Hunting Buddy Etiquette: Expectations, Safety, and Setting Each Other Up for Success

Welcome to DU Ascend where women share stories about how we're redefining hunting, community, and conservation. Today, I have my hunting buddy, Caroline Yielding, on the podcast. We're gonna be talking about how to prepare yourself for your next hunt now that you have found a hunting buddy. So we're talking about etiquette, setting goals. We're gonna talk about how far do you take shots, and then how to communicate when things maybe don't go so right. Stay tuned.

Welcome to the Ascend podcast, a podcast by and for women in the outdoors. Every episode delivers real stories, practical how to's, and a welcoming community to help you start, sharpen, or rediscover your passion for the outdoors. Authentic women, real stories, outdoor adventures, Ascend. Presented by Ducks Unlimited, the leader in wetlands conservation. Your next adventure starts here, the Ascend podcast.

I'm your host, Erin Crider, founder of Uncharted Outdoors Women. Welcome back to the DUCN podcast. I have Caroline Yielding, my hunting buddy, on the podcast today. She's addicted to upland hunting with her dogs. And bonus, we're both adult onset hunters.

Good morning. Yeah. Great to join you all, and and this is really great timing, Aaron, since we have a hunting trip to Wyoming planned next week. So really great timing. Yeah. We we just like to communicate our goals. So Aaron and I will talk about, you know, what seasons we really like to do all the things. So the last time we went up there, it was deer season. It was turkey season. It was it wasn't ducks yet, but it was it's always bird season.

Mhmm. When we're deciding on what to bring, we're both trying to be really minimal. So when you find your hunting buddy, y'all, make sure if you're not driving, be mindful of how many bags you're bringing. I And know Caroline's probably laughing at me right now because I consider myself a minimalist, but guarantee, I will have, like, four or five bags of gear, which is why expectation wise, like, this next time we're going, we're not really doing a lot of fishing. And because waterfowl decoys and a a second pair of waders to and another shotgun takes up so much room, we're kinda, like, we're kinda skipping it.

Yeah. I think the we'll be hitting the end of pheasant season in Wyoming for the first part of the trip, and then it'll end in the middle of our trip. But we will also have our ducks and geese when we're up there, and so, you know, that requires a lot of gear.

Lot of gear. Yeah. Aaron is gonna try and be minimal and bring, like like, I think previously, I've brought, like, two dozen decoys, and you looked at me like, holy cow. What are you doing, girl? And so I think I'm gonna get I think I'm gonna just bring, like, six or maybe, like, steal Lars's decoys

so that we

don't have to bring them. But being mindful of how much gear you bring is huge, especially in the little Tacoma.

Yeah. I have two large crates for my large dogs in the back of the truck, so that takes up a lot of space. So just being mindful of, you know, how much things you can bring and if you're really gonna use it or not.

I feel like another expectation that we really set is we're there to watch the dogs do their things. It has been so cool to watch Caroline's dogs, Honey and Abe, and I'm a let her talk more about them, to, like, grow up and, like, see them hunt other birds and learn how to hunt other birds. Because I guess when I got into upland hunting and I even own an outfitter. But as an adult onset hunter, I didn't know that you have to train your dog to scent different kinds of birds. Just because they're really good at hunting pheasants doesn't mean that they're real gonna be really good at hunting chucker or sage grouse or ruff grouse.

to where you well, if you're hunting with dogs, where your dogs are at in their journey for birds. So last last season, I had a puppy, and he was six months old. And I had my five year old, honey German wirehair pointer. And so you just had to say, oh, we have a puppy with us, so we can't be expecting a lot. You know, the first time he saw, he got on some hunts, he busted them, but he found that he got on that scent.

Yeah. So I would say, as someone that doesn't own a hunting dog, if you're going with someone that is currently working their hunting dogs, be ready to not take every shot. You can't walk into that situation being bloodthirsty. Right? Because it might take a few times for the dog needing to bust the birds before they go on point. Because you're like, oh, I don't think he's pointing a mouse in the field anymore.

Yeah.

Like, those are probably and then I I just you know, I'm putting the gun away, and I'm just like, I'm filming. Like, I'm filming this moment. And I don't know. That was really cool. Like, we have it.

And Yeah. And it's funny in my own hunting how where how far I've come since I started, I was I felt like at first, was like, I just have to kill every all these birds. But now I'm like, if I don't even shoot, I'm I'm it's fine because I'm getting to watch my dogs work. So it doesn't really matter to me.

Yeah. If you're finding your hunting buddy and knowing that you're not just, like, going out there for the first time to just hit as many birds as possible, it really brings down the stress level of the expectation that a lot of hunters have and a lot of new hunters have to get straps or limits of birds, it's not an expectation you should have. I don't know who set that expectation, but it was not us, and it was most likely not not any do it yourself hunter. Because hunting public land, we're so lucky to have so many conservation efforts going on here in the West, but hunting public land is so much fun. And if someone's already been in there, you just you just gotta kinda roll with the punches and find a new spot.

Right. And, you know, our last trip, you were saying, you know, it wasn't like past trips. It was that was because we didn't harvest as many things as we have in the past. But I still had so much as much fun as any other trip that we've had because, you know, we were just having fun, and we're outside all day and getting to watch our dogs work, and it was just a lot of fun.

Yeah. And we got to visit some of the landowners' properties and see saw how they've been doing some restoration or they haven't been doing restoration and how the animals react to that. Like, we saw a sandhill crane on that little spot that we like to duck hunt that's real shallow. That was so cool. Yeah.

It was just

to see them. And crane season was over, but, we had permits. And, I mean, I think if we hadn't just, like, you know, rolled in there, let the dogs out, we maybe could have gotten one. But, like, who cares? Like, we saw one, and that's so cool.

And that's because you want you want those to act like real decoys. Right?

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah. And so it's totally preference where maybe if the only hunting that you've ever been exposed to is if birds land, you shoot them or if they come in at all. If anything comes in at all. You know? But we're in a new area. There are new different birds. I feel like I see in Wyoming than where I hunt in Colorado. Like, there's a lot of seagulls. Right? Like, we're close to a big reservoir.

Right. And that really that really, you know, goes into also your, you know, knowing your hunting partner's physical ability. Because, you know, if you're getting if you're gonna go duck hunting that day, then, you know, you can spend the rest of the day, these short really short days, you can hit the ground really hard for upland birds the rest of the day. Yeah. So you can just manage your expectations on, you know, how much can my partner, you know, walk today or hike around today?

Right? Perfect example, I think, was we finally got into a rhythm last year or earlier this season where I think we looked at our phones, and I had hiked 20,000 steps, and you were, like, 15,000 just simply because I'm shorter. Right? I got shorter legs. And, like, I have to train to keep up with Caroline too over summer. So I'm hiking mountains. I'm doing not a lot of running. I've got some health issues with with scoliosis and all that stuff. Also, like, who loves running? Not not me.

I

feel like, Caroline, whatever podcast you wanna listen to, like, I'm there for it. Or if when you get tired, I'm down to drive. Now I drive like a grandmother,

but

the ticket I got outside of Hudson leaving your house does not

say

that

I gave you your grandma.

I know. They caught me again. But not driving like a crazy person is great because I know we've been in that situation too where we felt uncomfortable being in the car or if the music was really, really bad. Or kinda just sat there. And then I suggested Suggested.

If did not want

that. I was like, hey. I'm really, really into music and really into this new band right now. Like, can can we play some of that? Or, like, hey. I have this podcast, but, like, ultimately, whoever's driving, or if you need directions, or I mean, you've pretty much have the onyx spots picked out for the upland hunting. Like, I'm trying to do my part to aid in that. Right. Yeah.

And I I really appreciate it. Last our last hunt, I I usually drive just I'd I like to drive. I'm from Southeast Missouri, so coming out to Colorado, we just I just drive fifteen hours straight. I'm just used to driving, but the we hunted hard for about four days, and I drove up there. And I drove back in about the last hour. I was like, Erin, can you please drive? Like, I'm

Get us home. To take a nap.

Yeah. Get us home. Yeah. I need a little nap.

So Yeah.

That was perfect. My

job was to fill the gas tank.

Yes.

And then we split the Airbnb costs. And we also like, I feel like my diet has changed based off of how I've learned how to hunt, how we hunt up there. Like, I know I need a breakfast burrito to get going in the morning. Hands protein shake, breakfast burrito, and that will get me a couple hours in. And then we stop by the little bakery, pick up the sourdough and some coffee, and, like, I know that that stop is there.

day. Snacker.

And I'm, like, a big meal gal, so I know that since Caroline's driving, I better have my meals set and ready to go. Like, if I plan on eating a big meal that I need more calories because I'm hiking about a quarter more than, then I need to make sure that that meal is quick or on the go or a sandwich in my pack, something like that.

Right. And so you you you need to talk about with your hunting buddy where like, first, where you're going because, you know, we're kinda going out far on BLM land, and it it would be hard to come back into town, grab lunch there, and go back out. I mean, that's a whole that might be an hour and a half driving. So and you wanna take if you wanna take advantage of all your daylight, if it's getting dark at the 04:30, then you wanna take those snacks with you. But if you're hunting in South Dakota where, you know, you can't even start hunting pheasants till 10AM, then, you know, it might be a little bit different.

But, yeah, knowing your your buddy's physical limit is really important in having this conversation because I could tell you I was gonna go take a friend, client of mine, just kinda go with her to support her on her archery elk hunt, and I was super excited about it. It's she picked out a really cool piece of Colorado public land that I've been to multiple times. I've hiked in Elk Camp back there, but I've never, like, hunted them myself back there. I've just taken things in on horseback, and I know the lay of the land. I've done some fishing back there.

Yeah. It was definitely a boy. It was like,

joy going on. And I've got this doe tag, and we just have, like I don't know. Maybe it's, like, two acres. Like, it's a long slot of land in in the country, in, like, a rural part of town. But, like, if I were gonna shoot this doe, we would need it to be down immediately.

Yeah. Yeah. So that was that was a good, you know, how to show, like, how to help your honey buddy, because you went into shock. And I was like, okay. Let's you know, we are able to this is private land, so we're able to bring our truck onto the field.

And I, the following week, had shot my first buck. So I told that gal that was with me, hey. I'm gonna go into shock and just need, like, five minutes to, like, gather myself, you know, like, hang out with me. And before that, like, thinking back, the my first Tom Turkey that I shot in fall. I don't always shoot hens, but most of the time I do.

Right. And you can you should even know if your hunting buddy is even ready to take that kind of shot, if they're on that level yet because and you have to be okay with, you know, you doing all that work and then being like, you know, I'm I'm good. Like, I I don't need to take the shot right now. So Yeah. Also be like, have those expectations and talk about that before you go into your hunt to make sure that you're okay with, you know, you helping your your friend do all that work and then not being prepared not to take the shot.

Yeah. That's a good point. I also liked how this last time we went, I decided not to take the shot because I was like, these are just really little. And I don't know if it's because I always just see mule deer, but I was like, do I wanna take an hour or two of both of our time processing this very small doe? Or we hadn't gotten a public land bird yet, so we spent the rest of the day before driving home continuing to trucker hunt.

Yeah. We had, like, pronghorn tacos for supper. We had pronghorn breakfast burritos. That's what we were eating the the whole trip. So that was really cool.

Yeah. So be able to give back in ways like that and respect the the tag holder in what they decide to do.

Yeah. My first the I'm from Missouri, so we did we sit in a lot of stands and hunt deer. And my first I mean, my first deer hunt out west, I went with a friend, and she had the tag, and I didn't have a tag. And So she was showing me the ropes on spot and stalk. And she got a buck, and I helped her carry it out, pack it out, and field dress it.

Yeah. That's how you get invited back. Right? Mhmm. I definitely wanna say that I never, the girl that didn't sight in her gun, I never took her hunting again. That was not an invite back situation.

Yeah. So you definitely

wanna sight in your gun and shoot it, like, not free handed, but not on, like, the the pedestal that you used to sight it in. You know, get some reps in.

You know something that was really cool that happened recently this past weekend on our, guided pheasant hunt, we had a girl that that signed up and came to our pheasant hunt to learn about hunting up on birds. And she told us that one of her friends has dogs and is a big bird hunter. And she came to us to learn about that because she wanted to really already know all the information to go with her friend and not be not not holding her back, but just she wanted to level up before she got out there with her friend who is already very knowledgeable. So that was really cool. So if if you could do something like that and up your knowledge before you go even go with someone, that's a really cool that was I thought that that was really awesome of her to up her knowledge.

I think anytime you can share knowledge that improves your hunting buddy, that's where it's at. Definitely share everything you know or share the things that you don't know. Like, there's some days I'm like, I have no idea where the birds are. I don't know what we're gonna do. You know? And you just kinda gotta roll with it. Mhmm.

Yeah. And, you know, some days we you and I, we see hundreds of birds one day, and the next day, you know, I'm like, okay. I I wanna try these new spots, and maybe we don't see any birds today being that's just like you just wanna you wanna try new spot areas and not overhunt any areas. So just you won't see any that day, and that's just you just have to be happy with being in the outdoors with your friends in some beautiful areas.

Yeah. So another way to get invited back is to capture some moments, I feel like. Seeing the moments that I've captured, I feel like I definitely wanna print some of those photos of you and Honey and you and Abe, and that means a lot to me. Maybe that's not how I get invited back, but that's how wanna continue to give back to you and record some of those moments. I think that looking back, I wish I like, I hardly remember Neve as a puppy because I was so busy, and I really wish I had had some moments that I had captured with her.

Well, I definitely appreciate you you doing that. Because I'm not like a big I'm not like you know, I I don't think about it in the moment taking stopping and taking a moment to take a picture. So

trying to hunt. Yeah. Mhmm. Yeah. You need someone else to do that. You know? And I also feel like you're a better shotgunner. So it you're kinda like, it's your dog. You've trained them. You know them better than than anybody.

Yes. Last year, one of our friends, she came with us. She hasn't this year because she's, been pregnant, but she brought so many snacks and food that was it was incredible. And I was like, you're always invited. You're uh-oh gosh. But really It doesn't have

to be fancy.

No. No. It doesn't have to be fancy at all. Like, you know Those

sweet potato chips she got from Costco?

Yeah. Boiled eggs. Like Yeah. Some taking some protein all the time. Yeah.

And she's invited back because now she's gonna be she's gonna have mom snacks like you. Like, how am I gonna be invited back? You know? Yeah.

Yeah. She had the mom snacks before she was a mom for sure. She was preparing herself really great.

I've also invited back gals that have brought me ammo when they've used my gun. That's big one. And not the cheap stuff. They're like, no. What do you shoot through this? And I'm like, oh. Oh, well. You know? And I'm not like, hey, business. You know? $80 $120 box of ammo. I'm like, oh, here's, like this is actually what I shoot. And they're like, gosh. This is, like, expensive. And I'm like, mhmm.

yikes. Mhmm.

It's bad. And there's a lot of rust in there now. So

Are you gonna have time to do it before art? Before

I have to put that off tomorrow, or I need to go buy a tool and watch a lot of YouTube. But I do happen to know a gal, and so I'm wondering if she can, like, do me a favor. Because I'm gone. Yeah. I'm leaving, like, this week, and then I'll be back. And then we go on our trip. Yep. Other ways to be invited back.

For me, I think if being on time, like, if we say let's just say we're just doing we're planning a day trip, and we say, like, let's meet here at the trailhead at 05:30, and you don't and I'm there at 05:30. I'm I'm there you're probably gonna be there at five. If we say be there at 05:30, and you don't roll in until six, that for me, I mean, honestly, that's one of the biggest ones that, like, you know, I'll I'll cheer you on from afar, but my expectation is that we're always early. If you're not fifteen minutes early, then you're late. So you know, because your time like, you're driving.

Yep. I also feel like communication is the biggest one. And if you have, like, really tight relationships with people, then you have to work even harder at communicating. And 2025 has been the year that I've really worked on communicating. And sometimes I tell gals, like, hey.

Right. No. That's really good to talk about those things before you you, head out on your trip, for sure.

Another thing is help without being asked. So, for example, Caroline and I teach a lot of hunting. I also teach a lot of fly fishing. The more research you can do or the any classes you can take either through all the places we talked about on the very first podcast about finding community, seeing what people are posting. You know girls are gonna get in those little comments and be like, ugh, you know, this and that.

Yeah. I mean, if you if, you know, like, you said YouTube, you know, if you're especially if you're hunting with someone that this is like if, like like, let's just say me, like, I love upland hunting. And if you were like, oh, I did some research, and I think maybe this spot and this new spot, we should try this new spot because I see it has this kind of, habitat on it. So, like and, like, you the new person bringing that kind of information would be really cool because they're just like, you you don't expect that. So that would be and you'd be like, oh, like, you've done your research.

As easy as, like, what kind of dogs are Honey and Abe? How do they hunt? Right? Mhmm. Yeah.

You know that you'll have to read about that you the dog might be working 300, 400 yards out. So when we when our Garmin goes off and it says that dog's on point, we really have to be booking it. So conserve that energy for that and, you know, bring those snacks for that.

Another thing that I saw when I was YouTubing, and that is a brand new Upland Hunter, I really wanted to bring, like, a backpack of gear. It was, like, kinda heavy. Right? Heavy. Because it was cold, and I wanted to bring my hot tea and my metal thermos. I was dumb. I don't need a whole backpack. I just needed, like, an orange hat, orange vest, and, like, some water and, like, my sandwich.

Yeah. And, you know, you you you find out for the day if, you know, we're gonna be making a little loop. Are we gonna be able to come back to the truck? I mean, you shouldn't need a lot of stuff if we're able to come back to the truck a lot of times. Or, you know, you just say like, hey. I'm gonna, walk this field for an hour, and then I'm gonna go back to the truck and take a little break, come back out with you on the next field.

Yeah. Another way to help without being asked is to make sure that you do know gun safety so that they don't have to be like, okay. What is this girl gonna shoot at? Right? Like, be like, oh, hey.

Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, you just set expectations like, you know, I have to who with with you, even with everybody I hunt with, I just have to say, you know, these are my hunting dogs, but they're also members of my family. So, you know, we don't shoot birds on the ground. We don't we I want you to shoot skyline like the blue sky and above, because I don't want anything to happen to to my dogs, because I care about them a lot.

Or they're they're advanced. Like, just Yes. Still making sure, hey. I don't know about, you know, what uncle Billy told you, but we don't shoot birds on the ground here when you're with my dogs. Right.

Yeah. I mean, because, the people that have probably been hunting the longest are usually the ones that that might make a mistake just because, you know, it's it's second nature to them. So you just wanna remind them, like, hey. These are my my terms, for us hunting together. And that's okay. I mean, you know, like, no one should feel upset about, you know, hearing that from you. Like, you know, you should set your expectations pretty quickly on that.

And I feel like that's what my whole goal is with my waterfowl hunts. I have a lot of gals that are they see limits of birds. Right? And they're like, oh, I'm gonna go sign up for That ain't that ain't what I'm selling. I am selling hunting expectations and experience.

you wanna learn about. Like, you wanna know, like, oh, why are you setting the decoys, you know, three in a bunch? Or, you know, however you're doing it. Like, why are you doing that? And is it different at different times of the year? And so you should wanna get out there and gain that knowledge from your hunting friend.

Then you don't have to be dependent on me. Another thing I really like with girls come to the blind when I'm actually hunting too is I don't want them to call up my birds. Unless I've heard them call before, like, if I've got feet down, I don't want them to not land or come in closer or come you know, I've if I've been calling at them and calling at them and they're doing circles and they're really looking at us, I want you to keep your head down if I'm hunting. In my classes, I let the girls look at the birds because I want them to see how they're reacting so when they get good at calling, they know why the birds are doing what they're doing. Right?

Thank for your you you you did the same thing for the for turkeys because, you're an excellent turkey caller. And

Oh, thanks.

Yeah. This past year, we went to South Dakota Public Land, Mountain Miriams, and Aaron called them in from miles away. So, you know, I I have not perfected that, especially the mouth calls. So I would never, you know, mess that up and try to, you know, like, think that I'm gonna start calling when she's already doing an excellent job. Like, I can that's something I can do in the off season, you know, test that kind of stuff in the off season.

Yeah. I felt like the your turkey hunting spot was a great like, for that hunt was awesome because you had the location, and you're like, Aaron, you can share any other of my turkey hunting locations. Don't share this one. This one's really special to me. And, like, when people ask where we were, I just gave them the state, and it's just etiquette to not give them, like, the honey hole of that exact location and spot burn it by putting more than just the state or the national forest, but putting, like, an exact pin to a whole bunch of people or in a Facebook group, you might not wanna do that.

The calling.

You know? That was my

That was key.

Yeah. And then it would be really cool if we could get some ebikes back there this year. Like, that is how I'm gonna continue to give to the experience so I get reinvited.

Yeah. That was, you know, just it's really cool if you guy if both people in your group or however big your group is, you know, they all have, like, little things to bring to the table, like the snack person, the call the person that's great at calling, the person that has a location, the person that has the dogs, you know, if you can make up your hunting group like that, then you do you're really onto something really great there.

Mhmm. And I know to our Wyoming trip, I'm like, okay. Anybody that wants to come because people see it on social media, they're like, oh my gosh. That looks like so much fun. And I'm like, because we have all of these steps in place, that's why it works out.

so much. Days off from work each year, like and I'm a lot of them I'm spending hunting, so let's make the most of it. Even if we don't harvest anything, let's let's have fun.

Yeah.

And to have a lot of fun, you really have to be prepared, by having these talks and communicating beforehand.

Yeah. So the all in all, to wrap this up, the best hunting partners are the ones who don't always shoot something, but they're flexible and always have a great time and are fantastic at communicating. Thoughts, feelings, ideas, places to go, people to bring. That communication is open, but harvesting almost nothing is we had a great time too. So keep that in mind.

Thank you for listening to the Ascend podcast. New every week, the conservation driven podcast one week, and our adventure video series the next. Watch the Ascend adventure episodes on the Ducks Unlimited YouTube channel, and be sure to like, share, and subscribe. Opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect those of Ducks Unlimited. Until next time, follow your outdoor story wherever it leads you.