Just a thought.....How many guys....

use the word "FAILURE" too much??? In my eyes....TOO MANY!!!!!!!!! I have seen this word in too many threads lately. That word and hunting shouldn't be in the same sentence! Any day that I am able to hunt is not a failure in the least bit, but a success! This is what we as hunters need to teach the new, curious and younger generation of hunters....

one wonders why our numbers are declining.....

What are your thoughts?

a bad day of hunting is always and i do mean ALWAYS better than work (in my case school)
plus hunting isnt like other sports...lots and lots of variables have to go in your favor to shoot a deer or any game and most of them are out of your control

BHF,

Second that. Hunting is a serious sport (it isn't foosball), and it requires patience, persistence, safety, and all that, but the people around you and the downtime should be fun, not filled with disappointment, and would-coulda-shoulda.

Also, I think of all the hunting, deer hunting has the tendency to go that route b/c it is usually one guy sitting on a stand all day. I really miss back when I had a duck/goose lease. You can drink coffee, eat honey buns, play with the dog, screw around with your decoys, go fix your mojo duck, and make fun of everybody misses live while its happening.
My 12 guage is lonely these days.

But yeah, I love every minute I am out there now, can't say that I used to feel that way. I still haven't gotten a big buck and I used to let that bother me. Now it does drive me, but it doesn't torment me and I try not to let it get me down. Could be the long hours at work though.

I've been using the word "Failure" for close to 50 years. If you take it seriously you've got an ego problem.[8D] We go hunting with one main objective in mind, "To Kill a Critter". All the touchy touchy feel good talk about back to nature and all that is a secondary benefit, or maybe the highlight, depending on your mode.[8D] If you don't hear "TWACK".. you failed that day. We fail all the time in life, in love, at work, at play... get use to it. If you can't live with and work around the word "Failure".... You're going to FAIL. You're dang right we fail... admit it and try to do better. Learn from your failures and try to do better. Hiding your head in the sand and saying I had a beautiful wonderful touchy touchy feel good day when you didn't do what you set out tois like kissing your sister, it could have been a LOT better day. If you can't say the word failure with an open mind... you're fooling yourself. Admit your shortcomings and drive on wimp.[8D][8D] (God I love being crotchetty)

And if you can't throw back your head and roar with laughter at a most disappointing failure where the deer won and you FAILED... you violated Cathy's RULE NuMBER 1...
"It's suppose to be fun"

it aint all about killing a deer its about gettin back to nature, having fun with friends, getting away from the hustle and bustle, jsut relaxing...dont get me wrong i hunt hard but i look at it that if i kill a deer or turkey its just an added bonus

Obviously you've failed a lot in your 16 years. LOL I didn't say it was all about killing... I said our main objective IS TO KILL. That's why we go out. If not... we'd be hikers and backpackers and could leave all the bows at home. We wouldn't need to get up at dark thirty and could have breakfast first. You hunt for ONE reason... to KILL, second EAT etc etc I don't go hunting to entertain. I can do that in my house at night. I go to succeed and to kill. If you want to come along for some friendship and laughs.. fine, but I'm not out there for you.

The majority of why I hunt is to kill an animal. That may seem a bit...off... to some of you, but its the cold hard truth.

If I wanted to "get back to nature" or "have fun with friends"I'd go camping and save myself thousands of dollars a year. I practice nearly 365 days a year for that one split second opportunity to kill an animal.

If I don't kill an animal at the end of the season, I have failed somehow. I didn't put myself in the position to put all the practice and preparations I made to good use, so therefor I've failed. It may not be a complete failure, as I'm sure to have learned something along the way, gained a bit more experience, and made some memories, but I have still failed.

You only fail when you stop trying,and if you are not enjoying every minute of it you are missing out big time.The only time I will ever fail at any thing is when they have lowered my casket into the ground and I no longer have the ability to keep after the things I wish to succeed at!

DM,

Wow, sounds like somebody "failed" today and is blowing off some steam.

And Washington, I don't go out to deer hunt "to have fun with my friends." How the hell can you have fun with your friends when you are sitting on a stand for 8 or more hours a day BY YOURSELF. And as for enjoying nature, well it is possible for me to enjoy an afternoon on a stand without killing. Of course I would rather kill a deer, but it is nice to get away from phone, email, crying babies, nagging, bosses, driving, and watch the racoons, wooducks, bobcats, hawks, owls, squirrels, small deer (like a Disney movie) . I do respect your determination, but it is possible to get some enjoyment out of just being out there without being a smelly granola-eating peacenik.

I was saying that you could bag your limit of ducks (successful killing) and still have a lot of fun with buddies doing it. It is a totally different ballgame from deer hunting.

BHF, is really talking about being hard on young hunters, and taking all the fun out of it for them. I think it can be easy for deer hunters to do.

THATS, the cold hard truth!

We as hunters better step up and make it enjoyable for the youth/new hunters and give them hope instead of the everyday failure of life that Davidmil speaks of! Why must some bring that "failure" into hunting, why not enjoy it!

One could have 20 P&Y or B&C bucks, kills every season etc, etc, etc..., but if you discouraged or didn't pass your knowledge on to the youth/new hunters, then you failed as a hunter! Some sure are missing out!