How Do You Measure Success?

[Reagan]

It depends.

In 2013 I got to turkey hunt with my daughters for the first time. We hunted with my Dad who was battling cancer and very sick from chemo. I was so thankful that she had a chance to hunt with her Pawpaw. No turkeys were harmed but I loved hunting that season.

2014 we got to do it again even though a year before it thought it was going to be our only time . I pray Dad is still around when she is old enough to carry a gun and shoot her first bird.

Last year I killed a doe with that same daughter in the blind with me. She tracked it all by herself. It was my best deer hunt last year.

But when I hunt alone and it is November and you just know anything can happen, I feel success when I see a mature buck. If he gets into range and I get to put an arrow in him, that is just a bonus.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Success to me is any day in the woods. I have really low deer densities so seeing deer in the habitat that I created make it that much better. Harvesting one for the freezer just puts icing on the cake. A wall hanger would be just out of this world.

I could not have said it better. Low deer densities for me too…just seeing deer in the habitat I have created is a success for me. If I can get into my stands and back out again as I hunt them and see deer each sit I feel successful. Harvesting a deer is a rare and satisfying experience.

 

[buckvelvet]

Success to me is putting a lot of work in & and seeing the wildlife enjoy the fruits of your labor. I'm a admitted whitetail enthusiast but I also enjoy seeing Turkeys, Bobcats, Fox, Etc... using what I've created. I don't know if the passion I have could be in everyone. However I take great personal satisfaction in producing something great in non producing areas.

Like putting the LC mix in a place where the PH was 4.8 and having 30 deer in that plot a night because it was so close to cover and wasn't just random grass, thistles, & ferns anymore. Cutting down a 100 foot swath of popple trees to create space for an orchard and letting the new growth come in and see it heavily browsed in an otherwise unproductive spot from all the mature poplars.

So what makes a successful hunt? I can stare at a green food source all day long whether there is deer in it or not. I prefer to hunt with a good friend because the stories told and the fun times had will live on. If there is an animal harvested during that time it makes it that much sweeter but you can never get the time back that you lose so why not use it all the best way possible. :)

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Success to me is putting a lot of work in & and seeing the wildlife enjoy the fruits of your labor. I'm a admitted whitetail enthusiast but I also enjoy seeing Turkeys, Bobcats, Fox, Etc... using what I've created. I don't know if the passion I have could be in everyone. However I take great personal satisfaction in producing something great in non producing areas.

Like putting the LC mix in a place where the PH was 4.8 and having 30 deer in that plot a night because it was so close to cover and wasn't just random grass, thistles, & ferns anymore. Cutting down a 100 foot swath of popple trees to create space for an orchard and letting the new growth come in and see it heavily browsed in an otherwise unproductive spot from all the mature poplars.

So what makes a successful hunt? I can stare at a green food source all day long whether there is deer in it or not. I prefer to hunt with a good friend because the stories told and the fun times had will live on. If there is an animal harvested during that time it makes it that much sweeter but you can never get the time back that you lose so why not use it all the best way possible. :)

Well SAID buckvelvet couldn't agree more!

 

[bryant]

Lots of great responses. For me the success of a year isn't fully known until we get our harvest report back from the biologist. But did we meet our doe goal, were those deer in good condition, did we complete more habitat improvement projects, were the bucks killed what we were intending them to be. Those are the kinds of questions that measure success for me. That said I consider every opportunity to be afield a success even the ones that everything goes wrong because they become camp fire fodder for years. The one other thing that mo sorta mentioned when talking about helping folks, did I teach anybody anything? Did I teach someone to be a better steward or better hunter in some way.

 

[scott44]

Success for me isn't in the killing it is the whole year round habitat improvement and hunting experience. I like taking land where there was nothing and watching it turn into something. We have also made a conscious
effort to kill only older bucks no 8pt or better rule or points on one side just an older deer. I used to rifle hunt and bow hunt but I am more of a bow hunter now, I really like just being out in the woods in a tree stand and watching the world come alive in the mornings, killings something is just an added bonus. Don't get me wrong I would love to get a booner but it is not always needed for me to have a successful hunt. One of the coolest things is my 3 boys each shot their first buck out of the same blind during our youth hunts those years that was success.

 

[scott44]

I have been over run with customers yesterday and this morning as guys try and get food plots in before the rain today and tomorrow. One Customer of 5 years that was here this morning, brought me pictures of his success from last year. 3 nice bucks for him the wife and son. 2 shot at his sconie land by Siren and one by Sandstone MN. They had never driven a tractor when they started food plotting 5 years ago. And after 5 years have it going pretty good for never ever planting a thing before 5 years ago. This families success is the very reason I love doing this. This is one of the ways I measure success, by helping others achieve a goal! Kind of cheezy, but it is a lot of fun for me!

Not cheezy at all MO, I find myself always buying more seed than I need and either giving it away or selling it to people for planting small plots. When they come back and say theat was a really good plot I had it makes a guy feel good that you helped. Keep helping MO!

 

[j-bird]

MO - happy customers make repeat customers!

 

[j-bird]

Those that go else where will figure out sometimes price isn't everything. Wait 'til they get screwed over - they'll be back! A combo of quality products at a fair price and quailty service is a tough one to beat. Those only seeking the cheapest price sooner or later learn somtimes you get what you pay for. Gotta be nice though seeing a customer happy enough to send you the pic - nothing sells your stuff better than other folks out talking about how good your stuff is.