Goal Setting

After just coming off of my last hunting season until spring, I find myself reflecting on the past year. This is when I look back and reevaluate my goal setting. Did I have any gear that I wasn’t exactly happy with? Did any weaknesses stick out? How about my actual hunts? What did I do wrong in the field that I could work on for the future? For me, it is an ever evolving process. I am always looking for the next best piece of gear or new hunting spot. Just when I am happy with how something works for me, I end up trying to figure out something better. My Dad has always told me, “don’t ever think you’ve got it all sewn up.” There is always room for improvement. Where do you go from there though?

I think that some folks get overwhelmed by looking at everything individually, at the same time, instead of just individually. Once this happens, frustration ensues, and unfortunately some will actually quit what they were doing all together. I hate hearing that, but it is a reality and a sad one at that. In my eyes, the key to setting goals and fulfilling them, is setting REALISTIC goals. For instance, if you’ve never shot a bull elk with your bow, I think it would be unrealistic of you to have your goal be to shoot a 400″ bull. Some of you might be laughing, but there are folks that do that. The more realistic goal here would be to shoot a branch antlered bull or ANY bull for that matter. By us setting more realistic goals, we are actually opening up the possibility of succeeding more and more.

Why is that important? Well, by succeeding, we are getting positive reinforcement from our endeavors. That positive reinforcement keeps us coming back for more, therein lies progression. An example of this would be; Someone goes on their first deer hunt. During this season, they didn’t get a deer, but they did see deer. A small win for the hunter. The next year, maybe they shot at a deer and missed. Still a win, even if it’s a bittersweet one. Getting closer. The next year, the hunter fulfills their goal and tags their first deer. With hunting especially, we can’t expect to just go out for the first time and fill our tags. These exceptions do happen sometimes, but they are just that. We need to recognize our wins, no matter how small they are.

A huge goal of mine over the past few years has been to arrow a black bear here in Arizona. Last year, I missed a bear twice. Some might think that I was furious after that experience. However, that was not the case at all. I was grateful to have experienced what I did. No, I didn’t tag a bear, but I got one step closer to doing so. Because, of that bittersweet victory I had, the anticipation for next bear season is immense. Going through what I did let me know that I could actually pull this off, no matte how ridiculous that sounds. If you are a bowhunter, I am sure you have felt that some things just seem impossible at the time. We need to feed off of those small victories and never quit if we intend to succeed, and believe me, I intend on succeeding.