Personal Goals

[james_walleye]

If someone says on here they have a personal goal for how many birds too take for a season big deal. Just because they have a numbers goal like that doesnt mean thats their whole reason for hunting. Some of you guys climb all over someone for setting a number and its not right. I hope too shoot 20 birds over my dog this year and the main reason is if i get 20 birds it means i got out alot this season and my dog got a lot of work this season. And if i get 20 roosters he probably pointed double as many hens that i got too step in on and get that awesome rush. And like i said i dont care if im the one too shoot those birds, if whomever im with gets them great! I set a goal of catching 200 walleyes ever year. I hardly keep any, but man if i can catch that many than i've had a lot of time on the water and you cant beat sitting on a lake in summer. If someone sets a goal too shoot a 130" buck this weekend and he doesnt get it, that doesnt mean that the weekend wasnt enjoyable. A guy writes something on here and people have too go assuming things and you cant do that.

[sdstate]

OK some of you were right, it was probaly a stupid post to write about. But if any of you knew me, you would know how much i love to pheasant hunt and enjoy the overall experience. I spend all summer getting my dogs ready and spend more time with them in the fall than i do with my friends. I dont even have time to party in the fall because i am so beat from hunting all day. Its not like i am leasing off land and shooting a bunch of easy birds. I am out there just like everyone else and work for my birds. And i enjoy every time that my two labs (who i paid for myself and spent months and years training) get birdy and get up a rooster in cattails and i make a clean shot on him. And as far as being legal, I am going to school in SDSU to be a wildlife biologist and any kind of wildlife infraction would not look good on any resume. So if i have the opportunity to shoot 70 birds i am going to take it. And i would guess that many of you would shoot this many if you were presented with the same opportunity. When i am 50 years old and only able to get 10 roosters a year i will look back in this time of my life and feel lucky. Anyone who wants to go hunting with me, i am always looking for new hunting partners.

[grab the net]

I know guys in MN that claim over 100 birds per year. They admit they are rooster hunting junkies. The only thing I take exception with is the shooting birds for other guys in the party. I know there are days when one person is in the right spot most of the day, but I think the opportunities can be spread out with a little thought. Who cares if they miss one, or three for that matter. When they do harvest that bird, it will be more fun for everyone, especially if its one of the kids, ( I know we all agree on that count).

Oh yeah, I think there are quite a few 50 year olds that MIGHT be able to bag more than 10 long tails in a whole season.

[sdstate]

Its just an expression, cool your jets!

[CaptainMusky]

"And i would guess that many of you would shoot this many if you were presented with the same opportunity."

No, I wouldn't shoot that many.

Just because it can be done, doesn't mean it should. I know pheasant management is a different situation, but by comparison we used to be able to keep 100 perch a day. People were filling out daily and filling buckets with these tasty morsels. This decimated the population and now the daily limits have been reduced dramatically. This is an example where a little common sense and some conservation mean volumes.

I don't mean to say you are single handedly destroying the pheasant population because you are not, but just because you have the chance to harvest them doesn't make it ethical.

My $.02.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I had the opportunity to hunt with Rick and his dog yesterday.

My personal goal has changed a little bit. Not only do I want to get my GSP more experience in the field, I want him to work like Rick's dog did.

Big goal to say the least.

[riverrat56]

In response to a previous post about why set goals, because then it gives me something to shoot for, whether or not I make my goal of 15 birds I don't really care, but I find it fun to keep track of how many birds I've shot. If you don't care how many you shot than don't care, I wish I could shoot 70 birds a year, pheasant hunting is in my blood and there is nothing I would rather do. Just because I set a goal on how many I want to shoot doesn't mean killing a bird is my only goal, spending time outdoors and watching my dog work is something that I treasure, but I'd be lying to you if I didn't say I hunt to kill pheasants. If you are going to hunt then that is your ultimate goal, to kill something, if it isn't then just put down the gun and pick up a camera because you'd be doing the same thing.

Now I know that will tick some of you off but its my opinion that if its legal and someone wants to do it then let them, ethics aren't universal, they are up to the individual person.

Riverrat

[sdstate]

The post about the perch makes no sense. Since roosters are extremely polygamous, it only takes a few roosters to breed a heck load of hens. ANd its not like im taking all the roosters off of one area, if i hit a spot i usually dont visit it for awhile. ANd another reason is, is becasue when perch are biting good, everyone in thecountry can catch em and they usually do. Most of the time you have to work a little harder for a limit of roosters. Just my .02 cents

[grab the net]

I think you should post pictures of you and all your birds. Then we would all know how close you are to "THE GOAL"

[sdstate]

I didnt say that you had to believe me and if you dont want to that is fine with me. If i could take pics of all my birds i would, but wen you hunt alone alot it is kind of difficult. And this post has definately went the wrong way. I didnt post this idea to start an argument, i just wanted to know how everyone else was doing.

[ATM]

sdstate, I will be hunting out that way the weekend after thanksgiving. My wife is from wilmot so i spend quite a bit of time in the area. Back to the goals my goal is to not a bird number but a days out number I would like to hunt 45 days of the season that is 15 a mnth .I have a 3 year old english pointer who i feel i owe it to, to get in the field. To do this I will hunt some mornings before work as i work from 2pm to 11pm. As far as your goal of 70 good luck. I know when the birds bunch up in the sloughs near wilmot it seems like that would be an easy number. Adam

[Ufatz]

Rick, your statement that "....ethics aren't universal, they are up to the individual person." is troubling. I don't mean to get heavily involved here, but a lack of ethics ,of any kind ,is part is leading to a great deal of the trouble this country faces today. If we continue to follow your apparent belief, that ethics are 'up to the individual person' where will that lead us. We ALL have the obligation to conduct ourselves "ethically" (look up the word.) A country where the ethical standards are left up to the individual is bound for anarchy.

Just thought I'd toss that in.

[james_walleye]

I think all he is trying too say that some peoples beliefs say its ok too go all out on what game laws say you can do, and some people set their own game laws. One guy might think its ok too keep a 25" walleye because the law says you can keep one but the next guy believes all walleyes over 20" should go back no matter what. One guy will shoot the first buck that comes by and the next guy will only shoot a buck if its an 8-pointer and even with the ears. One guy will shoot his limit of pheasants 5 times a week and the next thinks its right too do it twice a week. Thats what he means by own personal ethics.

[CaptainMusky]

Yeah, you are right. Perch mate for life. LOL

I was using it to state a point, not make a direct correlation. Point is, just because you CAN shoot 70 birds and fill everyone else's freezer (which I don't believe is ethical) doesn't mean you should and it could have a direct impact on the resource.

One person alone could not decimate the population, but if you have many people that have the same thoughts that "I can't hurt it or I am hunting all over the state" it will. My goal is to get my son exposed to pheasant hunting and my new pup on some wild birds. I took my 4 yr old son hunting for the first time last Saturday so that goal has been partially accomplished. No wild birds for the new pup yet, the old ones keep getting them first! I go out to watch the dogs hunt and see birds. If I bag something great.

This is turning into a lecture, but I think you understand that point others are trying to make by the statement you made about goals.

[CodyDawg]

You know I have read this whole thread and I have a few comments. How many of you who do not set goals keep track of each and every bird you shoot? By setting a goal and keeping track of it, I feel I honor the birds I shoot rather than just throwing them in the back of the truck and forgeting about them. I have a personal goal, set before the season. Whether I achieve it or not is irrelevent. I use the season prognosis and my own personal situation to set it. This year it is less than years past because of my new pup. To have a goal of getting my pup out is rediculous, because i know that will happen. I, and many others, are not #s guys, but rather guys who like to keep track of birds we shoot. I track where, when, snow cover, # of shots to bag the bird, who was with me, what dog was with me, wind, sky, temp etc. of every bird. It is fun to look back and relive each bird. I also can then track # of birds off of each place I hunt and see how habitat changes affect the # of birds I get.

To those of you who shoot a lot of birds per year....i suspect you are a lot like me and value them all. The guys who are only out to kill things just dont have the staying power and the dedication to shoot 70 per year. You cannot hunt roosters below the # needed for reproduction, so it has minimal affect on the population (only the ones you actually harvest). All of the people I share my birds with do not have a chance to get them any other way, so I dont think the term "filling everyone's freezer" applies.

As for ethics, I fully believe there are many ethics that are solely an individual's and others that are universal. The analogy of keeping a 25" walleye is a great example of an individual ethic. Shooting a hen is universally considered unethical. Just my .02.

[CaptainMusky]

Shooting a hen isn't unethical, it is ILLEGAL in MN!

I am sure that when you "gift" out your pheasants that all of the required information as defined in the Hunting Regulations is retained with the gift, right?

This topic could go round and round and there will be no general consensus.

"You cannot hunt roosters below the # needed for reproduction, so it has minimal affect on the population (only the ones you actually harvest)." Based on data I was privvy to the in the late 80's I believe this to be an inaccurate statement. In a study conducted by Nebraska Fish and Game they determined that within the pheasant range of their state that in upwards of 15% of the hen population in a given year did not reproduce due to lack of roosters. It has been proven that a ratio of 7 hens to 1 rooster is optimum for reproduction, their studies showed that were not enough viable roosters to carry out all of the reproduction. I believe over-hunting roosters CAN have an impact on reproduction. To what extent? Not sure, but the study I referenced was convincing and was against everything I previously had thought.

15% of the population may not seem like much, but when you think that there will be 10 to 12 chicks per brood (of which half may make it) and possible second broods it adds up in a hurry.

As for goals, ask Wilt Chamberlain if he remembers each and every one of the 10,000 women he slept with. He had lofty goals and I doubt any one of them meant anything to him.

[CodyDawg]

Quote:

---

Shooting a hen isn't unethical, it is ILLEGAL in MN!

>> Really? Thanks for pointing that out.

I am sure that when you "gift" out your pheasants that all of the required information as defined in the Hunting Regulations is retained with the gift, right?

>>Heckifino if it is retained. It is given with it. I assume you have a point here? Are you trying to suggest that gifting wild game is unethical? Good luck with that if you are.

This topic could go round and round and there will be no general consensus.

"You cannot hunt roosters below the # needed for reproduction, so it has minimal affect on the population (only the ones you actually harvest)." Based on data I was privvy to the in the late 80's I believe this to be an inaccurate statement. In a study conducted by Nebraska Fish and Game they determined that within the pheasant range of their state that in upwards of 15% of the hen population in a given year did not reproduce due to lack of roosters. It has been proven that a ratio of 7 hens to 1 rooster is optimum for reproduction, their studies showed that were not enough viable roosters to carry out all of the reproduction. I believe over-hunting roosters CAN have an impact on reproduction. To what extent? Not sure, but the study I referenced was convincing and was against everything I previously had thought.

15% of the population may not seem like much, but when you think that there will be 10 to 12 chicks per brood (of which half may make it) and possible second broods it adds up in a hurry.

>>The studies I have seen have said 15 hens per rooster is the optimum number, and it is next to impossible to hunt them below that point. I believe the "second brood" is a myth. If they pull off a brood, they do not renest a second time.

As for goals, ask Wilt Chamberlain if he remembers each and every one of the 10,000 women he slept with. He had lofty goals and I doubt any one of them meant anything to him.

---

>>Great analogy I think not.

[lawdog]

This horse was dead a long time ago...

[CaptainMusky]

Maybe it is my age, but I don't recall much of anything from each of the birds I shoot at year end, much less years later. Sure there are ones that are significant for one reason or another, but to say that setting goals and keeping track of the number means I remember them or pay homage to them in some way would be a huge stretch. That's just me, like I said, probably a memory thing. We each have our reasons for chasing ringnecks. I guess if someone does it to put another notch in their belt, so be it, for me it is the thrill of the chase, watching a good dog and having the hours of training pay off with a succesful point and subsequent retrieve to hand. If I end up with an empty bag at the end of the day, it isn't a disappointment, the birds won that day.

Sorry you didn't appreciate the sarcasm in my analogy. I had a good kick out of writing it.

[Mr. B]

Maggie and I surpassed my goals for the season this evening. We went out for a quick hunt and not only got our first wild rooster but we managed to get two.

From here on everything else is just a bonus.

[LuciandTim]

Blah..Blah ..Blah..

Anyways....I have never set a goal for the season. I have never set a goal for any hunting or fishing season. I have hopes and dreams but that is it. This year however after reading one of CodyDawg's post about goals..I decided to set a goal of 20 Roosters.

I set the goal for fun, nothing more. I think the real goal is to get out as much as possible!! I want to hunt everyday. I am a pheasant fanatic. As for my birds....every single one of them whether I shot it or someone else in my party shot it has a place in my hunting journal! When i'm an old man and can't hunt anymore I want to relive every hunt that I have ever been on. I also include a picture from each hunt. This stuff means more to me then goals, limits, and whatever else you all want to bicker over. Pheasants......

Idea!

I have a goal for all you Pheasant Hunters on here..

Log onto the Pheasants Forever HSOforum and become a member if you aren't already.

[riverrat56]

Thank you james_walleye for interpreting my stament the right way.

[Mr.Seaguar]

I`d like to say 70 birds, or start my child on hunting, or new dog. But really I just want to go twice as much and get yelled at half as much. Not exactly on track as yet.

[CaptainMusky]

AWESOME! I will be chasing bambi this weekend so I have a one week hiatus for bird hunting. I hope to hit it really hard for the rest of the season. Low expectations considering the new pup and all, but it will be very rewarding seeing him grow.

Is it normal for a GSP to be 40# at barely 4 mos?

I should rename him to thumper! Biggest GSP pup I have had to date. I am excited to see what he will be like a year from now.

[sdstate]

Same with me i will also be chasing the big brown things this weekend. I will tell u this much it is going to be a bad weekend for the dogs. They see u getting dressed up in orange and putting your guns in the cases and they sure get fired up. Then you have to put them in the kennal and they are sure bummed.