Even though this article pertains to hunting, you could take the title and implement it into any part of your life whether it be work, family, relationships, or sports. For now though, I’m going to be selfish and say we are going to stick to the hunting side of life because hunting is more enjoyable to write about, at least for myself. As much as I like to discuss hunting tactics as the calendar has officially shifted to summer and the anticipation of hunting season is around the corner, this isn’t going to be about tactics leading up to the year, but more of a mindset as the fall approaches.
It’s amazing how things have changed in the past couple decades when it comes to hunting and the outdoors in general. Just fifteen years ago, the only grip and grins you would see were in an outdoor magazine, or pictures stuffed in a binder that your old man had in a closet that were taken with one of those disposable kodak cameras. Fast forward to now, we are all only one or two touches on our phone screen away from scrolling through pages and pages of giant bucks, bulls, and bears taken all over the country by outdoorsman with big time money on big time hunting property. I’ll be the first one to say, it’s not fair to the 98% of us that will never see big game animals of that caliber, and if we do, it’s more than likely on a once in a lifetime hunt that we saved up for years to embark upon. Even though it is okay to dream about one day having an encounter with the buck or bull of our dreams, I believe scrolling through pages and pages of trophy animals does more harm than good. Simply put, slowly and surely it has taken the joy out of success for many of us because COMPARISONS ROB YOU OF JOY.
Now I’m not saying there weren’t any comparisons being made thirty years ago, but the sample size to compare your trophy to was much smaller than it is today. Social media has made it impossible for a hunter to be genuinely happy with their trophy, because there is always someone to bash it, post a picture of a bigger trophy, or ask them the same questions everyone hears about age, score, mass, etc. My grandpa hunted from the time he got back from World War II until the day he physically couldn’t anymore around the late 90s, and in 50 years of hunting I highly doubt he every had anybody ask him, “how old do you think that buck is?” If you truly want to immerse yourself in the outdoor experience, and enjoy it for what it is, ignore those kind of questions and STOP comparing yourself and the animals you kill to what you see on television and social media.
A good friend of mine, Tommy Enslen, shot this nice Michigan buck a couple years ago on opening day of Michigan’s bow season. Hunting a 10 acre piece of private property surrounded by pressure, this is a trophy in his book. Tommy is the perfect representation of a outdoorsman that never compares his successes to others and just enjoys the hunt!
Hunt your hunt. If shooting a doe or small buck with your bow or firearm gets your adrenaline pumping, makes you proud, and puts food on your table, then there is absolutely zero reason why you should be ashamed of telling anyone or showing it off to your buddies. The vast majority of us don’t get the opportunity to hunt mature whitetails due to the kinds of properties we hunt; whether it’s a small piece of private surrounded by other pressured private lands, or extremely pressured public land, there just isn’t mature bucks running around everywhere you look in most parts of the country. Most of us have to work our tails off just to shoot a two and half year old buck, and because of the fact the “comparison factor” is at an all time high, we are hesitant to share our story with our peers. In fact, it has become such an epidemic in the hunting industry, many of us are making some sort of “ground shrinkage” comment if we do post a picture of it on our social media just to keep people from giving us a hard time about the size of the rack. If you work your tail off for something, nobody should rob you of the joy of success. If there are people in your life that are trying to rob you of joy, then get rid of them. It is very easy to delete so-called friends on social media, so if somebody gives you a hard time for shooting a smaller deer, a deer that put food on your table, then simply unfriend that person. Nobody needs that negativity in their life.
It’s not just other people’s faults for the “comparison factor” being at an all time high in the outdoor world though; you also have to look at the man/woman looking back at you in the mirror. Are your goals realistic for the area you hunt? Why do you care how others think? Do you find yourself changing the story of your hunt to make the listener happy? Why are you really hunting, for the simple joy of the outdoors or to impress your peers? We need to get back to the basics of life and joy; if your accomplishment makes you joyful, then you shouldn’t compare your accomplishment to others. If you reached your goal and are proud of it, then it shouldn’t negatively effect your mindset if your neighbor reached a higher goal. All of us live under different circumstances; you might have worked harder for that small buck on public land than your neighbor did for his monster buck he shot on a 500 acre managed farm. The fact that a guy in Michigan who hunts on public land is comparing his buck to the guy who hunts in Iowa on a managed farm is ludicrous. Furthermore, the fact that the guy in Iowa is putting down the buck the guy shot in Michigan is even more ludicrous. Unfortunately that’s where the hunting world is right now. Everyone is so quick to judge and comment on the next guys success without any knowledge of the story or background of the hunt. It’s comparable to a CEO of a fortune 500 company trashing a minimum wage worker for being proud that he/she just purchased their first car or home.
Ask yourself, “why do I hunt?” If one of your answers is to impress others around you, I’d say you’re in the treestand for the wrong reasons. Hunting is truly one of the last activities left on this world where you can escape from the pressure and noise of everyday life and be alone with yourself and your thoughts. Where else can you go without any distractions from work, social media, and other daily distractions that make your head spin? Hunting can finally allow your mind to relax, cleanse your soul, and give you the natural adrenaline rush that is completely different than, and superior to, the artificial adrenaline rush we may get watching sports or gambling.
The second hunt on this video is a buck I shot in northern michigan in 2017. Not huge by any means, but to be with my dad and shoot a good northern michigan buck at our hunting camp made this buck a trophy.
The moment we stop comparing our own successes to the successes we see on our phones and television everyday, the more joy we will get out of hunting and truly appreciate it for what it is, and how beneficial it can be for your mental health. If somebody shoots a bigger buck than you, be happy for them, or if they shoot a smaller buck than you, be happy for them. Work hard and enjoy shooting the buck that walks under your stand this fall no matter the size of the rack. When it’s picture time, grip that rack and give that picture a grin it deserves with the work that you put into putting meat in the freezer for your family. Spread the love, stop comparing, and experience the feeling of the true joy you should feel when you are successful in the field. It starts with you.
Stop comparing yourself to others, and hunt your hunt. The pure joy of success in the great outdoors is something special, and deserves a real grip and grin.