Party Hunting

BRITTMAN said:
Try hunting the MN wolf zone. Between winter and wolves ... seeing a deer let alone shooting one becomes a victory. I still enjoy the time out there, I just do not spend as much time out deer hunting anymore.

Trail cams are a great tool in understanding what you have on a piece of private property. Deer, wolves, bear, birds, and varmints ... all make regular appearances. Neighbor had a wolf with fawn in mouth late last spring. All this about halfway between the cities and Duluth.

Huge difference from the ag - river bottom areas I grew up deer hunting on in ND.
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Yeah Im with you on that. I deer hunt about 30 miles due west of Duluth. I see almost as many wolves on my trail cams as I do deer. I at least saw a nice buck last year. Better than some years where I sit for 6 or 7 days and don't even see a tail.
 
I hunted in the Chippewa National Forest east of Leech Lake with 9 other people for 26 years and none of us ever even saw a wolf. The closest anyone came was old tracks in the snow. I'd love to see one in the wild someday.

I usually hunt the entire 9 day gun season further south now. But I've definitely gone days on end without a single deer sighting. The longest I've gone is 6 days straight without visually seeing a deer. That's how it goes sometimes. Definitely not for the mentally weak.

Or are we all rubes for attempting to hunt them, according to goose?
 
GetTothePoint said:
Back when we had a lot of birds and ground to hunt I looked at it differently. We were confident everyone would get their shots and birds throughout the day. Now days of lower birds and fighting for spots if we have the chance to put some on the tailgate I don't care who gets them, just get them.
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I have to be honest, I didn't realize party hunting was illegal in Kansas until a few years ago. I started pheasant hunting in western Kansas around 1980 when I was 10 years old. I went with my dad and a few of his buddies. I don't know if they knew it was illegal, but they never worried about individual limits, just total limit. We did get checked by the game warden on occasion, and I don't ever remember them asking who shot what. One opening weekend when I was in my mid 20's a shot A LOT of pheasants. My dad and all of his buddies were in their 50's and older and didn't want to put in the effort I did so they didn't care. They were happy to get the birds. Now, if I am hunting with others I try to make sure everyone gets shots (and hopefully birds), especially if I have kids or novice hunters along.
 
LittleBigHorn22 said:
If you hit the group limit, unless you just luckily each shot exactly the same amount of birds, you are party hunting. Morally I think your approach is fine. Everyone seems happy to share that way. If you are in an area where party hunting is illegal, you could still get in trouble for having the communal pile. It would be better to each have their own pile even if they all add up to a single limit.
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Thanks LittleBigHorn22. Believe it or not, every time we have the birds in a pile it makes me a little nervous. I also get nervous travelling down the road with an unknown number and species of birds and especially crossing state lines with different limits and different laws generally concerning daily and multi day possession.
 
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gimruis said:
I hunted in the Chippewa National Forest east of Leech Lake with 9 other people for 26 years and none of us ever even saw a wolf. The closest anyone came was old tracks in the snow. I'd love to see one in the wild someday.

I usually hunt the entire 9 day gun season further south now. But I've definitely gone days on end without a single deer sighting. The longest I've gone is 6 days straight without visually seeing a deer. That's how it goes sometimes. Definitely not for the mentally weak.

Or are we all rubes for attempting to hunt them, according to goose?
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I saw a huge black one walking on the shoulder of the road near Ely once at night. It was amazing. I’ve also seen kill spots up there on frozen lakes.. deer kill in the middle with tracks coming in from all sides.. they surrounded it. Quite the site.

If we can we can ever hunt them again.. I will be there. I’d hop on that in a heartbeat.
 
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Jawilor: "This subject raises an interesting question... at what point does someone become a game hog?"

My answer: when they shoot one more than the limit.
 
I don’t really care about who shoots what as long as I don’t have to hear about it.
One year the partner of my mil’s son came along and shot a couple of limits. Which is fine but his dad carried on for a year about it Ely this and Ely that.
The next year I did it in the first field. Luck of the draw it’s the way the birds fell. Kind of pissed the old man off. Every one else was fine with it and happy to go home with birds.

I think if you hunt with people regularly for the most part it evens out.
I think that year 2010 was the last year I can remember where there was even much of a chance to add to a party limit.
 
BrownDogsCan2 said:
I don’t really care about who shoots what as long as I don’t have to hear about it.
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Same here. I've been on trips with people where I don't pull the trigger for a day or 2 while others are hammering away. Just the way things work sometimes. As long as it's a fun trip, the dogs have a good time and a couple birds end up in someone's game bag, I'm happy.
 
I've never had a problem regarding this topic. All the people I've hunted with are my buddies. If somebody shoots a bird of mine or vice versa no big deal. If I ever get up to the high Canadian with Goose, and he shows up with a fancy 28gauge, then I'll just plan on shooting all his birds too. I'll fill up the gas tank on his ski boat to make up for it. Now if his cousin shows up, then I'm hunting solo, I don't trust that guys ability to make safe shots.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
Whether I'm hunting alone or with a group, if I'm not getting some shots, it frustrates me, because it means I'm doing something horribly wrong, which is unacceptable & must be addressed.
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Well, are you doing something wrong??
 
Drew said:
Well, are you doing something wrong??
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If I'm not getting shots, yes. Either not hunting the right spot at the right time, or not hunting it in an effective manner. Sure, there's a measure of luck involved with hunting, & I'll take it whenever I can get it, but in general, the ability to get shots at pressured, wild pheasants doesn't depend on luck.
 
Comes down to what is legal first then how does the group want to proceed? I hunt with just my buddy unless a landowner joins us. If a landowner is along then we are doing everything we can to put him in the best position to get action and waiting for him to shoot first whenever possible. If it’s just the two of us then we really don’t worry about it. Knowing some days he is gonna have bragging rights and some days I will. We both tend to encourage the other to take the “best” spots if we are hunting close just because that’s how we are. If one is ahead on birds and there’s a small area to get hunted he will have the other guy hit it and be the pick up person. If we are both together though and a bird goes up closest to the guy with higher kill for the day it is expected he shoots it. As long as the dogs are happy that is the main thing and both of us know the rules of the game.
 
The guys I grew up with never party hunted. And if you got your birds first, you birddogged for the guys still hunting. I've had guys practically beg me to shoot a bird or two for them. I would intentionally miss to make them feel better. But just last season, I shot a bird for a buddy and I regret having done that. Makes me feel cheap. I guess every once in awhile you have to do something against your principles just to remind yourself why you had them.

South Dakota has to allow party limits. Those groups would stop showing up if each guy had to shoot his own birds.
 
I'm at the point in my life that if I am hunting with a couple of buddies, I don't care who shoots how may birds toward our limit. if its 2, 3, or 4 of us walking public land, i would not expect my buddy who may have hit three already to pass up a flushed bird within his range and out of everyone else's range.

on private land guided hunts where we are in a larger group and typically more spread out, the guys i hunt with are usually mindful of who has been getting the most opportunities and adjust accordingly. it usually works out where most of our group ends up shooting a lot more shells than the number of birds that make it into the vest.
 
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