Why you dont hunt with some people anymore

[CorbLand]

Hunting partner shot a black beef bull on NF while hunting black bear....shot him in the rear.

Then he wanted to just end the hunt and leave without tracking down the owner...

I was able to track down the owner who basically made him pay for it with a check...then he wanted me to pay for half because if he was solo he would have just left.

He paid but yeah I am not hunting with him again.

Dont know how far back in you were but if I did that and knew I was going to be paying the rancher for his cow, I would have at least packed the backstraps and tenderloins out.

 

[JakeSCH]

Dont know how far back in you were but if I did that and knew I was going to be paying the rancher for his cow, I would have at least packed the backstraps and tenderloins out.

We discussed it quite a bit but since he was shot in the rear quarter and it was not bleeding a ton, we thought there would be a chance that a vet could nurse him back and that vet bills would be significantly cheaper. The packout would not have been terrible, it was only about 2.5 mile 1600 feet elevation gain to the truck.

Basically talking with the rancher there would need to be a paper trail of my buddy acquiring the bull to have the meat. We decided to let the rancher keep it instead of going back in for it.

I will say...that mistake cost him the price of a guided elk hunt.

 

[CorbLand]

We discussed it quite a bit but since he was shot in the rear quarter and it was not bleeding a ton, we thought there would be a chance that a vet could nurse him back and that vet bills would be significantly cheaper. The packout would not have been terrible, it was only about 2.5 mile 1600 feet elevation gain to the truck.

Basically talking with the rancher there would need to be a paper trail of my buddy acquiring the bull to have the meat. We decided to let the rancher keep it instead of going back in for it.

I will say...that mistake cost him the price of a guided elk hunt.

Man, you are better than me. If it cost me that much my ass would have got the paperwork and packed every ounce of that cow out.

 

[Trial153]

I won't do any extended hunts with anyone that is overly political on either side. Looking at all things though that lenses brings toxicity into something that is supposed to be enjoyable.

 

[robtattoo]

I'd like to add a comment, apropos to this thread & i kinda feel I might have brought it up.

Unfit fatties.

Please don't write us all off as bad hunting partners. Yes, we may be slow & not able to do that fourteener in an hour, but some of us, actually probably a large percentage of us, are very aware of our limitations & are just happy you invited us along. We're probably going to go out of our way NOT to hamper your efforts. Believe me, we know our limitations. We'll figure something out closer to camp, or maybe not so far back, but I promise you, I for one will bust my ass getting your critter out. We might not be able to get 4 miles in. Certainly not in one shot, but believe me....a lot of us have an 'eff you, just watch me' attitude & we'll do what we can!
Hell, maybe slowing down a bit might get you into shit you'd normally hoof it past!

*cough Ryan cough*

 

[BBob]

I'd like to add a comment, apropos to this thread & i kinda feel I might have brought it up.

Unfit fatties.

Please don't write us all off as bad hunting partners. Yes, we may be slow & not able to do that fourteener in an hour, but some of us, actually probably a large percentage of us, are very aware of our limitations & are just happy you invited us along. We're probably going to go out of our way NOT to hamper your efforts. Believe me, we know our limitations. We'll figure something out closer to camp, or maybe not so far back, but I promise you, I for one will bust my ass getting your critter out. We might not be able to get 4 miles in. Certainly not in one shot, but believe me....a lot of us have an 'eff you, just watch me' attitude & we'll do what we can!
Hell, maybe slowing down a bit might get you into shit you'd normally hoof it past!

*cough Ryan cough*

I had a hunting partner for 20+ years that was nowhere near in the same shape as I was. He never quit and always caught up. He was never a hindrance and it was a good team. He killed just as much as I did and was always there for the packouts no matter how hard or long they were. I hauled him into some terrible backcountry and he never ever questioned my plan or complained. He did what it took to get it done, that's all that mattered.

 

[Still Hunter]

No, poor guy needs to teach his son proper respect and not do what they did in the 1st place.

I agree I was just trying to make a joke,

 

[2bulls]

Yep you guys cover it all I hunt a lot by myself or with one other person. Just remember don't be that guy ..

 

[CJohnson]

I hunt with 3 other people out west once a year. After 10-12 days together more or less we all start to get on each other’s nerves. But, man - after reading some of this - I’m thankful for my group. Everyone commits in April when we apply for tags regardless of who draws, everyone ponies up the money in April to “reserve” their spot in the rental van, everyone drives, everyone cooks, everyone goes hard. One member doesn’t pack meant because he’s 79 years old, but he is always elbow deep in whatever we kill as soon as he shows up to the kill site. Guess I got lucky.

 

[BFR]

One special trip stands out for me. Three of us were planning an out of state deer hunt, one of them had a cousin near where we were going and wanted to join us. It all looked good, he would bring the tent, chairs and a propane stove and bottle, the three of us would bring bring everything else, food, drinks, tarps, water etc. At camp it started going downhill, he helped got the tent set up, set up chairs and sat down with a drink while we finished setting up, got firewood, unloaded the food, ice chests and bedding. First day of hunting the guy shoots a decent 3x3 and we all pitch in the get it to camp and cleaned up. Next morning he decided to sleep in and kind of clean up around camp. When we got back at dark he had “cleaned” up alright, he had packed up everything he had brought and went home. His cousin kept making excuses for him. After the trip we were down to just two of us, both cousins were out.

 

[TxxAgg]

Haven't seen anyone mention drinking in camp. I won't hunt with anyone who has to have alcohol on a hunting trip. I can get plastered with the best of them, and I love my beer, but it has no place in a hunting camp. I've had this rule my whole live, as has my brother, and we both drink a lot of beer at home.

One time our oldest brother brought a friend to our deer camp, and they each had a case of beer they planned to drink over that weekend. Without saying a word, my other brother (who is a real hunter) and I just started packing up our sh.t and we left. Our oldest brother couldn't believe we would leave on a Friday night, but we told him we weren't going to stick around and watch them get drunk, ruin our hunt and who knows what else with their guns.

I simply won't hunt with anyone who has to bring alcohol to camp. I've told more than one person that if they can't hunt without alcohol, they might have a problem with alcohol.

I know that's not a popular opinion among hunters, but it's my rule and I don't apologize for it.

This is also most likely the reason that I lose so much weight in elk camp each year. LOL

You're about as much fun as a kidney stone


just bustin your balls

 

[bojangles808]

always prefer to hunt by myself. I can go off my intuition on what to do, don;t need to validate my plan with anyone or feel like i let them down if I made the call where to go and we not seeing anything.

 

[breaks_mud_man]

1. Friend who bails, nothing worse than looking forward to a hunt and having your partner bail last minute due to some "very import and convienient reason".

2. Took a "friend" hunting last year. We went 2 days before the season to scout. I showed him a few spots and said i'd like to hit them over the next few days. Opening day rolls around and he says he is going "off" on his own. That was fine didnt bother me, however he went over to the area I had showed him a a day previous. He was back at camp long before we got back to camp opening day. Said he had seen 5 or 6 bull elk and 30 or 40 cows. I asked him why didnt he go after them? Said they were 2k yards away and he didnt have time to get to them... Bullshit, pretty sure he was just lying about hunting at all being that he had a philly cheese steak and a new 18 pack of beer. I think he simply had drove the 1.5 hours into the nearest town and spent the day in there. A few days later after checking off a couple spots I went over to the area he claimed he had been hunting and ended up shooting an elk. Instantly he was claiming that he had told me there were tons of elk over here and that he took us to this spot, when I had literally shown him the spot 3 days prior.
This was this guy's first year hunting out west. The next couple nights while the rest of our elk camp was still hunting this guy basically gave up and just got absolutely shit housed drunk everynight. Worst part is I let him stay in my camper. Even though I'd got my elk I was still hunting with my dad trying to help him get an elk. At the end of the trip my dad politely asked I never bring that guy back again... I completely agreed and felt horrible bringing him there in the first place.

3. Someone who has a bad attitude the whole time, it ruins the hunt.

 

[Moserkr]

Hahaha @robtattoo I have no problem with big guys hunting, they usually pull their weight. I was 220 at one point and now Im 175 by the end of each season. My buddy was 215 and always had extra food for me that he didnt want to carry. Now hes 165 and eats a bunch of healthy stuff so my snack source is gone. At least we hunt harder than ever before and are fairly successful.

 

[Travis907]

I don’t hunt with selfish pricks anymore, learned my lesson on more than one trip! Don’t like being stabbed in my back by so called buddies!

You live and learn over time who you can hunt with and who you can’t!
Won’t get into complete details because a couple of these “bad hunting partners “ that I’ve had may be on here!

Deal breakers for me, or atleast what I’ve experienced on hunting trips! Not in particular order

1. Selfishness
2. Liars-to me and landowner
3. Trespassers
4. Guys who don’t bring $ for fuel and don’t chip in.
5. Cheaters-married one night fling
6. Bad attitudes

And more I’m probably missing but that will do for now.

Be careful who you take hunting with you because you truly learn who people are when you spend two weeks roughing it with them! Nothing better than good hunting partners but nothing worse than bad ones!!

 

[Outlaw99]

The lost in the woods thread got me thinking why I dont hunt with some people anymore. Ill get it started. One guy in particular did all this in a few seasons. Hes still friends with our group but no one will hunt with him.

Got lost multiple times in easy areas, even during daylight.
Discharged firearm in camp (not accidental) and at night.
Cant hold his liquor, would then sleep in.
Altitude sickness due to cigarettes, beer, and a horrible choice of food before hiking.
Put out a cigar in duff, caused 30 acre forest fire the night before opening day.
Doesnt bury shit, shits 10 feet from camp.

Those arent in order but the last straws were the firearm and forest fire. Lets hear your stories of why you dont hunt with some people anymore...

Yeah, partners starting forest fires has always been a last chance deal breaker for me as well

 

[Jermshooter]

After a couple of years after bringing in a buddy to elk hunt with me in a spot I'd been focused on and learning for the last three years "WE" were finally successful. Killed a monster bull. He did. With my help. My calling. My camp. My knowledge of the area. My help packing half the meat out. My fuel. A lot of "MY" now. Never thought of it that way until he gave me 12# of front shoulder meat. I go 50/50. Lesson learned.

 

[Southforkguy]

Drinking, gun safety and know it all attitudes are all reasons I have decided to primarily hunt by myself..

I've also found that planning trips to western states takes a lot of logistics... asking someone to meet that schedule is generally too much to reasonably expect another person to accommodate

 

[Newtosavage]

You're about as much fun as a kidney stone


just bustin your balls

Yea, I get that a lot. LOL

I'll drink a guy under the table at home, but I'm a different guy when it comes to drinking in camp. I'm all business at hunting camp. I work too damn hard for my vacation days to burn them drinking in the mountains. Plus I don't enjoy sweating out alcohol anymore. Did enough of that at fletc back in my 20's. LOL

 

[Newtosavage]

Drinking, gun safety and know it all attitudes are all reasons I have decided to primarily hunt by myself..

I've also found that planning trips to western states takes a lot of logistics... asking someone to meet that schedule is generally too much to reasonably expect another person to accommodate

Agreed. It's hard to find someone who will commit 100% anymore. It's always conditional. I "might" or "probably" or "should be able to..." That doesn't cut it when you're looking at a week or more and $1k+ commitment. At least, for me it doesn't.

Probably the main reason I go solo now is the freedom to change my plans as the conditions change without having to tell anyone or wait for anyone. In the past, when it was obvious we needed to move to a new area, someone would always want to stay because they didn't want to take down camp and put it back up. They would be like "let's give it another day..." And then they would just do the same exact thing they did the day before, and we burned another day for nothing. I hate that. When you're hunting large tracts of public land in the West, you gotta be mobile. The more people you add, the less mobile you can be, period.

I always drive by these huge group camps with wall tents that took days to set up and think to myself man, they are stuck hunting the same 500-1000 acres for the whole season. I can do that back East. I don't travel 17 hours to sit in one place for 9 days.