Do You Hunt Alone Or With A Buddy?

[Mossyhorns]

Everybody likes their time alone in the timbers.But i got wondering how you guys/gals would rather hunt,with a buddy or as a loner.Many years ago as i look back.I always hunted (Deer)with a buddy or two.I liked the companionship and enjoyed being in the outdoors with them.

As i was reflecting back to real time here.It seems i spend 80% of the time deer hunting as a loner now.I still have 2 real good and serious bow hunting buddies.But don't hunt togather as often as i once had in the past.For one i feel more confident about stealthiness,scent controll.The deer are less pressured.

And by hunting alone for the most part.I get to time and pattern the deer movements in other parts of the timber.So when i do hunt with a buddy i can set him up on a hot trail.

How about you??

[Myk]

Bowhunting I do alone. If my friend wants to go I give up all hope of getting anything. There's too much that one person can screw up let alone two.

Me and another friend have been meaning to go to the same place at the same time, but it's hardly together because we will be far apart while hunting.

Shotgun I'm always hunting with other people unless I kill out last.

[tcoop]

Hi Mossyhorns,

I do 90% of my bow hunting alone for all of the reasons you mentioned.

Shotgun deer hunting I do in a group 1st season, and alone 2nd. 2 totally different styles of hunting.

Most all other hunting, small game, fur, predator, upland game, I do with a few buddies. Usually the same to for most, and occoasionally a few others thown in for fun.

tcoop

[DickPal]

I like to hunt alone and it has cost me a friendship of over 30 years. In high school I hung around with a guy and we hunted and fished together throughout the years. I got more into hunting and he got more into stock car racing, :(sleep and ball sports. :ball I got more into getting away and harvesting animals, :) and he got into the camaraderie. :D I moved up north for the life style and to hunt and fish, he stayed in the city. We only saw each other for deer hunting. There were times when his lack of practice and preparation drove me nuts. [cont] (A whole new topic) Two years ago it came to a head and I said I wanted to hunt alone, and that was that. (A long story short)
The only big game I hunt are deer and bear but the effort to find and set up for those animals is substantial, and I prefer to do it alone, actual time hunting I am alone, sounds lonely but it is not!

[Tifford]

Small game........I prefer a buddy who can shoot and can walk and not talk. Those are rare.

chasing down flushed birds or rabbits is easier with two. Can cover more ground and so it is easier to flush them in the first place.






Big game.......Alone.......the benefits

1) I can hunt as long as I want
2) I can change tactics without making anyone mad
3) I can keep up with myself if I have to
4) I can keep silent much better by myself
5) The meat is all mine
6) Don't have to worry about the other guy
7) If I need to I can take a nap and blame myself if a 16 pointer walks by while I'm dozing

For one year I went hunting with guys from work. As far as I know that group still goes and they still have nothing to show for it after all these years. They do a good job of running the deer for the guys who stand still.

Tifford

[Myk]

Good plan, Tifford. Another problem with big game hunting with a buddy is who shoots what/who gets what.
I do hunt shotgun with a group because the land is so small that spreading out wouldn't be very safe. One year my friend shot a deer and swore he hit it because it laid down a few steps later. I could see in my scope that it wasn't dead and then it started getting up. He finally shot again and his gun jammed. So before it got away I shot at it. When we got it, it only had one hole in it. Instead of doing the autopsy before checking it in he checked it and then gutted it (I think this was because he knew who shot it).

Now we suddenly had a new rule that whoever sees the deer gets the deer.
I'm willing to put a helping shot into someone else's deer. But when that "helping" shot is the only shot I think the person who killed it is the one who should get it.
I'm willing to pass on a trophy that I saw first and let my friend take since I'm after meat and he's after heads.
I'm willing to call in deer that either of us see.
But the new rule of "whoever sees it gets it" did put a little bit of strife in the situation. And that rule has been suggested to be bent for his kids.
As it is I'm a little leery anymore of putting a helping $2 shot into a deer that anyone else in the group has shot at.

[Huntress]

Good question Mossyhorns! This has really got me thinking about some hunts I have planned for this fall.
Being in camp with people you enjoy can be the best part of a hunt, but spending a week with whiners who don’t lift a finger to help can ruin a good time for everyone else.

Myk also has a good point. Who gets what? I’m planning an archery moose hunt for this fall–four hunters, 2 bull tags and 2 cow tags. Group hunting is allowed, but it seems like someone always feels like they got the short end of the stick if they’re not carrying a bull tag. To make it worse one guy can’t go, so now I’m down to three. How do we choose who gets the cow tag?? Draw straws? Arm wrestle?(I’ll lose for sure!!) I hope I can find one more guy to go to even things out. (If you know someone that might be interested let me know.)

I guess I prefer to be in the woods alone but don’t like coming back to an empty camp. Who do you share your experiences of the day with (good or bad) if there’s nobody around? My dog doesn’t much care if I shot the big 12 pointer, saw two bear cubs fighting over an old scrap of deer hide or found a great new place to set some traps.

[Mossyhorns]

Tifford that brings back some old memories.Who shot it and who gets what.

15 or so years back my younger brother and myself,were shotgun hunting about 100 yds apart.He was sitting in a stand on top of a ridge.I was in the bottoms on the same trail.I could see a buck on the side of the ridge just below my brothers stand.Eventually the buck made his way to the top of the ridge.And he took the shot.Then i seen the deer come barreling down the ridge on the trail headed in my direction.Before i lost sight of the deer in the thicker foliage.What seem like 30 minutes was probobly 10 went i spotted on the trail 30 yds out,still comeing my way.I could see that a front leg was barely attached to the buck.But could'nt see a hole in the chest area.So i let the deer get directly below me.Put the sights on the back of it's neck.And drove him to the ground.
Once we both had gathered around the animal.It was obvious that he had only hit the leg.And i could see the look of disgust on his face.Having blown the shot of his first buck.So i told him i just shot it to stop it in it's tracks.So we didnt have to blood trail it so far.And that it would have die later.He didn't know the differance and didn't question it.

But then theres the Pheasant hunts,where two of us shoot.I being the second shot.But only after knowing the bird isn't going down or was missed.And yet have to argue who's bird it is.

[tcoop]

I have hunted with a group of guys for the shotgun deer season. We have had several instances of who shot the deer. Usually it is no problem, we all get along. However, several years ago we ran into a situation where one of my cousins saw one of the guys who was new to our group shoot a deer that was already down and claim it.

Needless to say, that guy still doesn't hunt with us any more.

tcoop

[Myk]

Pheasant hunting can be funny. There's been many times were we turn to each other and ask who shot it. Before I adjusted the comb on my shotgun my answer was that if it was shot in the feet it was my shot.

But we usually split up small game anyway or one is too busy to clean anything so it all gets given to the others. It's basically deciding on who gets to lug around the birds the rest of the day.

[Tifford]

If my good buddy Dale goes with me then the unwritten rule with birds is who ever pulls the trigger first on a bird that's going down.

We were walking side by side down this old cow trail when a partrige flushed up in a tree.

I pulled the trigger then he pulled the trigger then I pulled mine twice more. No way to tell who hit what. All of this happened in less than a second. He said "you shot first, you must have hit him, he's yours". That particular bird didn't have a chance with a couple of trigger happy country boys. Even though that bird had more than a few pellets in him it was something that Dale always did. I let him walk first for the rest of the hunt.

Tifford