How does one define success? 

Webster’s Dictionary: favorable or desired outcome.

Cambridge Dictionary: the achieving of the results wanted or hoped for.

The Oxford mentions there are 12 definitions, 7 of which are outdated. I’m not a paid subscriber of their website so I couldn’t read them all and I can’t find my library card. But Google lands on them calling it an accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

So how does one define success in the hunting and fishing world?

You draw a tag to go hunting or you dip a line and you go home empty handed. Does this mean you weren’t successful?

If your only measure of success is a full freezer, I can’t help but feel a bit of pity for you regarding the things you’re missing out on.

But I also can’t sit here and write what the definition of a successful hunting or fishing experience is for anyone but myself. We all set out with different goals. And honestly, filling a quota is nice, but that is never my only goal. 

Each outing presents an opportunity to learn.

To learn about all the plants and animals in a region. The habits and behavior of my quarry. The best roads to navigate. Whether or not it would be a place I want to return to. Can I do it better next time?

To see our walls, photos, taxidermy bill, or to hear our stories, an outside viewpoint would call us successful. Believe it or not, there have been numerous unfilled tags. And there will be more.

This is one goal that took a long time for me to meet… being okay going home with tag soup. Especially if I gave it my all and left everything out there in the field. Success? I’d say so.

There’s also not a single point of measure that defines success. Every tag, every year, every circumstance offers a different set of challenges. That measure of success resides on a sliding scale. It moves sometimes daily.

There is one thing that I can call a success every time we venture out. And that is the opportunity to create moments and memories with the people I love the most.

My point if you’ve stuck with me this far, is that you can’t define or compare your success to anyone else’s. At the end of the day, the only one you’re competing with is yourself.

But if you want me to put a general meaning to it with regards to this lifestyle only, here it goes. 

Around 15 million people purchase hunting licenses and around 40 million purchase fishing licenses annually in the United States. 7.7 million of those folks overlap which means there are roughly 47 million definitions of success and none of them are outdated. So, take that Oxford.