# Where is it all going?



## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

I was going to post on this thread:

http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/vie ... hp?t=51201

But I decided to start it's own thread.

For the most part, this thread is the longest going thus far on "which decoy" before it turns ugly. I just had to remove a post that was taking it that way, so it's getting close.

I cannot understand why people get that involved in caring what other decoys people use? I remember when I was a kid and if you weren't wearing Girbaud's and Doc Marten boots, you weren't "cool" and were subject to being picked on. It's amazing how long ago that was but even more amazing how it still happens even decades later.

I think all the "competition" going on in the spring is really killing the sport in a hurry. I find myself when I go hunting I don't want to know how others are doing and I certainly don't post up what I shoot anymore otherwise it's just a reason for crazy accusations.

Get out and enjoy the migration everyone! The sooner you stop worrying about what other people are doing the sooner you'll enjoy a 10-bird day where you saw a lot and had a good time with the boys.

Sorry, getting off my soapbox but I just hate to see where everything is headed. I used to get caught up in it but I found myself enjoying hunting A LOT more when I quit caring about everything other than having a good time.

We all want to shoot more birds, that's the challenge we all take to the field when hunting. (assuming you're still below stage 5 in The 5 Stages of a Hunter) But is it worth attacking someone because you think your method is _better_?

Sorry, I think I just hit overflow in terms of snow goose testosterone this morning on the forum and had to vent.

Enjoy the spring everyone, in whatever way you know how.

My :2cents:


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## h2ofwlr (Feb 6, 2004)

I agree, just go hunting and enjoy yourself, while being respectful of land owners property and of other hunters. :beer:


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## Hair Trigger Gun Dogs (May 5, 2007)

I agree. I was speaking with another avid waterfowler that belongs to the ND retriever club and he said how important it is that we all work together. So someone beat you to a field... another hunting / gun rights supporter. The liberals/ PETA folks that want to take guns and hunting rights are working hard to squelch our passion while we bicker about Dakota Decoys vs. FFD's. Focus on this big picture folks. Conservation. Quality Landowner relations. Gun rights. Otherwise hunting in America will turn into the European form. You own a gun, but it's locked up in a vault at the hunting preserve. Oh... and by the way. None of us would be able to afford a membership at the club. Smile and wish good luck to all other hunters. Even if they give you the cold shoulder. -Brad Miller


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## boranger (Mar 11, 2008)

I had a buddy drive to s creek too pick up decoys so we could go north next week, I think he said he was on I 29 but not sure but he said he could not believe all the geese dead in the road sides,I can not believe people can do thing like that. :******: :******: Iam just venting a little to sorry,,,,


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

Some of my best hunts 0 birds were harmed!  It is a fun sport, get out and enjoy it!


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## goosebusters (Jan 12, 2006)

I am not going to say that I have been or am even close to Stage 5, but I think you have a group of "elitists" on this and every site who knock the people out there improving. While you are becoming a better hunter, often time during the college years, you are going to be striving to hunt better fields, become a better caller, shoot more birds, get them closer. I for one don't need to shoot a pile of birds everyday, but with that being said I still push myself to be successful. Even those who are "Sportsman", I know the trip is about the experience not the kill amount, but why even scout then? You have to admit that everyone in every stage wants to kill birds. This isn't stirring the pot or directed towards anyone that I respect, this is just a reminder that there is nothing wrong with improving yourself as a hunter. So if people are proud of there accomplishments, please don't knock them as hunters. Give them some compliments, advice if you must, then another compliment :beer: . That was another rant.


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## dfisher (Oct 12, 2007)

I've thought about this very thing a lot. 
It seems to me that when we're young, we really don't know much about hunting or the game we're after. If we're lucky, dad or grand dad takes us along and we learn from them. We learn what they know and our minds evolve and get to thinking about better ways to kill more. We pour over catalogs, watch videos, and steady articles for tips and technique. Fortunately, for the most part, we don't have the money, time, and skill to make things work out so we stew in our lust for success.

Then we hit our twenties and thirties and things all come together. We meet like minded people, we make plans, and we have jobs and money and can buy the gear that we've longed for. We have so much money that we can experiment and try this and then move on to that. The killing is rampant and the bragging never ends. We have success untold and our dads or grand dads just shake their head in wonderment at our gadgetry and trinkets. We have more success than they ever had and we like to let it all hang out. We walk into the sporting goods store, our band encrusted lanyards chinking along with each step, ready to lay advice on any novice that might be looking over equipment, or lay waste to anyone who does it differently, or who claims to "know more than us!" It's all about quality and quantity at this point.

Then things change a bit. We hit a wall or something. Things don't feel the same any longer. We have kids and wives and obligations. We notice that that old football injury is aching on those misty, grey dawns as we lay in wait for geese in the corn. Sometimes it even seems like the alarm is broken and goes off only a few moments after we set it at bedtime. What, we're knapping after lunch now! Gee I'm glad I don't wear that big string of bands to the field anymore. Man that was a hassle. Oh yeah, and sometimes we don't even make the grade on a wind torn day when the 'bills are in or the mallards are moving; wife has plans; kids have ball or recital or this or that. Sometimes it's just that we're too lazy to get up and slap the alarm to silence and roll over for another hour or two of shut eye. The saddest commentary that I can offer up on this is that we don't mind. It kinda feels good to hang with the wife at a function or watch the kids do their thing. Sleeping in is definitely a big plus.

Then we go from there. We start making up reasons to clamber out of bed in the wee hours and go to the field or marsh. We say we go for the dog or the sunrise or to see what happens out there with the birds. And that's right. We do. But down deep inside, when that minute arrives and we slam the action closed and turn our eyes to the sky we revert back to the way we were. We may not be as ravenous as we once were. We may actually look like our dad or grandpa did. But when that flight of mallard's lock up for the final pass or a flock of honkers zeros in on our set, we know we're back to where we want to be. We may only pull one bird from each flight or even give some a pass, but we know that somewhere in our mind we're thirty again and blood is going to spill. It's just that now we're not quite as hardcore as we once may have been.

I'm kinda like that now I think. I make all the big plans and get everything ready to go. But then, when the time comes, if I go its okay and if I don't, well, tomorrow is another day. But when I do go, when I'm out there setting the decoys and brushing the blind; when I hear the geese and feel the wind biting, I'm still very much the lion in winter. I suspect that we all are.

Merry spring to all and to all a good night :beer: 
Dan


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## 6162rk (Dec 5, 2004)

I AGREE THAT WE NEED TO SHOW RESPECT. IF YOU CAN'T RESPECT EACH OTHER. AT LEAST RESPECT THE LAND OWNERS AND MOST OF ALL THE MIGHTY SNOW GOOSE. SOME PEOPLE TREAT THEM WORSE THE COCKROACHES. LIKE I SAID BEFORE MAN WILL NOT SAVE THE TUNDRA. TAKE WHAT YOU CAN USE AND LEAVE THE REST. GOD WILL DECIDE WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM.


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## boranger (Mar 11, 2008)

my two sons are now 22 and25 that have been hunting with me there whole life, even put them in abackpack sometimes just to make thing go faster far me. today thay take dad hunting and I get to seething in alittle differnt light,thay have become much better hunter than I ever was. wildlife is as importion to them as it is to me.My dad said to me once 45 years ago that hunting and kill is to diffent thing, you alway be a hunter and love the game you arehunting.My boys love the outdoors and the game thay hunt. I know that I am in the fall of my hunting life, so every hunt has moremeaning to it . I will be hunting snowgeese all next week with my wife and two boy it will be a great hunt, geese or know geese. there is something about sping goose hunting, when its in you blood its there to stay.  happy hunting,,,,,


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## the professor (Oct 13, 2006)

Hair Trigger Gun Dogs said:


> Oh... and by the way. None of us would be able to afford a membership at the club. Smile and wish good luck to all other hunters. Even if they give you the cold shoulder. -Brad Miller


except those rich english teachers... 8)

excellent posts on this thread! unfotunately theres something thats lost in peoples minds when they get behind a keyboard these days. just the other day i responded to a post on another forum with first hand knowledge of a piece of equipment the poster was asking about; i was amazed at how many guys just dumped on the guy for buying rags and trying to hunt with them...all he asked was what the best spread setup was for them. seriously what happened to "if you dont have anything nice to say..." ???


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## mallard (Mar 27, 2002)

I see myself between the meathod stage and the sportsman stage. Like Chris, I find myself less concerned with numbers and huge piles of carnage. I enjoy the whole experience from begining to end. That being said, I am much more driven to hunt, fish, etc. than most people my age. That is why I ussualy hunt with younger people. 
Some one eluded to the 5 stages a hunter goes through may be related to age. I have met one person that made it to the final stage early in life (mid 20's Jed Fluher).


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## boranger (Mar 11, 2008)

dfisher,,,you are very good with words,I enjoyed the thing you said .THANK YOU,,,, :beer:


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## justquacky (Feb 27, 2008)

I AGREE IT'S NOT ABOUT THE NUMBER OF BIRDS YOU TAKE IT'S ALL ABOUT THE HUNT AND THE TIME YOU SPEND WITH YOUR HUNTING BUDDIES. I AM A FEMALE HUNTER AND HAVE JUST RECENTLY GOT BACK INTO HUNTING WATERFOWL. I HAD ALWAYS HUNTED WITH MY DAD AS A YOUNG GIRL AND HE ALWAYS TAUGHT ME TO RESPECT THE LAND AND ALL THAT YOU HUNT. I AM NOW 42 YEARS OLD AND MY FATHER IS 71 - WE BOUGHT A PLACE IN N.D LAST SPRING AND I HAD MY FIRST HUNT IN MANY YEARS. I GOT 2 BIRDS AND THAT WAS IT-BUT WHAT A GREAT TIME TO HAVE MY DAD SEE ME SHOOT THEM - JUST THE SMILE ON HIS FACE WAS LIKE I SHOT A 1000. THAT IS WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT. WE WILL BE HEADING TO N.D THIS WEEKEND AND HOPE TO GET AT LEAST ONE. :beer:


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## dfisher (Oct 12, 2007)

justquacky said:


> I AGREE IT'S NOT ABOUT THE NUMBER OF BIRDS YOU TAKE IT'S ALL ABOUT THE HUNT AND THE TIME YOU SPEND WITH YOUR HUNTING BUDDIES. I AM A FEMALE HUNTER AND HAVE JUST RECENTLY GOT BACK INTO HUNTING WATERFOWL. I HAD ALWAYS HUNTED WITH MY DAD AS A YOUNG GIRL AND HE ALWAYS TAUGHT ME TO RESPECT THE LAND AND ALL THAT YOU HUNT. I AM NOW 42 YEARS OLD AND MY FATHER IS 71 - WE BOUGHT A PLACE IN N.D LAST SPRING AND I HAD MY FIRST HUNT IN MANY YEARS. I GOT 2 BIRDS AND THAT WAS IT-BUT WHAT A GREAT TIME TO HAVE MY DAD SEE ME SHOOT THEM - JUST THE SMILE ON HIS FACE WAS LIKE I SHOT A 1000. THAT IS WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT. WE WILL BE HEADING TO N.D THIS WEEKEND AND HOPE TO GET AT LEAST ONE. :beer:


I hope you're quite lucky in your search for the snows on the ND prairie. It sounds as if you've already found the true meaning of the hunt with your father.
Good luck,
Dan


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