They say life imitates art. Or maybe its art that imitates life. Either way, I think my life tends to imitate powerlifting, or vice versa. Maybe it is that I have spent too many years in powerlifting.
Nah, that can’t even be possible.
It just seems that almost everything in my life somehow relates to powerlifting, or that lessons I learned from powerlifting help me with situations I come across in my life. I recently had this experience on my first mule deer archery hunt and I just had to write an article about it.
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These days, powerlifting is not consuming my life like it once did. Make no mistake, it is still a big part of my life, but I am trying to find some kind of balance to fit in things that got pushed to the side during my more competitive years. Shooting, hunting, and hiking are some of those things that I have finally been able to start adding back into my life this last year. I have always loved these things, but hunting was one of those things that had been more limited because sports always won out. I had hunted with my brother and father a few times for big game, but I don't ever remember getting anything. It seemed like we always ended up just shooting at targets by the end of the day.
My screwed up sleep and the fact that I hate mornings made it easy for me to just cut to the chase. I have been target shooting most of my life and definitely have a lifelong love affair with firearms. Still, hunting was definitely something I always wanted to do more but I just never made time for it. I am now finally at a point in my life where I can make time for it. In true Chad Aichs fashion, I just jumped right in with both feet.
One of the main reasons I jumped in like I have is because of powerlifting. I often hear people talking about how they will do a meet when they are able to hit certain numbers — or basically when all the stars line up perfectly. This annoys the hell out of me. You will never learn in the gym what you can learn at a meet. You will never fully experience powerlifting if you don't compete. The fact is, no one starts at the top; we all have to pay our dues, so just start paying.
If I was going to hunt, there was no time better than the present to start paying my dues. In Nevada we have a draw for tags. Last year I put in for rifle but was unsuccessful drawing a tag. This year I thought "what the hell" — my long term goal is to take a deer and antelope with a bow, so I put in for archery tags. I was unsuccessful drawing an antelope tag but got a mule deer tag in a good area.
Keep in mind, when I put in for my draw, I still didn't know shit about hunting. I had also only gotten my first bow like two years ago and had not really been able to shoot it much. The best motivation in the world is having a date or time set when you have to put it all on the line. In powerlifting it was having a competition date, and in hunting it is having a hunt date set. I am very into the idea of one shot, one kill, and I was not going to take a shot at an animal unless I was confident in the shot. I had to start shooting regularly and make sure I was good enough when I got the chance to take a shot. I also had to make time to get out to scout and better learn the area I had my tag in. If you want to do something, the best thing you can do is actually start doing it. In my opinion, this is the best way to start the learning process, no matter lifting, hunting, or anything you want to do.
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My first elitefts seminar was the best thing I had ever done for my strength. Even at that seminar, actually training with Dave was where I learned the most. I would have done my whole hunt by myself and learned, but I knew learning from more experienced hunters would be a huge help. I also knew that if could actually go with more experienced hunters I could learn way faster. For me, learning while doing always seems to work best. It helps me understand things better and definitely helps me retain information. I felt lucky to be able to attend my first seminar with elitefts (Dave), and as I got better, the access I had gotten to other top lifters was hugely helpful.
So far in hunting I have also been lucky. My brother started hunting again a couple years ago and is the kind of guy that loves to learn on his own. Like me, he takes some pride in that. Still, once I told him I drew a tag, he was full game to help me out however he could. He actually lives in the area I drew my tag and is also a horse trainer, so he ended up doing a ton of scouting for my hunt while working with his clients and their horses.
My friend Shawn had also offered his help with my hunt, too. Now, I did not know Shawn very long when I put in for my tags, but he still offered to help me. Shawn has a treasure trove of experience, because hunting is a major part of his life and he has been hunting since he was little. I felt extremely honored to get this offer and there was no way I would turn down knowledge like that. Once I told my brother, he was excited to get some hand-on learning from an extremely experienced hunter. Powerlifting taught me I could be better and get there faster by learning from other top lifters and I was definitely going to go about hunting in the same way.
One of the things I always loved and respected about powerlifters was the camaraderie lifters seem to have for each other. I could write a whole article about the times I have seen lifters or their teams help complete strangers at meets. In my first hunt I experienced this very same thing and thought about how similar these two are. I forgot my gloves one day and Shawn immediately started digging though his stuff to find me a pair of extra gloves he had. The last day of the hunt the weather was predicted to be bad and I did not have the gear I needed. Both my brother and Shawn went through all their gear the night before to find stuff I could use. Whenever I talked to other friends who hunt, they were always willing to give me any tips they had.
We even ran across some other hunters. I expected them to be very close-lipped about anything they saw or where there planned to hunt. Nope, not the case at all. We all talked about what we had seen and where. One group actually put us on some nice deer that day. The thing that made me chuckle the most was how excited Shawn and my brother got whenever I was close to getting a shot or even when we just got on some deer — especially when they were nice bucks. I think they were more excited than I was. It was just like competing back in the day. My team would be more excited than I was about my lifts. When I was handling, I got more excited for my lifters than when I lifted. Hunting had that same feel and everyone worked their asses off. Those that have been handlers know how much work it is and how much you put into the success of your lifter. Having guys like that on my hunt made the whole experience way better.
There is a lot of similarity to taking a competition lift and getting a shot on an animal. I realized this when I got my first almost-shot on a buck. He caught me mid-draw and I froze until he finally relaxed enough to go back to eating. I resumed my draw and by the time I got sighted on him, he had moved behind a big sage brush. I ended up not getting a clean shot at him, but it gave me that same focus and clarity I feel before a big lift. There was no inhaling of ammonia or yelling, but what most people don't know is that just before the lift, I get super calm and focused. It is like everything else in the world fades away and there is just that one moment with complete focus on the lift. It is actually a very calming feeling for me.
I got this very same feeling each time I got to nock an arrow this hunt. For me, that competition lift or getting to take a shot at an animal means months and years of hard work, all in one moment. All the practice, training, preparation, and education comes down to that one moment. It is an incredible feeling. It is a test of what you put into it and a test of what you’re made of. It is a test of your mental strength and how much you can control yourself. I love this feeling and it is awesome to find this same feeling in a completely different area.
Unfortunately, my hunt this year was unsuccessful, which felt like bombing out of a meet. I have said many times that I do not mind bombing out of a meet as long as I learn something that will make me better. Bombing out sucks, but sometimes the best lessons are the hardest ones. Not getting a deer this season pisses me off, but I gained a massive amount of knowledge and motivation for my next hunt. I had days just hunting with Shawn, days just hunting with my brother, days hunting with both of them, and days hunting alone. All of these days taught me different lessons. My hunt was a late season 10-day hunt during the rut — and it was archery. It definitely had its difficulties, but I improved every day. I was getting within closer range to the deer each passing day. Everyone agreed if we could have just had a few more days we would have been successful at taking a buck. I did a decent job of getting ready for this hunt, but much like a powerlifting meet, you really don't know how to prepare for something you have never done. I walk away from this hunt having a much better idea what I need to train and how to train for it. I have a much better idea what I need to improve on and already know how to change my preparation for my next hunt.
So, I did not get a buck on my first archery hunt; I wasn’t breaking world records in my first powerlifting meet either. I will use the knowledge I learned in powerlifting to improve my skills at hunting. I am not sure if life imitates powerlifting or vice versa. I think it is all intertwined, and if we pay attention, things we learn in any area can help us in all the other areas of our lives. I know lifting is a major part of my life and I have learned a ton of lessons from it. It is just a matter of me seeing how those lessons can help guide me to the same success in other parts of my life.
