3 Tips For Overcoming Fear In The Backcountry

Late to the game outdoors

- Eric Voris

No one likes to talk about it (or even admit they’ve experienced it), but it’s real…very real! Something about hunting and the outdoors tends to bring out our most puffed-out-chest, manly-man, I-can-handle-anything versions of ourselves, and so we minimize those parts of us that feel like we can’t handle anything. And because of that phenomenon, no one wants to talk about how frightening it can be to find yourself alone in the backcountry. All by yourself, not another human for miles, just you and whatever you can’t see out there in the dark…I don’t care who you are, some part of you is going to be afraid.

I’ll never forget the first time I ever went truly solo on a backpacking trip…let’s just say that after the sun went down, I was anything but manly. (If you want to hear the story, you can watch me tell it below…trust me, it’ll make you feel much better about any fear you may have dealt with). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bt5c-6dkRs. Now, that story happened on my first solo trip into the backcountry…surely, as the years have gone by and I’ve been on plenty of solo excursions, that kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore, right? Doesn’t the fear eventually just disappear? Well, you would think so, but I have found it likes to linger for a while. And since there aren’t a ton of people talking about this stuff, it can catch a guy totally off-guard when he gets out there for the first time. I’ll never forget the heart-breaking email I got from a guy who poured months of planning and money into his first-ever solo hunt, got out there the night before opening day, and had an intense wave of anxiety wash over him that had him back at his truck driving home that very night.