Don’t Be THAT Guy

What Hunting with a Professional Taught Me About Getting My Sh*t Together

by Richard Baimbridge

A few years ago, I became friends with a guy who had grown up hunting his whole life and worked as a professional outfitter. Besides that, he’d also served overseas in the military and was, at the time we met, a contractor doing training courses for police SWAT teams, with a focus on working with snipers. Part of what he taught was relaxation techniques in high-pressure situations, including breathing exercises. Basically, how to keep your cool when things go sideways, in addition to standard tactical and marksmanship training.

Hunting with a guy like that is, you could say, “intimidating.” But it taught me a lot about preparedness. Whenever we hunted together, I was always deeply impressed by how fast and efficient he was at everything, from packing his guns to loading up the car.

There are certain people like this you’ll meet in almost every corner of life – whether it’s hunting, fishing, the military, building a campfire or assembling a bookshelf. They’re just naturally quick, focused and highly organized.  

And then there’s other people -- like me. Let’s just say organizational skills aren’t my strong point. Ask my wife, standing there smirking with the car keys in her hands while I’m looking for them all over the house. Maybe it’s because I’m more of a big-picture guy that I’m prone to missing the details…

Sometimes I’d get so nervous the night before an early hunt that I’d barely sleep, worrying that I’d forgotten something. But after hunting with my friend for a while, I picked up some of his habits – and much of that anxiety started to fade away. So, I’d like to share some of the tips that helped me the most…

1. Have a designated backpack and fanny pack that you use exclusively for hunting and nothing else. Keep your essential items in those packs and develop a strict routine of always putting them in the exact same spot inside the bag, so that you can find them by touch in pitch-black darkness, without using a flashlight or making any noise. I keep a few of my most important things in the fanny pack (hunting license, tags, a small flashlight and pocket knife), while the rest stays in the backpack.

2. Set out everything you plan to take with you on a hunt in one small area close to the door (or in the garage) the night before your hunt. I prefer this over pre-loading the car so that I have 100% visual confirmation that everything I need is loaded before I head out. Have a set routine to loading up, and stick to it without fail.

3. Go to bed early the night before you hunt and get plenty of rest. Don’t over-think things. Sitting quietly for a few minutes before you sleep is helpful, without distractions like phones or television.

4. If you’re meeting other people or picking someone up – be on time and ready to go. Don’t waste time having to organize or rearrange your stuff or stopping for gas. Fuel up the day before the hunt. You’re on a mission, and time is of the essence. If someone is meeting you at 4am, you should be ready to go at 3:55.

5. Be careful of caffeine and sugar intake. I like to start my day with a cup of coffee (no sugar), but overdoing it can give you the jitters – affecting everything from your driving and your judgment to your shooting accuracy. Same with sweet breakfast foods. Eat a light, healthy breakfast and keep caffeine/sugar intake to a minimum.

6. Prepare nutritious, healthy snacks for the hunt that you can enjoy throughout the day. Jerky, fruits, energy bars, trail mix, peanut butter, and of course Tactical Snacks are some of my favorites. And remember to stay hydrated.

7. Hunt as often as you can. Nothing prepares you more than repetition. The more you do something, the more natural it feels. I try to hold a gun or bow in my hands pretty much every day, even if just for a few minutes. And I sometimes practice packing and unpacking things or taking my guns apart and reassembling them so that I’m completely comfortable with the process, even if something goes wrong during a hunt.  

In the end, you’re still probably going to screw up sometimes. Don’t be too hard on yourself. I recall one morning, I was heading out with my friend before dawn, just about to jump on the highway when I suddenly remembered that I’d forgotten my hunting boots. I felt like a total idiot, apologized and had to drive back ten minutes, where they were sitting outside, right next to the front door of my house -- almost as if to taunt me.

My friend shrugged, chuckled and told me a story about another friend of his who’d driven three hours to go bowhunting – only to realize once he got there that he’d left his bow at home.

We’re all human, and we all make mistakes. So, try to have a sense of humor about it. But don’t make it a habit, either. Otherwise, people probably won’t invite you to go hunting with them very often. At least not the ones who have their shit together. And trust me – those are the ones you want to have with you when you really want to get the job done.

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