Setting up a 4 person hunt with 3 Newbs, what would you suggest???

[Deucebump]

For the record, I hate groups of more than 2 myself. And I am a solo hunter most of the time. (Leaving Saturday for MT to solo hunt mulies.) But I have a love for introducing new people to the mountain. And Im to the point in life where I dont care if I have a tag to fill anymore and Im happy to just guide willing newbies. And in a selfish way, I would rather not have a tag with a group this size, so my personal success wont be changed by somebody elses actions.

And I will do my best to keep this thread updated and recap. Even though its a year away, and Im sure there will be long gaps with no updates. Lol, now I feel like the whole Rokslide community is challenging me to see if I can make this happen and be successful!

 

[Deucebump]

I have already hunted with all of these guys before. 2 of them are probably 2 of my best friends and we have spent a ton of time together and know each other really well. The 3rd, I have hunted with some, but havnt known that long or that well, but I worry less about him than my closest friend of the 3…

 

[digger]

Have you thought about a golf trip?

 

[Deucebump]

I like golf about as much as I like paying taxes….

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I have already hunted with all of these guys before. 2 of them are probably 2 of my best friends and we have spent a ton of time together and know each other really well. The 3rd, I have hunted with some, but havnt known that long or that well, but I worry less about him than my closest friend of the 3…

I hear you. My late brother loved hunting birds, but if we had been able to go out west hunting together it would’ve been difficult to find a hunt that worked for both of us. He would’ve had completely different requirements/expectations around the level of effort, comfort, and intensity.

That being said he was the first one to kill an elk in the family.

 

[Rifleman86]

BTDT on a backpack elk hunt. Myself and my regular partner and two newbs.

First two guys we invited weaseled out when they realized the costs involved.

The next two guys were a disaster.

One guy in particular…

Completely ignored my packing list, essentially showing up with all his whitetail shit in a ruck and called it good, and literally brought a COW HIDE for a sleep system. In Montana. In late October.

He then later almost burnt down my tipi and around 3k worth of my gear by trying to start a fire in the stove with camp fuel, which I warned him not to do.

When I told him about the elk me and my regular hunting partner saw when we were trying to fill our deer tags (we had already filled our elk tags) he suggested that we should’ve shot one of them and just used his tag. Essentially he suggested we poach elk because he was too lazy or hung over to go hunting.

The other dude wasn’t much better, claimed to be a big time backpacker but wanted to spend all his time in a hotel back in town after the packout began. We were good friends but he has a very “know it all” personality… Needless to say we butted heads and the relationship hasn’t been the same since.

Bottom line finding a good western hunting partner is like finding a good wife. A guy might be great to drink beer with but shit gets real on the mountain.

I have one Elk hunting buddy. I’m lucky to have that, and I’m not really looking for any more.

ETA Bottom line, Antelope. Have a good wall tent so the newbs can hang out and drink beer while you hunt. Otherwise leave the baggage at home.

 

[GotDraw?]

My brother and I had a former Special Forces guy crumble and bail 2 days in.
His wife played matrimonial head games with him about the trip and he just broke.

You just never know who is made of grit and sterner stuff and who will crumble.

JL

 

[Fullfan]

Umm take them golfing. Be lot less headaches

 

[MallardSX2]

No. freaking. way.

 

[HeavyAssault]

Sounds like Henway might be in season. So it would be a good time.

 

[ReaptheHeat]

Do a truck based hunt... Backpacking in the west as a beginner can be stressful for first timers. Add hunting to that - hunting gear, long days, etc and it's a recipe for disaster.

I can elaborate to that, but really 95% of people have no idea what they are getting into when they want to backpack hunt like the YouTube influencers.

 

[hunt1up]

I've now done a pretty good amount of group hunts with new people. Never backpack, but always camping with various levels of comfort ranging from wall tent to tipi and mountain house meals. What I've come to conclude is that I plan pretty much everything. I bring all the camp, we always drive my truck, I plan the meals, I've bought the cooking gear, I bring the side-by-side if we need one. Now some of this is because I'm probably a little OCD and if I don't do the planning no one will. So I fully accept that that's my fault. It gets old though.

I've done two WY general archery hunts with 4 guys on a group app. I won't do that again. Having 4 different hunting styles and different levels of experience just isn't a recipe for success. We've managed to get into some elk and kill a few, but going in with 4 tags pretty much ensures more than one guy will be going home empty handed.

If I had a dollar for every friend or acquaintance that told me they wanted to go on some hunting trips I'd have, oh, probably $50. My reply is always, "You need to start buying preference points." Once people hear that and I explain how it works they generally lose interest and pretty much no one goes and gets those points. Then the following year they'll tell me again how they'd love to go kill a mule deer or something. A word to the wise is sufficient. Now I'll explain it only once to someone. If people don't want to take the initiative to buy points or do a little research themselves then I'm out.

To the OP, I appreciate your desire to help guys and be with friends in new places. If you're able to tolerate the differences in people and understand that you'll be pulling most of the weight, then have at it.

 

[Maverick1]

My Sept hunt with 4 newbies who had never backpacked before was totally awesome. All followed my gear recommendations (for the most part) and all showed up in shape and willing to hunt their asses off. I was pleasantly surprised and please. So I know it is possible!

Should have bought yourself a lottery ticket then! The odds of lighting striking twice, and you catching it in a bottle?

 

[bozeman]

Dont........

 

[Deucebump]

I've now done a pretty good amount of group hunts with new people. Never backpack, but always camping with various levels of comfort ranging from wall tent to tipi and mountain house meals. What I've come to conclude is that I plan pretty much everything. I bring all the camp, we always drive my truck, I plan the meals, I've bought the cooking gear, I bring the side-by-side if we need one. Now some of this is because I'm probably a little OCD and if I don't do the planning no one will. So I fully accept that that's my fault. It gets old though.

…….

To the OP, I appreciate your desire to help guys and be with friends in new places. If you're able to tolerate the differences in people and understand that you'll be pulling most of the weight, then have at it.

Im surprised this thread has popped back up, I guess Im glad and yet a little dissappointed.

Hunt1, I am a lot like you in the OCD area, and I know full well going into this I will be doin 99% of planning and providing, Im ok with that. And I know filling 4 tags on any hunt like this is nearly impossible, so I more than likely wont be getting a tag.

I guess what kinda bums me out about this thread is the overwhelming negativity about the thoughts of this hunt. I know Rokslide is and always has been a tough crowd, and I know there is a million ways this could become a disaster, hell, friendships could be lost. But we ALL had to start somewhere, somebody took a chance on all of us at some point. And I will forever be greatful to my friend that took a chance on me.

Do I expect all 3 of these guys to come out of this stoked to do it again? Na, maybe 1, maybe 2… Ill continue to keep up with this post as the year goes on. I would love to be able prove all the nay sayers wrong this fall…even if the odds are stacked way against me!

 

[hunt1up]

Im surprised this thread has popped back up, I guess Im glad and yet a little dissappointed.

Hunt1, I am a lot like you in the OCD area, and I know full well going into this I will be doin 99% of planning and providing, Im ok with that. And I know filling 4 tags on any hunt like this is nearly impossible, so I more than likely wont be getting a tag.

I guess what kinda bums me out about this thread is the overwhelming negativity about the thoughts of this hunt. I know Rokslide is and always has been a tough crowd, and I know there is a million ways this could become a disaster, hell, friendships could be lost. But we ALL had to start somewhere, somebody took a chance on all of us at some point. And I will forever be greatful to my friend that took a chance on me.

Do I expect all 3 of these guys to come out of this stoked to do it again? Na, maybe 1, maybe 2… Ill continue to keep up with this post as the year goes on. I would love to be able prove all the nay sayers wrong this fall…even if the odds are stacked way against me!

I don't think people here are being overly negative because we're all just cynical a-holes. It's simply coming from past experience and unfortunately many of those experiences are negative in these situations.

I'd say your coming at this from a good place. So long as you have certain expectations set and understand that it might not go as planned then the whole thing will be fine.

 

[WCB]

Im surprised this thread has popped back up, I guess Im glad and yet a little dissappointed.

Hunt1, I am a lot like you in the OCD area, and I know full well going into this I will be doin 99% of planning and providing, Im ok with that. And I know filling 4 tags on any hunt like this is nearly impossible, so I more than likely wont be getting a tag.

I guess what kinda bums me out about this thread is the overwhelming negativity about the thoughts of this hunt. I know Rokslide is and always has been a tough crowd, and I know there is a million ways this could become a disaster, hell, friendships could be lost. But we ALL had to start somewhere, somebody took a chance on all of us at some point. And I will forever be greatful to my friend that took a chance on me.

Do I expect all 3 of these guys to come out of this stoked to do it again? Na, maybe 1, maybe 2… Ill continue to keep up with this post as the year goes on. I would love to be able prove all the nay sayers wrong this fall…even if the odds are stacked way against me!

The sticking point here isn't that you want to introduce a new guy....its that you are trying to do it with 3 guys. Very experienced "eastern hunter" means jack squat in the mountains. I guided some very experienced eastern hunters and guys that have hunted around the world, many is great shape, safe with a firearm, and pretty much a hoy to be around. Not sure there was even 1 of those guys I would backpack into the mountains with.

 

[bsnedeker]

But we ALL had to start somewhere, somebody took a chance on all of us at some point. And I will forever be greatful to my friend that took a chance on me.

Do I expect all 3 of these guys to come out of this stoked to do it again? Na, maybe 1, maybe 2… Ill continue to keep up with this post as the year goes on. I would love to be able prove all the nay sayers wrong this fall…even if the odds are stacked way against me!

I can't speak for anyone else, but nobody "took a chance" on me. I wanted to get into Western hunting so I got into Western hunting. My first trip out west was 100% on me. Once I was fully into it I started to hang out with a couple of dudes who share similar hunting styles to me (not 100% compatible, but in the same ballpark as me) and we hunt together occasionally, but I still end up hunting by myself 90% of the time. My time spent in the woods is sacred to me and I won't risk wasting it with guys who aren't motivated enough to get out by themselves. I won't even hunt with my dad anymore after a couple of incidents over the last couple of seasons.



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[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

Honestly, it depends on the personality of the people you want to take. How does the group dynamic work? Do they enjoy being outside all day then sleeping in a tent?

The first western hunt I went on was 4 first time western hunters. We packed in 5 miles into the roughest terrain I had ever been in and killed a cow on day 4. We hunted the last day then packed out over the next day. We had a blast and nobody cried uncle.

If you're concerned about people not being prepared meet early and often and have benchmarks you hold one another accountable to. Have your boots and pack by this date or you're dropped. Sleep system by this date or you're dropped. "We go on a hike and to the shooting range on this date. If someone isn't performing or able to keep up you get dropped."

It's not as if you're walking into combat. Give them a realistic view of what it will be like and make sure they know what it's like to sleep in a tent for 7 or 8 days without a shower.

 

[Wyomuleskinner]

just don't feed them egg McMuffins or they will all leave and go home