Hunting motivation

For me it's about the dogs. There nothing more exciting then watching a dog running at full speed and stopping on dime, tail raised, paw up, eyes focus on spot, all saying it's right there. More than likely it'll be a hen but we're one bird closer to rooster.
Last year I hunted with 8 year old setter knowing that his career is getting closer to the end and 5 month old GWP pup his career just beginning. I always get a kick watching a pup starting his career waiting for light bulb to come on. Watching that first point go over kicking around nothing comes up, next he points where a covey huns left while we getting out of truck, the pup telling you something was there. Next day he goes on point, walk over and 2 point whitetail buck jumps up and wants to chase but correct him oh were not hunting deer. Day 5 he goes on point you walk out in front of him and rooster comes out, you lucky enough to connect the pup chases it down, picks it up comes back with it and parades around you with his prize but doesn't want to hand it over to you. I'm okay with that, I know its only going to get better, I might have good dog in the works.
 
Love seeing a dog work, mine or another, as last season I was between dogs. What they can do, never gets old! I likely wouldn't go out if there was no dog involved. I now hunt almost every outing with my best buddy. I do enjoy watching him get better every season, along with his dog. I do want to connect on the shooting opportunities the dogs give me, it provides me great satisfaction to harvest some birds. I love being outside and seeing the "out of the way" places that few venture into and any of the wildlife that reside there. Pheasant hunting is my farvorite thing to do, just ahead of our annual prairie dog shoot. Working on creating or improving habitat, is high on the list of favorites also.
 
So far, 56 years into life, nothing else elicits the feeling of me observing a birdy dog, a flushing bird, the shot, and seeing a dog come up with the bird. Hasn’t gotten old!! I love being in, and participating, in nature. Not much more complicated than that. Being in a mall, for example, has no appeal. Or most urban settings. I love the sky, the wind, the sun, the clouds, the rivers and lakes, the trees, the prairies and plains…and all the living things that populate them. It’s not a conquest or a contest, it’s not about winning or losing, it’s like bark on a tree or a rain drop falling from the sky…it’s just the cycle of life, or my life, anyway…I’m alive and part of the “dance”, at least for now… ☀️🌈
 
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Prairie Drifter said:
When you start a puppy you have raised from it's first breath, seeing them develop into a bird crazy adult with skills that amaze me even 50 years into hunting is a treasure! Seeing them replicate what their relatives did even several generations ago is awesome. Getting birds is just gravy!
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I also love Golden Hour's take "I hunt to be in the outdoors. To connect with that primal part of myself that has the urge to hunt. To conquer nature, in a sense." Being in the outdoors, watching the dogs work in the company of my wife is why I enjoy the spring training on wild birds before nesting almost as much. The shoot with a camera/video is just as exciting to me.
 
It is the adventure of what is over the horizon, a new rooster honey hole?? Follow the dog to anticipation of a flush. Sometimes I feel like a settler coming over the next hill looking for a new homestead. I love and look for new open spaces and places. C'mon mates, follow me.
 
Redmoose said:
For me it's about the dogs. There nothing more exciting then watching a dog running at full speed and stopping on dime, tail raised, paw up, eyes focus on spot, all saying it's right there. More than likely it'll be a hen but we're one bird closer to rooster.
Last year I hunted with 8 year old setter knowing that his career is getting closer to the end and 5 month old GWP pup his career just beginning. I always get a kick watching a pup starting his career waiting for light bulb to come on. Watching that first point go over kicking around nothing comes up, next he points where a covey huns left while we getting out of truck, the pup telling you something was there. Next day he goes on point, walk over and 2 point whitetail buck jumps up and wants to chase but correct him oh were not hunting deer. Day 5 he goes on point you walk out in front of him and rooster comes out, you lucky enough to connect the pup chases it down, picks it up comes back with it and parades around you with his prize but doesn't want to hand it over to you. I'm okay with that, I know its only going to get better, I might have good dog in the works.
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Who's heart was beating fastest Redmoose!
 
birddude said:
Who's heart was beating fastest Redmoose!
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Mine for sure. I was in fear of missing a give me shot. I spend 5 days watching him running at the hip of my older dog. I think he bump 3 roosters on that trip, that the another dog pointed. You never know what they're go to point, my older dog first point was skunk that sprayed my chessie (that passed 2 years ago).
 
I could go on & on about what motivates me to hunt pheasants. I could pull some thoughts together into an organized treatise, but that'd take time. So I'll just list some:
1. I think my love for pheasant hunting is an actual affliction that can't be cured.
2. I love the solitude, so I usually hunt alone w/ my dog. It's my chance to think about nothing but my dog & hunting pheasants.
3. I love spending time with my dog, whether it's in the truck or in the field. We get each other.
4. I get such satisfaction from my relationship with my dog. Watching him be amazing & still improve. Communicating with him in a largely silent manner. The looks we give each other to let one another know we're in tune & interested in staying in tune.
5. It's so much more fun than sitting around watching football. If I stayed home, I'd never see a couple swans swimming in a small patch of open water. I'd never see a frog hung on a Russian olive thorn that some bird must've been scared away from. I'd never be standing there watching a deer watch me, hear a faint pecking sound, investigate, find that it's a wren pecking a cattail, & wonder what it thinks it's going to find in a dead cattail when it's zero degrees out.
6. Roosters themselves are amazing. They're beautiful creatures. I like eating them. They always have a new trick up their sleeves. They have a will & ability to survive like no other animal I've encountered.
7. It's the most enjoyable challenge I've undertaken. Pheasants have been a part of all my years, but I still love learning something new about them. And every outing, I try to hunt better somehow than the last.
8. If we (usually I, not Ace) screw up, or get skunked, the next hunt is our chance to right that wrong, & it can't come soon enough.
9. I'd be a liar to say I don't enjoy showing off pictures, not so much to say, "Look what I did." But to say, "Look what my dog did!"
10. Although my dog has hunting instincts, I've allowed him to become a hunter. He loves it & deserves to hunt as much as possible. It's my duty to take him.
11. Some say a dog doesn't care if you shoot a bird. I disagree. It's pretty obvious my dog is happiest/proudest when he presents a rooster to me, so I try to give him that chance as much as possible.
12. Of all the things I love about pheasant hunting, dog work after the shot is the pinnacle for me, whether it's making a nice retrieve, or recovering a bird I loused up on & sailed down 100 yds away into thick cover. Seeing my dog do amazing things is incredible & gives me a sense of pride in him mostly, but in myself a little too, because I did have something to do with it. So we do it as much as we can & we don't pass up reasonable opportunities to kill a rooster.
13. I don't have to get up at 0 dark hundred to hunt pheasants.
14. Occasionally one or both of my girls wants to go. They're great partners, whether they carry a gun that day or not, & we have a lot of fun together. They love watching the dog, & if that's what they want to do, I feel obligated to allow them to do it. And it's a chance to show them how fantastic the outdoors is.
 
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For me its just about enjoying it. A walk through the countryside on a nice afternoon with a fresh snow on the ground while I carry my Benelli is good enough. I enjoy the company of my dog too. About half the time, I hunt alone and I like it that way. The other half of the time I will take a trusted friend or my Father with. Seeing, flushing, shooting, and harvesting a rooster is simply a bonus. For years I hunted without a dog because I didn't have the means to own one, and I still enjoyed hunting (and bagged roosters, although not as many).

There's been days when I didn't bag a rooster (not a lot). I still enjoyed being out there because I try to pick good conditions to hunt in. Good conditions not only make it more enjoyable, but increase my odds of success. I don't hunt in gale force winds, when its 75 degrees out, when there's a sea of corn, or in a big group because I know I'm not going to enjoy it. I've hunted in awful conditions before and I question why I'm out there. No reason to do that anymore.

I know some fisherman and deer hunters that are only in it to harvest fish or shoot deer. They are meat hunters. Their measure of success is defined by how many fish they can fill their livewells with or how many deer they can hang each season. That's not how I roll. We don't do a lot of hunting or fishing together because our views on success clash.
 
Well written A5, I did enjoy #13 on the list and agree on almost all points. Running a GSP, I enjoy the stalking and pointing the most of the dog work, maybe even more than the retrieval of a winged bird that had covered 100 yards or more from the point it hit the ground, either is awesome to witness. It is just the best way to spend time outdoors!
 
1. Watch the dogs, only way to hunt. The connection you make with them when solo hunting is what drives me the most.
2. The feeling of freedom, takes my mind off the world.
3. The beauty of the hunt which includes the rooster flush, always awesome.
5. I solo hunt 75% however hunting with friends or family is special
6.Keeps me young with exercise, I can still go all day at 60. It is slower but I still can.
7. The bagging of a bird which is part of dog watching.
8. I love to hunt in adverse weather if I can handle it, not in 30 plus mph wind though.
9. Tradition! I started at 12 years old with a volt action 410!
10. Shooting different guns and loads.
11. Hunting new areas.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
I could go on & on about what motivates me to hunt pheasants. I could pull some thoughts together into an organized treatise, but that'd take time. So I'll just list some:
1. I think my love for pheasant hunting is an actual affliction that can't be cured.
2. I love the solitude, so I usually hunt alone w/ my dog. It's my chance to think about nothing but my dog & hunting pheasants.
3. I love spending time with my dog, whether it's in the truck or in the field. We get each other.
4. I get such satisfaction from my relationship with my dog. Watching him be amazing & still improve. Communicating with him in a largely silent manner. The looks we give each other to let one another know we're in tune & interested in staying in tune.
5. It's so much more fun than sitting around watching football. If I stayed home, I'd never see a couple swans swimming in a small patch of open water. I'd never see a frog hung on a Russian olive thorn that some bird must've been scared away from. I'd never be standing there watching a deer watch me, hear a faint pecking sound, investigate, find that it's a wren pecking a cattail, & wonder what it thinks it's going to find in a dead cattail when it's zero degrees out.
6. Roosters themselves are amazing. They're beautiful creatures. I like eating them. They always have a new trick up their sleeves. They have a will & ability to survive like no other animal I've encountered.
7. It's the most enjoyable challenge I've undertaken. Pheasants have been a part of all my years, but I still love learning something new about them. And every outing, I try to hunt better somehow than the last.
8. If we (usually I, not Ace) screw up, or get skunked, the next hunt is our chance to right that wrong, & it can't come soon enough.
9. I'd be a liar to say I don't enjoy showing off pictures, not so much to say, "Look what I did." But to say, "Look what my dog did!"
10. Although my dog has hunting instincts, I've allowed him to become a hunter. He loves it & deserves to hunt as much as possible. It's my duty to take him.
11. Some say a dog doesn't care if you shoot a bird. I disagree. It's pretty obvious my dog is happiest/proudest when he presents a rooster to me, so I try to give him that chance as much as possible.
12. Of all the things I love about pheasant hunting, dog work after the shot is the pinnacle for me, whether it's making a nice retrieve, or recovering a bird I loused up on & sailed down 100 yds away into thick cover. Seeing my dog do amazing things is incredible & gives me a sense of pride in him mostly, but in myself a little too, because I did have something to do with it. So we do it as much as we can & we don't pass up reasonable opportunities to kill a rooster.
13. I don't have to get up at 0 dark hundred to hunt pheasants.
14. Occasionally one or both of my girls wants to go. They're great partners, whether they carry a gun that day or not, & we have a lot of fun together. They love watching the dog, & if that's what they want to do, I feel obligated to allow them to do it. And it's a chance to show them how fantastic the outdoors is.
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Huede said:
1. Watch the dogs, only way to hunt. The connection you make with them when solo hunting is what drives me the most.
2. The feeling of freedom, takes my mind off the world.
3. The beauty of the hunt which includes the rooster flush, always awesome.
5. I solo hunt 75% however hunting with friends or family is special
6.Keeps me young with exercise, I can still go all day at 60. It is slower but I still can.
7. The bagging of a bird which is part of dog watching.
8. I love to hunt in adverse weather if I can handle it, not in 30 plus mph wind though.
9. Tradition! I started at 12 years old with a volt action 410!
10. Shooting different guns and loads.
11. Hunting new
Click to expand...
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
I could go on & on about what motivates me to hunt pheasants. I could pull some thoughts together into an organized treatise, but that'd take time. So I'll just list some:
1. I think my love for pheasant hunting is an actual affliction that can't be cured.
2. I love the solitude, so I usually hunt alone w/ my dog. It's my chance to think about nothing but my dog & hunting pheasants.
3. I love spending time with my dog, whether it's in the truck or in the field. We get each other.
4. I get such satisfaction from my relationship with my dog. Watching him be amazing & still improve. Communicating with him in a largely silent manner. The looks we give each other to let one another know we're in tune & interested in staying in tune.
5. It's so much more fun than sitting around watching football. If I stayed home, I'd never see a couple swans swimming in a small patch of open water. I'd never see a frog hung on a Russian olive thorn that some bird must've been scared away from. I'd never be standing there watching a deer watch me, hear a faint pecking sound, investigate, find that it's a wren pecking a cattail, & wonder what it thinks it's going to find in a dead cattail when it's zero degrees out.
6. Roosters themselves are amazing. They're beautiful creatures. I like eating them. They always have a new trick up their sleeves. They have a will & ability to survive like no other animal I've encountered.
7. It's the most enjoyable challenge I've undertaken. Pheasants have been a part of all my years, but I still love learning something new about them. And every outing, I try to hunt better somehow than the last.
8. If we (usually I, not Ace) screw up, or get skunked, the next hunt is our chance to right that wrong, & it can't come soon enough.
9. I'd be a liar to say I don't enjoy showing off pictures, not so much to say, "Look what I did." But to say, "Look what my dog did!"
10. Although my dog has hunting instincts, I've allowed him to become a hunter. He loves it & deserves to hunt as much as possible. It's my duty to take him.
11. Some say a dog doesn't care if you shoot a bird. I disagree. It's pretty obvious my dog is happiest/proudest when he presents a rooster to me, so I try to give him that chance as much as possible.
12. Of all the things I love about pheasant hunting, dog work after the shot is the pinnacle for me, whether it's making a nice retrieve, or recovering a bird I loused up on & sailed down 100 yds away into thick cover. Seeing my dog do amazing things is incredible & gives me a sense of pride in him mostly, but in myself a little too, because I did have something to do with it. So we do it as much as we can & we don't pass up reasonable opportunities to kill a rooster.
13. I don't have to get up at 0 dark hundred to hunt pheasants.
14. Occasionally one or both of my girls wants to go. They're great partners, whether they carry a gun that day or not, & we have a lot of fun together. They love watching the dog, & if that's what they want to do, I feel obligated to allow them to do it. And it's a chance to show them how fantastic the outdoors is.
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So this was the short version?
 
I basically gave up upland hunting 20 years ago. I became very passionate about bowhunting, and when that thrill started to wane I traded the compound for a longbow. A few years back I bought a boat. We had an aging lab at the time, and she did not enjoy being on the boat. I started my search for a four legged fishing buddy, and decided on a Springer. It didn't take long to figure out that she was a natural hunter. She may not be a highly polished gun dog, but she hunts close, has a great nose, and her drive never ceases to amaze me! I now have 3 Springers that take up the majority of my free time, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The main reason I hunt is because of my dogs. We don't go out with the goal of shooting a limit (if you saw me shoot, you'd understand), but it does happen on occasion. I have passed on chances at doubles a few times, especially early in a hunt, because I don't want to cheat the dogs out of their hunting time.
 
birddude said:
No need for me to say anything. It's all been said above. I have very much enjoyed this thread.
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Me too. It's fun to hear from likeminded people. And it's fun to hear somewhat different viewpoints. I didn't need one more reason to think about pheasants when I should be focused on other things. But oh well.
 
There was a time when I was younger and more motivated when I was hell bent on coming home with a couple birds each time and if I didn't, it was a failed outing. Same when I was younger and fished. If I didn't come home with filets, it was a disappointment. As I got older, I realized that was just not important anymore. It was simply more about the opportunity and time I was able to spend doing it, regardless of the results.
 
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