Attitudes and Confidence

Larry Weishuhn

“Debes tener la confianza de que te llevaras un ciervo!” Spoke Cuernos as we poked our campfire’s mesquite coals sending skyward prayers in the form of glowing embers. “Si no crees que te levaras un ciervo, tabien puedes quedarte sentada en la fogata!”

“OK Cuernos, you know my Spanish is more than a bit rusty, and I doubt seriously our friends here from downtown Atlanta speak much more Spanish than tacos, enchiladas, and maybe guacamole.Too, they may think of you simply being a vaquero here on the ranch. But, I know you have two degrees from Texas A&M; one in Wildlife and the other in English! And, you own this rather expansive ranch, thankfully handed down to you by your ancestors who received this land for service to the King of Spain 300-years ago.”

“Colorado, do you have to give away all my secrets?” Questioned my smiling friend with whom I had shared more than a few campfires. Turning toward the two seated around our campfire, “Basically what I said was when hunting you need to have confidence in yourself and your abilities if you hope to take a deer. And if you don’t believe in such you might as well just sit around the campfire rather than go hunting.” He continued, “Every time hunting, I have great confidence and strongly believe I am going to take what I am after, be it a doe for the table or a big, massive antlered buck to put on the wall.”

Cuernos’ statement could not have come at a better time. Hunting had been tough the past two days. Deer movement had been minimal compared to what was usually expected.

The property we hunted had been in Alonzo Cuernos del Torreon’s family for centuries. Not just per Spanish land grant, several of his forefathers had married Indian maidens whose ancestors had lived on the land long before the arrival of the first Spanish explorers.

I appreciated Cuerno’s statement about every time a hunter goes to the field he or she should have confidence and a positive attitude expecting not only see deer but harvest one as well. I knew with such an attitude, hunters stay vigilant. When something moves it will be seen.

Aids to having a confident and positive attitude can come in many forms. In the past I have frequently written about my “Lucky Quarter”. I also have a couple of lucky red and black plaid hunting shirts that keep me watching even when there is little deer movement. It amazes me, when deer are hard to come by and I wear one of my red and black shirts, they “magically” appear. Is this because of the shirts or simply that I pay more attention to my surrounding when wearing them, expecting deer to appear? I suspect it had much more to do with paying attention rather than thinking about things I need to do back home in the office.

A dear friend of mine, Jim Bequette, hunts with a “special item”. Many of you will recognize him as the long-time editor of SHOOTING TIMES magazine and for his work on various outdoor television shows. Jim and I became great friends back in the early 1990’s even before he hired me to be a staff writer for SHOOTING TIMES. Our first hunt together took place on Texas’ Stasney Cook Ranch. On that hunt I remember him, every day, wearing a green and orange reversible vest. He continues wearing it today. It’s a bit tattered and worn-looking, but whenever Jim wears his “old hunting vest” or simply has it with him, he takes what he is after, and that included hunting on several continents for numerous species. Should you have the opportunity to meet and visit with him, be certain to ask about that vest.

Recently while Jim and I were hunting whitetails on the Choctaw Hunting Lodge (www.choctawhuntinglodge.com) in southeastern Oklahoma as guests of Avient Rapid Heat Releasing Barrel Technology, he and I decided for old-times sake to hunt together in the same ground blind. First day, Jim for whatever reason did not have his “lucky vest” with him. Probably because the temperature hovered near 90 degrees. Second afternoon’s hunt he did have his vest with him, although initially he did not wear it because the temperature still hovered near 90-degrees.

He did have it on his lap where it could be used to support his Ruger M77, 7mm PRC rifle with its Avient Technology barrel, topped with a 3-18×44 SVT Stealth Vision scope, loaded with Hornady’s Precision Hunter 175-grain ELD-X. That afternoon we saw several deer, hunting the Choctaw’s estate hunting area. We were watching several does when a buck approached from the south. Initially, all we could see were his antlers, which were extremely massive with many point on a typical 5×5 frame. I was just about to suggest Jim consider taking the buck, when he raised his rifle, using his vest to help create a solid rest. When the buck gave Jim a proper shot he pulled the trigger. The buck took four steps and went down. A few minutes later, we walked up to Jim’s biggest whitetail ever.

Had the presence of Jim’s favorite hunting vest, which he had worn the first time we hunted together back in about 1993 and on nearly every hunt he’s done, made the difference? Possibly…but it likely had more to do with Jim’s attitude, and expecting a good buck to show. But, he did have it with him, even if he was not wearing it at the time of the shot.

I have often written about when, as a six-year old, how my dad would let me hunt by myself from a ground blind. Before leaving for this treestand, Dad always reminded me, “Son, Stay awake!” My dad knew I was not about to go to sleep. It was his way of telling me to pay attention, and, maintain a positive attitude. Back then there were very, very few deer in our part of Texas. Just seeing a doe made for a hugely successful hunt and often season. I did not want to miss a single chance, even if it meant only seeing a deer.

Confidence builders come in many forms. I have several friends who swear by particular scents. They do not go hunting without them. During my seventy years of hunting whitetails I have used many different scents from curiosity to the various sex attractants. Personally I have always had mixed results with these. Sometimes scents attracted deer, other times the deer spooked when they smelled them. As a result, I have often said regarding deer scents, on occasion they may be biologically important, but, they are always psychologically important. If a hunter believes in them, he or she will be watchful and see things when they happen.

Several times I have had hunters swear bucks were walking directly toward where they had just put whatever scent. When I helped them drag out their buck, I noticed they had put the scent downwind of where they were hunting. When they told how they took their buck, they described the deer traveling upwind of the scent, walking in the direction of where they had put the scent. In those instances, the wind was such there was no way the buck could have smelled the scent. But because the hunter believed in the scent, he was paying attention and had the “proper” attitude and was able to take a really nice buck.

I have added a new tool to my “stay positive arsenal”, Vineyard Max, a bait consisting of a mixture of crushed dried grape skins (both red and white), rice bran and cracked corn. What I like about it, where it is legal to use, is that deer are naturally attracted to the aroma. Vineyard Max (www.vineyardmax.net) is highly nutrition and actually good for deer because of high energy content.

Next time you head to the deer woods, or whatever it is you hope to take, get and keep a “proper” attitude, even if you are wearing that lucky vest, shirt, jacket, hat or whatever brings you luck, and keeps you vigilant while in the deer woods. Doing so will pay huge dividends!