10 Lessons I Learned About LIFE During My FIRST 60 Days of Bowhunting

First off, this story doesn’t start with a dead deer.

It starts with a borderline obsessive approach to learning and mastery.

To get you caught up, let’s rewind the clock a bit.

A few months ago I was given a hand-me-down hunting bow.

That said, other than knowing which direction the arrow goes, I really had no experience hunting or shooting a bow.

I’ve watched a couple episodes of MeatEater, played a few hours of The Lord of The Rings: Return of the King on Xbox (as Legolas), and have been a pack mule on my friend’s elk hunt a few years back.

I learned quickly that archery and bowhunting are two very separate sports.

Each with its own rabbit hole of information and expertise.

So you might be asking yourself right about now: What does this story have to do with life?

Well.. like anything, what you learn in one arena, you can take and apply to any other arenas of life.

What you learn from bowhunting can be applied to jiu jitsu, relationships, habit formation, business, etc.

The key is to analyze and reflect on what you have learned.

Here are the 10 things I learned about life during my first 60 days of bowhunting:

Archery (1 – 5)

1. To be a successful bowhunter, you must be a good archer. Start there.

Start with the basics. No need to jump ahead. Understanding fundamentals, good technique, and developing repeatable habits is essential for progression. Without a solid base of fundamentals, the house of cards will come crashing down.

Too often do we spend hours researching the latest and greatest theories and hacks. We spend boat loads of money on new equipment and expensive gear. None of this will help you get better. Every admired athlete, successful entrepreneur, or long-lasting marriage is centered around the basics.

I was handed an ancient compound bow. I watched John Dudley’s Archery 101 on YouTube and had a friend (who is an experienced archer) walk me through my first steps.

2. Ego is where the arrow lands; humility is focusing on how the arrow is getting there. Focus on the process and be okay looking like a beginner.

We all want bullseyes. We want to see the arrow hit the center mark. We want quick results and we want it now. That said, that’s not how life works. We need to be okay looking like a beginner, because we are beginners. Don’t expect black belt level results without a black belt level of commitment.

I spent the first few weeks flinging arrows with the objective of getting better at flinging arrows, not with the objective of hitting bullseyes every time.

If your emotions are based on the result, you’ll likely give up. Embrace the process and you’ll last forever.

3. Consistency is more important than intensity. Shoot everyday.

Doing a little bit everyday is a way to compound micro-improvements. It is a much more effective strategy than doing it for 3 hours one day and then taking 3 weeks off.

In Jiu Jitsu or other sports alike, it’s not about ‘going hard’ for a day, it’s about ‘going forward’ for a lifetime. Training 7 days in a row and then needing 2 months off to recover from an injury is NOT an effective strategy. Be smart. Be safe. Be consistent.

Shooting everyday was a measurable goal that allowed me to progress faster than I ever excepted.

4. Talent is a myth. Nobody gets to the top unless they put in consistent effort for a long period of time.

Talent is a myth that people tell you to justify the lack of their own effort, and the insecurities they have around it.

The first time I shot an arrow, I was not particularly good. In fact, I completely missed the target a few times. Was I born with this miraculous ability? No. Nor is anyone. Yes, we all have different abilities and may be better suited for different activities, but just because you aren’t amazing at it right away doesn’t mean you are not talented.

Build your talents and stop making excuses.

5. Don’t settle for mediocrity. Keep shooting.

To be a successful bowhunter, you must be good at archery. Well no matter how ‘good’ you are at archery, there is no ceiling. We must continue to practice, continue to refine our game, and continue to improve.

The animal deserves it and so do you.

Hunting (6 – 10)

6. Know your reason; know your ‘why.’ I want to harvest truly organic meat in the most ethical, fair, and primal way, to honor both the animal and my own kind.

As Fred Bear once said,

“The history of the bow and arrow is the history of mankind.”

Whether you are a vegan, vegetarian or simply don’t like meat, know that killing an animal with a bow and arrow is the most visceral thing we can do as humans.

You might find solace in the fact that the animal is being killed quickly, with precision and accuracy, for the purpose of being harvested to feed myself, my friends, and my family.

I hope that is something that we can all at least try to understand.

Knowing your why, is important in anything we do. It gives us strength, direction, and clarity. As Seneca wrote,

“If a man knows not which port he sails, no wind is favorable.”

Know your ‘why.’

7. Sometimes you get the deer, other times the deer gets you.

On my way to my second hunt in Wisconsin I hit a deer at 6:30 AM while driving 65 MPH on the highway. I escaped injury free, but my car did not. My car was completely totaled and undrivable. I was still 4 hours away from my destination and needed my girlfriend to pick me up. She scooped me up and drove me back home to Minneapolis.

Where most people would be discouraged, I was not. I got a rental, turned around, and proceeded to the property I was going to hunt that evening. 13 hours later, I was ready to go.

Bad sh*it happens to all of us. Expect it, and revel in it. It only makes the story better. If someone was actively writing a book about your life, you’d want sh*t to happen.

The climb requires contrast.

8. Everyone is hungry to win, but most people aren’t hungry enough to do what it takes to win. Sit all day.

Everyone wants to win. But winning looks a lot more like hard work than what you see on Instagram. The trophy doesn’t come without the effort. It doesn’t come without the time you have to put in. It doesn’t come without the transformation to your mind and body.

Go practice. Then practice some more. Research. Listen to others. Keep learning. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from others' mistakes. Learn from doing. Learning from living. Learn from reflecting.

Sit in a tree all day. Learn from the sign. Learn from the woods. Learn from the time you moved your bow too quickly and spooked the deer behind you.

9. The pain of failure is greater than the pain of boredom. Keep sitting.

I was hunting in the middle of the rut, which means deer are potentially moving all day, rather than just moving during dawn or dusk hours. That means, I needed to sit there, in silence, ALL DAY.

As you can imagine, It’s quite boring at times. In fact, I went nearly 72 hours in a tree stand without even seeing a deer.

Despite not seeing a single deer all morning, going inside for even an hour to get some coffee, food, and to warm up, was much more painful (knowing that I hadn’t been able to harvest a deer yet) than being bored and cold in the woods.

Opportunity doesn’t present itself unless you are in the presence of opportunity.

10. Luck looks a lot like consistency, effort, and time.

I went from never shooting a bow, to learning the fundamentals, to practicing everyday, to putting in countless hours of preparation.

Then I spent over 8 days in the woods (what most people would call ‘hunting.’) Yet, I had nothing to show for it.

You could perhaps say I was unlucky.

Well newsflash, luck is for losers.

The only way to get a deer is to put more hours in, put more practice in, more knowledge, and more time in the woods.

So that’s what I did…

The story didn’t start with a dead deer, nor did it end with one.

The deer is just a result of consistency, effort, and time.

Landing that big deal is just a result of consistency, effort, and time.

Getting that A in your calculus class is just a result of consistency, effort, and time.

Getting that promotion you’ve been dreaming of is just a result of consistency, effort, and time.

Keep going.

Own the Process,

Tim

Author of Mastery Monday

Student & Founder