Hunting Group Dynamics

[Landshark]

Thanks for posting this Joes. Although I'm aware of what can happen when you go out with a bunch of guys wether it's a motorcycle ride or a hunt or....
It reminds me to be aware and ask a few questions before committing. I'm in your camp whereas I don't enjoy excessive drinking and late nights when I know I want to get going in the morning. I don't care what others do when it comes to alcohol or cannibis use, I just don't need to be involved. Maybe that's why I don't committ to these types of groups and perfer one or maybe two others at most on such excursions.

[waldedw]

Hunting groups can be fickle, over the years ours has evolved into mostly family, we now have nephews and their sons hunting with us, the ones that are not family have mostly been hunting with us off and on for years so are considered family.

We have a very nice group now but if everyone shows up is to big 12 total but that has never happened YET, work commitments, school and life in general usually cuts into things, the mainstay of our group is 4 retired guys myself included, we usually go in a couple days early and get things set up, and for the most part we hang out for 3 weeks or so, the other boy's come and go as work and life dictates, everybody get a share of the meat and pays a share of the processing, all other expenses are split based on time spent in camp. We have never had a squabble about expenses as it's pretty cut and dried.

We had over the years allowed a couple friends of friends to join us, 2 of them lasted 1 year and we said NO that's it, a couple others left on their own for 1 reason or another, crap happens.

All in all I can say that I really like the way things are with our group, of course from time to time things have to be hashed out but it never gets to the boiling point, it's great to have the young guys around, lots of muscle for the heavy lifting, but having said that we are getting older, the old boys are all in their 70's now and me well I can see it but haven't turned that page yet, health issues have cause some to miss from time to time and I suspect that is going to continue.

I really must say that it has been a great 45 years and I really hope I get another dozen or so, it will be a sad day when I can't head to camp mid September with my old friends, that's the best day of the year for me.

You guys all take care and be safe, happy hunting
Ed

[aragor764]

I enjoy hunting/fishing with friends but I enjoy it even more when I am alone, some people are less committed and have different style of hunting, that is why I prefer taking that variable out of the equation, my brother is the only guy I enjoy hunting with so far...

[slabm7]

We've toned down our hunting trips and don't hunt quite as hard as we used to. My hunting buddy and I now both have boys who are 11-13 and we bring them out with us. Our goal is to make it enjoyable for them so they want to come back and most 11-13 year old's don't like getting up at 5am and walking 20 kms a day. So we take it easy, sleep in a bit, make a good breakfast, maybe head out around 9 and trudge through the bush from camp for an hour or two. The boys carry .22's and shoot at grouse and squirrels. I'll carry my .270 in case the one deaf 5x5 buck who didn't hear us from a mile away is around the next corner. Then we head back to camp, have good lunch, then usually hook up toboggans behind the truck and pull the kids around on the logging roads. Then back to camp for for another early evening hunt and then back for a couple beers and start making supper. In the evening my buddy and I hang out around the fire if it's warm enough and the boys hang out inside the tent watching movies. In a couple years once they get a bit older I can see us transitioning to more hunting but right now it's just to get out and enjoy time with the kids.

[Twisted Canuck]

Originally Posted by JD848

Tc my freind us hunters could all be saints and still someone would find fault in us . Being a logger all my life and a hunter I got it from both ends ,but not one of them whiners wipes there butt with saran wrap and all have homes that are made of wood while walking around in full leather skin tight outfits .

Hypocrites the whole darn works .

This forum is one of the most decent and has a ton off great guys .

Cheers
JD

I couldn't agree more, this is a great forum with a ton of great guys, and I've had more then a couple occasions to sit around the fire and lift quite a few toddies (till 5 am with TireBob!). I'm no saint either.

I just so much prefer good positive posts here, rather then complaints and things that put us in a bad light. The world has endless things to complain about, it's the easiest thing to do.

But sometimes those complaints don't need to be rolled out in public. That's the whole point I was trying to make.

If I didn't appreciate this forum and it's fine membership, I A: wouldn't bother posting here, or reading anything, and B: I sure wouldnt wear a tin star.

So, that's why I said what I did, and I stand by it. Not because I'm a saint, but because discretion is good.

[Phil McCracken]

Originally Posted by Twisted Canuck

I couldn't agree more, this is a great forum with a ton of great guys, and I've had more then a couple occasions to sit around the fire and lift quite a few toddies (till 5 am with TireBob!). I'm no saint either.

I just so much prefer good positive posts here, rather then complaints and things that put us in a bad light. The world has endless things to complain about, it's the easiest thing to do.

But sometimes those complaints don't need to be rolled out in public. That's the whole point I was trying to make.

If I didn't appreciate this forum and it's fine membership, I A: wouldn't bother posting here, or reading anything, and B: I sure wouldnt wear a tin star.

So, that's why I said what I did, and I stand by it. Not because I'm a saint, but because discretion is good.

And you know what TC?

You are a very decent man and you don't have to explain/defend yourself about anything to anyone...

[Twisted Canuck]

I got a fan! I got a fan!!!

Thanks Phil. My hope is that people will recognize the point I am making and consider it, and that perhaps it will benefit the forum.

[nelsonob1]

Originally Posted by Twisted Canuck

Other then reinforcing the drunken slob hunters stereotype that has been around since Disney screened Bambi, nope, nothing wrong with venting publicly on a hunting forum at all. If that is ok with you, please vent your own stories, if you believe that is what this platform is for. I will keep mine to myself.

Don't have any drunken stories to share and I will refrain from dumping on the guys who do. The woods are a big place and if drinking at hunting camp is your thing - go hard and have fun.

[Frank_NK28]

I've deer hunted with two different groups over the years. Once for a weekend in a hunt camp and the other for a week locally so home every night and met in the morning and hunted all day. Never again. Never experienced so much immature behaviour in my life as big game hunting in a group. Nowadays I hunt deer alone or with my wife and the majority of my waterfowling is done one buddy or with my wife. I despise hunting in a group larger than three. I made an exception this past fall when a friend from northern Ontario I hadn't hunted with in thirty years came out to hunt for a couple weeks. I thought he was coming alone and at the last minute asked if he could bring his son along so I said ok. As much as I enjoyed the visit hunting our regular little group and adding a couple more to it was a bit much some days. I won't do that again either, back to the old rule of 3 max.

[Full Curl Earl]

Geez Twisted, your a moderator, be better.
This forum isn’t perused for stories by anti’s, Pics yes.
The OP is wondering, I think, if his thoughts are normal, and he’ll ya they are!
As we age, some of our pals stop hunting, and hard to navigate some decisions.
My time in the woods is to important to me to waste on drunks and other BS, so hunting alone is often the go to.
But company sure is nice sometimes.

Originally Posted by Twisted Canuck

I'm probably of a different mindset. I have been hunting with people that joined groups, that I would never hunt with again. Why?

Because nunya.

As in, not anybody's business. What happens in camp stays in camp, so to speak. Your comment 'Not trying criticize or judge their methods or dynamics', was just a shock to me' is completely disingenuous. You absolutely were critical and a touch sanctimonious. Whether it was my way of doing things or not, I wouldn't vent my spleen on it on a hunting forum either. Hunters have a bad rap as it is, and antis look for any ammunition they can find. They troll our forums looking for ammo to use against us.

Thanks for supplying ammo for them. Well done.

[Dewey Cox]

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

Geez Twisted, your a moderator, be better.
This forum isn’t perused for stories by anti’s, Pics yes.
The OP is wondering, I think, if his thoughts are normal, and he’ll ya they are!
As we age, some of our pals stop hunting, and hard to navigate some decisions.
My time in the woods is to important to me to waste on drunks and other BS, so hunting alone is often the go to.
But company sure is nice sometimes.

Be better at grammar.

[Joes]

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

Geez Twisted, your a moderator, be better.
This forum isn’t perused for stories by anti’s, Pics yes.
The OP is wondering, I think, if his thoughts are normal, and he’ll ya they are!
As we age, some of our pals stop hunting, and hard to navigate some decisions.
My time in the woods is to important to me to waste on drunks and other BS, so hunting alone is often the go to.
But company sure is nice sometimes.

Thanks for this. Again I’ll say that I wasn’t looking to stir up ammo for antis nor was I looking to upset anyone to the point where they felt they needed to publicly blast me lol. In fact I said to take the post down if that was how it was going to be viewed. Thanks for understanding my point since it seems like maybe I worded it poorly.

[densa44]

This is about a 3 person group who all had a dog with them. We had just driven 23 hours non stop to get from Hamilton to the interlake district of Manitoba. We saw a small flock of geese flying into a strong wind parallel to the road. The land was on a gentle slope going up hill. That meant that the birds were getting lower as they travelled.
We were able to get ahead of them and hid in an old fence line with lots of high vegetation.
As the flock passed over we got a few but this is about one cripple that fell behind us into a patch of grass about 20 feet by 20 feet blowen near flat by the north wind.
It should be mentioned here that my friends purchased their dogs on their reputation (well earned) but thought that training was unnecessary. So the first dog a versatile, was lead up to the small plot of grass and she didn't find the bird, the second dog a big retriever was lead up to the nearly flattened grass and he couldn't find the goose. Now it was my dog's turn. A 2 year old BLF who was field trailed every weekend and trained with birds very day. She had been watching all the proceedings from her wire kennel from the station wagon. Now it was her turn, she went straight to the downed bird and brought it back to me.
The rest of the trip was not very pleasant, we all hunted solo, and never went anywhere together again. I didn't name the other breeds because if my dog hadn't been trained she would have blinked the bird too.
The moral of this unhappy story is that if you have a dog you need to train her.

[vanslays]

Originally Posted by Joes

Thanks for this. Again I’ll say that I wasn’t looking to stir up ammo for antis nor was I looking to upset anyone to the point where they felt they needed to publicly blast me lol. In fact I said to take the post down if that was how it was going to be viewed. Thanks for understanding my point since it seems like maybe I worded it poorly.

I’ve really liked this thread personally. Thanks for starting it. Some interesting perspectives. I’ve never been part of a hunting camp, and have only hunted alone. This thread makes me jealous of hunters’ time at camp, even though some of these camps would not be my thing.

[MyAlberta]

As long as I get my sleep, I don’t care what the others do.When I head out in the morning, I don’t wait for stragglers.I concentrate on scouting and the setups. If you behave, I’ll include you in the hunt, otherwise , your on your own. Have had a few fellows sleep in the truck while we are hunting. No big deal.

[catnthehat]

I normally only hunt with one person at a time, unless it is during our southern bird hunts , and even then the participants are very limited.
However with big game hunting I am very selective, most times I hunt alone and prefer if that way.
Cat

[Curtsyneil]

All it takes is the lazy movie guy to ruin a whole week of fishing or hunting camp. Don’t care to much about the drinking and up all night but a guy like that would drive me crazy and I’m sure I couldn’t bite my lip for long. Every group has a guy like that and usually he’s the tag along. Guys use it as an excuse because the old lady isn’t around so they let loose and have fun. It’s not my thing but I have experienced the same thing as most have and you learn from it.

[~altiplano~]

Sometimes it's a hunting focused trip with a drink or two... sometimes it's more of a social trip with a bottle or three... Good to figure out which one you're going on.

[CBintheNorth]

I hunt different animals with different groups, but all good friends. Some overlap and we all go. Great guys, all of them. But most are related to me.

I think that's what makes a difference. If it's someone close to you and you don't like what they are doing, or how they are acting, you don't have a problem telling them. This usually corrects the behavior.
But if it's someone you just 'kind of know', I think we are all more likely to just turn up our nose and say we will never hunt with them again.
Good hunting partners are usually made, not born.
And still some are just not meant to be...