Drinking and hunting - do they mix?

S

slancey

Member
I was invited by a friend to go deer hunting this year, and I accepted. Unbeknownst to me, one of the other hunters in the party, whom I had never met, drank a lot. In fact, he smelled of alcohol for most of the trip, including during trips to and from the field, handling firearms, etc.

Now the same friend is excited to invite me next year and wants to make plans for the event. The drinker is planning to go as well.

What would you do?
 
I'm there to hunt, Not party. I also don't drink. I don't mind if someone I know personally wants to have a drink or 2 after a hard day hunting. But if they want to get lit or drink all day then I probably won't be hunting with them again.

But I wasn't always like this, as a few who saw me at PM hunts past(way past) could attest to. As a matter of fact, if photobucket hadn't taken a crap, you probably could have found a picture of me having a beer with a cigarette smoking coyote hanging out in the bed of my truck.
 
They don't mix in my camp. No problem with a drink or two after ALL the guns are put away and the vehicles are parked so long as one's limits are observed.

Regards,
hm
 
Originally Posted By: jcs271I'd pass, I have NO patience for drunks, especially ones holding loaded guns!

Yep...
 
Originally Posted By: GCOriginally Posted By: jcs271I'd pass, I have NO patience for drunks, especially ones holding loaded guns!

Yep...

Yep, same here....zero tolerance.

But the elephant in the room is operating ATV’s under the influence.

*
 
Another non-drinker here, and been that way for almost 12 years. My biggest pet peeve is being around people that are intoxicated. I avoid those situations like ebola. And someone intoxicated with a firearm, well, not a good combination.

I’d probably pass and find some new friends to hunt with, or hunt alone. Even putting the safety thing out of the equation, I just don’t like being surrounded by people like that.
 
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i dont care if you drink at deer camp or not - but once you start the guns need to go bye bye.


if he wont step up and make mr.drunksauce stay sober, or agree to hunt on the other side of the county, i wouldnt be there.

used to have an uncle like that who hunted with us for a time - but if they caught him drinkin before hunting time was up they at least made him go hunt back in the swamp 500-600 yds from the house, other side of the back hill and well away from any of us.




we do tip a few after we're all in for the night and the deer are hung, but there's also no sympathy for hangovers either. if you have to many, you [beeep] well be ready to your drag your [beeep] out of bed, have some exra coffee and go out the next morning or you're gonna catch a load of grief from the rest of the guys all day heheh
 
Plant.One, that's the problem. I don't think he will ask him to stop. Halfway through the trip he told me he knew he was an alcoholic. He should have known, it was his nephew. I'm still scratching my head as to why he even invited him. I'm even more confused as to why he didn't tell me, especially since I asked him before I accepted the invitation if everyone had safe firearm handling skills. He assured me they did. It seems there are still people who hunt that don't fully understand or embrace the code of conduct in the field. I guess they just don't post on this forum. Thanks for answering exactly as I had expected you all would.
 
I will admit I've been in a group dove hunting where we drank a beer or two before hunting and immediately after. that's been quite a while ago. There's really no defending it, but at least we all knew each other very well (and each other's gun handling practices), and limited ourselves to just a couple until we were finished for the evening.

I would not want to be around someone drinking with a high powered rifle who I didn't know. Some people are not safe with rifles when they're sober, let alone curling beers. I am way more leary of even hunting with groups of people when I don't know ahead of time if they're going to be safe to walk or sit next to.
 
Game wardens back here put their lives in peril walking around dove fields that are surrounded by a lot of politicians...not illegal to hunt and drink.

I tried to talk to a local legislator about changing the law same as driving, apply that law to carrying a gun. He said that it would never pass.
 
Looks like most here are on the same page. Hunting and drinking don't mix. Nothing wrong with a drink after the hunt. I would turn down the offer for next year.
 
Originally Posted By: slanceyPlant.One, that's the problem. I don't think he will ask him to stop. Halfway through the trip he told me he knew he was an alcoholic. He should have known, it was his nephew. I'm still scratching my head as to why he even invited him. I'm even more confused as to why he didn't tell me, especially since I asked him before I accepted the invitation if everyone had safe firearm handling skills. He assured me they did. It seems there are still people who hunt that don't fully understand or embrace the code of conduct in the field. I guess they just don't post on this forum. Thanks for answering exactly as I had expected you all would.

i'm glad to have helped confirm where your head was.

its just not worth it man. why take the risk. there'll always be another place to hunt.

if enough people in the group put their foot down - he'll get the hint why nobody wants to hunt with him.

just make sure when you decline you inform him exactly why - that you're not willing to risk your personal safety around someone who cant be responsible with a firearm and that having someone intoxicated with a gun doesnt meet your definition of safe and responsible.

i would also suggest that you say if that situation changes, you'd be more than happy to come join him again in the future.

firm but polite and all that.
 
i suspect if you were to chat with some of the other attendee's about the alcohol/firearms issue - you might not be the only one in the camp who has an issue with it.
 
Like oil and water, no way to mix the two. My wife and had to get out of an AWESOME lease (as far as property/game) because of members drinking during the hunt. It only takes a split second of poor decision making to take a life. No game is worth it. In most states it is illegal. It's STUPID in all states.
 
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Stone cold sober these days, but back in the days I went out many mornings deer hunting sick as a dog. Hung over and dry heaven... after the hunt in deer camp I used to get sloshed, I was bad drunk at times my family members would go to sleep early and I would stagger around knocking [beeep] over... I'm sure they all thought I was a real [beeep]... it's not so much that I was not able to handle my liquor, it was that I could not control the amount I would drink once I started..

Kinda strange how things change, would I hunt with someone who was like me 20 years ago? I don't think so... or maybe I would it just depends on who they are and if they are not handling firearms drunk... after all I would hate to be a hypocrite..
tongue_smilie.gif
 
Hung over means still foggy. If you have to have booze then you dont need me to hunt with you. Same with my Harley, I dont need a drunk for a partner. I have zero tolerance for drunks........
 
Agreed. I looove my whisky but never while and definitely not more than one or two the night before. Just not worth it.. One mistake can take it all away. Just had a buddy get popped by a ranger with open container. I'm going to kick his (beep) when I see him.
 


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