I would like to hear about how you guys like to handgun hunt. How many of you handgun hunt with a buddy or family member? Do you prefer to solo hunt or would you rather hunt with one or two close friends or are you part of a hunt club with many members?

I prefer a hunting buddy.
Not real excited about a group.
Content to hunt by myself.

I think you have that whole sniper/spotter thing going on and three is a crowd.

There are 3 of us who hunt about 300 acres, we all usually go in and out of the property together but we have multiple stands and actually hunt alone. It's interesting to see how usually one will see all the deer, while the others see a few or none and it changes all the time.

My bear hunting is a group sport, looking tracks, and chasing hounds can be done alone but after the kill it becomes serious work. Bringing all the hounds out , going back in usually to cape out the bear and making multiple trips to get all the meat and cape out, in this country? You have to have a few screws loose to do it this way.

I'm in a 7000 acre lease and have about 50-55 members. Mostly hunt alone and have no other handgun hunting buddies but it's ok. I can't help they need a long gun...

Probably hunt alone as much for schedule reasons as anything. Teenage girls/athletes/scholars plus a wife and hobby farm make hunting time coveted.

It depends very much on the type of hunting and the terrain. I avoid hunting in large groups because there's simply too many shooters in too small an area, easy for something to go wrong. Normally I'll go with 1-2 others, however we will all be hunting in different grid squares. Far enough apart to prevent accidents, close enough for assistance if needed.

One of mates used to hunt by himself. That is till one day he got his leg caught in some fallen timber and broke his ankle. He had to improvise a splint, crawl several kilometers back to camp and then drive himself to hospital. Not good.

On another occasion a mate was pushing through heavy undergrowth and blackberries, all of a sudden the ground gave way and he found himself in a lot of pain at the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft. Fortunately he had another mate at camp who went looking for him when he didn't return. Had to get search & rescue to winch him out of the shaft. Without someone knowing he was overdue and approximately where he was, he wouldn't have survived.

The upshot of the above is that I avoid large groups, but 1-2 mates creates a safety factor if things go wrong. Also makes the carryout easier when your successful :-)

We hunt scattered farms around here. My son, my buddy and I are a group. we don't hunt together per se, but text each other as were getting in stands and update each other as the day progresses. My buddy also hunts with a handgun. .357 max Contendor

What Ernie said...it's my time to get away and relax and reflect.

I like when we go to Colorado as a group of 4 or 6 but we always split up into pairs and hunt 2-3 miles apart. I have gone with groups, but always mange to sneak away with one other person. I'm quieter and can focus better. Time to joke and laugh is back at camp.

When Steve Hugel and I started hunting together, shooter/spotter concept was never in our mind.
It was more like, you are a little nuts to go up into the high country by yourself. And, you want help when you are packing out muley's and elk and framepacks

I prefer by myself as I enjoy getting very close,bow range and hunt mostly bear handgun only.That said in Texas its extended family deer lease.

I hunt several farms across NC and VA including my property and my neighbors. I have one hunting buddy that uses handguns (30-30 TC) and we tend to hunt quite a bit together each yr. To be honest my most enjoyable hunts are the ones that my wife accompany's me on. When she is not sleeping she is constantly tormenting me, rattling candy paper, or asking me off the wall questions. I guess thats why they are my favorite and so much fun. These are normally evening hunts because she's not much of a cold morning hunter.

I prefer hunting as a loner; even been known to go in to the Colorado high country with one riding horse only; and/or leading a second (pack) horse on some occasions. I know, this sounds foolish and certainly could be dangerous but that is my MO and I'm only answering the question. I can recount a dozen plus occasions where I have done exactly this; (way before we had cell phones even), plus a dozen plus other times where an ATV replaced my horse, and I came out of the woods with a nice mule deer or elk.

I also enjoy hunting with a friend, but then I get less serious about the actual hunt and more just enjoy the camaraderie.

When I guide a handgun (or rifle) hunter, I also really enjoy it but I get way serious and make it my highest priority to get my client a shot at a decent animal.

Back in my serious predator hunting days, when I actually needed the money for my furs, I definitely hunted alone and you would find it very difficult to find a more serious and hard working hunter; (I still suffer permanent physical pain due to those days of spending hours and hours in below zero weather, waiting in ambush in a frozen snow bank or on top of a wind-blown haystack, or calling from a frozen perch on a wind torn hillside or stalking through knee deep snow: the wily song dog and most of this at over 10,000 feet altitude) and I did not want the slightest chance of having a "hunting partner" screw things up; that was my job.

I am pretty much a loner in general and tend to hunt that way. I can't sit for but so long so I walk a lot. We do have a deer camp so will gather together during the day and "work" a chunk of woods or two. One tactic we use is to sit guys near known trails while a couple of us meander through to see if we can get things moving. When conditions are right I just like to walk a good trail and pause now and again. That really gets the mojo goin' for me.

My schedule usually doesn't mesh with others around me so I became pretty much a solo hunter. I don't mind ;-)
That said, my wife has never been real enthused with this setup, especially since we live in an area of Alaska with a pretty hearty brown bear population & cell phone coverage is pretty non-existent. I have hunted part of the time with a guy the last couple of years whose company I enjoy.
Also, I am raising my own hunting partner. My son will be 12 this summer.

My wife is my hunting partner most times but we generaly hunt solo. She has her places I have mine.Since the grandkids grew up I hunt alone and am comfortable that way. Most of the work on the farm I do alone as I am not much on planing weeks in advance . When work needs doing I do it then. Around the fire at night is the time for company.

I have a few buddies that I hunt with. We go out together, go our separate ways and join back up afterwords, depending on the type of hunting we are participating in. Hunting with dogs, however, is a group effort.

I mostly hunt with my 36 year old son. He does not handgun hunt but I am working on that. We hunt several properties and are not always on the same one. We text each other when we get into our stand and several times during the hunt to let each other know how things are going.

I do love to listen for his shot when we are gun hunting on the same property. I started taking him with me on good weather days when he was six and now he is addicted as bad as I am.

That means you've done well!

I hunt alone about 90% of the time. I don't mind, and honestly I prefer it much of the time. If I hunt with someone, odds are it will be my dad with me. Even if we hunt separately, we'll meet up after the hunt and discuss what went on that day. Sometimes my sister accompanies me, but it's been years since she herself has actually hunted. I occasionally take someone else hunting, like my younger cousin or an old nonhunting friend of mine who's interested in it, but that's about it.

been hunting alone for 30 years....

I enjoy hunting with my son and brother in law. We usualy split up and use tree stands after we get to the farm. Now when we hog hunt we are always in pairs. Could stand 3 depending on terrain.

Usually I hunt alone, it"s always nice to hunt with someone who has the same enthusiasm as I do

I really enjoy hunting by myself or with my son and a great friend of mine. My son and I hunt on about 40 acres - we mow and weedeat all summer long in exchange for the hunting priviledge. Our friends father owns 70 acres adjacent to where we hunt. We hunt in ladder stands and natural groundblinds (my personal favorite).

I got my son into handgunning about 4 years ago. He has had some pretty good success.

I gave my friend a Contender in .35 Remington brought him into the handgun hunting fold (at least partway) and he has taken 2 good bucks with it.

Now that my son has gotten a little older and to the point I trust him we all generally hunt in our own locations. I still like to get out there every now and then by myself.

John was my hunting buddy.. After l married his daughter we became friends and he became my teacher of handguns, hunting, reloading, and bullet casting... l still miss him. Even after 30 years

I've been hunting with the same couple of fine gents since 1985.Deer camp is always a special time for us.

I have 3 hunting buddies, we drive deep into the mountains and camp for 5-7 days.
From camp we split up and hunt different areas some go off in two's and some (me) go off alone. I hunt mostly solo but at times with one of the guys, either way its a 20 Lb. backpack to start (just incase I have to spend the night) and we go deep into and work a drainage. I live in the Pacific Northwest, that means mountainous, wet and thick forrest kind of country. I really enjoy it, I'm 65 and hunting like this is my incentive to stay in extra good physical condition (by the grace of God and a lot of working out). I like the hunting camp idea, as my grandchildren grow up my hope is to introduce them to hunting camp and make it a yearly thing.

now that Mike and Dad have passed im solo. thats just fine.

I mostly hunt by myself, mostly because I have too, but I do enjoy it. I can hunt as hard or take it as easy as I please. I do have a friend that has hunted with me a few times and I always enjoy having someone to compare notes with at the end of the day.

I grew up hunting in a small group with my dad, brother, uncle, and a couple of others, but since I have moved from the farm, I haven't hunted with them in a number of years.

other than when I was too young to legaly hunt, I have never hunted tandem out of a blind or stand, but I am planning on taking my girlfriend with on a few sits next MN deer season. I have a pop up ground blind that should work perfect.

I like hunting with friends. Or in a group, or by myself. I do enjoy the camradrie of it all for sure

i belong to a club with about 500 acres, 50 active members and bunch retired..that said not many actively hunt. It all depends what my hunting goals are..if i'm really looking to shoot stuff its usually alone, especially for stalking squirrels. If its memories i'm after its always with my dad and younger brother. Especially if duck hunting and deer-generally different stands though. I'm the only handgunhunter though. brother carries a 357 mag but just as an afterthought-never shoots at deer with it. You can't beat a good family hunt though, whether you harvest anything or not.

Been hunting with my sons for the last few years. The oldest one is going to be thirteen in May. Youngest is nine. We're having a great time. Hunted with buddies before that. I definitely prefer to share the experience with someone else. Much more satisfying to me that way. That may change as my boys get older and move on, but for now, I love the company.

Hunted with my sons until they grew up and at the present our raising families and unfortunately at the moment do not get to hunt very much so I have been content with back to hunting by myself here on our farms. But I have one hunting friend that we organize a out of state hunt every year and I enjoy the company and able to share experiences with someone. Always an experience some more memorable than others..:) I am not into the hunt club thing but would not be opposed of going on a long trip to Alaska, New Zealand or Africa with a solid group of 3~4 guys.