# The 5 Stages of a Hunter



## omega58 (Sep 3, 2003)

Remember Hunter's Safety and learning this?

Sounds like some just need to sit back and read this and remember that we are all at different stages in our hunting. . .and I agree with the article, some are at different stages with regards to different game. 





Hunters change through the years. Factors used to determine &#8220;successful hunting&#8221; change as well for each hunter. A hunter&#8217;s age, role models, and his years of hunting experience affect his ideas of &#8220;success.&#8221; Many hunters may fit into one of the following five groups. In 1975-1980, groups of over 1,000 hunters in Wisconsin were studied, surveyed, and written about by Professors Robert Jackson and Robert Norton, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. The results of their studies form a widely accepted theory of hunter behavior and development. Where are you now? Where would you like to be?

SHOOTER STAGE
The hunter talks about satisfaction with hunting being closely tied to being able to &#8220;get shooting.&#8221; Often the beginning duck hunter will relate he had an excellent day if he got in a lot of shooting. The beginning deer hunter will talk about the number of shooting opportunities. Missing game means little to hunters in this phase. A beginning hunter wants to pull the trigger and test the capability of his firearm. A hunter in this stage may be a dangerous hunting partner.

LIMITING OUT STAGE
A hunter still talks about satisfaction gained from shooting. But what seems more important is measuring success through the killing of game and the number of birds or animals shot. Limiting out, or filling a tag, is the absolute measure. Do not let your desire to limit out be stronger than the need for safe behavior at all times.

TROPHY STAGE
Satisfaction is described in terms of selectivity of game. A duck hunter might take only greenheads. A deer hunter looks for one special deer. A hunter might travel far to find a real trophy animal. Shooting opportunity and skills become less important.

METHOD STAGE
This hunter has all the special equipment. Hunting has become one of the most important things in his life. Satisfaction comes from the method that enables the hunter to take game. Taking game is important, but second to how it is taken. This hunter will study long and hard how best to pick a blind site, lay out decoys, and call in waterfowl. A deer hunter will go one on one with a white-tailed deer, studying sign, tracking, and the life habits of the deer. Often, the hunter will handicap himself by hunting only with black powder firearms or bow and arrow. Bagging game, or limiting, still is understood as being a necessary part of the hunt during this phase.

SPORTSMAN STAGE
As a hunter ages and after many years of hunting, he &#8220;mellows out.&#8221; Satisfaction now can be found in the total hunting experience. Being in the field, enjoying the company of friends and family, and seeing nature outweigh the need for taking game. Not all hunters go through all the stages, or go through them in that particular order. It is also possible for hunters who pursue several species of game to be in different stages with regard to each species. Some hunters feel that role models of good sportsmen, training, or reading books or magazines helped them pass more quickly through some stages.


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## Ieatantlers (Oct 7, 2008)

omega58 said:


> TROPHY STAGE
> Satisfaction is described in terms of selectivity of game. A duck hunter might take only greenheads. A deer hunter looks for one special deer. A hunter might travel far to find a real trophy animal. Shooting opportunity and skills become less important.
> 
> METHOD STAGE
> This hunter has all the special equipment. Hunting has become one of the most important things in his life. Satisfaction comes from the method that enables the hunter to take game. Taking game is important, but second to how it is taken. This hunter will study long and hard how best to pick a blind site, lay out decoys, and call in waterfowl. A deer hunter will go one on one with a white-tailed deer, studying sign, tracking, and the life habits of the deer. Often, the hunter will handicap himself by hunting only with black powder firearms or bow and arrow. Bagging game, or limiting, still is understood as being a necessary part of the hunt during this phase.


Cool reading. I am a combination of these two- with a hint of 'Limiting out Stage' thrown in.


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## goosemanrdk (Jan 14, 2003)

Ieatantlers said:


> Cool reading. I am a combination of these two- with a hint of 'Limiting out Stage' thrown in.


I think that anyone that says they don't have a hint of the "limiting out" stage in their blood is lying. How could you not!!!!

As far as myself and stages. I am a combination of 2-5. My ultimate goal of any hunt is to "limit out", however I am not at all remotely disappointed if myself or the group I am hunting with doesn't. How do I attain this goal, via the "method stage" and if given the opportunity to attain that goal and participate in the "trophy stage", I sure as heck will. Ultimately, as result of loosing a very close uncle far earlier than I should have, the stage that matters the most for me is the "sportman stage". I enjoy everyday that I get to hunt, everything that I get to witness on those days and most IMPORTANTLY the people that I get to share those days with. Many are family, ALL are friends!!!!!!!


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## Water_Hazard (Aug 16, 2006)

I think I go through all the stages throughout each season.


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

I'm in the very tail end of the Method Stage and in the early stages of the Sportsman Stage.


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## 1fish (Oct 2, 2006)

Water_Hazard said:


> I think I go through all the stages throughout each season.


Heck, I go through each stage each day!

I always go through a progression of "milestones" or "objectives" when it comes to measuring a successful day waterfowling.

Objective 1 - Just make it out hunting and back safe. Seems simple enough but when you factor in finding time to go, alarm clocks not going off, vehicle problems, boat motors, bad bingo draws, iced in boat ramps, spots already taken, forgetting things like guns or decoys, etc. I figure that just making it out hunting is a pretty big accomplishment in and of itself. Consider all the crazy ways there are for someone to not make it back safe... Make it out and back, and in my mind I had a successful day, hence, it's objective #1

Objective 2 - See waterfowl. Hey ya gotta start somewhere, and there are those days where objective #2 is pretty exciting in and of itself. Compare it to a day w/out seeing a bird, and #2 is sounding pretty sweet.

Objective 3 is divided into two equal sub objectives as each alone can elevate a day to objective 3 or both together will still remain at objective 3

Objective 3a - Work Birds. This means that not only did you make it out and see some birds, but they were actually close enough to work. And by work, I mean calling. To me this is a pretty big deal as, to me, this is the whole point of going. 

Objective 3b - Discharge firearm in the general direction of a waterfowl. This is where things start to get fun, note this is not shoot a waterfowl, just shoot at a waterfowl. Operator error does not come into play with objective #3

Objective 4 - Kill and take into hand a waterfowl. All it takes is one and my day moves up the scale significantly. I always say there's a much larger difference between 0 and 1 bird than there is between 1 and a limit of birds.

Objective 5 - Shoot a limit of waterfowl. Pretty much life is sweet at this stage, things are going right, hard work is paying off, smiles are abundant. Happy times.

Objective 6 - Nirvana. Reserved for those exceptionally special days where the birds are abundant, the equipment is a delight to deal with, the shooting is steady and accurate, and all is right with the world as you can do no wrong. These are the days that fuel the fire for the rest of the season and keep you coming back for more as tomorrow might just be another one of those #6 days and there's no way you're going to miss out on that chance.


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## Bellyup (Nov 13, 2007)

Classifying one is scary. It depends on the day, and how the hnt is going. Seriously... think about it. 

I am in the stage of being content to watch others most of the time. But I now have my first duck dog. Now my focus is on watching him work. In order to do that I need to kill birds. So I am stuck as a tweener. A lot of us are.

Now to each and every hunter out there, the goal is shoot ducks. You can't convince me otherwise. We just seem to go about in a different approach. We all have different spots we like to go to. With 40,000 waterfowlers in the state, do you think there are 40,000 different spots ? Prolly. But some are better than others. 

I spent a lot of money equiping to go duck hunting, and equiping others to go out. I invested in a mud boat, full body goose decoys, layout boats, duck decoys, always looking at new guns, etc etc. Retailers know this, hence why we see new and improved each year. 

I am no less of a hunter than Caddis, or any of the other blood letters. But the difference is in the area. Give a rookie a good spot with lots of birds (X) and he will be just as much a killer as Caddis. Put Caddis in the rookies spot where access is hard, birds a few, and he will have maybe marginal more luck than the rookie. It is simply being where the birds are, and want to be. 

There is a saying in racing, "speed cost money, how fast do you want to go ?" Same principal in hunting. 

I am not picking on you Caddis, just using you as an example as you still post up good pics of piles of ducks. And you also seem to be the focus of some attention recently. Am I jealous ? Hell yes. Would I not be human if I were not ? We all want days like that. I interpret it as I need to improve my skill level.

Simply put, I need the equipment. I will get it eventually.


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

I think I hit the Sportsman Stage at around 35, so I have been there a while. But I think I skipped the Trophy Stage along the way.


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## thedude (Jul 20, 2004)

little bit of everything. i just want to go out and have a stress free day with my friends and the dog.

Only stage i skipped is trophy. Never was much into that. Its cool if you like to look at them, but i think some people go a little overboard with it. Probably won't ever buy a red convertible sports car either.:lol:


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## LSSUfishmaster (Aug 4, 2008)

1fish said:


> Objective 3b - Discharge firearm in the general direction of a waterfowl. This is where things start to get fun, note this is not shoot a waterfowl, just shoot at a waterfowl. Operator error does not come into play with objective #3


Just finished my second season of waterfowling, pretty much doing it all by myself, and this hits the nail on the head. That is absolutely how I measure a good day. A mess of dead birds makes it much better but that will come with time.


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## waxico (Jan 21, 2008)

Meat hunter: the only goal is to stock the fridge with gourmet meat not possible to buy, as much as possible. Then enjoy through winter and spring, until fishing(meat) season starts.


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## goosemanrdk (Jan 14, 2003)

Bellyup said:


> Am I jealous ? Hell yes. Would I not be human if I were not ? We all want days like that. I interpret it as I need to improve my skill level.
> 
> Simply put, I need the equipment. I will get it eventually.


Based on how you talk about hunting, I wouldn't even begin to clasify you as jealous of Caddis. More like ZEALOUS !!!! I think there is a huge difference between the two. Am I Zealous of Caddis or others when they have a great hunt and knock the crap out of the birds. Hell YA!!!!!! (usually cause I was stuck at work while he got to be out hunting). The big difference between jealous and zealous is the fact that jealousy carries such negative feelings and conotations. Zealousy doesn't. When Caddis or others post up those photos, I have absolutely zero ill feelings towards him/them or the hunt he/they had. I am HAPPY to see they had a great time with friends and had an outstanding hunt, and some days I wish I could walk in his shoes once or twice(in regards to the oldsquaw shoots).


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## PahtridgeHunter (Sep 1, 2004)

thedude said:


> Probably won't ever buy a red convertible sports car either.:lol:


 
I'll skip the sports car, but take the 22 yr old calendar model!:lol:


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

goosemanrdk said:


> Based on how you talk about hunting, I wouldn't even begin to clasify you as jealous of Caddis. More like ZEALOUS !!!! I think there is a huge difference between the two. Am I Zealous of Caddis or others when they have a great hunt and knock the crap out of the birds. Hell YA!!!!!! (usually cause I was stuck at work while he got to be out hunting). The big difference between jealous and zealous is the fact that jealousy carries such negative feelings and conotations. Zealousy doesn't. When Caddis or others post up those photos, I have absolutely zero ill feelings towards him/them or the hunt he/they had. I am HAPPY to see they had a great time with friends and had an outstanding hunt, and some days I wish I could walk in his shoes once or twice(in regards to the oldsquaw shoots).




When someone else does good, you can do one of a few things. Pat them on the back and be happy for them, think of excuses why it is them and not you or belittle their accomplishment.

We got our asses handed to us the last day, and I think the guy even posted pics While sitting in the tender, everyone just laughed at all the shooting. We killed 5 and were lucky and happy to shoot those. We were also happy to hear another group lighting them up. Good for them, they made a good decision and reaped the rewards. Not once did anyone belittle what the other guys were doing. There was no "I bet they are over", no "we could do the same if we had XYZ" we were dam happy for them. Why would anyone tear them down? They could be the biggest aholes in the world, but it doesn't change the fact that they made a great choice and were reaping the rewards. Doesn't mean that we suck, just means that they had a great day. Kudo's to them.


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## Ieatantlers (Oct 7, 2008)

Bellyup said:


> I spent a lot of money equiping to go duck hunting, and equiping others to go out. I invested in a mud boat, full body goose decoys, layout boats, duck decoys, always looking at new guns, etc etc. Retailers know this, hence why we see new and improved each year.
> 
> I am no less of a hunter than Caddis, or any of the other blood letters. But the difference is in the area. Give a rookie a good spot with lots of birds (X) and he will be just as much a killer as Caddis. Put Caddis in the rookies spot where access is hard, birds a few, and he will have maybe marginal more luck than the rookie. It is simply being where the birds are, and want to be.
> 
> ...


I agree about 20%. Rookie hunters can sit in an X field and not shoot a bird because they call like crap, don't camo their blinds, won't stop looking up at birds, set up where the birds don't want to land, etc. (none of that money related) The same field could produce a limit for veterans. Layout hunting, a rookie could end up not even setting a layout boat because they tangle lines, get everything into a cluster and never even pull the trigger- where the same spot could yield limits for a proficient group.

While I agree, location is key- it doesn't necessarily mean success. 

And the money thing helps, but again- you can kill plenty of birds with 2 dozen hot buys or 2 dozen goose shells and a Mossberg 500 if you scout enough (and knock on enough doors, or even hunt public land). 

Scouting is a lot of the 'skill' of waterfowl hunting to begin with. So I'd say above all, the biggest difference between a 'skilled' duck hunter and a not skilled one would be a rookie would sit in a field and not see a bird- a veteran would simply be in a different field.


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## DEDGOOSE (Jan 19, 2007)

TSS Caddis said:


> When someone else does good, you can do one of a few things. Pat them on the back and be happy for them, think of excuses why it is them and not you or belittle their accomplishment.
> 
> We got our asses handed to us the last day, and I think the guy even posted pics While sitting in the tender, everyone just laughed at all the shooting. We killed 5 and were lucky and happy to shoot those. We were also happy to hear another group lighting them up. Good for them, they made a good decision and reaped the rewards. Not once did anyone belittle what the other guys were doing. There was no "I bet they are over", no "we could do the same if we had XYZ" we were dam happy for them. Why would anyone tear them down? They could be the biggest aholes in the world, but it doesn't change the fact that they made a great choice and were reaping the rewards. Doesn't mean that we suck, just means that they had a great day. Kudo's to them.


Deer hunters are the same way.. Me neighbor's an azzhole he shot my deer... As he proceeded to drink a few beers with the neighbor in the garage over the summer.. But now, heck he shot his deer..


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## Dahmer (Jan 22, 2007)

Bellyup said:


> But the difference is in the area. Give a rookie a good spot with lots of birds (X) and he will be just as much a killer as Caddis. Put Caddis in the rookies spot where access is hard, birds a few, and he will have maybe marginal more luck than the rookie. It is simply being where the birds are, and want to be.


I disagree with your statement. I've seen rookies in hot spots with lots of birds not fare very well because they don't know what they are doing and they are using the same equipment as we are. I've seen this alot specially in field hunting. Experience is what is going have you stacking up birds not so much the spot. The spot helps but it isn't the controlling factor.


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## Bellyup (Nov 13, 2007)

So some feel a rookie in a prime 100% X spot, which is what most of us strive to do through scouting, and hunting the wrong spots, could not do as well as a seasoned vet. I have not experienced that. So my opinion remains the same. I took out newbies this year and we got ducks and geese. I got lucky and was on the X a few times. They have a problem, they like to look up from the boat and move around. They are kids. We still landed birds. We still took some home for the freezer. The key was, I was in the X. I was out making adjustments to the decoys one day, and had a flock commit.... while I was out in the boat adjusting. I busted three out of it at 20 yards. I don't see that being different than a rookie looking up or not blending in. I was where the birds wanted to be. I am talking water here. I think you guys are talking fields. I don't have much experience with that I admit, other than Todds Farm (managed unit) and that does not count as field hunting to me. It is hiding in a corn field. So I can't speak to the field hunters portions of it, as I am a rookie at that. 

Zealous vs jealous. Interesting. Maybe so. I can tell you one thing, As soon as I can put another rig together, those sea ducks and those miles out birds better watch out. I have a rather heavy supper to cram down their throats. Might be a few years, as I need to find a boat I can recondition at this point. I am running out of room and luck.


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## wavie (Feb 2, 2004)

With this weather, I'm in a stage of denial that my season might continue into Janurary. But i did see puddles in the parking lot so there maybe a chance.


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## DEDGOOSE (Jan 19, 2007)

Dahmer said:


> I disagree with your statement. I've seen rookies in hot spots with lots of birds not fare very well because they don't know what they are doing and they are using the same equipment as we are. I've seen this alot specially in field hunting. Experience is what is going have you stacking up birds not so much the spot. The spot helps but it isn't the controlling factor.


Fully agree.. 

I cannot buy the argument of giving some greenhorn a trailer load of gear, put them on the x and with very little to no knowledge of decoy placement, concealment and calling and he will whip um with the consistency of somebody that has learned from mistakes.. Than again if you believe what in the greenhorn you don't believe there are mistakes only the X. 

Come on, it is along the lines of the Phil Robertson thread a while back stating he only killed ducks because he owned 1600 acres..


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