My dad used to tell me a humorous story about deer hunting with a friend. They spotted a big buck and his friend ran every bullet in his magazine into the chamber and then out onto the ground without firing a shot. When he told my dad that he couldn’t believe he had missed that buck, Dad just showed him the unfired bullets.

As a kid, it was funny, but after being in similar situations, I can understand the poor guy’s condition. I have been so excited a couple of times that I wasn’t even sure I had fired my rifle and had to check.

Our brains can do some funny things when we get in stressful situations. Like my dad’s friend, it could be the buck of a lifetime, your biggest fish ever, or something more serious, like getting turned around in the woods.

The best thing to do to successfully navigate any high-stress situation is to prepare. You can practice shooting or have a survival kit in your car to help, but you can also play “If, then” games with yourself: If I get into this situation, then these are the things I can do.

It may seem a little silly, but having a plan will really up your chances of success when your brain is wanting to freak out. In the 1950s, the Air Force did a study to see what made the difference between survival and death when airmen got shot down.

Those who had made a plan for “just in case” fared pretty well. They are the ones who personalized their survival gear and became familiar with it. Those who took the “It will never happen to me” attitude had pretty low chances of survival.

I lost the biggest sturgeon of my life because I didn’t think I was going to catch anything that day and so didn’t check my drag to see if it was set properly. No plan, no fish.

Along with a plan, or in the absence of a plan, attitude can go a long way towards saving the day. Back in 1870, a city slicker by the name of Truman Everts joined a party to explore the area of Yellowstone. He became separated from his party and all his supplies. He didn’t even have a knife.

In spite of that, he managed to survive for 37 days before he was rescued because he kept telling himself, “I will not die in this wilderness.” Don’t give in to panic, take the time to get your mind right, and you just might pull off the impossible.

I am a firm believer in the axiom “Whether you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you are probably right.”

Got any tricks to deal with stress? Tell us at shootingthebreezebme@gmail.com.