Do hard hunting trips bring out the real person?

I guided for a little over 10 years and you don't know your clients until you spend some time in the woods with them. I'll leave it at that. I will only hunt with 4 or 5 people now. Sure, I might go shoot birds some afternoon with a new guy, but never again will I spend 2 weeks in a wall tent with anyone but my pals. My hunting and fishing partners are all hand picked and have passed the test of time.

Originally Posted by Sunray View Post
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Rain and crappy weather isn't permitted when I'm in the field.

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You don't hunt waterfowl, right?

Since we know hardly anyone who hunts, my wife is my hunting partner. She's not exactly used to the primitive life like I am, so she complains at lot about wherever it is that we're staying. We've stayed at a few "hunting lodges" that remain upright by sheer force of will with no plumbing and a Port-A-Potty that hasn't been emptied since the Reagan era. Lots of complaints to the point where my hunting buddy and his wife were about to ditch us early.

We've stayed at mountain camps that double as glamping bases during the summer with wall tents, beds, woodburning stoves, and a cook that could work at just about any fine restaurant. Too much nature in the tent- a few wasps (easily killed) and a field mouse.

She's also a little too competitive, and gets pouty if she doesn't bag anything. The last bear trip we went on, she didn't even see a bear. She cried 6 times on the drive back, saying that she was a failure and she wasted my money because she didn't shoot a bear.

BUT... for those times where we're actually out in the field, actually hunting, I've never seen anyone more insanely focused and utterly ruthless in the hunt than her. I've seen her sit perfectly still for 9 hours in a blind waiting for a hog to appear, with not a single word uttered the entire time. It could be raining, freezing, triple digit with max humidity and she stays on station until there is no more light to shoot with, and then tries to stay out longer if it's legal to use lights at night. Since she's diabetic, I've had to bring her in before she crashes, most of the time under protest.

I've told people that if you put a hog in front of her, with no weapon, she'd chase it down on foot and tear it's throat out with her teeth. Than go back to the camp and complain about something.

jim in Anchorage said:

How in the world do you turn a airboat over?

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3 guys on a 10 ft. airboat lifted out of the water on a raft of floating weeds makes the center of gravity way up there. They turn over easy when tilted with a load.
My buddy's driving didn't help any either. We made him take last shift on the cage as a penalty.

Before any kind of lengthy/difficult trip I want to know the guys I'm going to be with. I have never had a companion change character during a trip, but I knew them beforehand and knew they would carry their weight. I believe a person who you know will whine or is lazy, etc. will be so in spades on a trip with less-than-perfect conditions. I have experienced that too and it's no fun. I have also found that people are unique -- I spent a week on a mountain deer hunt once with two brothers, who were as different as could be. One could not have been a better companion, the other we wanted to leave on the side of the road after a day or two.

I hunt almost exclusively with just a very few guys who I know well. I have said a few times that every three or four years I'll bird hunt with a new guy, just to remind myself why I don't do that more often.

jim in Anchorage said:

I mean a bad hunt, no game, always raining etc. Some just go miserable and make a bad situation worse.

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jim in Anchorage said:

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

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The reason I brought up the bear tag thing is because it doesn't always take a "bad" hunt per-say for some folks to show their real self. Those hunts when game is plentiful have turned out to be bad day hunting for me because, like your friends, I've had others think I should tag or possess the game they shot. Even when as in your case it's illegal, unethical or they have been asked not to fill other's tags or bag limit. Like the guy that shoots an antlerless deer when he doesn't have an antlerless tag, just cause he knows someone else in the hunting party does. Or the guy that stays on stand after filling his buck tag and shoots another buck with the hopes someone else will tag it. Two years ago my son brought a good friend along Pheasant hunting on opening day when the legal limit was one rooster. Since he was a guest, and never hunted Pheasant behind a pointer, we let him take the first point. After he got his bird I warned him that shooting another would be a violation. He said he knew that, but come next point he edged beside my son and shot the rising bird before my son had a chance to let the bird get up. Off course there was little left of the bird and the friend of course wanted one of us to take the mangled mess for ourselves. I said I'd claim the bird only because I did not want to waste it, but the friend was not only breaking the law, but asking me to also. I also told him unless he unloaded his gun, and quit hunting Pheasant for the day, I was not going to take the bird and instead call the local warden. I got called a lot of names that day, even tho it was a beautiful day with lots of birds. Similar to a day with a friend of mine Woodcock hunting. The flight was in and the birds were thick and holding tight. After the first shot he took right over my dogs head, I asked him to wait till the birds were clear before he shot. I didn't ask him a second time. When a low flyer only got up a few feet off the ground before trying to glide to the ground and my dog was only a few yard behind it when he pulled the trigger, I just called the dog, put him on a leash and walked back to the truck. Of course, I was the butt-hole for fearing for my dog, heck he was a much better shot than I gave him credit for. This was friend that for years I thought was a pretty good hunter and never showed me any reason to doubt him, till the shooting got hot and heavy. I could go on about folks I thought were friends that I took someplace to show them a good hunt or fishing experience, only to have them break the law, exploit the resource or return to a spot they did not have permission to hunt, because they had a good day the time before. It was good, successful hunts that brought out the real type of hunter they were. It was good successful hunts that put me or my dog at risk. Sorry, but hunting with a poacher or unsafe hunter is my idea of a bad day.

That said, I don't consider raining a spoiler. Many times during the gun deer season, I pray for an all day rain to make stalking and still hunting easier. Some of my best bucks and toms have come in the rain, when their senses are dulled and there was less pressure because of fewer hunters in the field. Going home empty isn't always a bad thing either, especially if you learn something that makes you successful the next time.

Sometimes you need to step back and ask yourself if you are making the guy miserable that you think is making you miserable.

The graciousness of people who took me hunting got me into hunting. From there, the golden rule goes a long way. We all still hunt together.

Heck it's the same thing with money. I know one guy who hit it big (after hard work and years of it) who built a special needs wing onto an orphanage in Central America. He takes his wife on nice vacations and drives a 2WD mid-level Ford F150. Another guy I know who made more than that invested in race horses and bad stocks; he's broke again.

Imposed stress tends to bring out the best or worst in many people. Unexpected stress is worse. Doesn't matter if it's a hunting trip, a car wreck or a burglary.

Simple human nature. When things are going well, and everybody is having fun, you can get along with anybody. It takes some real adversity to test people's true character, and some just don't cut it. It doesn't change anybody. It just reveals what was there all along and had not been exposed.

Jim not too sure where you are going with this but here is my interpreation.

Many of us are highly competitive and we like to push our personal boundaries in order to find out a little more of ourselves and our limits. This we take on as a deeply personal rite of passage.

But then many of us have motivations that are a little ego centric and the motives are perhaps less pure and disguised. It take all types.

I quickly learnt that hunting buddies of similar ilk are hard to find. Guys who share the same hunting ethic, camp chore ethic etc. The process of getting to this point can be time consuming and downright frustrating.

So speaking of endurance. Having served time in the Southern African war theatre we experienced a thing called "vasbyt" which is an Afrikaans word directly translated means "bite hard" or "grit your teeth". It is pronounced as "fuss bait".

Now this term is a whole lot more than simply gritting your teeth, it is about an individual either acting independently or within a team being able to endure mental and physical challenges, well, well above that of the average individual while still remaining focussed clear minded and dedicated to getting the task done to the benefit of the team. There is also a clear understanding that within this structure that not all will be equally strong in each discipline and that there will be assistance from the team such that the team does not lose functionality.

At these levels of performance many times the spoken word is not necessary but a deeper level of understanding exits. I am lucky to be part of a group like this. Having aged we also understand that physical performance levels will drop and that allowances are made for these.

Perhaps I totally missed what you we getting at.

Then Jim I consider you a virtual hunting buddy .