Would you rather - Trophy solo or Shooter w/buddy

This is my 12th year hunting. My father in law got me started and we still hunt together...guess I should say share the same camp in Idaho. We hunt seperate areas but close enough that if one is successfull the other comes to help out. I hunt solo in California. My kids are starting to tag along and I am enjoying that. Next year my son will be hunting and my focus will be making it an enjoyable and rewarding, I am looking forward to that!
 
I'd answer both! But I'm OK without a trophy. Every year I have a couple tags that I go solo, hike a lot, and hunt hard; I love the solitude and the challenge of going solo. I also have a couple tags a year that are for buddies; my two brothers and I put in for the same elk tag this year for just a brothers trip. It really doesn't matter if we get an animal or not, it will be good brother time and camping either way. Same with pheasant hunting, fishing, etc I like a good 50/50 split of solo and with friends, ya get the best of both styles of hunting.
 
Hey all, Just for fun... Would you rather dump that buck of a lifetime on a solo-alpine hunt or bring home a couple of shooters with your favorite hunting partner?

My favorite person to hunt with is ME - LOL. I like succeeding or failing entirely on my own effort and strategies. With that said, at my age, a partner sure would make the pack outs a lot easier!
 
My favorite is going with people to an area, but then actually hunting alone I think. Meeting up throughout the day maybe. I don’t like moving through the woods with people, because I already struggle with being a big loud ogre.... I do like that once something is killed you still have a team!
 
Every western hunt I’ve ever been on and every WI buck I’ve shot in my life has been with my dad and godfather in camp.

I like to think I’d be like Remi Warren or someone out there battling Mother Nature solo and winning, but when the time finally comes where I shoot something nice and they aren’t there (and it will, whether due to age or me going on hunts that they don’t have points for), I know I will feel a huge void.
 
Seeing how I'm burning 11 pronghorn points for a 6 point unit to hunt with my youngest, I guess that answers the question for me. I like solo hunts for a day or two but after that I find I'm not all that good in conversation, although, talking-to yourself does tend to push other hunters to the next drainage.
 
I enjoy both scenarios, but usually hunt alone and meet back with a friend and/or my son mid-day at predetermined location for lunch or back at camp in the evening. If hunting together with someone, no more than one other person. Never enjoyed or understood the large group hunt mentality, as I would be more concerned with running into other hunters while hunting. If I had to pick just one way of hunting, it would be with no more than two other hunters in camp, one of which is my son getting a shooter buck.
 
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Having chased off all my buddies away because I'm an A$$hole, I'm tired of the solo gig and would love to partner up for shooter bucks.

Some truth in that, but my favorite partners are my sons and they have grown and gone. They live out of state now and it's gotten expensive for us to hunt together. (Whether they think I'm an AH is a question I really don't want to ask. )

Teaching my Granddaughter, who lives down the road with her mother and stepdad, to be my hunting buddy now.

I solo about 80% of the time. Miss T's legs being shorter than mine it is nice to put in some miles on my own.
 
Having chased off all my buddies away because I'm an A$$hole, I'm tired of the solo gig and would love to partner up for shooter bucks.

Some truth in that, but my favorite partners are my sons and they have grown and gone. They live out of state now and it's gotten expensive for us to hunt together. (Whether they think I'm an AH is a question I really don't want to ask. )

Teaching my Granddaughter, who lives down the road with her mother and stepdad, to be my hunting buddy now.

I solo about 80% of the time. Miss T's legs being shorter than mine it is nice to put in some miles on my own.
Stop being an A$$hole 🤣
 
Having chased off all my buddies away because I'm an A$$hole, I'm tired of the solo gig and would love to partner up for shooter bucks.

Sometimes I think that is my issue. But it actually comes down to the fact that most of my friends that hunt just aren’t willing to put in the effort to do much more than sit a box stand. Most of the rest reach their limit once they have packed in a climber over half a mile. That puts me in the position of sacrificing the type of hunting I enjoy to hunt with friends, which I do plenty of, or being the a-hole that strikes out on his own.
 
Sometimes I think that is my issue. But it actually comes down to the fact that most of my friends that hunt just aren’t willing to put in the effort to do much more than sit a box stand. Most of the rest reach their limit once they have packed in a climber over half a mile. That puts me in the position of sacrificing the type of hunting I enjoy to hunt with friends, which I do plenty of, or being the a-hole that strikes out on his own.
I am being (mostly) facetious. I find that I am working harder and have less leisure now than when I was 40. I have friends who would still like to hang out with me, but everyone is too dang busy these days.
 
I have yet to find that one hunting partner that is willing to put in the time, Shares my ethics or how I enjoy to hunt, sets aside finances for and applications to hunt. Everyone always says “man I’d like to go with you” but they crawfish real quick when they figure out you have to apply for a $700 license months before season, purchase points and plan sometimes several years in advance, and actually put in some sort of effort. For those reasons I fly solo 99% of the time.
 
I enjoy hunting with someone if they are on the same page as me. I’m still hunting by myself for 30 years now.
 
I haven't found a recipe for antlers yet...

But, alas as mentioned i don't have anyone around that wants to put in the effort i do.
 
If the species and area are conducive to someone being with me, I would go with a shooter with a buddy. I have done my share of solo hunting, and while I have enjoyed that, my most memorable hunts have been hunts in which my brother and/or a friend(s) have been with me.
 

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