Scouting Dilema

[Miles]

Just go for it.   I'm headed to the Yolla Bolly wilderness with gun in hand on the 14th of September for a solo backpacking trip.   5+ hours from the house and never been remotely close to the area before.

[mtman]

Let the wife worry. That will never stop. Go do what men are made to do.

[grade-creek-rd]

Stay Home...just kidding...get out and scout (you will only regret it if you don't go). and remember, its a scouting trip...if things turn bad (weather, flat tire, etc...) just turn around and go home...no big deal unless you don't go and then find out later that the trail is washed out, road is washed out, or you can't find the turn to the road you need to get to the trailhead, etc when it comes time to hunt.

G-C-R

[bassquatch]

95% of my scouting and hunting is solo, my wife isn't crazy about it but she knows that's what makes me ME!

Take your wife, if you can't or she's not interested just leave her with as much info as possible and GO!

Most places in the mountains anymore get at least enough cell signal to squeeze out a text message anyways, it's not that big of a deal.

[GlennGTR]

You can rent a Spot locator beacon if you cant afford to buy one. The back country, woods, outdoors, trails or whatever may be are full of risk. If you dont like a little risk in your adventure...take up kite flying.

[Andrew]

Two hours before launch I got a phone call from a friend telling me that his son's bear hunting trip was canceled and that he'd like to go with me.  Great that I had company, bad that I was not prepared for a 16-year old's metabolism!  I knew I was in trouble when we stopped to get lunch and he orders three MacChickens, super sized fries, and a gallon of pop!  Within 10 minutes he inhaled everything minus the bag 

I am very glad that I had gone, it proved to be a very worth while trip.  Although only two days I now have a better understanding of the terrain, fewer hypotheticals, and more concrete plans for the actual hunt.

...and now for what you really want to know...we saw a total of four shooter bucks.  One of which was a really nice 4x4 that was accompanyied by a 3x3 with small crab claws on the back (G2 and G3?) but bigger bodied than 4x4.  Spotted a bull moose and a buck the following morning a 150 yards away.  Bumped only two grouse (hen and what looked like one of her chicks), had anticipated much more since we covered 17 miles.  More than half was off trail bushwacking.  Didn't see any bear or sign, seemed odd.  Did see a few piles of cougar scat on the trail.

[supagoose]

I soley scout alone..I do not rely on others for that reason anymore.

your statement is so true im the same. everyone want to shoot an elk but no one wants to work for it. i dont tell my buddies where i find elk anymore and if i do its always where they dont want to go.

for me if its far enough off the path there will be elk there.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Cool that you took a youngster with you.
I scout/hike/hunt a bunch solo. Like was said before,  'It's what makes me ME'. I do leave map at home marked with my 'intended route' and 'intended destination', with an expanded perimeter for 'uh,  scouting'.  If I don't come home, don't send anything more than a plane for a search party. I'm seldom on a trail, but bushwacking, I take very few chances. If I can fall to my death, I'm too close to the edge. I don't carry a SPOT though. My GPS, map and compass are quite handy though. I go prepared for what I don't expect most times. Hiking/scouting/hunting solo just means you have to be a bit smarter about how you do it.
-Steve