Hunting & Heritage  |  12/02/2022

Don’t Fake it, You’ve Already Made it


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Being a “real” bird hunter begins and ends in the heart, not the social feed

By Chad Love

It’s something we all do now, almost without thinking: We shoot a bird, then whip out our phones and take what has become the de rigueur Instagram upland photo — the bird-in-hand shot.

And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But is it — or more accurately is the success it represents — the measure by which we should be judging ourselves on whether we’re a “real” bird hunter?”  

Recently I shared an Insta story from one of my favorite Instagram satire accounts that posts fake inspirational quotes. The one I shared stated, “It’s not imposter syndrome. You really do suck at everything.”

I did it as a sort of inside joke for a friend of mine I was talking to earlier in the week. We were comparing notes on our state’s respective quail openers, and this person lamented the fact that she’d not seen any quail despite having previously scouted the area in which she was hunting, and as a result, she said, she was dealing with a massive case of imposter syndrome (she’s an adult-onset hunter who just took up bird hunting a couple years ago.)

I assured her that was not the case, but the conversation got me thinking about the idea of “Imposter Syndrome,” because I hear that phrase a lot from beginning bird hunters.

It’s a lament of sorts; the feeling that because you’ve not had the kind of Insta-worthy success in the field that inundates everyone’s social feeds, or don’t possess the (alleged) experience or knowledge of others, that you’re somehow not good enough, or skilled enough, or experienced enough to call yourself an upland hunter.

As a lifelong upland hunter with a fair amount of experience in the field (much of it of the bumbling, muddling, semi-incompetent, distinctly un-Insta-worthy flavor) I’ve given it some thought and have come up with my own take on the issue.  

So — funny fake inspirational quotes aside — here’s the deal on “Imposter Syndrome” especially if you’re a beginning upland hunter…

There is no such thing. And I absolutely mean that.

The truth is, it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference how much you know or don’t know, how well you can or can’t shoot, how long you’ve been hunting, or whether you have any success or not. 

If you spend time in the field busting your rear and trying and failing, then you are automatically the most genuine, real-deal, bird-hunting badass I know. Because you’re out there doing it. You may be doing it poorly (in your eyes), but you’re doing it. And nothing beyond that matters. At all.

So if you are new to upland hunting, and you’re struggling, remember this:  Your perceived worthiness as a bird hunter has absolutely nothing to do with external measures of success or knowledge. Rather, it has everything to do with your own internal heart and desire.

Possess that, and you are as authentic as any other hunter out there, regardless of experience, or regardless of results. The only imposters in this game are the ones who talk about it a lot on social media but never have the passion or desire to get out there in the field and dare to struggle and fail, learn and grow.

Failure and frustration and self-doubt are constants in both life and bird hunting. Show me someone who claims to have never experienced all three in the field, and I’ll show you the real imposter.

I’ve been doing this my entire life, and I fail all the time. Sometimes miserably, and sometimes spectacularly, but I fail because upland hunting is inherently challenging, and I am imperfect.

But I’m not an imposter. And neither are you. Next time you feel self-doubt creeping into your head after a long, fruitless, frustrating day, just stop, take a long look around you, and take note of what you see.

Do you see an imposter? Do you see a person trying to fake it? If so, here’s a bit of truth for you, from one genuine — if imperfect and often failing — bird hunter to another: There are no imposters where you’re standing. If there’s dirt on your boots, grass in your pockets, and sky above your head, then you are exactly where you belong, doing exactly what you are meant to do, and being exactly who you wish to be.

And that’s as real as it gets.


Chad has dirt on his boots, grass in his pockets and sky above his head. He is exactly where he belongs: the editor of the Quail Forever Journal.