Post by dreamrider on Apr 26, 2020 23:36:10 GMT -5
LUCK……..food for thought!
Define luck, is it real, or a figment of the imagination and superstition. If there is no such thing, how is it that some of us can be ruled by it? Take the sportsman that won’t go on the field with out his lucky Tee shirt, or his pair of lucky boots. Or the people that won’t walk on cracks in the pavement, or won’t walk under a ladder. Yet how can any of these things possibly affect our lives if there is nothing tangible to see or hold on to. Surely luck, good or bad, is just a state of mind, isn’t it?
I come from a long line of fishermen and was bought up believing if our luck “was in” we could do no wrong, conversely if we were out of luck, we could do nothing but head for home, lick our wounds and try again. It seemed that the more we tried to work through the bad period the worse it got, best to head for home and start again tomorrow. As Boat Builders we were told never to launch a new boat on a Friday, and never never launch that new boat bow first. Never change a boats name with out the traditional christening with a bottle of champagne. WHY?
What about the hunter. Some times the animals are crawling all over him and other times nothing. Is it circumstances or luck? Is it luck that we went in the right direction at the fork in the trail, or sat in the correct tree stand? How often is it that we decide on a stand and see nothing all day, yet on the way out we see a nice buck standing under the very stand that we chose not to sit in that morning.
I remember going on a Chital hunt with my son Bruce and good friend Bill Baker in Queensland Australia for six days I hunted hard and never saw a trophy buck even while Bill was guiding me, Yet Bruce when hunting with Bill repeatedly seemed to get right in the middle of some great Bucks. Bill and I could not believe it, the harder we tried the worse it got, yet Bruce was laughing all the way to the bank. Lucky? who knows.
What about material objects can they be lucky or not, how can an inert object possibly have good or bad luck. Logic tells us that it’s a load of nonsense, yet I come back to that sportsman that insists on wearing his (lucky gear)
Many years ago I had a custom made hunting knife made by a top knife maker; it was built to my specifications and was a thing of immense pleasure with its incredibly hard blade and the Lignum Vitae handle (one of the hardest woods known to man). Unfortunately, that knife never saw blood; no matter what I did, or how hard I hunted, I could never shoot an animal while carrying that knife. Yet when ever I changed back to my old Western Cutlery hunting knife, I often had success. How could that be? It is just not logical, now I refuse to even touch that beautiful knife.
A few years ago, I was talking to John, an old Gunsmith friend about that knife, fully expecting to be ridiculed, but he told me about a similar occurrence that happened to him.
John had lived in South Africa for thirty years before returning to New Zealand. He and a few mates would, for three weeks every year travel up to Zimbabwe on a hunting safari. On one occasion, in anticipation of the up coming hunt, he built himself a tack driving 6.5 mm rifle. This thing could shoot lights out. Upon their arrival they set up camp and happily observed a large number of game dotted around the plains, that evening they prepared for the morning hunt in high spirits.
Next morning picking up his new pride and joy, John set out to be greeted by nothing, not an animal in sight. For four days he carried that rifle and never fired a shot. The fifth day he picked up his old faithful 7mm and proceeded to have one of his best hunting days ever. The day before heading back home, he took the 6.5 mm out again and believe it or not, saw nothing. John tried for many years but never shot a thing with that rifle, so decided to sell it to a very enthusiastic buyer. Some years later John met this chap at a gun meet and asked how he was enjoying the rifle. The chap gave John a guilty look and said “I sold it; I know you will think I am stupid but I could never shoot anything with that rifle”. John just smiled and said nothing.
Once again logic tells us that good or bad luck cannot be attached to a simple object but tell that to John and the second owner of that rifle. Its all superstitious nonsense, well isn’t it?
On my second safari to South Africa I had decided to take my Hoyt Vectrix bow and Kevin and Carol from Advanced archery NZ asked me to field test a Mathews M6. For the first four days I hunted with the Hoyt without success, (saw plenty but just not what I wanted), on the fifth day I switched to the monster and promptly shot a Mountain Zebra. The next two days I carried the Hoyt without luck, my good friend and guide Roger pleaded with me to take the M6 so I did and shot a nice Springbok ram. Every day after that Roger could not wait to see which bow I carried. Coincidence? Of course, it was, it could not have been anything else, could it?
Luck may only be only a state of mind. Believed by some and disbelieved by others. But ask yourself one thing, why do we say “good luck” to people as they walk out onto the playing field, or as we part to go our separate ways to hunt. If it’s meaningless, then why say it? What do I believe? I really don’t know, but that knife still stays untouched on the shelf?
Foot note. When Lanny came over to hunt with me in New Zealand, I gifted him that knife. As I did, I however told him the story behind it. I never found out how that knife worked out for him. I guess I was too afraid to ask. I would like to think it did work out for him, but!!!!!
Define luck, is it real, or a figment of the imagination and superstition. If there is no such thing, how is it that some of us can be ruled by it? Take the sportsman that won’t go on the field with out his lucky Tee shirt, or his pair of lucky boots. Or the people that won’t walk on cracks in the pavement, or won’t walk under a ladder. Yet how can any of these things possibly affect our lives if there is nothing tangible to see or hold on to. Surely luck, good or bad, is just a state of mind, isn’t it?
I come from a long line of fishermen and was bought up believing if our luck “was in” we could do no wrong, conversely if we were out of luck, we could do nothing but head for home, lick our wounds and try again. It seemed that the more we tried to work through the bad period the worse it got, best to head for home and start again tomorrow. As Boat Builders we were told never to launch a new boat on a Friday, and never never launch that new boat bow first. Never change a boats name with out the traditional christening with a bottle of champagne. WHY?
What about the hunter. Some times the animals are crawling all over him and other times nothing. Is it circumstances or luck? Is it luck that we went in the right direction at the fork in the trail, or sat in the correct tree stand? How often is it that we decide on a stand and see nothing all day, yet on the way out we see a nice buck standing under the very stand that we chose not to sit in that morning.
I remember going on a Chital hunt with my son Bruce and good friend Bill Baker in Queensland Australia for six days I hunted hard and never saw a trophy buck even while Bill was guiding me, Yet Bruce when hunting with Bill repeatedly seemed to get right in the middle of some great Bucks. Bill and I could not believe it, the harder we tried the worse it got, yet Bruce was laughing all the way to the bank. Lucky? who knows.
What about material objects can they be lucky or not, how can an inert object possibly have good or bad luck. Logic tells us that it’s a load of nonsense, yet I come back to that sportsman that insists on wearing his (lucky gear)
Many years ago I had a custom made hunting knife made by a top knife maker; it was built to my specifications and was a thing of immense pleasure with its incredibly hard blade and the Lignum Vitae handle (one of the hardest woods known to man). Unfortunately, that knife never saw blood; no matter what I did, or how hard I hunted, I could never shoot an animal while carrying that knife. Yet when ever I changed back to my old Western Cutlery hunting knife, I often had success. How could that be? It is just not logical, now I refuse to even touch that beautiful knife.
A few years ago, I was talking to John, an old Gunsmith friend about that knife, fully expecting to be ridiculed, but he told me about a similar occurrence that happened to him.
John had lived in South Africa for thirty years before returning to New Zealand. He and a few mates would, for three weeks every year travel up to Zimbabwe on a hunting safari. On one occasion, in anticipation of the up coming hunt, he built himself a tack driving 6.5 mm rifle. This thing could shoot lights out. Upon their arrival they set up camp and happily observed a large number of game dotted around the plains, that evening they prepared for the morning hunt in high spirits.
Next morning picking up his new pride and joy, John set out to be greeted by nothing, not an animal in sight. For four days he carried that rifle and never fired a shot. The fifth day he picked up his old faithful 7mm and proceeded to have one of his best hunting days ever. The day before heading back home, he took the 6.5 mm out again and believe it or not, saw nothing. John tried for many years but never shot a thing with that rifle, so decided to sell it to a very enthusiastic buyer. Some years later John met this chap at a gun meet and asked how he was enjoying the rifle. The chap gave John a guilty look and said “I sold it; I know you will think I am stupid but I could never shoot anything with that rifle”. John just smiled and said nothing.
Once again logic tells us that good or bad luck cannot be attached to a simple object but tell that to John and the second owner of that rifle. Its all superstitious nonsense, well isn’t it?
On my second safari to South Africa I had decided to take my Hoyt Vectrix bow and Kevin and Carol from Advanced archery NZ asked me to field test a Mathews M6. For the first four days I hunted with the Hoyt without success, (saw plenty but just not what I wanted), on the fifth day I switched to the monster and promptly shot a Mountain Zebra. The next two days I carried the Hoyt without luck, my good friend and guide Roger pleaded with me to take the M6 so I did and shot a nice Springbok ram. Every day after that Roger could not wait to see which bow I carried. Coincidence? Of course, it was, it could not have been anything else, could it?
Luck may only be only a state of mind. Believed by some and disbelieved by others. But ask yourself one thing, why do we say “good luck” to people as they walk out onto the playing field, or as we part to go our separate ways to hunt. If it’s meaningless, then why say it? What do I believe? I really don’t know, but that knife still stays untouched on the shelf?
Foot note. When Lanny came over to hunt with me in New Zealand, I gifted him that knife. As I did, I however told him the story behind it. I never found out how that knife worked out for him. I guess I was too afraid to ask. I would like to think it did work out for him, but!!!!!
