HulkHunter

I set objectives at the start of each season and each hunt, whatever the objectives may be.

But you asked specifically about a "season" so I will stick with that.

I have started seasons where my main objective was to get a kid or newer hunter their best opportunity to harvest an animal. I have passed on my own opportunities to see the kids prosper.

So in that situation it could possibly be called a "failure" for me and a "success" for the kid or newer hunter. But I would of course consider it a personal success because I obtained my objective and in the end I could certainly smile bigger than if only I had harvested an animal.

NEW61375

I wonder if long ago when the Indians or frontier people went hunting for game and they didn't kill anything how they viewed it. I'm sure they still had a good time and enjoyed themselves but the other folks back at the camp might have a different opinion ecspecially around dinner time.

jj

I think each season comes with successes and failures. There is always something to improve on, something new to learn, a better way to do something. I killed plenty of deer this season(8) so I consider my season successful. I let some deer go that I chose not to shoot, another success in my mind as far as hopefully helping that particular area I hunt produce some better deer. But I also missed a doe with my muzzleloader, failure. I had problems with my muzzleloader on another day and shot primers off at two different deer, failure (equipment failure, damaged breech plug). I missed threeother deer with my shotgun, the last being yesterday, and that deer just happened to be a wallhanger(the biggest buck I saw this season), so another failure.

Each season has successes and failures and you can learn equally well from both, sometimes you learn more from your failures because they stick with you and leave a bad taste in your mouth and you have plenty of time afterward to analyze what you did wrong and figure outwhat you can do differently in the future to keep that particular failure from happening again. But there is one thing that is certain,there will benew failuresand the real question hereis this : Do you judge your season based on just your failures? I would certainly hope not.

NEW61375

How bout ya MDS184, you know what I'm talking about.

NY Bowhunter

I didnt' get one of the 2 bucks I was after during bowseason therefore I was unsuccessful. I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of my failure though [8D].


p.s. Had one of them (130" 9 pointer)at full draw but never presented me a good enough shot. Quartering towards anglewas too much and I wasn't 100% confident with the angle. As much as it pained me, I had to let off and watch him bolt out of there. So I succeeded in making the right decision [8D]

tycteach

I personally would say that I must have been a failure for the nearly 40 years that I've hunted under this criteria. You see, each year, I'm after a "new world record" or the world record that will never be broken. I haven't achieved that and few of us have. Maybe few would admit it but I'd bet that our goal and dream most of the time is to shoot the biggest deer that there is (of course there are always other goals too that have already been mentioned). It doesn't mean that I'm going to stop hunting. I'll go afterHIM again next year and on and on until I'm dead or can't go anymore. But, every time I go, I just hope that HE steps in that shooting laneso I can have a crack at him. HE may not be within 3,000 miles of me, but I'm still gunning for HIM just the same. So, under your criteria and in your eyes, I'm a miserable failure. I hate to admit it but that must be the case. And with over 100 deer under my belt and some of them pretty nice especially considering where I've hunted, I thought I had done pretty good. You have just deflated any little bit of ego I had left but it won't stop me from staying after my goal but settling for a little less if that's what I have to do even up to passing on every deer that I have the opportunity to harvest but doesn't meet my criteria at the time. That's a pretty hefty definition of failure you have. Mine is not the same, but to each his own. I'm guessing that if you had your goal set on killing the great 160" deer that you have been seeing and hunting and the next world record stepped out and you shot him, you would have failed since you didn't actually get the one you set out to get but would one actually admit that they failed but had such success even at killing? I personally think not. Hunting is much more than that to me after all these years and I'll just continue to define my own failures and not push my standards on anyone else. Enjoy the hunt guys. That's what it's all about to me.

just curious

lets just say this. one of the most successful hunting seasons i've ever had was last year when i didn't harvest a deer, but i spent almost every day in the woods with my dad having great conversations.there is no way any of you can convince me that was a failure.

rybohunter

Looks like we just agree to not understand each other.

One thing I do want to emphasize greatly is that I hunt for a multitude of reasons, and solely killing an animal is not at the top at all. Its how I measure success, but its sure not why I hunt, or how I measure enjoyment. I trudge out into the woods many times knowing the actual chancesof me shooting something are so small, but yet I maintain that eager anticipation of the hunt and what I may experience while out there.

What ever your reasons for getting out there, or however you measure "success" good luck in achieving it.

NY Bowhunter

But what did you succeed at? You failed in killing a deer. You can still have great memories and time afield with family but fail at your hunting. Or has this aspect already been covered here [:-]?

just curious

i succeeded at spending a wonderful hunting season with my father, who may never get the opportunity to hunt with me again. killing a deer was never on the agenda any time we went out. so i didn't really fail at that. and if i had made it my main objective for hunting that season, i may have missed out on the memories i have. i'm just trying to make a point that hunting isn't always about killing an animal. if you always make it about the harvest, you may miss out on other parts of the hunt that are equally as important. and i suppose i could have formed the same memories in a coffee shop, but somehow, it just doesn't seem the same to me.