Do hard hunting trips bring out the real person?

jim in Anchorage said:

I am not sure this makes sense but what I am saying a hunting pardner can make or break your hunt.

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Same can be said pardners for a fishing trip or co-workers and a day at work. Ride long distances on a motorcycle and you will find not everyone in the riding world has the same ideas of what makes for a good ride. I've found over the years finding folks to go on a cross country motorcycle ride that share the same riding styles much harder to do than to find a hunting partner with the same hunting ethics/fortitude. But both have been a learning experience. Unfortunately we can't always pick our hunting partners. Sometimes they are dictated by family, either direct blood or marriage. Sometimes a good friend and hunting partner brings along another friend, that we find obnoxious and rude. I've found over the years that when I have a choice, I pick those folks that I enjoy to be with and trust the most. Those times when I have no choice or make a poor choice, I try to make the most/best of the situation so I am not the cause of the "bad trip". I also found that even those times when you think someone else is going to be the burden, that the first impression I had was wrong. But when I do have a bad time and the cause is particular person....I tend to avoid them like the plague from then on.

jim in Anchorage said:

Buck I get your reply but I am talking about not just doing what I want to do but doing what musf be done.
Eh it's a Alaska thing.

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Like allowing your hunting "pardners" to poach a bear and claiming you shot it? Would it be a "Texas thing" if you were "Jim in Dallas''?

You said,

I am talking about people you knew in the outside world for years and you changed your opinion, good or bad on them on a tough trip. I mean a bad hunt, no game, always raining etc. Some just go miserable and make a bad situation worse. Flip siide-others that never complain, always help with camp chores and are a joy to be with.

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Again, that is not just a Alaska" thing. I'd bet my best bird dog folks in every state in the Union have experienced this. Over the years I've held the hand of friends as they lie along side the road waiting for an ambulance after crashing their bike, while others in the group cried or threw up. Then there were the ones that were concerned we were going to lose our motel rooms that night because the accident was going to make us late for check-in. Over the years I've sat underneath upside down canoes to avoid the hail and wind from the tornado that hit while we were out fishing, only to have to listen to the person I was partnered with whine it was my fault for not knowing the Tornado was coming. I've spent the night in the woods because I went to find someone else that got lost and didn't make it out before dark, and then had to listen to them whine because they were cold, even tho they were using the disposable handwarmers I had for myself in my backpack. These are all examples of "people you knew in the outside world for years and you changed your opinion, good or bad on them on a tough trip."....and I was no-where near Alaska.

well, i think rough situations bring out the 'real' in anyone. one thing i've often noticed is the guy or gal with the most inflated ego is usually the biggest liability when 'hard' situations are in play.

My idea of tough hunts now days is having to get up at 4:45, stumble out the back door to my box blind, light the heater and lean back in my high back office chair to snooze until it starts getting light.

Duck hunts are the toughest I do. I do remember a trip across Espiritu Santos bay with my hunting buddy at the time in his boat for a duck hunt in a pothole about 15 miles from the ramp on the mainland, hunting out on Matagorda Island. A norther was blowing, were with the wind on the way out, but it was cold and we were breaking 5 ft seas on the way back after shooting ONE red head. He got that, I didn't fire a shot. We were cold and wet, about 35 degrees F and he starts in to cussing. "I'll NEVER do THIS" yadda, yadda, yadda. ROFL! It was so funny, because I'd never seen the guy that irritated. He is a very mild mannered guy, has a reputation for it, but that was a might more than he could handle. I hardly ever heard the guy curse, but he let it out THAT morning. LOL

Everyone has their breaking point, I suppose. We hunted together for a lot of seasons, then got put on opposite shifts at work and didn't do much with him after that.

I find it very difficult to find guys that I would take with me on a hunt, especially the older I get. I suppose it has to do with growing less willing to accomodate the idiosyncrasies of others. The OP asked if I changed my mind about people in the course of a hunting adventure. Mostly hunts confirmed what I knew about the guys before the hunt. Adverse conditions usually just magnify already visible characteristics. Impatient people get more impatient, complainers complain more, etc. I have also learned that hunters who adapt to changing circumstances are always the most successful and enjoyable to be with. The rest end up at the motel watching football.

Guess I will always be remembered for my bear tag thread.

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No worries ill probably always be remembered as that guy who "slaughtered" the coyote pups with a makarov..

Crummy situations always draw out a very real part of a person. I'm not going to say it's THE real person, but certainly a part of them. Crummy hunting situations work, but so do stressful situations elsewhere. Particularly stressful days at work, unexpected troubles in daily life, etc, etc.

Any normal person is going to be cheerful when everything's going great. It takes the stress of life to peel back the layers and see what people are really made of.

I think that as someone who has guided others you see things much differently than most of us. You guide those who show up. I can pick my partners and have a pretty good idea what their character is really like BEFORE we get out in the woods.

It's not hard to find someone to go hunting with you, but it's tough to find someone willing to go the extra mile to do what needs to be done. I take care of a pretty good sized area with feeders, stands, a lake etc.... I work at it 7 days a week and have been pretty successful hunting the area myself, but I work at it. Most people that ask me to hunt, want me to haul them out to a stand that I have built and maintained, so they can shoot a hog or deer under a feeder that I keep going all year long, and then have me help them clean and care for the carcass. I have cleaned a lot of deer for folks!
Once most of these guys get their deer or hogs, you never hear from them until the next time they want to hunt. Seldom does one ask if they can help with the work involved.
I have one buddy that is more than willing to pitch in, but unfortunately he lives in another state and can only come to Texas on one trip a year.

Just want to thank all of those who have posted to this thread.

I have never hunted before, but joined a hunt club a few months ago and our next meeting is in September. I'm in my fifties and I do not know if I'll ever bag my first deer or even if I'll pull the trigger when I get one in my sights. Our first group event will be to go out to our tract and clean up the area. I'm told many folks show up and there is some real work involved, while others opt out and pay a $50.00 fee instead. I figure this is a good opportunity to meet experienced hunters and hopefully find someone who is willing to share their knowledge. I plan to work as hard as I can and have a positive attitude about it. No matter the outcome, it will be a learning experience for me.

With "men", hunting in general brings out a competitive aspect that's sometimes ugly.

With "women" not so, they are more into the hunt and less concerned with getting a competitive edge over fellow hunters.

When it comes to pulling a share of the workload, more experienced hunters seem to jump right in. Inexperienced sit back because they're unsure of their responsibilities and abilities.

If they're not are a joy to be with you'd likely know that before you went anywhere.
Rain and crappy weather isn't permitted when I'm in the field. Had a bit of rain once when on an NCO training weekend though.

I never had a situation where it got so bad that any one was in imminent danger of dying. Mostly it's just been extreme discomfort and seldom involved people that "turned" due to the situation. I usually hunt alone and only have myself to blame for any unfortunate situation.

One time comes to mind where my friend, a friend of his, and myself were on an airboat in a semi-wilderness area. My friend tried to cross a huge raft of water hyacinths in a marshy swamp and turned the boat over in 10 feet of water. The nearest solid ground was about 3/4 mile away through a floating jungle so we took 10 minute turns on top of the airboat prop cage to try to escape the biting gator fleas and potential snakes and gators. Everyone took their turn with no griping or whining until another airboat rescued us about 6 hours later.
The friend of my friend was an Army Ranger who said the experience was worse than his Ranger test in Panama. I have always assumed that he was joking.

It doesn't have to be a hard hunt.

Four of us went to Wyoming on a pronghorn hunt. One, we will call him Ralph, is a businessman and called home at least twice a day. This was before cell phones mind you. When driving onto the ranch on opening morning we saw a decent buck bedded by a hay bale. I let Ralph out when we were out of sight and he pulled a sneak to within 50 yards. When the buck stood up Ralph's hunt was over. All we heard for the next 2 days was, "When are we going home?" We drove 1300 miles, hunted 2 days, took a sightseeing tour while our game was processed and drove home. That was 30 years ago and I have not been on another hunt with him.

Spent 2 weeks in Colorado with a couple of know-it-alls. One even told me the proper way to shave. If we had stayed another week I swear I would have left them in the bottom of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

Choose your hunting pals carefully.

I'd love to have someone to hunt with. Or at least know of a place to go by myself. Trying to figure out hunting in Colorado without knowing scads of people is like being on the outside of a fence watching everyone inside partying and having a great time. Sucks.

Yeah MC thats what I mean. It's not your fault the sea was choppy and it was cold. Why take it out on you? You are in the same boat.

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Well, I forgave him. In Trey's defense he's normally very easy going and we'd been on some rough duck hunts before where he didn't lose it. I will admit, yeah, it was cold and wet, but I've been on far more miserable duck AND deer hunts in my life. In a decade or so of hunting with Trey, this is the ONE time he lost it. LOL

jim in Anchorage said:

Extreme example of what I mean-
Fly in float out hunt. 30 miles float trip to the road. 4 hunters two rafts. After a few river miles water went white[rapids.]
Hard work rowing endlessy to avoid rocks. So we see a sandbar and pull up. two rafts on shore. So one of my 3 hunters wigs on me, "I can't take this" and kicks his raft into the river
So I hop in my raft and get it back[rowing like mad to catch it]
Those rafts where the only way we had to get home, but he freaked on me and put all of us in a bad spot.

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You are too kind, Jim. I am afraid that I would have used him for bear bait. Alaska is not a place for that kind of stupidity.

Several years ago we took a large group of customers hunting. There was a father and son pair in the mix. Both good people. I always dealt with the son when doing business but his dad owned the company. The dad was in his 70's and had a bit of a hard time getting around, son was in his mid-40's to early 50's and had no problems physically...he runs and bikes all the time.

The ground we were hunting during this incident was standing corn with some rough stuff out along the edges of the corn. It wasn't terribly thick but it was a bit of a pain to push through the stuff.

Well, the son started griping that his dad should have to take a turn in that thick stuff. I pointed out that not only was his dad not in the best of shape for the task...but that he was his dad...implying that he ought to willingly shoulder the burden.

Then he started griping about how his dad needs to know how tough he has it, etc. It really turned into a self centered pity party. I was kind of shocked. I'd been walking the same ground all day, not complaining a bit. Heck, I bet I ran down more birds than the dogs! But I was loving it...there we were in the middle of South Dakota just hammering pheasants...what was there to complain about? Well this guy found something to complain about...he bitched the entire time.

He wasn't normally like that...or perhaps he's always like that but just doesn't show it. Which comes back to your point...sometimes a tough hunt strips away the facade and lets you see exactly who you're hunting with. I saw the same thing in the military...once people get wet, cold, miserable, go without sleep or food...you really see who they are.

On the flip side of that is another customer I hunt with...a person who has become a good friend over the years. No matter how hard the hunt, he's smiling and has a great attitude. He volunteers as the camp cook (and is a very good camp cook) and I've even seen him invite other hunters to join us for dinner after he found out they were hunting alone. I've seen him half freeze to death...and he doesn't complain.

I don't continue hunting with people who show themselves to be a problem...life's too short.

Sunray said:

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Rain and crappy weather isn't permitted when I'm in the field.

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I love that. Don't know why it never crossed my mind to prohibit foul weather from occurring when I'm in the field.