Who Hunts By Themselves?

Do you hunt by yourself?

  • Yes

    Votes: 99 95.2%

  • No

    Votes: 5 4.8%
  • Total voters
    104
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Olympus

Olympus

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Joined
Jul 14, 2008
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How many people here hunt by themselves? I always have, but I've gotten to the point where sometimes I'm a little nervous about this. I'm finally at the stage where I realize I'm not bulletproof and that there is a chance that something could happen to me while hunting and not having anyone around to help makes me nervous. Not to mention that my hunting land has zero cell phone coverage. Does anyone else that hunts alone worry about things that might happen? I'm always carrying a gun, even when I'm out at the land during the off-season. You never know who might have a meth lab hidden somewhere on your property that you could happen to walk up on or any number of scenarios. Am I just being nervous and paranoid or do other people who hunt alone share these same concerns?

Also, I've been thinking about camping out on my property this year during the week of deer season as opposed to driving back and forth each night and each morning. Does anybody camp alone? Like tent camp alone? Not that I'm scared of the dark, but there's something about being alone in a tent in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone coverage, and no neighbors that makes me a little nervous too. Is this being silly also?
 
As we get older it is something we should think about.
My father stopped hunting from tree stands after heart surgery( he is 73), but will still hunt alone.
I have hunted alone since I was about 9 years old ( but it was a very different world back then).
These days I prefer the social interaction of hunting with others but will still go alone if the situation is as such.
"Immerse yourself in the outdoor experience. It will clense your soul and make you a better person"-
Fred Bear
 
I always go solo. No concerns about unwanted noise or smells (seriously if you can't go without a dang cigarette stay home !) Prefer to camp alone too even if not hunting. Personally I'd rather pitch a tarp over a bivvy sack than deal with a tent.
 
As for hunting, I'm a 50-50. Sometimes solo, or I have a couple friends I go with sometimes. I carry my phone with me along with a small survival kit and plenty of water in my camelback. At a minimum I show the woman where I'm going on a map (not for her- for whoever ends up looking for the body - if she hit the woods looking for me, there would be 2 people lost or whatever) and an idea of when I'll be back or a promise of a phone call if I end up being later. This may require me to move/drive to an area where the phone will work. I don't camp when I hunt because I don't need to and 23 years in the army ruined it for me. Pretty sure the only people that slept on the ground more than me are homeless. But I wouldn't hesitate to camp alone if it made things easier and got me out of a bunch of "stupid early in the AM" driving.
 
I have two boys that also like to hunt, so I'm not always alone. I do enjoy solitude, at least for a while. It's nice to think ones own thoughts for a few hours.

I don't carry much in the way of survival stuff like you western hunters who go for miles. I am seldom more than a mile away from my jeep or atv. Seldom more than 3 miles from my house.
 
I've made many and many a ten- or twelve-mile loop in my desert-mountain back country. Most of the time solo, since I haven't found all that many ambitious walking hunters. :) I've never met another hunter (rare event in the back country) who said they saw me before I saw them. I generally see other people before they see me.
 
Meplat 308 said:
I always go solo. No concerns about unwanted noise or smells (seriously if you can't go without a dang cigarette stay home !) Prefer to camp alone too even if not hunting. Personally I'd rather pitch a tarp over a bivvy sack than deal with a tent.
Click to expand...
That would be me with the smokes, and I ain't staying home! In fact I bring a waterproof pelican case with 10 packs and 5 lighters so even if I fall in the river I'm good.
Sometimes I bring people if I have to (like if I'm guiding them) but mostly I hunt alone. Except if it's a hunt involving 4 wheeler's.I was pinned under one once,with a broken back, and if I didn't have help I'd be a skeleton under a Honda in the Alaska woods right now.
 
I had a duck hunting buddy for years, but I've moved. Hunting ducks alone is sort of a drag. Deer and hogs I just walk back into the woods to my box blind or tree stand if it's bow season.

Goose hunting is a pain alone. Too many deeks to put out in usually muddy conditions that are hard to walk in. 300 Texas rags is tough to put out in the dark on your own. Anymore, I get an outfitter and we go in a group.

Doves, I hunt alone or every opener, I run up to Waco and hunt with my buddy. He has 400 acres of good dove hunting near the town of West. We've been doing that since we were freshmen at Texas A&M in 1971, so that's sort of a tradition.
 
I do hog control on a series of properties twice a week and that is almost exclusively hunting by myself, usually in the middle of the night. Every couple of weeks, I get to go out with a a buddy or buddies and hunt another group of properties on which they do hog control. I enjoy both forms. The really big difference is that when I hunt by myself, I take shots at hogs from a greater distance than when I hunt with buddies.
 
I tend to hunt alone more and more. In some of the more remote and dangerous areas I've considered getting a PLB. I have had some close calls on my horses several times. I'm not sure that horses are always on our team?:cool:
 
Now that most of my hunting companions have reached retirement (read old) I find myself alone in the woods most of the time. One friend has had a hip and knee replaced, another needs a knee replaced and my son-in-law has allergies so bad that he can hardly leave the house. The wife doesn't hunt and my daughters live out-of-state. I am retired and have exclusive access to some awesome farms. Our bow season runs over 5 months so I have no problem hunting deer 50-60 days a year. Back in the good-ole-days we would take a week and tent camp. Now their idea of camping is a 32' motor home with heat, ac, and tv. I put a backpack on once in awhile and spend a couple of days alone in the woods, but I do miss deer camp and the camaraderie. Alas, those days are gone.
 
I sometimes go hunting alone during muzzleloader season , but others also hunt the same property and we sign a book where we are at . That doesn't really help me out that much , because I live alone , so it could take days for someone to miss me . That is the main reason I have a cell phone . My uncle fell out of a treestand once and broke both of his legs . He had to crawl out of the woods , to his truck and use a stick to work the gas pedal and break , until he got to the main road for help .
 
Olympus said:
How many people here hunt by themselves? I always have, but I've gotten to the point where sometimes I'm a little nervous about this. I'm finally at the stage where I realize I'm not bulletproof and that there is a chance that something could happen to me while hunting and not having anyone around to help makes me nervous. Not to mention that my hunting land has zero cell phone coverage. Does anyone else that hunts alone worry about things that might happen? I'm always carrying a gun, even when I'm out at the land during the off-season. You never know who might have a meth lab hidden somewhere on your property that you could happen to walk up on or any number of scenarios. Am I just being nervous and paranoid or do other people who hunt alone share these same concerns?

Also, I've been thinking about camping out on my property this year during the week of deer season as opposed to driving back and forth each night and each morning. Does anybody camp alone? Like tent camp alone? Not that I'm scared of the dark, but there's something about being alone in a tent in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone coverage, and no neighbors that makes me a little nervous too. Is this being silly also?
Click to expand...


No not silly, you never know when wierd stuff will happen. Im pretty comfortable being alone but 90% of the time ive got some cell phone service atleast. Also i rarely stay out over night.

If cell phone service is available semi nearby, might wanna arrange to check in with some one every evening or something while your camping. If not, you gotta decide if your comfortable enough with being out of contact to still have fun camping and hunting.

Mostly i hunt with friends these days, more because i dont hunt as offten as i did a few years ago than any other reason, and they give me a good excuse to dump the kids on my wife for the day.

Couple years ago, most every weeknd i spent atleast a day hunting alone usually from before my wife (girlfriend at the time) got up till after dark. Had a couple close calls in that time but nothing life threatening.

I "camp" at work a few days a week, beats driving 100miles home every day, but ive got cell signal, my truck, and im only a 1/4 mile from the back of the airport.
 
I prefer to hunt alone. I've brought a girlfriend or two in the stand with me. Never again. The squirrels are better company. Part of deer season I retire back to a group for beers and socialize. But mostly when I hunt, its solo. The way I like it.
 
Art Eatman said:
I've made many and many a ten- or twelve-mile loop in my desert-mountain back country. Most of the time solo, since I haven't found all that many ambitious walking hunters. :) I've never met another hunter (rare event in the back country) who said they saw me before I saw them. I generally see other people before they see me.
Click to expand...

I hunt alone and if I see you first you will not see me
Larry
Northern Minnesota USA
 
I've spent more days hunting by myself than with others...

Many times I would have a plane fly me in, dropping me off at a place I showed them on a map, where I wanted to go... I'd pitch a tent and stay there by myself for a week or two, even in the winter.

NO cell phone, NO sat phone and NO fancy heated tent, and best of all I wouldn't see or hear another person until the plane came back!

I threaded a length of aluminum rod, and I'd put my camera on it, to take picts. of myself, like this pict. of me out in a temperate rain forest,

standard.jpg

OR this winter hunt for Sitka Blacktails,

standard.jpg

These days, I mostly hunt deer and mostly by myself...

DM
 
I prefer to hunt by myself, especially during deer season. I want to make my own mistakes and not look at my buddy scratching his nose ever 4 minutes...

Ducks/Geese are best with a buddy for both decoy wrangling and safety's sake. Its pretty easy to fall in a hole and when its 30 and raining at 5am you might really need the help. I bet duck hunting is the most dangerous type of hunting by far. Add boats and rivers into the equation and it can get bag quick.

Camping alone is no fun for me. Not that I get the willies but its kind of depressing to stare at a fire by yourself. A few times a year I camp alone for convenience sake though.

HB
 
I enjoy going out by myself. Did so this evening in fact. Someone always knows where I am. But I also enjoy really going with my brother or friends. I never set with someone unless it's a new hunter I've introduced to the sport. Then it's a weening process. However, I think my brother is going to start setting within eyesight of me. I'm up 7-0 on him on his own private lease when we hunt together. The text messages after the shot have started getting more hateful and less congratulatory.
It used to go:
(Bang)
Him: Did you get one?
Me: Yep!
Him: Awesome! I'm headed your way!

Now it's:
(Bang)
Him: Really?
Me: Yep!
Him: I hate you. I'm staying put till dark.
5 minutes later.....(Bang)
Him: That better be a finishing shot.
Me: Nope. Got another one!
Him: I'm going to convince mom and dad to take you out of the will.
 
I use to hunt with my Dad and some friends in High School many years ago. Elk, Deer, Grouse, Doves.
I went Elk hunting with a Dr. friend of mine in Craig Colorado on a Horse. I was better off on the Ground. His horse didn't care for the noise. Had fun riding.
A Year in Vietnam cured me of Hunting. I don't care for the end results.
I still love to Shoot with a few Vet friends who share the same interests. Tell stories and have a Blast.
 
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