This year, this fall and winter specifically, I wanted to
make an effort to spend more time outdoors doing things that I enjoy. There are
a few things that are difficult to do here in West Texas, for example
snow-skiing, but one of my greatest passions outdoors is hunting and fishing. Since
September 1st, I’ve been intentional about getting out in the field
multiple times a week. It’s not just about shooting boom sticks. Nor is it just
about putting food on my table. There is a lot more to it than that.
Recently, one of our higher ups spoke in our manager meeting about experiences he had out while hunting. People that worked for him would come to know that when he came from his trips, he would have ideas, big ideas, on how to move forward and succeed. He encouraged us to get out in the field in the same way. Whether that actually meant hunting or fishing or something different was irrelevant, but what he was trying to hit home was an idea.
“If you’re running into issues and you aren’t sure how to
solve them, I guarantee that if you spend some time out and clear your head,
the solution will show itself.”
Sort of sounds like something Obi-Wan Kenobi would say, but
the statement certainly holds true. Thus, I decided to put together a few
things that I have learned while “out in the field.” They are in no particular
order, but they apply across multiple aspects of life. They hold true while
sitting on a blind chair waiting for birds just as much as they do at that
office desk chair or driver’s seat of your car. At least, that’s my two cents
on the matter.
1.
Change is generally a good thing – ultimately,
change is inevitable. Stuff is going to change at some point for some reason.
Sometimes the change is in your favor and other times it is not. Human beings
seem to like comfort. Human nature leads us to want to stay comfortable and not
move out of our comfort zone. Comfort can lead to stubbornness. “I’ve always
done it this way.” When frustration, or boredom, or dissatisfaction, or lack of
excitement come our way, we wonder to ourselves, “when are things going to change?”
Perhaps the real question is, “when am I going to make a change for myself?” If
something is not working, change it. If you don’t like it, change it again. That
may mean getting up a moving to a different spot.
2.
Clean your glasses – it’s really hard to see
things when your glasses are filthy. I’ve seen some people where I am looking
through their glasses and it’s a wonder that they can see at all. Junk all over
them. I’m guilty of that as well. Glasses can become a pain to clean now. Many
of them come with so many coatings to help/protect our eyes, that it can be
difficult to get all of the junk off without special chemicals, cloths, etc.
You can get the big stuff off, but there always seems to be a film residue.
Dawn dish soap works great for that. Being able to see what’s going on is
critical. Having stuff on your glasses can cause all kinds of issues.
Headaches. Eye strain. Missing shots. Missing life in general. I remember an
old friend of mine who got Lasik and said he spent hours on his front porch
afterwards just looking at things. It was amazing to see how much he had really
missed.
3.
Don’t be greedy – one of my personal rules out
in the field, especially when I am by myself and no hunting dogs is that I only
shoot one bird at a time. There are a few exceptions to that, such as if they
are all headed in the same direction, or are in the same area, or I am on top
of where the first one landed. There is a reason for this, so let me get there.
My biggest pet peeve is leaving a bird behind when I can guarantee that I shot
it but I can’t find it. I don’t like to leave birds behind and I’ll spend as
much time as I can looking for one when most people would quit. I’ll talk about
this more later on. For people that have hunting dogs, this isn’t really an
issue, but I haven’t trained Chester on retrieving yet. Part of shooting a
shotgun involves the follow through. More often than not if you’re missing
birds, you’re probably forgetting about the follow through, meaning that you
continue moving the shotgun and staying on target even after the trigger has
been pulled. Part of what helps me continue my follow through marking the bird
after I hit it. Literally, pointing at the ground where the bird fell for a
second or two after I’ve hit it. If anything else flies up, unless it is
directly in front of me, I don’t shoot. Again, having a dog really reduces this
issue in taller grass and smaller birds.
4.
Patience is a virtue. Be still – hunting isn’t
the hardest thing in the world, but there is a reason it is called hunting and
not shooting. Knowing what kind of hunting you are doing is one of the basic
things you need to have out in the field. Seems self-explanatory, but what I mean
is that dove hunting is different from quail, and pheasant, and duck, and
goose, etc. It is easy to get discouraged when birds aren’t flying over. Or if
they are landing 80-100 yards away and aren’t coming in. It’s easy to think, “let’s
go sneak up on them” or “let’s rustle some up.” That works for upland birds
like quail and pheasant, but not so much with migratory birds like dove. Quail
like to be on the ground, and won’t spend much time in the air if they don’t
need to. Dove on the other hand, they have no qualms about flying for a good
distance, far out of your reach. Knowing that saves you a lot of unnecessary
walking and shooting. Sometimes you need to take a moment and stay sitting. Be
still. I’m still learning this one.
5.
Sometimes you have to get up early – I love the
phrase, “the early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.” I’ve
used that many, many times, but the truth of the matter is that when it comes
to hunting, there isn’t a consequence to being the early bird outside of
sacrificing a little sleep. Now when it comes to time in the season that is a
different story. Getting out early in the season can either be really great or
a total bust. I’m not a morning person. I am definitely a night owl and getting
up early to go do something I’ve always struggled with. But, sometimes seeing a
sunset for the first time after seeing a dozen sunsets can change your outlook
on a lot of things. Different stuff happens in the morning, simple as that.
6.
“Expert” can be a fluid definition. Likewise, be
humble – Getting advice from people can be tough sometimes. A lot of people,
when you ask for advice or for their opinion take it as “I know something that
you don’t know” or “let me talk about how great I am at this.” Unfortunately,
that leads to a lot of advice from people that really aren’t experts, despite
their claims to be. I’ve discovered that experience leads to expertise, and I’ve
spoken with too many people that “hunt all the time” and it turns out that they’ve
only been once or twice in the last decade. I like to ask questions and get as
much information as I can when I’m doing something. Unfortunately, that often leads
people to think that I have no idea what is going on. Truly, I just want to get
the whole picture. I want to understand as much as I can, start to finish. I want
to learn as much as I can to be successful. There are probably a half dozen
people that I truly consider as experts that I seek counsel from. Hopefully
they know who they are. Otherwise, they probably think that I am just foolish.
Likewise, be humble. I’ve had people make comments on the number of birds I’ve
downed, or how good my shooting is, or how great of an outdoorsman I am, and my
first though is always, “Nope. I can point to that person. They are an expert.”
Stay humble.
7.
Asking for permission usually works better than
begging forgiveness – obviously the last thing someone wants is for someone else
to call the game warden, or heaven forbid, run you off with a gun because of a
misunderstanding. I hear the phrase backwards sometimes, “it’s easier to ask
for forgiveness than to beg for permission.” Usually I hear that in regards to
making a decision on your own. Doesn’t really work when it comes to hunting
laws. Verbal permission is definitely different than written permission. When it
really comes down to it, I would rather ask permission every time rather than
beg for forgiveness once.
8.
You miss every shot that you don’t take, but it’s
still important to know the shots you shouldn’t take – Wayne Gretsky said that
first part and I added on the second part. You hear that phrase a lot in sales.
I used it this past week during training in fact. It is a great quote that I think
functions as an important motivator. However, I think it gets miss used quite a
bit as well. As far as sales go, I think people use that in order to push their
particular brand or agenda in the wrong way. “I have to talk to everyone, every
single time.” Hunting doesn’t work like that, and frankly life doesn’t quite
work the same either. Just because you miss every shot you don’t take doesn’t
mean that you should shoot everything. Just because an opportunity comes around
it doesn’t mean you should jump on it. Wisdom knows the shots and opportunities
not to take. Sometimes they don’t make sense. Sometimes they’re just a bad
idea. Sometimes you just know you’re going to miss it, so why would waste your
time and money jumping on it.
This is only part one, so bear with me for part two.
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