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 3-18x44 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 5x5 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!