Being Successful In The Outdoors

The term “success” varies among sportsmen. For some, success is three roosters tucked into a vest, or a limit of walleyes on the cleaning board. For others, success is simply walking the fields or wetting a line. Getting away from the everyday with the expectation of success is an easily-accomplished goal and can be just as satisfying as actually shooting or catching something.

It has been said that there are multiple levels of maturity in the realms of hunting and fishing, and at times sportsmen advance through each one, until finally, the experience itself is the reward as opposed to filling a daily limit. I agree that there are phases we walk through as we gain experience in the outdoors, where success is measured on a sliding scale which no doubt can be adjusted to the conditions such as new waters, new targets and so on. The slide occurs when we are building toward success and ultimately when we achieve success and set new goals.

It is okay to go out and search for a limit of fish. It is fine to be frustrated at missing shots. It is alright to be disappointed in an outing and hope to do better the next time out. These are the results of setting goals, and goals are important to mark progress as a sportsman. Because these are elements of the outdoors that equate to every other day in life: desires, shortcomings, and plans based on them in order to secure better success in the future. It is important to remember these times, to be competitive with nature and ourselves. To adjust our expectations of what we can do for a successful outing is part of an enjoyable trip in the outdoors.

That’s not saying these goals of killing every bird or getting a limit of fish should be the end-all-be-all of the experience. But rather, they should be incorporated into it, creating a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Some of the better preserved memories I carry with me are those days where I had a near-miss with success. They are times when I almost did everything right, but still failed to accomplish my goal. Those particular outings, and undoubtedly similar outings that followed, were more enjoyable for my lack of success and for what I learned from it. My skills improved, and success became easier and each “successful” outing had a new standard. Now those previous successes are enjoyed more often, and future accomplishments can be reached due to this progression.

The native tribes of North America did much to preserve their skills at both hunting and fighting. In combat, warriors would enter battle armed with a simple stick marked with tiny notches. With these sticks they would engage opposing warriors and attempt to strike the opponent in a non-lethal manner, and through agility and skill, evade a potentially lethal counter-attack. For each successful “coup,” or strike, the warrior added another notch to the stick documenting his bravery.

The process of “counting coup” continues today, oftentimes in relation to animals passed up by outdoorsmen - most notably deer hunters – but the same can be applied to catch-and-release fishing. The creatures are lured in by rattles and grunts and the hunter better concealed than when he first began the pursuit years before. The bow is never drawn. The gun is never fired. The young forkhorn walks by, unaware that he has become another notch on the growing hunter’s coup stick. The actual killing blow is reserved for another quarry, but the hunter’s skills are kept sharp through the process. For many, that is what makes for a successful outing.

As our skills increase, we come closer to obtaining that total enjoyment of the experience being the primary goal of our time afield – whether or not we actually kill an animal or catch a fish. Early successes are experienced more often, increasing enjoyment. New goals become better challenges, should we choose to undertake them. Each new goal, based on previous successes and incorporating the lessons learned in achieving them, helps raise each hunter’s maturity and the overall enjoyment of each outing…in our outdoors.