RE: Mixed feelings about going hunting with my brother
 

Well, it doesn't have to be a matter of physical limitations. It could be a lot of things. I took a guy out once who had a huge fear of bees. Wasn't even allergic to them or anything. Found out only after we got there. I left him at his stand, but all day long I was thinking about the guy instead of hunting. Another ruined hunt. That is why I won't pass judgment here. I know what it is like to have someone wanting you to take them out who you ought to have doubts about. The mere fact the guy is there means you will be thinking about him instead of hunting. He ruins everything. Maybe it is a little selfish, but you wait a whole year.

Ultimately, I think we hunters need to just be willing to sacrifice a day or two to help new guys. But we ought to be prepared to lose a day of hunting if the guy is a numbskull or a wimp or out-of-shape, etc...

Hey. Was an interesting discussion. I'll let someone else have the last word on it.

RE: Mixed feelings about going hunting with my brother
 

Well, my brother doesn't smoke, but I could beat him in a mile run, that is for sure.

Swampmonster and many of you others were very close to the feelings that I have. I only get about 5 days to hunt where he would be joining me, at it might only be 2 or 3 days this year. So, I don't want to spend a lot of time holding his hand. I am a small businessman and dont get paid vacations, so what little time I can scrape up for hunting is very precious to me.

That said, I just talked to my brother and found out that he has been good about getting down to the range with his new black powder rifle and learning to shoot like a hunter. (No rifle rests allowed, just sitting, standing or kneeling) I told him to work on range estimation and shot placement for deer in various positions, so he may be closer to being ready to be in the woods than I had originally thought. I love the sport enough to tell even my brother to stay home if he is not ready to make a clean, ethical kill. But I think he will be there by November if he gets to the range enough before then.

Thanks again to everyone that chimed in.

Chubber

RE: Mixed feelings about going hunting with my brother
 

Well I'm new to this board so here goes; bout the only time me and my brother get along these days is when we hunt or fish together. Our dad gave us both the chance to hunt at the same time, i' am only 2 years older. Well my brother is a shooter not a hunter. He has killed twice as many deer as I and 2 bigger than any I've killed. But I put him on both of the 2 big deer, my stands that I had hung in areas I had scouted.
But when you hear him tell the stories of those deer he has mounted he always gives the credit where due. Both where gun kills and when I walked to his stand and saw the bucks I was just as happy as he was. Did he infringe on me, NO! I still had a great time sitting alone in my stand and being with nature. Plus I got some grear memories of a great hunt with my brother.
Now who do you think brother calls when a big buck is seen in bow season ( he does not bow hunt )? and he can't call a turkey at all so who gets the call to call up a big tom for the both of us, yep the both of us because even if he gets his bird first he always stays around to help set up decoys and be part of another great turkey hunt.

My vote is take him!

RE: Mixed feelings about going hunting with my brother
 

I am new to this board also. This is my first post as a matter of fact. I would have to say that you should take your brother... I have been hunting for about 11 years now and I was first introduced to it by my father. I remember the first time that I ever went out was opening day of pheasant season when i was 9 years old. My dad told me that if i wanted to hunt, i would have to learn it like he learned... So that first day I carried my daisy bb gun just to get the feeling of carrying a firearm around others. I had to be sure that i was carrying it the right way, not to point the barrel twords anybody else. It was a BLAST!! I remember watching my dad and one of his buddies limit out in a matter of a few hours. After that first hunt, I was tired but i was HOOKED!! I went out with him once a weekend every weekend after that still carrying the good old bb gun. The next year for my birthday, my dad bought me a 410 single shot and said that I earned it. I got to carry it in the field with a shell in but with the breach open, but I didn't care because I felt like one of the men being able to carry my own shotgun. As i got older i began to use larger guage shotguns until i was 16 when i got my first 12 guage.. I was old enough to go out on my own and use what my father had tought me.

Last summer my parents bought 10 acres of timber and one of my buddies suggested that i should try bowhunting.... so I took an hour and a half trip to Scheels in Iowa City and I bought myself a bow. I was pumped when i bought it and couldn't wait to start shooting it... I practiced shooting my bow up until the season started. I really didn't know much about deer hunting with a bow except for research that i have done on the internet and things that friends of mine told me. I hadn't bought a stand yet so i would pick out good ground level spots and would see few deer but none were even in range, so i finally saved a little money and bought myself a stand 3 weeks into the season. I put it in a tree that i thought would be good.... Well I never ended up getting a deer last season but i did enjoy the time in the woods and listening and watching gods greatest creation, nature! I really wish that I could have had someone take me out and show me the ropes, but i did it all based on trial and error... This year i was much more prepared. I had my stand set out a month early so that the deer would get used to it and think nothing of it, I shot my bow every day, and got some new gear so i have more options for what the weather has to throw at me. I have only had a chance to go out about 4 times so far, but i have had shots at 3 bucks, 4 does, and have seen a couple of fawns playing in front of my stand.. Hopefully come the end of the season i dont regret not taking any of the shots!! But yes, take him out....otherwise he might miss out on having a good first season like i did!!

Sorry about the long post!!!


Brett in Iowa

RE: Mixed feelings about going hunting with my brother
 

I was the first in my family to bowhunt. I took my little bro with me. I gave him a bow, taught him to shoot and we built him a stand. I even let him hunt my best stand. Nothing I wouldn't have done for him or given him. Anything that was mine was his, no reservation. No regrets.

RE: Mixed feelings about going hunting with my brother
 

Wow. I am truly speechless here.

I do not have ANY siblings. I did not have my father around when I grew up (due to military and family issues). I learned how to hunt on my own, and am still learning today. There was nobody around to show me the in's and out's. Although I learned how to do things, and it was a personal accomplishment....I am positive it would not have even held a candle to a brother, father, or friend that would have been there to "teach" me and share my learning experiences.

My first deer was a large 8 point buck that was downed by probably the best shot I had ever taken in my life to this day. I stood at the buck lying in the soy bean field, and just looked at it. It was the culmination of all I had worked for. I dragged it to the truck. I field dressed it. I thought I should have been excited, but I really was not. It felt like something was missing.

There wasn't anybody there.

There can be such a thing as being too lonely. I watched friends whose fathers, and brothers brought them into the sport. I remember going over to one's house specifically. He had shot a doe, and his older brother (he was 15 years older) had taken him out to show him the ropes that season. You could almost feel the happiness of the experience shared by them, and you know they will remember that forever.

I would have given anything to have someone to do the same.

You seem to be hunched over the preparedness factor here. It would be rare to think that a first time deer hunter would be 100% prepared for the very first season. I have been hunting for many years, and still am learning. You simply cannot become an expert without at first being a novice. Guide him through those stages and share with him the magical moments of a first deer sighting, or a missed shot, or better yet, a successful hunt.

Or you could be greedy and not do any of it, and keep it all to yourself.