Brian Barney pushes on through white-out conditions that would have most men dead.
What is it that makes a bowhunter successful? Especially those who are consistent year after year on DIY public land hunts. No outfitters, no help, just them and the arenas they thrive in, matching wits with some of the most switched-on critters this world has to offer.
Is it their instinct? Their ability to read animal behaviors and predict their next move. Or is it the knowledge they’ve built upon year after year? Maybe it’s the scouting and pre-season research?
I believe it’s a culmination of all the above and then some. Still, if we look at guys like Marlon Holden, Shawn Melland, Brian Barney and Nathan Endicott, it’s pretty clear that never-ending determination and perseverance through some of the most difficult conditions are what set these consistently successful hunters apart. These guys don’t question if it will happen. They only wonder how and when.
We’re not talking about notching their tag on just any animal that walks by every year with their bow. We’re talking about filling nearly every tag over more than the last decade on big mature animals.
Marlon Holden, in the last 20 years, has taken more than 70 mule deer with his bow in every environment they exist, never deterred by the brutal conditions he’s encountered. From lightning storms in the high country, to whiteout conditions in the late season, to the heat and drought found miles in on the desert floor, he’s always found a way to get it done. Sometimes the deterrent isn’t forced upon us by the weather in the wild places we hunt but by other unforeseen factors such as hunting pressure. His most recent buck, scoring 205, was meticulously taken amidst a horde of hunters and their ever-present mechanical companion, the side-by-side. Most would’ve quit the area in search of new ground. Not Marlon. He knew this area had the best potential, so he persisted and made quick work of his opportunity while the iron was hot, taking his best buck to date. This unwavering determination and willingness to do whatever it takes is what got him to where he stands now. Quitting has never been an option.
Marlon with a tremendous Burro Buck
In the last decade, Shawn Melland has taken eight bulls averaging a gross score of 375”. Read that again…
No bull was easy. No bull was given. Every one of them earned through extensive, intentional preparation and an innate inability to quit. Failing is and was never an option. A seemingly impossible task visualized and achieved because when it got harder, he fought harder until he came out on top. His pre-season preparation in scouting and physicality stands alone, but when the boots are on, it’s go time every time. In a recent season, he opted to fly a paraglider to access landlocked country in search of a giant. Dubbed Operation Dark Knight, not even access has turned him around. It’s this unrivaled determination and perseverance that allows him to attain his lofty goals in the backcountry.
Shawn Melland has taken eight bulls averaging a gross score of 375”
Brian Barney has seamlessly melded the two and consistently takes giant bucks and bulls every year without fail. More than the giants he puts down with his bow, it’s the relentless manner in which he hunts that speaks volumes. No easy roads taken. No easy ways out. His motto, “Persistence is deadly,” shapes who he is as a hunter, and this never-quit attitude leads to the success he finds on a consistent basis. This ethos he bleeds carried him through a late-season mule deer hunt recently, where he battled conditions that would have most men dead. Battling snow and ungodly low temperatures, he maintained course and got it done. Again, quitting was not an option.
“Persistence is deadly"
A true Black Tail master, Nathan Endicott, whom I’ve hunted with most, does not have an off button. There is no quit. The late-season in Oregon, for those of you who don’t know, may be one of the most unrelenting stadiums in which a hunter can find themselves. Sub-freezing conditions, wet snow, beyond-steep grades, and cliffed-out terrain make quitting easy. But this is where Nate thrives and where he feels most at home. Opting out of sitting a tree stand or ground blind, which is common practice here in Oregon, he hikes endless miles and still hunts his way through unforgiving country, passing many bucks along the way till he finds ‘The One.’
Over the last sixteen years, he’s notched his tag every year on big mature bucks without fail, not to mention his last three all substantially passing the score needed to qualify for all-time Boone and Crockett Columbia Blacktail. Among the many attributes I’ve seen firsthand that lead to his success, his persistence and determination are what get the job done.
As Nathan says "It’s the consistent effort that creates his opportunities."
I’ve been fortunate enough to have the privilege of being mentored by these four men. During this time, I’ve noticed differences in their hunting styles, but all with the same outcome.
The similarities? Their attitude, self-belief, and unwillingness to quit. Ever! The mountain gets steep? They hike harder. The conditions get tough? They hunt harder. The animals aren’t there? They search further.
Shawn Melland redefines the limits of what our bodies are capable of in the back country
This perseverance and determination puts them in situations and gives them opportunities that most will never see because they’ve packed up camp long before the game has even begun. Hunting is hard. But don’t we know that already? Do we not already understand what we’ve signed up for? One of the most difficult endeavors we could ever undertake, and one that will push us to our limits.
Poor sleep, limited calories, bad weather, broken bodies, not seeing animals, and the many other lows in hunting put us at an immediate disadvantage. Pretty soon you understand you are not in control and you feel small.
What can we do? As Shawn Melland puts it, “Control the controllables.” In an endeavor where not a whole lot is in your control, make sure you rein in the stuff that is: your physical conditioning, your attitude, your competency with your weapon, forcing yourself to eat even when you're not hungry so your body can recover, hiking that extra half mile to get water in the dark so you don’t go to bed dehydrated. After all, perseverance isn’t just refusing to quit; it's doing the little things, over and over, that give you the ability to keep going.
Now, even perseverance and determination are often built up over time. A first-time hunter in September, never having tasted the fruits of his labor, is unsure of himself and where he ranks in this new arena he finds himself in. At times, he may feel hopeless due to the lack of experience he has where he now stands, and he questions his every move with a skeptic's eye. All this is completely normal. Unfortunately, this often leads to an early exit, but he must remember that even the greats before him, without a doubt, felt lost at one point early on.
So how does he move forward? In my experience, you work hard and fake it till you make it. You grind and then grind some more. You trick yourself into believing that if you work hard enough and keep after it, it will happen. And eventually, it will.
This belief is hard to come by early on. It is unnatural; how can you believe something to be true when it has never happened before? But you must believe, and you must never quit because in hunting, when it starts to feel impossible, that's typically when it happens.
"so he persisted and made quick work of his opportunity while the iron was hot"
Effort and consistency, now that you can control. Fall in love with the process and control what you can. Your effort and determination. Always onward and upward.
When you find success, which you will, and the more times it comes together, you start to believe, and perseverance now becomes second nature. Just another tick mark off the list of what it takes to get it done.
And let’s not forget, even for the guys at the top, it is never easy. As skills develop and animals fall, the goals get bigger. The next challenge is set. What was already tough has now spawned into something else entirely. The pool of animals from which they choose their quarry has now diminished into a mere puddle. Now it becomes not just any animal but ‘the animal.’ The playing field gets bigger, and the rules change. The one constant that remains untouched is the determination and outstanding effort of which they take with them. Always moving forward. Never looking back.