Ever been in a Funk ?

powdergun

powdergun

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I do not know what is going on this year but after 35 years of hunting and takiing many animals I just can't get my sh*t together. I've been out with the BP gun for about three weeks and have totally f'ed up on two deer. Both deer were in range and standing still broadside( totally text book ) . I've flat out missed twice.

I know they were missed because they ran of without o much as a trace of being hit and I scoured the woods up down and sideways and found no blood and I've even gone back days later looking for ravens. I just flat out missed. The gun is fine so the fault is just plain me.

Tonight my son told me that when I was shooting my hands were shaking WTF. Neither deer was anything to brag about. Have any of you fellows ever hit such a funk. The only thing going for me is I can still find and pattern the deer. Tonight the one I missed was right were I'd thought it would be and I was set up just right.

I feel like hanging up the gun for a year and focusing on guiding my kid.He showed me last year he could shoot. maybe it is time to pass on the freezer filling duties.
 
Maybe it's time to take a breath and ask yourself why you do it?... Are you enjoying your hunt time?... Do you have the harvest desire?... If not then yes... Hang up your gun and guide your son... If you do, then ask yourself why you are so stressed and why you aren't doing as well as you expect and worry about that....
 
Actually I think focusing on getting your son a good deer would go a long way towards curing the " funk" you're in. We have all been there and I'm finding myself In a different sort of funk this Fall, I just can't find the motivation to hit the field. I had a blast the last few years hunting with my daughter but now she's away at University and I don't have the same desire to get out.

Some friends and I are heading out next week end and this is the latest I have ever gone without hunting. Hopefully I get the motivation I need before the rut.
 
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I haven't hunted at all since a couple of days in the 2011 season. I took a new job in Sept 2011 that just makes me super busy from Sept 15th to the end of the year.

Plus I moved to NB from AB where my son lives and we hunted the past 13 years, I am contemplating selling my rifles and hanging it up.
 
Mine (rare) usually stems from an outside source, work stress for example. Hard to focus on the task at hand when your mind is elsewhere.
 
mossyhorns said:
Actually I think focusing on getting your son a good deer would go a long way towards curing the " funk" you're in. We have all been there and I'm finding myself In a different sort of funk this Fall, I just can't find the motivation to hit the field. I had a blast the last few years hunting with my daughter but now she's away at University and I don't have the same desire to get out.

Some friends and I are heading out next week end and this is the latest I have every gone without hunting. Hopefully I get the motivation I need before the rut.
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Text your daughter... Tell her you miss her... As much as I am not a fan of technology afield, take pics... Send them to her... Enjoy your hunt together when she can't... We have all had work or life interferte with the hunt (and vice versa)... Let her know you are thinking of her and take her spirit with you... She'll come back...
 
I'm thinking the stresses of life are getting to me. It seems that filling my tag is just another thing that needs to get done. Last year I had a similar year but I only missed the first deer then later tagged out. After that I just focused on taking my son out. I don't know I am ready to hang it up just yet. Hopefully the garbage I'm facing at work will resolve itself one of these days.
 
Wow... You guys need to look at your woods time as an escape and not a burden... I have a high pressure job and two kids from a split relationship to manage and totally look at the woods as my retreat...

Maybe concentrate less on being successful and just enjoy being out?...
 
powdergun said:
I'm thinking the stresses of life are getting to me. It seems that filling my tag is just another thing that needs to get done. Last year I had a similar year but I only missed the first deer then later tagged out. After that I just focused on taking my son out. I don't know I am ready to hang it up just yet. Hopefully the garbage I'm facing at work will resolve itself one of these days.
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I just had a two year stretch of absolute #### at work. Felt like the oldest 32 year old on the planet. Once you've been at that for a stretch of long days, getting nowhere, gets tough to get it out of your head. A tree stand is usually the happiest spot on earth for me but last year it was just another place to sit and stew.
So far, this year is better. I said #### it, got on a less stressful site and quit bringing it home with me. Havin' fun again, you will too.
 
That's what I'm hoping for. This year I just can't get that tightness in the chest that stress brings out of my system. I need to take a lesson from my kid. When we go out he bring a book. He just sits back in the stand and reads then looks around every few minutes. For me I'm constantly looking into every nook and cranny of the woods and just can't settle down. After I missed the deer tonight ( was doing some still hunting on the ground) I was a whisker from wrapping the gun around a tree trunk but then just sat on the ground for the last hour of light.

Just not having any fun this year.
 
kennymo said:
Remember to just say #### it at work every once in a while! ;)
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LOL I'd love to but if I did that I'd be canned. On a positive note I'm eligible for full pension in less than four years and am still in good physical shape so if I manage to avoid a coronary between now and then the future looks good. My kid just keeps coming up with great advice. Tonight after having a good rant he just looked at me and said "why don't we just go to the range this weekend instead of hunting. At least you can hit things there"
 
Your fine, not every hunting season has to be the greatest experience of your life. There are good ones and ones you could do without. Personally I am currently ruined form working in the bush every dam day and night, always cold, wet, tired and battling mud all the time. Lately I just say #### it and don't go out unless it is a nice day and even then only go out for a few hours, I would rather miss out on a B&C deer than get my boots muddy, no joke. Being out hunting feels like being at work, but this feeling will pass with time and I will go out on week long moose trips I am sure. One thing I do lately is go out hunting without a rifle. Just did that today hunted with a friend brought no gun just joked around and called moose for him then went to town for lunch. Was good.

Bottom line if you aren't enjoying it don't do it until you feel like it again its not a big deal.
 
Did you check to see your guns sighted in properly? Spend some time shooting paper.

If your shaking and you didn't used to it could be a health problem. Maybe make a trip to see your doctor. I know if I drink any alcohol within 3 days of shooting I shake more. Certain medications can also make you shake more. Rule that out. Shooting when I'm hungry also makes me not as steady.

If you've been having a lot of mental stress in your life it could be a contributing factor. Buck fever is another possibility. I've found it helpful to get to my favorite hunting spot a half hour before legal light to just pick a spot to quietly relax, take some deep breaths and just get in tune with nature and my own body, forgetting life's difficulties. I'd almost call it meditation. I like to find a comfortable spot to lay down (I take a couple garbage bags to lay on to keep the dampness out of my clothes.

If none of this helps you may find a bipod or shooting sticks helpful. Good luck!
 
Glad I read further into this thread before responding. Your son has been given the gifts of wisdom and wit. I was going to suggest that you grab a nice little 20 gauge and go knock a few sharptails or ruffies out of the air. The fun is in the shooting and there is way less work afterward.

Your funk will pass. Just fill the time with fun stuff.
 
Brno8x57 said:
Glad I read further into this thread before responding. Your son has been given the gifts of wisdom and wit. I was going to suggest that you grab a nice little 20 gauge and go knock a few sharptails or ruffies out of the air. The fun is in the shooting and there is way less work afterward.

Your funk will pass. Just fill the time with fun stuff.
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^This is exactly what I would do after texting the girl away from home.

Cheers!
 
A lot of great advice. I think I'll leave my gun at home and just let my boy bring his next time out. Probably the best thing I can do now is forget about filing my tag for a couple of weeks. Rifle season is around the corner and I've noticed a few rubs showing up around my stands. Maybe it might be better for me to hone my rattling skills since I've got the shakes.

The advice with the food makes sense as I often don't eat till after the hunt. As for the stress thing that just won't go away any time soon so I'll do my best. And as for having some good old fun there are a pile of coyotes out there and if we don't get too much snow I can't think of a better way to spend a cold sunny day in Jan/Feb because if I miss it's no big deal.
 
Take a camera with you... If you're in bear country, take a gun with you, if not, leave it at home...
I do know what the funk you're talking about is... When I was 16, I was in a piano playing competition with a big prize. A $5000 scholarship was a lot of money to me 15 years ago... I had a piece I was working on the the competition for almost 9 months before the competition.... I could literally play the piece backwards and forwards from any point in the song... In the week before the competition, there were 4 days that I could not get through any one line of the piece, no matter how hard I tried... The day before the competition, I managed to play through the song once, and it was a pi$$ poor performance at that...
On the way up to the stage, I thought I was going to puke right there... Went up, spent what felt like a huge amount of time adjusting the bench to suit me... I played what I thought was the worst public performance of my life... Judges I guess disagreed with my assessment of my playing, as I got 3rd prize.

What I learned from that is that sometimes we put a lot of pressure on ourselves needlessly.... And the pressure we put on ourselves drags our performance down...
 
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