Opening Day

Packers are first in the NFC North!!!

It's also opening weekend for archery season and I'm stoked! I live for this time of the year--hunting and football--two of my favorite things. I'll be telling many stories of hunting this fall. I've been working my ass off and I'm ahead of where I was last year at this time for my business so I'm good. I'm going to enjoy a lighter guide schedule to spend more time in the woods chasing elk. That doesn't mean I'm giving up on booking trips. I certainly will work as days come up but I'm going to enjoy the days I have open.

You ever watch someone have a total meltdown over a football game and wonder why they're getting so pissed off over something they have absolutely no control over? It's silly, right? I'd be lying if I said I haven't engaged in that kind of behavior to some degree myself but I'm getting better.

We align ourselves with a team and when that team loses, we lose and humans by nature, don't like to lose. It's symbolic. It shapes who we are, somehow. To a larger degree, it also shows we're not in control of the outcome and that doesn't feel very good. Some folks have a tougher time with that. I see it all the time in the boat.

A guy hooks a fish. The fish takes off and the first thing the guy does is grabs hold of the line and his rod and pulls back. He plays tug-a-war with the fish and unless you're throwing a size 4 crayfish pattern on 0X tippet material, the fish is always going to win.

"Let 'em run! Let 'em run!" We all say but it's too late. The fish breaks off and the dude is left feeling defeated and frustrated.

There are only two things that an angler can control when they're hooked up on a fish. That's the rod and their line. That's it. As soon as he or she tries to control the fish, they lose. Keep the rod bent, which has a lot to do with controlling your line and stripping in when the fish runs toward the boat and loosening up on your grip to allow the fish to run out and eventually, the fish will tire out and you'll land them. It's easy. Right? Just keep enough pressure on the fish and keep the rod bent. The problem is, however, people get anxious and they panic because they don't like to lose. They don't want to fail and they resort back to this habit of fighting back in order to try to gain control.

What's kind of interesting though, is the more a person hooks fish and starts to land them, the easier it gets. It's partly because they gain some skill but it's also; in large part, because they're more relaxed because they're not fearing losing the battle as much. They become calm and instead of fumbling around and gripping tight on the rod, they have the confidence to slow things down and get what they can, in control. And if they lose a battle, they know there will be another opportunity right around the corner. They also put things into perspective. It's just a fish. It's not going to determine the rest of  their life.

I fished with a guy last week that absolutely, couldn't care less about landing fish. He would hook them and come tight, fight them for a little while and then would lose them and wouldn't even bat an eye. He'd just reel in his line, get himself back into a good position and start casting again. This guy had obviously caught a ton of fish in his life and losing a battle really wasn't on his mind. He just enjoyed being on the river and tricking a few fish and he was good with that.

I think of things in my life where I feel that kind of confidence and that sense of peace in where I'm at. Fishing and guiding to a large degree are that for me. I've caught enough fish. There are certainly fish I would like to have landed or seen clients land but I know there will be others. Hunting ducks and whitetails is another area in my life where I'm good with where I'm at. I've shot enough and although I still really enjoy getting out, I'd just as soon teach others and watch them be successful.

Where's the tipping point though or the balance with things that still excite you? Isn't that where passion comes from? With archery hunting for elk for instance, I still get jacked. I still get nervous--probably even more-so now than a few years ago when I didn't really expect to be successful. Maybe that's a deal. I expect to shoot one now so there's pressure to be successful--to be in control. But that balance is fun, you know? That's why we do it, right?

This idea of control is interesting to me. We want control because it makes us feel safe. We know the outcome and we know how to deal with it but we also put ourselves in a position of losing control all the time, which makes life fun. We ride roller coasters. We hunt with a bow and arrow, which isn't easy. Some folks gamble and know they can't totally be in control of the outcome but perceive they have some control as long as they always bet on a certain number or sit at the same slot machine. We take risks and are rewarded if everything works out just right and the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. We like to live on the edge of a perception of control.

Here's where this turns to introspection and where I might lose you. In every relationship I've been in, it ended. Those endings hurt--some more than others. (Some were actually a relief.) For some of us, relationships cause a lot of anxiety because the reality is, they never work and it always hurts. We hook a partner and we really want it to work out but it never has so when they start pulling away or we perceive that they are pulling away or there's some conflict, we pull back. It's like that 18 inch rainbow the dude hooks and as soon as he feels the trout pulling, he starts playing tug-a-war. He's trying his damn-dist to gain control over something he has no control over and instead of focusing on what he can control, he fumbles around trying to get a better grip and he loses it.

I had a client once tell me that anyone who's had a long-term relationship fail has PTSD. I wonder if there's any truth to that? What is PTSD anyway? It's stress or anxiety created from trauma. More importantly, it's the fear of having that trauma again. It's a feeling of a lack of control over that trauma. When we fear that trauma, we fight back. We don't like it. We want it to go away. It's irrational but it's real and it causes folks to act out.

If you've lived at all, there are probably things you've gone through that elicit anxiety. Control what you can control and it will work out. I keep trying to tell myself that.

Okay. I get it. It's time to stop rambling but you know what? You're still reading so....

There is something I can control and that's putting myself in a good position to shoot an elk in the next few weeks. I'm going to focus on that and oh yeah, GO PACK GO!

Keep 'em where they live...