Jan 18, 2025 5 min read

By Dave Bates

For the Observer-Reporter

I am not a maker of New Year’s resolutions. I don’t believe in them. We are weak creatures that mean well but demonstrate little in the area of follow through. We are well intended but fall awfully short at the finish line. With that, I must confess that I am big on setting goals rather than making resolutions. I’d even go as far as stating that I believe it’s important to write goals down if one is at all serious about realizing them. I do have to be careful of my utterances because I am also a great believer in that if you want to hear God laugh, just tell him your plans. I have learned the hard way that I no longer tell Him what I am going to do. Rather, I try to accept his direction. Lord willing.

And with that, how shall we start the new year? I’ll share a few of my goals that may or may not come to fruition in the coming days. Maybe it’ll inspire you to reach for the stars if not your trout rod? Keep in mind these aren’t your average self-improvement goals. These are goals for this sportsman. So let’s not get carried away with any lofty ideas.

1. I’d like to retire in the spring of this year and thus, would like to elevate my already numerous hours afield to a higher mark. Sure, I have plans for Habitat for Humanity and other goodwill projects, but my first goal is to spend quite a bit more time in the woods. With that in the foreground, let the rest of the chips fall where they may in no particular order.

2. It is my plan to spend a larger chunk of time in the north woods of Wisconsin chasing ruffed grouse and woodcock. I’ve got my eye on a pretty little cabin next to a lake in Price County and have begun to inch closer to making this lifetime dream a reality.

3. I aspire to be a turkey hunter and am counting on Bud Vanata to come through. Having dabbled in turkey hunting on and off for 30 years, I never got serious about the whole affair. Guys tell me that once you are hooked it is an addiction like no other. If it is anything like grouse, I may already be considered diseased. Turkey cannot be much of a reach.

4. Learning to pick mushrooms appeals to me. I picked button mushrooms for years but have not done so since the early 1990s when we used to finish up football practice as young coaches by harvesting enough mushrooms to accompany some fresh back straps following an archery kill. I’d like to try mushroom picking again and Jay Donley has offered to eat anything I’m not sure of in the spirit of safety and friendship.

5. I’m about ready to begin my search for a new pup in the near future and have pretty much settled on a Springer Spaniel. Their reputation for being spaz dogs is akin to my own nature. I have grown tired of trying to groom the “perfect pointer.” I don’t care to give up opportunity after opportunity because my lousy training has not resulted in a magnificent point. My goal is to train a close working pal that locates, flushes and retrieves birds. I have no other predispositions. Consider this an all-out call for intervention. If you know of someone with good Springers of hunting stock that will not require the re-mortgaging of our farm, quietly let me know. Please! Additionally, if there is some patient, bored Springer whisperer out there reading this, email me at your convenience. I will work for training.

6. Becoming an Appleseed instructor is on my radar. I attended a 25-meter event in the fall for .22 caliber rifles and am still amazed at what I didn’t know regarding marksmanship. Having finished the weekend with exposure to some incredible instructors and some great camaraderie with my fellow shooters, I have been given new direction. It is my goal to provide for others what I did not receive myself at an early age – the fundamentals of marksmanship.

7. As I head toward retirement, I’d like to offer more classes at my shooting school. Rather than teaching on the weekends only, I hope to begin some weekday instruction. Maybe even get into some private instruction that I never seem to have time for. I have friends in the business who need help at their schools and it’s always fun to see what the other guys are up to.

8. Fishing is a must. I don’t fish enough and one of my goals is to catch more fish, walk the creeks for smallmouth, take up fly fishing again, hit the river with friends and make Vinnie Collarusso take me to his camp for some walleye action in my old stomping grounds around Linesville.

9. Paddling. Too many tributaries I haven’t floated. Too many lakes unexplored. Too many ducks to be chased off the water. This needs to be remedied.

10. And lastly, I can’t wait to write more. It takes time to set all the fun stuff down on paper. I’m hoping I’ll have a little more time.

Dave Bates writes a weekly outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter. He can be reached at alphaomegashootingsolutions@gmail.com