Solo Hunters: Keeping Entertained at Camp Solo Hunting?

[Brittany Chukarman]

If I am truck camping, I take an old transistor radio my Grandfather had. It's amazing the stuff you can pick up on AM late at night. mtmuley

That's what I do also. On the days I tailgate butcher I have the radio playing. Never have owned a cell phone.

 

[Southern Elk]

Take a book or two. I like reading a good western.

 

[Lilhowie83]

I leave well before light and get back well after dark and usually come back to camp exhausted enough that I usually just eat and go to bed, that helps me avoid boredom.

 

[jtm307]

Hike so hard you pass out when you get back to camp. Do not take afternoon naps in the field.

 

[HuntTalk Freak]

I’m gonna bring a couple of books I’ve been meaning to read and stare into the tent stove. I am setting my base camp next to a lake so I’ll probably fish some during the first few scouting days before season opens.

 

[jrabq]

I just listen to the voices in my head.

 

[seeth07]

Some of you say you hunt all day but there are just types of hunts where that doesn't make sense and you do have downtime. Like a December hunt where it's dark at 4:30pm.

I like to hunt hard regardless so that way after returning and eating supper, I can digest what worked and didn't on onx, plan the next day with it. Then I'll grab a book and start reading. I'm lucky if I get 10 pages before falling asleep. Works great to get me sleeping right away!

 

[shannerdrake]

I’m a huge fan of my Kindle Paperwhite. It will hold hundreds of books. You can read it in straight sunlight or at night you can turn the backlight way down. A charge will easily last a week. It’s also small and light enough to take with you in your pack.

I like to download books relevant to the area too. When I’m in Wyoming I always have a Joe Pickett or Longmire ready to go. I read about Custer when I was in Eastern Montana. Lewis and Clark while in Astoria, WA.

 

[DouglasR]

Palmama Handerson

Handgelina Jolie!

Beating off in the backcountry:a guide to the wild side
-Dougs Chrondre McAfee

 

[Elkdog]

I have hunted solo most of my life. I thoroughly enjoy hunting with family or friends but there’s something special about the solitude of staying out alone for days or weeks. My longest is almost 4 weeks. I take more books than necessary just in case and read every night. But most of the time it’s enough to just “be”. It takes a couple days to get there. And longer to get back! Lol.
It’s hard to explain but just being, becoming a part of the life around you without expectations or control or analysis. Just existing. How could you ever be bored being a part of creation?
So rereading this it sounds WAY over the top. Sorry! But I do really enjoy the peace of being alone in the middle of nowhere. Luckily we do “the middle of nowhere” really well in Nevada! Lol.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Great time to read. I go up every year to set up our elk camp. Took over for my uncle when he died in 1990. Typically three or four days before the rest of the crew shows up. a couple of times I was solo for the season, sometimes solo for the last three or four days. Absolutely my favorite time of the year.

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

I hunt solo a good bit. I download a bunch of shows/movies on my phone and I have audible. I hunt until dark get in the tent eat and watch shows until I fall asleep. I'm up before the sun. I don't mind it at all. I carry a couple power banks to recharge my phone.

 

[44hunter45]

Beating off in the backcountry:a guide to the wild side
-Dougs Chrondre McAfee

Too many game cams and sheep hunters with spotting scopes out there now. There is no privacy.

 

[OntarioHunter]

In the old days at my horse camp I tried taking along a good book but the lighting from Coleman lantern threw too many shadows for reading. So I switched to something that had more images ... that folded out.

 

[RyGuy]

I’m just jealous you have 10 days you can take off for a doe tag!

 

[rwc101]

Boredom is the worst thing about late season hunts/winter in general. Hate when it gets dark so early. Books and endless games of solitaire are my go to.

 

[gouch]

Leave your electronics and books at home, there are lots of ways to keep entertained. Daydream, I am really big on daydreaming when there is nobody and nothing around to distract me. Watching the wildlife that is all around is great fun. The birds, the squirrels, the lizards, the gophers, the bugs, all of them, they live fascinating lives. Catch timber ants and put them in ant lion traps. Great fun right there. Catch grasshoppers and feed them to the fish in the creek. It feels like your team just scored every time a little trout comes out of hiding and snatches that bug off the surface. Make a yellowjacket trap. Watching the yellowjackets die is rewarding enough but the concentration of yellowjackets attracts the bald face hornets. Watching them suckers hunt, catch, fight, kill and eat yellowjackets is better than any movie I have ever seen. Naps are a must, and you can masturbate because there is nobody there to judge you. Don't act shocked, you do it and you know you do. Take some dry twigs and some fishing line and fasion a miniature bow and arrow. Use it to stalk and shoot insects. Not only fun, but it also sharpens your hunting skills. If your low on energy, just sit and watch the shadows move. Kind of a Zen thing. One a clear night just watch the stars until you can't keep your eyes open anymore. If it's raining just watch and listen to the rain. If it isn't fire season, sit by the campfire. I can watch a campfire burn for hours while I just daydream. Just enjoy being and being alone. We don't get much time to be alone without outside distractions these days.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

@mtmuley has it right. George Noory, Coast to Coast, is usually entertaining. Baseball games in late Sept and through Oct are my go to for base camp.

 

[Hunter4Life78]

I just listen to the voices in my head.

I argue with voices in my head

 

[Stocker]

I argue with voices in my head