1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:05,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, your guide 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:08,879 Speaker 1: to the fundamentals of better deer hunting, presented by first Light, 3 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: creating proven versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind. 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,600 Speaker 1: First Light, Go Farther, Stay Longer, and now your host 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 1: Tony Peterson. 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 2: Everyone, welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundation's podcast, which 7 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 2: is brought to you by first Light. 8 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 3: I'm your host, Sony Peterson. 9 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 2: In today's episode is all about how difficult deer hunting 10 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:31,480 Speaker 2: often is and what we can do to make it 11 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 2: a little bit easier in a way that you probably 12 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 2: don't expect. The impetus for this podcast came from explaining 13 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 2: shed hunting to my daughters. 14 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 3: If you can believe that, well you should, because it's true. 15 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 2: When it comes to white tail hunting, I find myself 16 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 2: constantly stuck between explaining what are simple concepts but that 17 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 2: don't play out in the real world very easily or simply. 18 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 2: Most of the time, there's a hard truth about white 19 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 2: tail hunting that will a lot of us don't really 20 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 2: want to acknowledge, but it's tied to a greater aspect 21 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 2: of light. Now, if you go back a couple of 22 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 2: weeks and listen to an episode that I did with 23 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:10,319 Speaker 2: Mark on our regular Ware to Hunt podcast. You're going 24 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 2: to hear all about this, but I'm also going to 25 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 2: break it down in more detail right now so we 26 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,119 Speaker 2: can understand how to literally retrain our brains to be 27 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 2: better not only at white tail hunting, but a whole 28 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 2: lot of stuff. Have you ever noticed how the people 29 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 2: who seem to be able to do difficult things can 30 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 2: often do a variety of difficult things. I thought about 31 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 2: this at Mediator recently when I was thinking about how 32 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 2: many of my co workers have authored books. Now, I've 33 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 2: written a handful, and while they can be enjoyable at times, 34 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 2: it's also just a grind in a lot of ways, 35 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 2: especially once the rough draft is complete and it's time 36 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 2: to get down to the nitty gritty parts. But then 37 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 2: it occurred to me that a hell of a lot 38 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 2: of my coworkers who also have written books, you know, 39 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 2: they're also in good shape, and a lot of them 40 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 2: play instruments. That's not an accident. And I haven't even 41 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 2: gotten into the hunting part yet. You see, inside of 42 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 2: our brains is this thing called the anterior mid singular cortex, 43 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 2: which is a region of the brain that is responsible 44 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 2: for helping us overcome difficulty and find motivation, and it 45 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 2: helps us with effort. What's bonkers about this is that 46 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 2: the anterior mid singular cortex can grow or shrink depending 47 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 2: on what you do with yourself, what decisions you make, 48 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 2: the more difficult things you do, things that you don't 49 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 2: want to do, you know, the stuff that feels like 50 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 2: a struggle that helps this region of your brain grow. 51 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 2: If you do fewer things that challenge yourself and feel 52 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 2: like a struggle, that part of the brain's gonna shrink. 53 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 2: Our brains evolve to conserve energy and keep us safe. 54 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 2: And this is a part of the reason why we 55 00:02:56,240 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 2: resist discomfort so much. But we need it and if 56 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 2: we use it correctly, it helps us. Now, I'm not 57 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:06,920 Speaker 2: going to go full David Goggins here, but pay attention 58 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 2: to this because it's important. The more you push yourself 59 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 2: through discomfort, the more you'll be able to push yourself 60 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:18,119 Speaker 2: through discomfort. Struggle that scares us off leads to more 61 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 2: struggle that will scare us off. When it comes to 62 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 2: dieting or exercise, or killing public land white tails or 63 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 2: saving up for that dream out hunt. We mostly fail. 64 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 2: Yet the people who figure out how to get through 65 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 2: just one of those things are more likely to get 66 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 2: through all of them. This is intuitive if you pay 67 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 2: attention to the people in your life, but also no accident. 68 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 2: It's not that those people start with more willpower or 69 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 2: discipline or have some secret genetic code that others just 70 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 2: don't possess. It's that they work through struggle and discomfort, 71 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 2: and their brains changed to allow them to keep working 72 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 2: through struggle and discomfort. People say to me all of 73 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 2: the time that they hate running, so they can't do it. 74 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 2: They think because they see someone like cam Hagn's running 75 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 2: all of the time, that he must love it. They 76 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 2: say that to me as well, but they're wrong. I 77 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:20,720 Speaker 2: freaking hate running. I rarely, rarely look forward to it, 78 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 2: but I never regret it when I'm finished. It's always 79 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 2: worth it. That's not something I was born with. It's 80 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 2: just a product of forcing myself to lace up my 81 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,479 Speaker 2: on clouds and go when I don't want to, which 82 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 2: is pretty much every time. And that last part matters 83 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 2: a lot. If you want to make your anterior mid 84 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 2: singulate cortex grow, you have to do things that you 85 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 2: don't want to do. If you wake up and you 86 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,599 Speaker 2: absolutely love everything about going for a run. 87 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 3: It doesn't work. 88 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:54,679 Speaker 2: That's not a bad thing, mind you, that'd be great, 89 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 2: but it's not going to help you get through other 90 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:01,040 Speaker 2: unrelated difficult tasks. Do you know what is a pretty 91 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 2: difficult task that we are constantly trying to make easier 92 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 2: for ourselves. Yep, golf, Just kidding. It's deer hunting. The 93 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 2: problem with deer hunting, at least in today's world, is 94 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 2: that it looks just like getting in shape, or running 95 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 2: one hundred mile mountain marathons, or climbing some building in 96 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 2: Taiwan while Netflix's film crew follows you up. 97 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 3: We are constantly. 98 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:25,920 Speaker 2: Exposed to the people who have already cracked the code 99 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 2: for doing difficult stuff. And when they do difficult stuff, 100 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 2: it not only looks easy to us, but they're also 101 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 2: trying to make it look easy. But it's not easy 102 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 2: to us, and there is often a huge disparity there 103 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:41,720 Speaker 2: in the realm of deer hunting. It makes it look 104 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 2: like there is a secret strategy or some type of 105 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 2: tactic that will just take us from not being big 106 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 2: buck killers to being big buck killers, but it doesn't 107 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 2: work that way. The people who are in really great 108 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,160 Speaker 2: shape who also learn how to play guitar and who 109 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 2: also can kill public land bull elk every season, aren't 110 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 2: capable of that stuff simply because they are built different 111 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 2: from most folks. It's that they actively pursue difficult things. 112 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 2: So much of natural talent, which definitely exists, is just 113 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 2: a reflection of this reality. And don't get me wrong, 114 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 2: deer hunting for the vast majority of hunters is difficult, 115 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 2: so difficult that they often don't fill tags, and when 116 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 2: you break it down to who kills big bucks and 117 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 2: who doesn't, that number shrinks further. Look, this can be 118 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 2: hacked through enough money or a banging spot, which I've 119 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:36,920 Speaker 2: talked about plenty, but for most folks who don't have 120 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,279 Speaker 2: access to either or both, this is not an easy 121 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:43,159 Speaker 2: thing to do, which is a huge reason and why 122 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 2: we love it now. I've killed some really big bucks 123 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:48,160 Speaker 2: in my life on various hunts, and I can tell 124 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 2: you they were fun, really fun, but they didn't mean 125 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 2: that much to me. In fact, the buck that has 126 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 2: been my favorite in a hell of a lot of 127 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 2: seasons is the eight pointer I killed in Wisconsin last year, 128 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 2: because it took me eighteen seasons over there to finally 129 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 2: kill a legit pope and young buck. I could write 130 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 2: a book about my struggles just in that one county, 131 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 2: and eventually might just do that for the hell of it. 132 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 2: I've killed other bucks, you know, in Nebraska and Illinois 133 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 2: and Iowa and Texas and a handful of states that 134 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 2: didn't challenge me hardly at all. And while they were 135 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 2: all fun and there were lessons I took away with each, 136 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 2: none of them felt like that Wisconsin buck. Struggle, in 137 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 2: a weird way, is our friend. Not because it keeps 138 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 2: us from success, which it does, but because if we 139 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 2: just do what we need to anyway, struggle rewires our 140 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 2: brain to do difficult stuff more easily. Now you might 141 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 2: be thinking, sweet dude, but what do I have to 142 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 2: do to be able to embrace discomfort and eventually become 143 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 2: the mighty white hunter that you are. Well, science has 144 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 2: pretty much figured this out, which is good news, and 145 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 2: it starts with negotiation. Think about how often you've had 146 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 2: an opportunity to hunt outside of the rut or pre 147 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 2: rut October tenth and you've sat there in your office 148 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 2: or on the job site and thought, is it worth. 149 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 3: It to go sit tonight? 150 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 2: The wind is out of the west, so I could 151 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 2: sit this stand or this blind. Then imagine how easy 152 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 2: it is to say to yourself, but it is the lull. 153 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 3: It's not right. 154 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 2: The bucks aren't going to move, and my odds are 155 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 2: really low, So you don't go. You're negotiating with yourself 156 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 2: to reach a conclusion you already wanted to reach because 157 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 2: you thought going out wouldn't result in a dead big buck. 158 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 2: So it's just better to not go. A better way 159 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 2: to look at this would be I have the evening 160 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 2: to go hunting, to go do the thing I love 161 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 2: more than anything in the world. Here are the conditions, 162 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 2: and now I'm going to solve for how to hunt 163 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 2: where a big buck might go in them. Then you 164 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 2: go hunting. You probably won't kill a big one, but 165 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 2: getting over that mental hurdle and sneaking in with a 166 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 2: saddle or a hang on or building a natural blind 167 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 2: and trying is the thing that matters the most. Sometimes 168 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 2: you kill big bucks that way. Also, not negotiating yourself 169 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,960 Speaker 2: out of hunting because it will be easier to not go, 170 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:10,200 Speaker 2: that one evening on stand or in blind will generally 171 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 2: always be worth it. It's a small meaningful step on 172 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 2: the path to becoming the kind of deer hunter who 173 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 2: will go when the going probably sucks. It's a small step, 174 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 2: but it's important because small steps are the way you 175 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 2: level up and rewire your brain. This is something I 176 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 2: can't stress enough. But we are sold this process or 177 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 2: this strategy, or this big wholesale change to finally be 178 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:47,200 Speaker 2: super skinny or be able to bench three hundred pounds 179 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 2: or kill public land bucks every season. But the big 180 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 2: moves don't stick usually, And anyone who has gone from 181 00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 2: no exercise for years to trying to work out six 182 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 2: days a week knows how hard it is to mentally 183 00:09:58,800 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 2: get there. 184 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 3: It's damn I'm near impossible. 185 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,439 Speaker 2: Baby steps matter, and just going out during the lull 186 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 2: when you know for a fact you won't see a 187 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 2: big one, is a huge step. And what I learned 188 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 2: from that is that if I hunt the lull enough, 189 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 2: I almost always see big ones, and I often kill them, 190 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 2: sometimes on public land, likely because most folks negotiated themselves 191 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 2: out of hunting, and the dear no damn well when 192 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 2: fewer hunters are in the woods with them and they 193 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 2: move more. Another way to look at this is the 194 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 2: all day sit thing most hunters won't do it because 195 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,839 Speaker 2: it's too big of an ask for them, So go 196 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 2: sit an extra hour. If you usually would leave the 197 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 2: woods at ten am, figure out a way to just 198 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 2: sit until eleven. Or if you'd usually go out at 199 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 2: two pm for the evening sit, go at one. You're 200 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 2: doing a small thing you don't want to. But when 201 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 2: you get in at one and a buck eventually cruises 202 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 2: by at one point fifteen, the next time you can hunt, 203 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,839 Speaker 2: you'll have your happy ass in that stand at twelve thirty. 204 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 3: There is also a very. 205 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 2: GoGG andesque component of this whole thing as well, which 206 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:08,319 Speaker 2: involves not viewing the struggle as painful but instead as growth. 207 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 2: I know this is kind of woo woo, but think 208 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 2: about how your attitude shapes the enjoyment of your hunts. 209 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 2: If you go out and expect to see nothing, your 210 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 2: effort and results will generally reflect that. That's because we 211 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,319 Speaker 2: set the bar too high, and instead should view it 212 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 2: not as pass or fail depending on a big buck encounter, 213 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 2: but pass or failed depending on whether we tried something 214 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,320 Speaker 2: new and saw it through. I'd rather blank on a 215 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 2: hunt and learn something, then skip a hunt and feel 216 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 2: like I did a good job by literally not doing 217 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 2: the thing I love the most in the world. I 218 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 2: look at this kind of thing like fishing. I'd rather 219 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 2: make more cast than fewer, because the more times I cast, 220 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,000 Speaker 2: the more likely it is that I'll catch some fish. 221 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 3: Look. 222 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 2: I know, on paper this all sounds great, but there 223 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 2: is a component of it that is kind of non negotiable. 224 00:11:57,679 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 3: Setting goals. 225 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 2: I know people grow when they hear that, but goals 226 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 2: are super important. The reason I run so much, or 227 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:07,960 Speaker 2: at least the thing that keeps me accountable, is that 228 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 2: I set yearly goals for miles. When I turned forty, 229 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 2: a buddy and I both set a running goal of 230 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:15,680 Speaker 2: one thousand miles for the year. That was a lot 231 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 2: more miles than a year than I'd ever run, and 232 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 2: it took me a seven mile er on New Year's 233 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 2: even a blizzard to cross that threshold, but I did 234 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 2: cross it, And ever since then, I've set a yearly goal. 235 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 2: And it's not something I dread, but something I used 236 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 2: to keep myself honest. I know this shit sounds hokey, 237 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 2: but it works. But it only really works once you 238 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 2: train your brain that you will keep doing something difficult 239 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 2: until you're done. Now, with white tails, we all kind 240 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 2: of set goals, even if they're loose goals, but they're 241 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 2: generally based around the wrong thing. We go I killed 242 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 2: a one thirty five last year, so I want something 243 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 2: bigger this year. Or I killed a six pointer last 244 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:58,400 Speaker 2: year and now I want something that's seven or eight 245 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 2: points or more, or you know, I want a five 246 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 2: year old buck, and anything younger gets a pass. Look, 247 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 2: if you have that money spot, this might be all 248 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 2: you need to do because you're hunting. Isn't all that 249 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 2: difficult and the formula is easy to follow. But for 250 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:15,080 Speaker 2: a lot of us, a goal of shooting x size 251 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:17,959 Speaker 2: of deer keeps us out of the woods a lot, 252 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 2: and it's generally a great way to feel let down 253 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:25,079 Speaker 2: by most of our hunts. A goal instead to maybe 254 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 2: arrow your first dear off the ground without a blind, 255 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 2: or to hunt every chance you can, or to try 256 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 2: to kill an october deer in the woods when all 257 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 2: you've ever hunted is field edges or whatever. It's a 258 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 2: different thing. It takes the focus off of a dead buck, 259 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 2: and it puts on us actually doing something that could 260 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 2: lead to us encountering more deer, which reinforces our behavior 261 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:54,439 Speaker 2: and yes, eventually usually leads to big dead bucks over time. 262 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:58,480 Speaker 2: The last component of this that I don't adhere too much, 263 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:00,760 Speaker 2: but I guess I kind of do through my photography, 264 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 2: is to track your progress. I use a running app 265 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 2: on my phone that tallies up my miles and gives 266 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 2: me a whole bunch of stats, so I can see 267 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,199 Speaker 2: whether I'm slacking or right on track, or crushing it 268 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 2: and getting ahead of my pace a little bit. But 269 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:18,320 Speaker 2: with deer, you know some hunter's journal, most don't, and 270 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 2: most don't keep track of their progress. They hunt when 271 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 2: the conditions are good, kill or don't kill, and then 272 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 2: wait for the next opportunity. But this doesn't mean that 273 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 2: you can't do something else difficult and keep track, which 274 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 2: leads to being able to see through the discomfort of 275 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 2: other difficult tasks. The result in the long term is 276 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 2: that you are literally making yourself mentally tougher. When that 277 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 2: metaphorical snowball starts rolling in the right direction, it makes 278 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 2: life better and all aspects of deer hunting a little 279 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 2: easier to embrace. I explain this sort of to my 280 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 2: daughters recently, when we put on quite a few miles 281 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:58,520 Speaker 2: to find zero antlers in a long weekend of trekking 282 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 2: through the woods. They discouraged about not finding antlers, but 283 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 2: I told them that I mostly don't find antlers and 284 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 2: that going shed hunting is worth it anyway, because it is. 285 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 2: It's just good to go walk through the woods. Most 286 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 2: of what we do with deer hunting is tethered to 287 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 2: our eventual success and in a different but equally relevant way, 288 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:22,840 Speaker 2: our failures. If you can learn to go shed hunting 289 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 2: when you don't expect to find one, sometimes you will 290 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 2: find one, and that's awesome, But when you don't, you've 291 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 2: still done something worthwhile, and your brain is going to 292 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,720 Speaker 2: reward you for that. It makes it easier to go 293 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 2: winter scouting when you're having a hard time mustering up 294 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 2: the energy to go into the woods and try to 295 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 2: a vision what that work will turn out at in 296 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:43,960 Speaker 2: like nine or ten months. 297 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 3: I've often thought about. 298 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 2: The first big buck I killed and how it's just 299 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 2: opened the floodgates to killing more big bucks, and how 300 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 2: I've seen the same thing in my hunting buddies. It 301 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 2: took me twelve seasons of hunting really really hard to 302 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 2: kill that buck, and I was convinced it was just 303 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 2: never going to happen. I believed it. I expected to 304 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 2: screw up, and I almost always did, and the whole 305 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 2: thing just felt impossible. Then I killed a big old 306 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 2: fourteen pointer in a beanfield. It's now twenty years later, 307 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 2: and I've killed big bucks pretty much every year since. 308 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 2: The realization that something that difficult is suddenly doable changes us, 309 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 2: and the fact that a hell of a lot of 310 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 2: the big ones since then haven't been easy only reinforces 311 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 2: that truth. This is one of the reasons a lot 312 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 2: of people who start hunting and decide that it's only 313 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 2: a big bucks or nothing have such a hard time. 314 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,280 Speaker 2: When killing a two year old eight pointer in a 315 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 2: whole season is really difficult, killing one hundred and thirty 316 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,680 Speaker 2: inch er as your first buck is nearly impossible, and 317 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 2: your brain knows it. But killing that two year old 318 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:55,800 Speaker 2: shows you what's possible. It makes it seem like a 319 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 2: three year old isn't a crazy challenge, but is still 320 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 2: definitely a challenge. I guess the best way to frame 321 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,120 Speaker 2: this up before I sign off is this, When we 322 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 2: opt out of doing something challenging, it's usually not because 323 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 2: we physically can't do that thing. It's because our brains 324 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 2: make the case that it won't be worth it, and 325 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:19,199 Speaker 2: we buy into that reasoning. But our brains aren't our 326 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:21,160 Speaker 2: friends in a lot of ways, because they are looking 327 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 2: for the easy way out to help us preserve energy 328 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:27,880 Speaker 2: and avoid potential failure. This is why it's so difficult, 329 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 2: but also why the folks who break through that membrane 330 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,200 Speaker 2: and learn that the difficult stuff is worth it are 331 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 2: the ones who can go anywhere and hunt pretty much 332 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 2: anything they get a tag for. And while they won't 333 00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 2: always be successful because that's how this stuff goes, they 334 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 2: are usually far far more successful than the average hunter. 335 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:49,919 Speaker 2: They've conditioned themselves to just lean into the struggle and 336 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 2: the discomfort because they know, on the other side, it's 337 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 2: always worth it. If you want to be a better 338 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 2: deer hunter, forget what you can buy for a second 339 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,640 Speaker 2: and think about what work you do. Avoid in that 340 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 2: harsh truth is the path to killing more big bucks. 341 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,199 Speaker 2: And while it might seem daunting or not worth it, 342 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:13,919 Speaker 2: remember that's just your shrunken anti mid singulate cortex talking. 343 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,639 Speaker 2: Don't listen to it. Go do the difficult thing and 344 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,199 Speaker 2: force that sucker to grow. You won't regret it. You 345 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 2: also won't regret coming back next week because I'm going 346 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:25,640 Speaker 2: to talk about why we should all try to find 347 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:27,879 Speaker 2: a new place to hunt and just how to go 348 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 2: about that process. Right now, that's it for this episode. 349 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:34,120 Speaker 3: I'm Tony Peterson. 350 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 2: This has been the Wire to Hunt Foundation's podcast, which 351 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,440 Speaker 2: is brought to you by first Light. You might want 352 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 2: to go check out some first Light right now if 353 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 2: you're getting ready for Turkey season, because that's coming up 354 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,760 Speaker 2: super fast. You might also want to just go check 355 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 2: out the mediator dot com to find something entertaining or 356 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 2: educational or a nice mix of both. We drop new 357 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 2: content every single week. We drop films, tons of podcasts, 358 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,120 Speaker 2: tons of articles. Some of them are just straight how 359 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 2: to pieces on you know, figuring out how to catch. 360 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 3: More trout or shoot more deer or whatever. 361 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,119 Speaker 2: A lot of them are on the latest conservation issues. 362 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 2: So if you want to find out what's going on 363 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 2: in the great big world of conservation, the mediator dot 364 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 2: com is your source. Go check it out and thank 365 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 2: you so much for your supporter