Setting goals

[PonyKiller]

This past weekend, my father,my son and I went fishing on the beach in brigantine nj, water was dirty with seagrass and the wind was howling, got skunked. It got me thinking of trips with my parents, and family over the years and all the great times we had.
The trip down memory lane got the wheels a turning, "the secret to a full life is the memories made not the money" as my grandfather would say. I found myself with a small white board and a pen running through where I'd been fishing. As it turns out i've been fishing in 9 states and 3 foreign countries.

I decided between hunting and fishing I want to do one or the other in all 50 states.

I'm 44, In pretty good health overall, and have a family that lived the outdoors(though the wife hates Bugs with the heat of a thousand suns ) so I think I have a fighting chance of achieving it. Fishing gear I'm set from trout to just short of marlin, hunting wise I have an accurate muzzle loader, shotgun(with a slug barrel as well) a 94 win in 30-30 and a 308 mauser that I reload for. Gear wise I'm fairly well represented for most any adventure I think.

This is more than a fleeting ambition, the fire for adventure is again lit and picking at it over the next 3 decades I think i've got a fighting chance of accomplishing it.

Any one else embark on such a crusade?

 

[troy fairweather]

It's something I'd love to do but it will be a lot of money, even if hunting public land. Out of state hunting seems to be $100 or so and about $50 for fishing, plus all the travel costs. Maybe get a big map of the US and research each state and plan from there.

It's really getting skunked if you didn't catch dogfish or skates lol. We do pretty good when I visit seaside or point pleasant

 

[Bazoo]

Thanks for sharing. I have the fire for adventure myself. Though I'm just getting started at nearly 40.

One of my goals is to take at least one of every legal animal in the US. I have little desire to go outside of the states, but canada isn't out of the question.

For me it's as much about history of the guns and cartridges as it is the adventure. I am hung up on using a 30-30 where it's traditional, moose for example. And I'm into bigbore revolvers, so handgun hunting is a factor.

But I also have gold fever. I've wanted to pan gold since I was a kid. And stories of the opening of alaska, and the west, harken to my soul.

Not to mention I'm a lover of nature. Birds and animals, trees and flowers. I want to hear wild wolves, and see wild grizzlies. And experience a portion of what my ancestors lived.

Yeah, I got the fire.

 

[Chuck R.]

Thanks to my Army career and the moving that came with it, I've managed to hunt in quite a few states and a few countries.

Within the next few years I'll be getting ready for my 2nd retirement. My one goal has been to pack up the duck boat(s), start in Canada, and follow the duck/goose migration south.

 

[redneck2]

I had always dreamed of hunting out west since high school. Really didn’t know where to start. Life, marriage, kids, jobs always took top priority. Unfortunately, I was probably mid 50’s before I went the first time out west to hunt or Canada to fish.

If you look left to my avitar, that’s one of my Canada trips. Been to Montana three times, but at 70 I’ll most likely never go again. Do it while you can

 

[bikerdoc]

If the thats your desire go for it.
At 72 I'm done travelling, sold the motor home last year and now my fishing and hunting is limited to VA and NC.
Like the man above me said, do it while you can.

 

[Armored farmer]

I love to fish about as much, if not more, than I love to hunt.

I also love to compete in shooting sports
We have been fortunate to have friends that owned fishing cabins in the Canadian bush, and spent several weeks there over the years fishing and exploring. Even went moose and grouse hunting there too.

My goal is to be healthy enough physically (ice bag on my knee as I type this), and financially......to spend an entire summer exploring, fishing, and hunting Alaska when I retire in about 8 years.
I keep a ¾ ton or 1ton diesel pickup for pulling farm equipment. I plan to have a fairly new one when I retire, and buy a travel trailer and drive the Alaskan highway all the way up there. Mrs and I love to travel. And she thinks it sounds like fun too. I want to do a coastal black bear/fishing charter for my retirement gift to myself.

 

[LoonWulf]

Go get'em guys!

I'll have to wait till the kids are older before I can do any of that kind of stuff, but hunting and fishing at least a few other states is on my list of things to do! Right now I'll have to settle with having hunted/fished 5 of the Hawaiian islands

I look forward to you all starting your adventures and sharing them with us!

 

[Skoghund]

I've not really got a crusade in mind. I have been lucky in my hunting life in that I've done a lot of hunting over the last 50+ plus years. I can shoot roe deer on my own ground and do take the odd one for the freezer but I just enjoy watching them. I've a trip booked with a friend to hunt Chinese water deer and Muntjac back in England in November, Covid permitting. A trip is booked for 5 days driven boar hunting in Turkey again covid permitting. Also a there is a trip I paid a deposit on for driven boar in Croatia that was cancelled last year still to do. I also have a day booked here in Sweden for a driven day. plus moose and boar hunting at home I'm over 70 years old and still in good health but realize that my shooting days are rapidly coming to a end.
Make your hunting, fishing goals a reality soon as life is short and nothing worse than regretting that you never achieved them.

 

[jmr40]

Having goals is fine, just don't get so concentrated on attaining the goal that you forget to have fun doing it. I enjoy hunting, fishing and the outdoors as much as anyone. But I know some guys so focused on killing trophy game or catching the biggest fish that it ends up being like a job.

 

[courtgreene]

I tend to set one goal at a time and obsess over it. I’ve accomplished most of them, then moved to the NC mountains where for four years now I’m OBSESSED with killing a black bear. It doesn’t have to be here. $3600 and a trip to Maine later, still working on getting that dang bear. Once I do (if I do), I’ll set another goal. It’s just the way I’m geared.

 

[Jeff62]

The past couple of weeks my goal has been to kill a gobbler with my Pedersoli percussion 10 gauge. Well......no gobbler. I can’t say I feel skunked exactly. My load development resulted in a sore shoulder and knowing that 90 grains 2f and 100 of 4/6 shot (by volume) was a deadly cloud. Skulking in the bottoms before daylight with shotgun and 1860 Army felt good.
I don’t feel like I wasted my time.

 

[PonyKiller]

It's more about the going, seeing and experiencing of hunt and fishing, not necessarily the meat in the freezer. Getting be out and away with the family and my son. Balancing that, saving money and life in general will be a challenge . I've always been the one to desire experiences over "things" and this goal is an extension of it. Not a goal to be achieved at the expense of all else, but a goal to achieve that will enrich the rest.

 

[ms6852]

You only fail when you stop trying. Go for it.

 

[Captcurt]

Having goals is fine, just don't get so concentrated on attaining the goal that you forget to have fun doing it. I enjoy hunting, fishing and the outdoors as much as anyone. But I know some guys so focused on killing trophy game or catching the biggest fish that it ends up being like a job.

Yep, when It stops being fun I am done. I have been blessed that I have lived here my whole life. I can be on the nearest lake in 10 minutes or on 2 fantastic trout streams in 15. I've seen 16 deer at my feeder in the back yard and can hunt my Brother-in -Law's land in Missouri in a half hour. The father of my closest friend took me under his wing when I was a teen and took me to old Mexico bird hunting twice. Made two trips to Colorado with them and one to Wyoming with my dad. That was a lonnng time ago but I still have goals. I like to shoot does and one rancher has turned me loose on his place with orders to get rid of them. I thought that I had them under control but yesterday I went to the farm to get my ATV and counted 20, so with the good Lord willing I will have a job waiting come season.

 

[Random 8]

I admire your goal. I'm blessed to live in MN, quite centrally located to numerous hunting and countless fishing opportunities. I've fished every neighboring state, as well as Michigan and several of the western and a few SE states. MN, ND, SD, WI are easy for fishing. Licensing is relatively inexpensive, and resorts and camping are plentiful. I would especially recommend a canoe trip into the BWCA in MN for your bucket list. Bugs are bad, so target around Sept 20th or so. Lake trout, pike, walleye and Smallmouth are all in shallow waters and easily fished by canoe. If you do this, drop me a message and I can point you in the right direction. For WI, the wisconsin river or Flambeau river mid-august Smallmouth bite should be pursued at all cost. Wisconsin river North of Tomahawk is very suitable for wading or float fishing, with some remote campsites or camp in state/county/national forest and access river by hiking or 4WD. Good setup for fly fishing. ND, one should fish Devils Lake or the Western reservoirs. This will require a boat, but rentals are available. Ice fishing is a good option also with heated fish house rentals available. In the Upper Peninsula of MI, either pursue stream trout in the East, or try to hit a steelhead run in the Spring along the Lake Superior coast. Many remote streams that receive little pressure. Camping is abundant and cheap in State Forest campgrounds. SD and Iowa are best fished for cats or some walleye, pike, perch in the larger reservoirs. Big river fishing, you could check off MN, Iowa, WI and Illinois on one trip.

 

[Kevinq6]

Fishing seems like it would be a more convenient goal. With hunting you'd have to manage getting tags, permission on private land, and more restrictive seasons.

I don't plan to cover all states but I do have a checklist myself.

- Catch a catfish in Russia
- Do a hunting/fishing trip in Alaska with my father and brother
- Do a black bear hunt with my brother in West Virginia (10mm)
- harvest a trophy boar with my 10mm (300+ pounds)
- catch and release a monster flathead catfish
- watch a grizzly bear

What I've accomplished so far:

- Caught a large Blue Marlin
- Caught a large sturgeon
- Caught a large alligator gar

If snapping turtles didn't exist I might add noodling to the list.

 

[Aletheia]

While there's nothing wrong with having goals, the most important goal I have when I go hunting or fishing, is to have a great time hunting or fishing. It's nice to do those things in new places for sure, but I really enjoy hunting and fishing the old haunts too because it's the "doing it" that is most important. I would try to make sure the goal of going places to hunt or fish doesn't become more important than the activity itself.