Five stages of a hunter

[wildfowler.250]

You can pick extremes but the point is valid. There’s plenty of walked up shooting over there for pheasants. I know most folk on here if they were to hunt abroad would have similar interests to the guide and manage perfectly well and the reverse is also true if they were to hunt over here

 

[John Gryphon]

Hunting isn’t that different whichever country you’re in

Equatorial Africa and Alaska differ.

 

[Dan Newcombe]

I first saw this as a fishing thing:

- Learn to Fish
- Catch a Fish
- Catch a lot of Fish
- Catch a big fish
- Teach someone to fish

 

[Donkey Basher]

I first saw this as a fishing thing:

- Learn to Fish
- Catch a Fish
- Catch a lot of Fish
- Catch a big fish
- Teach someone to fish

That’s more like it.

 

[Donkey Basher]

I think there is a deeper consideration here, & that is that stalkers (not contractors or employed/paid stalkers) in this country fall into two main categories - the first are those that see it as a sport & who, for example, will have a few days out each year either on a ‘permission’ or on a paid stalk & who might take a roe buck in July or a doe in the winter simply because of the timing of their outings. The others are those who enjoy stalking but who are a lot more active in terms of looking to control numbers in a way that seeks to manage populations - they know what their target species, sex & age is & they are out frequently looking for these. Both can be pot hunters getting animals for the freezer & both can enjoy what they do, bring on new stalkers, etc. but they are two different beasts.

 

[Mungo]

I first saw this as a fishing thing:

- Learn to Fish
- Catch a Fish
- Catch a lot of Fish
- Catch a big fish
- Teach someone to fish

- Use fishing as an excuse to avoid people

 

[wildfowler.250]

Equatorial Africa and Alaska differ.

Move slowly, wind direction, don’t be seen, and shoot it in the heart is the same for both. Clothing and species might be different

 

[Tim.243]

You can pick extremes but the point is valid. There’s plenty of walked up shooting over there for pheasants. I know most folk on here if they were to hunt abroad would have similar interests to the guide and manage perfectly well and the reverse is also true if they were to hunt over here

The organized tower shooting is extreme, extremely embarrassing be it a planed "hunt" with no sportsmanship also a welfare issue with those birds it will be their first and last flight with a lot of those birds having no tail feathers.
@Leec6.5 like my self took pride in producing "good birds" however not like this


What ever next this chap is good example

 

[Jagare]

I still enjoy hunting 55 years in. I shoot a tiny amount now compared to my earlier years. I won't shoot any deer or boar unless I can get the quad or jimny near to it. Good thing with hunting in a team is there is often a young hunter who wants to gut the fallen game.
Love working on the shoot and building hunting towers etc, and feeding the ducks and boar.
Out this morning to start putting out the signage so guns can find their shooting stand on the wetland..
Always something new to learn even after all these years.

 

[Archer]

So after 20 years of deer stalking, I appreciate I’m not new to the game anymore. But I’m also aware that there are lots of folk on here may have been deer stalking for 40 plus years. What keeps you going?

I see the “five stages of a hunter” and it’s actually quite interesting. I think we can all appreciate a particularly old / big buck. At the same time, there’s only so many sets of antlers you can hang up. Sometimes you even see folk on here clearing out their heads. I think we all fundamentally just enjoy being out in nature. I know a lot of folk on here have high cull targets and a lot of the meat goes into game dealers - so we’re slightly different to our American friends who have maybe 1 elk tag to fill the freezer for the year.

I often find myself looking at different rifles / calibers and I wonder if that’s to try and change the method or experience. Maybe to add a new dimension to a stalk. At the end of the day, most legal calibers just work.

I think I’m somewhere between 4 and 5. But I also think many of us start at 4 or 5 anyway. Maybe many will always hold stage 3 as a bucket list? Or this is something we grow out of? I certainly know of one or two people who are less interested in stalking towards the end of their ‘careers’,(recreational stalking, not guiding).

1. Shooter Stage: The primary goal is to "get shooting". Beginners want to test their skills and test out their firearm or bow, measuring satisfaction by how many opportunities they have to shoot rather than whether they actually hit the target.
2. Limiting-Out Stage: Success is now measured by bagging the legal limit or "filling a tag". The number of animals harvested is highly important, and this stage often requires the hunter to develop the discipline to wait for better, safer shots.
3. Trophy Stage: The emphasis shifts from quantity to quality. The weight of the game bag matters less, and the hunter becomes highly selective, focusing on bagging mature, big-game animals or specific trophy characteristics.
4. Method Stage: How the animal is taken becomes more important than how many are taken. Hunters in this stage add personal restrictions and challenges, such as switching from a modern rifle to a bow, a handgun, or muzzleloader.
5. Sportsman Stage: The hunter mellows out and takes the most satisfaction from the overall experience. Success is measured by appreciating nature, being in the outdoors, and enjoying the companionship of family and friends—whether game is harvested or not.

Interested to hear your thoughts. I appreciate “limiting out” isn’t particularly UK relevant but I think there’s probably a transition for most from their first rifle at stage 1 to maybe mentoring at stage 5

1, 4-ish, 5

 

[dryan]

I vary between 3,6 and 2.

On ground with reds I’m looking for a trophy animal for my hallway. I leave the hinds alone as they are essential to keep the sport going (the ground has limited reds and the landowner isn’t too bothered about numbers.)

I’ve shot as good a fallow as I have seen locally so now it’s a case of getting numbers down on a lot of areas, landowners will get other lads in if we don’t get the numbers down.

If on my own on reds always a case of “should I really shoot that there?” But if my buddy is with then we will always work it out.