Life goals?

[wisconsinteacher]

I have set a few hunting, trapping and fishing life goals that I am working on. As a teacher, I know I will not be able to travel a lot to hunt out of state so I have a few in state goals.

#1 Shoot a legal buck with all legal weapons. Rifle, shotgun, muzzle loader, handgun, compound, recurve, longbow, and crossbow. I have to wait a few years before I get the crossbow kill. You need to be 65 to shoot one here. I have rifle, compound, and recurve done.

#2 Shoot a spring turkey with a 10, 12, 16, 20, 28, and .410. I just started this one so I only have the 12 down. I hope to get the 20 this spring.

#3 Trap every fur bearer in the state. I need beaver, mink, bobcat, and now wolf.

#4 Catch a 1# bluegill, 10# walleye and a 20# northern pike. I have a 9.5 walleye and a 16.5 pound pike through the ice. I don't walleye fish much so that one is going to be hard. Heck, all there are going to be hard to do.

So what are your hunting and fishing goals?

 

[sask boy]

I would like 1 caribou hunt & my fishing is to catch Halibut
I have hunted most animals & caught most species of fish here but those are my
main 2 for the bucket list :wink:

Blessings,
Dan

 

[DrMike]

I would like 1 caribou hunt & my fishing is to catch Halibut
I have hunted most animals & caught most species of fish here but those are my
main 2 for the bucket list :wink:

Blessings,
Dan

Ah, yes, the Saskatchewan halibut--very rare and especially difficult to catch, or so I'm told by the cognoscenti. :shock: Come on over to BC, Dan. Perhaps we can finagle a trip out on the briny with Gerry to snag a barndoor.

 

[Elkman]

This is interesting, and will probably be fun. As I have been around a long time many of mine have already been accomplished. For example I caught my first Salmon 3 years ago, and my first Steelhead last summer. But I have a couple to go. I am also very conservative in my needs and wants so its going to be a very short list that I will probably add to after a few days.

Shoot a 360 bull !
Arrow a Roosevelt Elk
Arrow a Rocky Mtn Elk
Hunt Black bear with Jim Shockey on Vancouver Island

 

[NWBlacktail]

1. Take a trophy elk with a bow (haven't taken one with a rifle either).
2. Take a nice western Oregon blacktail buck. Taken some nice mulies on the eastern side of the state, but never one of those crafty little blacktail.
3. Land a trophy steelhead on a fly rod.

I'd love to make an Alaskan hunt, but as the only income earner in a house with 3 small kids... Not likely.

 

[gerry]

I have done almost everything fishing that I have wanted to do, chinook on a fly rod was it a few years ago, I have caught a few now. I guess catching a steelhead on a dry fly would be something I would still like to do. I don't own a boat for fishing halibut but could arrange something Dan and Mike if you make it over here, you are both welcome to stay at our house anytime as well.

Hunting have done quite a bit but missing would be these:
1. Get a big mountain caribou, I shot a younger bull in late August 1999 some of the best meat I have ever had.
2. A mule deer buck, have not taken one yet.
3. Get a big blacktail buck, have shot probably 30 blacktails in the Queen Charlotte Islands but would like to find the big one one day.
4. Get an elk, still haven't taken one.
5. Shoot a California bighorn ram, have taken one Stone and I'm not interested in the other sheep species.

Will hunt for moose goats and bears for as long as possible of course too.

 

[Guy Miner]

Re hunting & fishing - mostly I just want to continue doing what I've been doing, enjoying my trips afield with family and friends.

Mostly I'll continue to hunt mule deer here in our local hills, because they're close, and I thoroughly enjoy hunting them. It's harder than a fellow might think, simply to tag a legal buck here year after year. Hunter success rate is about 24%, so I feel real good when I tag a buck several years in a row. Still looking for a "real big" buck. Likely always will be. I'd like my son to tag a good mulie buck, a mature 4x4. That would put a grin on my face for sure.

Pronghorn - wow - that was such a fun hunt with Steven & Storm - and the pronghorn meat tastes so delicious - that I've got to return to Wyoming and hunt those again.

Elk - I should really get more serious about taking another elk. Have a good bull on the wall. Don't really want another big bull. Simply filling the freezer with elk steaks sure sounds good though. It has proven amazingly tough to draw a cow elk tag here! Perhaps in 2013?

Other than that? Well I keep putting in for our Washington "once in a lifetime" tags for moose, bighorn ram & mountain goat. Any of those could make for an incredible hunt. We've got bighorns real close to town, and I hike their ridges & canyons often. Would really be something to draw that tag!

I'd like to do more wing shooting. Haven't paid enough attention to that in recent years.

Steelhead season closed down early here this year, and I didn't even get out. Doggone it. Did some fine fishing for salmon up in Alaska with Dad though. Might have been our last trip up there together. I hope not. Would love to do another three-generation fishing trip with Dad and my sons.

For me it's not so much about the size of the antlers, the weight of the fish, it's about the experience of hunting and fishing, particularly with good friends or family.

Though of course I do enjoy taking a "big one" of any species, and also enjoy hunting & fishing on my own.

Interesting thread W.T. Thanks. Made me pause and reflect a little here this morning.

Guy

 

[Guy Miner]

Looking back, I guess I've taken care of a lot of "goals" or "wants" when it comes to hunting and fishing.

If I draw one of those once-in-a-lifetime tags, I'll be all over it, and will do whatever I can to make that hunt a success. Otherwise, I'm just going to keep on hunting & fishing. The experience, just being out there doing it - that's what I'm really after. Particularly when I can share it with family and friends.

Oh yeah - bumping into a cougar- in season, with tag in pocket and rifle in hand - would really make my day!

Regards, Guy

 

[6mm Remington]

Sure are beautiful pictures you posted Guy. I'd say it appears though you have your priorities spot on!

David

 

[DrMike]

Great account, Guy. To be able to lean against a balsam tree on a mountainside in the late autumn sun while elk and moose move through the valley below is a piece of heaven. To watch the heaving side of a big royal bull elk, steam blasting from his nostrils as he screams his defiance of every other competitor for his harem is sufficient to generate memories for a lifetime. To have watched a great moose with a rack bigger than one could imagine come rocking into a clearing a few yards away, grunting all the while as he seeks out the one threatening his cows is almost overwhelming. To witness the grizzly as he drags a moose carcase into the trees while glaring at you because you disturbed his meal keeps one young. To have witnessed twelve black bears stand simultaneously out of an oat field when you whistle reminds you of just how puny you really are. To have watched a black wolf run pell-mell toward you in order to investigate what he thought was a dying rabbit keeps life thrilling. To have witnessed mountain caribou, Dall sheep and Bighorn sheep in their own wild environment is the stuff of memories. To have looked mountain goats in the eyes at close range on their own turf is the genesis of joys that will last a lifetime. I've fished for and caught five species of salmon, summer run and winter run steelhead, rainbow trout, brook trout, grayling, pike and walleye as I fished almost every major river in BC and the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. To have shared these adventures with good friends has enhanced every one of the experiences. I consider myself blessed. Should my life suddenly be concluded, I will not feel as though I have been cheated. God has been gracious. Until I die, I pray I will have opportunity to continue to walk where the wild things walk, take the occasional big game animal, and enjoy the adventure of life with dear friends and family. This is one of the advantages of being a bit older. I could never have imagined such a thing when conducting research in Dallas or in San Francisco. Thirty-three years in British Columbia has provided me wonderful opportunities. I have few regrets.

 

[Ridge_Runner]

my hunting goals
going to start training and scouting for a shot on a whitetail at 1 mile.
learn how to effectively hunt eastern coyotes instead of them being targets of opprotunity.
take a bobcat
fishing goals
become efficient at land based shark fishing.
life goals in general
be more tolerant of my mrs, and have the strength and good sense to hide the body when I lose it!..LOL, just kidden on that one
RR

 

[russ808]

Fishing- Catch that 300lb. Ahi as they are very rare now.
Hunting-I have never hunted on the mainland so pretty much anything there would be cool. Going back to Africa to get a gemsbok, sable and start on the big 5. Better start saving those cans and bottles as I am not getting any younger.
Russ

 

[Kodiak]

We are truely blessed to live in a time and places that allow us to get afield. So many wonderus experiences in special places, shared with friends and family members. And we need a "list" of things yet to do. It keeps us going.

I would not change my time here for any other. I have much to be thankful for,

 

[FOTIS]

I retire at 62 God willing.

Then Africa. My only goal.

 

[.280 Remington]

Hunt Elk, wild boar, black bear. That's about all I can ask for right about now.

 

[SJB358]

Hunt Elk, wild boar, black bear. That's about all I can ask for right about now.

I'd be pretty happy to hunt elk a few times a year..

 

[.280 Remington]

Hunt Elk, wild boar, black bear. That's about all I can ask for right about now.

I'd be pretty happy to hunt elk a few times a year..

That's no joke Scotty

 

[DaveA37]

I've been quite fortunate to sucessfully hunt numerous species here in No. America. Don't ever expect to hunt in Africa so won't include those. The things I still would like to do is:

Take a nice bull moose (60" or better)

Catch a 100# Halibut

Take a 6 x 6 bull elk

Take a nice Mountain Lion

Should I be fortunate enough to take any of those, I will be quite pleased to say the least,
one or more would be utopia.

 

[Guy Miner]

It's funny, many of us get to hunt our local deer for a few days, most years. Generally we have to be satisfied with that, but time to time we are fortunate enough to make an opportunity to hunt something out of the norm for us.

It literally took me 40 years to hunt pronghorn, after deciding to clear back in the 1970's. Dad was asking me ever-so-innocently what cartridge I'd like if I was ever able to get a new rifle. He had a pair of .30-06 rifles, and Grandpa had that .257 Weatherby/Mauser 98. I told him I wanted a 6mm Remington - partly because I'd read some article about it being a perfect choice for pronghorn antelope. Not that I'd ever even seen a pronghorn except in photos at that point. I knew I wanted to go pronghorn hunting in Wyoming, and wanted a 6mm Rem to do it with.

Well... I got the 6mm Rem for high school graduation - and never got around to hunting pronghorn at all. Not until this past October. What a great hunt that was indeed! Still used a Remington 700, but a .25-06 instead - since my youngest son has claimed the 6mm as his anymore. Do suspect that he'd have let me borrow it for the hunt. Maybe next time.

Hang on to those dreams and work towards them. Someday you may well be able to make that dream hunt happen. Even if it takes 40 years.

Regards, Guy

 

[pre6422hornet]

I don't have really a big list.

1. Take a double drop tine whitetail with a typical 10 point topside!
2. Be around long enough to teach my grandkids to hunt and fish ( didn't start having kids until I was 33)
3. Make it back out west to chase mulies and elk. Preferably mulies.
4. Go one on one with a big bull moose on a classic track scenario in the snow.