Stories of hunting partners that quit

[YellCoAR]

This makes me want to pat my hunting buddy on the back and thank him. We have been on many trips together. From the North Slope death march, several back country WY hunts and couple New Mexico hunts. He has never quit me. We both hunt till the last minute or all tags are filled. It can all come together when things aren't going well if you just push a little harder.

 

[applesauce4000]

Geeze, these stories are mind blowing. Yikes.

 

[Jimmy]

Other than my brother I've never really had a good hunting buddy. And I'm no longer looking for one.

I kind of like going alone. It's the only time all year no one is talking my ear off.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

When I was younger, I often hunted alone. As I have gotten older (I'll be 84 next month), I don't do it as much. Last time was an antelope hunt 5 years ago. Too many things can happen. But I still like sitting by a fire alone, quietly in my thoughts sipping a little single malt. Good for the soul.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

One of my best buddies and I took a guy whitetail hunting in Missouri one year. He nearly begged us to take him. I showed him one of my spots to sit and instructed him to sit as long as he could. The second morning he kills a doe. I had to take off for another hunt so My buddy nearly processed the entire animal for him. They got it cut up and wrapped and frozen and for his effort the guy gave him one pack of steaks. We later come to find out his wife (a real bee-otch) threw all the meat away with the trash one day. He never even asked us to hunt again and I don't think he ever did.

 

[NVUplandHunter]

Other than my brother I've never really had a good hunting buddy. And I'm no longer looking for one.

I kind of like going alone. It's the only time all year no one is talking my ear off.

you're pretty lucky with that. My brother and i grew up hunting a few times a year with Dad. Dad worked a lot and didnt want to dedicate much time to hunting but we would go if we draw a party tag together and at least one bird hunting trip a year for a while.

I ask my little brother to go all the time and usually end up with an excuse to not go. There was one time he committed to going, set a meeting time for the gas station and we would be off. I was there early, got gas snacks and ice, had a buddy with me too. Called and texted me brother as our meeting time passed by. no answer and no text back and i finally told my buddy screw it lets go. hours later i get a text from my brother telling me he was sorry and his alarm didnt go off. later that night i noticed his girlfriend posted pictures of a party they had that night and he was up late and drunk so he didnt want to go anymore.

He always is wanting to quit and call the hunt early. my favorite is when we walked literally 1 mile to a spring and have him tell me hes hungry and wants to go home.

I wish i had my hunting partner as my brother but he is not one that i want to take often. You're one of the lucky ones along with the OP. I've yet to find the guy who is willing to do it the way i do and stick around until we are done.

 

[def90]

You guys got in to camp on the 27th and the season didn't even start until the 5th? You were there almost ten days before you could even pull a trigger?

 

[Elkhuntinfool78]

I've had a couple guys quite on me. A really good friend of mine that id known since a sophomore in high school. He wanted to get started backpack hunting so I said great as at the time I had no hunting partners to speak of, it had probably been 5 years or so since my dad could go and he was really the only solid partner I've ever had.

Anyways he gets to my house and a pretty crazy cold front had moved in the night before we're expecting to leave ,like -15 without the windchill. But he seems ok with it and I assure him we'll be fine, won't die, etc, and the elk hunting should be fantastic.

First night after we get to camp spot we spot a nice 6 point bull but not enough time to get to him before dark so we plan for my friend to get on him in the morning as I only have a deer tag, elk tag was already filled. We barely get back to camp and he starts whining and complaining about the cold. I figured he'd be fine get a fire and a hot meal and life is good. Lasted til about 3 in the morning when I hear him crawling out of his tent muttering something about this crazy ahole is gonna get me killed....lol so I get up ask if he's alright, nope he's going home right now or he's going to freeze to death . I helped him pack his shit right quick and he took off down the trail while it was still dark. Haven't been hunting with him since not even for a day trip.

Then my nephew bailed on me a couple years ago on an AK moose hunt but thankfully it was far enough in advance that I planned for it to be a solo affair. We haven't spoken since let alone hunted together anymore.

I find it's just so much easier and no drama to just hunt solo so that's what I do now

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I had one quit by hitting the SOS button and getting a heli ride out after a stalk he got dehydrated on…. Also didn’t tell me so I spent 6 hrs looking for him before I got notified. Found his pack and quiver, legit thought I was searching for a body at that point. Good times!

 

[Robster]

Finding a solid hunting partner is harder than finding a wife.

Have you tried finding a good single woman lately? I'm in my mid 50's, and they are rarer than hens teeth

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

I’m heading out this year on my own. Offered a few people the chance to come and no one took it. Dad had been my partner but he decided the mountains are too much for him. I’m thinking about finding a guided horse back hunt to get him out there one more time.

I think I’ll be able to handle hunting alone, but it’s my first western hunt alone so it will be a new experience.

 

[MallardSX2]

long story but I had a buddy quit on me the first day in Colorado back in 2016. The trip only got worse after he left. I wish I had never went hunting in Colorado that year. It was the last time I hunted with a group of guys.

No thanks.

I’ll just hunt with my wife and kid from now on. lol

 

[loganwayne]

Gotta find a hunting partner that has a badass wife who won’t be begging him to come home early the whole time!! Thats one of the biggest reasons I’ve seen/heard people quit!


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Ive got a buddy who ive been on a couple short hunts with. He isn't going with me bird hunting this year because his wife complains the whole time hes gone. Im not driving 20hrs on a 10 day trip for him to start trying to convince me to leave on day 3. Told him why he didn't get invited and he got a little pissy about it

 

[Mw01313]

I’m heading out this year on my own. Offered a few people the chance to come and no one took it. Dad had been my partner but he decided the mountains are too much for him. I’m thinking about finding a guided horse back hunt to get him out there one more time.

I think I’ll be able to handle hunting alone, but it’s my first western hunt alone so it will be a new experience.

I did my first solo trip last year. You will be a lot better than you think. It gave me a lot of time to work a few things out in my head. Of course I enjoy being alone anyway.

 

[jsb]

I went with a guy once who chain smoked Camel straights. Even bushwhacking up steep slopes, puff puff puff. He was tough in lots of ways, but when he ran out of cigs on day three I could sense the shift in attitude, and he started making excuses for why we should bail. The next day he said he was heading out and, given the circumstances of where we were, I didn't have much choice but to go with him. Needless to say we never did another backcountry hunt again. If we did I probably would have brought a few extra packs for him lol.

 

[BCDJR]

Was hunting Alaska and a guy from South America was in camp. First big game hunt and he had purchased two new rifles and all new gear. Booked 21 day hunt for Dall sheep, Moose, Caribou and Grizzly. Got home sick and flew home after 9 days.

 

[eaglemountainman]

I used to do all my western hunts with my dad and gramps. None of us ever ditched on a hunt with each other. They were 2 of the best partners a guy could ever ask for. They set the bar pretty high, because now that they're both gone, I hunt out there solo, just to avoid the kind of crap that I'm reading about here. I can enjoy myself and hunt how, where and when I want. I dont have the pressure of trying to play cruise director and keeping a whining partner's morale up.
Hunting deer back in the NE is different. That's an old traditional club/camp with 8 or so guys that have been together almost 40 yrs now, where the commeradery is as important as the actual hunting. I'd miss that if it ever went away.

 

[ODB]

I took a guy bowhunting in Washington once, we were supposed to be in the woods for four days. On the morning of day 2 it began to sprinkle a bit and the guy kinda freaked out and stated worrying about what would happened if it rained too much, that there might be a landslide and we might get stuck in the canyon. Then he said his wife told him before we left (this was way before modern comms) the coming rain might be heavy. Lawd have mercy I essentially had no choice but pack up and walk him out (I had driven) and get him home. That was the last time we hunted together.

I knew a guy (about as much as I know a lot of you) from another website. We both live in Idaho. We had bought stuff from one another over the years so he had my phone number. He called me absolutely out of the blue one day and told me he had drawn a once-in-a lifetime moose tag and his hunting partner bagged out and would I be interested in going? I thought about it for about 30 minutes and called him back and said, "Sure." I took a bunch of days off work and the first time I ever met him in person was at camp on the other side of Idaho. Filled his tag on day 3. That was a fun trip.

 

[displacedtexan]

Gotta find a hunting partner that has a badass wife who won’t be begging him to come home early the whole time!! Thats one of the biggest reasons I’ve seen/heard people quit!


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This year we tagged out opening morning.

Both wives knew we weren't coming home early.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

My bro in law quit hunting…for life. Nothing as dramatic as the previous stories, but quit nonetheless. He shacked up with a gal and that was that. He even sold me his nice new 300 WM with a Nightforce nx8 for a damn good price as he decided to be done done.

I can move faster without him anyway…