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Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

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Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 12 21, 2018 •  [Post 1]

Do you prefer hunting solo or with a buddy for wapiti during the fall rut? If you’ve hunted both ways, have you had more success with one way or the other?
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Re: Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby Swede » 12 21, 2018 •  [Post 2]

I generally hunt alone. I like to have company around camp, but it is not critical. It is nice to have help on butchering and packing out, but it is not necessary.
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Re: Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby Indian Summer » 12 22, 2018 •  [Post 3]

I’ve done both. My hunting habits parallel my personality I guess. I love to socialize but I also enjoy my time alone. So I definitely like company in camp and teaming up for part of the day but then I like to peel off and sneak around in my own. I’ve killed elk both ways too. There’s something about hunting solo with nothing else influencing your decisions.
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Re: Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby saddlesore » 12 22, 2018 •  [Post 4]

I prefer to have someone in camp with me ,but we usually go separate ways each day to hunt.Like this past season,though, if no one wants to go,I go solo.Maybe it is because I am getting to be an old grouchy curmudgeon though. I find my mule is getting to be a better hunting companion than some guys I have hunted with in the past
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Re: Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby Lsb » 12 22, 2018 •  [Post 5]

I love to call and have 2 shooters out front. Usually my wife and daughter.
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Re: Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby Swede » 12 22, 2018 •  [Post 6]

I suspect that younger hunters feel a lot more flexible with whom and when they partner up. I don't want to hunt at their pace, and I don't want to go just anywhere and everywhere. This past summer I scouted with my 13 year old grandson. He was just about right for me to go with. We would both want a break about the same time, but it took me a little longer to be ready to go again, but it was not so much that he would get anxious. As he grows and becomes more full of pee and vinegar, I suspect I will not be able to keep up with the pace he wants to go with.
No one needs to feel sorry for the elder hunter. Part of being successful is due to getting old or behaving that way. You slow down and observe more. It is often called patience. Even as a kid when I was very capable and could out hike most, I was rarely in a rush when hunting. There is still a great memory of the biggest buck I ever killed. I was hunting with my dad and brother. They went out ahead while I hung back. This monster, 9X10 western count, snuck out after they went on ahead. The buck just did not realize one hunter had stayed behind and was just looking. Just watching.
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Re: Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby Elkhntr08 » 12 22, 2018 •  [Post 7]

More solo than with company.
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Re: Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby Lefty » 12 22, 2018 •  [Post 8]

Definitely more success solo

Otherwise I’m hunting with my daughter and occasionaly my wife tags along.

When I ran trap lines it was certainly lone wolf with the exception of a few out of state lines
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Re: Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby Trumkin the Dwarf » 12 22, 2018 •  [Post 9]

Ideally I'm hunting with my dad or grandpa. Dad stopped hunting though, says it's too much work (as a full time pastor and business owner, he gets a pass from me). Grandpa still gets after it, but I never know which days he's just going to sleep late and we'll end up driving more than hiking. He's 74, going on 75. I dunno how many more hunts we will have together. Archery season, I like having a hunting partner, but I'm super picky about who I'll hunt with. Kinda been spoiled by all the years hunting with family.
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Re: Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby >>>---WW----> » 12 23, 2018 •  [Post 10]

The way I look at it, I can mess things up bad enough all by myself. Don't need no help!!! Besides, there is just something special about doing it on your own, all alone.

Now don't get me wrong. I have no problem with anyone that hunts with a partner or family member. And it can be satisfying to help youngsters out. But to me, the true DIY hunter is the guy that can consistently go out and find, harvest, pack out, and process his elk all by himself. If you hire an outfitter or guide, do an outfitted drop camp, or hire a consultant, or for that matter, even depend on a friend to call an elk in for you How can anyone consider themselves to be a true DIY / (DO IT YOURSELF) hunter !.

I love being a Lone Wolf hunter :!:
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Re: Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby Swede » 12 23, 2018 •  [Post 11]

If I was calling for someone and they came back to me and said: I think we have a problem. I think I just shot two elk." I would ask, "so what is the problem?" At this point it is not about DIY or proving anything. I will still stay out as long as I want and maybe be camp cook if that works for everyone.
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Re: Lone Wolf or Partner Assist?

Postby Joe Schmo » 12 23, 2018 •  [Post 12]

Like Eastman’s blasting “ All fair chase, all DIY” and then paying 15,000 to hunt a private ranch with a rifle in the rut?
Yeah, DIY is DIY getting coordinates/drainages/help from buddies/friends is one thing but paying money to shortcut the effort is another.
I can go either way. I’m more like the rest where I’d love to share a camping spot but I also like to be the one to screw up my own hunts...I’m dammed good at it!!
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