Hunting motivation

I'll keep it real simple....

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE LIMIT!!!!
 
Well I have limited funds and time each fall so I do like to shoot limits evry day that I hunt wild birds, especiallly in other states. But as I have aged my successes have turned to spending time with my dogs and also my hunting buddies. I have a select few that I hunt with and the time together is precious. A few years ago one of my buddies went through a very difficult health season and I thought I was going to loose him! The next time we were out hunting wild birds in a neighboring state we spent a lot of time just being thankful for the opportunity to spend some time in the field each day. We loved to chase those roosters, but in the end it was about the time together, seeing birds, watching the dogs work, and enjoying this great country that we live in!
 
I guess I am a little different. We have family land that I have taken the lead on improving. What I spend on food plots would pay for a trip/trips to SD each year. As many areas of farm country, first and foremost we need to create habitat. You can say all you want that its about the dog, and I would agree to a certain extent, but without the birds what is the point. If we have birds, then your dog will have an opportunity to hunt, without them your just out for a walk.

If I go out and see 75 birds and don't get any, I'm ok and my dog is happy.
 
I'm probably speaking for others. How many? I don't know.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a true dog lover & would have a dog whether I was a hunter or not. But what kind??
I became a springer owner IN ORDER TO SEE & SHOOT PHEASANTS.
I'm not just taking a dog for a walk, hoping to maybe see a pheasant too.
Is it a big deal if we get skunked? No. At least not on a regular basis.
But I hunt to see & hopefully shoot pheasants, & that dictates that I have a pheasant dog. It didn't happen the other way around.
 
I remember reading an article in one of hte outdoor publications that spoke about phases in a hunters pursuit of game. I don't remember the ages but basically were 4 phases if I recall, maybe someone else remembers this article too. Anyway, first phase was all about limiting no matter how, as you aged, next phase was freezer filler, aged a bit more it was less about limiting and more about time in the field with your hunting partner and friend and last stage was not caring at all about limits and all about the experience and being happy you can still enjoy it. Readers Digest version here. I do it for the dogs that I have trained since i get them at 7 weeks and get great satisfaction seeing them in the field. Do I get frustrated when I can't hit the broadside of the barn, sure do, but the memories of a dogs first point, retrieve, backing, etc outweigh all my misses. Fun to see some dogs mature and become quality hunters at a very young age while others are slower learners. However, at the end of the day/hunt they are happy and ready for more time in the field. My main hunting partner was my dad until he felt he wasn't able to walk the fields with me so no it is primarily just me and my dogs.
 
I hunnt to be outdoors with Benny my lab. We don't really care how many roodogs we get but we usually lay a smackdown on them anyhow. Also opening weekend in a small sd town gets insane. Love me some smalltown bars & broads.
 
I spent a lot of years doing the big drive hunts with big groups of folks. We stacked a lot of birds in those years but nowadays I much prefer the peacefulness of just me and the dogs and the open range. Probably less birds on the tailgate at the end of the day but sure feeds the soul!
 
GetTothePoint said:
I spent a lot of years doing the big drive hunts with big groups of folks. We stacked a lot of birds in those years but nowadays I much prefer the peacefulness of just me and the dogs and the open range. Probably less birds on the tailgate at the end of the day but sure feeds the soul!
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With an hour lunch break and an hour driving around, you still have 5+ hours to walk…lots of time to put a few in the vest! 🥳
 
I grew up with a father who road hunted. No dog and stories of "we used to get off work at 5 fifteen minutes before legal shooting time ended. Would drive 2 miles in the country 1 guy on the running board. He would shoot his 7(?) birds then I would shoot my 7 while he drove. Still have 5 minutes to spare" I did roadhunt and I did have honeyholes I raced to after school or work so I could bag a limit.

He just didn't know anything different. I got a dog and went hunting-not shooting. I still feel the same way. Last year driving to a field we saw 2 roosters on the road. It was clearly legal to hunt these birds as public land on both sides of the road. Buddy is a shooter and other person is new so I stopped and they got out. Walked 50 yards and got to shoot both birds when they flushed. I sent a dog to retrieve. Later I asked the new hunter what they thought about that. They said it was OK, we did nothing wrong but it sure wasn't very fulfilling.

I have helped / guided on some group hunts put on by friends for their business associates. Planted birds and other guys with untrained dogs. It just feels dirty
 
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Cool, we're establishing some more unwritten internet hunting rules... If you do it this way it's dirty...
 
5 stand said:
Cool, we're establishing some more unwritten internet hunting rules... If you do it this way it's dirty...
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He said it feels dirty to him. The thread is what motivates "you" and he laid it out there. He made a great post. We all have hunted with or know of people who poach and violate regulations. I admire him for choosing the right path. He helps and guides others, sounds like someone I would hunt with.
 
I didn't realize my post was condoning, poaching or violating regulations. He said they did nothing wrong.. This thread is about how you feel, and I apologize to him... It's just one of my pet peeves... Most of these internet forums established unwritten internet hunting rules... Whether they know it or not, with words like dirty... No big deal... You guys carry on...
 
5 stand said:
I didn't realize my post was condoning, poaching or violating regulations. He said they did nothing wrong.. This thread is about how you feel, and I apologize to him... It's just one of my pet peeves... Most of these internet forums established unwritten internet hunting rules... Whether they know it or not, with words like dirty... No big deal... You guys carry on...
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Hey I expressed the way I felt. You expressed the way you feel. Ain't no shame in that.
 
I didn't grow up hunting
I have no hunting mentor
I have no hunting partners
I have no private land

Just me and my two dogs.

I don't look at my dogs as children I am cheering on. We are very much a team. Trying to figure something out every time we get out. Adding to our Rolodex of public grounds, and forecasting the when's and where's of the birds.
The illusion of success is what keeps us going right now.
When the days we come home with birds out-number the days we don't, I am sure I will have a much different perspective.
But until then, we are more than happy to keep on...
 
5 stand said:
Most of these internet forums established unwritten internet hunting rules.
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Also something to keep in mind. Many of us are in different states with a different set of rules. What may be legal in one state is not in another.

I personally don't quite understand the satisfaction of walking down a road and hunting ditch parrots. But that's just me. Not everyone has the will power, physical ability, or motivation to walk through real upland bird habitat.
 
gimruis said:
Also something to keep in mind. Many of us are in different states with a different set of rules. What may be legal in one state is not in another.

I personally don't quite understand the satisfaction of walking down a road and hunting ditch parrots. But that's just me. Not everyone has the will power, physical ability, or motivation to walk through real upland bird habitat.
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I will walk where the birds are.
 
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