re: Hunting and fishing by yourself

I'll be 55 in March.

My whole life I've been a magnet for group activities among my friends group. I was a bike racer for years and years. I was the captain of the race team and usually the one who planned out training rides and race trips. I HATED riding alone and if I couldn't find someone to train with I most times would come up with some excuse not to ride.

Since the pandemic, that has changed. I got some nice ear buds and I really enjoy going for a mountain bike ride by myself. I'll put on a good playlist, podcast, or Audible book and ride for hours.

I also got in to kayak fishing. And I actually prefer going by myself. After years of being the planner, I'm way over waiting on someone to show up, or coordinating schedules. I can wake up on a weekend morning and decide "I think I'll go fishing today". 18 minutes later I can be loaded up and headed to the water.

When fishing I will either just be "one with nature" which is something I desperately needed through all this pandemic bullshite, or put the ear buds in and listen to a book.

Sell your big boat and buy a nice fishing kayak. SO much less hassle.

Whatdoino, launching and re-trailering is easy unless you have to deal with crowds. No one wants to help, and everyone is impatient.

I do it but I don't like it. I'd much prefer someone to hunt and fish with.

I'll fish hunt alone but I'm not doing multiple day/night hunting and fishing trips by myself anymore. I just ain't as mad at deer as I used to be. Last year I shot my best archery buck to date and was alone when it happened. Was kind of a bummer not cracking beers open at camp with the crew. By the time I got home with the deer it was 930 pm. I woke my wife up to make her look at it and she was not at all enthusiastic about it. Was just kind of a hollow victory. You don't really realize how big the comradery portion of hunting is until you go without it a while. My podnuhs all have a million kids each so they don't get out much anymore.

I've considered rigging up an electric winch on my trailer to make trailering alone more doable.

There's no way to get my boat cinched onto the trailer without being part acrobat.

You are right WHATDOINO; if I am going to Shell Beach or Hopedale, I typically go very early. I used to like to launch at Reggio Marina even though it was bad, so I could avoid the crowds. Myrtle Grove Marina is also a good place to launch solo.

I will still go fishing by myself, and actually prefer it that way. The only time I go with someone is if going out in a boat since I don't have one. Most of my fishing is along the Mississippi River for catfish and I would rather do that by myself.


I no longer hunt, but when I did, I preferred to do that alone too. I was mostly a small game hunter-----rabbits, squirrels, doves, ducks. Never really got into deer hunting and the biggest game animals I've killed were hogs.

Ya, that's who I'm talking about. The silver lining is that they determine that it was caused by a heart issue. His father, brother and himself all had heart problems. Terrible ordeal but at least it wasn't caused by some type of accident.

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I'll be 55 in March.

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Me too

I sometimes feel intense pressure to have my fishing partner catch fish. If they don't, I feel like I failed. Alone can sometimes be my best trips. No stress about catching, moving spots or changing tactics.