By: Ted Nugent
I fling therefor I am! No really, I repeat ad nauseum ad infinitum- As goes the mystical flight of the arrow goes our soul!
I have often repeated in my writings and media interviews and it seems constantly on our Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild TV show how the origins of Zen and the Samurai forces originated with archery for the ultimate controlling forces for quality of life.
Now I can’t promise my grasp of history is sequentially all that accurate, but I do believe the gist of my observations and theories are basically good, and I am here to tell you, through simple utilitarian pragmatism they certainly serve me well.
As I shoot Gold Tip arrow after Gold Tip arrow, day in and day out with my Mathews Triax bow, the physics of spirituality ballet that is and must be my memorized shot sequence consistency is driven home as each arrow smacks into my Morrell targets.
Jamming and rehearsing with my incredible bandmates in preparation for another bombastic rockout is as totally consuming as anything life has to offer I assure you.
So too is my daily archery ritual in taking me far, far away from anything else in my ever-adventurous crazy-fun life.
When I’m rocking, there really is nothing else on my mind other than the music and the musical communication that owns the air we breathe.
Likewise, as I nock each arrow on the string, to quote the late, great Jimi Hendrix, there truly is “no life nowhere!”
I am thoroughly convinced that the most gratifying, fulfilling and enjoyable activities we have available to us in life are best experienced by completely submersing ourselves into the endeavor at hand.
Sure, there is nothing wrong with casually shooting a few arrows, lounging around the campfire, shooting a few baskets with family and friends, and even casual plinking sessions at the range.
But when it comes time to prep for the hunt, there is no room for casual anything.
We are afterall preparing to the absolute best of our ability to cleanly take the life of an animal in order to feed, clothe, medicate and fortify the lives of our family.
That’s about as serious a business as there is in life the way I see it.
Such serious responsibility should indeed be 100% consuming.
As I focus and concentrate on improving my archery and firearms marksmanship, I find myself expanding my thought process to not just the here and now of every shot, but more recently an increased effectiveness and resultant efficiency by making each shot in, for lack of a better explanation, an almost dream sequence mindset.
Surely we have hunted enough years and seasons to accumulate some wonderful, even dazzling memories of critter encounters and shots of yore. Such memories can be put to effective use when touching off a round or arrow at the target range by re-envisioning that magical moment of truth on a particular hunt where we can re-create in our mind the environment, setting, conditions, weather, sounds, nerve rattlings and even emotions of that special moment and relive it completely.
God knows my dangerously overloaded 70-year-old mind has more than enough spine tingling memories to choose from, and when I do, I experience a heightened sense of aliveness and edginess to increase the predator spirit for a more realistic practice shot.
At its very best, it really can be a full-on out of body experience.
When I put myself through this time-machine practice mode, there is no doubt that my arrows and bullets strike home more accurately and more consistently. And that always feels mighty, mighty good!
So go ahead and give it a shot at the range, literally, and fully concentrate with all you got to put yourself back in one of those special hunting moments of the past, reliving an arrow or bullet that went really well.
With all the miraculous power of the human mind, (90 plus percent of which we rarely utilize) such a mental time machine maneuver can increase the overall intensity of our shooting capabilities and enhance our deep, deadly predator effectiveness for a more moving experience overall.
Just this morning I relived a great hunt on a cold November morning from years ago, where a fidgety old whitetail doe tested my patience and resolve to the hilt. Even in 98-degree Texas heat, I could hear the distant blue-jay call as I unleashed my arrow straight into the old matriarch guard doe’s pumpstation for a hard earned backstrap dream.
If we really try hard, we can indeed go there, back to another time and place, and relive each and every stimulating sensation that created that happy hunting memory.
Submerse yourself in the moment, and the moment will never end.
Aim small miss small and live the Spirit of the Wild like you mean it. The hunting season clock is ticking right along my BloodBrothers. See you all at my facebook electronic campfire where the hunt never ends.