# how many in your blind???



## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

I hunt alone a lot,, and hunting with just me and another buddy is ideal...3 is the max!! I don't know how people hunt with 4+ people,,I would go nuts if a flock comes in and everyone blasts away...I like knowing who shoots which bird and its a lot easier to take turns on singles and taking the left or right bird when its just 2 people..who cares if a group of ten birds come in and 8 hunters blast away and kill all of them,,they have no idea if they were pullin up on the same bird,, I like knowing who shot what and the good/bad shots made on birds,,,I see these shows with 8 guys all firing on 5 birds,,I just don't get it and wouldn't enjoy it I guess...plus the safety issue and what not..just curious what your thoughts are.


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## Bhilly81 (Oct 18, 2009)

i mostly hunt by myself but i have also done it with 2 people and i did it with three once i would say that 3 would be the max and also ideal but i also like hunting with just 2 hunters for the fact that its not crowded and you pretty much know what bird is yours plus you have a backup guy if you forget to reload your gun (yes it has happened) but thats my opinion and im going with 2 other guys on wednesday


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## katorade (Sep 23, 2007)

Yes, Or one bird falls and its banded and you fight over the band. Nice to have company but nice to know who shoots what.


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## kev (Feb 7, 2008)

I really don't care any more. I have shared a blind with 21 guys before, yep no typo, me and 21 guys makes 22! I routinely hunt with 4 or 5 others and I rarely make it a year without several obligatory 10 guy shoots. I almost like it better. Makes for better stories and what not. I never hunt alone. Don't like it. Plus I'm not in the kind of health that would make it a great option anyway. If I got stuck somewhere alone I'd be screwed. 

Who shoots the bird doesn't matter to me anymore, especially when it's puddle ducks or geese, and even on divers I don't get too rilled up anymore. I've hunted enough to know if my pattern had a part in the demise of the birds I was shooting at or not. Past that point I really don't care. To that point however, I think that a guy should follow the rules and case his gun after it's been determined either by himself, or his fellow hunters that he has "limited out". It's a guaranteed cure for a "claimer". He'll claim the first 7 birds down and have to sit with his gun put away for the rest of the day, it'll only happen once. If it's a big deal, just have everyone keep "their" birds in a pile by them and when they get to 7, they stop.

It's funny to me the evolution of hunters, and what makes them tick. It's different for everyone, and I think that's great. Keeps things interesting. Me I like to shoot the bull, over shooting the ducks, so for me the more the merrier!

Later,
Kev


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## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

good points kev..I love shootin the bull and stories and stuff but a pile of birds with not remembering who shot what and so on is just a stack of birds to me...I love everything about waterfowling, especially the shots people make and miss...and the shots I make and miss..I see these videos of big piles of birds with a bunch of hunters and it just seems like more of a killing field group.. I love handfuls of ducks working and only a couple guys picking out there birds...I love the big group bs stories and all that and the fun of joking and just any of that,, so I get its appeal...different things for different people.. as long as your having fun.


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

I don't hunt alone....never have...but now it's more of an age thing, something goes wrong with my ticker or something and it's over. Well it would be over anyway, even without someone else there. Case is, at least there is a witness to my demise.
I have hunted with 4, but don't like it. 3 is about max with me and 2 is ideal. Safety is always a concern and more means more problems. I just hate to hear the nervous clicking on and off of a saftey as a person waits for the birds to commit. Shudder!


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

I hunt with one or two and even some time more then that.I have hunted up with 8 people. I like the bigger groups.The birds at the end of the day is just a bonus.Spending time with good friends and family that what matter more then the pile of birds. Sitting in the boats shooting the BS and Laughing with each other and at each other for missing a bird.Take turns on the loners and we all open up on the big flocks. we don't care who get what bird if there a band we will flip a coin for it. had to do that last year.each to there Owen.


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

I generally hunt alone.... very random few times I'll hunt with one other person. I've hunted with more, but alone, I make the choices that determine how my hunt goes, I know where I go and what I do and I don't have to worry about what other folks are doing for the most part. Its kinda nice that way.... if I need company, thats what I have a good dog for.


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## stealthwaterfowl (Oct 27, 2009)

I've hunted with 4 others on a boat and it's a hell of a time. As for the safety, just make sure your hunting with people who know what the hell their doing and if they don't just make a point to them at the start of the hunt and draw those boundries for them, after all it's not a science just stay within your area of the blind, leave your saftey on until it's time and have fun.

However, it is also fun to hunt with just one other. I think it's more of a "Hunt" rather than just hanging out shootin some ducks. Sometimes you just gotta take it a little more serious and get it done, nothin wrong with that. Every once in a while i'll head out by myself, but i like waterfowling with others for the most part. I'll leave the hunting by myself to the archery side of me.


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## Donttreadonme (Sep 11, 2007)

I like to hunt with 2-4 guys and no more. I like the camaraderie and BSing as much as anyone but at the end of the day I just prefer small groups. My favorite way to roll any more is with me and my 5 year old son alone. No better blind buddy than him.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

I guess you'd say I'm more of a social hunter than I am a solitary one. I prefer to go out hunting with others. Its nice to know someone is around to help out if you need it.

There is a line that needs to be drawn though. I have a hard time hunting/shooting with people I don't know very well, in large groups. By large I mean more than 4 people or so. I like to know how safe other people are, as well as be able to communicate a strategy when it is needed. That's hard to do when there are tons of people. 

As for hunting alone, I will do it when there's nobody else to go with me, but I don't prefer it.


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## Bret (Sep 7, 2007)

I hunt alone alot. Sometimes I prefer to be alone with my thoughts. Most of the time I like to hunt with other people though. They have to be the right other people. As far as numbers
....me plus one is best, plus two is ok sometimes, three almost never, and more than three never. I hate big groups. Ive done it it is just not my thing....Not fun just a lot of bangin'.

Bret


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## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

Interesting topic. I've seen the big boats come in with lots of hunters and wondered if they were hunting the same blind or dropped off in the phrag somewhere. For me, I've mostly hunted alone in utah but 2 plus me and the dog is a max for anything where we will be in the same area. back home we'd take out two boat with several people and split up between a few different holes and that was fun as well. 

Utahgolf, 
i don't want to hijack you thread but maybe you could include how many dogs in one blind. i've seen it done well with a few but more often than not it seems like a junk show.


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## Artoxx (Nov 12, 2008)

I hunt alone fairly often but for the most part I hunt with one other buddy. We do most everything together, hunting wise.
We even built layout boats from scratch a few years ago. Took the whole frikkin summer and we barely got them done in time for the opener, but it was fun. I will NEVER do it again, but it was fun ONCE. lol

Rarely I will be part of a group that is larger, but those are usually spontaneous deals where we run into other friends out in the field and get to shooting the bull and just end up hunting together.

As far as dogs in a blind go, I prefer to have ONLY my dog around,( :mrgreen: :wink: ) but that is not fair to my bud and he always brings his dog. They get along well and it really isn't any more trouble than just having the one. In fact it works out okay, she wins the race to the ones that fall on shore for the most part, and he handles all the water retrieves.
I REALLY don't care for a third dog in the immediate vicinity, as I hate dealing with poachers, and it seems like I am one of the few guys on the dike that actually trained his dog to OBEY, especially when the bird in question is not MINE. My dog might head for any old random killed bird, but he stops if I tell him to. I know I could alleviate most of this problem by getting my lazy carcass off the dike, but... :wink: 
I am happy to have my dog help out other hunters in the vicinity if they don't have a dog or their dog won't make the retrieve for whatever reason, but I really hate it when someone elses dog poaches my bird out from under my dog. I usually have "conversations" with those guys that leaves them incontinent for a while. :twisted:

Now out in the pheasant fields and such is another deal entirely, I don't mind a few estra guys around and quite like having multiple dogs. I bring two myself. Better coverage of the terrain and more people to razz about poor shooting. OK, I _*GET*_ razzed more too, but I can handle that. :lol:


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

I hunt alone almost always. I take my dad or a friend once in awhile, but mostly it's just me.


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## maramarama (Oct 5, 2009)

I go with 3 to 5. My dad, my son, another son or two who don't shoot or a freind.

Shooting ducks is not the most important part of duck hunting to me, its being on the marsh with freinds and family.


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## king eider (Aug 20, 2009)

maramarama said:


> Shooting ducks is not the most important part of duck hunting to me, its being on the marsh with freinds and family.


Amen brother!!! well said and that is how i feel. friends, feathers, and pulling the trigger!


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