Strengths Finder/Hunting

[elk yinzer]

The thread about attitude got me thinking on my drive to work about an offshoot, and I didn't want to hijack that thread.

I am going through a leadership development program and one of the exercises we did was called Strengths Finder. It is basically a personality test, but is geared toward finding your strengths and leveraging them to be a successful person. Briggs-Myers is a similar concept for discussion purposes, but the Strengths Finder I think is more geared more toward application of the concepts. I'm by no means an expert on any of this but I do find it interesting and something different to talk about.

Now, I know these things can be pretty hokey. I've done a few similar exercises, mostly over my school age years and thought most were baloney. Maybe I've just matured since then. But this one I actually thought had value and gave me some important takeaways.

The attitude thread got me thinking about it. I think it is a good thing to look introspectively into our basic makeup as complex human beings. I know with mine I feel these apply to who I am as a hunter as well.

Anyone else done Strengths Finder, or similar exercises they can apply to who you are as a hunter?

Any thoughts on what Strengths the ideal hunting Beast would have? Does it matter? A little, a lot, not at all?

Being that most of us have that instinctual drive to hunt, are there strengths that we all have in common through that?

Another of the core concepts is that these are all strengths. We can effectively leverage all of these traits to be strengths, its about channeling them the right way.

There is a whole book that came with our exercise but this is a quick pdf that has the core strengths, even without the test there is some value in thinking about it. The test costs $, but essentially it is just finding core elements of your personality and how they apply to your life.
Link:
https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/h ... uIQAvD_BwE

[Kraftd]

My wife did this as part of a similar leadership program at work and I've perused her info.

I think you make a good point regarding being aware who we are as individuals and using that to our advantage in all situations, including hunting. For me, my personality doesn't come with the never-ending dogged determination that a lot of you guys have. I'm a little more go with the flow and smell the roses type. I've learned how to focus that in a way to use it as an asset. For the same reasons, I tend not to get too frustrated in stretches of low sightings, getting walked in on, etc., which lets me keep grinding along pretty even keel, and I know that has helped me kill a handful of bucks.

Conversely, I tend to think about things in a pretty complex fashion, which sometimes leads me to over thinking. I've worked hard to recognize this over the last few years and force myself to trust my gut more, which has also helped me kill some deer, where in the past I'd have probably overthought it one way or another. Here I recognize a trait I have and work to use it to put me in the right place overall, but trust my reactions more when I get on the ground.

[elk yinzer]

We're pretty similar Karftd I can relate to both of those.

These ended up being my top 5 strengths, and how they are defined are:

1. Adaptability - People exceptionally talented in the Adaptability theme prefer to go with the flow. They tend to be “now” people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.

2. Relator - People exceptionally talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.

3. Intellection - People exceptionally talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

4. Deliberative - People exceptionally talented in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate obstacles.

5. Competition - People exceptionally talented in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.


I scored very highly adaptable which makes sense because it is absolutely a core part of my personality. I am very much a go with the flow person. Not real big on plans, I see the field and execute. No problems with curveballs in life. I think this plays out in a very key way to who I am as a hunter. I roll with the punches and adjust to what is in front of me. Not going in with preconceived plans. I think this is really easy to leverage as a strength when it comes to hunting in obvious ways.

The relator application to hunting is that I am very much a team player when it comes to hunting. I'm not a big small-talk acquaintance guy but I have a few close trusted friends. I never understood the lone wolf mentality, I love a good hunting camp and am always rooting for “my team” to slay some bucks. I like getting others involved and putting them on deer or teaming up on an elk.

Intellection and Deliberation I feel play into how I hunt. When I have complete information (adequate scouting) I tend to use these strengths to make great decisions. I think when I have incomplete information, I tend to guess or speculate too much and that directly leads to an overthinking problem and inconsistent results. Therefore leveraging this strength means scouting thoroughly and always having as much fresh intel as I can. A pitfall is that can kind of conflict with my go with the flow nature so it is something I have to be cognizant of.

Competition is an interesting one for me. I hate losing. I acknowledge that I am extremely competitive which I think mostly manifests itself through my love of sports. On the other hand I don’t think I feel especially competitive about hunting. It’s just not what fuels the hunting fire, at least external competition. I’d be lying if I said I don’t occasionally compare myself to others especially when I was younger. I think with age just comes the realization that with hunting it just doesn’t work that way and hunting is not meant to be competitive. Internally, heck yes. I am looking to outdo my best self and maybe that applies here. That’s what drives me to persevere through frustration, to climb that next ridge, to keep on when hungry, tired, sore, and beat up.

[AvidHunter88]

Interesting topic. Every employee where I work has to do this when they start. I agree, for whatever reason I like this one more so than the Myers/Briggs or similar ones. Not to dive too deep into it but one area that I think has actually helped me both professionally as well as in hunting is the "basement" piece of the "balcony/basement" conversations. Basically, when you use your personality strengths in a positive manner you're on your "balcony". Conversely, all these traits/strengths can be used in a negative manner as well which is your "basement". For me, identifying my strengths and when I was using them in a positive manner is fairy easy. What really helps me though is when I start realizing when I'm using those strengths in a negative manner and being able to turn that around quickly.

A quick example, analytical is one of my top ones. When using it positively I can go into the woods, assess the situation/sign, put all the pieces together, and know what's going on. When using it negatively, I tend to over analyze every little detail (including ones that prob don't matter at all) and struggle to make decisions. Being able to catch myself doing this and turn it around has been pretty helpful for me.

[headgear]

For me, my personality doesn't come with the never-ending dogged determination that a lot of you guys have. I'm a little more go with the flow and smell the roses type. I've learned how to focus that in a way to use it as an asset. For the same reasons, I tend not to get too frustrated in stretches of low sightings, getting walked in on, etc., which lets me keep grinding along pretty even keel, and I know that has helped me kill a handful of bucks.

Conversely, I tend to think about things in a pretty complex fashion, which sometimes leads me to over thinking. I've worked hard to recognize this over the last few years and force myself to trust my gut more, which has also helped me kill some deer, where in the past I'd have probably overthought it one way or another. Here I recognize a trait I have and work to use it to put me in the right place overall, but trust my reactions more when I get on the ground.

This sounds strangely me, been trying to turn off the brains and go more with that gut instinct in recent years, it has served me well in the past so just trying to learn to shut off the brain, stopover analyzing things and let my gut and scouting tell me what to do.

[Ahawk116]

I’ve taken this test for work as well. I think it was a good one, probably because i felt like it nailed me. The nuance that the test gives you is insane. Aka their data base is huge.

Mine are:
Relator
Maximizer
Command
Significance
Self assurance

The order of those is not right, but you get the drift.

Maximizer is probably why I am drawn to this site. I value things being efficient, and well done. Hence the reason I gravitate towards beast style hunting and have since before I found this site.

Self assurance helps because I don’t doubt myself when I pick a tree, or when it comes down to the moment of truth.

And basically the combination of all those things makes me one of those guys who doesn’t quit.

I certainly think that personality effects the way you hunt, so there is some value to it.

[hoyt31786]

For me, my personality doesn't come with the never-ending dogged determination that a lot of you guys have. I'm a little more go with the flow and smell the roses type. I've learned how to focus that in a way to use it as an asset. For the same reasons, I tend not to get too frustrated in stretches of low sightings, getting walked in on, etc., which lets me keep grinding along pretty even keel, and I know that has helped me kill a handful of bucks.

Conversely, I tend to think about things in a pretty complex fashion, which sometimes leads me to over thinking. I've worked hard to recognize this over the last few years and force myself to trust my gut more, which has also helped me kill some deer, where in the past I'd have probably overthought it one way or another. Here I recognize a trait I have and work to use it to put me in the right place overall, but trust my reactions more when I get on the ground.

This sounds strangely me, been trying to turn off the brains and go more with that gut instinct in recent years, it has served me well in the past so just trying to learn to shut off the brain, stopover analyzing things and let my gut and scouting tell me what to do.

Yes spot on i have learned my gut instinct is usually the best!

[Boogieman1]

For myself my greatest strength is knowing all my strengths as well as my weaknesses. Some strengths are not really even a strength but more of a luxury. Time and location for instance. I would pick those over any individual strengths.

But I guess my strengths for hunting would be:

1. Happy go Lucky, very rarely get stressed
2. Positivity, it's gonna happen sooner or later
3. Hard headed, refuse to except I'm beat
4. Resourceful-always can land me a place to hunt when others can't
5.Above average common sense and patience

Don't know if this is a strength but if the end of the season is near and I still got my tag in my pocket I feel zero pressure. I hunt because I love it and have fun giving it my best shot. Win, lose or draw I will be the exact same the following season. A lot of guys I know get absolutely stressed out over it and feel all types of pressure to kill a buck.

I remember shortly after I was married getting fired from a crumby job. Fridge was empty and me taking our last $100 to enter a fishing tourneyment even had to borrow money to put gas in the boat. Now that's Pressure lol

[JakeB]

For myself my greatest strength is knowing all my strengths as well as my weaknesses. Some strengths are not really even a strength but more of a luxury. Time and location for instance. I would pick those over any individual strengths.

But I guess my strengths for hunting would be:

1. Happy go Lucky, very rarely get stressed
2. Positivity, it's gonna happen sooner or later
3. Hard headed, refuse to except I'm beat
4. Resourceful-always can land me a place to hunt when others can't
5.Above average common sense and patience

Don't know if this is a strength but if the end of the season is near and I still got my tag in my pocket I feel zero pressure. I hunt because I love it and have fun giving it my best shot. Win, lose or draw I will be the exact same the following season. A lot of guys I know get absolutely stressed out over it and feel all types of pressure to kill a buck.

I remember shortly after I was married getting fired from a crumby job. Fridge was empty and me taking our last $100 to enter a fishing tourneyment even had to borrow money to put gas in the boat. Now that's Pressure lol

But did you win???

[Itchy Bones]

It would be interesting to see what Dans strengths are someone buy him that book!

I took that about ten years ago I thought it was pretty crazy how accurate it is at describing my thought process. I remember them off the top of my head from ten years ago when I took that test! Thats how big an impression it left on me. I can definitely see how these traits shape my approach to hunting. intellect and ideation; I'm always brainstorming about creative ways to approach a spot or buck, also constantly evaluating success and failure to improve. context; my hunting journal is photographic in my head I don't have to write it down. connectedness drives me to be engaged and alert while hunting and scouting I don't need gadgets or a smart phone or a book or pixie dust I'm just immersed in connectivity in nature. Input; I collect new spots to hunt, input also works great for scouting and studying topo maps and ariel photos.

Intellect; value introspection and intellectual engagement
Ideation; fascination w ideas
Context; value history to understand the present and future
connectedness; innate sense of connectivity between all beings and the universe
Input; need to collect and archive information

[Boogieman1]

For myself my greatest strength is knowing all my strengths as well as my weaknesses. Some strengths are not really even a strength but more of a luxury. Time and location for instance. I would pick those over any individual strengths.

But I guess my strengths for hunting would be:

1. Happy go Lucky, very rarely get stressed
2. Positivity, it's gonna happen sooner or later
3. Hard headed, refuse to except I'm beat
4. Resourceful-always can land me a place to hunt when others can't
5.Above average common sense and patience

Don't know if this is a strength but if the end of the season is near and I still got my tag in my pocket I feel zero pressure. I hunt because I love it and have fun giving it my best shot. Win, lose or draw I will be the exact same the following season. A lot of guys I know get absolutely stressed out over it and feel all types of pressure to kill a buck.

I remember shortly after I was married getting fired from a crumby job. Fridge was empty and me taking our last $100 to enter a fishing tourneyment even had to borrow money to put gas in the boat. Now that's Pressure lol

But did you win???

I believe I finished 2nd or 3rd, but did win the big fish. Think I got something like $700-$800 and a high dollar rod/reel which I sold in the parking lot. Started a new job afew days later and never put my family in that position again. Got lucky!

[elk yinzer]

It would be interesting to see what Dans strengths are someone buy him that book!

That would be certainly be very interesting to see results from Dan and some other elite beasts to see if there are commonalities. As my intellection strength dictates, I find this mental side of hunting a very interesting, mostly untapped discussion.

We could start a call out or tie it into a Q&A type thread. I think the book is like $20 a crack, that wouldn't be bad to collectively bankroll somehow or start a pay-it-forward type thing. Going to need an activator to get this rolling though!