Month: May 2021
In this age of social media and hunting television shows, many new hunters have pretty unrealistic expectations of how successful they will be during their first few hunting seasons. While there is nothing wrong with having high hopes, many of these new hunters end up discouraged and frustrated because they did not shoot a monster buck (or anything at all) in their first couple of hunting seasons.
With this in mind, here is how to properly adjust your hunting expectations to avoid experiencing disappointment from failing to achieve an unrealistic goal.
With this in mind, here is how to properly adjust your hunting expectations to avoid experiencing disappointment from failing to achieve an unrealistic goal.
Forget what you see on TV
Hunting TV shows have done a lot for the sport of hunting and have helped a lot of people who would not otherwise have been exposed to hunting develop an interest in it. That being said, hunting TV shows have done a lot of harm to the sport as well by giving people an unrealistic view of a successful hunting season.
Unfortunately, shooting a doe or a nice, “nontrophy” buck, does not drive television ratings. As a result, those events are rarely shown on TV, even though those are the deer that most hunters shoot each year.
The first thing to keep in mind when watching hunting shows on TV is to realize that virtually every TV hunt has multiple advantages not available to the average hunter. Many of the hunts are guided and occur on private land or public land that is extremely difficult to access. Some of these hunts are filmed on high-fenced properties and sometimes involve captive-bred animals.
Though this certainly does not apply to all hunting TV shows, it certainly applies to some of them. Even if the show does not involve a high fence or guided hunt, you should still keep in mind that everyone involved with the hunt is probably working hard to put their best foot forward for the camera.
The unfortunate truth is that even if you go on a guided hunt, there are still plenty of outfitters that will not put as much effort to get you a big trophy as they would for a hunt that will be broadcast on TV. Also, keep in mind that a grueling two-week hunt looks much easier and simpler when edited to fit a 30-minute time slot.
I really began to understand how some hunting TV shows have warped our view of hunting when I was watching a show where the hunter apologized for shooting a deer that would “only” score 140. Though this particular TV personality turned his nose up at this deer (and remarked at how he had shot 12 other deer that were bigger), many hunters in the United States may never even see, let alone shoot, a deer that scores 140. For those hunters — myself included — a 140-inch buck would truly be the deer of a lifetime.
Now, I’m not trying to trash hunting TV shows or tell you not to watch them. What I am saying is that you should never feel bad about shooting an animal that fails to measure up to something you saw on TV.
Check stats for your hunting area
OK, so you realize the animals you see on hunting TV shows are probably bigger than most people can expect to shoot. So what is a reasonable expectation for you on your hunt? Luckily, the Internet is an amazing resource for finding information on harvest statistics.
Though every state is different, many of them have websites where they display harvest reports and statistics from previous hunting seasons. For instance, Washington (where I live), does a good job of showing all of the harvest statistics for the various game management units after each hunting season.
Studying those statistics really threw some cold water on my expectations the first year I hunted Washington: only 36 percent of hunters in the GMU I would be hunting shot a deer (and that was one of the higher success rates in the state as a whole). Further, of the 540 bucks taken in that GMU, only 47 (about 8 percent) had four or more points on one side.
By studying these statistics, I significantly adjusted my expectations for the hunting season in general.
Talk with more experienced hunters
What do you do if you happen to live in a state that does not do a good job of reporting harvest statistics for each hunting season? My advice would be to try and “pick the brain” of some more experienced hunters in that area. Internet hunting forums are a great resource for this. Another way to get information to to talk to game wardens or people at sporting goods stores.
Though many hunters will be hesitant to divulge their “honey holes,” they will likely be helpful in helping you develop realistic expectations for hunting in a particular area. Their advice may also help point you to other hunting areas that you hadn’t considered previously. You never know: Asking the right questions may help you build a relationship with a more experienced hunter who may turn into a fantastic hunting mentor.
The unfortunate truth is that learning to hunt can be difficult for those who are inexperienced and do not have access to private hunting land or a good mentor to teach them the finer points of hunting. Some hunters may hunt for 2-3 seasons (or more) before shooting their first big-game animal. It may take many more years to shoot a big-game animal that really scores well, though some hunters never accomplish this feat during their entire life.
Because of this, it is extremely important to properly adjust your hunting expectations. If you consider a season a failure because you didn’t shoot a big deer, then you will spend a lot of time disappointed. Instead, focus on more achievable goals and gradually make them more difficult to achieve as you become a more experienced hunter.
They didn’t contend that the current murder spree had anything what-so-ever to do with letting criminals go free without bail, defunding police and criminally prosecuting law enforcement for doing their job. Nah as that would mean taking responsibility for these actions! Grumpy
I just hope that the California State Commission for Teachers Creditialing does not see this one! Grumpy
John Moses Browning was the most famous and competent gunmaker the world has ever known. He was the son of Jonathan Browning, himself a highly competent gunsmith, and Elizabeth Clark.
John Moses was born January 23, 1855 in Ogden, Utah, U.S.A., where his father settled after the Mormon Exodus of 1847. It was in his father’s shop that John Moses first learned the art and secrets of gunsmithing.
John Moses, however, was much more than a gunsmith in the sense that he was much more interested in designing and building new, innovative, firearms than repairing broken ones. His first creation was a single shot rifle he built at the age of 14 for his brother, Matt.
1879 was an eventful year for the Browings. Jonathan Browning died on June 21 and, soon thereafter, John Moses and his brothers started their own shop. There they first used steam powered tools, tools that were originally foot-powered but were converted by John Moses to get power from a steam engine. That year also saw John Moses marry Rachel Teresa Child, and his receipt of his first gun patent (No. 220.271) for the Breech-Loading Single Shot Rifle.John and his brothers began producing this rifle in their Ogden shop but customer demand soon exceeded their shop’s production capacity. They were unable to expand the “Browning Gun Factory,” as their shop was called, because they lacked the capital required for expansion and didn’t have a well established distribution channel to market their products. One has to note here that although John Moses Browning was very satisfied with the sales of his guns he was also very unhappy that the production chores and the daily work prohibited him from working on his new ideas.
A salesman for the Winchester Repeating Arms Company named Andrew McAusland happened to see one of John’s Single Shot rifles in 1883. McAusland immediately bought one and sent it to Winchester’s headquarters. The gun drew Winchester’s interest and T. G. Bennet, Winchester’s vice president and general manager, went to Ogden to buy the rights to Browning’s gun. When Bennet arrived in Ogden, it didn’t take long for the men to agree on the sale and Winchester paid John Moses $8,000 for the rights to produce the gun. The agreement was beneficial to both parties. Winchester was happy because they turned competitor into a benefactor, plus they added an excellent rifle to their product line. John Moses was equally happy because the money from the sale and the ensuing relationship with Winchester allowed him to concentrate on inventing things instead of manufacturing them.
From 1883 until 1902, John Moses Browning designed several firearms for Winchester. Some of them reached production status while others were never produced. They all, however, were ingenious and innovative designs. In addition to that first Single Shot Rifle, other guns that John Moses designed and which became best sellers were: Winchester Model 1886 Lever Action Repeating Rifle, Model 1887 Lever Action Repeating Shotgun, Model 1897 Pump Action Shotgun, Model 1894 Lever Action Repeating Rifle, Model 1895 Lever Action Repeating Rifle, etc.
At the same time, John Moses was also working on another of his ingenious ideas. He wanted to invent an automatic shotgun that would use the expanding gases of a fired shell to recock the gun and make it ready for the next shot. John got this idea while watching a friend of his, Will Wright, shoot his Browning-made rifle. A clump of weeds just in front of the firing line bent with the muzzle blast. This gave John the idea of using the gases for something productive like cocking the gun. He designed a testing gun with which he tested his ideas.When the testing validated his theory, John applied the principle on three different guns: two machine-guns and a repeating shotgun. His machine-guns, the first fully automatic guns which used expanding gases for cycling, were later sold to Colt and the U.S. Government and served the U.S. Armed Forces through three wars. One was Colt Model 1895 Peacemaker machine-gun, while the other was the famous Browning Automatic Rifle, affectionately called BAR by GI’s. Browning’s machine-guns are still used by US and other armies around the world.
The repeating shotgun that John invented was the primary reason for the break between Browning and Winchester. When Winchester denied production of this gun, John Moses, packed a sample of his shotgun into his luggage, crossed the Atlantic, and negotiated an agreement for Fabrique National de Belgique (FN) to produce his gun. FN was then a young company in dire need of products to produce. Browning’s automatic shotgun revolutionized the hunting market. This same shotgun was later produced in U.S.A. by Remington, as their Model 11. Still later, variants of this shotgun were produced by almost all of the large shotgun manufacturers, including Savage, Franchi, and Breda.
John M. Browning was usually working on more than one project at one time. He started working on automatic pistols before 1900. He was the first to invent the slide which encloses the barrel and the firing mechanism of a pistol. Pistols of his invention were produced by both FN and Colt and they range from baby .25 caliber pistols to the .45 Government Model. The first automatic pistol designed by Browning was produced by FN as FN’s .32 caliber Model 1900. The most famous pistols of John’s design, however, were Colt’s .45 ACP M1911 Government Model and FN’s Browning High-Power Model P-35 in 9mm Parabellum. A highly decorated sample of P-35, is shown at left, while a contemporary version customized by Wayne Novak can be found here.John Moses Browning passed away in Liege, Belgium, the day after Thanksgiving, 1926. He died of heart failure while in his son Val’s office at the FN factory. It was the last day on earth for this ingenious person who invented more firearms than any other gunmaker in the history of the world.
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