Hunting Partners

[Flatrock]

For those of you that have drawn out of state tags, who do you go hunting with? Unfortunately, I don't really have any hunting buddies that are gung-ho enough to be applying all over the western states to go hunting with so when I do draw a tag, I'm not sure who I'll go with. None of my buddies can take a week off either to go elk hunting with me out of state so I'm not sure what I'd do. For antelope and maybe mule deer, I could probably go by myself but I'd rather not go alone for elk.

Sooooooo, what do you guys do when you pull an out of state tag and find out that you don't really have anyone to go hunting with? Do you do it solo? I'm not too crazy about backpacking in a few miles and getting an elk and then having to pack it out by myself. Have any of you guys ever used a website like this one to find somebody else to hunt with???

Any suggestions???

 

[idnative1948]

It is a crapshoot! I will say that I hope nobody here would string you along. Most are standup guys with a few nut cases mixed in between, but who all live for hunting. Wishing you luck.

 

[JohnCushman]

My name is John and I'm a nut case (according to the Army) but I love to hunt

 

[DHaffner]

I've had good and bad experiences. One year all my regular guys backed out on a trip to canada, so I took a random guy from a waterfowl forum. Turned out good we still hunt together on a regular basis. The following year we took his dad and buddy and they had the hunt of their lives.

 

[wyoming556]

I'm in the same boat typically. I just roll solo and don't go for elk. Deer and antelope are pretty manageable by yourself. Sounds like we need a singles hunting matchmaker to find hunting partners.

Youve gotta find people who have similar hunting styles as some peoples version of OYO hunting are staying in motels and riding around in a truck road hunting not willing to walk more than 1/4 mile from the road and others want to be 10+ miles hike from the trailhead and hold their entire camp on their back to stay for a week.

If you figure this one out let me know. I recently sold my construction business and am taking the year off to focus on hunting. I have an extremely supportive wife who is allowing me to do this. I am planning on being gone from Aug-Dec hitting CO, OK, KS, NE, WY, and IA. I've hunted most of these same areas before but with limited time was not able to give 100%. I'm converting an ambulance body into my personal camper this spring to keep all my hunting gear in so I will always be prepared for any hunting situation with all my guns, bows, tents, packs, maps, boots, etc. I even changed my drivers license to another state last week to qualify for resident tags this year.

That propably qualifies me as a nut case!

 

[idnative1948]

Sounds like you need to get a hold of Fin. He may need an ambulance if he increases his time away from home any longer than he has already.

 

[Dinkshooter]

How many Wyoming elk bonus points do you have?

 

[wyoming556]

I always just offer to put my wife and kids in a local hotel while I hunt so she gets to make the decision to go or not to go, she almost always chooses to stay home. They actually went to Kansas and Iowa with me last year and had fun. I found a hotel in DesMoines with an indoor water park with a mall down the road and the whole family had a ball while I was gone hunting all day.

 

[Flatrock]

I've got 2 WY elk points. Going to buy another point this year for elk and everything else too. Was hoping with 3 points next year that I could maybe draw an elk tag in an area where I could also get a general deer tag and focus on elk but if I saw a nice buck, I could go after him.
If anyone on here is also interested in doing something along these lines, let me know, I'd be up for meeting someone there to hunt.

Also, please keep the comments coming about my originial post...

 

[wyoming556]

I didn't realize there was a general deer tag for NR's in WY? Thought that was just elk.

 

[JohnCushman]

I started a post a few days ago about a get together hunt and there seems to be some good feedback about it and guys willing to do it

 

[idnative1948]

I always just offer to put my wife and kids in a local hotel while I hunt so she gets to make the decision to go or not to go, she almost always chooses to stay home. They actually went to Kansas and Iowa with me last year and had fun. I found a hotel in DesMoines with an indoor water park with a mall down the road and the whole family had a ball while I was gone hunting all day.

You are one sly dog.....But, hey if it works for you, so much the better.

 

[wyoming556]

I am extremely lucky to have a wife that lets me hunt but I'm sure if i had spent as much time away from home as Big Fin has my wife would be ready to put me in an ambulance as well.

By the way I noticed you were from Boise, are you a football fan?. It was funny as heck when Boise beat OU in the BCS game in 07. I am an OK State grad and it was so funny to watch OU lose. OU fans handle losing about as well as Texas fans.

As John Cushman said there were other Hunt Talkers that were kicking around a Nebraska hunt this year. I personally think archery would be the way to go unless you like dealing with lots of pressure during gun season. Dec Muzzleloader would propably not be to bad either with less hunting pressure.

 

[Khunter]

WHen I draw solo, I usually end up going solo. If I bud bails on aplanned hunt, I definitely go anyway. No way someone else is going to control what/when I hunt...

I'd dooner go it alone than count on sharing a hunt with a stranger.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

WHen I draw solo, I usually end up going solo. If I bud bails on aplanned hunt, I definitely go anyway. No way someone else is going to control what/when I hunt...

I'd dooner go it alone than count on sharing a hunt with a stranger.

This is the attitude I adopted last year. I've wanted to hunt farther off the roads and wanted to bowhunt for twenty or so years, but none of my family or hunting buddies cared to make the change. I stuck with doing it their way too long. I regret the time lost but won't let it hold me back any longer. Life's too short. So I bought a bow and have done solo hunts last year.

From a killing game standpoint, I've been a miserable failure. But I'm getting to hunt the way I want. That's success enough for now. I might have a tough time hunting with a stranger. If I become acquainted with a like-minded hunter, I might buddy up for some hunts, but I'd say don't let a buddy (or lack of one) stop you.

 

[huntRme]

I'm 64 and hunt alone whether in state or out of state. My backpack is always in the truck for packing meat out...I just expect that I'll have to use it if I get something because I may get a mile or two off the road. I've never left meat in the woods because it was too difficult to get out. A deer comes out in two trips, an elk in five, and uphill is the pits I've heard, but never had to do it (yet).

 

[choc dogs]

I've got friends that I hunt with when it works, I hunt alone when it doesn't. A lot of the time, I camp with someone, but the only time we see each other is when the stove is whistling, heating water for coffee in the morning. We both know where the other is going to be ( within three miles or so) but we're not tied to being with someone who gets a wild hare and wants to look at the "next ridge up" even though we both do that fairly frequently.My budget (time and money both) doesn't allow me much out of state hunting, although I'd sure like to get back to Oklahoma around thanksgiving next year to spend it with my now grownup kids, and whaddya know, It's deer season there during that time of year, and I've still got my lifetime license.I'd just have to line up landowners and maybe hogs, too. Anyways, I got off topic, and my only advice is, if you want to go, you've got to rely on yourself to get it done, life's too short to wait on other people.

 

[the nikster]

I have done 3 Alaska hunts by flying into the bush. The first one was solo. It was a great experience and I would not hesitate to to it again-yes, I saw bears. Second trip I took my brother, we were both in our mid 30's. We both had a great time. Third trip I floated a river with a fella I had met online through a forum. we never laid etes on each other til we met at the airport in Anchorage. We still had a great time but did have a couple of small hiccups. Last trip was with another forum friend. Met him for dinner one night in Maryland prior to the hunt. We had the hunt of many lifetimes. I swapped a hunt with some guys from NY a bunch of years ago. They came out to Idaho and had a blast, we have hunted together in Montana almost every other year since. I have not met a person so far whom I would not share a deer camp with. Hunters (generally) know their limitations and tend to not exceed them when life is in the balance. I enjoy the solitude that comes from hunting by myself. Once on a solo archery elk hunt on the Idaho/Montana divide I encountered an archer who was also hunting solo. We spent perhaps an hour together swapping information, sightings, potential locations, etc, then we parted ways. To an outsider viewing the exchange it might well have appeared to be Jeremiah Johnson meeting up with another trapper some 200 years before (least that's how I remember it). I remember some TOUGH hunts, but I don't remember any bad ones.

 

[MN Public Hunter]

I'm in the same boat as you are and I'm not crazy about going elk hunting alone and honestly hunting alone is just not as safe as hunting with just one other person. I have a post looking for a tag along and have a couple leads and hopefully I will be able to find one. I'm willing to hunt alone for deer or lopes local or even out of state, just not elk.

 

[npaden]

I regularly go solo for deer and antelope, but for elk it sure does help to have someone to help you out if you get an animal on the ground. It can be done by yourself, but depending on where the animal goes down, just getting it moved out of a big patch of brush or onto a somewhat level spot to quarter it up can be overwhelming.

Don't overlook some young kid who would think the trip out west was the best thing ever. I took a guy with me on my New Mexico elk hunt who really had never been hunting before and it worked out great. He wants to go elk hunting now, that's for sure. He even helped butcher it up once we got home and I ended up giving him 1/2 of the meat. He was pretty pumped about that too.