Are you more motivated by success or failure?

[UntouchableNess]

Both motivate me. If you fail figure out why and fix it...If you succeed figure out why and duplicate it.

Personally the best motivator is the quest for knowledge and continuous learning.

If I stop learning I might as well stop hunting.

[Tadmdad]

Both motivate me. If you fail figure out why and fix it...If you succeed figure out why and duplicate it.

Personally the best motivator is the quest for knowledge and continuous learning.

If I stop learning I might as well stop hunting.

I agree....just put me 6' in the ground, and throw dirt in my face.

[BigHunt]

I think a trophy hunter really needs to put a couple bucks under his belt to feel that confidance and trust his technique... However, I think after you have proved yourself its more benaficial to be motivated to correct everything that makes you fail. If a stand creaks and scares a buck I would either fix the issue immeadiatly or replace the stand... Of coarse I would fix it as soon as creaked and not wait for the inevidable. If I moved at the wrong time, got winded, or something about my set up failed, it would get fixed mentally and physically so it couldn't happen again... Failure on any level pushes me to do better.
If I ain't seeing or killing deer, that don't deter me at all because I know the next set up might be the one...

i strongly agree dan ,
ive only shot to "good" bucks with the bow and im no ware near my comfert level yet, failing makes me think more and drives me for more, when i fail i lay in bed thinking what i could of done differnt and what ill do differnt next time around....so i think failure is my motivater

[Schultzy]

Failure motivates the out of me.

[Stanley]

Lots of different answers. Good discussions. One question about learning being the motivator, which I feel kind of tap danced around the question. How do you measure what you have learned? Wouldn't the test of learning be success or failure? I mean you can learn at home or on a computer but the ultimate goal of hunting is to bring down the quarry. So success or failure would be gauged in the field as to how well you have learned. I would say if learning is your motivator then success would be your answer to my question.

[ttsbuck]

When I was younger I think failure or as I would rather say lack of success drove me to push harder and harder to succeed. Now being a little older I find more motivation from success. With successful hunts I have proven to myself what works and find myself feeling much more confident. Therefore I am more willing to put in the necessary effort knowing that it will be worth it.

[UntouchableNess]

One question about learning being the motivator, which I feel kind of tap danced around the question. How do you measure what you have learned?

I'll let you know this fall when I kill the buck I've been after the last three years.

[gjs4]

Both are great motivators for me but success fosters much better decision making....one of my personal weakpoints is that tar pit flaying with failure at times

[Indianahunter]

If success were what motivated me I would have gicven up a long time ago.

[RaisedByWolves]

Failure is only motivating when your learning something....otherwise success is my motivator because i like to think i know what i'm doing every once in awhile!

[Tadmdad]

Lots of different answers. Good discussions. One question about learning being the motivator, which I feel kind of tap danced around the question. How do you measure what you have learned? Wouldn't the test of learning be success or failure? I mean you can learn at home or on a computer but the ultimate goal of hunting is to bring down the quarry. So success or failure would be gauged in the field as to how well you have learned. I would say if learning is your motivator then success would be your answer to my question.

Actually is doesn't tap dance around the answer, it just changes the premise of the question. I guess for some the measurement of success or failure is the killing of the animal, or lack of the kill. The only advantage that we all have over our quarry is our ability to think and reason vs the animals instincts.

I can think of several bucks over the years that I've spent a lot of time hunting, that I've never closed the deal on. Were those hunts a success or failure? What was the standard of measurement? Did I learn from the experience? Did I achieve my goals? It's what you learn from your experiences and how they are applied to become a better hunter that becomes the ultimate goal, it becomes a journey thats never finished.

If personal success or failure becomes the only motivator, then I would say ego becomes the only guide to the journey. Which seems very prevalent in our society these days.

[Zap]

Lots of different answers. Good discussions. One question about learning being the motivator, which I feel kind of tap danced around the question. How do you measure what you have learned? Wouldn't the test of learning be success or failure? I mean you can learn at home or on a computer but [glow=red]the ultimate goal of hunting is to bring down the quarry[/glow]. So success or failure would be gauged in the field as to how well you have learned. I would say if learning is your motivator then success would be your answer to my question.

See my signature.......










The quest to become better at what I am doing is the main motivater in my life.

What tool/method works best for me, do I use the new tool/method correctly?
How can I improve at it?

Learning to become better may be a process that does not immediately yield the results that I want.
Stopping before I achive the result I want with the methods I have chosen is a failure....

Continuing the quest as best I can is a success.

[Stanley]

Actually is doesn't tap dance around the answer, it just changes the premise of the question. I guess for some the measurement of success or failure is the killing of the animal, or lack of the kill. The only advantage that we all have over our quarry is our ability to think and reason vs the animals instincts.

I can think of several bucks over the years that I've spent a lot of time hunting, that I've never closed the deal on. Were those hunts a success or failure? What was the standard of measurement? Did I learn from the experience? Did I achieve my goals? It's what you learn from your experiences and how they are applied to become a better hunter that becomes the ultimate goal, it becomes a journey thats never finished.

If personal success or failure becomes the only motivator, then I would say ego becomes the only guide to the journey. Which seems very prevalent in our society these days.[/quote]

Do we take a weapon on the hunt or just binoculars? I believe another advantage we have over our quarry is we can climb trees.

[Ack]

I like to take all of my fails from the past and work on that stuff for the future.....the successes help me refine my hunting areas and strategies more.

[THA4]

How do you measure what you have learned? Wouldn't the test of learning be success or failure? I mean you can learn at home or on a computer but the ultimate goal of hunting is to bring down the quarry. So success or failure would be gauged in the field as to how well you have learned

To answer your original question first, I feel both success and failures motivate me each season. In sports its NOT any bodies game.... The highest skilled, most talented team or individual typically wins. In cases where they don't and a no name wins is usually an example of others not doing so well... by keeping the same level of competition, if not higher, the successes we experience are very important and teach us a great deal about what we did right. There are even times in the midst of success where we can also learn about our failures.

In the game of hunting success can come at any second, to anyone. You should be competing against Mother Nature, the big deer and yourself, not other hunters... However in other games the victor has usually won before the game ever began. (Not always, but usually) Failing sucks and while nobody likes it, I particularly use the fear of failure as a motivator. I'll ride the high of success for as long as possible, but once you have WON and scored on a nice deer, applying what you have learned will usually have to wait until next year. The fear of failure gets me out of bed when I"m too tired or keeps me in the stand when i want to get down... I HATE loosing and the only way to WIN is to out last your quarry. I don't consider a season a failure if I don't tag out, I consider a season a failure when I get lazy or if I give up! But, I also use those circumstances where I got outsmarted by a big deer as a learning session, and often consider that a failure to act on my behalf. It can be humbling...

The lessons I learn from getting outsmarted by a big deer are as humbling as loosing state when you come in ranked #1, if not more so. Success on the other hand motivates me because the thrill of victory lasts a long time, and I am constantly reminded of making all the right moves by looking at his shoulder mount on my wall.

I love to win AND I hate to loose, but I appreciate both... if that makes any sense... The minute I stop getting schooled by big whitetails or even think for a minute I have nothing left to learn, I'll hang up deer hunting... But the more I hunt, the more I realize I have A LOT to learn and see no end in sight... Thats why I love it!