Endure: How to Work Hard, Outlast, and Keep Hammering

by Cameron R. Hanes

Focusing on the reps is the important thing in lifting. Weight doesn’t matter. It’s all about reps and endurance.

Sensing pain means you’re sacrificing, and sacrificing sets you up for a big reward. I’ve found that your body will respond to whatever you ask of it. Humans are amazingly capable of so much. Push your limits.

Being in Beast Mode is when it feels like you’re in a superhuman state of being, when in your mind you’re playing at a level above everybody else. Is this reality? Doesn’t matter. If you believe you are, you are. The mindset of a winner is unbeatable.

Training like this teaches you there are different degrees of being uncomfortable. The key is to grow accustomed to it through weight training and running. I’m uncomfortable, but I still feel at home. I’m out of my comfort zone, but I am still able to perform.

Emulating exhaustion and manufacturing misery allow me not to lose my head on a hunt.

My goal is to work so hard for the people that pay me, my regular job or my sponsors, that if times are tough, I’d be the very last person they’d let go.

That’s not how it works. If your goal is you want to grow and you want to challenge yourself and you want to help people succeed, money will come. If your goal is the money, it’s probably not going to work out for you.

Your body gives what you ask of it. Don’t ask much and it won’t give you much. Ask a lot and it will give you a lot. I haven’t found my limit yet, but I am trying.

“You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.”

Our body and mind are tools to use in the woods. Training hones those tools, simple as that. The better the tools you haul into the mountains, the more success you’ll have.

“They don’t make statues of critics.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger said it best: “You have to remember something: Everybody pities the weak; jealousy you have to earn.”

“Learn to love the hate. Embrace it. Enjoy it. You earned it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and everyone should have one about you. Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones.” —Kobe Bryant

When I see someone better than me or someone who’s accomplished something that I’d love to achieve, I use them as motivation. I work harder and become more focused because of them.

While I enjoy the challenge of bowhunting and being an active, self-sufficient member of the circle of life, killing does not bring me enjoyment. I wouldn’t call it fun.

“One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted … If one were to present the sportsman with the death of the animal as a gift he would refuse it. What he is after is having to win it, to conquer the surly brute through his own effort and skill with all the extras that this carries with it: the immersion in the countryside, the healthfulness of the exercise, the distraction from his job…”

I see hunters as providers.

Each slow, painfully hard step of getting that animal out—that’s like the best feeling of satisfaction ever. It’s a goal achieved. You’ve been rewarded for the grind. The sacrifice has paid off.

When do you suppose the last time was a hunter deliberately threatened the life of a non-hunter? Never. Know why? Because hunters have respect for life.

Probably not entirely true, but point taken

And it teaches one how to deal with failure, as most days afield end with nothing more than a pure experience and appreciation for the beauty of the wild, hunters are repeatedly humbled. Being humble is good. To be clear, success—that is, a dead animal—is rare for most, so a hunter spends most days learning and becoming more well rounded.

When non-hunters live lives that offer no opportunity for honor, hard-earned success, or out-of-your-comfort-zone living that builds success when completed, one can get spoiled and soft.

“These ‘can’t catch a break’ guys—get them the fuck away from me. I can’t be around those guys. I don’t want to hear that shit. I don’t want to hear that shit. I don’t buy it. ’Cause everybody has bad breaks. I’ve had a shit ton of bad breaks. But you know what I did? I stayed up and I fought through it and I figured out what the fuck I did wrong. And then I went back. It’s like—I fucked up everything I’ve ever done a hundred times … There’s no other way to do it. And I’ve had a bunch of shitty breaks. Everybody has. But you gotta realize when you have those shitty breaks what that is … And the people that look at those challenges and go, ‘Why do I always have the challenges”—they’re cancer. Those people are dangerous to be around. They will rob you of your enthusiasm. They don’t give you any fuel—they’re the opposite of fuel … All the time you’re complaining, you could be instead hustling. You could be instead chasing your dream. You could be instead figuring out what you’re doing wrong, trying to improve certain aspects of your life, getting your shit together, reading a book, meditating—something! Fucking something. But this “I can’t catch a break” shit is not helping anybody and it pushes everybody away from you. —Joe Rogan

Never let the weakness of this world infiltrate your mind!

Maybe some people don’t believe me when I say I’m not that talented. It’s like, no, I’m just working harder than you. That’s all there is to it. Maybe you’re better than me, but you’re not sacrificing. That’s how I’ve always felt. I’ve never felt like I’m better, but I just give more.

“You can’t make people joyous just by being joyous yourself. Joy has to be generated by oneself: It is or it isn’t. Joy is founded on something too profound to be understood and communicated. To be joyous is to be a madman in a world of sad ghosts.”

—Henry Miller, Sexus

Inspiring others is a wonderful thing, but I also believe families need strong men who protect, love, and keep order. Our communities need the same.

Remember, if you live for the praise and acceptance of others, you will conversely die by their criticism. Don’t give them that power.

Therefore, my loyalty is to the animals I pursue. I am motivated to be the most lethal, compassionate, respectful, and merciful hunter I can be.

Be blind as you chase your goals.

There will always be those who want to see someone who’s motivated fail, because the effort of others reminds the weak of their lack of passion and purpose.

They don’t realize that apathy is death.

By my honorable conduct as a hunter let me give a good example and teach new hunters principles of honor, so that each new generation can show respect for God, other hunters, and the animals, and enjoy the dignity of the hunt. —Novena prayer to Saint Hubert, patron saint of hunters

Two words that come to mind are the ones Maximus says at the start of the battle in Gladiator. “Strength and honor.”

Train. Hunt. Provide. Honor.

That is why I prepare for the hunt even more seriously than a pro athlete prepares for a game. If I am going to take the life of one of those animals, I need to be my best, and I want it to be an ethical kill. Killing an animal is a big deal; it’s not like buying a steak at the grocery store. There is so much reverence in that moment. There’s a life at stake, and if I’m not at my best, I’ll feel like I’m not honoring that life.

At the moment of truth, a bowhunter makes certain decisions that impact success or failure. The line between the two is razor thin.

For a bowhunter, this is the most critical moment to master, as adrenaline speeds through your body and your heart races. If you can’t remain under control, success will be tough. If you can, releasing a perfect arrow is just another part of the process. If you’ve put in the work, you’ll crave crunch time because it’s your chance to shine. Bend that bow back, anchor in, pick a spot, and send a razor-sharp broadhead on its way. The arrow flashes toward the bull and lands home, as you knew it would, because you’ve worked too hard to fail. After following a short blood trail, you find your bull and respectfully kneel by the amazing animal that gave its life to you. The bull’s memory would be celebrated when his antlers eventually adorned your wall and his flesh nourished you.

For me a hunt is filled with a multitude of emotions, including gratitude, as I’m immersed in the beauty of nature, and respect, as on some hunts I move among predators and through terrain that can snatch a man’s life in the blink of an eye. It’s a reminder to all who are paying attention that death favors no man. There is also a heightened sense of awareness once the heavy senses-muting cloak of the civilized world is shrugged from the shoulders. Then finally hunting instinct can take over.

We try our best to honor this experience with words and photos from the great challenge we overcame in unforgiving country. We talk about respect, we give reverence to the animal that fell to our arrow and yes, there are bittersweet feelings when you’ve achieved your hunting goal while an animal lies dead at your feet. We accept that death is part of life, and hunters take ownership of the fact that, for us to live, animals will die.

Even for me, after hunting for many decades, the actual death of an animal is not something I enjoy. Achieving my goal and life’s purpose? Yes, that is fulfilling, and I accept the fact that, as a bowhunter, success for me means the animal dies.

The journey as a hunter is complicated and rife with challenge. It can take its toll on a man but also it can mold you into something more. Something deeper and more meaningful in a world seemingly defined by superficial fluff.

The animals I hunt and ultimately kill have my respect. As a hunter I take ownership over the fact that for me to survive, animals die. Life eats life.

I remember more than once blowing it on a big bull, times when I should have gotten a kill and screwed it up. And it has haunted me. Crushed me. I’ve joked that I probably needed counseling, but I’m sure I actually did. That was how much bowhunting and achieving my goals means to me. Each time something like that happens, I tell myself I never want to feel like that ever again. Each time I was crushed, I told myself I simply needed to work harder and push myself even more. My reasoning was, I failed because I hadn’t sacrificed enough.

Keep in mind, I shoot a high-poundage bow set at a level 95 percent of bowhunters would say was dumb and unnecessary, mostly because they aren’t strong enough to pull it back. They could if they trained, but not many train for bowhunting.

Thanks for the nourishment, beast. Your flesh will fuel me and your antlers on my wall will ensure your life is honored as long as I live.

I love sharing the meat from my kills, as that’s what I think a hunter should do … We are providers. The blood on our hands as hunters might be symbolic, but to a hunter there is honor in doing the “dirty work.” Where I grew up, and traditionally, great hunters were respected and admired because they were keeping their community alive. I believe this is how it still should be.

All humans have blood on their hands, proverbial or otherwise. Hunters aren’t ashamed of the fact that for us to live, animals die.

To the vegans who want to clamor on about not eating meat, guess what? Animals died for you to live. If you drive a car, animals were displaced and killed to make room for the roads you drive. Furthermore, the wood to build your dwelling was made from trees that were cut down, killing woodland animals such as bears, large cats, wolves, amphibians, birds, and reptiles. If you’re living in that house, you’re responsible for the lives lost. The wheat field where your bread comes from … animals died during the growth and harvest of that grain. If you’re eating the bread, you’re responsible for that too. Rabbits, deer, mice—they all die by the truckload on agricultural land during harvest time. Don’t feel guilty, though … it’s the circle of life, and you’re part of it, regardless of how detached you are from that reality.

Hunters don’t have blinders on, pretending Disney is real life and that everyone lives until they’re old, man and animal alike, dying peacefully in their sleep. Humans can’t exist without causing death … life eats life.