What Stage are you?

[mabr]

Thought it might be intresting to see what stage hunter you think you are. I find it pretty accurate.

1. The Shooter Stage: This is when the hunter begins. They need to have some success and be able to have a level of accomplishment.

2. The Limiting Out Stage: From stage one most hunters progress to this stage. In stage two the hunter's goal is to harvest as many animals as is legally possible.

3. The Trophy Stage: In this stage the hunter has enough knowledge of his quarry that he begins to exhibit selectivity in his hunt. Bigger antlers and a keen knowledge of stewarding the whitetail resource begin to take center stage in the deer hunter's life at this point.

4. The Method Stage: By the time a hunter reaches Stage 4 he is beginning to mellow out. With many autumns under his belt he begins to become more interested in how he hunts. Understanding deer behavior also becomes paramount during this stage.

5. The Sportsman Stage: By the time a hunter hits this stage he truly knows who he is. He knows deer behavior, has killed many deer, has probably become involved in the preservation of hunting and makes a conscious effort to see that hunting is passed on to the next generation. This is also the stage when many deer hunters become involved as managers of their own deer hunting properties. Often viewed as the reflective stage.

[Scoot]

mabr, did you make up these stages or did you get them from somewhere else. I have to admit, at times and with different species, I'm probably in a number of these stages.

[harvey lee]

I would have to go with number 5 but I still like to also chase those bruiser bucks.

So, 2 for me also.

[mabr]

I wish I could take credit for it but it was actually from someone else I heard years ago.

I think it is pretty accurate though. I know I went through all of them to some degree or another. Although im not at 5 yet. I feel im at a combined 3-5 to some degree. Its not about the numbers anymore for me, but it wasnt to long ago that I was. Not its the quality more than anything else.

The only part this doesnt mention is the benifits of eating venison. To me that is one of the biggest reasons I hunt as well.

[mabr]

I would have to go with number 5 but I still like to also chase those bruiser bucks.

So, 2 for me also.

harvey I know we've had discussions (politically) in the past where we didnt agree and thats great. But isnt it great that we both still have the obsession with this willey critters. Gotta love it and the great sport of deer hunting.

[LightningBG]

I think I jumped from number 1 to number 4.

#2 - could never happen (last year I think I had 12 tags)

#3 - just doesn't interest me all that much, (not to say I wouldn't love a great buck, it's just not my main goal)

[Rippinlip]

Probably closer to a #4 than anything, but like Sccot said, I am somewhere all over the board.

I wish they had more about the harvesting of deer for the venison and not the antlers. I will pass on deer, but Booners are not all that important to me.

[harvey lee]

You hit the nail on the head mabr.

Every season I cannot wait for the archery season and sitting in a tree waiting for who knows what.

[rcook72]

Combination of many for me also but the drive for the big one is what gets me into the woods and learning. I don't have to shoot him, its the encounter. I have passed on many bucks that would be big for some and not shot a deer for the season. I kept telling myself if I filled my tag the season would be over. The countdown is on, can't wait until Sept.

[Scoot]

Every season I cannot wait for the archery season and sitting in a tree waiting for who knows what.

Amen! This off season was the longest I can ever remember!!! I can't wait, and it's only early July...

[Coach1310]

I'm in whatever stage is just being out in the woods, taking in mother nature and enjoying the opportunity. My goal each time out is to just "see" a deer as to me the thrill of that quick movement in your periphial vision or than glint of sun off of an antler etc, observing a deer in its natural environment is just as neat as harvesting a deer.

So whatever stage that is.... is where I am at.

[CC Hurl]

#3 - #5 for me but yes the meat and time in the woods is what i long for the most. It is awsome to be able and healthy enough to get out and witness what nature has to offer. For that i am greatfull. This is some thing that truly keeps my mind in check as to what power nature has on everything.

I am now working on parts of the stage were we introduce a young one to nature. So far she is doing awsome and i have to say this is my favorite stage of all. Going to be great helping her thru stage one.

Nice post as it makes you think a little. Thanks

CC HURL

[Archerysniper]

I'm mostly #5 but also #2 because venison tastes so darn good. Checked the freezer tonight and of the 5 deer I put in there I only have 1 package of steaks left, september can't come soon enough.

[psepuncher]

#5 reminds me.

I need to get out and buy some hunting videos of Lee and Tiffany kawasaki for the grandkids After that I'll fertilize the acorn trees..

I'm actually looking to throw up a ground blind for the kids. I'm thinking right in the middle of the hazle nuts aka. filberts.

#4 The trail cams are a big help. I know the main travel corridor and wind currents. I also keep track of solar lunar tables.

#3 Been a few big ones bagged so what's next

#2 a man's gotta eat

#1 That was when my dad took me out shooting tin cans at 5 yrs old.

Thanks for the post MABR I like the comradery amungst everyone.

[mabr]

PSE, So what stage are you? Ive re-read your posts several times and im not quite sure how to take it. .

Hey thought id share something i seen yesterday while out fetilizing the acorn trees and checking all my cameras. Had a muture doe out at 12.20 in a wide open alphafa field. On the land I spoke of south of you.

[mabr]

I'm mostly #5 but also #2 because venison tastes so darn good. Checked the freezer tonight and of the 5 deer I put in there I only have 1 package of steaks left, september can't come soon enough.

Were in the same boat AS. I came up 1 short last year on what we typically eat and freezer is looking bare (just shoulder meat basically). Was the same last year, that first week of the season couldnt come fast enough.

[bottom-bouncer]

I am all over the board as well. I enjoy putting in the plots(should be putting another one in today but its to hot out)And looking at the pics from the cameras to see whats going on out there. Come september its all about getting my wife and kids in the stand or blind spending qaulity time with them sharing my passion for the outdoors and hoping that they get a a chance for a shot. I dont really get to hunt to much untill the later part of october and then its game on for me. By then its all about the bruisers and a litle me time. the wife and my oldest son still get out but the mornings are a little chilly for the young one's. I usually give my all for a couple weeks and then it's back to hunting with the kids and my nephew during the firearms season.

[so haaad]

I think these stages could apply to fishing, too. It's interesting to think about these stages though, isn't it?

[bmc]

I'm somewhere between 4 and 5.

Brian

[schmoe147]

I can say from the first time I hunted I was at stage 3. I dont need the venison, just enjoy being outdoors and the experience. Its more about getting together with friends and family.

[jentz]

I've seen this before,I am at stage five for a number of years.stage 3 was a very short stage,When I lived in Colorado,I think stage 4 was in Colo also.Those mountains are tough,Animals smart and when one could watch them sense you 1/2---3/4 mile away a appreciation of wild animals starts to grow inside.

[jtoast]

To give credit where credit is due, these stages were comprised by a now retired psychologist from La Crosse named Dr. Bob Norton. He and a colleague researched hunter behavior for over 20 years and was able to put their data into a very nicely written book called The Hunter, developmental stages of the hunter. I've read the book (also heard him talk) and he offers some great insight into what goes through our heads when we hit the field, some good and some bad. I personally think we as hunters give ourselves too much credit as to our development. What I've seen is that most "average hunters" are still hung up in the limiting out stage, which doesn't really bode well for the future of hunting. Evaluate the traits of the people you hunt with...that might be a better way to evaluate your own development.

[96trigger]

I have also read the book, it is a very good, quick read. If anybody has a chance, it is worth the time to read it. Many of us are in different stages, often it correlates with age and also where one is at in their hunting experience. I know youth that are verging on the third or fourth stage and old timers that are still in the second, maybe third stage. I am probably more a 4 than anything. I love to just get out in the woods, but I also like the challenge of going after a mature buck. I don't have to fill my tags everyear. Many years I buy management tags and eat my either sex tag because I am always waiting for a mature buck. Last year I ate my archery tag, but it wasn't for a lack of opportunity or a lack of trying.

[harvey lee]

All of the people in our group look for a nice buck. They do not shoot baskets or bucks smaller than a nice 8 at a minimum.

We do not shot the smaller ones but we do shoot a few does to eat.

Its been this way for about 6 years.

[mabr]

Jtoast, Im not positive who came up with it first, I read it from Charles Alzheimer. But I dont care either way IMO its a pretty accurate history of most of the people ive personally been associated with who deer hunt.