Building a Crew

[mooretitan]

Just wondering how everyone came into their group of hunting partners. For me its been basically my dad and grandpa. Now that my kids are starting to roam the mountains they will start to join. But with anything age does catch up to you. Grandpa has now passed and the hunts we had were great. Dad is getting older and probably only has a few more big hunts in him. Still loves to go but we both know time is not on our side. Hopefully we can get him is big buck and bull sometime in the next few years. Other than that I am on no mans land as far as other guys my age. I look at some of these hunts people are going on and wonder how in the heck did they get a group of like minded hunting partners. I am entering my 40's and man it would be nice to have someone split the driving, BS a little with and get excited about gear and scouting. I am blessed that my kids love it or it would be a lonely place out there. So for those who have a group to hunt with be thankful they arent easy to find.

 

[WCB]

Grew up in an area (MN) where it is just what most people did (hunt and fish) went to college at a small school where it was the norm and generally just was always around people that did it. 2 main guys I hunt with I played college hockey with and lived with there. Another that is just getting back into it I grew up with since 5th grade. Family and family friends are overwhelmingly hunters (not just weekend warriors). I also have a couple guys that I have or currently work with that are hunting "partners" now.

If you don't already...go to some local conservation banquets and just talk to people. Join a gun club or something where you would be around like minded people. Also, a solid guy is a solid guy, don't worry about age. You may run into a 25 year old solid dude with the same goals and interest.

 

[justinspicher]

Mine are guys I either served with in the military or worked with in the forest service.

 

[toughluck]

Growing up it was my Dad, uncles, and cousins at deer camps here in Tennessee. I have an annual deer camp with some friends but other than that I'm mostly solo.

 

[Squamch]

One has been my best friend since 6th grade. We became friends because I pulled out a hunting magazine.
One I've known since soccer when I was 4.
One I've been friends with since 7th grade. He once told me that he heard me tell the teacher I would be away for the next week, because my dad and I were going hunting, and thought "That's so cool, I wish my dad did stuff like that with me!"
And the last one I met through riding dirtbikes about 12 years ago.


And...I spend 90% of my time hunting alone. Only 1 of the guys likes to hike like I do. We share camps, but don't spend much time actually hunting together.

 

[5MilesBack]

I never really was looking for a group. But now that I'm getting older and the knees are fading rapidly, I feel it's time to start transitioning more into some sort of group with a more active camp life. Either way I'm going to be in the mountains in September. I might even start inviting my wife to tag along.

 

[Northernpiker]

There's a group of about 100 in Meagher County, Montana that will probably invite anyone to hunt with them!!!

 

[mooretitan]

biggest things I run into
The actual passion to hunt. Seems like most people just like to talk about it.
Good people that you trust being around
People who aren’t afraid of the hard work involved

crazy to think something that is so much fun to me is no interest to others

 

[BroodBuster]

A steelhead river when my Brittany met a Springer.

After a couple of fishing trips I was invited to bring my pup out to their elk camp for some grouse hunting. The idea was they send me out in the truck and report back any elk sightings.

So about an hour after I roll into this archery camp my pup strolls into the tent and crawls into an open duffel bag full of camo clothing for a nap. All I knew about archery hunting at that time was that archery guys are super wiggy about scent control so I am thinking, “damn dog. I’ll never get invited back now .”

When instead they all stood around pointing and laughing I knew I had found a good crew I could hang with.

 

[roosiebull]

i have a couple people i regularly hunt with, they are brothers. i went to school with the older brother, and we fished a lot through school.... he slowly gained interest in hunting, as well as the younger brother, and not the older brother takes hunting seriously and works hard at it.... they aren't afraid of the work involved, good people, and easy to be around.

i still hunt 90% solo, not because there aren't good people around to hunt with, i just like the solitude and absolute focus of going solo. i think that was started by the difficulty of finding the right people to hunt with, but turned into my preference.

i'm the first hunter/fisherman in my family as far back as i know about, and never had any mentors, over the years i pieced things together at my pace. the guys i used to hunt with when i was younger hunted for action, at some point i realized that wasn't the way to kill stuff, so i broke off and started hunting alone.... and started filling my tags.

i still enjoy hunting with others, especially some people, but i normally hunt alone until my tags are filled, then go help friends and family after that.... it's my "unwind" time of the year, and will likely stay that way until i cannot get game off the mountain by myself anymore.

the brothers i do hunt with these days are always willing to help pack meat if they can, and of course the same is true for me. i have a couple good hunting buddies, just not the traditional type. being in the woods alone is an important aspect of my annual sanity.... the downsides to being alone are outweighed by introvert personality.

really good hunting partners are almost like a significant other, they are rare and hard to come by.... if you're looking for one and find one, you better appreciate it and not lose it, because there aren't many around

 

[seldomseensmith]

Be careful who you crew with. They don't have to be bad people to ruin things. Just different goals so to speak.

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

 

[Poser]

Unless they have an extensive resume and you really seem to hit it off, don’t just jump in to a multi day trip with someone unproven. Ultimately, you should both have some similar interests and hobbies outside of hunting that you can connect over: gym/training, peak bagging, Mtn biking, snowboarding, whiskey, music, scouting, shooting, backpacking .... you should enjoy hanging out together and be friends on some levels beyond convenience because you are going to spend a lot of time together on a hunting trip. If you can connect and solidify a reliable partnership outside of hunting with some less committing hobbies and interests, I think it goes better.

 

[Bubblehide]

I had the perfect hunting partner with the same mindset as myself. We made a lot hunts together, until he started having hip problems. Come to find out on one side he had only about 1/2 the bone left. We still stay in touch, but unfortunately no longer hunt together. Since then years have passed along with as many or more people I tried to bring in as hunting partners. A couple stuck around for a couple years or 3, others never expressed any interest in coming back. My hunts are physically demanding along with sleep depriving, to muchso for many. So I currently find myself hunting alone. Except for this year. This year, I seem to be involuntarily sitting the season out; due to medical issues. My next procedure is the taking or a bone marrow sample to be analyzed (anybody know of any legal bucks tied to trees next to a road, dirt or not?). But, there is always next year, I hope. Finding good hunting partners sucks, as does getting old.

 

[mooretitan]

Bubblehide I hope your medical issues turn out for the better. I know I have enjoyed your stories from different sites you are on. Seems like we run in the same areas. You have turned out some very nice animals and seem very helpful to others.
I know the way I hunt is not many peoples cup of tea. Long drives, long hikes, low number of animals, hot and dry. But I always seem to get it done and my kids now are pretty much step for step with me and I enjoy the heck out of them. I dont need or really want someone to hunt side by side with just some one to share a hike, drive and a camp fire.
I usually watch a hunting show as I make dinner and it amazes me to see so many guys out together having a good time.
Anyways good luck with everything buddlehide

 

[ShakeDown]

I never really was looking for a group. But now that I'm getting older and the knees are fading rapidly, I feel it's time to start transitioning more into some sort of group with a more active camp life. Either way I'm going to be in the mountains in September. I might even start inviting my wife to tag along.

I usually hunt with my brothers or solo but this year my wife came with me for a long weekend in September for the first time. It was pretty neat seeing her terror/excitement when a bull came in ready to fight.

Now she wants a bow...

 

[Bubblehide]

mooretitan, thanks! I am no longer on that other site, as I criticized the owner for not providing any moderation unless enough whining is done, along with pointing out that he has publicly stated such on his own site. I guess that was more than he could take, and he banned me. Granted, he did me a favor, as his actions have run that site into the ground making it useless for all the users. But I do love being here.

I do not want to turn this thread into being about me. So from here I will keep it short. I would share a campfire with you anytime.

Best of luck to you, your dad, and your boys!

 

[butcherboy]

Im in the same boat as the OP. Used to hunt a lot my dad and brother but things have changed. Have a friend that I thought was a good friend until he bailed on me at the last moment. His wife wouldn’t let him go. Still friends but will probably never hunt together. Two of my three kids are now to the point of being excited to go and asking to go so they will be my hunting buddies for the quick trips and I’ll be solo for those long grueling hunts.

 

[Blackstorm]

Depends on the type of hunting but almost all of my groups revolve around my dogs. My family was big into whitetail hunting here in NY but they were not real serious about it but they had a lot of fun going to camp. I got a quality pup when I got married and I have been training and competing with retrievers for over 35 yrs. My duck group started when they needed a dog and I was invited to tag along ( always in the middle blind spot). this group has grown and changed over the years and we travel to different locales and states to hunt. One of my dog training partners got the bright idea to hunt pheasants out west we started in Kansas which was bad, but landed in S Dakota which is the Mecca for Pheasants and ducks, I ended up buying the camp last year. My pheasant camp has guys from all over the country attending and that network is huge now, allowing me to have hunted with over 50 guys. I have hunted on swap hunts with guys from Alabama and Canada doing quail and waterfowl. One of the guys that hunted SoDak wanted to do some more western hunting so this year a group of 6 of us are doing Elk in the 4th season. My deer group is a few guys who hunt ducks, and the rest were work acquittances or social friends

 

[HighUintas]

I need a hunting partner out here in Utah. My crew is back home in Illinois

 

[Pflum]

Wasn't long after highschool all of my buddies pretty much gave up bowhunting, they might go out a couple times in rifle season but definitely don't have the drive to hunt that I do. Same as some other comments on here, my Dad and a friend of his are the only guys I know that hunt like I do. As someone else mentioned, time isn't on our side. Dad is 61 and in decent shape but reality is we are on the down hill slope as far as hunting together. I have no doubt he will keep his desire as long as his physical ability holds out.

I invite guys my age to hunt with me all the time, can't remember the last time someone has taken me up on it, been years.

On a bright note, I have a 2 year old daughter and a baby boy on the way, really looking forward to making memories like my Dad and I have, if they are interested.