Solo Hunting: How did you get started?

[ekul246]

I recently started a thread about my group's region 8 hunting trip in the beginning of October (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?154539-We-had-a-week-long-Region-8-October-hunt-and-I-have-some-questions-frustrated) and a number of you suggested getting out there alone.
It is something that I have considered, but I guess I enjoy the camaraderie and experiences that come with hunting with others. However, like fishing, which I have started doing solo as of a few years ago, I am feeling the itch to start hunting solo. Even if it is quite a drive out to where I want to go. I think I may end up a bit more successful this way and more likely to leave the truck and head into the farther reaches of my chosen areas to see what I see and, hopefully, bag what i can bag. My group, specifically 3 of us including my dad, have never bagged anything together as the 3 of us. This lack of success, as per the thread I've pasted into this one, is what is motivating me. I have drive to be more successful. I have a daughter and 3 boys who all want to get into hunting eventually, they are all 8yrs old to 22 months, and I want to be able to teach them as well and I feel that success, or at least seeing bucks, will help me learn so that I can teach them.

Being that I am from a large family, it feels difficult to make the move to solo hunting, and perhaps its because I am not used to being alone and heading out into the unknown alone. I have learned to enjoy being alone and the peace and quiet it brings as well as being able to fully focus on my task.

So, all that being said.....

How/why did you make the move to solo hunting? Just always did it solo? Did your mentor or dad hunt alone? Is it because, like me, you have had to learn everything on your own?

I am interested to hear about everything that led up to you guys hunting solo. As well as some stories perhaps...because....who doesn't like to hear a good hunting story?!

I look forward to hearing from you all as always.

Cheers,

ekul246

[Fella]

I Mostly hunt alone although I do a big trip every year with a couple people (some days I hunt with them others I don’t). When I’m not on my week long hunt I hunt alone for a couple reasons. 1. Because it’s easier to be quiet and play the wind when you don’t have to worry about what your buddy is doing and 2. Because I don’t know anyone on the island who is serious about hunting who doesn’t already have partners etc.

[Keta1969]

Well to me there is going out together and hunting separately or leaving the house alone. I hunt with my sons and a couple of my brothers. I enjoy the BS on the drive out and back but we go our separate ways when out there with a plan to meet for lunch or time to be back at the truck. Will often drop a guy off or get dropped off some distance apart. I also like leaving by my self and having the whole day to go where I want. Don't really like actually stalking or hiking with someone else I'm more alert when alone.

[Coach Bob]

Only my 2nd year of serious hunting, I'd say at least 60% of the time I'm alone. Started out of necessity as my uncle doesn't always want to get out nd I'm still new and very eager. I had reservations for sure wondered if I could do it or be successful think thats why drives me to prove I can do it on my own. Get out, have the proper gear more then you need till your comfortable.

[HarryToolips]

I never had family that hunted but a buddy that got me into it but I always enjoyed hiking alone so I started hunting alone...I do most of my hunting alone, and had most of my success alone, but now my 6 year old son is loving hunting and hiking so I've been taking him out the majority of my hunts which is a lot of fun but hard to keep them quiet or patient lol..still a,great time though..

[180grainer]

How/why did you make the move to solo hunting? Just always did it solo? Did your mentor or dad hunt alone? Is it because, like me, you have had to learn everything on your own?


I like to drink a lot when I hunt. 99.99% of the hunters I know, won't touch a drop when they're in the field and leave it to "around" the campfire bullshite. Not me. But that's ok too. I still think of them as friends.

[Big Lew]

For me it was an extension of other activities that I enjoyed being solo.
When I was young, I usually hiked and back packed solo, preferring going at my own pace,
usually faster than others in my circle of friends and relatives. I took up bicycle touring and
except for two long trips, found it more enjoyable for the same reasons. When I first began
hunting as a youth I was usually with my dad, and later with my brothers, but I still preferred
going on my own where I didn't have to worry or consider others. I have taken many hunters
out over the years and many of them have become lost when striking out on their own from camp.
I find this extremely stressful, enough that on the odd occasion I still take someone along, they
have to agree to stay with me. So many people just don't have the outdoor training needed to be
safe in the woods now-a-days. Road hunting is a different matter. I will say that in this day and
age with all the inexpensive technology available, anyone heading out into the wilds either by foot
or conveyance should carry a tracking device with them so someone at home can keep an eye on
where they are, especially if you have responsibilities like a wife and kids. We hear of hunters getting
lost or not returning every year and often the rescue party or searchers aren't successful because they
only have a vague idea where to look.

[srupp]

Hmm the insane schedule of being a Paramedic..2 days.then 2 nights...so my schedule was constantly changing..never matching my friends schedules...so sit at home and wait...or get out and do..
I chose to get out there and do...
I enjoy hunting with friends..however when their work or family life preclude hunting together..I just go hunt.
Srupp

[thick]

I believe you may be overthinking it. Hunting solo could just be splitting up for the day as others have said. Share the camp or the drive out in the morning with your partners and then do your own thing for the day.

other threads of yours likely made it seem like there was a convoy of 3 or 4 of you following each other single file in the woods which is not productive....

[Ajsawden]

I believe you may be overthinking it. Hunting solo could just be splitting up for the day as others have said. Share the camp or the drive out in the morning with your partners and then do your own thing for the day.

other threads of yours likely made it seem like there was a convoy of 3 or 4 of you following each other single file in the woods which is not productive....

I agree with Thick. The interpretation is there are 3 or 4 of you driving around and hiking around. You can still go hunting with people, just don't be a "herd".

[180grainer]

9 out of 10 women agree with Thick. Can you elaborate?

[RugDoctor]

Only touchy part of solo hunting for me is alone in a tent through the night. Everything else is cake. I don’t care how tough you are it’s spooky and lonely in the wild alone through the night

[RackStar]

I’d never go if I waited for others, I’m a sucker for adventure and like alone time. Heck I’m packing my truck right now for my last elk/moose solo adventure of the year before focusing on mule deer. Get out and enjoy, pick up a inreach it helps ease the mind.

[brian]

I didn’t have anyone else to go with and I like being alone. These days the idea of hunting with someone else would be weird. If I needed to start compromising on strategies rather than doing my own thing. Actually it would probably make me a better hunter now that I think of it.

[dustycool]

I didn’t have anyone who could take me out regularly when I started hunting. If I wanted to get out, then I had to do it on my own. As someone who really appreciates my alone time that’s okay, but I think it took me a lot longer to figure things out in my own. Now I’ve gotten married, made more friends with folks who hunt, and regularly have others asking me to take them out. I don’t get out alone as often, and I miss it. As others have mentioned, sharing camp, but splitting up for the day strikes a good balance for me.

[blackbart]

My wife is happy that I am good at doing it alone...

[180grainer]

Only touchy part of solo hunting for me is alone in a tent through the night. Everything else is cake. I don’t care how tough you are it’s spooky and lonely in the wild alone through the night

The Germans used to have a pill of cyanide that you could conveniently place between your teeth. If intended, you could simply place that pill between your molars, and peacefully "crunch". Here that crack in the trees.....don't wait for the enviable......just say "**** you world" and clamp down......nothing else but https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4

[warnniklz]

I enjoy hunting with others but

- get to move at your own pace
- multiple people can't kill the same animal
- less presence
- don't have to listen to complaints
* too cold
* too hot
* too windy
* too rainy
* too foggy
* too far
* wife says I have to be home by ____
* I gotta work
* I don't wanna go there
* I wanna go home
- the enjoyment of being independent in the woods
- knowing that you were successful based on your knowledge (even if someone gave it to you, all the decisions and effort were made by you)
- ability to adapt without worrying about buddy

Buy it sure is nice to have someone help you pack a critter

[Big Lew]

The Germans used to have a pill of cyanide that you could conveniently place between your teeth. If intended, you could simply place that pill between your molars, and peacefully "crunch". Here that crack in the trees.....don't wait for the enviable......just say "**** you world" and clamp down......nothing else but https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4

A lot of people are very nervous or afraid of being alone in a tent while in the outdoors.
I've been very fortunate that it doesn't worry or bother me, probably because I'm blessed
with being able to fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow so to speak. I can see how
the night noises and the fear of the unknown could manifest to the point of panic if a person
lay awake for a long time while all alone though. A buddy that bicycled down the Alaskan Hwy
with me was one such fellow even though we shared a small tent. He wore big ear plugs and
a black mask over his eyes (the type which people use while traveling in big jets).

[180grainer]

Well we're on the topic of death.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b7naf3xwM8&fbclid=IwAR2FB_ptwo7SiG2wZctjKytkpi-O2ZDpGuxeDdsbg0-Ai_p9VMp1m5jJNNI

[Ferenc]

I didn’t have anyone who could take me out regularly when I started hunting. If I wanted to get out, then I had to do it on my own. As someone who really appreciates my alone time that’s okay, but I think it took me a lot longer to figure things out in my own. Now I’ve gotten married, made more friends with folks who hunt, and regularly have others asking me to take them out. I don’t get out alone as often, and I miss it. As others have mentioned, sharing camp, but splitting up for the day strikes a good balance for me.

Have to admit ... have seen some pretty funny comedy hours in camp ....sometimes you need to get away by yourself alone ..... Hahahaha

[Wentrot]

I’ve always been a bit of a loner so being in the woods alone came naturally. Not having the same days off as anyone else the past couple years doesn’t help either.

[allan]

For me it was an extension of other activities that I enjoyed being solo.
When I was young, I usually hiked and back packed solo, preferring going at my own pace,
usually faster than others in my circle of friends and relatives. I took up bicycle touring and
except for two long trips, found it more enjoyable for the same reasons. When I first began
hunting as a youth I was usually with my dad, and later with my brothers, but I still preferred
going on my own where I didn't have to worry or consider others. I have taken many hunters
out over the years and many of them have become lost when striking out on their own from camp.
I find this extremely stressful, enough that on the odd occasion I still take someone along, they
have to agree to stay with me. So many people just don't have the outdoor training needed to be
safe in the woods now-a-days. Road hunting is a different matter. I will say that in this day and
age with all the inexpensive technology available, anyone heading out into the wilds either by foot
or conveyance should carry a tracking device with them so someone at home can keep an eye on
where they are, especially if you have responsibilities like a wife and kids. We hear of hunters getting
lost or not returning every year and often the rescue party or searchers aren't successful because they
only have a vague idea where to look.
This is exactly me, but I enjoyed biking, snowboarding, camping and working by myself, hunting solo was a natural progression. My other issue is my work schedule is so unreliable that I don’t plan on big trips with friends anymore. I end up cancelling or changing my hunting days. Now they plan for me to show up and maybe leave early whenever I go with them. We always have a great time when we are together.

[albravo2]

Don't overthink it. Get an InReach and head out.

I'm entirely self-taught too but I'm a slow learner so it took me quite a while to accumulate enough knowledge and luck to get meat in the freezer. Some of that learning was by myself, some was with other hunters. It might not seem like it but you are always learning when in the woods.

[swampthing]

I started doing solo trips to the woods when I was in elementary school. I always wanted to be outdoors and never held back when I had no friends available. When I got older and started driving that progressed in hunting/camping trips by myself. When I began a work carrear I was often out of town in interesting new country. When I got a day off I would go explore new country either scouting or hunting, most often sleeping out of a pickup. I am very comfortable in the woods and feel more capable there then I do in a city. I can go where I want, when I want. I just finished a solo moose hunt where I was successful. Now that I am pretty old, that was a handful! I think a soloist has to have decent gear, be comfortable with his abilities and happy to be alone. I have run into many others while hunting/camping alone and some people think you are crazy! Its just normal, I feel!

[Big Lew]

I started doing solo trips to the woods when I was in elementary school. I always wanted to be outdoors and never held back when I had no friends available. When I got older and started driving that progressed in hunting/camping trips by myself. When I began a work carrear I was often out of town in interesting new country. When I got a day off I would go explore new country either scouting or hunting, most often sleeping out of a pickup. I am very comfortable in the woods and feel more capable there then I do in a city. I can go where I want, when I want. I just finished a solo moose hunt where I was successful. Now that I am pretty old, that was a handful! I think a soloist has to have decent gear, be comfortable with his abilities and happy to be alone. I have run into many others while hunting/camping alone and some people think you are crazy! Its just normal, I feel!

"some people think you are crazy! Its just normal," if I had a dollar for everytime someone called me crazy, lol!

[HikerHunter]

lol i solo hunt because i have no hunter friends.

[Aaron600]

I solo hunt most of the time because my friends don't wana hike to where I wana hike to(road hunters) and now I don't wana show anyone new my little honey hole which has taken me 4 years of blood sweat and tears to find.

[Kill-da-wabbit]

Only touchy part of solo hunting for me is alone in a tent through the night. Everything else is cake. I don’t care how tough you are it’s spooky and lonely in the wild alone through the night
This was how i learned birds/ducks are active and fly at night. Alone, 5km from the truck, and a crow cackling as it flew overhead at 11:00pm! No wonder people used to think there were witches in the woods. I was very alert for the rest of the night! But you get used to all the noises - the forest is very active at night...

[MichelD]

I started hunting with my dad as a teenager, but except for very rare occasions, we didn't actually hunt together, but it was more of a "You go this way and I'll go that way and I'll meet you at the wrecked cabin on the ridge at noon" kind of thing. If one fired a shot then we'd find each other.

You asked how we started hunting solo? After leaving home and getting married, hunting on the Island used to be just a quick day trip in the truck or even a short hike into my back 40 when I had property. After moving to the city in 1985, and having no hunter pals I started day trips as far as I could go and get back in one day in my Japanese station wagon until I realized I'd be better off camping overnight. That way I started exploring farther away in more distant parts of Region 2 and into Region 8. That's what I continue to do today unless with friends now we get a moose draw in Region 5 or 6.

Now many years later I go alone if I feel like taking off and some of my friends can't make it it. Even with one or two others though, we never hunt together. I'm an early riser and usually I'm up, had tea and a bite of cake of bred and jam and out of camp in the dark before anyone else gets up. We may or may not meet up during the day. I'm a bush walker and most of my friends road hunt.

Two weeks ago I was in the biggest camp I've ever been in; seven guys. But like I said, I'd be up and gone before they got up. I'd drive a km or five, park and hike and they'd drive. In the afternoon we'd meet up and maybe take off in different directions again and meet up for campfire, drinks and dinner after dark. But except when I had a rookie out with me, I never am in the bush with another person.

I got my best deer ever last year solo. Drove up to a spot I'd noted a few years earlier, spent an evening and a whole day there and on the morning of day three connected. At 65 dragging a big 4x4 mulie out wasn't as easy as it used to be, but I was blessed with downhill terrain and even a few patches of snow to make it easier.

[Big Lew]

I started hunting with my dad as a teenager, but except for very rare occasions, we didn't actually hunt together, but it was more of a "You go this way and I'll go that way and I'll meet you at the wrecked cabin on the ridge at noon" kind of thing. If one fired a shot then we'd find each other.

Now many years later I go alone if i feel like taking off and some of my friends can't make it it. Even with one or two others though, we never hunt together. I'm an early riser and usually I'm up, had tea and a bite of cake of bred and jam and out of camp in the dark before anyone else gets up. We may or may not meet up during the day. I'm a bush walker and most of my friends road hunt.



Two weeks ago I was in the biggest camp I've ever been in; seven guys. But like I said, I'd be up and gone before they got up. I'd drive a km or five, park and hike and they'd drive. In the afternoon we'd meet up and maybe take off in different directions again and meet up for campfire, drinks and dinner after dark. But except when I had a rookie out with me, I never am in the bush with another person.

I got my best deer ever last year solo. Drove up to a spot I'd noted a few years earlier, spent an evening and a whole day there and on the morning of day three connected. At 65 dragging a big 4x4 mulie out wasn't as easy as it used to be, but I was blessed with downhill terrain and even a few patches of snow to make it easier.


"At 65 dragging a big 4x4 mulie out wasn't as easy as it used to be," It's even worse in your 70's!
I was 70-71 last 2 bucks I shot and they were a couple hundred yards from vehicle access. It was
all my wife and I could manage even with many rests. I've made a personal promise not to even try
anymore... I will either cut one in half or quarter it right on the spot and use my packboard.

[MichelD]

"At 65 dragging a big 4x4 mulie out wasn't as easy as it used to be," It's even worse in your 70's!
I was 70-71 last 2 bucks I shot and they were a couple hundred yards from vehicle access. It was
all my wife and I could manage even with many rests. I've made a personal promise not to even try
anymore... I will either cut one in half or quarter it right on the spot and use my packboard.



I know what you mean about many rests.

[Quince2]

Honestly got tired of trying to herd cats with hunting partners. Said screw it, and have tagged moose elk and deer in the past 3 years out hiking by myself. The safety net of having someone near by in bear country is a big issue though... having a little one of my own i take way less risks and am more wary out in the bush now.

[Mark-R]

Like others have said, hunting alone makes plenty of sense for a number of reasons.
A big reason I hunt alone is my appetite for adventure isn't the same as most people.
Many a times when I'm in the thick of it, I've thought to myself "sure glad I didn't drag anyone else into this".
It can be trying out a new route that turns into a brutal bushwhack or just going hard for the whole day in the cold and wet.
Even I know my limits and when I've had enough. But It sucks to be constantly wondering if the other person has hit their limit and is secretly hating you.
Discomfort is one thing but risk is something I take seriously and my Garmin Inreach is the insurance I take when hunting solo.

[Outbound]

I had a terrible experience hunting with as a group. So bad that it caused me to take 6 years off from hunting altogether. Despite having a buck killed with that group, I consider myself a big game virgn. This year I decided to start easing myself back into hunting but on the condition that I won't hunt with anyone else for a very long time, if ever again.

I fish alone 99% of the time, and I tend to fish relatively remote lakes and rivers. I have a pretty good knowledge of the backcountry in my area. I started out this year by just bringing the Ruger 10/22 out with with me when I fished and looking for grouse. I wasn't seriously hunting, but I took note of where I saw deer, bears etc and where I tended to see grouse. I only got a shot at one which I missed but oh well.

I've started applying the same scouting techniques to hunting that I use for fishing. I use a mixture of backroad mapbooks and Google earth satellite imaging to look for likely areas. Next spring and summer I'll get out and put some miles on my boots to check out the places I've noted in person. Reading the hell out of HBC to pick up as may tips and tricks from fantasic people here as I can helps too.

[RiverOtter]

Umm, by myself....LOL.

[tigrr]

Moving 3000 miles away from your old hunting buddies makes you go out on your own too. It took 5 years to get back into it but I am in it up to my eyes now.
Adventures it what I live for now. Put 300 kms on my atv and 15 kms on my boots. I would walk more but for all the grizzly's.

[Squamch]

I just didn't have a partner to bring, so I started going by myself. Now I mostly hunt alone.

[ekul246]

other threads of yours likely made it seem like there was a convoy of 3 or 4 of you following each other single file in the woods which is not productive....

I've already communicated to my group about being together too much and needing to hunt somewhat separately in order to have more success. I guess you could describe us at times as a "herd". But we were able to find a lot of animals....just not the target animals.
Appreciate all the responses.
Thanks,
ekul246

[adriaticum]

Hunting alone for most people is not by design, but by necessity.
We are all different and have different amount of spare time to spend for hunting.
My fishing days have been reduced by half because of hunting.

[wideopenthrottle]

never used to even consider hunting alone..it just seemed like something that had been drummed into me so I didn't even think it was a reasonable thing to do...recent years has my main hunting partner working too much so no big trip this year...after going semi solo a couple of times (wife and daughter stayed in a hotel while I went out to the woods) I realized that I have always preferred to be alone when in the woods so why not extend that to hunting...if you get uncomfortable being alone it might not be for you but I am now all in for solo if I have any trouble finding a partner

[Downwindtracker2]

I put the rifle on my shoulder and hiked up the hill.

[Wild one]

Hunting trips solo I wanted to go and no one was around so I went that simple

Hunting during the day solo is the way I was taught for certain styles of hunting. Hard enough to be stealthy solo and each person you add doubles the noise and stick. Because of the a lot of my hunting has been share a camp, hunt solo during the day, but when help is needed with an animal everyone pitches in.

But we will also hunt together at times long range spot&stalk where 1 stalks well the other keeps an eye on the animal and signals the stalker, running a plan for a push, or sometimes calling with a partner on point. If there is a plan that working as a team will increase our odds we use it but not for company

This is big game hunting and most cases solo is best and comradely is for camp. Small game and waterfowl is another story and great hunts to enjoy with friends and family