Talondale

Sounds like a "glass half empty/half full" kind of thing to me. I usually don't even think/worry about it unless I did something obviously stupid, like miss the shot or move when I shouldn't have. Look at it this way: in the eyes of some here every professional baseball player is a failure (or fails a majority of the time) because they fail to make it to base safe MOST of the time. A batter with a batting average of .500 is still a failure half the time. I doubt he'd look at it that way but apparently some would. If you want to break hunting down to a simplified statement of killing an animal and then break down the numbers to pure statistics than YES technically EVERY ONE OF US ON THIS FORUM IS A FAILURE! Even if you limit out on P&Y deer ever year 99% of your time will be spent failing. Personally I don't think of it that way and don't care to worry about it. Fishing is probably 90+% failure cast to catch ratio and on and on. It's just not the way I think of things. I'd be suicidal if I did. You guys enjoy your half a glass of empty air, I'll drink my cold water.

TROPHYHUNTER25

i don't use that word i call it a lesson

Okiaroslinger

I have to admit when I was younger I was easily frustrated if I did not get to launch an arrow but with time relaxing in a tree stand or snack break on the side of a mountain on an elk hunt have become just as important. Nice to slow down and just soak it all in.

CrazyJoeFreaknDavola

Amen, Brian.

BobCo19-65

Good post Talon, hope all is well. Haven't seen you around in a while.

gutshot

Great post Talon. Although I hunt to kill something I still don't consider it a failure if I don't loose a arrow. I look at it like at least I was hunting.

GMMAT

I've found myself discouraged or "down" while hunting on 3 occasions.

1) I was discouraged last year. I thoughtI was doing everything right. I scouted. I was spending the time on stand. Yet...I had nothing to show for my efforts. I ended up having a better year than I could have dreamed of.

"Success"

2) Same thing, this Spring....turkey hunting.

"Success via perseverance"

3) Lastly.....I remember looking at a tree (from my stand), last Fall....after my Lab had been diagnosed (kidney failure)....and realizing she'd never see the leaves turn green, again.

"Perspective"

This year will be "just fine".

early in

I don't use that word very often.

rybohunter

I think you guys really mistake the way I word things to mean that I get upset cause I didn't "succeed" in an individual hunt. I can assure you when I come home from an unsuccessful hunt, there ain't an instant that I am bummed, upset or whatever cause I didn't get one. Unless I personally screwed something up that I shouldn't have. Failing on a single hunt means absolutely nothing in the overall scheme of things. If I can convey anything to you guys is that believe me when I say just because I consider no deer a failed hunt, it does not for any stretch mean that it was a bad hunt, or I'm depressed, or I didn't enjoy myself, or that I wish I'd done something else instead.
A good example to show you is me an fox hunting. I'm horrible. ( well I may not be horrible, I may just hunt less than prime areas) But it is so cool and so much fun to go out, I have a blast. And believe me I got to be one of the most persistant failures out there.

The fishing and baseball analogies are good, but again, the logic is twisted. Hunting, baseball, fishing all have a very low sucess rate per single repitition, BUT all it takes is one deer, one fish or one hit to reach a level of success. Those areall things that you aren't supposed to succeed every attempt. And of course you don't get upset over it.A ball player goes 0-4 and the coach gives him a stern look, so he replies "Hey coach I was successful out there, I walked up and back from the plate and didn't get hurt."

It's like schools not giving grades, or playing games with no winners and losers. People have successful hunts before they even set foot out the door. I don't understand why one just can't enjoy things for how they are.

shed33

This post kills me.....

Wechoose to bebowhunters.. we are going to fail way more than succeed when it comes to killing with our bows. THATS WHY WE LIKE IT...its not a walk in the park..doesnt work out every time, forces us to improve in many aspects..its that journy we all love... The bowkill is usually the culmination of someor a lot of enjoyeable prep and work..

The guys that arent afraid to fail and keep battling reap the true rewards imo... in life we can either cower to something...or fight.. period..

same with bowhunting.. failure is part of it..but it doesnt make someone A LOSER...the mini failures make us better...along the way we enjoy the process and when we finally slam an arrow through the lungs of a critter ..it means a lot..

I dont know maybe I am miss understanding all this..if so... disregard this post.. I apologize..