Any hunts you wouldn’t do again?

[Hunt anything]

I have not had good luck finding the right group of guys to hunt/travel with. The search continues or I will just keep chasing DG on my own!

It helps when the 4 other guys I hunt with now are federal waterfowl biologist. One is retired the others live in Mississippi, Nevada and California. We are meeting up in New Mexico in November for a crane, duck and goose hunt. Should be pretty fun.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I have not had good luck finding the right group of guys to hunt/travel with. The search continues or I will just keep chasing DG on my own!

I'm with you. Party hunting has never worked for me either. I need the freedom to do what I want when I want. Hunting with a PH has required adjustment. But I'm mature enough to accept the sacrifices for the benefits. Thankfully, so far most of my PHs have been great guys. Hunting with one other person is a lot different than fifteen other guys in a deer hunting camp or five guys in the same blind. For me hunting has been about communing with nature not a social event. Of course, hunting solo is not without risks. I have cheated Death more times than I can count on one hand. But it's been worth it.

 

[Green Chile]

I've always been a little jealous of small groups that like to hunt together. I haven't found that chemistry yet of guys that are like a family and are easy to be around. In fact, when I travel to a hunt camp, I often find exactly what I'm not looking for in small groups. Thus I hunt a lot away from others and love a safari camp that doesn't have other hunters in it.

 

[Hunt anything]

I've always been a little jealous of small groups that like to hunt together. I haven't found that chemistry yet of guys that are like a family and are easy to be around. In fact, when I travel to a hunt camp, I often find exactly what I'm not looking for in small groups. Thus I hunt a lot away from others and love a safari camp that doesn't have other hunters in it.

I am very fortunate, this year will be our 30th year hunting together. We haven’t hunted every year since the other guys leaving the southeast but we get together about every couple of years. Here’s a picture from our crane hunt in Amarillo last year.

 

[Green Chile]

I am very fortunate, this year will be our 30th year hunting together. We haven’t hunted every year since the other guys leaving the southeast but we get together about every couple of years. Here’s a picture from our crane hunt in Amarillo last year.

That's awesome and I think more rare than common. Love hearing it!

 

[DonPablo]

I was in a duck clu in the early 2,000’s and we had a guy that would shoot at any bird, he would say WE have x number of birds for a limit and I would tell him I was going to shoot MY 6 birds and I would tell the game warden if he shot more than his limit. He didn’t last too long thank goodness.

Guys like that love me because I'm a terrible shot and I know I'll never get a limit. I don't mind others helping me out as long as they don't make fun of my shooting skills (or lack thereof).

 

[Hunt anything]

Guys like that love me because I'm a terrible shot and I know I'll never get a limit. I don't mind others helping me out as long as they don't make fun of my shooting skills (or lack thereof).

I kind of laughed at the guy, he would leave with a limit of scaup and shovelers and I would wait out the big ducks and leave out with a limit of mallards, pintail, gadwall and widgeon.

 

[DonPablo]

I probably wouldn't shoot sheep/goats on a HF place again with the possible exception of a nice 4-horn ( I want that skull on my wall). I can see how a lot of the RSA hunts (as well as TX HF hunts) would seem lacking in terms of challenge, especially when hunting with a rifle. As a bowhunter, it can and often does put some challenge back in there (even over bait). My recent (and only) trip to Africa wasn't like the hunts I'd seen on YouTube where the water hole was covered in animals of multiple species that were not wary at all. And so though I didn't have as many shot opportunities, I was very pleased by the level of challenge. Also, I will admit the more expensive animals we saw (like the giraffe , roan and sable) didn't seem nearly as wary as the cheaper ones. My bear hunt over bait in Idaho was very rewarding as it was DIY. I'm sure I would've enjoyed a guided hunt but I don't think it would have been as fulfilling.

 

[Green Chile]

Scaup and shovelers...I will tell you about a small group I hunted with. We flew to Martha's Vineyard, Rhode Island area to hunt eiders, brant, etc. We are setup on a sea rock wall for brant and I tell the guys, remember this is a brant hunt so let the garbage go by. Some scaup come in and the guys lift up and hammer the scaup. I say what are you doing, this is a brant hunt, which we can't get back home but you can shoot scaup any day. They say we always like to shoot scaup. Geez.

I was on a 2 year wait list to hunt cinnamon teal in a really prime CA location with a local guide who has them dialed in. I show up and we hunt some cool reedy swamps in a kayak with his great duck dog. The cinnamons come ripping over the reeds and I get a few...drakes only. Then other stuff starts popping up and I ignore all of it. He says you want any of that? I say no way! I waited 2 years for drake cinnamons so let's focus. He smiles and says you got it. That was a great hunt...no scaup!

 

[Hunt anything]

Beautiful cinnamon teal, I actually shot one in mobile bay 20 year’s ago it came in with some blue wings, my buddy in California is trying to get access to an area in central valley that has a lot of Eurasian widgeon, if he does that will be the only reason I will EVER go back to California even though I’ve had some wonderful hunts there.

 

[Green Chile]

I've seen Euro widgeon across mud flats a couple of times on hunts but nothing I could get to. It takes some luck to get one.

 

[Hunt anything]

I've seen Euro widgeon across mud flats a couple of times on hunts but nothing I could get to. It takes some luck to get one.

I did also in Humbolt bay years ago, stunning birds!

 

[Kmiller]

Polar bear.

 

[freefall]

Bad trip or just one and done?

 

[Daktari]

Polar bear.

Must not be a fan of the cold

 

[Kmiller]

Bad trip or just one and done?

No not a bad trip. It’s just kind of a one and done hunt. It’s extremely cold -50, you’re sleeping on the ice that moves and groans all night. You’re riding in a coffin behind sleds and there is literally nothing to see. Great experience, just wouldn’t do it again.

 

[Safari Dave]

Staying up all night to try to shoot a hyena over bait.

Two nights were two nights too many for me.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Although it's been a few years since I've gone deer hunting with my buddy and his son what WAS the third season here, I'm not going again since it's now the old fourth season since they've pushed the seasons back a week and the temps. are brutal. They told me last year the high was 6 and a low of -17. Screw that! I'm not hunting a stinky, sage eating deer (usually a doe) in those temps. I have to figure out a plan B.

 

[Longwalker]

I’ve been so fortunate to have hunted a lot of local and some international game and loved it all. All were free range, wild animals with the exception of the South African game ranch hunts. Those SA properties were large, with mostly self sustaining populations as far as I could determine. But I don’t think I’d hunt on a SA game ranch again, even though the experience was a perfect intro to African hunting for me. I just prefer wilderness, free range, self sustaining game animals.
I won’t hunt goats in the Western Canadian mountains any more. I’m too old for the physical effort and mountaineering ability that such hunting requires. I’ve almost died on two goat hunts.
Same with elephant. Loved my one and only elephant hunt, and I met the challenge of hunting dangerous game on foot and close up, but coming that close to death is a sobering experience and made me grateful for surviving but not eager to tempt fate again.
I was totally in love with do-it-yourself wilderness moose hunting by canoe and backpack as a young man. Three decades later, Moose seem much heavier to my back and knees, and not as mysterious, and besides they are available to be hunted on some farmland I own. I prefer to pack moose out on an ATV now.
I tried archery hunting large game and it’s not for me. I’m a reasonably skilled archer, but feel there’s too much chance of wounding and losing an animal. I can’t enjoy an activity with such a chancy outcome.

 

[Safari Dave]

I got drawn a few years ago to hunt Sambar deer on St. Vincent Island in Florida.


Too many hunters

Very primitive camping

No way to keep anything cool (I brought a sealed cooler of dry ice, that had turned in to gas when I opened it)

Too hot (even in December)

Crazy humid

Mosquitos

Ticks

Had to hire a Captain to get my supplies to the island - I do have my own boat, but there is nothing to tie to. A gale that caused your anchor to drag could leave you high and dry.

Primitive weapons only. (I hunted with an in-line muzzle loader. After the hunt was over, I tried to discharge my rifle to unload it. The 209 primer would not ignite the powder-pellets. They were probably too damp because of the moisture. I may have hunted all weekend with a gun that would not fire!)



I might go again, but it would be more about comradery around the campfire than hunting.