On your own or with a mate

[stavross]

A quick question

How many of you take people out with you on a regular basis

I’ve just been speaking to a mate and he was asking if I’d been out at all, when I told him he looked a bit miffed and made a comment something along the lines of “ where was my invite “ the truth is the main reason I don’t ask anyone now is the favour is never returned, nobody ever asks me if I’d like to go out with them, I have a couple of lads around York that will ring me now and then and ask if I’d like too join them but all the others that live near me never ask if I want to go out with them, despite the amount of times I’ve taken them out to shoot whatever they want to shoot

I very rarely used to be out on my own but now I can go months out on my own

 

[Smellydog]

I'm always on my own.
Muttering to myself use to upset them I think.

 

[Cottis]

Hunting alone is one of the greatest pleasures of life. Why sully it with the noise and distraction of others?

 

[GlennUK]

A quick question

How many of you take people out with you on a regular basis

I’ve just been speaking to a mate and he was asking if I’d been out at all, when I told him he looked a bit miffed and made a comment something along the lines of “ where was my invite “ the truth is the main reason I don’t ask anyone now is the favour is never returned, nobody ever asks me if I’d like to go out with them, I have a couple of lads around York that will ring me now and then and ask if I’d like too join them but all the others that live near me never ask if I want to go out with them, despite the amount of times I’ve taken them out to shoot whatever they want to shoot

I very rarely used to be out on my own but now I can go months out on my own

It seems to me that shooting of any kind is a privilege and permissions to do so is hard won, whether paid for in cash, time or given on a friendship basis.

An invitation to shoot with someone on their perm should be considered a real honour, not something to be assumed will happen, EVER in my humble opinion.

Anyone who presumes they they should be invited is perhaps not a real friend, especially when they haven't returned the favour in the past.

 

[charlie222]

I quite like company if I'm ratting or after squirrels. That's not often though, and I do get invites back.

 

[maximus otter]

On my own.

I have 1,000 acres of dream permissions: No fees, no time limits, no expectations, no public footpaths, more deer than l can handle. The issues?

a) It’s taken me more years than l care to think about to get to this stage.

b) None of my permissions are mine “by right”, e.g. courtesy of a relative, old school friend or former colleague; they are all via the “favour for a friend of a friend” route, so l don’t want to push my luck by asking for extra favours.

c) The only people who ever ask me to be taken out are precisely the kind of people whom l’d be least likely to invite, i.e. absolute newbies.

I regard my stalking as a privilege, and l don’t want to lose it because some well-meaning amateur couldn’t keep his finger away from the trigger, or misidentified a Labrador as a muntjac…

maximus otter

 

[stavross]

I really like being out with people and I’ve got no problem taking people out that don’t have their own land to shoot, but if people have their own land and are coming out with me but not returning the favour then that’s a bit off

I’ve been invited down to Lincolnshire after the shooting season for a couple of days and it’s always really good shooting down there, the lad who invited me said I could take someone with me, but I told him I’d be coming on my own because I feel if I took someone they would just be taking advantage of my good nature and wouldn’t return the favour and even if they did it would only be because I’d taken them down there

 

[Camdig]

I am 99% solo for deer and foxes and like mentioned above its taking me years to build up trust and relationships, while some wouldn't mind me having a friend along with me I prefer my own company.
On another note I have an open invitation to five of my non shooting friends to take them stalking (they asked) i said no problem let me know night before you are coming and get to mine for 4.30am, this was two years ago and no one has ever turned up.
Don't get many invites to shoot deer but pheasants probably a few times a year.

 

[Phil fox man]

I work as a team on foxes with ant j,have done for over 25 years.when were " on one" only a few words are needed.
I used to take people out for the NGO auction years ago.
phil.

 

[VSS]

The solitary nature of deer stalking is one of the things that attracted me to the sport.
I find the "groupie" nature of some other fieldsports (eg, driven game) particularly unappealing, and mostly I don't like the people anyway.
I know a lot of people cite the "comraderie" as one of the things they enjoy, but I'm just an unsociable git.

There's a really solid community spirit among deerstalkers, seemingly without the need to actually spend much time in each other's company. I like that.

 

[WalkedUp]

I enjoy both (well, all three…). When I am on my own I love the solitude and focus, it feels very natural and I am at my most perceptive, completely focused upon the world around me with no distraction. It is rare I am completely focused, except when shooting. When I am with a pal I really enjoy the team work and occasional reminiscences. Then as part of a group I like experiencing other people’s joy, the jokes and laughter. A place for all three in my heart.

 

[GlennUK]

I really like being out with people and I’ve got no problem taking people out that don’t have their own land to shoot, but if people have their own land and are coming out with me but not returning the favour then that’s a bit off

That's an interesting point, i have been given my perm off the back of a friendship with the farmer with the shooting rights. I don't feel it would be appropriate for me to ask to bring along friends/others, even though i am pretty sure my friend would not have a problem with it. It would be like inviting friends to dinner at someone's house i had been invited to, or at least that's how i would feel.

However, if I was invited to shoot on other peoples land i would discuss my position with them and offer to treat them in some fashion, assuming they were happy with that arrangement.

 

[slider]

Always on my own, that's the best company

 

[Overlay]

I used to regularly invite people along for rat, rabbits, fox and deer stalking, never wanted anything in return,, but to be honest there are so many unreliable deceitful **** takers in shooting now, it’s hardly worth the effort to give someone a leg up
Now very rarely will I ask anyone, it’s not something I like but, having experienced a few people over the past few years it’s been spoilt

Which is a great shame as it’s against my principles not to help people

 

[TringSaint]

I do take ppl out with me but mostly I shoot alone.
It’s my quiet time!!

 

[TopDown]

I mentor people but most of my trips are on my own. As above I enjoy the solitude/am an anti-social bastard. Sometimes I don't even take the dog.

 

[Bo Diddley]

I mostly go it alone, it's the easiest way for me, I only like to go when I'm feeling like can give it 100%, and I hate preplanning anything.
I do take two people out ratting & foxing, one is my nephew, and one a mate I met 30 years ago while fishing, we both do a bit of foxing and he got me onto some poultry units near me this year.. so for that alone I think he's a top egg...

 

[JockStalk]

An invite to accompany another on a stalk is a privilege.
If it’s an expectation, as your post infers, then my suggestion would be to put that individual on the invite list. Right at the bottom, just below Diane Abbot.

 

[paulst]

Almost always alone. I find that if I do take anyone stalking 2 people make 4 times the noise and it’s always the other person making the extra! Nowadays with thermal etc. foxing can be the solitary pursuit I always dreamed of 40 years ago.

 

[timbrayford]

When I was a teenager I had permission to rough shoot on a local farm, I got into the habit of taking a few chums with me. One day an extremely irate landowner turned up demanding to know who the people with me were and who had given them permission to shoot on his land? So that was the end of that bit of shooting and a hard lesson learnt!