How do you measure success?

[1uofacat]

I had fun this season.  Although I never let an arrow loose on an elk, there were opportunities that just didn't pan out.  Day 3 was perhaps the closest I came to cutting loose, but never got a clear shot.

 

Letting this bull go on day 5 wasn't easy, but I wanted a much bigger amimal having taken larger ones.  If it had been day 10 or later, probably different outcome...  Bugling also wasn't near as prevalent as we'd hoped for either.  There were days where it was also completely silent.

 

The bull on day 3 was significantly larger btw too.  Oh well, it was, as I said, a lot of fun!  

[trphyhntr]

 By height 

[PRDATR]

To me, having  a successful hunt is the result of killing the target species. After all it is a hunt. Should I not kill then I was unsuccessful. Just like a car race. You either won or you lost. Don't confuse Successful with Eventful.

[AZBIG10]

When you fill the coolers with meat, Then have a celebratory beverage.

[Ernesto C]

Every single day that I don't hunt, is an unsuccesful day!

[25-06]

How do I measure success? Simply a freezer full of meat. What ever the good Lord gives me.

[trphyhntr]

3 hours ago, PRDATR said:

To me, having  a successful hunt is the result of killing the target species. After all it is a hunt. Should I not kill then I was unsuccessful. Just like a car race. You either won or you lost. Don't confuse Successful with Eventful.

if a guys goal is just to kill anything legal i guess i agree. 

[trphyhntr]

if nothing breaks and nobody gets hurt, thats a good hunt. if you have a goal to kill a huge bull and you hunt the whole time and dont kill youre more successful than someone that shoots a rag with a trophy tag. jmho

[1uofacat]

Who remembers being able to get 2 whitetail tags/year?  That was fun, taking a buck early for the freezer, then trophy hunting for the "real" tag!

 

I miss those days...

[tomharveyb]

1 hour ago, 1uofacat said:

Who remembers being able to get 2 whitetail tags/year?  That was fun, taking a buck early for the freezer, then trophy hunting for the "real" tag!

 

I miss those days...

I remember being able to get a December whitetail tag as a second tag.  Mid 80’s.  Then putting in for good hunts, because you can always pick up a leftover whitetail tag if you don’t draw.  Last time I did that was 2016.  How things have changed!

[Ernesto C]

I remember not to long ago you could take a buck and a javalina. But they only did thar for a year, maybe two. That was nice!

[Eli]

20 hours ago, PRDATR said:

To me, having  a successful hunt is the result of killing the target species. After all it is a hunt. Should I not kill then I was unsuccessful. Just like a car race. You either won or you lost. Don't confuse Successful with Eventful.

Agree fully. But unsuccessful doesn’t mean a bad hunt, didn’t learn, not fun, etc. 

[PRDATR]

1 hour ago, Eli said:

Agree fully. But unsuccessful doesn’t mean a bad hunt, didn’t learn, not fun, etc. 

Eli I agree. That's all part of preparation and enduring the days and hours of the hunt. I do probably 80% of my hunts solo. I go where I want to go and follow my hunches and only have myself to get me out of situations.

I hunt because I like the stalk and the kill. The meat is a bonus but I hunt to pull the trigger and see stuff die and get the meat. Every step I take I see something I have never seen before and will never see again.

[Eli]

8 minutes ago, PRDATR said:

Every step I take I see something I have never seen before and will never see again.

Man, I was just having a conversation about the this. Only one trip around this sun, and that sunrise in that location will never happen again..  That’s the part that’s hard to explain to people who don’t hunt. . The stuff you see, hear, feel, that will never be again 

[PRDATR]

48 minutes ago, Eli said:

Man, I was just having a conversation about the this. Only one trip around this sun, and that sunrise in that location will never happen again..  That’s the part that’s hard to explain to people who don’t hunt. . The stuff you see, hear, feel, that will never be again 

Well some people walk right by nature and never see things like a wasp running around on the ground sniffing out a spider or see a Falcon jumping from branch trying to catch a Red Squirrel  that is having a conniption fit.