Goal Setting by HeadHunting

[HeadHunting]

Disclaimers:
* Admittedly I did not go through all 647 pages of topics to see if this has already been covered and bump that topic. So I apologize in advance if the subject has already been discussed on here.
* I am certainly not an expert or would I even classify myself as a "Beast" hunter at this point in my journey. I am like many people who are diligently learning new things every season, everyday I can.
* What I offer here is my opinion on the subject matter and remain open-minded that someone else's opinion may be better or more suited and will adjust mine as needed and hope anyone else would do the same.
* I am long winded

For anyone that is new to hunting or for probably the far more majority of people that come across this forum, looking to change from the way that you have been hunting in the past to a different style or just simply to do so with more knowledge than you may have had before, I offer this advice. Doing something new or different comes with a host of challenges. If it is something new to you, then you likely have very little knowledge on the subject. If you are trying to change, then you are likely trying to do so while also trying to erase all the bad habits or tactics that you have learned or far worse programmed yourself to do in the past. This is not going to be easy and that is something that you need to come to the realization of quickly if you want to truly succeed. I know that this has been said many, many times and if I am remembering correctly maybe even by Dan himself on here or on his videos on YouTube, and that is that the process of learning, be it something new or for change is a "marathon and not a sprint!" That simple quote could not be more truthful or fitting in regards to the subject of learning something as complex as the art of hunting. So like anything else, where Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance, prepare yourself mentally for what is to come through the process of learning and further understand that it is going to take time to get there.

This leads me to the main point of this topic, where is "there?'" I think that the second thing that a person needs to do is decide that (what is their "there") for themselves and do so through the process of goal setting. I came across a topic post on the forum titled "My Beast Journey," by jnwalsh and it was a really good detailed story of how he started out and evolved. In the process he faced some difficulties that a lot of people have faced. While the center of this discussion is of course going to focus on deer hunting, the similarity to just everyday life is unmistakable. Whenever we try something new or try to change something about ourselves, we will often face challenges in that process. While that fact is likely to remain, I do feel as if the severity of the challenge is directly related to the difficulty ,"reach" or "leap" of the step that we are trying to take. I will try to provide a relatable example to what I am explaining here.

Example: If you are just starting out hunting and you have no experience, yet you get on here and after reading a few posts you set your goal to go out there find buck beds and kill the biggest buck in the woods. Chances are that you have
goal set way to high and your failure will far outweigh your success.

So goal setting is a really important step in the process of learning. I find that incremental goal setting is a far more effective method of achieving success. A lot of what I read throughout the forum is that it takes a high level of effort to achieve success. I am not sure that many people heed or understand that part of it when they take off to implement some of the things that are discussed on here. People generally become discouraged in a process because they bite off more than they can chew. I am not trying to be ugly about it, just realistic in the fact that we often do not understand the process of goal setting or we try to learn from the cliff notes as opposed to putting the time in and quite frankly that just does not work. I believe as humans we want to succeed and need to succeed to be able to push further, a human nature element. I can relate and understand that need, so set incremental goals that are achievable. There is a business acronym that fits these types of goals, it is called the SMART Goal process and the acronym stands for:

S - Specific, Set a specific goal you want to achieve, not just a general based goal (i.e. set your goal to learn more about scouting techniques versus becoming a better hunter)
M - Measurable, This can be a bit more difficult at times but your goal should be able to be measurable against a baseline (i.e. I am going to scout 1000 hours this year where as last year I scouted 20)
A - Attainable, Your goals need to be something that you can achieve and you need to be able to do so in the time frame that you set
R - Relatable, Goals should be relatable to your subject (example: finding some sign may seem to be relatable to learning more about scouting, however is your process repeatable, finding sign one time does not make you better at scouting)
T - Time frame, this is what really sets a goal apart in the idea of incremental goal setting, if your goal is going to take you 5 years to accomplish you may be able to set smaller incremental goals and benefit from a path of successes while achieving your overall goal success

I wish everyone out there great success. Keep these things in mind as you grow. You will be a lot less likely to get discouraged if you set attainable incremental goals that you can realize in a defined time frame. Don't be afraid or discount small successes. Don't feel like you have to go out there and kill a big buck or a buck at all to consider yourself as successful. Start small to grow big, you had to crawl before you could walk and walk before you could run. If your goal and success is just seeing a deer or seeing more deer, then let that be your goal and realize that success. When you feel that you have gotten better at locating any deer, then challenge yourself and set new goals to achieve new successes. If you take too big of a step, step back and set a more achievable goal. Don't let anyone shape your journey, unless they plan on being on it with you every step of the way. Learn to read between the lines of the "experts" and understand that while some of the information that they share can be relatable and helpful, a lot of them are trying to sell you something. Just because they are discussing something that you are interested in and relating to a problem that you may be having, they second they go infomercial with some new product they are hyping as the best thing since a rifle scope, let your caution flags fly and use this forum or discuss with other hunters before you go out there and spend a bunch of money trying to realize success with a short-term effort investment. If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is!

Head

[Boogieman1]

B4 I can even comment I suggest u go back and thoroughly read the 647 pages of posts Truth be told offer a hunter a way they don’t have to read 647 pages and the majority will buy. Tell em u don’t need to scout, just buy this and again they will buy. Tell them don’t worry bout the wind just hunt buy this. No need to practice just buy one of these. You deserve a big buck don’t waste your time hunting just buy one of these. For the majority of folks hunting comes down to writing a check. If they fail it’s certainly not effort related it’s something they didn’t have. Maybe a trendy camo pattern would have saved the day. Maybe they ate tag soup cause they didn’t own a saddle. All I know is it couldn’t possibly be because they don’t have a clue it’s gotta be something they ain’t bought yet.

[Huntress13]

Good post.

[HeadHunting]

Good post.

Thank you, I am hoping that it can help, even if it is only one person

[HeadHunting]

B4 I can even comment I suggest u go back and thoroughly read the 647 pages of posts Truth be told offer a hunter a way they don’t have to read 647 pages and the majority will buy. Tell em u don’t need to scout, just buy this and again they will buy. Tell them don’t worry bout the wind just hunt buy this. No need to practice just buy one of these. You deserve a big buck don’t waste your time hunting just buy one of these. For the majority of folks hunting comes down to writing a check. If they fail it’s certainly not effort related it’s something they didn’t have. Maybe a trendy camo pattern would have saved the day. Maybe they ate tag soup cause they didn’t own a saddle. All I know is it couldn’t possibly be because they don’t have a clue it’s gotta be something they ain’t bought yet.

Boogieman, the sad part about it all is that you are correct and the hunting industry knows it. Humans are suckers for the "cut the corner" way of doing things. The can't fail diets, get rich quick schemes and key words in hunting products like "most forgiving," "scent eliminating or killer," and my all time favorite ozone generators, when not too long ago there was a hole in the ozone layer and global warming. Who would have known that the hunting industry could create small devices that could generate ozone at will. The fact is plainly simple and that is that there is no quick or easy way to success. Success in anything is directly linear to the level of effort that is expended. IMO there is also a higher level of enjoyment and sense of accomplishment that comes with it. Sweat equity!

[Huntress13]

Good post.

There was a post early about goals for 2020 and I have to see where I am on my list. One was getting a mobile setup which I have done. I don’t remember what all the others were, so clearly I'm not being real good keeping track of and quantifying it. Always room to improve and that's a good place to start.

[HeadHunting]

Good post.

There was a post early about goals for 2020 and I have to see where I am on my list. One was getting a mobile setup which I have done. I don’t remember what all the others were, so clearly I'm not being real good keeping track of and quantifying it. Always room to improve and that's a good place to start.

Yeah I am at the point where I have to write things down, if I don't I may remember it some other time but usually way after I wanted to. I have also achived the goal, at least from acquiring the gear, of going to a more mobile setup this year. I have in the past couple of years edged in that direction with going to lock-on's and sticks but was still more rotational hunting pre-sets rather than mobile, just doing so in new areas. This year I got a saddle setup and lightweight sticks with an aider. My incremental goal set is as follows:

1.) Hunt with the saddle setup in a scouted area
2.) See deer using the saddle setup
3.) Kill "a" deer using the saddle setup

For me I really like the small successes on the path towards a more lofty goal, I find it keeps things in perspective and within reach without getting too discouraged.

[Boogieman1]

B4 I can even comment I suggest u go back and thoroughly read the 647 pages of posts Truth be told offer a hunter a way they don’t have to read 647 pages and the majority will buy. Tell em u don’t need to scout, just buy this and again they will buy. Tell them don’t worry bout the wind just hunt buy this. No need to practice just buy one of these. You deserve a big buck don’t waste your time hunting just buy one of these. For the majority of folks hunting comes down to writing a check. If they fail it’s certainly not effort related it’s something they didn’t have. Maybe a trendy camo pattern would have saved the day. Maybe they ate tag soup cause they didn’t own a saddle. All I know is it couldn’t possibly be because they don’t have a clue it’s gotta be something they ain’t bought yet.

Boogieman, the sad part about it all is that you are correct and the hunting industry knows it. Humans are suckers for the "cut the corner" way of doing things. The can't fail diets, get rich quick schemes and key words in hunting products like "most forgiving," "scent eliminating or killer," and my all time favorite ozone generators, when not too long ago there was a hole in the ozone layer and global warming. Who would have known that the hunting industry could create small devices that could generate ozone at will. The fact is plainly simple and that is that there is no quick or easy way to success. Success in anything is directly linear to the level of effort that is expended. IMO there is also a higher level of enjoyment and sense of accomplishment that comes with it. Sweat equity!

I gotta say I’m surprised this got as many replies as It did. Typically u need a heavy dose of pure bs to get the clicks up. Effort simply doesn’t sell there’s gotta be a easier way. That’s what the people want. Why play the wind if u can purchase a way to beat it Personally think u could reach more folks if u changed your legal name and did a Ditch Pickle ultimate arrow build thread. $500 individual arrows that never flew so good. When u think high performance whitetail arrows think Ditch Pickle. Just my .02 but I personally 100% agree with your message. Just have learned the last few years u r fighting a losing battle.

[HeadHunting]

B4 I can even comment I suggest u go back and thoroughly read the 647 pages of posts Truth be told offer a hunter a way they don’t have to read 647 pages and the majority will buy. Tell em u don’t need to scout, just buy this and again they will buy. Tell them don’t worry bout the wind just hunt buy this. No need to practice just buy one of these. You deserve a big buck don’t waste your time hunting just buy one of these. For the majority of folks hunting comes down to writing a check. If they fail it’s certainly not effort related it’s something they didn’t have. Maybe a trendy camo pattern would have saved the day. Maybe they ate tag soup cause they didn’t own a saddle. All I know is it couldn’t possibly be because they don’t have a clue it’s gotta be something they ain’t bought yet.

Boogieman, the sad part about it all is that you are correct and the hunting industry knows it. Humans are suckers for the "cut the corner" way of doing things. The can't fail diets, get rich quick schemes and key words in hunting products like "most forgiving," "scent eliminating or killer," and my all time favorite ozone generators, when not too long ago there was a hole in the ozone layer and global warming. Who would have known that the hunting industry could create small devices that could generate ozone at will. The fact is plainly simple and that is that there is no quick or easy way to success. Success in anything is directly linear to the level of effort that is expended. IMO there is also a higher level of enjoyment and sense of accomplishment that comes with it. Sweat equity!

I gotta say I’m surprised this got as many replies as It did. Typically u need a heavy dose of pure bs to get the clicks up. Effort simply doesn’t sell there’s gotta be a easier way. That’s what the people want. Why play the wind if u can purchase a way to beat it Personally think u could reach more folks if u changed your legal name and did a Ditch Pickle ultimate arrow build thread. $500 individual arrows that never flew so good. When u think high performance whitetail arrows think Ditch Pickle. Just my .02 but I personally 100% agree with your message. Just have learned the last few years u r fighting a losing battle.

I guess it's a good thing I'm not into click-bait or trying to sell anyone on here anything Boogieman. Like I said to Huntress13, if what I shared here helps even one person then great. I do agree with you in that the truth as unfortunate as it is, is that people are looking for the magical "fairy dust" (catching on to your implication) that will get them to an ultimate goal with as little effort as possible. It is a part of human nature and society to try and out dollar effort. Billions are spent every year on products that simply do not provide the return on investment that people are hoping. I personally think some products are good, some are worth the investment but you really have to do your research and again put some form of effort into evaluating the multitude of factors that go into the decision to buy something. IMO, the factors that matter when it comes to a product is as follows:

1.) Is the results promised by the product realistic and plausible.
2.) If it passes factor #1, is it repetable (can it stand up to the fluke factor)
3.) If it passes factor #1 and #2 what is the gain factor. This can be evaluated against a lower cost option as well.
4.) What is the cost, is the return (gain factor) enough that it warrants the cost so that you are getting a fair market return on your investment
5.) What is the longevity factor, i.e. how long will the product last. This is evaluated along with the cost factor
6.) What are the maintenace costs (if any) to maintain the product. This of course is the least considerable factor of all as many things will be cheaper to replace, though things like saddles, stands and climbing sticks may have a maintenance cost.

I feel a lot of people only evaluate the cost of something against the promise of return and don't ever really ask themselves if it is even plausible (factor #1). In my evaluation method cost is number #4, because if it does not meet those other factors, no matter how cheap, it is still a waste of money that can be spent towards products that do provide a return on investment.

You can't lose a battle if you never fight it, I am not going to argue with anyone who wants to believe that hunters febreze is going to beat a whitetail's nose. IMO it doesn't pass factor #2, (being repetable) , I know some will argue that and like I have heard the THP guys say, if it gives them confidence, more power to them. No one will ever be able to convince everyone of everything. For those that utilize the evaluation method explained above, hopefully it saves them some money!!

[Boogieman1]

I support everything u say. The sad truth is sometimes I gotta laugh and joke to keep my sanity. I heard a deer farmer tale commercial that has left me laughing for weeks. Sounded like it was narrated by Yukon Cornelius. I love hunting sir, my fear is it’s to far past gone. I worry about if my future grandchildren hunting will be picking a buck out of a catalog and mailing a check. Hey nobody seems to have a problem with it. Hunting is hunting and no need to lose brownie points disrupting the herd by having a legit opinion an voice. The ole we all pay to hunt in some form doesn’t make sense to me. A guy buying a $40 license for his son to hunt legally and a guy dropping $10,000 to get his kid a guarantee Facebook monster is no where close to the same in my book.

I wonder how did we end up here? How did the homeowner who used to welcome us on there ground with open arms now expect $3000 for the weekend. Does caring about hunting mean u gotta support every get rich scheme that comes down the pipe or else your an outsider who hates the young and elderly? I dunno. But from a guy who grew up roaming woodlots I’m embarrassed what hunting has become. I’m also scared to death of where it’s headed. Let the hating begin. But u don’t see drop offs in the number of newcomer fishermen. To me the reason is simple, there ample opportunity. When u turn a human instinct into a media based business of supply an demand most get left out in the cold.

I hope u reach than one person sir. In fact I hope u reach 100s of em.

[HeadHunting]

I support everything u say. The sad truth is sometimes I gotta laugh and joke to keep my sanity. I heard a deer farmer tale commercial that has left me laughing for weeks. Sounded like it was narrated by Yukon Cornelius. I love hunting sir, my fear is it’s to far past gone. I worry about if my future grandchildren hunting will be picking a buck out of a catalog and mailing a check. Hey nobody seems to have a problem with it. Hunting is hunting and no need to lose brownie points disrupting the herd by having a legit opinion an voice. The ole we all pay to hunt in some form doesn’t make sense to me. A guy buying a $40 license for his son to hunt legally and a guy dropping $10,000 to get his kid a guarantee Facebook monster is no where close to the same in my book.

I wonder how did we end up here? How did the homeowner who used to welcome us on there ground with open arms now expect $3000 for the weekend. Does caring about hunting mean u gotta support every get rich scheme that comes down the pipe or else your an outsider who hates the young and elderly? I dunno. But from a guy who grew up roaming woodlots I’m embarrassed what hunting has become. I’m also scared to death of where it’s headed. Let the hating begin. But u don’t see drop offs in the number of newcomer fishermen. To me the reason is simple, there ample opportunity. When u turn a human instinct into a media based business of supply an demand most get left out in the cold.

I hope u reach than one person sir. In fact I hope u reach 100s of em.

I understand Boogieman, when I started hunting it was hand-me-down everything. We built stands even lean-to's with wood. We wore anything we had and it didn't have to be camo. As I stated before I think some products are worth investing into. I think some things can make hunting more comfortable or convenient but it doesn't make you a better hunter. I agree that it has become a market more so then something like fishing like you mentioned. I do feel as if we all still have some control. Yes land is a bit different than water in terms of opportunities but there is still a number of public lands to hunt. The problem I see there is where the dwindling hunting numbers means less funding for these lands. If enough money is not made to support these lands then we can likely lose them. This may be happening, I have not confirmed one way or the other, but I would like to see some of these hunting product companies contributing to the preservation of public lands.

I understand the need to just laugh sometimes to keep from losing it. Sometimes it is all we can do. I stay optimistic that some of these people that throw money at hunting will eventually figure it out and understand that effort over dollars is a much better investment.