Lazy Friends

Hi GWKnowles. I live in Hamilton County, IN.

There are 3 types of hunters - those who dream of hunting, those who hunt, and those who wish they had.

To hell with the Armchair hunters. They are full of bullshit anyway. Been down that road. Get out West and hit the mountains. You will not regret it. I’ve been soloing for a decade now. Had some grest trips and many more to come...
 
Nameless Range said:
Welcome to HuntTalk.

I say leave em behind. They are only in your way.

You don't need an outfitter. You have a year to acquire knowledge and millions of acres of public land await. You won't regret it.
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As a solo hunter I agree with everyone who's responded. But I have to ask, how old are you and why are you waiting until 2019? ;)

You've already lost a year of elk hunting before you even begin! Time's a wasting. Buy an over the counter bull elk license, pack the truck and head to Colorado.
 
Hummer said:
As a solo hunter I agree with everyone who's responded. But I have to ask, how old are you and why are you waiting until 2019? ;)

You've already lost a year of elk hunting before you even begin! Time's a wasting. Buy an over the counter bull elk license, pack the truck and head to Colorado.
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I would like to go this year but I'm headed to Punta Cana in October with the wife..Priorities
 
After going with guides for a few years and discovering that I am more prepared than they... I am going it alone in Montana this year. Well, not quite alone as my son (in 20's) will go along with me. I figure can't do any worse than the guided hunts on public land and the two of us buying all the top of the line backcountry gear has spent less than one guided hunt would cost. Plan to do this every year forward now too so cost per year will go down... Intend to walk in as far as we can and sleep with the elk each night until we find one worth packing out.
 
GW,

I suggest a DIY antelope hunt ASAP. It'll get you started in Western hunting and have a high probability of success. It'll be a good shakedown of your camping gear, etc.
A real problem for getting groups together is the points systems. If a hunter gets serious, he usually gets in the points game. Hard to find partners with the same points. Stick around here and see what you come up with.
 
Out of maybe 8-10 people who have "seriously" wanted to go with me, only one actually ever committed and actually hunted. He is a boss.

You can "plan" for others to come but you have to also "plan" that most/all will flake and plan to be able to execute your plan with or without them. I just roll with a big tipi tent or small tipi tent depending on numbers and I'm good to go.

Only others that always come and hunt are family who got interested once I started. They must have the same crazy blood or something, though.
 
i have tons of friends and family that swear they are going each year, guess what they don't. doesn't bother me, I plan the hunt each year, buy my tag, and take off with my brother and son. we have a blast. it' their loss. go while you can, you will run out of time likely before you run out of money.
 
Its not easy, and not all types are cut out for it. Nothing wrong with going solo.
 
Stay as active as you can on this forum. There are a lot of very experienced and very friendly western hunters on here. Soak up all the information you possibly can here and elsewhere. YouTube has been a huge source of information for me. Check out the Born and Raised Outdoors guys on YouTube. They have a series called land of the free. Some people consider it elk university. In actuality it's western hunting 101. Randy has some amazing videos on escouting and western hunting both on Amazon Prime and YouTube. Jump in with both feet and educate yourself as much as possible. No question you will find a hunting partner on this forum if you're a good guy and serious about your hobby. Good luck!!
 
Stop planing for other people. Its not worth your time. Been in the same boat as you several times. It isnt worth it. Plan your vacation for yourself.
 
bigdonniebrasco said:
I only have a single elk point and it's in WY, I could buy a 2nd one this year, but I am not even sure if WY is where I should be building points. I just want to GO!! Even if I just shoot a cow!!

I'd go with you just so we could learn!

Don
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Don,
I have 3 points in WY, planning on going there in 2021. I have 3 pronghorn points in Wyoming is well going to go on that hunt in 2020
Gary
 
Gwknowles said:
I would like to go this year but I'm headed to Punta Cana in October with the wife..Priorities
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If you ever want to go you just have to do it. I waited several years also, trying to find someone that would go with me. Finally I went solo, and have been doing it 2-3 times a year since, sometimes with a partner sometimes alone. It is nice if you have good company, but I'm definitely a lot more successful when I'm solo.

The frustrating thing for me with a lot of buddies is that I'm not going around begging anybody to go with me.. they're coming to me, saying they want to go. I tell them the cost, timeframe, odds of success, etc. and they're all gung-ho, they're going to do it. So then I skip or go points-only in the earlier draws with the plan of doing something OTC (since they have no points anywhere) then they back out, and I'm trying to find a leftover or OTC tag when I could have used points or applied elsewhere and possibly gotten a higher quality tag. A couple times of that happening, and I decided to just plan for myself. If somebody wants to come great, but my plans are no longer dependent on whether they come through or not.

If I were you, I'd find an opportunity this year somewhere and just do it, or maybe a spring hunt somewhere.. just so that you're committed and officially have something on the books. And don't plan any more beach vacations during hunting season. Good luck!
 
I am in the same boat and after not drawing WY this year with a friend I found that I still had enough points active in CO for ML elk. I found no one willing to buy a cow tag to go along with me so I put in and drew. I ended up having an older friend of mine find out I was going alone and he decided he wanted to go and just stay in the campground and relax. I am still backpacking in for my hunt and it will be nice to have someone to talk to on the way out and back. I am done with waiting on others to go and the only person I will wait on now is my son who just started his sophomore year of high school. Going to start building him points this year for a graduation gift hunt in a couple years.
 
I'm in agreement with those advising to "hunt doe antelope in WY" as a starting point. Easy place to hunt, easy tag to get, easy places to find to hunt, easy critter to find once you're out there, easy critter to shoot dead, easy critter to manage once its shot dead, great meat, etc, etc, etc. And you can do it all solo with no problem at all.
 
Go by yourself, you won’t regret it. If your buddies come along, then great. But you won’t be sorry if you do your own thing.
 
FlatlandHunter said:
...I am done with waiting on others to go and the only person I will wait on now is my son who just started his sophomore year of high school. Going to start building him points this year for a graduation gift hunt in a couple years.
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That's been my method for gaining a hunting partner - senior year, my kids get a trip to WY with dad. Sure, it costs me more rather than less (no splitting travel costs with another partner, etc), but I end up with a partner I know well, already know their experience and ability, etc. And I wouldn't trade the week of one on one time with them for any amount of money. Daughter #1 and I were there in 2016, and # 2 and I head west in late Sept. Can't wait. And daughter #1 is already buying her own lope points for a return trip.
 
When I first hunted, I'd go with a few guys, always problems with something. Most years, I went solo. Easy planning. When my boy hit 7, I brought him along on a Caribou hunt.

Kyle @ 7.jpg

Ever since, We have hunted together a lot. Once in a while, someone will jump in, and tag along.
 
I was hooked up with a group of friends (none living near me) that went in 2017 to CO. Hunted elk out of a drop camp. Wanted to go back this year, but they can't. In fact they are out in 2019 too. So I booked with an outfitter in 2019, although I would rather be working it in a small group. More rewarding even if don't tag out. Leaving in a week for MT antelope archery hunt. Good thing I have a very supportive wife, lots of vacation and nice job, because I can't get enough of the west. Always interested in talking to someone if they need/want a partner to head west for elk.
 
Yeah I'm kind of in the same boat. My real only hunting buddy was always my father. Tried to get some of my friends involved but they just didn't share the same passion as I did. Time goes by and those friends are really just people I used to know. Doesn't bother me much as priorities change.

With my father it was always "someday" or "maybe next year" but I've decided I'm just going to do it and drag him along. It's not like he never wanted to it's just he never put the time in to research. Probably intimidated by the west as a lot of people are. We've antelope hunted a few times and that's what really lit our fire. I'm doing all the research and point building for us so I'm responsible for most everything but it's part of the fun for me.

A lot of my friends don't hunt out west because tags are so expensive or the gear cost too much money.

Well here's the thing... I don't buy a new vehicle every other year, I don't have a boat, I don't own side X sides or 4-wheelers, we don't take lavish vacations. Catch my drift?... priorities.
 
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