SEXY ?

[thortum]

Sorry. I just wanted to get your attention. This thread is about "PRIDE". Do you deserve to be "proud" or just "happy" with the fish you catch, or the game animals that you shoot? The reason I'm asking this is because we've all seen TV shows where someone fishes for some type of trophy fish [marlin,tuna,etc.] aboard a charter boat and brags about what he or she has caught. Do they have a right to brag? What have they done other than reel in the fish? The captain and crew find the fish, bait the hooks, or set out the lures at the correct depth and speed, set the hook when the fish strikes, uses the boat's engines to help play the fish, and then nets, gaffs, or releases the fish! Whats left to do? The "fisherman" pays his money, reels in the fish, and maybe spends a lot more $$ to have the fish that "he caught" mounted and placed on his wall at home. I'm sure it's all fun to experience, but is it something to be "PROUD" of? How can anybody be proud of anything in life that they didn't earn themselves? I just watched a hunting show where someone was proud of the deer that she shot. She was placed in a tower stand over a "feed plot" by the outfitter. She even knew what deer she wanted to shoot because they photographed it with a Stealth Cam at night when it came in to feed. Does this "hunter" know how to "still hunt" or find a good "stand" location on her own? Does she know how to "track" a deer or even know the signs that a it leaves in the forest? Can she find her way into and out of the woods on her own? If the answers to these questions are "NO", then I believe she and others should do what they do and shut up! They should not be be portraded as "hunters" or "fishermen" because they are not! They are just people that are having fun reeling in a fish, or shooting something. I feel better now that I've vented!!!! Do you agree, or disagree?

[GonnaCatchABig1]

hunting is different than fishing. anything you kill requires some shooting skill. but i feel (in the situation you described) she could feel just as proud by going to a shooting a range and hitting a bulls eye with out killing something.

if you hunt or fish purely for pride. to put it in the immortal words of some one whos name escapes me at the moment (it was in a movie) "your doin it wrong"

to kill purely for pride is selfish. hunting i feel is worse. hunters dont jump on me. but in hunting you are guaranteed to kill. fishing there is a chance of letting live. so fishing for pride in some instances isnt so bad. but hunting OR fishing just to kill to feel good isnt something i admire.

hunting is a fantastic sport (though killing isnt my thing). if you do it properly. aka going through the motions. you pick a spot using your brain power and what ever knowledge you know (much like fishing). you try to figure out what the game will be doing or feeding. (again like fishing.) then you use your skills to track and stalk. <-- thats what you should be most proud of. then you take aim and use your shooting skills to take down the animal you spent so much time studying and tracking.
THAT is something to be very proud of.
otherwise it's like going to a farm and shooting cows. and if you really feel proud about that. you need to learn a few things. or you are sick in the head and enjoy killing just for killing.

i guess you could relate it to the plugging purists.
i'm not that dedicated at the moment. though i am much prouder to catch a fish on a plug then a chunk. it's a direct result of your own skills.
that said. that deep sea trip i took. i honestly could care less if i caught a fish. i did nothing. i dropped a clam/jig straight down in a spot that i didnt choose. i dont like trolling either. granted trolling in the right spots is key. but in theory you could just drive around till a fish shows up. i much rather fish from shore, or a boat where my friends and i decided this is where they are. much like tracking/stalking. and cast into certain areas i think the fish are exactly. it give me some sense of accomplishment.
at the very least i picked the lucky spot to cast in (while chunking). and while plugging i worked the plgu right after deciding the proper location for the fish. then there is the fight (in hunting that would be the shot)

anything less and i feel unaccomplished. i cant say how i feel about working a boat to land a fish. since it's usually only done on very large fish. (marlins, tuna etc) but i would assume if it was me and all friends it would fill me with pride we all landed a beast. if i paid pros to do it. that same feeling isnt really there to the fullness it could be. they do it every day. if that makes sense. edit: just to add on a little bit. if my friends and i did that today. and landed a decent tuna or whatever. i would be very proud. as it was the first time we did it. we tackled a new problem. after a while it would loose it magic. much like when you hook into a blue or schoolie for the first time. it's amazing. but then after a while on after the other it gets kind of old. (unless youve been skunked for 3 months lol). and nothing but a keeper would satisfy. then after that nothing but a larger fish. <-- which is the drive that keeps us all going.

so in the end. i guess for me. the pride comes from tackling NEW situations and problems. and with fishing and hunting, if done to the fullest. there are plenty of unique and new situations to conquer. almost every day. i cant see being proud of leaving all those problems to some one else then getting the finished product.

[numbskull]

When your wife has a baby are you proud? Yet you did about as much as the guy on the charter boat, it seems. Life is too short to quibble about what makes other people happy. They have their value system, you have yours. Nothing makes yours worth more than theirs (even if you can find friends to agree) other than your own perspective.......which doesn't count for much since there are 5 billion other perspectives out there. Another way to look at it, if feeling superior to other people makes you happy, they've done you a favor. Which is why I fish with Flap.

[GonnaCatchABig1]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Another way to look at it, if feeling superior to other people makes you happy, they've done you a favor. Which is why I fish with Flap.

then you should really fish with me sometime..

your point is well taken. but honestly can pride justify an easy kill? taking life is taking life. but can one really feel it is ok to have that life handed to you.
whether in the overall scheme of thing my opinions matter or not. it's my strong opinion that, if you are not willing to earn taking a life. you shouldn't take that life.
put it this way.. (it's a bad comparison i know) if you get in a shoot out with another armed man. and survive. that MIGHT be something to brag about. if you shoot an unarmed man. not at all.
the tracking and stalking being the armed mans weapon.
there is NO sport at ALL. you might as well shoot at cans. they dont run. they dont fool you. they dont lose you in the brush. and certainly they dont fight back.
i cant see it being any different than stepping on an ant. you kill something. with no effort. how proud can some one be to step on an ant?

just my thoughts.
if they are happy. fine. but dont expect me to respect them for it. and should their bragging meet with hostility. as far as i am concerned good.

also.. if they hand it to you and go find it and present it on a platter. then say ok. heres a knife (r better yet nothing) now go kill it barehanded.. thats something to brag about.

quick add on.. what you do for FOOD purposes doesnt concern me much. the only people who brag about killing an animal for food are generally people who kill something that feeds a village. even then the orginal kills wasnt purely for pride but to feed. killing something worth killing for food is a different scenario than killing PURELY for bragging rights.

[thortum]

Originally Posted by numbskull

When your wife has a baby are you proud? Yet you did about as much as the guy on the charter boat, it seems. Life is too short to quibble about what makes other people happy. They have their value system, you have yours. Nothing makes yours worth more than theirs (even if you can find friends to agree) other than your own perspective.......which doesn't count for much since there are 5 billion other perspectives out there. Another way to look at it, if feeling superior to other people makes you happy, they've done you a favor. Which is why I fish with Flap.

I've had three babys and didn't brag about it - I was just "happy" about them. It's also not about knocking anyone elses "acomplishment" down in order to build mine up. It's simpley about being truethful. I'm not saying people shouldn't do those things. I'm simple saying "don't pretend to be something that you are not".

[BigBo]

Originally Posted by numbskull

When your wife has a baby are you proud? Yet you did about as much as the guy on the charter boat, it seems. Life is too short to quibble about what makes other people happy. They have their value system, you have yours. Nothing makes yours worth more than theirs (even if you can find friends to agree) other than your own perspective.......which doesn't count for much since there are 5 billion other perspectives out there. Another way to look at it, if feeling superior to other people makes you happy, they've done you a favor. Which is why I fish with Flap.

I think numbskull has it right. Myself, I don't fish to show off to others. I do it for myself because of the enjoyment I get out of it. Doesn't matter to me if others know of my accomplishments or not. When I had my boat and brought friends along, I was just as content at watching them catch.
I don't fault anyone for wanting to show off some nice catches that they're proud of though.

[thortum]

OK.

[GonnaCatchABig1]

Originally Posted by thortum

OK.

wait.. what?!?! no!! you cant just agree!! this is the internet!!

lol.

numbskull i lke your second answer better. its more clear cut.

i guess i just dont understand why you would do all that working and paying. for something you could do on your own.
for example i could pay a guy to scuba out to a fish and place my plug into his mouth. then reel it in. or i could take the time and get the fish to bite.

overall it may take a bit longer to number two to happen. but time vs money spent is probably gonna be equal. and number 2 gives a bit more self gratification.


if some one is happy then they are happy. cant argue that. just seems to me in todays day and age people sell them selves short and dont realise how happy they could be with a bit more effort and less money. .

[thortum]

[QUOTE=GonnaCatchABig1;539137]hunting is different than fishing. anything you kill requires some shooting skill. but i feel (in the situation you described) she could feel just as proud by going to a shooting a range and hitting a bulls eye with out killing something.
I think you missed my point. It's not about hunting [I've hunted for 50yrs.] It's about bragging about things we didn't earn.

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by thortum

It's about bragging about things we didn't earn.

"Bragging" and being proud of an accomplishment are two different things. Someone who works, saves, plans, travels, and hires a guide who then puts them on big fish/big game has accomplished something. Maybe not something you or I value, but certainly something they value.....so why shouldn't they feel proud? Who, but themselves, is appointed to determine whether they "earned it"?

Bragging entails an expectation of positive feedback from others and as such assumes they share your value system. When they don't it always goes bad. Usually the person "bragging" only cares about the opinion of those that do share their value system. If you don't, then they have made a mistake, but why punish them fot it?

[striperondafly]

"overthinking, overanalyzing seperates the body from the mind"

[jimmy z]

Being proud, is a feeling. If someone feels proud because they feel they have accomplished a feat, so be it. We all do what we feel we need to do to give us satisfaction, or a feeling of pride. We are all entitled to do what we feel we need to do to get that sense of pride.
But wasting or killing without reason, would not fulfill that satisfaction, for me anyway.

[Goose]

As I grow its clear to me that pride is the opposite of the humility,the better qaulity. Pride in its self is selfish which leads to egos and self absorbtion, two things that not only knowone likes but also one of the first things that someone notices. I have a couple deer mounts in the house and almost of my rods are built by me, yeah I take pride in what I do but I'll be the first to admit that I don't take credit for it. I beleive all gifts come ultimently from God, sure MikeCC showed me and PNG showed me and Saltheart showed me just to mention a few, but someone had to show them. Even what we've learned on our own has got to be recognized as gifts for them to have significate falue. The only real thing I can be proud of is in my kids and even that should be put in its place. I am like an adoption parent in this world. Humility should be the focal point after any acommplishment . Knowone cares how many 50's or how many hours you put into your season or how many plugs you have spun... KNOWONE CARES.

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

[Clammer]

I like gooses & icemans responces ;;

I don,t hunt /nor do I judge those that do ;;

fishing // I,m neither proud or {I HOPE} don,t brag >>.

if its not commercial >> I go for fun/ sometimes I never even fish >>> to me fishing is alot more than the actual act of fishing ...
its getting ready /travel / sunrise /sunset /starts / catchin /not catchin // fishing with good friend //fishing alone // I really enjoy taking someone out & have them have a good time // its even better when your lucky to take a guy that feels similiar to myself >>>> just being there ;;
I post photo,s >>. but its not in your face .. most are of schoolies .> many times for the purpose of showing it was caught on a plug made by a member on this site ;;

pride /proud >> In most part it isn,t associated with fishing or hunting ;;
I do take pride in my knowledge on the waters ... yet I smashed up bigtime twice this year ;;

Pride >> my kids & how they live there lives ;;
Pride >> How I do my job . honestly & knowing I honestly trying my best ;;
Pride .. of the things I accomplished /since trying to stay sober
Pride .. of the friendships I have ::;
Pride The ability to say I f $%^&*( up
Pride being there when things are tuff ;;
Pride being sober & a help to my wife in her L O N G battle with cancer ;;
I guess there is much more >. but this has open sore spots >> I,m gone for now >>
MIKE

[freebie]

I would have to say that I'm with clammer, I fish for fun, yeah I keep fish sometimes, of course I brag to my close buds when they're not catching fish(all in good fun), I don't do it to say I'm better than them or make them feel bad, it's just what guys do to each other, I also remember times they were catching all the fish and rubbing it in my face, again though, it was close friends joking around more than trying to compete with each other

[Headhunter]

You do what you do. It is what it is. You feel how you feel. Dont worrie, be happy!

[thortum]

There are some great resonses here. Thank all of you. What I believe it boils down to is: The things in life that YOU worked for are the ones that are priceless and will always be remembered. Clammer - I sorry about your wife and for opening a sore spot. I'm not a very religous person, but if there's a God, I hope He's watching over the both of you!! Best of luck.

[chris L]

If it aint for fun then its work .

[fishpoopoo]

Originally Posted by chris L

If it aint for fun then its work .

Bingo.

For me, fishing is all about fun first (getting outdoors and enjoying it!) and cultivating skills and knowledge secondly. Yes, you are having more fun if you are catching.

There is a joy (=fun) when meticulous planning and some hard work bear trophy catches. But one has to consider that catching is sometimes due to luck.

What I think of "fun" is steadily changing. I realize that getting into a wetsuit and getting my a$$ kicked on a rock in 35 degree temps Saturday night is becoming less "fun" and more "work."

I hunt less than I fish. I'll be honest...I enjoy fishing more than hunting. I'm a meat hunter. A "good" day hunting for me is one where I can harvest a humanely killed animal for the table.

[EarnedStripes44]

In the words of the late great UCLA coach John Wooden:

"Talent is God-given. Be Humble. Fame is man-given. Be Grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful"