Stories of hunting partners that quit

[wapitibob]

Never had a partner quit. Only had a few over the last 55 years and I've been blessed with darn good ones.

 

[Wallace]

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

A group of 4 us drove about 26 hours to freelance duck hunt 15 or so years ago, 1 vehicle. It was supposed to be a 10 + day trip. One of them had to fly home early, we knew ahead of time that we would be taking him to the airport, no harm in that. After we dropped him off (around day 5 or 6 of the trip), the two remaining guys got a little home sickness induced by their girlfriends after a couple days of slower hunting ... I got outvoted, we left 3 or 4 days early. I basically slept in the backseat of the truck the entire ride home, didn't talk much, I was hot. Haven't hunted with those two guys since, and one of them was my main hunting partner for waterfowl up to that point. The guy who flew home is still one of my best friends and we hunt together all the time.

Ironically, I was the only one married, and the only one with kids ... I was also the only one who wanted to stay.

 

[tyronebiggums33]

Went hog hunting with a friend from college who was on the heavier side. It was obvious the physical aspect of walking around for hours at a time was difficult for him, and the the food that the outfitter was making was fine but pretty simple (usually soup or stew), and they weren’t making enough for us to get third and fourth helpings. Anyways, second to last day comes, and my friend told me that he was going to drive to the nearest town to go to McDonalds and that it didn’t make sense for him to drive back, since it was the opposite direction. Oh well

 

[MuleyFever]

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!
View attachment 936888

WHAT?

 

[2ski]

I mean he as much told you why he quit. From what you told us it doesn't take rocket science to figure it out.

 

[Blowdowner]

I was spending about 10 days in the Adirondacks. Summer. 2 day hike in. There was a nice lean to shelter i think popular for snow mobile or atv guys allowed at certain times of year. Anyway, there was very little wood to scavenge. All branches broken off at snow level + 7 ft. So i went out and collected a barrel sized pile of small wood, used my only spare cordage (for replacement laces etc) to bundle it up. Looked like it could be enough for a week if we did mini fires just for cooking. Guy who organized the trip saw it and put the whole thing directly into the fire.

 

[ianpadron]

These stories make me thankful for the hunting partners I've got.

The two main ones are clinically insane and would live on a mountain for a month straight without a single ounce of frustration showing...shoot, I made the mistake of introducing them 2 years ago and now they're hunting in Idaho this year for 3 weeks without me LOL.

I have a buddy who now lives in MI that was a riot to hunt with as well, one of those fellas who is ALWAYS smiling. Last time we hunted together he drove through the night to meet us in MT from WA, proceeded to hunt the entire next day with nothing but an energy drink and a perfect bar. Also hunted together in WA one time when I was essentially dying of food poisoning and he had an infected wound on his hand that ultimately required a trip to the hospital, and we still had a blast the whole time, decided we weren't going to shoot anything but stayed out the whole time looking at bears and enjoying the fall weather our wives think we were separated at birth.

I honestly don't know how I'd handle a hunting partner flaking out that bad, insane that there are grown men like that

We all occasionally have or moments, but dipping like that is really wild.

 

[ianpadron]

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.

I met one of my best hunting buddies in the same way back in WA. He drew a tag and put up a "looking for a buddy" post on the old HuntWA forum. I knew the area well and figured it'd be a cool way to see the unit in November vs October. He shot a crusher buck, we had a great time, and have hunted the past 7 seasons together all over the West. Go figure.

 

[Pharmseller]

In 2006, my brother left the Oregon vs Oklahoma football game at Autzen Stadium early. The Ducks were down by 13 with 3:12 left in the game. The Ducks scored two touchdowns to go up 34-33.

Blair Phillips blocked the potential winning field goal as time expired right in front of our seats. I heard the ball hit his hand.

Leave hunting camp early? Never!

 

[ozyclint]

I honestly don't know how I'd handle a hunting partner flaking out that bad, insane that there are grown men like that

They're not grown men

 

[Blowdowner]

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

That's a tough situation. You should just invite him but each have a car.

 

[TheGrayRider]

Never hunted with a quitter but I have met some hard-working good friends and hunters here on Rokslide and other forums.

Long story short - had a person/former hunting guide lie to me about sending in his deposit on an unguided moose hunt in Unit 18 in Alaska. I didn’t want to loss the hunt so I put out a post on Rokslide looking for another hunter.

Scottf270 answered the post and we ended meeting up eventually at the Anchorage Airport flying out for the hunt. 2 bulls down in 4 days both well over 50 inches. Never ever quit!

Fun hunt and good times. Good luck and happy hunting to all, TheGrayRider a/k/a Tom.

 

[loganwayne]

That's a tough situation. You should just invite him but each have a car.

Na he will be fine. We've got a deer hunt and a tundra swan hunt planned both are 3 days

 

[Boarmaster]

You sign on for a ten day hunt with someone you stay ten days. If you don't want to hunt then stay at camp and contribute what you can to the overall effort. Frankly I wouldn't associate with anyone like that.
I have to say it is somewhat weird you had two guys that were having such a bad time they just up and left early on their own.

 

[nobody]

I agree that finding a good hunting partner is hard, and it’s even worse when they don’t know how bad they are. I had to be the “bailer” a few years ago, but not from a specific hunt. But at the end of season in 2022, I cut ties with the only hunting partner I’ve ever had outside of my family. It was a former coworker who, by all definitions, was a great dude to work with and be around. We got along great at the office and did some stuff outside work and got along so we decided to start hunting together in 2020. We had 3 successful years hunting together and went on some good trips, but I had a limit of about 3 days with him at a time. I had never met somebody so bent on just being a contrarian just for the sake of being a contrarian. If I wanted to glass, he wanted to still hunt where I was gonna glass. If I had new binos, he had newer ones that were better. I had a browning rifle at the time and he made it clear that his tikka was better. When I got a tikka down the road, his tikka was automatically better because he had paid less for it. The worst part was when he would ask for advice or an opinion on a tactic or piece of gear, to which I would provide an answer, and he would then take the opportunity to explain why my answer was wrong and how he had already decided to do this other thing instead. Everything with him was a you-know-what measuring contest, and his opinion was always the correct route, no matter what. After 3 years, culminating in an excruciatingly cold and miserable Colorado 3rd season tag, I decided I was done. My dad’s work situation had changed and he was hunting more, as were my brothers. So I cut ties with that guy and have only hunted with family since. Success rates have increased, frustration levels have decreased, and overall enjoyment of every tag and season since has been exponentially better.

Good hunting partners are hard to find, and putting up with a crappy one only leads to burnout.

 

[Weldor]

Wow, nothing as dramatic as these stories. We hunt Elk out of my cabin, so not much roughing it at all. But through the years most guys head out after day 3 or 4 of a 7 day season. I could never figure out what the thought process is, wait all year and then go home after a couple of days? I get there a week early and usually leave 3 to 5 days after, I love being up on the mountain. At 64 I could always use help packing out, but have made many trips alone. Just a lot of work for a old man LOL.

 

[Pochuck]

Have heard of guys quitting early on $50,000+ guided hunts; I couldn't imagine having that much money to blow on a hunt and wanting to leave the mountain

 

[Duckhunterbrad]

Man, I'm so glad the only reason my hunting buddy had to not go was for the birth of his son. I've heard some horror stories of people bailing early or just completely ignoring the physical aspect of a hunt and didn't prepare physically.

 

[EdP]

I never had a partner quit but saw it happen. Partner and I were at an outfitted elk camp in the Bald Mtns of Wy in 2016. Good comfortable camp, good outfitter (Terry Pollard). A guy and his son in law were 2 of the 6 hunters in camp. The guy got apprehensive, said he never should have come, and bailed on day 2 or 3. Left his rifle behind! We were at 8500 feet and hunting at 9000. Outfitter had seen folks get antsy from elevation before and tried to convince the guy to just go to the lower camp and hunt from there (his basecamp), but no dice, the guy split and flew home. SIL said it was the 2nd time this had happened with the guy (and would be the last).

 

[EdP]

The worst part was when he would ask for advice or an opinion on a tactic or piece of gear, to which I would provide an answer, and he would then take the opportunity to explain why my answer was wrong and how he had already decided to do this other thing instead.

People like that are called "askholes."