Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


User avatar
wolfie729
500 Club
Posts: 1127
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2012 1:14 pm
Location: Midwest Michigan
Status: Offline

Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby wolfie729 » Sun Jan 04, 2015 5:46 pm

The more obsessed I get with deer hunting the more I realize this is a solo sport. You get so aggressive with learning, scouting, planning, thinking ect..... You have no time to hunt with your friends. I'm blessed my wife doesnt mind my obsession but all my friends that hunt we still hang out and swap stories but when it comes down to it if you want to be a great hunter your better off alone. I've tried to convince a few different freinds to go with me to wisconsin for the scouting workshop and they all said no and that I'm nuts for going alone I laugh inside because I feel that with dedication and knowledge can come great rewards. Hopefully in a few years I will have some nice bucks on the wall from Michigan and be able to laugh and say man you guys were right about my obsession I am nuts but I'm one happy crazy fool Hahaha

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image


Earn what’s never given.
User avatar
Hawthorne
500 Club
Posts: 6217
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 2:13 pm
Location: michigan
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby Hawthorne » Sun Jan 04, 2015 6:17 pm

I hunt solo 95% of the time. I've been more successful since I started doing it about 10 years ago. Some of my family think I'm crazy but I shoot more deer than they do. They always say I'm just lucky.

[ Post made via Android ] Image
davglo35
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2014 5:47 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby davglo35 » Sun Jan 04, 2015 6:18 pm

I always have had more success when i go on a hunt alone. No one to wait on or worry about if i stay longer than most guys would care to. This applies to not only deer hunting but turkey hunting also. Im 53 and make out of state trips for both animals. I have a one man camper and love hunting alone.

[ Post made via Android ] Image
User avatar
PLB
500 Club
Posts: 6974
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:49 pm
Location: NE Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby PLB » Mon Jan 05, 2015 2:58 am

Bow hunting I'm 100 percent Lone Wolf.. There are a few on this forum however I wouldn't mind Beasting with though... ;)

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
Obsession Bows
Lone Wolf Alpha and sticks
User avatar
BigHunt
Posts: 12159
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:50 am
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby BigHunt » Mon Jan 05, 2015 3:01 am

PLB wrote:Bow hunting I'm 100 percent Lone Wolf.. There are a few on this forum however I wouldn't mind Beasting with though... ;)

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image

8-)
HUNT LIKE A BEAST
User avatar
crankn101
500 Club
Posts: 601
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2011 3:29 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby crankn101 » Mon Jan 05, 2015 3:33 am

I know its cost me several deer in the past, ill never be without my vehicle on a hunt again.
JohnnieU
Posts: 233
Joined: Fri Sep 20, 2013 4:06 pm
Location: SE WI
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby JohnnieU » Mon Jan 05, 2015 3:48 am

Agree that alone is the best. But the best properties I have access to I share, so in that situation it's best to communicate and hunt together so you're not always screwing each other up. The good news is I pick different sports than they do so we're not really competing.
User avatar
Kraftd
500 Club
Posts: 2819
Joined: Thu Sep 26, 2013 3:44 pm
Location: NE IL
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby Kraftd » Mon Jan 05, 2015 3:58 am

I like hunting alone and making my own decisions, but still enjoy meeting back up with a select few people after a day of hunting to share stories and whatnot.
User avatar
nater
Posts: 134
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:18 pm
Location: SW Minnesota
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby nater » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:14 am

Best setup might be the private land I hunt in Indiana. I am good friends with two of the neighbors and keep in regular contact with two of the others. We all hunt our own land but share some info about what we're seeing, deer on cameras, trespassers, etc.. We let each other know when we're planning to hunt near the property lines. They've helped me track and drag deer on their land and vice versa. In short each guy is doing his own thing but there's a sense of community that I appreciate. We're all lightly hunting tracts of at least 60 acres in size so there is plenty of land and deer to go around.

Things are lot different for the public I've been hunting in MN. I work with a lot of deer hunters and none of them are half as committed as I am. I've probably shared more of what I have learned than I should but I don't think they care enough to even use that intel because it would take some work to be successful. Same goes with the friends I've made. I've asked for deer info from other people who should know and they either have no idea what they're talking about or won't tell me anything. I'm definitely going alone here and I don't see that changing. It would be nice to have some guys to share notes with but I'll figure it out on my own eventually.

I have definitely learned that my level of interest and dedication is extremely rare.

I will say that the latest Whitetail Adrenaline video made gun drives look like a lot fun. Never been on one.
User avatar
backstraps
Moderator
Posts: 10110
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:44 pm
Location: Tennessee
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby backstraps » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:22 am

There are different mehtods of hunting. If you are seriously hunting a particular animal though, you have to be solo. If you are trying to hunt an area that you know is holding a mature buck, you have to be solo.

Dont get me wrong, I love to go hunting with freinds and family, but those hunts are different than a well thought out, serious planned hunt.

It is a challenge enough of to play chess with a mature buck, if you try to add players to your team, that mature buck will have a huge advantage!
seeds
Posts: 467
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 2:49 pm
Location: SE WI.
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby seeds » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:23 am

Drive past a couple spots with vehicles already there. Get to the third and no-one in the lot. Great!...Get your gear out,shoulder the pack and pick up your bow just as a minivan pulls into the lot and three "hunters" pile out.

This at an 80(ish) acre parcel.

I bowhunt solo. Always.

If I have time I put my gear in the back of my truck,bow back into the case and drive to another nearby parcel.
User avatar
Thermals
500 Club
Posts: 1097
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:58 pm
Location: Next to a Bed
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby Thermals » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:27 am

I always go solo and just about always have until now when I take my son, but then I am not setting up on beds just sitting in spots were we can see good movement. This year I am going to set him up in a stand close by on his own and I will go a little further to hunt a bed on my own.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
dirt nap giver
Posts: 2123
Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:29 pm
Location: SW Michigan
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby dirt nap giver » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:51 am

If I am hunting beds, I am solo. If I am hunting travel corridors, I bring my sweetie, one of the kids to sit with me so they can shoot "a deer". If a big buck walk in, they shoot.
I have plenty of opportunities, and I am at the point in my hunting career where I get just as much enjoyment watching someone else achieve a dream as I do killing one myself.
Gun season, I tend to focus a little more on the commrodery because I do miss the time spent together.
There is just something special about sitting around telling stories, laughing, sharing a meal and having fun with friends and family.
The struggle I have, is knowing when to flip the switch from solo to companion hunts.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
hard work trumps talent, when talent fails to work hard
User avatar
Master Chief
Posts: 156
Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:34 am
Location: Tennessee
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby Master Chief » Mon Jan 05, 2015 8:45 am

I scout for three other people-they scout for me-we work together. In the last two years we've got 3 145+ public bucks in TN and also two other 4.5+ I could have easily went in and killed the 4.5 9 my buddy killed this year (it was actually in a place I only hunted and I even killed my piebald there). I saw his nine cross the road two days before, but thought he would be more excited to kill it so I told him to go there and he did. They could have easily came in on top of me where I shot my ten point, but they didn't because they knew that I wanted that deer more than anything. I guess the moral of the story here is if you can work together without being selfish and understand that the kill is the least of the hunt, you can hunt with multiple people and still be successful.

Now the problem with that is most guys are wanting to be looked at as the greatest hunter alive and will get jealous/selfish.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
JoeRE
500 Club
Posts: 4576
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:26 am
Location: IA
Status: Offline

Re: Finally realizing this is a solo sport!

Unread postby JoeRE » Mon Jan 05, 2015 9:47 am

Bowhunting is a solo deal most of the time but having one or two other hunters who you know have your back really helps. The key is everyone must be equally committed AND trustworthy or its not worth your time.

I have two brothers who share the passion of bow hunting and we have helped each other out more times than I can count. Each others success is as important to us as our own.


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 82 guests