solo or with a buddy?

[JackOfAllTrades]

or even telling anyone where I was going, because most of the time, I didn't know until I got there.  You'd be surprised what you learn about yourself on a remote solo hunt.

Ain't that the truth! Half the time I'll get into somewhere and decide that I didn't want to be there at that time. So I move some ten miles away on a different ridge or valley. I feel so restricted that the wife wants me to mark a map of where I'll be and leave it home for her. 
 
And yes, You do learn a lot about yourself on a remote solo hunt. Not so much on a remote hike on trails, where someone may or may not pass you on the way in or out. But when you start going overland following critter trails, seeing wildlife that are fending for thier lives, then decide to find a good place to bed down... You learn a lot about yourself.  Iceman mentioned MICE. I hate the damn things. One of the reasons I tarp/sleep on the ground less and less. I really liked my hammock to get away from the little buggers and hung all my gear from tree branches. So far... I don't have holes chewed in my tent, but my last Paysaten trip the little buggers chewed on my plastic tent stakes all night. I think I'll spray the stakes with bear spray next time out! 
 
I hiked in to Ramsey peak one night.  With flashlight in hand I found a nice flat spot to lay out the bivy and bag. No tarp. 3:30 in the morning I was woke up to several deer huffing and stomping all around me. Appearantly I camped right in their feeding trail! They didn't like it much at all. I swore I was going to be trampled. You find out what you're made of in times like that. Sure, I could've just blasted off a round, and maybe that would have been smart. But I know some guys that would crawl in the fetal position and cry like a baby. I don't like getting nuzzled by bear though. They bite. Although.. There's never been an attack from one here, I don't want to be the first.  Things go bump in the night.  Most animals are noctornal. The more you're out in the back country alone, the more you get used to it. If you can do one night, stay in that same camp the next night. It could be a totally different experience.
 
SneakyJake touched on making smart decisions. When I'm alone, I'll go farther, but I'll do it smarter without taking risks. I bet I'm more likely (although I haven't), to get hurt when I've got someone with me because I'll cut corners. Not smart! Last year I was on a ridge of shale that was so slick that I almost went down 200' with one of the slides I started. I was 40' from the top and chickened out. If someone was with me, I'm sure I'd have gone for it.    Really stupid.
 
Amen about being exhausted on back country trips. The mountains stand on end, and even though we take all that good food with us, we're often not as well nurished as at home because we're burning calories just waking up in the cold. We kick our own asses, get bruised and dehydrated. If you're gonna get hurt, do it early in the hunt as opposed to later in the week.    Your chances of survival are greatly reduced. OK... Exhaustion.... Just because I was there, I hiked a loop of 23 miles one day. If someone would have been with me, I am sure 'we' wouldn't have.  Being tired, maybe a little dehydrated, then needing to make dinner back at camp then sleep on a thin pad on the rocky ground with mice chewing on anything they can get to, can't lead to the best nights sleep. If you can't deal with that.. Stay home and be one of the other guys. (the average hunter does not hike more than one mile from his vehicle)
 
Some have touched on the spiritual feeling when away from society...  I've felt the same whether out on the ocean alone or in the mountains. Calm..  You have to be willing to accept what is there, then use what ever the earth presents you to your benefit. If you don't, it can swallow you whole. So accept it, but respect it.
 
All of us cannot be Boneaddict. Huddled in the snowy dark, Listening to wolves howl below him with nothing more than a pen knife to prove his manhood. Some of us just try to live in his shaddow on a shorter ridge.
 
-Steve

[PlateauNDN]

   to all of it and that sounds like a bit to much for Bone I believe he only takes a toothpick?

[pd]

Re: Jack

Those darn mice. I have had gloves stolen, boots chewed, holes knawed in tents. If only they would chew on the business end of my rifle, and get a buddy to fiddle with the trigger!!  (Although the shot would probably scare me to death.)

[jechicdr]

I slipped in a slide shoot and lost about a 1,000 feet of altitude at full speed one time. I slowed to a halt right before I hit the boulders at the bottom.   I had to climb back up and get my bow though.  A broken leg would have been devastating. Let alone anything else that could have happened.

I killed a buck and was packing it out and it had been freezing rain.  I rolled off the mountain with my buck on my back and twisted my back really bad once.   I crawled to the trail and another pair of folks happen to hunt by.   He carried my pack out for me as I limped along behind.

I rolled a log I was straddled one time.  Killed my camera but I was fine. 

Was standing next to a creek and the next thing I knew I was face first in it.   Bank gave way.   It was about a 10 foot drop.  I had a 100 pound pack on.   That was more than just refreshing. 

Those are just a few examples, and no, I wouldn't really consider myself a clutze.   I suppose the country I hunt I am just one step from disaster at all times.

Don't go hunting with this guy 

I have a SPOT messenger as my current buddy.  Would not be opposed to a partner, but not many out there that match my philosophies on life in general.

[addicted2hunting]

Man, I am dying waiting for summer to get up in the backcountry to start scouting. Thanks for all the good input guys. been a really informative thread.

[supagoose]

A person learns more about themselves being alone in the mountains than one can imagine. Mental toughness, self confidence, patience, and facing adversity are just some of what traits I learned about myself while hunting alone. - Tony Mudd
http://elk101.com/2011/08/solo-elk-hunting/

i hunt alone because iti either have people who dont have any motivation at all (which is impossible to work with) or they have no skills at all (which i feel like im baby sitting) but they have motivation. ive hunted with people who tell me they are big bad but spend the entire hunt complaining. i cant get them do anything and theyre the first to give up. example we chased a bull elk for a week on the second to last day we see him across the the mountain about 1mile. he's seprated from his cows he's at the bottom and his cows are at the top. i look at my partners i said lets go perfect oppertunity. they look at me and say its too far and we're tired. im like wtf its 8 am and we've only walk 500yds from spike camp. all they want to do is set in camp and ask me why we arent seeing anything. with no skills i find it easier to work with becuase theyll do everthing i tell them but i spend the entire hunt making sure they dotn get themselve or me into trouble and im pretty much hunting for them.

[addicted2hunting]

A person learns more about themselves being alone in the mountains than one can imagine. Mental toughness, self confidence, patience, and facing adversity are just some of what traits I learned about myself while hunting alone. - Tony Mudd
http://elk101.com/2011/08/solo-elk-hunting/

i hunt alone because iti either have people who dont have any motivation at all (which is impossible to work with) or they have no skills at all (which i feel like im baby sitting) but they have motivation. ive hunted with people who tell me they are big bad but spend the entire hunt complaining. i cant get them do anything and theyre the first to give up. example we chased a bull elk for a week on the second to last day we see him across the the mountain about 1mile. he's seprated from his cows he's at the bottom and his cows are at the top. i look at my partners i said lets go perfect oppertunity. they look at me and say its too far and we're tired. im like wtf its 8 am and we've only walk 500yds from spike camp. all they want to do is set in camp and ask me why we arent seeing anything. with no skills i find it easier to work with becuase theyll do everthing i tell them but i spend the entire hunt making sure they dotn get themselve or me into trouble and im pretty much hunting for them.

Good example.

[Fishhuntmike]

Great thread!

I've hunted solo 90% of the time in the last 30 years. An exception to this is when going out of state to share the cost with a friend.  I enjoy the personal spiritual experience of hunting and feel this is best accomplished without distractions.  Sometimes it's just hard to find a partner that has the same personality and skill mix, which is part of the reason I go solo. 

When I do get the right hunting partner I'm pretty happy about it.  I've had a few in the past that have ended up inviting others or have taken others without me to the spots I took them.

Mike

[follow maggie]

I go it alone always, for a couple a couple reasons: 1- I like it. 2- I don't have friends who hunt. 3- before I ditched my friends who hunted, I was the only one with any gear- tent, camper, whatever- and I got sick of of always having to do all the scouting by myself, getting the gear ready by myself, cleaning the gear afterwards by myself, listening to the complaining about showing up on opening day and not shooting anything, on and on. Going solo is so much better, I've never looked back.

[supagoose]

I go it alone always, for a couple a couple reasons: 1- I like it. 2- I don't have friends who hunt. 3- before I ditched my friends who hunted, I was the only one with any gear- tent, camper, whatever- and I got sick of of always having to do all the scouting by myself, getting the gear ready by myself, cleaning the gear afterwards by myself, listening to the complaining about showing up on opening day and not shooting anything, on and on. Going solo is so much better, I've never looked back.

im right there with you i know how you feel. ive had them tell me you could never've done it without me or us.

[RadSav]

I have a friend Channon who never did show up on the first few days of the hunt.  It was great!!!  I knew he would be there sooner or later so that brought some level of comfort. But, I would always have the hunting to myself on my terms at my speed just the way I like it.  Seemed he knew just when I tagged a big bull in the back country and would show up all excited to hunt.  Most of the time he spent that first day helping pack out my animals.  Best back country hunting partner ever .  I'd feel guilty a week or so later.

One day he showed up in camp about two hours after first light of opening day with a big grin on his face.  I asked, "What's that big grin on your face?"  He told me he had shot a spike on the way in to camp and was finally going to watch me pack out his animal for once.  When I told him I had just stuck a big 7X7 his smile disappeared and he softly said, "Well, I guess we have a lot of work to do don't we."

If you can find a hunting partner that thinks the way you do, hunts the way you do and is willing to work as hard as you do there is no better way to experience the back country.  But in the 20+ years since Channon and I hunted together I have not found another like him.  They are a rare find.  I'd rather hunt the back country by myself than not have just the right partner.  That doesn't mean I don't have hunting partners I enjoy hunting with.  Just that when it comes to the back country I prefer to go solo.  Even though these days tagging a big bull is out of the question by myself.  The mind wants to, but the body just can not do it anymore.  Plus, anymore I expect I'm the one a good back country partner would complain about.

[coyote_out]

I really enjoy being solo.  I don't really have any lonliness issues and I found that by the third day I was in a groove and felt like I could stay out forever.