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Is harder better?

NoHarleyyet

"the harder I worked, the luckier I got"

and I find this to be true whether hunting or not.

My memories of a hunt is not dependent upon how difficult it was, but what happened during the hunt, who I was with, etc. I remember a hunt that took more time harnessing the dogs, than the hunt itself, but others circumstances surrounding that hunt make it one of my most memorable
 
If you can't get ahold of Cush,ask Big Fin.They have hunted together,he might have the skinny. 〽💥
 
Sometimes I like when it’s hard cause otherwise I feel like I’m just shootin stuff, especially waterfowl hunting.

I also appreciate the hard hunts cause it makes me feel like I’ve earned shooting something close to a road or when I have a great stroke of luck after getting my ass kicked for a whole season.
 
 
A similar question could be asked why hunters value large/mature animals. If something is uncommon or difficult to obtain, the rare day you get one brings a sense of accomplishment.
 
Hard hunts are more satisfying to me whether or not I get something. Just being out there hiking around, camping, living out of a backpack is fun. Actually it stops being fun once you become successful.

Easier hunts are fun too, but ones that end with no kill seem much less satisfying than backpack hunts that are unsuccessful
 
There is situational “hard” as in “this happened to me and was beyond my control but I overcame and was successful in spite of it.”

And then there is “intentional, self inflicted hard” as in, “ I made a conscience choice to go after this animal with homemade, primitive trad archery gear and was successful in spite of it. “ and “I will only kill an animal of a certain age or score”

Both make for rewarding and memorable experiences that stick with the hunter and that’s the only person that matters. We don’t hunt for others approval.

Then there is “easy” fall in your lap success and that too can be memorable. I like all of the above scenarios. As I start my 46th bowhunting season and lots of chiropractic visits each week, I gauge “hard” myself and long ago stopped listening to others in regards to “hard” since its such a personal thing.
 
The easiest hunt in the world is to walk to the butcher shop. The ultimate in hunting technology is the slaughterhouse. I like a quote from Garcia-Ortega, who said "The beauty of the hunt is the fact that it is problematic." The greater the challenge, the greater the reward. But to me, that doesn't mean ALL the challenges are in the woods. Sometimes, my greatest challenge is grabbing a free day or two during the crush of busy life to enjoy peace and quiet. Those can be the most rewarding hunts of all.
 
I'm of a different mindset than most on here I guess. I'm going to put in exactly the amount of work required to get the result I desire. I don't waste time/money/effort/resources for marginal gains.

If I can shoot a nice buck close to the road, or hike in ten miles for one slightly nicer, you bet your butt I'm shooting the one close to the road.

I've gone through life following that thought process and it hasn't taken me too far off track yet.

Why bust my ass to get into med school, to bust my ass for years in med school, to bust my ass as a resident, to be on call all the time. Why not become an engineer? No one cares if you didn't get a 4.0 gpa in collage, they just care about the degree :ROFLMAO:
 
I've seen nice bucks and black bears on my small 12 acres and just watch... then I drag my arse around the mountains to knock one down and drag my arse and harvest back... Something special about kicking my arse brings satisfaction. I'm downright logically objective and my wife finds this behavior sometimes frustrating - then, I'll tell her to check out the bear or buck from our deck and she reminds me how my mountain arse dragging action is absolutely illogical... She's got a point.
 

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