Thread: Taking a new chum out for a first hunt...and the stupid shit they do.

What sort of weird/funny stories do you have with taking out a new guy for their first hunt?
Like sneaking through the bush, and all you hear is 'thump', 'crunch', etc as he steps up on to old logs and jumps down the other side.
"Ssshhh" you go. "Don't jump and thump...the deer will hear us".
Nek minnit...'thump, crunch, etc'.
After about 1/2 hour of this he went 'thump' as he jumped over another old log and suddenly 'crash, crash' off to our left as a couple of deer took off.
Yeah...never took him out again.
Or the guy who insisted on taking his car up into the forestry track. I knew there was a mud hole further up and warned him as we approached it.
"Stay to the right" says me.
He drives straight into the bog...and we were stuck.
"Oh, I thought I could get through there easy" he says (yeah right...with an HQ Holden).
So tramp out to see Mr. Ranger Sir and get the HQ pulled out of the bog.
End of that 1 day trip too.
Never took that guy out again either.

It's too far,too hard,too steep,too heavy,too enclosed,too hot,too cold.yip I've heard them all.but still give a newbie a chance.the prize if you will,is them wanting to go again, better still if they ring and ask.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

It's too far,too hard,too steep,too heavy,too enclosed,too hot,too cold.yip I've heard them all..

wheres the toilet?.......... the reply being handing over a spade and gesturing into the bush downwind

ohhh god dont get me started took a newbie up into Ruakituri in the roar sneak up ridge stag going really well -stag comes up onto ridge 30 meters away - newbie up and miss stag still looking around -miss again -stag decides nah out of here - feck how do you miss that close with two shots standing target

Its amazing how much noise small feet can make, pretty hard subject to approach though

Slaming car doors, yapping flat out, smoking like a train, wearing white gumboots, etc, etc

I took a good mate of mine out for his first few hunts he had every possible combination of metal rattly things that clinked and tapped with every step he took. A few years later iv managed to whittle it down to only a couple of things that he has to be reminded of every time we go.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

It's too far,too hard,too steep,too heavy,too enclosed,too hot,too cold.yip I've heard them all.but still give a newbie a chance.the prize if you will,is them wanting to go again, better still if they ring and ask.

Yep, we all started as tyros. Our older hunters must have cringed when first taking us out. Although I knew of some hunters that never learnt and they wondered why they had so poor success.
Worst I had, and he wasn't a tyro, was we spotted 7 fallow on the other side of a stream. We needed to cross over and go thru some heavy scrub to get above them. Hunting companion pulled out a yellow MOW poly raincoat and put it on. I just couldn't believe the noise that coat made rubbing against the scrub. Deer had long gone when we get to where we wanted to be. I suggested he buy a woollen Swani for future hunts. I didn't hunt with him again.

Originally Posted by silentscope

I took a good mate of mine out for his first few hunts he had every possible combination of metal rattly things that clinked and tapped with every step he took. A few years later iv managed to whittle it down to only a couple of things that he has to be reminded of every time we go.

ohhh ya crack me up with that one because ya remind me of my mate gadget if you wanted a 3mm allen key middle of no where Gadget would have it -rattled when he walked - he even had a cooker and gear to make a brew on waist bags I kid you not

A townie I took out once didnt like all the spider webs your constantly walking through all the time

Originally Posted by blip

A townie I took out once didnt like all the spider webs your constantly walking through all the time

that's why if I'm with someone else I let them take point first thing in the morning... they can clean up the spider webs

Some years ago I took a friend on his first deer hunt.
10 minutes in along a track that ran along a spur I put him in front and told him to drop off the side and sidle along the spur.
We dropped off the side and he slowly started walking in a clockwise arc - back over the track and the spur, then down the other side, continuing clockwise until after about 1/2hr we finally arrived back on the track again.
I stopped him and asked him where he thought we were before pointing out the where we originally left the track, 50m further up the track

Originally Posted by blip

A townie I took out once didnt like all the spider webs your constantly walking through all the time

I hope you had a concrete pill handy for them

Originally Posted by 6x47

I hope you had a concrete pill handy for them

To be fair, I've never seen this covered in a how to hunting book or a book of hunting stories. So probably was a bit of a shock.

Having kids and taking them hunting is a good learning curve for patience. You just wear the thumps and thuds on your shoulder. Everyone has to learn somehow. You can tell people what they should/shouldn't carry how the should/shouldn't walk but they need to experience it themselves. Yep it's frustrating for you as an experienced hunter but you need to look back on when you were learning. Did you do the same? I have taken several new people out over the years and yes it has been frustrating at times and i have definitely lost chances at deer. Never has it been dangerous and not once have I said I will never take them again because of noise.