Are you a generalist or specialist?

[Huntin_GI]

I was talking with my wife the other day about our favorite proteins and I began to wonder, am I more of the rule or exception as a generalist?

I hunt everything I can get a tag for all year long. Upland, Turkey, Bear, Deer, Elk, Waterfowl, and Small Game. With that being said, that conversation with my wife lead me to realize I may be wasting some of my time in the outdoors as she isn't a fan of the small game or waterfowl (with a few exceptions).

When we started talking about a spring trip to hunt bears in Idaho, I noticed she seemed less enthused be the premise of bear meat. Mind you, this woman will cook an entire elk sausage roll for breakfast while I am at work.

Are you a generalist? I'm starting to consider moving into the specialist category and simply focus on Elk, Mule Deer, and Spring Turkeys. Is your ol' lady comfortable enough in the kitchen to handle/take care of all the different wild proteins that being a generalist can leave in the freezer?

 

[coloyooper]

Generalist, for better or worse. I like being able to hunt all year. If I only hunted September I’d tear my hair out 11 months a year

 

[Dioni A]

Depends if you are ok with just killing anything or trophy hunting. I only want to kill mature animals and the harsh reality is that there's not enough free time in the year to consistently take big animals if your trying to do it all.

 

[35WhelenAI]

Is this about what I hunt, or what my wife will cook? Lol. What I hunt does not have anything to do with what my wife will cook...

For what it's worth I pick generalist because I hunt deer, elk, pronghorn yearly and bear occasionally, which is more than "Single species/MAYBE two..."

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Specialist for sure.

 

[MuleyFever]

Im pretty much just hunting deer and elk since I moved to UT. Bird hunting just isnt worth it to me here and small game just isnt a thing unless you are into jackrabbits. When I was in WI I hunted deer, small game, and waterfowl.

I think your poll options should include a just big game option.

 

[Lowg08]

I may be weird. I could care less about small game. I love to hunt anything but all my small game hunting is done because my son wants to go. So I take him. I enjoy it but anytime I go for myself it’s all about deer, bear or turkey. Sadly if I find mature buck sign turkey hunting it goes from turkey hunting to scouting with the occasional oh crap maybe I should call and listen

 

[Brendan]

I started hunting big game in August, I'm still hunting Waterfowl and will be through middle of February (Although, time for ice fishing and getting my butt back in shape.)

Big Game, Waterfowl, Turkey, Fishing for me. Haven't really gotten into small game, although I do want to spot and stalk some snowshoe hares with my .22, think about it every year.

 

[5MilesBack]

I was born a hunter and have been killing stuff ever since. Or maybe I was born a killer and have been hunting for stuff to kill ever since. Who knows. But I knew early on in life that I'd become an elk hunter, even without an elk hunting mentor. So these days.......I'm an elk hunter.......so specialist. Everything else is just an opportunity tag.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I simply dont have enough time to spread myself all over the place.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I hunt everything I can make time for. Luckily I get over five weeks of vacation not counting weekends and holidays. Like @Dioni A mentioned though, it's really hard to kill mature/trophy animals if you don't focus on one or two species. That is a lot of the reason I have killed a few nice bucks and bulls over the years but never anything really big.

 

[ColoradoV]

Too many other activities to hunt more than I do or there needs to be more days in the year …

I scout 25+ days for archery mulies and since I don’t usually kill fast put in another 15-20 hunting. Then help my wife for elk 10 scouting 5 hunting and father 5-7 scouting 5-7 hunting..

I am also lucky enough usually to have one friend get a great rifle mule deer tag each year and usually get a week or 2 with scouting helping.

Still can’t figure out how guys hunt 3-4 states in a year = as for me to find, target, hunt, and kill a 200” type buck takes every available second I have from July - late Sept and most years I eat my tag…

So yea I hunt the greatest animal - Mule deer almost exclusively and elk w my family…

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

I would say I am a generalist as I will hunt/fish anything anytime I can. As for cooking I do most of the big game cooking.
I hunt bear from July - September
October is for an elk hunt and trapping.
November is trapping and deer hunting. Maybe cut some firewood.
December is holidays firewood and coyote hunting with some ice fishing.
January - march are typically coyote hunting.
Follow that up with spring turkey, mushroom hunting and spring fishing to get me back to July.
I spend as much time outdoors as the wife will let me.

 

[JPD350]

I hunt anything I can, not only do I love to hunt different animals I love to eat them, it helps that I don't have any problem cooking it up. So I guess I am a generalist in hunting but a specialist at cooking the protein to perfection.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I generally specialize in specific general areas.

 

[JEEF]

I'll be turning 30 this year and spent the better part of my 20s pursuing new game in all kinds of different areas of the country (from spearfishing in Florida to muzzleloader elk). Slowly I'm starting to find particular game I really enjoy pursuing for both the hunt and dinner fare. So I feel I'm beginning to transition from generalist to specialist as time goes on.

 

[Mosby]

I grew up trout fishing and hunting deer, small game and waterfowl. Then I got married, a job and really just focused on deer. Not enough time to work, raise kids and travel to fish and hunt.

Now I am retired, time isn't an issue. I am free to go anywhere I want and do anything I want. Working with young bird dogs, getting back to trout fishing, deer and elk hunting when I can get tags and bird hunting into January. My wife will cook elk. Anything else and its up to me. I will be cooking some chucker and quail this week. Crock pots are a hunters friend.

 

[pk_]

It is the same time/resource investment for me to hunt small game, upland, waterfowl or big game. The seasons are concurrent so I hunt big game as it gives me a much larger meat yield.

A couple years ago they changed our annual bag limit, so now we can only shoot 5 bucks per season, so if I tag out early I am more likely to hunt other species.

I also live close to the ocean, so it makes more sense for me to go catch some some fish than to drive hours to go hunt squirrels or ducks…

So I guess I am a specialist due to my situation. But I do love small game and waterfowl and dabble a little bit in each when I can.

 

[Grumman]

I fall into the jack of all trades, master of none category.


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[Michael54]

I have beagles and a bird dog. I spend the most time hunting birds and bunnies. However i don't pass up Deer season and will never pass up an elk or mule deer hunt.