Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Most enjoyable hunt you’ve ever been on

I’d like to ask all you folks that have traveled a lot over the years chasing all sorts of different animals in all sorts of different landscapes .... what was your most enjoyable or favorite hunt you’ve been on? Was it the challenge of the hunt that made it the most enjoyable or was it maybe the scenery and landscape you enjoyed or was it maybe just the people you shared the hunt with?? I’m always looking for ideas for future hunts and animals to chase so it never hurts to know what others consider to have been great experiences for them. Life is short ... I’m always looking forward to the next hunt!

When I was a kid, Scale quail; just me and my pointer.

That green flash at sunset.

A handful of pheasant hunts in Western Kansas. Dad. Me. Brother in law. Some decent bird dogs. Plentiful birds.

This year wasn’t one of those years.

Any one of several with my son and grandson.

Deer
I just cant nail one down.


Last year dove hunting with slumlord when I couldnt feed my semi auto fast enough to stay on birds getting by me.
It was fugging pandemonium.
And I can reload that gun fast.
Bout 45 mins late afternoon literal non stop shooting with slight pause,s.
Shoot em drop em pick em up later.
That Winchester 1400 mkII ran like a champ.
Just need ta switch to a mod choke this year, lots of closer in birds got by me.

Deer hunt in Pennsylvania, 1978. My two bros-in-law and I stayed with a dairy farm family for the week. Hunted morning and afternoons, helped with farm chores mid-day. No deer taken, but had a whole lot of fun and laughter. We were three clean-cut guys in our early to mid 20's, and some of the locals suspected us of being game wardens! That part wasn't cool.

We were married to three sisters, and have all since divorced and gone our separate ways. Haven't seen either of them in over 20 years.

What I miss is squirrel hunts with a .22 in the days of my youth. The golden days of fall and lots of big fox squirrels and not a care in the world.
Those places I used to hunt are all gone, the big tree claims and abandoned farmsteads all been bulldozed long ago.

The one when Tide Jr, took his first whitetail. As a father and a guide, it was worth a mountain.

Daughter's first deer. I still love sitting on stand with her. Son's first bear. I've never seen happiness like I saw in his eyes that day.
The one I remember the most with the old man was when a doe jumped and ran hopping through the laurel fast as she could go. He swung the 742 '06 and dropped her with a head shot. I thought he was Superman after that.

In the early part of this century, my late wife and I went on a hunt near Dubois, Wy.. We had been retired a few years, had a small travel trailer, and our two goldens.. We planned to stay a month.. She had a cow moose permit, and I had a general elk tag.. We should have bought her a deer tag... First thing in the morning we drove to the top of the mountain to glass for moose.. We barely got settled when we spotted a small herd of elk crossing the park.. A fair bull was in the herd, so I decided to try him... At the shot he flinched and walked a few yards out of our sight.. When we got over there, he was dead at the edge of the park.. We dressed him propped him open and went to camp for a little trailer to get him out.. We had him loaded and in the processor by 9:30 or so... We decided for the evening hunt, we would drive 30 miles back into the hills where I had killed a bull in 1996... First thing we saw was a huge mule deer buck and no tag... Just at dusk, we were glassing the river bottom and spotted a big cow moose and small bull.. We got into position and she shot her behind shoulder about 1/3 of the way up.. The moose took one step and dropped.. We got the little truck and drove across the river and dressed the moose.. We had to tow her back across with a chain to get her to the little utility trailer to take home.. She was afraid of grizzlies, and when she got hooked up, I walked along behind to make sure all was well... She soon ran away from me across the river to the trailer.. The idea of the big bears kind of spooked her.. Any we got her loaded and headed in.. Both tags filled the first day of our hunt and we planned to stay 30 days... We often laughed about that.. Only for a couple more years as she passed in 2006,

^ yep.

Sure miss those days/places!

All subdivided...

So sorry for your loss what an amazing Hunt with the greatest hunting partner a man could want!

Last duck hunt with my Dad. He was ailing and I packed in and out all the decoys and stuff. The next year he did not make it out due to lung cancer. He got about 4 more years but there were no more duck hunts together. I still recall sitting around that pond with my two dogs, getting a few mallards, him drinking my coffee and feeding my lunch to the dogs with a great big grin on his face when I opened my lunch bag and everything was gone. Memories from 20+ years ago.

Going 10 shots on 10 squirrel heads or even less,,5 heads in 6 shots as long as its nice clean head shots,, no blood shot shoulder no gut,,, clean stalk, proper position, squirrel sitting pretty,, 1 shot ,, also you havto love a partly cloudy night 40ish degrees, smell of fallen leaves, sound of a young hound as he comes on a tree,, all by hisself,, loads up and dieing locate, then steady 60 barks a minute ,, you know he will stay, you have done your work training,He knows youll come because he trust's you and accepted that training,, partnership,,hear him pick up his pace treeing when he see's your light coming up the hill,when your light hits him,hes got front feet on the tree and loads up on it,,and he knows you know this is what he was bred for,,born for,,trained for,,you gave him the chance,and hes doing his part,,,some loving on the tree, back to the truck and a simple lick on the hand is ,,,enough,,,

Thought my beretta was going to melt. 🔥

For a while it was my B and C whitetail that I worked so long and hard for.
My first elk this year was nice to.
But flip a coin between my sons first Turkey or Deer , with me by his side
Is hands down my most memorable!

My first buck, in '87. 600yd stalk, most of it pretty easy with great cover. Set up laying on a canal bank with my new Ruger #1 45-70.
Waited for my heart rate to get below 300 then made a perfect rear quartering shot at 150yds. He went down like lightning hit him.
Loaded him in my new Toyota pickup and thought, man, life is good. New truck, new gun, first buck(a respectable 8 point), it doesn't get any better than that.

I miss the rabbit hunts from my days of youth. Me and my pop and a few of his friends and several beagles stomping through brushy draws and listening to them beagles bawl as they run those ridges and draws. Hunting ground that I no longer get to hunt and mostly miss hunting with my pop who has been gone for about 6yrs now. I truly enjoy hunting whitetail with my 12yr old son on our farm! I hope someday he realizes how much it means to me.

I had English pointers for 25 years. I miss the good hunts, sometimes move 25 coveys in a day. I deer hunt now, deer hunted before I got into quail hunting, it’s O.K., but not as much fun when your are hunting with dogs. I have had some spectacular dove hunts too.