Time start planning .. and enjoying... the next hunt

Like many of you, the hunting season never ends for me, it just changes phases. Soon the new fall season will be upon us and all the efforts of our planning, scouting and preparing will culminate into time in the field. So now, we look ahead....

For me, September means food plot preparation, stand repair, trail camera maintenance and a myriad of other activities. Someone once told me that if you don’t enjoy the journey you will be disappointed in the destination. That is true for much of life, including hunting. The reason we do all the work and preparation for the hunt, of course, is partly to improve our changes of a successful harvest. But, if we focus solely on bagging that monster buck, or whatever our quarry, might be, we can miss out horribly. The outcome of an entire hunting season can hinge on just 30 seconds….will that buck offer a shot, or turn the wrong way? Will my arrow be true or is there one little branch in the way? If our entire season only hinges on that final moment, we can miss out on much of the riches of the experience. In the past I have been guilty of putting too much emphasis on the harvest to determine the success of my season. Because of that, my enjoyment was focused on that moment and that moment alone. The definition of that moment made all of the planning serious work! I have had seasons of great ‘success’ by that definition, but also years when things didn’t go my way at all! Using my old definition of success made for some feelings of real dissatisfaction. Now I have come to enjoy all aspects of the hunt, including the planning and preparations that lead to the actual time in the field.

So, as you start preparing for your 2010 fall hunting activities, remember to enjoy it all. Appreciate the beauty around you as you hang your stands. Enjoy the camaraderie of your buddies when at the local sporting goods store. Have a mindset that you will soak in all of the moments of the season that lead up to the actual harvest. If you do, any success you have filling your tag or in reaching your bag limits, will be that much more rewarding. In addition, for those times the harvest proves elusive, you will find you already have found your "success".

Whatever you chase, enjoy the upcoming season … enjoy the journey!