We're in a little different situation. Most of our hunting trips are pretty far north on fly in junkets. We don't have easy access to getting out if someone is sick or injured. With that in mind we have a general rule of no alcohol in camp. A few years ago a hunting companion almost shot me while emptying his magazine in the cabin. It's supposed to be done outdoors before comig in. He has one of those notorious Rem. 700s with their questionable safeties in .300Rem. Mag. About all we could have done was put down a danger marker outside the cabin, but if the next day had been foggy or snowy the guide wouldn't have been able to fly over the site and see our signal. I could have been a few days getting help. With things like this in mind we prefer no alcohol at all on our trips. I'm not a drinker so I don't miss it. It's not bad for the drinkers either since they get a chance to dry out, so to speak. In the north there's just too many risks as is, we don't want to take chances. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Why thank you Vince...Sounds like you would like my camp...Simple but functional.

Camp routine after the hunt. Enter camp. Unload rifles and stow. Check loads in revolver and return to holster. Build cook fire (no white man fire here.) While fire is burning down to coals enjoy a beer. Cook meal on or over fire and serve with a good wine. Relax with friends who are seasoned and hand picked hunters, tell lies and have a whiskey or two. Bed time.

I can see you are all very well meaning, but, how many of you can honestly say that you have never made that journey to the stand in the morning wishing you had one or two less than you had the night before? I agree completely that alchohol and guns should not mix. Secure your weapons and proceed as one see's fit. I only run with people that I feel can be trusted with firearms. If they're unfit in the morning, or slow out of the bunk, they stay in camp. Know your threshholds and act accordingly.

Given the choice I would rather be in Bushmaster's camp. I am interested in the different perspectives that have been presented here, but, the approach at our hunting camps excludes anyone that cannot act responsibly. To "dirtymike" I would say there has never been a time or hunt when anyone was slow to rise in the morning from alcohol or regretted having one too many. A good whisky is too expensive to waste on binge drinking!

calsibley speculates that alcohol presents another nuisance to deal with in the backcountry and could jeapordize the hunting party's safety. Yet, we have used alcohol in the backcountry to minimize the pain of stiching a gash closed (under a horse when it rolled) and he was grateful for it. He was back to hunting two days later.

I suspect it comes down to knowing the people with whom you hunt. For our group of dedicated hunters (several B&C entries) a good whisky is always welcomed in camp and always consumed responsibly. And it never tastes as good as when the nights are cold and the fire is low.

Knob Creek did cause one hunting buddy to cry, however. He found his bottle had bounced from the saddlebag and was no where to be found. Do you know how much you can extort for a little whisky?

Man, Bushmaster, when can we share a hunt together? The only thing missing would be some coyotes singing in the hills!
Tim

In MODERATION with no firearm present. When the sun has set a nip of good spirits warms the heart & soul. Every camp I've been to distains drunks & snobs, I'm suer everyone knows someone that meets that description. This type of person is not within the leauge of those I hunt with.

A few points I would like to raise here. Firstly: Blaine - What the hell is A HUNDRED ACRES? Fifty kicks in the n**s? I can't even IMAGINE land that big! To walk from one end of my property to the other (the longest length) takes around fifteen seconds - IF you take your time!
Secondly: Vince: I seem to recall for some reason that you are located in OZ. Given that what serves as my memory is correct, when does it ever get cold there? I thought a cold winter's night was down to the high 60's!
Thirdly: How come my avatar is getting so popular? I'm gonna have to change it and unless all you guys stump up a dollar each - I'm gonna post my pic! Joe's pig look out.

I am a little surprised that my side arm wasn't directly mentioned...The camp sites that me and my three partners use is nowhere near other campers. We don't use camp grounds and a side arm is a necessary evil(?). We, however, are not going to get drunk on booze when in camp as we are smarter then that. Besides. When you have no neighbors to contend with you don't need to get an artificial high. You get high on your surroundings. And yes tbox61. There are coyotes singing in the background not to mention other upstanding neighbors of the same ilk...(Bobcat, couger, raccoon, etc, etc.....)

delboy wrote:

A few points I would like to raise here. Firstly: Blaine - What the hell is A HUNDRED ACRES? Fifty kicks in the n**s? I can't even IMAGINE land that big! To walk from one end of my property to the other (the longest length) takes around fifteen seconds - IF you take your time! Secondly: Vince: I seem to recall for some reason that you are located in OZ. Given that what serves as my memory is correct, when does it ever get cold there? I thought a cold winter's night was down to the high 60's! Thirdly: How come my avatar is getting so popular? I'm gonna have to change it and unless all you guys stump up a dollar each - I'm gonna post my pic! Joe's pig look out.

Gidday Delboy, yep I'm in Oz mate. The biggest property I have hunted was a place that my eldest daughter worked as a Jillaroo(female ranch worker, males are called Jackaroos), it is a cattle property of 100 square miles. But it is nowhere near as big as some of the properties in the Northern Territory. They measure them in thousands of square kilometres. Check out this website ... www.pastoral.com/ , in particular Newcastle Waters Station, a magnificent 10,353 sq km breeding property.

You might be surprised to learn that we have massive snowfields here during winter. Australia is pretty well as big as the USA, only a different shape. I live in Brisbane Queensland,and on a cold night in winter it gets down to single figures Centigrade. Where I hunt deer, about 300 km South of Brisbane, it gets VERY cold during winter, into minus figures Centigrade, with -10 C being the coldest I have encountered. Makes a Port or Scotch most appreciated around the fire at night.

I've yet to work out how I can "move on" from Andy Capp and use a pic of myself, but I'm working on it. Might have to get my daughter in Scotland to shout you a beer as rent next time she goes South. LOL

Bushmaster. I don't think that anybody was worried about you carrying a sidearm. I feel that it is pretty well understood that you wouldn't have it if it wasn't needed.

Cheers, Vince

Vince, you need to come to Wyoming to experience a real cold trip. The coldest I have ever hunted in was about -20 degrees F. That is when a warm drink upon return to camp is truly appreciated.

By the way, one of the properties I hunt on is about 160,000 acres. It takes hours just to drive across. Out here that would be a larger than average ranch, but not a large one. The Padlock Ranch has somewhere around 1,000,000 acres that it owns and leases. You can drive 150 miles(330 KM) in one direction and never leave the property.

As the saying goes, it not the end of the earth, but you can sure see it from here.

I recall reading of a sheep station in Australia that was an area the size of the state of Connecticut in US. The owner's daughter was receiving her schooling via short wave radio and the teacher checked in on her by airplane on occasion. Small world, large lands.

RugerNo3 wrote:

I recall reading of a sheep station in Australia that was an area the size of the state of Connecticut in US. The owner's daughter was receiving her schooling via short wave radio and the teacher checked in on her by airplane on occasion. Small world, large lands.

First up...welcome Ruger No3....nice to meet you.

You are right about some of the stations out here. The vast majority of our population in Australia live on the coastal fringe because when you get inland it gets downright inhospitable. Hot, dry and dusty is the order of the day.

The School of The Air is an excellent idea that is used by many families in the outback, mainly because it is the only way the kids can get an education. HF radio with a "class" of kids spread over many thousands of square miles. When the kids reach high school age (13) they generally go to boarding school.

www.questacon.edu.au/h...e_air.html

Another thing we have is the Flying Doctor Service. It is a medical service that travels from area to area by light aircraft. It is the only way a lot of our property/station workers get any professional medical care.

www.flyingdoctor.net/default.htm

We also have another volunteer service that flies people, mainly kids, into the main capital centres for ongoing medical treatment like dialysis or chemotherapy etc. This service is free of charge and is funded by donation and some big companies.

www.angelflight.org.au/

Most people don't know much about Australia, but I can tell ya that it is a damn fine place populated by damn fine people.

Cheers, Vince

Have always had alcohol in both hunting and fishing camps. Choose to be with responsible buddies and all goes well.-tr

Well I havnt been going out hunting in my life much (4 weekends so far this season for deer and its my first). But I can tell you what my friends who are in our little group (2 are 20ish and 5 are like 50+ inclucding my dad) say about it. We can drink alcohol at camp as long as we dont have a hangover or feeling any effects of one the fallowing morning. Now most of them seem to drink maybe 2-3 beers/drinks and thats it while we eat so they dont get drunk or anything.

All the guns are locked up under the beds (we have a little cabin) and all the ammo is safety stored in the trucks. No drinking right before a hunt though at all.

Dimitri