It was one of those boneheaded moves I kick myself black-and-blue over. I was still-hunting an edge where loggers had thinned a forested slope. It was late in the afternoon and the rut was on, and I expected a buck to show at any moment. I saw one about 100 yards away, broadside. At a glance, I knew it was a good 4×4—the kind of buck I was after. But instead of settling in for a shot, I pulled up my binocular and studied the antlers. The buck turned to walk away. I rushed the shot—missing clean.
Every day afield is full of decisions, large and small. Making a bad decision—like raising my binocular instead of my rifle—is part of the game. But an emerging theory of psychology is shining a light on why smart people make bad decisions. The phenomenon is called “decision fatigue.” It’s getting a lot of attention in high-stakes professions like law enforcement, military, and emergency medicine, and activities like mountaineering, where bad decisions can have devastating consequences.
Here’s the bottom line: Your brain acts like a muscle. Decisions cost energy. Analyzing trade-offs that are not…
