solo hunting

I enjoy the times hunting with good friends. I enjoy the fellowship that comes with hunting in the group environment. For me, there is just something a little more special about just me and the dog walking through the fields, looking for birds. The time for reflection and bonding with the pooch are where special memories are made.
 
wingsnfins said:
I grew up learning and hunting with my father. Upland was his passion. He enjoyed chasing pheasants, woodcock, and grouse. We typically had at least 1 dog around the house, lab, springer, or brittany.
He passed away too soon, age of 58 from cancer. I was 24 and just finishing college, ready to get put in to the world and enjoy alot more time with him.
I got my first lab 2 years later to honor him and start building on what he taught me. Subsequently, my sister and her husband bought a pup from the same litter, so we had brothers. I had experience and exposure to training dogs, began working with my lab. My BIL had no experience with this at all. We began spending alot of time together with the dogs. It was amazing to see how the 2 brothers interacted, learned, and grew together hunting. And it became a activity that my BIL and I spend alot of time together doing. We are now on our 2nd set of labs that are brothers. They will be 8 this summer. They knock it out of the park......on their own each is a force.....together it is just a site to watch them work. Their bond as brothers just gels into their knowledge and experience in the field. They are around each other alot.
So I am either hunting solo mostly with my lab or the 2 labs. Or it is my BIL and I with our 2 labs. That is probably 95% of the time.
I thoroughly enjoy just time afield with my dog on our own. We have a great time.
I do wish my Dad was still around, as he would have enjoyed hunting with us.
Cherish your hunting partners and your hunting dogs.
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I also grew up learning and hunting with my dad. He doesn't hunt anymore, but I still cherish the memories. Sometimes in high school, he'd have the station wagon loaded up on Friday afternoon and we'd leave for central or western Kansas right after my basketball games on Friday night. I had never really solo hunted until a few years ago. I do one trip a year with a group (family and friends) and enjoy it for what it is, a fun social weekend, but I do enjoy being out with just me and the dog.
 
Skye really likes to hold onto the birds. I know in perfect dog training they bring them back and you say a command like give, out, or drop and you take the bird immediately. Often when I get lucky enough to bag a rooster I call her back and let her sit with the bird for a minute. I figure it's the least I can do for all the hard work she puts in. If we're in an area with a lot of birds nearby I might grab the bird right away, otherwise I let her bask in her achievement for a bit. She is soft mouthed too, so I don't worry about a chewed up bird.
 

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I usually have the same hunting buddy each hunt (most every weekend day & holidays),but I have had a 2 different family friends twice (once both on the same hunt), my father, a different cousin and his daughter, another friend and his grandson all once during this season and twice I have been by myself. I am good with all these hunts. I shoot my birds if I am trying to not be noisy or if we are shouting and laughing constantly, it seems to have little affect on things. I am the guy calling out HEN! I hate hens getting shot also, but for me, it is as much for the other hunters (if any) as it is for the dog, a "call-off". Some call out "no-bird", I use "HEN". The birds know you are there...even before you pull the RUN switch on your shotgun...everything with in a half mile knows exactly where you are at that moment...and you still shoot more birds after the opening shot, right??? I guess if I had to pick solo or group, I would choose group, even though we can't party hunt in Iowa, after I have my three, I can stay out with the dog to see more dog work and once in a while see some good shooting. I thought my bird harvest numbers would decline without the party hunting, but I will get my 60ish birds again this season and my buddy gets many more opportunities and I know he enjoys it more.
 
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Many of you have already said it perfectly. It’s a blast hunting with family or a few close buddies sometimes. But there is something very special about just you and the pup out there.

I’ve always enjoyed spending time outdoors alone. And it’s great having a bird dog again, gets me out exploring all the time year round.
 
Springer22 said:
Many of you have already said it perfectly. It’s a blast hunting with family or a few close buddies sometimes. But there is something very special about just you and the pup out there.

I’ve always enjoyed spending time outdoors alone. And it’s great having a bird dog again, gets me out exploring all the time year round.
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Special bond between my dogs and me for sure. I like hunting with my cousin, but his eyesight is really bad.He actually shot this farmers turkey. That guy was really pissed!!
 
Iowa springerguy said:
I prefer to hunt solo but the older I get the more I realize that probably isn't smart. As I close in on 70 it has become apparent that the old body doesn't withstand the rigors spending hours in the field as well as it once did. So the wife tags along or I take my son and 2 grandsons. Never was a fan of large groups and kept the size to no more than 4 of us all of which were either relatives or friends I had known for years.
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Yes I no longer hunt from sunrise to sunset!
I'm 67 years old and hunt every weekday from sunrise to noon.
I find that my older body gets used to this routine after a couple weeks...I
I do hike every other day year round to maintain fitness.

One thing I always carry is an InReach for emergency text via satellite
and I always email a map to my wife exactly were the truck will be parked
and where I am headed.

I have no experience hunting with large groups...the most I've ever hunted with is one other person.
 
AKSkeeter said:
Yes I no longer hunt from sunrise to sunset!
I'm 67 years old and hunt every weekday from sunrise to noon.
I find that my older body gets used to this routine after a couple weeks...I
I do hike every other day year round to maintain fitness.

One thing I always carry is an InReach for emergency text via satellite
and I always email a map to my wife exactly were the truck will be parked
and where I am headed.

I have no experience hunting with large groups...the most I've ever hunted with is one other person.
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I too have the InReach device. It is pretty cool and nice to have for the piece of mind.
 
BrownDogsCan2 said:
I hunt solo probably 20 days a year. Another 5 being with someone else or a group.
It’s funny when you run into another solo hunter you want to chat them up or they you. For us alll being a bunch of hermits😆I think solo hunters are some of the friendliest people out there.
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I chatted with a guy with idaho plates way out in the boonies in November. He had 2 black labs.Short guy.I wonder how he found that place.
 
AKSkeeter said:
Yes I no longer hunt from sunrise to sunset!
I'm 67 years old and hunt every weekday from sunrise to noon.
I find that my older body gets used to this routine after a couple weeks...I
I do hike every other day year round to maintain fitness.

One thing I always carry is an InReach for emergency text via satellite
and I always email a map to my wife exactly were the truck will be parked
and where I am headed.

I have no experience hunting with large groups...the most I've ever hunted with is one other person.
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I will be 68 in January and approach hunting just like you. Hunt every other or every 3rd day and only until noon. Body needs a lot more recovery time than it did even 5 years ago.
Wife and I will walk 3 to 5 miles daily weather permitting and I lift 3 days week at a gym to keep a level of strength and cardio throughout the year.
 
AKSkeeter said:
Yes I no longer hunt from sunrise to sunset!
I'm 67 years old and hunt every weekday from sunrise to noon.
I find that my older body gets used to this routine after a couple weeks...I
I do hike every other day year round to maintain fitness.

One thing I always carry is an InReach for emergency text via satellite
and I always email a map to my wife exactly were the truck will be parked
and where I am headed.

I have no experience hunting with large groups...the most I've ever hunted with is one other person.
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That large group hunting is bs.Those birds have no chance.
 
I don't have a problem with hunting solo. I do enjoy introducing people to pheasant hunting behind dogs. Showing them where to find birds and how to hunt safely and legally. I also enjoy running both or all three of my dogs at the same time and that almost requires 2 or more hunters.
 
Goosemaster said:
Special bond between my dogs and me for sure. I like hunting with my cousin, but his eyesight is really bad.He actually shot this farmers turkey. That guy was really pissed!!
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gimruis said:
I don't associate with unsafe individuals who own firearms. That's just not my crowd. If you can't safely operate a shotgun, you aren't hunting with me. I also don't hunt with people who shoot hens.

I used to hunt with a few other "friends" years ago but their dogs were so misbehaved that it damn near ruined the hunt, so that was the end of that.
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You would not like hunting with my cousin.
 

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LC Smith said:
I enjoy the times hunting with good friends. I enjoy the fellowship that comes with hunting in the group environment. For me, there is just something a little more special about just me and the dog walking through the fields, looking for birds. The time for reflection and bonding with the pooch are where special memories are made.
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Yeah that's the zen. My 10 year old lab has a great nose,she always finds birds.She isn't good at runners.My 5 month old lab is starting to hunt, and retrieved a bird recently. Other people are fun usually, bit that brings a whole different scenario.
 
Wind River said:
Life is too short to hunt with the wrong people and untrained dogs. ;)
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I hunted with a guy who had an untrained dog. At the end of the weekend we both had untrained non broke dogs. His dog would break at the flight of the pheasant, pretty soon my dog was not broke, they understand fair very well.
 
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