What Are Your Goals for the 2021 Season?

[Splitear]

I’m starting to really think about the upcoming hunting season, and what I have as goals for the season. With our 2nd daughter arriving late October/early November, I really am trying to keep them simple. 
 

1. Take a mess of squirrels with my old Remington. In March of 2020 I bought an old Remington Model 12 pump .22, and I really want to get out with it next month and try to get a few bushy tails with it. Something about using a 100+ year old rifle for its intended purpose really appeals to me. I did take it out after deer season last year, but never got a shot. I’m hoping that now that I have it functioning like it’s supposed to, it will be able to knock a few out while they are cutting good. 
 

2. Take a deer with my gifted Remington 760. I had a thread a while back about a rifle that was gifted to me by a family friend back in Illinois this past summer.  After hours of clean up work and a good sighting in, I would really like to send John Mewes a photo of a deer that his old .300 Savage took down. Sadly, his wife passed a few weeks ago from complications due to Alzheimer’s and I think he would really enjoy a photo and a phone call like that this Fall. 

These are goals, but in the end, if 2021 leaves my amazing wife and I with 2 beautiful little girls, I will say that it’s been a success. 
 

What goals do you have for the upcoming season?

Edited August 6, 2021 by Splitear

[Jeremy K]

I cant remember what my goals were back then .

[Splitear]

Just now, Jeremy K said:

I cant remember what my goals were back then .

Haha, fat fingers I guess. I fixed it. In ‘12 I got my graduate degree and landed my first teaching gig, so that wasn’t such a bad year either

[DirtTime]

To be in the woods as much as possible again this year.

[mlammerhirt]

Hunt at least once every weekend starting 10/1.

Kill 1 squirrel this year with my boys in tow.

Trap at least 1 coon this year. Took my trapping course at home last year so this will be my first year running traps. I am hoping for 2 actually so I can get caps made for my boys.

Shoot one deer with my boys by my side. It truly gets no better than having them around to enjoy the moment.



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[Swamp_bucks]

Most importantly enjoying my time with my friends and family in the woods.  The older I get the more I enjoy those times over actual time on stand.  

Enjoy the woods.  Hopefully put myself in position to harvest another buck on stateland this year.  It would be nice to harvest a buck in PA this fall also.

Last but not least to push myself and trust my scouting from this summer and spring.  I tend to not trust my gut instinct and the day I finally did listen to it I shot my buck last year.  I finally found a style of hunting that suites me and I'm going all in this year.  Last year I did the hang and hunt a little bit but when I did I saw more deer then sitting in a prehung stand.

[Sir-diealot]

Enjoy whatever time my body is going to choose to allow me to have, I am falling apart fast.

[GreeneHunter]

More time in the woods !

[doebuck1234]

Enjoy every bit of time i get in the woods.hopefully more this year

Have dad and cousin connect with a deer.

Go for some tree rats/maybe goose this year.didnt have the chance last year

[Robhuntandfish]

ive lost my best hunting spot but i am very determined to hunt the other spot i have.  Ive shot 5 bucks off of it in the 7 years we have had it, but no deer in the last two years (although the guy i hunt with has taken a couple). Never have taken any big bucks there but have seen a few.  Looking forward to seeing how my foray into food plots goes.  And also a new stand/groundblind we are putting up.  

#1 Goal is to always get one deer in the freezer, hopefully an early doe and then can work on taking a decent buck.  I try to stick to 5 points or better, but losing my best spot might change those plans. If I dont get an early doe my goal is always a deer for the freezer one way or the other and any deer might be in play.  And i want to get the buck on the land i hunt and have worked on and setup, thats the best part of hunting for me is the chess game. 

Also going to take a day for gun in Northern tier and do a day of still hunting in the Adirondacks.   I sure enjoyed that last year. And was lucky enough to get to within 50 yards of a Dacks buck but passed on him as he was a 3 point.  But still an accomplishment. 

 

 

[BowmanMike]

More deer with the bow this year, preferably all three would be great.  I would like to get my first public land deer as well,but I also have a few more private spots to explore. Last year was the first year I never hunted from the same tree twice and I really enjoy scouting new spots and setting up on hot sign.

 

[sbuff]

After missing most of the 19 season taking care of my dad.  I can tell you my goal last year was to get a buck on the day my father came home from the hospital after beating lung cancer in 2019 . I missed that day by one week and harvested a nice buck just a week later 

This years goal ,I dont know if I can top the above.  Maybe get dad to camp with his grand daughters to do some fall fishing .. 

If all else fails enjoy my time in the woods.

Edited August 6, 2021 by sbuff

[Whitetailhobo]

I would like everyone to have a great safe season .i wan to make a couple memories with my son .this is his first year with gun in hand . We have a lot of hunt skill and safety skills to work on . It’s going to be great. 

[wolc123]

I am hoping for (3) average-sized deer this year.  We are down to our last one in the freezer now, so it should be completely  tapped out by early ML season up north.  

A big buck, button buck, or bear would be a nice bonus, but I would be very thankfully for just the three average-sized deer.  That would give our family enough meat to survive for another year.

  

 

[Moho81]

1. Take a deer with the bow. This might be my 6th season with the bow and I only have one deer for all that effort

2. Not burn myself out during bow season. This almost happened last year. 

3. Participate in the late holiday season muzzleloader hunt with my daughter in the stand. 

[Bolt action]

I would love to get my son some more woods experience this fall. He'll be 8 in October and is starting to get amped for hunting with me. I built those blinds big enough for the both of us with the idea that he'd be tagging along. After that, and in roughly this order:

Make an effort to spend time hunting pheasant / rabbit with my father in law. This may be his last year so I want to make it count. (He's not dying. He's moving back to Sicily)

Try to be patient and wait for the right deer rather than shooting the first deer within range.

Take a deer with with my bow this year.

Take the new .350L with me in the woods.

If time allows, get after some goose this year..

[grampy]

To wake up at 4am to have coffee, and breakfast while deciding where to hunt.

To see the frost crystals glimmering in the moonlight, as I make my way out to my truck.

Seeing and hearing the woods wake up in the morning, and fading to grey as night approaches.

Watching the leaves turn color, until the woods are ablaze with the splendor of fall.

Smelling the fresh fallen leaves, and hearing them softly crunch under my boots, as I try unsuccessfully to be silent.

Observing the breathtaking beauty of sunrise and sunset.

Seeing the woods creatures scurrying around, while I quietly watch unmoving.

The first few gentle snowflakes, swirling on a stiff north east breeze.

The smiles of my grandson, lifelong hunting partner, a friend, young hunter, or forum member, as we greet before a hunt.

Having a deer pass so close, you could reach out and touch them, while hunting from the ground.

Letting that deer pass without taking a shot.

Meeting up with a friend, and or a forum member for lunch, and comparing notes.

Taking a nap in the woods, as the early afternoon sun warms my face.

Thanking the Lord for another glorious day, as I make my way home to a hardy supper that my beautiful wife has waiting for me.

Just a few of my goals for this season. They tend to pretty much be the same now after half a century in the fall woods.

Oh,........and every now and then, I will get a bonus, and perhaps take home a creature of the woods. 

 

 

 

 

[Steuben Jerry]

I've got some simple goals this year. Oct 1st is my last day at work, at least as far as working a full time gig goes. After 45 years of squeezing in outdoors time in on weekends or on limited vacation time, I'm going to take my sweet time and just enjoy the hell out of the outdoors. I'll hunt when I want to, and not when I have to.

There's been a number of years where I've just taken the first thing that walks in range because of limited time to hunt, but now I plan on being in no hurry at all to fill a tag. As a matter a fact, I may just hunt more with a camera than with a bow or gun (but obviously will always have a bow or gun at the ready).

I'll fill a tag or two, but for the first time ever my mindset is that I want to enjoy my time in the fall woods much more than I want to just kill a deer. 

And I'm going to watch every damn Sunday afternoon Bills game without trading off hunting opportunities!

 

[BizCT]

A 2.5+ or better year old buck. I don't ask for much.

[First-light]

Get myself healthy to be able to take my Daughter out before college is here next year!

[eaglemountainman]

12 hours ago, DirtTime said:

To be in the woods as much as possible again this year.

This.

Plus, thoroughly enjoying myself on my Wyoming muley trip again this year. I have such a blast out there every year! It's not essential that I top, or even equal, my buck from last year...just love that spot and stalk style of hunting.

[BizCT]

15 minutes ago, eaglemountainman said:

This.

Plus, thoroughly enjoying myself on my Wyoming muley trip again this year. I have such a blast out there every year! It's not essential that I top, or even equal, my buck from last year...just love that spot and stalk style of hunting.

Mule Deer Hunting is the best!

[Northcountryman]

Get a buck this year !!! 

[rachunter]

Looks like I’m going to make it up for a the last week of rifle and late bow in the ADK’s. Then small game and predator hunting. The one I’m looking forward to the most is a trout a month for a year.


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[josephmrtn]

Spend more time in the woods with my son and put a good buck on the ground.