Contributors to this thread:
I know you've got them. What are they? What abnormal thing do you do out of habit or for luck before, during or after you go hunting? For me I play the CD "The Great Southern Trend kill" by Pantera as soon as I hit the dirt road to my trailhead. Metal mood or not, I play it as I have on every successful hunting trip. My process for arrow selection is too long to discuss.
Superstitions are bad luck :)
Well, I haven't killed an elk yet, so I have to try new superstitions every year until I find the ones that work. This year I bought a new hat, the last one was obviously a dud... :)
Most the game is not killed on the perfect days.
for Big hunts I wear red underwear
It's bad luck if I don't kill an elk.
I sprinkle a little chewing tobacco on the ground before each hunt. I'd read somewhere that the native americans used to do this as a way to insure a successful hunt. The 1st time I did it I killed a nice 8pt about 15 minutes after I "gave some tobacco to Mother Earth". Coincidence or not, it sold me on it. Besides, no harm it anyway.
This is the best use of tobacco I can think of.
My good luck charm is my colorado meth project bracelet I wear it on every hunt. I'm convinced it works!
Old equipment has mojo, new equipment needs to be broken in. I always have more old then new on a hunt, yes I am superstitious.......
Toby said: "for Big hunts I wear red underwear "
So, is there any lace in that???
I have a lucky knife that I got for graduation from high school back in 1976. Lost it for about 5 years during/after a divorce and had terrible luck during that time, then my ex moved and found it and gave it back. The next three years in a row I killed an elk!
Never leave on a hunt without it now.
I am not at all superstitious. I believe that results are achieved thorough preparation, work and luck.
That being said, I once heard of a guy from Alabama that claimed his success on turkeys drastically improved once he married his 13 year old cousin. But I really have no idea.
I believe in Karma, when ever I see trash in the woods i pick it up and put in a trash can. Every year I find at least a few of the metal foil party balloons.
I figure if I see that piece of trash and don't pick it up, no one else will?
Just think how clean everything would be if people simply put their trash in a trash can??
My daughter makes me a unique good luck charm every season. Sometimes its a braided colorful strap, sometimes little trinkets to carry. This year, its an American Flag made of melted plastic beads. I've already tied it to my pack using last year's purple cord. I'm 14 bulls in 17 years, so it must work!
Every time I see a giant brown spider I hear elk and every time I see a giant black spider I see elk. Not sure if that counts as I have no control over it, but it's always stood true, these spiders have to be big, I'm talking the size of packets of gum
If I have a dream the night before a hunt that I kill an animal, there's a 99.99% chance that I'm not going to kill anything that day. If I dream about chasing an animal and can't kill it, it's going to be a good day. Lol. Don't know why but it never fails.
I always bring my bow with.
Anytime I buy a new piece of gear, I'm nervous about whether I can keep it until I have my first animal on the ground. If I immediately run into a really bad cold streak I'll dump it. I don't use my hunting knife on anything but downed game - gotta keep it thirsty. Kind of getting leery about using anything from somebody that died. I hate it when somebody wishes me 'good luck' - it's bad luck. Other than that heck no I'm not superstituous.
Lead - those are the tracking spiders coming out, because they know a kill is near!!
I wear a para cord choker with my first cow elk ivory's (rifle) on the out side and my first bull elk ivory's (archery) in the middle.
Not hunting but.......The only superstition I have is no bananas on my boat. It's an old superstition widely recognized by fisherman.
"Lead - those are the tracking spiders coming out, because they know a kill is near!!"
Haha, beat me to it!
CPAhunter. True story. When I was in Hawaii for 18 months you didn't take anything that had the hint of Banana on someone's boat!
Last year me and my two hunting buddies stopped at a lookout about 5 miles before camp. We each threw a penny over the cliff and made a wish. That was Sunday evening, we were tagged out and in town drinking beer by noon on Sunday! Needless to say we will be throwing pennies over that cliff again this year!
Hair removal prior to hunt! :)
Ahhh Shit, I went fishing in Mexico for sail fish/ marlin during my honeymoon and I brought bananas on the boat ate one before and on the boat as no one looked then the capt. saw it and explained the rule. At the end of the day the Capt. said this was the most action he's ever seen, we got strikes and fish all day long. However, 2 years later i got divorced??? Go figure.
I like to wear my special underbritches. They say "HAMBLASTER" across the hind end. After a couple big bowls of chili, i like to wear my "next level stinking" ones. ;^)
My father was a hard core duck hunter and always carried a brass compass. It is like a pocket watch with a cover that opens. Ever since he passed away, I carry that compass on every one of my hunts. Don't know if you call that superstitious or not, it is just my way of remembering and honoring a great man.
Every fishing tournament and out of state hunting trip I always bring a photo of my family with me. Gives me faith and perseverance.
Since my grandfather passed away 17 years ago, I have kept a pair of his favorite needle nose pliers in my fishing bag (when I was younger), and now in my bass boat for scouting and fishing tournaments. As long as I keep those pliers in the boat I haven't been skunked ever. I lost them (actually my wife took them to do one of her little projects around the house without knowing their significance to me) and I got skunked 3 trips in a row this year. I got mad and tore the house apart and put them back in the boat. Back on a lucky streak again. Haha.
The first thing I put on in the morning HAS to be my socks. I've already got my underwear on but Socks first hen base laye. I also have a lucky hat that has been retired but I pull it out every now and then for special hunts.
I am not superstitious but I used to wear an old silk scarf as a neckerchief to hunt deer in November. It put me in the hunting mood and kept me a bit warmer.
Being a tournament bass fisherman myself I 2nd the "no bananas in the boat" rule. Also,One must never, ever catch a fish on your 1st cast of the day. That will guarantee a lousy day. So, to avoid that I make a very short cast and real in quickly.
For sure Stinkbait1. Catching a fish on the first cast is a sure way to a lousy day. Haha.
APauls and Surfbow, they must be that or they are packing spiders because you could probably pack a hind quarter out on one, these are a different breed of spider! Freaking ginormous