mustad

I think I've made up my mind on what I'm about to explain, but would really appreciate the opinion from some fellow hunters before I finalize, so here it goes...

Since last spring, my hunting buddy and I have been working on getting ready for opening season. In total, we have pretty much split the costs even steven (I have probably paid a bit more, but they were on things I solely chose to purchase, so on the core things we have shared the costs). Up until yesterday, the expectation was that we were going to head up with our dogs and hunt the weekend. This changed, unbeknowngst to me when he took his step son duck hunting last weekend for a youth weekend. Well, his step son really took to it, and he invited him to come along with us this weekend.

My frustration lies in a couple of areas:

1. Given I took on a great deal of the costs and efforts of getting ready for the season (this includes duck boat, decoys, calls, etc...), I think I should have been consulted prior to any invitation.

2. I personally have never hunted with the stepson, but I do know him. He has been to the range twice, and I question his gun safety skills.

3. I was looking forward to this weekend as a boys trip. Obviously, having a kid along will impact that.

I would assume there are those out there that will see the logic in my frustration and hopefully those that don't. More than either agreeing or disagreeing with my frustrations, I would be very interested as to how you specifically would handle this situation. The options I see at this point are:

1. Just deal with it and hope for the best.
2. Be excited that a youth hunter is coming with us (I'm having a lot of challenges looking at it from this perspective).
3. Don't go.
4. Go, but just go by myself. Split the decoys and gear and hunt by myself.

Thanks for any opinions.

Cheers,