Hunting Alone?

That would be cool. Meateater-never gonna happen. Randy-maybe. Terrible double standard in the outdoor industry. Let's limit it to women hunting solo, unguided, on public land!!!
 
That would be cool. Meateater-never gonna happen. Randy-maybe. Terrible double standard in the outdoor industry. Let's limit it to women hunting solo, unguided, on public land!!!

Steve Rinella has had a few episodes where he took a couple of inexperienced young ladies out hunting. Once for whitetails and once for Elk. Good episodes, and those two girls could shoot.
 
I didn't read all of the responses but will just throw in one thing. Get a DeLorme Inreach machine and subscription. It is so valuable to be able to check in with family throughout the day by text and to be able to reach them or the authorities if you have an emergency situation. My 21 y.o. daughter is in similar shoes. She has guy friends to hunt and fish with most of the time, but a couple weeks ago she went fishing alone down a dead end road at night for walleyes. One other guy was there fishing and she just didn't exchange hellos as she wanted him to assume she was a guy since she had her camo on and was driving a truck :) When she gets to the point of hunting where there isn't cell coverage I will be buying her a DeLorme.
 
There's likely some sort of local sportsmens club full of old men that also don't have anyone to hunt with. My buddies wife loves to hunt but her schedule never lines up with his so she joined our local sportsmens club and started going hunting with some of the older dudes. The generational gap actually made it a lot less awkward (at least according to her), plus she got all the info on secrete hard to reach spots that these guys just couldn't get into anymore. So now when her and her husband do get time to hunt together they can tackle one of these hard to reach honey holes.
 
Steve Rinella has had a few episodes where he took a couple of inexperienced young ladies out hunting. Once for whitetails and once for Elk. Good episodes, and those two girls could shoot.

Yes! Those were great MeatEater episodes!
My wife went out hunting by herself quite a bit during archery season this year. It was a big first for her. Even though bears, lions, and wolves are in the area, she still feels good about being out there alone. I agree that the moose might be a bigger threat. She carries her bear spray and a Vaquero .44 on her side. She even went out by herself when I was away in Utah this year. I am so proud of her.
 
Some really good responses.
Here is how approached it:
When I headed into the mountains to solo hunt for the first time, I sat down and took a look at what problems I could run into. Broke it down into 4 categories and looked at solutions to deal with whatever may happen in each.
Travel - getting stuck. mud snow, etc
accident; twisting a knee in the down fall. Taking a tumble
Getting lost
Being attacked

The last one seems to be your biggest worry. Bears, wolves, lions. Maybe people, as someone mentioned in a prior post. While I'm not worried about other guys, the solution for everything to me was the same. I carry a side arm. a pistol. It should solve some of the creepiness that some male hunters exhibit, when they see a pistol of your hip. It calmed down some characters when they came across my Gf when we got separated while hunting
I would suggest as large of a magnum as you can handle.
Then get accustomed to shooting with it. become proficient. It is no good to you and false comfort if you are not comfortable handling it and using it.
When you hunt, carry it where you can access it immediately without having to look to grab it. Practice drawing/pulling it out without looking at it (practice with it empty, of course). Muscle memory.
Then, while hunting/hiking do a little situation playing in your mind.
OK, If a bear pops up in the middle of a blow down that I am walking thru,what do I do? Can I retreat - usually not. Can I pull the bear spray out. can I get the pistol out.
In your case, with the moose. If you are in heavy enough cover, can you see them coming from any distance. Is there cover, other trees to get behind?
All of this distracts from your hunting a little but also makes you very aware of your surroundings. Nothing gets your attention better than coming across fresh bear tracks while being way off the trails in the deep cover.
When I sit down to glass I usually pull the pistol out and lay it in my lap for better access as it's very hard to draw sitting down.
Hunting alone you always have to be on your game.
Good luck
 
PEAX Trekking Poles

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