Stories of hunting partners that quit

[jamie_wil]

lots a softies out there

 

[Tilzbow]

Had a guy leave on the morning of day 2 or 3 of a Desert Bighorn hunt I’d drawn a tag for in my home state of NV. I’d hired an outfitter and he asked to accompany me. I was driving the guides SxS to our morning hunt area, he was riding. The SxS caught on fire (small fire under the seat), the fire was quickly extinguished and before we could get our gear loaded into another guide’s SxS he’d put on his pack, headed back to camp and when the group returned to camp from the days hunt he’d pack his gear and driven his own vehicle home south of Vegas to Reno (500 miles). I guess the little fire shook him up but we never discussed why he left, I never asked a rarely talked to him afterwards. I’d only known him a few years at the time but he seemed pretty hardcore when I first met him (he’d killed a Stone and Dall with a bow, along with several other real good animals and finished the Western States 100 in under 24 hours multiple times). We didn’t hunt together after that.

 

[RockAndSage]

Had a guy leave on the morning of day 2 or 3 of a Desert Bighorn hunt I’d drawn a tag for in my home state of NV. I’d hired an outfitter and he asked to accompany me. I was driving the guides SxS to our morning hunt area, he was riding. The SxS caught on fire (small fire under the seat), the fire was quickly extinguished and before we could get our gear loaded into another guide’s SxS he’d put on his pack, headed back to camp and when the group returned to camp from the days hunt he’d pack his gear and driven his own vehicle home south of Vegas to Reno (500 miles). I guess the little fire shook him up but we never discussed why he left, I never asked a rarely talked to him afterwards. I’d only known him a few years at the time but he seemed pretty hardcore when I first met him (he’d killed a Stone and Dall with a bow, along with several other real good animals and finished the Western States 100 in under 24 hours multiple times). We didn’t hunt together after that.

Man, that's a weird one, with him already having proven himself on tough hunts. And the quitting almost always seems to be what people have going on between their ears, not actual physical hardship.

 

[3gunyotehtr]

Years back my pastor wanted to go mule deer hunting with me, shot one a ways back in some rough country. By the time we got it packed to a two track that I could drive on, it was after dark, and he was too tired and sore to keep hiking so I told him to wait there and I would get the pickup and meet him there. I still had a few miles to hike, and when I made it back to camp discovered that he had panicked being left alone and had called search and rescue, thought that I was taking too long to get back. They were just getting ready to head out. Since then I have absolutely no desire to hunt with anyone besides my daughter.