# How do you measure success as a predator hunter?



## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

In your opinion what makes a successful predator hunter? How would you measure success? 
Some guys make Videos and DVDs, others write books and some make calls, they are successful in the marketing part of predator hunting. Some have been hunting predators for 20/30 years, are they successful? Your thoughts...... :wink:


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## neb_bo (Feb 3, 2007)

i think success is measured in the amount of fullfilment obtained from a hunt. sometimes i go out, and dont kill my target, but i have a great day, and maybe learn something. sometimes i make a mistake that is a huge eye opener, or accomplish or see something that ive always wanted to. this winter i was setting in a treestand for deer, and saw my first bobcat. i didnt kill a deer, but it was something ill remember for the rest of my life, even though i plan on seeing, and hopefully killing alot more cats.


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## pfast (Feb 8, 2007)

I think is a very broad question but sometimes success is just making it home from a long days hunt without any problems. Somedays its actualy knocking down some dogs. Lately its putting everything ive learned by researching and being in the field to use having the people im hunting with tell me that wont work, its not a good spot etc... and proving them wrong by getting the dogs in and dropping them. Granted the numbers arnt high but havnt had alot of time to hunt either.


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## Bloodyblinddoors (Oct 25, 2006)

If I have a good story to tell after a hunt, kill or no kill, I was successfull.

Example: If I sit down and call one into 50yds and kill it. Thats fun and all, But if I sit down and call one in from behind me, the dirrection of the truck, and it followed my tracks to the call, even if I miss it, thats a story I may never forget.


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## Brad.T (Mar 29, 2004)

I think everyone is missing the meaning of Danny's question. We all measure the success of the hunt for US in many differnt ways from hunting with a kid to just getting some fur in the truck to taking home a story but i THINK danny is wondering what makes YOU think that someone is GOOD

In my opinion it is knowing how MUCH they hunt and the AREA they hunt and then the numbers they put up.


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## big_al_09 (Feb 26, 2007)

I agree with Brad.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

The question was "how do you measure the success of a predator hunter"? It is more complex then just animals taken and where they are taken. 
A true predator hunter takes more then just coyotes. To be honest I don't have the answer, thats why I asked lol.


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## saskcoyote (Dec 30, 2006)

Danny B, you say you don't have the answer but also suggest 'success' is more than just animals taken and where they're taken.

Maybe, however, that is the answer for some predator hunters -- how many animals are taken and where they're taken.

The definition of success for others may mean getting out in the field for a day. Others may define success as spending a day with friends regardless of whether they kill a coyote or even see one.

Success to others may be just having a day away from the everyday worries many of us have about work, making the mortgage, building relationships, and so on.

Others may say all of the above, some of the above or none of the above.

You say success is more 'complex' than animals taken and where they're taken. Let's not complicate the subject.

Success, distilled to its essence for many of us, means just having fun. And every one us us has our own individual yardstick of what fun -- and sucess -- is. Nothing more, nothing less.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Barry Bonds is measured by the home runs he hits, a Pro Quarterback is measured by the games he wins. A real hardcore predator hunter is measured by the animals he takes....then it starts to get more complex. :lol:


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## Brad.T (Mar 29, 2004)

Sask: you missed my point danny is not asking what makes a succesful predator hunter in the sense of was the day a success rather asking about another predator hunter like:

Do you think Danny B is a Good Predator Hunter?
Or 
Do you think that Brad.T is a good predator hunter?

I agree with the measures of success for the day for YOURSELF that you brought up but i don't think that was what danny B was looking for.

I think that a well run and strict tournament is a good measuring stick for who can kill the numbers. unless there is a prime piece of real estate that one team has over everyone.

Now, Is a good tournament hunter better then a Gov't hunter or problem coyote hunter that takes care of one pair of problem coyotes that have been around the block in a timely matter?


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## saskcoyote (Dec 30, 2006)

I'm puzzled, Danny, and the more whiskey I drink the more puzzled I become. Please, for a dumbie like me, explain "then it starts to get more complex" so I can understand because I never construed whackin' yotes as being something akin to a mystical experience -- I've always thought it was just a matter of personal satisfaction and enjoyment. I didn't really think there was anything complex about it.


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## MossyMO (Feb 12, 2004)

I think each and everyone of us have different ways of measuring our own personal success.

For me I will feel successful and a knowledgeable resource for information when I have quite a few downed coyotes under my belt and my youngest son will take the time to go out calling with me. Right now he has the interest but does not want to take the time of learning; he wants Dad to become successful at calling them in before he takes the time to go out with me. I think his impatient youthful thinking will change after I am able to take him out and he can also drop a few. When that happens for me, then I will consider myself successful.

Success is measured by achieving your goals, those our mine.


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## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

Much like Ty Webb, I measure myself against other hunters by height.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Saskcoyote I'm joking around, have another shot. Hell, I'll have one with ya. :lol:


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

Horsager said:


> My like Ty Webb, I measure myself against other hunters by height.


LOL Thank You Very Little Horsager


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## patrick grumley (Mar 9, 2007)

Success to me is not how many yotes I kill. I find more satisfaction in the manor in which I kill them, foolin old man coyote is the mission and the harder I have to work at that the more satisfaction I get out of the hunt. I won't kid anyone I count everyone of my kills along with dates, times, places, and conditions. I do not measure my success by how many you killed, but I do take note of that info. Perhaps there is info that could be gleaned from a person who puts up big numbers. 
There is a recipe for killing yotes; time spent in the field, area where you hunt, and skill of the hunter. Success is an individual thing, you and you alone should determine the success of your hunt.


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## Jaybic (Sep 8, 2005)

I have not seen many answers to this question yet because it seems that we are still trying to define exactly what the question is or means but without reading into it too much my answer is this:

I measure sucess as a predator hunter first by the number killed against the number of days and chances that I had on those days. Some guys get laid off in the winter in prime coyote country and put up big numbers. They combine skill, time and location and that is great. Some guys get 3-4 full weekends all year and shoot 4. If the first guy kills 50 out of 200 chances and the second guy kills 1 out of 4, they both killed 25% of what they had a chance at. Dead even. :beer: Both successful to me( I am kinda the second guy, but I mess up more often. lol)

If I narrow the question to "how do I measure MY success as a predator hunter?", then my answer is this:

I measure it off of the number of coyote interactions that I have in the season. As long as I call it into shooting range, whether it winds me, or I miss, or mess up some other way, I was successful in my own wierd way  .

I hunt in SE MN almost every weekend and make 2-3 trips to ND every year. I shot 6 this year and screwed my self out of at least that many but to me, I had a banner year. I had more stupid things go wrong than anyone would have time to listen to but I know this. Screwups make for good stories! I also had a bunch of cool stuff happened when I did get the coyote which made those few 6 all the sweeter. Got my first couple by electronic so now I actuallly believe they work, Shot 3 coyotes with 3 different guns(not on same stand)...ext. All were called(no out the window stuff or dogs...ect...strictly calling).

I am certainly no expert but my final thing is I took things from this site and used them to score. I know there are guys on this site that shoot as many in a day as I might in a year and cant hold a candle to that on my best day but in my humble opinion, does my reasoning make me a succesful predator hunter? Yes, it does.

Good luck all,

Jaybic


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## kdog (Mar 13, 2007)

Well said jaybic! :beer: 
If I were to rate your reply, I'd give it an A. Hell I'd give it a AAA! :wink:


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

I too haven't answered this question yet as I think we are trying to figure out what the real question is. So I will do as Jaybic did since he broke the ice.



Jaybic said:


> I measure sucess as a predator hunter first by the number killed against the number of days and chances that I had on those days. Some guys get laid off in the winter in prime coyote country and put up big numbers. They combine skill, time and location and that is great. Some guys get 3-4 full weekends all year and shoot 4. If the first guy kills 50 out of 200 chances and the second guy kills 1 out of 4, they both killed 25% of what they had a chance at. Dead even. :beer: Both successful to me( I am kinda the second guy, but I mess up more often. lol)


Jaybic that is how I measure the success of another also. Good explanation. I am also in that second category.

Here is how I measure my personal success (my main method of hunting is calling):

I need to see improvement. I just finished my 3rd year of predator hunting and I have improved every year. By that I mean I have hunted about the same number of days and every year I see more coyotes and my kills per year have increased, and I have called in more critters.

I need to learn something new every hunt. That is pretty easy considering all the variables there are to predator hunting. Whether it be learning a new cue in reading coyote body language, using a different sound or stand setup, trying a new method (spot and stalk), seeing a new animal behavior, playing the wind differently, etc, etc.

I need to enjoy the outdoors, regardless of the hunt outcome. I don't want to be out there having a miserable day just to kill a coyote. I would rather enjoy my time outside and not put any fur in the truck. I am a sucker for hard work and pushing myself to the limit physically and mentally so it's not likely that I would ever be "miserable" because of something nature throws my way. I guess for that reason, I always enjoy myself when I'm out there. It's better than sitting inside working on a winter day! That is half the reason I hunt predators.

So for me personally its a combination of improvement, learning, and absorbing nature. What grade do I get kdog?


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## kdog (Mar 13, 2007)

Well said Fallguy! You guys make alot of sense. Grade? Well, the moderator always gets an A+ :wink:


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## Brad.T (Mar 29, 2004)

Jaybic 
VERY WELL put i THINK that is what Danny was looking for


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

How do you measure success? They posted a picture of a trapper that took 1185 red fox in 90 days of trapping, I'd say he's very successful at what he does. 
A friend of mine has taken over 3000 predators in the last 45 years and most of those were on weekends, I'd say he was very successful at what he does. 
There are a few guys that hang out on the internet that take more then 100 coyotes every year by predator calling, I'd say they are very successful also. 
Among serious predator callers, I believe numbers is how you measure success.
I think the problem here is different types of predator hunters. We have a few serious ones, but mostly not so serious ones. 
I'm sorry if I didn't post the question right in some eyes, but you have to remember I'm old. It's the best excuse I got  :wink:


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## Brad.T (Mar 29, 2004)

Nicely put Danny and i agree


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## fingerz42 (Aug 13, 2006)

In PA, I measure my success just by seeing an eye. Leave alone the kill, just let me see an eye or a yote coming towards me and I feel fulfilled. The calling success for the east is so slim.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Brad T. somehow I knew you'd agree lol. For fun and fun is what this is all about, would you agree that we have more then one kind of predator hunter? Serious and those that are happy with just going hunting? Nothing wrong with either....But? I'm I in the ball park?


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## captdave (Apr 19, 2007)

I'm new to the foums but I have been hunting yotes for a long time 24 years. I was 10 and took my first one. My pawpaw said "One shot one kill" ,and that was the rule. I was 8 and left a deer stand to get my 22. My grandad reminded me of that untill he passed away ten years ago. My 22 was my gun. The problem was he said "You had a 308 boy". I remember all my trips with my pawpaw. We took a lot of yotes, and deer but the one thing he left a good safe hunter in his place. Now next week im taking my oldest girl with me. She is a dead on shot, and very safe. I realize you cant take anything with you. Its what you leave behind.  :sniper:


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