How to Keep Getting Invited to Hunting Camp

There are a few simple rules you that can follow if you want to ensure you’ll be invited to hunt camp year after year. (Photo by Nick Costas)

About 20 years ago, my dad, uncle, and a third partner bought a farm in Western Kentucky with the sole purpose of stacking mallards, hanging big bucks, and calling in fat toms with beards like ZZ Top — a true sportsman’s paradise. After my father’s unexpected death several years ago, the partnership fell to me. Such places are best shared with others, and the onus has fallen on me to ensure we have a full blind and enough deer hunters to keep the biggest bucks moving.

After years and years and a slew of different guests, I have narrowed my invite list to a select few. I know what I appreciate as a host and have paired those experiences to adapt a code of ethics whenever a friend invites me to their own hallowed ground. Here is a list of 10 loose “rules” that any guest should practice when getting the most coveted phone call. (Warning: any violation is likely to move a guest closer and closer to the blackball list.)

Timeliness Equals Trust

Dependability and availability are a guest’s best abilities. For hosts that enjoy sharing their time, property, and sweat equity, exposing a guest to the fruits of their labor is part of the fun. Conversely, finding someone who is willing to commit to a weekend and is dependable to keep that commitment can be a thorn in a host’s side. If you get invited somewhere, try to accept the invitation, even if it isn’t convenient. Once you’re on the list, you’ll probably stay there. If you back out at the last moment and don’t leave the host enough time to find someone else, good luck getting invited back.

Make sure you tell the host how much you appreciate the invite and how you enjoyed your time in camp. A thank you note is also a nice touch. (Photo by Realtree)

Don’t Show up Empty-Handed

A host does not expect a guest to bring a gift, but they remember the guests that do. Appropriate gifts can be a homemade delicacy, a talisman to contribute to the decoration, or a jug of the host’s favorite brown water. You get bonus points for bringing something they wouldn’t buy for themselves. Most hosts won’t fork out a whole Benjamin Franklin for a bottle of whiskey, but the price for a guest is much less than the cost of a guided weekend hunt. Other favorites are nice cutlery, gadgets the club might not have, like a boot dryer, or a sentimental item that will carry lasting memories.

Split the Bill

A long hunting season can put a major dent in a host’s bank account, especially if they are carrying the cost for a house full of guests every weekend. Offer to bring food for the weekend. Some hosts plan their meals in advance and will insist on providing the food themselves. Don’t hesitate to ask a host what’s on the menu and make a suggestion for the host to tell you what you can bring off that list. If all else fails, bring some snacks and give the host a couple boxes of shotgun shells to help offset his or her costs in other areas.

Earn your keep while you’re in camp. Put out decoys, clean game, run errands, etc. If you take some of the work load off of your host, he’ll likely invite you back to camp in the future. (Photo by Austin Ross)

Support the Galley

Once the offseason work is done and guests are in camp, cooking and entertaining is the biggest burden a host can carry. Offer to cook dinner one night, or even for the whole weekend. If the host insists on cooking, at least push back on cleaning up the dishes after every meal. Finishing a meal and kicking up with the aforementioned brown water is a real treat for a host, and dirty dishes seem to always linger. Your host will probably look forward to a weekend when he or she knows they won’t have to carry the entire load. Plus, they’re probably tired of making the same old recipes anyway.

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Earn Your Keep

Hunting is hard, and the host puts in countless hours in the offseason to make it fun for everyone. Putting up deer stands, stringing decoys, scouting hunting spots, cleaning the cabin – the chores never stop. Make it easy on your host while you’re in camp. Put out decoys, chase downed birds, and insist on taking cleaned carcasses to the preferred dumping spot. Offer to run to town to get more gas for the ATVs. Take the garbage to a dumpster on your way back home. Do your best to make your host’s life less stressful. An easy guest will earn a lot of brownie points.

Never cancel your plans just because of less-than-ideal weather conditions. Go anyway and just enjoy your time with the host and the others in camp. (Photo by Forrest Carpenter)

Endure the Elements

As a host, it seems like the weather is never perfect. Duck hunts are warm, cloudy, and still. Deer hunts are windy and thundering. Turkey hunts are foggy and cold. As we mentioned before, never cancel your plans just because the forecast is less than ideal. If the conditions are harsh, tell the host you’re just happy to be invited and go anyway. Obviously avoid dangerous scenarios, but someone who doesn’t prioritize success is a host’s dream. If your host calls ahead of time and offers to cancel because of weather, tell them you enjoy their company and are happy to just hang out.

Honor the Laws

If you fudge the law on your own terms, never do it on a host’s property. Stretching the laws of the land puts the landowner at risk is a surefire way to never be invited back. Apart from Johnny Green Pants, every hunting camp also has its own list of unspoken rules that don’t carry any legal ramifications but fall in line with how they like to hunt. Carry guns in a case. Don’t shoot until the host says so. Only hunt where they tell you. The guest should learn how things are done at their destination and emulate their style and philosophies. Don’t even try to give any advice on how to do things better unless you’re asked.

Make sure to follow the laws and learn how things are done in that particular hunt camp. Don’t offer unsolicited advice. (Photo by Austin Ross)

Own the Harvest

Hopefully your free guided hunt will be successful, but make sure you’re content either way. If you do fall into some luck, offer to clean and package all of the game. When the end of the hunt comes and the meat is divvied up, offer to take as much meat as the host will allow. It’s your responsibility as the guest to properly utilize the resources that the host shared with you, and aside from solving one more problem for the landowner, you should always eat what you kill anyway. Wanton waste is unethical, illegal in many cases, and a bad look on the part of any guest to want to do all of the shooting and none of the taking.

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Leave No Trace

Unless you’re hunting the last week of the season, many hosts will be bringing in new hunters a few days after you depart. If you are hunting at the end of the season, the cabin needs to be prepared for the offseason. In either case, clean and prepare your sleeping quarters to be ready for the next guests to arrive. Strip and wash your sheets. Then dry them and put them back on the bed. Sweep the floors in your room and offer to clean around the house. Make sure the kitchen is straight and everything around camp is put back in its place. Other than being a nice thing to do, it’s also a good way to make sure you don’t forget anything.

If you are helpful, respectful, appreciative and pleasant, you’ll likely get a call from the host to share hunt camp again in the future. (Photo by Austin Ross)

Be Courteous and Gracious

Most guests are appreciative, but some aren’t sincere. Be sure to tell the host how much fun you had and how much you enjoy visiting their hideaway. Don’t pour it on too thick, though, or else you’ll sound like a suck-up. Just be genuine and be sure that your host knows you appreciate the invite. Also, consider sending your host a thank-you note after you get home. This isn’t necessary, but it’s a nice touch. Above all else, just have a good attitude and make life easy for your host. The more successfully you accomplish that goal, the more likely you’ll be watching the sun set in the same place in the future.