time since my buddy shot a cow on our last day of the archery trip. Likely would be the second week if I can do it too from the 21st to the 26th. Decisions, decisions...

 

[Addicting]

Good luck in rifle season TOGIE,

I just spent 10 days hunting this general region until 9/22. Shot over a bull on the 7th day and would have a solid rifle plan if I can make it back. Just not sure it is doable being from PA and having a 24 hour drive or dealing with the complications of flying. I could get a week off I think which would leave about 6 hunt days. And would likely be solo this time since my buddy shot a cow on our last day of the archery trip. Likely would be the second week if I can do it too from the 21st to the 26th. Decisions, decisions...

DO IT!