Stories of hunting partners that quit

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

WHAT?

Yup, I’m real careful now who I hunt with, usually ends up being just me.
I only agreed to hunt with you because your meme game is strong. Figure if we are dying, you could at least have a sense of humor about it

 

[S.Clancy]

I usually hunt with my brother or a select few individuals. I take a decent amount of people hunting their tags, so if they quit, it's annoying, but I don't really have a huge investment in it. Basically all of my out of state hunts are solo. If I am going to be hunting with someone on a hunt I also have a tag, I have a few rules:

1. We will not be reliant on the same vehicle. I have mine, they have theirs. If they want to leave, goodbye.
2. I am not reliant on gear they bring. I have the gear to self-support.
3. I have a 1 strike policy. If you quit, or some other abhorrent behavior, that is the last time I will hunt with you.

One recent near miss was a coworker and friend that drew a Mtn Goat tag in a wilderness unit here in MT. I am familiar with the unit and its challenges (remote-ness and high G-Unit populations). He asked me multiple times to go with, I refused. He ended up roping in another buddy and his horses. They packed in on a Saturday, supposedly coming out on that next Sunday (8 days). I saw his Teams light up Monday morning. I was stoked cause I thought he killed a goat. They bailed Sunday afternoon, about 30 hr in to the hunt.....

 

[mad_angler]

@Cliff Gray is a member here - see post #2 on this thread....

I know (and I think it is very funny that he is a "Lil Rokslider"). I still thought the video added more detail and would help guys plan on their buddies quitting...

 

[voltage]

I had a Wyoming deer hunt planned for 2022 with a buddy. Before the draw, he decided he couldn't go in 2022, but he could go in 2023.

I delayed the trip a year. 2022 winter happened. Once again, he couldn't go in 2023. I decided to go solo. Great hiking trip with very few deer seen. I am still mad that I didn't go in 2022.

 

[rclouse79]

I will start off by saying I don't hold this against my buddy at all, as my wife pretty much talked him into going on an elk hunt with me so I wouldn't be solo. He started out bright eyed and bushy tailed saying he was in for the entire hunt through Friday. After a couple days he said he might have to leave on Wednesday for work stuff. On Monday morning he told me if I shot something down in this hell hole, I was on my own. We listened to Monday Night Football in his car that evening and he overserved himself wine. I woke up in the morning to see a burgundy stain in the snow from projectile vomit out his car window. He left Tuesday morning and felt so crappy he had to stay in a hotel before he could drive the rest of the way home.
Nowadays, If I can't find someone who loves hunting as much as me, I would rather just go by myself.

 

[NVUplandHunter]

Lol, I didn't change my underpants for 1 week and 14 hours a couple weeks ago hunting elk in Colorado. I did rotate an extra pair of socks though.

dude rough! haha I hope you at least flipped them inside out halfway through

 

[ChrisA]

dude rough! haha I hope you at least flipped them inside out halfway through

In all fairness, I went through a 48 pack of Dude Wipes.

 

[Brushcreekbill]

Lol, I didn't change my underpants for 1 week and 14 hours a couple weeks ago hunting elk in Colorado. I did rotate an extra pair of socks

# underpants needed = weeks hunting X wind speed + number of beers consumed/2

 

[Pharmseller]

Lol, I didn't change my underpants for 1 week and 14 hours a couple weeks ago hunting elk in Colorado. I did rotate an extra pair of socks though.

Who wears underpants?

 

[txtransplant]

A lot of good examples why I don't carpool on any hunt more than a few hours from home.

Always bring your own vehicle 100%

 

[North of 60]

This happened to me as well. My favorite cousin wanted to go on an elk hunt with us and then left shortly after sleeping a few nights on the ground. He got ubered to the nearest airport and flew home.

Great guy, just not a hard core hunter.

 

[dirtshooter]

Damn I find it hard enough as is to find someone to hunt with period.

I probably would have gone with my buddy sheep hunting this year except our daughter was due early Sept and came late Aug

I have some out of shape buddies that want to hunt but our styles of hunting just are too different though one says he's getting in shape but I haven't seen him since he's working in another province.

The only person I can find that will hunt as hard as myself or harder is my buddy that took me sheep hunting last year.

Idk how people find hunting partners these days lol

 

[blacktail434]

Mentally able and physically able are two completely different things. Being physically in shape doesn’t prepare most guys for the mental solitude and ability to push through the uncomfortable suck of a lot of western hunts for more than a few days.

Choose your partners wisely if you can’t go solo…and if possible, drive separate rigs.

 

[Bears]

I quit on a friend on my first guided hunt about 10 years ago. I'm not much for roughing it, prefer a nice bed and a real good quality meal. Quasi-Expensive taste, if you will.

We did a 5 day spring turkey hunt in south Texas. There were a group of guys going, I didn't really know them well except one that invited me to join in. It wasn't cheap, I had no idea what to expect as it was my first major hunt trip. I had researched the website of the outfitter where we were staying, and it looked great, nice cabin with game room, jacuzzi, pretty decent place overall. In my mind it would be a "luxury resort" with days filled in the field hunting. The group got assigned to one lodge, and two of us went to another lodge. I rented a truck to drive us out there (3 hours) and when we pulled up to the address given my buddy said "Geez I sure hope this isn't it". It was a double wide trailer that looked like a meth making operation. The guide was waiting for us, we were at the right place, which turned out to be the alternate site as the main lodge was full. Great! My buddy remarked he'd stayed in worse, and that the quality of the hunt was the important metric. Since we already paid we were committed.

The first morning I shot my first turkey. The hunt was off to a good start. The ranch was beautiful. The guide was a good guy and knowledgeable. Day 1 went well. The provided meals were passable at best; I've had better food at a budget motel "buffet". Day 2 started off good, had a great hunt in the AM again and something with the provided lunch didn't set well with me. We went back out in the field and I was in major pain mid afternoon. Just sat out there and prayed for the time to pass so we could go back for the evening. I collapsed in the bed and by the time the next morning came I was confident a hospital visit was in the cards. My buddy went back out to hunt (I encouraged this) and I had no medicine, a throbbing head and quivering stomach and had to get something so I got in the truck and started driving. A couple hours later I was on the outskirts of Houston at an urgent care clinic where they diagnosed me with food poisoning and fever/chills. I ended up checking in a hotel nearby and called my buddy and gave him the news - said I'd come back out the next day to resume the hunt. Ended up feeling much better that evening, and drove back out the next day. My buddy hit his limit and I still had one to get, he urged me to get back out there and fill the tag but I declined, told him I couldn't spend another night at that dump eating that slop, and we ended up back in town where I paid for hotel rooms for both of us that last night and we flew out the next day.

The guys never held it against me and we did a few hunts since then, all well and very nice as expected. I always felt bad about leaving my buddy that day.

 

[Blowdowner]

I usually hunt with my brother or a select few individuals. I take a decent amount of people hunting their tags, so if they quit, it's annoying, but I don't really have a huge investment in it. Basically all of my out of state hunts are solo. If I am going to be hunting with someone on a hunt I also have a tag, I have a few rules:

1. We will not be reliant on the same vehicle. I have mine, they have theirs. If they want to leave, goodbye.
2. I am not reliant on gear they bring. I have the gear to self-support.
3. I have a 1 strike policy. If you quit, or some other abhorrent behavior, that is the last time I will hunt with you.

One recent near miss was a coworker and friend that drew a Mtn Goat tag in a wilderness unit here in MT. I am familiar with the unit and its challenges (remote-ness and high G-Unit populations). He asked me multiple times to go with, I refused. He ended up roping in another buddy and his horses. They packed in on a Saturday, supposedly coming out on that next Sunday (8 days). I saw his Teams light up Monday morning. I was stoked cause I thought he killed a goat. They bailed Sunday afternoon, about 30 hr in to the hunt.....

Why did they bail, especially with horses?

 

[Radford]

For those who have them, I’d like to hear them. I’ve had two hunting partners quit on me in the past two years. The first one was on a Wyoming cow elk hunt. No animals, he got discouraged and drove the three day drive back to Michigan, he was there for four days total. I killed one the next day about 300 yards from the truck. That one’s not that big of a deal but this next one, goodness.

So I’ve been planning a moose hunt for about three years and have had the air taxi booked for two. The original plan was for my dad, brother and I to go but since my brother is going through a custody battle, he had to stay back. Same reason he wasn’t in Wyoming with me the year prior. So I invited another buddy in his place who was super excited about it. Dropped 5k on a custom rifle for this specific hunt and bought a bunch of new hunting gear so he seemed pretty serious. Or so I thought.

We flew out of phoenix August 25th and got to our destination the 26th. We tried to fly out that evening but were weathered in a flew out the next morning. The first two places I chose to hunt were already take. So we had to bump to the third choice, which was still pretty good but I’m assuming this is where things started to fall apart for him.

On the way in I didn’t see any moose, animals, nothing but on his flight in he saw five big bulls. I think this bit of info is imported for later. So it obviously took two flights for all of us to get to camp and my dad and I set everything up by the time my buddy gets there. We get settled in and all agree it feels like we stepped into a painting. Absolutely beautiful place and I can’t wait to return. Then we start exploring the next day, find places to glass from and all the places we want to focus on. Season opens up the September 5th so we have plenty of time and start shooting and cooking up ptarmigan.

On about day four he starts mentioning that he’s having a hard time sleeping, seems a bit worried about all the grizzlies and the lack of moose. We haven’t seen any moose in our hunt area yet. Then he says something about how he’d rather be at his cabin in Montana. I sympathize with him and try to encourage him and keep glassing and hiking around. I eventually, on day five, glass up a cow high up in the alders so we’re finally on the board for moose. If the cows are here, the bulls will be. And I remind him of that to get his spirits up. Apparently that didn’t work lol.

The next day he mentions Montana again and how he only got one hour of sleep that night, and how if no animals are here on day five they won’t be on day ten. I tell him I’ll go glass and he can stay back and catch up on sleep. I get back up on the glassing knob and after a few hours I hear a plane coming down the valley. I think nothing of it and then get eyes on and see that it’s our pilots plane and that he’s on approach to land at our lake. I break down everything and start running back to camp wondering what’s going on. By the time I get there he has everything of his loaded up in the plane and is getting ready to leave! Has not told me a thing about him actually leaving, contacting the pilot, nothing! I’m in complete shock that this is happening. If I wouldn’t have come off the hill, I wouldn’t have even known he left until I got back to camp that night.

Anyways, I get down there and ask him to leave his food and the raft. He already left the raft (took the paddles though) and handed me the extra food. Says sorry man and then flys off. Im in disbelief. I’ve known this dude for almost two decades and he pulls this. Leaves me alone with my dad, who’s 65, in the wilds of Alaska to hunt moose with zero explanation. Still haven’t got one from him and I honestly don’t care to ask.

So after that nonsense I saw an absolute monster of a moose the next day. Which is kinda like what happened in Wyoming in terms of finding animals. Patients pays off. Fast forward to the 5th and I shoot one opening morning. This is when I needed him. I packed that moose out, for the most part, by myself. My dad helped as much as he could but he’s 65 and moose quarters aren’t light and we had to move that bull 1.25 miles to the river then up the river another 3.5 to camp. Took me four days total, if my buddy wouldn’t have quit on me it would have taken two. But great news! I didn’t lose any meat, had a good time with my dad, and love the grind of moose hunting.

So, who else has a story like this? Everyone I told this to at the lodge was shocked and had never heard anything like this happening. Yeah, people quit but they normally give you a heads up! So let’s hear it guys, what’s your craziest hunting partner quitting on you story?


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Maybe there were signs the past 20 years that your friend wouldn’t be up for that type of trip. In the end it sounds like he did you a favor. You got to form a great memory with your dad. Don’t invite anyone else, you know your dad is up for it. He’s your hunting partner.

 

[Radford]

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

I hope there is more reason to not speaking to your nephew than him bailing on a hunt with plenty of notice. Would be a dumb reason to cut family off.

 

[S.Clancy]

Why did they bail, especially with horses?

They had "reasons" but I honestly don't remember. I think one of them had to do with seeing grizzlies "close to camp" which, in that area is basically a guarantee.