A lot of life events that have taken place have really put things in perspective. More specifically, it had given me a greater appreciation of the time we have to spend others while we're here. In reality, I'm not getting any younger, nor is my father, and I've always said I wanted to go on a hunting trip together. Somewhere. Anywhere. I'm fortunate enough to live very close to my parents, so I see them regularly, and my dad and I even share the occasional hunt here at home, but I always thought a trip would truly be a great culmination of a hunting partnership that has been developed from the time I could run outside to see what he had brought home during the seasons. So, who here has taken a trip with their father? Where did you go? What made you decide to finally go ahead and go for it? I'm thinking that it may (may mind you) have to be something on the shorter end time frame (maybe a 4 day hunt) since I get very littler time off in season, and there's really no solution to that problem. Budget is always an issue, but I would like to pay for my father as a small way of saying, "thanks for giving me a lifelong passion for the outdoors that will benefit me for years to come." I suppose I just want to hear anything you guys have to say about the experience.
We used to go on a lot vacations as a family, but my Dad was never a hunter. Never had the time or the patients.
My dad Is my #1 hunting buddy. I've hunted a ton with the man. I'm guessing we've went on at least 30 to 40 hunting trips together where we were away from home for at least a week. Only once did we elk hunt together, It was In Idaho for 10 days when I was a Sophomore In High school. Another 6 times or so were out In Wisconsin deer hunting. The other 20+ times were spent In northern Minnesota bear hunting. I wouldn't be where I am today without the guidance of my father and for all he has done for me. Thank you very much pops!! Hopefully we got another 20 to 30 hunting trips ahead of us.
I never got much of a chance to hunt with my dad. I hunted in Arkansas a couple times with him but only went on one trip. He and my step mom came up for Thanksgiving early and we went down to Metropolis, IL to hunt public ground with my ex-father in law. What makes the trip special to me was that Dad had his friends Chet and Randy hunting down there and they are old school North Central Arkansas Hilljack types, the coolest ole boys you could ever meet. We stayed in the hotel but hung out at the campground most of the time. A few night were spent with Crown Royal and Bud Light, one of the few times I have drank with dad as he gave up the bottle many years ago. Dad killed a small doe that I found for him and dubbed the GS (German Shepherd) and the rest of us passed on several does searching for the right buck. I know I will not get another chance at a trip like this with dad or the gang so it will always be a special trip to me filled with fun and great people. To be honest I am not sure with dad's health that I will ever get him back out in the woods. For those of you with ample time left to hunt with you dad make sure you get out and do it.
Me and my father hunted (DEER) the same area of Northern, Wi from 1984-2006. Tomorrow will be 4 years ago he passed away at the age of 61. Me and my step dad still hunt together.
Haven't done that yet, really want to in the future. A friend of mine did just the other year. They did a bear hunt in Alaska and had a really great time.
I've never gone on a hunting trip with my Dad yet away from home. However, he's expressed a lot of interest in going on some turkey hunts in a quest to get a Merriams or Gould's species of turkey. I might actually try and work out a swap-a-hunt a few years down the road once I get some money saved up after graduation if any of you guys out west would be interested in a swap a hunt for deer or Easterns. I'm a little more ambitious in some of the animals that I would like to hunt compared to my Dad though as I'd like to travel all around the U.S. and possibly even outside of the country to do some hunting.
He took me on my first 2 elk hunts. He is more about spending time with the guys then killing an animal but it was fun. We did 2 more elk hunts later on and got a couple of nice bulls.
Hopefully going on some sort of hunt this year with my dad, haven't been on an actual "trip" anywhere yet.
Unfortunately, my father has COPD and he doesn't really hunt at all anymore. I sure do miss going hunting with him. He might go a few times a season now. He says he could care less if he kills another deer ever again. Anyway, I don't need a "special trip" to enjoy the time spent with my dad. l'm sure that applies to everyone. Its just nice to get out together (anywhere). Good luck Matt.
I do a whitetail rifle hunt with my dad, uncle, and brother in law every year in West Virginia. Dad is getting older and every year he hunts a little less.
Every out of state hunting trip out of state has been with my dad, and most of my hunting here in MN is with him as well. He's my favorite person to travel, and hunt with. I've hunted whitetail in Montana for 4 years with him, and we're heading to Kansas April 1 to hunt turkeys. But BY FAR my most memorable hunting experience with him was on our father-son hunt with 3 other father son pairs to Quebec Canada to hunt Caribou. If anyone is thinking about a father son hunt, Quebec would be perfect (expensive, yes). The good thing about it is it really is for a person of any age. It's flat tundra, easy walkin'. You spend a lot of time glassing herds, so there is a lot of time to talk and just enjoy the scenery. There is a tremendous amount of game (generally...and if not if you're outfitter is worth anything they'll get you on caribou even if it means flying you to another camp) I plan on taking my dad back there in the future to "pay him back" as well. I really recommend it to anyone and was blessed to have the opportunity to go. If time is an issue as you said it may, you could always do a Turkey hunt somewhere, and usually for fairly cheap. Or maybe a hog hunt somewhere as well.
I lost my father in 2007 but he still goes with me on each and every hunt. My dad was a workaholic and rarely ever took vacation time. However, he did take me hunting 4 times back in the day, each of them giving me great memories. When I was 8 y.o. we went on a fun little rabbit hunt with a couple of my cousins. During this hunt I got to shoot my dad's shotgun for the first tiem, yep, it knocked me down but man was it cool. We went on our first wild boar hunt in 1974 when I was 10 y.o., again with my 2 awesome cousins and a family friend. I didn't get to shoot a hog on this trip but man was it super cool. I took tons of pictures with my little kodak camera. I still get the pictures out from time to time to reflect. Our next hog hunt was the most memorable of them all. We hunted with the same group of family and friends however this time I got to kill a hog while my dad spectated. I was 13 now and my dad was even cool enough to let me miss a day of school to go on this trip. :D I was hunting with a Marlin .30-30 lever action which I still have and cherish. I could go on and on about this trip but well, you get the gist of it...It was amazing! Our last hunt together was a couple years later and again, my dad let me kill the hog. On this trip my cousins and one of our friends were bowhunting. Let's just say things didn't go exactly as planned for our friend Jim...We nicknamed him 11+1 after that trip. lol I've been back to the same place to hunt hogs with a couple friends over the years and always had a great time. With that said, the hog hunts were great fun and a different type of experience. We always went to Caryonah Hunting Lodge in Crossville, TN. http://www.caryonah.com/ Oh, and they serve good ol down south home cooked meals that are top notch. :D Let it be known that my dad was the most giving and caring man I've ever known and I will never forget the time he spent with me whether we were hunting or not.
Me and my Dad backpacked into the heart of the Gila Wilderness Area 2 years ago to hunt Merriam turkeys. My Dad isn't one to hike mountains, but when I asked him to go with him, he immediately accepted. It was, by far, the greatest trip of my life. We had some great talks sitting around our nightly camp fires. We didn't see another human being for 5 days. It felt like we had the entire wilderness to ourselves. Unfortunately, my Dad missed on both of his opportunities at a bird, so we are planning a return trip next year. If you have backpacking gear, you could easily pull this trip off for about $500.
My Dad and I have never hunted out of state...typically at least two deer camps per year (one bow/one gun)...and those are great weekends themselves...and many quick hunts together throughout season. I've been asking myself this question more lately - do we need to take a trip soon - need to find out if my Dad really has any desire to take an out-of-state trip. I'd guess his idea of a great trip would be spring turkeys and bass fishing in the afternoons - again, something we don't need to travel out of state for. Good thread - bottom line - cherish all time outdoors with family - and pass it on to the next generation. This only confirms how important being a dad is...the smallest gestures will remain great memories for your kids!
other than when i was coming up learning to hunt we really havent. he has lost the love of hunting and heath wise it'd be pretty tough for him at this point. a few years back when i lived in MN we would go on a pheasant once a year and he always had a blast and vowed to get back into hunting.... but days turned into weeks and weeks to months and nothing. tried to get him to apply for a crossbow permitt and i told him i'd pay for one, he didnt even do that. pretty sad actually but best of luck booking one. i'd love nothing more than to hunt with my father again!!!!!!!!!!!!
