Solo or Social

[roy reali]

When you go hunting, do you tend to go alone or with a group of other hunters? Do you have one or two "hunting buddies" to tag along? Do you like to hunt with large groups, the more the merrier is your motto? Or, are you the Lone Wolf type?

[shortwave]

I voted alone due to the fact that the majority of my hunting time is deer and turkey hunting. Which I do alone.
Rabbit, pheasant,squirrel etc. I enjoy having company.

[gaseousclay]

I didn't vote in the poll since I haven't been hunting yet. I was curious if there was some sorta hunting etiquette, like hunting in two's versus going alone. maybe it differs by hunting situations, like if you're hunting in the mountains and have no survival skills, it's probably best to go with 1 or 2 others who know how to read a compass. otherwise, if you're hunting from a deer stand somewhere that doesn't require you to be out in the field as much, so going alone might be the better option.

[Jo6pak]

That's a tough one to answer.

I deer hunt on a buddies farm, which is about an hour away. So we tend to stay at his place over opening weekend and hang out, play cards, etc. But we each have our own areas of the farm that we hunt, so we are pretty much on our own i the woods.

For upland birds and bunnies, I prefer to hunt alone of in a small 2 or 3 hunter group

[Art Eatman]

Mostly, I hunt solo. But it doesn't really seem like "a hunt" unless there are others in the general area, to gather around the camphouse or campfire in the evenings.

It's great fun, occasionally, to work with a group, doing a drive up a valley to see what you can chouse out in the way of a shootable Bambi. What's a hoot is if a little four-pointer or six-pointer jumps out. Folks go to hollering, "Shoot him! Shoot him!" Somebody gets sucked in, kills the poor little thing and then folks gather around with, "Aw, why'd you have to go and shoot THAT poor little old deer?"

Different in walking hunting for desert mule deer. Noise doesn't matter, since it's hard to get them to jump up and be seen. So, two guys working ridges, yakking back and forth and throwing rocks is helpful.

[Pahoo]

What I'm hunting as well as the method, usually dictates who I hunt with. I also did not reply to the poll as it's just too vague. As an example, when we hunt for Missouri doves, we usually start up as a group of two or three and eventually wind up with about eight. During the various deer seasons, I usually hunt alone and when on drives, we have about twelve to sixteen hunters, driving and standing. By nature, I am a Free-Trapper and prefer to hunt alone. .....



Be Safe !!!

[hooligan1]

These are four of my five children, the eldest daughter chooses to not go into the field. These are my hunting buddies, and it will be this way until I can no longer make the trip God has blessed me. All my lone hunting has been done. And now I have the most fun ever just seeing the faces on these young men and women when they are successful..

[treg]

95% of my hunting is alone, unless you count horses.

[telemark]

Solo. Nobody to complain about being tired, it being hard to get to where I want to go, or how would we ever get an animal out if we got one here. I hunt where I want when I want and can use my gut feelings to find animals.

The downside to hunting alone is I don't have anybody for backup if I run into an ornery grizzly, nobody to help pack an animal out, and boning out an elk is a difficult task for one person.

[BIG P]

90% I'M alone most of my buddys are football fans and that makes for short morning hunts & dont miss the game in the evening.I'M not a part time hunter
I'm the first to leave last to return most of the time lunch goes with me.Couldnt tell you the times i've took deer off the guys walkin in&out of the woods.I do like for others to be around never know what could happen I aint as young as yesterday.

[bswiv]

Depends on what we are hunting.

If we're after gators then it takes at least me and Louann. If she can't go then I need two guys.

In the woods, mostly hunting hogs and some deer here in Fl. where we have a very long season and make a lot of day trips, it's usually with Louann ( She hates to stay home. ). The times she can't go I'll usually go alone even though in the last couple of years one of my brothers in law and his son have picked up the habit and I like their company.

And for what it is worth, now that I'm getting very gray around the edges I find myself enjoying more helping someone new learn the sport. The afore mentioned brother in law and nephew being a perfect example.

Seems that I get as much enjoyment out of teaching and helping and being there when someone new to it all has their first successes. Not that a hog that gets to close will not always end up with a hole in him but rather that when I take the nephew I find myseld working to put him in the best spot or trying to get him in position to make the shot when we stalk hogs.

Life changes...............

[Regolith]

I don't think I've ever gone hunting without a friend or family member. I kind of see it as a social experience; humans evolved to hunt in groups, just like wolves.

I don't like to hunt in big groups, though; no more than five, with two or three (including me) being preferred.

[roy reali]

And for what it is worth, now that I'm getting very gray around the edges I find myself enjoying more helping someone new learn the sport. The afore mentioned brother in law and nephew being a perfect example.

Bless your heart. We need more sportsmen like you. I think you have inspired me to help some of the youngsters around here. Thanks.

[Kreyzhorse]

I've always hunted with a buddy or two. The social aspect of the hunt has always been part of the fun in my opinion.

[aarondhgraham]

Tromping through the woods with my .22 rifle,,,
Looking for the unwary tree rat or wabbit,,,
Basically fantasizing about being a young Davy Crocket.

I wasn't a particularly good hunter when I was a kid,,,
But I did enjoy walking through the woods with my gun,,,
I think at that time I enjoyed the solitude to just be myself.

I killed a lot of tin cans on those hunts.

But I had a 30 year hiatus from hunting,,,
I recently started going bird hunting with a group,,,
In my case it's really a lot more like camping out with guns.

I borrow a shotgun and line walk the fields with them,,,
But on the rare occasion I scared up a bird,,,
I let someone else take the shot.

I'm just there for the camaraderie,,,
I kinda like being the camp cook for the group,,,
And on the last few hours we almost always do some clay shooting.

.

[davlandrum]

I guess it depends how you define "hunting". I have one close friend that I hunt with all the time - hunt being defined as sharing a deer or elk camp. Sometimes we hunt (pursue game) together on these trips, sometimes we go our own ways.

[nathaniel]

Since my brothers have weekends off and I work weekends I usually end up hunting alone unless one of my brothers take the day off. I hate going alone but its alone or not at all and I live for hunting.

[FrankenMauser]

I almost always hunt in a party.

However...
I prefer going out on my own.
I move through brush, trees, and terrain differently than the other hunters. The routes I take seem odd to some hunters, but aren't a big factor.

The biggest thing for me is noise. I am a sneaky, sneaky person. I take pride in silence and surprise (even if the "target" is my wife, cats, or my wife's stupid dog). The problem is that some of the people I hunt with are incapable of the same level of "stealth". If I want to be quiet while moving, I have to be on my own.

I was quite proud, today. One of my brothers told me he felt deaf watching me move through the woods over the last week (just returned from an Elk hunt). He said he had never seen anything like what he witnessed on this hunt. He felt like he was in the presence of the ultimate *expletive*-ing predator.

In his words:
"I was following from 3 feet away, and couldn't hear a sound. I don't understand how a person can move so quietly. It was like you cloaked." (nice Star Trek reference.)

...And that is why I like hunting alone.


However... again...
I was happy to have some one with me for every hike during this last week. There was an enormous amount of fresh bear sign around, and we were 8 miles from the next camp. Having a history of bad encounters with bears, knowing there was some one making a little noise for me (so we wouldn't stumble upon a bear) was somewhat reassuring. After an incident with a mountain lion, I was even more thankful for the "extra" noise.

[Deerhunter]

A lot of my hunting is done with my buddy. Unless he can't get time off work when I go up to PA for deer season. We hunt the same property and if we are out at the same time have radios with ear pieces so we can chat during the day. That is only for deer hunting. When he can't get off I am out by myself and sit in the stand. His dad goes out a lot also so there are 3 of us a lot of times. We also like to go push deer once the season gets going.

For birds I like to go out with at least on other person.

[Pahoo]

When I was young it was always solo,,,

I refuse to grow old and took more chances when I was younger.
A few years back, I found myself at the base of tree-stand. It was about 5 degrees above zero. Made it up to the first rung and a little voice asked; "How old are you?" .......

Did not like the answer and was not afraid of climbing up but was not sure what kind of shape I'd be in, trying to climb back down. From that time and in cold weather, I only hunt out of a ground blind. I still prefer tree stands but you can't fall out of a ground blind.

When you hunt solo, there are a different set of safety concerns than when you hunt in a group. You really need to plan on what might happen and let someone know where you are going and even carry a cell phone or even a loud whistle.
Walk the Hunter's path with practical feet. ....

Be Safe !!!

[spclPatrolGroup]

I votes with a couple buddies, birds and whatnot we are generally walking together. For Deer, we have a bunch of family that stay at the same cabin, then we split up and go to differnt stands or area's and meet back at the cabin for lunch and what not so I still consider that as a group. I thikn its more fun to share the experiance with other people.

[Crankylove]

I usually go out with family. We camp together, and most of the time will go out in pairs or a threesome, but do go out alone quite a bit. Sometimes its nice to be alone out in the woods.........untill you down your Elk a couple miles from camp and the nearest vehicle access, then some company is welcome.

[Scorch]

Typically, I hunt alone.

Alone is a relative word, because I hunt birds, mostly, and my two Brittanys are always along for the hunt. So there is no clever banter around a crackling fire at night, and I don't dare set my sandwich down to take a drink or look around at the scenery until I have made sure they are eating, too, or it would mysteriously disappear.

[doofus47]

I camp with a buddy and his family and their friends, but we generally all hunt solo. We might go in pairs or tres for a day if several people decide that they want to poke around the same general area on a given day.

Gaseousclay, it is a good idea to get a map of the area you will hunt and learn how to use both a compass and a GPS, even an simple GPS like an etracker. Traveling with people who are good with compasses and know the area is nice, but what if one of them steps in a hole and you have to go back to the car to call for help? It's good to have the skill, even if you don't need it. My 2c.

[roberto mervicini]

It depend of the hunt... partridge alone or with my son Eric, bear alone on the spot over bait but my son he is part of the trip, he hunts alone also. Moose by law 2 permits are required in our province for one moose, some outfitter demand 4 permits, so normally we are 4 hunters on the territory in contact by radio since once one kill the hunts must end. Deer usually 4, my son and the same 2 friends all the time, each hunt alone on his postation also allowed one deer each. Caribou only went once with my son, winter hunt, allowed 2 caribou each, mid december James Bay, minus 25 degrees, the best part to keep hand warm was when I was gutting them!.
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roberto