There's a recent thread on the current state of traditional archery, and there's been more than a few responses mentioning that most of their hunting is done solo these days.
And it got me thinking about how common this is. Even though I hang with other trad bowhunters, most of my hunting is done solo, always has been.
So, how many of you are hunting solo, and more importantly, why? I know my reasons but I'd be interested in hearing yours.
There was a thread on this a while back. I really don't understand what the difference is really. I mean I do enjoy a camp with friends. Just got back from Missouri hunting with friends that live there. Of course the were rifle hunters and I had my bows.
Realistically when one leaves camp, wanders in, climbs into the blind or tree stand, they are generally alone.
Yes, there are exceptions. Sitting in a blind with a guest, youngster or new hunter to "guide" them. Or where you are required to have a guide or PH with you by regulation.
But even at our ranch, we are all bowhunting although I'm the only trad shooter, but we sit alone.
Even when I'm there alone I'm never really alone. I get messages and texts. I send pics to buddies and discuss why we dislike a politician or work. Heck customers will text or call you any day of the week or any time of the day.
I do enjoy being there alone. There are safety considerations. Especially after a few heat attacks and stents I'm expected to touch base with my wife. But I can nap when I like, eat what and if I decide to sit a morning or evening hunt out, it's okay.
So I guess all that was just to ask the question, what really do you mean by "solo"?
I hunt in the mountains of central Idaho for deer, elk, and forest grouse. All of my hunting is on the ground and I'm almost always on the move, sometimes very slowly. Nearly all of my hunts last an entire day, from first to last light.
If I choose my area wisely, I rarely see another hunter all day. I don't communicate with others unless I need help packing out meat.
That's kind of my definition of solo hunting.
Sounds like good times. Won't work in all areas but the mountains and big woods are special places.
Most of my hunts are solo. I hit a lot on the property I live at and I am the only person who hunts here. I also hunt a lot at the property where I work because most of the time when I am working, I am alone at the ranch.
I like to hunt with friends and do so whenever I get the chance.
Bisch
Similar to Maclean. Today I hunted alone, but if I was successful with a bigger deer I had family and friends within 3-5 miles to help get it out.
When I was younger I kind of took pride in field dressing and dragging the deer out myself, but those days are long gone. Unless it's a short distance.
I do enjoy bowhunting with friends/family but it doesn't happen too often any more.
I too enjoy hunting with family and friends but find myself hunting alone most of the time. When I go out of state it's always with friends with the exception of Iowa where you have to draw a tag. I hunted with a buddy there until he decided to go late season muzzle loader hunting and screwed up our preferences. This year he told me it was a lot more fun going together and we'll be on track for next draw whenever that comes in 3-4 years( at age 75 I don't know if will ever come).
Back in the mid to late seventies there were a group of us in our Archery Club that hunted and camped in Central Wisconsin every weekend, sometimes up to 35 people including wives and kids. Those were fun times but kids go up and now everybody is to busy.
With a cell phone I can always get help and my primary hunting grounds are under 10 miles from the house so hunting a lone doesn't bother me and my wife knows where my stands are in case of emergency.
I hunt solo for anything, I ride with friends and hunt separately, I ride with friends and tandem on hogs and javies,
Years ago we used to set up 2-4 guys in different locations watching trails, and then call elk into the canyons.
This worked fairly well.... but considering i was doing most of the calling, the other guys were getting most of the action. I finally tired of calling elk for others to shoot, and hunted solo ever since. I could write a good sized book on all the experiences i had with close encounters with calling elk. It was a blast!
I did hunt with my daughter side by side for quite a few years for both deer and elk. She hunted with her camera, and did some cow calling when we'd get a bull bugling. but.... She wasn't shy about helping Dad out with field dressing and helping get the critters out of the woods.
But.... we had a base camp for elk with enough man power to get those huge animals back to camp. We had the gear for that steep terrain and often used portable winches. When an elk was down, it was all hands on deck until they were hanging in camp. Our group harvested 84 roosevelt elk in 15-16 years in the same camp 6-8 guys hunting. We hunted hard the whole month of September every year. Kirk
I hunt solo when bowhunting for whitetails mostly. I like to camp and hunt with my buddy and if we are bowhunting it's usually from a tree stand separate. We have rifle hunted from the same ground blind or box stand many times and it's a great way to pass the time. When hunting small game we mostly hunt together.
Something I've seen in the woods is two tree stands hung from the same tree or very close trees. I've wondered if this was done by a mentor hunting with youth or maybe someone filming somebody else's hunt.
Kirk - that's one of my favorite aspects of elk hunting, calling them in.
I rarely if ever bugle anymore, just cow call. I feel like over the past decade there's been an over saturation of hunters bugling, and when a bull hears that they just go quiet. I've had such good luck cow calling that I don't even bring my bugle anymore.
My preference is to hunt solo, just me and nobody else.
Sharing a camp or traveling with somebody is nice, once we leave camp or the vehicle my preference is to go my own direction.
My favorite hunts are solo wilderness hunts in Montana, Idaho, and especially Alaska. Anymore, Alaska is where I go to find the Solitude my soul seeks.
My thoughts regarding packing the meat solo, embrace the suck, it's part of the experience.
I hunt alone
If you manage to live a long life, and your hunting buddies have passed, you too will hunt alone. :campfire:
Quote from: kopfjaeger on November 22, 2022, 04:16:57 AM
I used to bow hunt with my brother, but he passed away in 2002. Since 2002 I bow hunt alone. Here is a picture of my brother and me in 1994. It was the only time we killed bucks on the same day.
That's a cool pic. Condolences on your loss. I'm sure you miss him a little more during the hunting season
Always have hunted alone.
90% of my hunting is alone. Even at ShrewHaven, I hang out in camp but the hunting is by myself.
I'm like Walt Francis in shared camps but hunting solo. I yearn for the silence and calm of the woods. Ever notice the words "listen" and "silent" have the same letters in them? Being solo in His Creation with the peace it leads me into makes me much more aware. Then telling about the day with others and listening to to their days events makes for a full day. You can learn quite a lot from just listening I've found.
Over the past 10 years I have become a solo hunter All of my boys have grown and made thier own life's wife's and kids
My best partner is and always will be my wife still goes to camp with me but stays there arthritis has taken its toll on her
The passing of of most of the people has brought that number down to one Me
I have learned to enjoy the solitude of being alone in the woods
It brought a different view of perspective that I have grown to enjoy
Dont know anyone else in my part of town who hunts with a stickbow, im always alone.
Nobody in my family hunted. I always had to.
Finding my way in the woods that I love, answering whispers and chasing theories leave little room for discussion and second guessing, even if nobody else were there. Discussing where to go and when to meet up would put my mind in a different place. It would also constrain my experience. What if I had to be someplace in half an hour, (I gotta watch a clock now?) and I had just gotten an inkling, feeling, message that I should be at the Bear Poo Hall from now until dark? Sorry. I gotta go with my gut, cut the scheduling, and let the magic work.
My husband has helped me drag three deer, Bill Q. Helped with my first kill, Pete E. and Sean P. helped with my first muzzleloader buck, but the rest have been drug by my sorry a...
I know a lot of folks like to map out a hunt as though it were a tactical mission, enter as a team and take the citadel. They probably come out with more meat than I do. I am chasing other things.
I hunt alone. Love it. In hunting alone, in solo conversation, I find, um... myself!
That is what hunting means to me. A way to connect with the Creator, to know myself better, trust myself, and to make myself worthy to receive gifts of sustenance, spirit, and self-worth. To each his own.
Hunt well and honorably,
Killdeer
When hunting near home I'm usually going solo. Occasionally I'll take a young person if they're interested. When hunting out of state I have shared a camp with friends.
Solo here. Close friends have past.
With bow or with a rifle, I hunt deer alone. It's not a social sport for me.
When I was in my Twenties I hunted alone a lot. but as I got older My son became abscessed with archery around the age of 10. We would sit in the back yard and shoot bows for a hour every night after I got home from work. played a game called archer of the night . basically I would let him out shoot me and he would be so happy. at twelve I took him on his first elk hunt and the rest is history. He now is 30 and lives just down the road. and anytime I go he is at camp. We hunt by ourselves most days but once a trip we spend it together. and at 55 its darn nice to have a young guy to help pack your bull out[attachment=2,msg3019047]
Always solo. Kids have no interest and former hunting partners have aged out. Not my preference but just the way it is for now. It's either that or stay home.
And staying home is not an option. Just sayin. :archer2:
Agreed. Although as I get older, considering the places I go, that might be the wiser choice...
Same here. My problem is that the desire to be out there chasing elk overrides any form of rational thought. It's bound to catch up to me one of these days.
Nothing better than hunting alone........ with a like minded friend. I hunt occasionally with a good friend we hunt very large tracts of public land a couple miles apart.
I logged 54 public land Whitetail hunts this year. 15 with the GF @ 250 yds away and 5 with my Dad in the same vicinity. I am a dummy OCD about finding mature public land bucks and hunting them so I never take anyone besides those two. I learned the hard way on that one lol. Somewhere there is a meme that says" I may tell you my hunting spots but when I do it's a lie". That would be correct.
Here's two of my hunting partners from bow camp 2022. We failed to get closer than 40 yards 3 different times.
Except for three or four days during rifle season with my son, I hunt alone. He doesn't bow hunt unfortunately. Even if he did, his job isn't conducive to the time needed. Also, none of my friends hunt with a stick, not that that matters.
Mostly alone, even with group hunts I usually go my own way. Hunted with group at a camp for years, as age came along they got lazy and I started going solo. I can't do what Ion Edie but I still like the solitude!!
98% of the time......
Always alone on whitetail, but bro and I always text each other where we sit, and help on tracking/recovery.
Elk hunting always a couple in group for calling purposes...
....We are never truly alone ;^)
As for hunting with others....back in the 60's-70's me and my best friend Mitch used to walk forest and old RR tracks roving & hunting Ground Griz.....sure do miss those times & my best friend.Sadly I didn't carry a camera much in those days...Just bow and arrows.
Other than the few 2 man bunny/ground griz hunts , I have pretty much always been a solo hunter .....I love-need-that oneness and will be forever grateful for my alone time afield . Alone - undistracted solitude -one on one with Nature ....Letting the wild soak in..........