What type of hunting buddies do you have?

[WV Bowhunter]

Most of us have a buddy or small group that they hunt with. I have a group of guys 5 of us if you count me that share common interests and goals of hunting. We have a camper that we go stay in and can hunt a small piece of private ground and somewhere around 50k of public in the 1/2 hr driving range around there. We rarely all hunt at the same time but normally 2 or 3 of us will be around at some time or another during November. We hunt together, drag bucks out together, share stories and share a table together in the evenings.

We scout together and have some cool history with some of the deer we kill. One year one of the guys hit a nice 11 pt with a big crab claw G4 on the first day of gun season, but after searching figured the buck would live another day. Fast forward one year and on the first day of gun season two big bucks came sneaking from there bedding point and were walking by me inside of 30 yards. I shot my biggest buck that morning and the buck that was with him ran over to where my buddy had his stand and he shot it about 4-500 yards away. I was working on getting my buck down the hollow when my friend walked up. He said he shot his buck (which was a nice 140’s 9 pt) and told me he had the shed to my buck. He had just found it as he was walking out to meet us. It turned out to be the buck he had hit one year earlier and he had found the shed the day I killed him a year later. We spent all day and part of the night getting those bucks out of there since we had about a 2 mile drag for each one.

Another year I passed a nice tall tined buck that was chasing a doe. I was at full draw on him but when he turned his head in my direction I saw he was only about 14” wide and I decided to pass him. I kicked myself for a long time over that but the following year one of my buddies killed that buck on the same point as where I saw him the year prior. He had the same rack or real similar that year and was somewhere around 140” or so. Beautiful buck and I was thrilled that he got him.

This year when another one of the guys in our group shot a 150ish 10 pt that two of us had been getting pictures of we couldn’t have been happier for him and were even still excited after some time pulling on a deer cart to get him out.

I have way more examples of where things just sorta worked out and the stories blend together between our group. We scout together and run cams and share what info we gain. We really hunt together as a group even if we’re not hunting together and going off to another spot and hunting solo. I know I am just as happy when one of my buddies get a nice one as if I had got it myself. Really nice to have guys like that.

Any one else lucky enough to have a sound group of guys to share your experiences with?

[Swelch]

Back in Arkansas I did, but since the move to a new state none of my in-laws hunt and I haven't had time to really meet anybody yet maybe next year

[oldrank]

I hunt alone most of the time. Had hunting buddies years ago. They gave up hunting or got married or moved. The few people I do know that still hunt are not serious about it. I have a couple guys that I work with that I chat about hunting with. That is about the extent of it.

[Ghost Hunter]

Getting older most of my friends do nothing but gun hunt. Two or three weekends an done. I have a couple of friends that bow hunt. We hunt on an off hit an miss together for four months.

[Swelch]

I got my wife into bowhunting and she took her first one last year. Now she is hooked and it just got a lot more expensive for me haha. With the new baby, moving, and working oilfield this year was a bust for our house, next year they better watch out I've got 3 weeks of post season scouting lined up to prepare for next year.

[Hawthorne]

Everyone of my hunts this year was solo. I have a few friends and one family member I text with during season. Two are fellow Beast members. My one friend was gracious enough to come help me drag my buck back to the truck. He has a lease 10 miles from the public I was hunting. I bought him a gift card from cabelas for the help because it was a rough drag.He said he would tell no one about the spot. Lol

[mainebowhunter]

I have a great group of hunting buddies that I talk with on a regular basis. Some I have traveled with. Dallas is my best friend and only hunting partner. He and I have dragged out a lot of good bucks together. He is the only one that knows most of my hunting spots. He is the only one I have ever turned any good spots over to.

[Forkhorn]

Sounds like a good group of guys you got there WV. Just curious, what did you do with the shed of the buck you killed and your buddy found? I know that could be an issue with hunting buddy's... Doesn't sound like it would be with you group though.

[tgreeno]

I have a brother-in-law I hunt with on occasion. He's a climber guy, who stays out of the marsh. And another buddy who owns some private, and I hunt with a couple times a year. Otherwise most of my hunts are solo and on public.

[WV Bowhunter]

Sounds like a good group of guys you got there WV. Just curious, what did you do with the shed of the buck you killed and your buddy found? I know that could be an issue with hunting buddy's... Doesn't sound like it would be with you group though.

He gave it to me without a question. I can’t even remember if I asked him for it, pretty sure he just gave it to me.

[sbeasley]

Fascinating that this post is by you WV. I live in Athens, OH and was thinking about pm'ing you. Not sure what part of wv you are from but I told my wife a few days ago that I was going to reach out to a nearby beast. With work and kids, I don't have any beast style hunting buddies, I go alone. Our 10 year old son just shot his first deer last Saturday. I have been cautious about getting him started. I'm more proud of him for helping me butcher the whole deer. He didn't wander away to play video games the entire 3 evenings it took to finish the job. I think I have him hooked on deer " niblets" straight out of the skillet(all those yummy micro scraps from along the backbone- inside and out).

Corn piles are common here- not my game. I shot my first deer 30 years ago but have still only shot 1 mature. I've shot 3.5 year olds the previous 2 years with my bow. One opportunity this rutcation in 13 days- hit him in the shoulder blade - game over. Have hunted probably 130 hours this fall, still have my buck tag. I need to hang out around guys like you to get to the next level.

December is hectic for obvious reasons- I'll be in touch.

[Dewey]

I have very few friends that don’t hunt so I tend to surround myself with like minded guys. Very few are really into as much as I am though. They tend to only talk about hunting a few months out of the year not year round like I do. Most think I’m crazy hunting the stuff I do and hauling a stand and stuff in and out each hunt. We talk some tactics and swap hunting stories but rarely hunt together much anymore. These days I’m more of a Lone Wolf and like the freedom to come and go as I please. Found I was always restricted hunting with a partner and am much more flexible and focussed hunting alone.

[Boogieman1]

Never had a hunting buddy, not by choice just never ran across anything but the put me in a good spot type. I have lots of fishing buddies and enjoy all that comes with it. Hunting wise in this state it's hard to find someone who hasn't already been brainwashed into thinking they need a tower blind and a protein feeder set up in the corner of a lush food plot to be successful and care nothing about learning.

[d_rek]

The majority of my hunting is solo, but I have been hitting public land with my father in law and an occasional friend. Have a coupe of good hunting buddies that would help me drag a deer out of quicksand if I asked them too, but our schedules rarely align and allow us to hunt together.

I have found that most of my peers simply don't have the flexibility or availability to hunt as much as I can. I am lucky in that I have extremely flexible work schedule (I work in technology and software, and can work remotely upto 100% of the time if I desire, and have true flex time) but most of my hunting peers are in trades or other 9-5 jobs. The guys in trades seem to have the worst schedules. A lot of them have families now too.

I love talking hunting and, when schedules permit, hunting with most of those guys though I do enjoy the solitude of being in the outdoors alone. Either way It's great therapy from my office job.

[mheichelbech]

I started back hunting with my brother a lot more this year with being on the same property he is. It has definitely hurt my hunting but I’ve accepted it for now. Although he is experienced and his killed a lot of really big bucks, he is getting older and doesn’t go in deep like he used to. Also not quite as serious about it anymore. However I enjoy and cherish the time with him. He is the only person I could give a buck to if I was on one and it’s vice versa. His success is mine and mine is his. I just wish he was more into bed hunting and could get into the whole beast deal.