2X1 Hunts - How does it work?

[TEX84]

Can someone explain how a 2x1 hunt actually works?

Let's say I go on a 10 day hunt with my brother and we are sharing a PH. How will that actually work? Are we both carrying our guns at the same time? Who gets to shoot when?

Wouldn't I be better off hunting 1x1 for 5 days and then spending the other 5 days as an observer for my brother's 1x1 hunt?

I guess I'm struggling to see how we could actually be hunting at the same time.

 

[Velo Dog]

Can someone explain how a 2x1 hunt actually works?

Let's say I go on a 10 day hunt with my brother and we are sharing a PH. How will that actually work? Are we both carrying our guns at the same time? Who gets to shoot when?

Wouldn't I be better off hunting 1x1 for 5 days and then spending the other 5 days as an observer for my brother's 1x1 hunt?

I guess I'm struggling to see how we could actually be hunting at the same time.

Hi TEX84,

Typically yes, both clients will be armed simultaneously, while your tracker and PH are searching to find an opportunity for one of the two said Clients.
After the Hunting Gods provide an opportunity at some animal and the PH determines suitability, then it is up to the clients as to - who's turn it is.

Likely you will have worked this detail out of, who's turn is when, prior to finding a suitable animal.
But if one hunter is interested in species apart from the species the other hunter is interested in, things can therefore possibly be easier or more difficult in the bush, according to how you look at it I guess.

I had tried this 2x1 thing on my very first African adventure and I will never do that again, no way hose-A (or hose-B).
For a few dollars more, one hunter / one PH is the method of choice, always.
You spend plenty of money for a hunting safari and if you are like most Clients, you will be sorry you had to loose half or more of your hunting time in the African bush, waiting for your hunting partner to finally score.

The chap I hunted with in this fashion is an incredibly good rifle shot (former competition shooter) but, seemed to suffer "buck fever" all too often when trying to shoot a live animal.
Several times when it was his turn, he would aim at the critter for such an agonizingly long time that it would get nervous and suddenly vanish.

If you decide to ignore my suggestion (and I will not be offended if you ignore it), do yourselves a favor and at least make some kind of agreement as to how you two will deal with the above "ooops, for the third time today I was taking way too long to press the trigger and so I let yet another fine animal run away with no shot fired".

If you are a serious hunter, there will little to no time for chit-chat in the bush.
Conversely, there will be plenty of time for it at breakfast and around the evening fire.
Sometimes, your separate PHs will have a pre-agreed upon place and time to meet for lunch and that is a great time to trade stories about how your respective hunts are going.


Good luck and safe travels,
Velo Dog.

 

[bluey]

It can work out ,great for the experiance if thats what you and your bro ,want
But i agree with young velo
One hunter ,one guide 1x1
Id loveto do a2x1 with my grand kids ,or even my daughter
For that being there sharing thier first experince,
But not there hunting hard,myself

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Hi Tex,
Although you can both be armed at the same time, it is impossible to say what animal will appear first, so the first animal will be some what a flip of a coin who gets to go first. I don't think that the splitting of the five days thing will work either, as it is still hunting and it will be silly to pass up on a great animal, just because its not your turn and hunter number 1 has already taken that animal.
I have guided 2x1 father and son hunts, where the son was up 4 animals to none over the dad. The thing to remember is that over the length of the safari, it will all even out. Eventually, one of the hunters will tag out, which leaves the second hunter with the rest of the chances.
Let your PH know what the both of you are after, and you will stalk the animals, as they present themselves. The 2x1 hunt, is a great way to share your safari with someone close, whether it be your best friend, father, son, brother or wife.

Take Care,
Marius Goosen
KMG Hunting Safaris

 

[johnnyblues]

I would never do a 2x1 hunt personally. I did one many years ago in west Texas for desert mule deer, conditions were completely wrong for the December hunt, my outfitter asked if I would hook up with someone at the airport who was flying out of JFK like myself. He was a pretty unseasoned young hunter, We had only one opportunity in 5 days on very average buck, and it happened to be his turn to shoot as we agreed I would hunt the mornings and he would hunt the evenings. To make a long story short when we saw the buck he was about 180 yds away on the flats this fella couldn't find the deer in the scope and by then the deer was heading out of the county, having hunted many times with this particular outfitter he looked at me a nodded for me to take him, the deer was now 400 yds out I immediately went into a hasting sling drew a bead with my 270 and held at the top of his back dropping him in his tracks. The moral of this is, the look on this kids face sticks in my mind until today.. The look of you shot my deer. You don't want to take a chance on having ill feelings with your brother for a few extra dollars. Go and enjoy the hunt 1x1 and swap stories around the fire over sun downers!

 

[Red Leg]

You essentially cut your shooting time in half for a very modest reduction in cost. You also run the risk of making an enemy of a good friend or close relative! I have often taken my son along and even then we hunt with two PHs. Just a better time for everyone. The very struggle you are outlining will dog the whole hunt no matter what "rules" you come up with.

 

[UKHunter]

On my first safari a very good friend and I hunted 2x1. We were not shooting a lot of animals between us and I was shooting more than him. Most of our trophies were the same. I said on the first morning that he could have the first animal and then I would have the next and so on until we had our trophies. As I was shooting more animals than him there was a period in the middle of our safari where I would shoot one or two in a row before his next turn as he didnt want to tag out straight away.

I thoroughly enjoyed hunting with my friend and we had no problems or issues whats so ever. It was a great chance and experience to hunt together and share our successes with each other. It created a lot of memories that I will not forget and over a year since the safari we still talk about our experiences, with the 'do you remember when...' or When we saw those...', etc.

In fact on the first morning there were a family of jackels in an opening bellow us, our PH set up the sticks and I shot one, then the dominant male came back to find and sniff his dead cub. While this happened we swapped positions and he shot it.

I would have no issues hunting 2x1 again with a good friend who I had hunted with before, but I would not hunt 2x1 with someone I had not hunted with before. I think it also depends on the amount of animals you wish to hunt. We were only hunting a small amount and so it was all very relaxed and enjoyable, without the fear of we are running out of time!

 

[Royal27]

Great advice in this thread.

The only way I would ever consider a 2x1 would be a father/son, or something similar (and I don't see that coming up for me personally). I want to hunt the entire time myself, period.

 

[billc]

I think the 2x1 works well for a father and son. Also ok if the hunters list are smaller on amount of animals to be hunted. If each guy wants 6 or more animals say on a 7 or even a 1o day it is not a good idea. It can be a lot of fun or could turn bad if not planned out right. I would never hunt 2x1 in the states but in south Africa or even Namibia I would have no problem doing so.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Can someone explain how a 2x1 hunt actually works?

Let's say I go on a 10 day hunt with my brother and we are sharing a PH. How will that actually work? Are we both carrying our guns at the same time? Who gets to shoot when?

Wouldn't I be better off hunting 1x1 for 5 days and then spending the other 5 days as an observer for my brother's 1x1 hunt?

I guess I'm struggling to see how we could actually be hunting at the same time.

Head off in the Bakkie and one of you will be the primary hunter, and you will decide that by coin flip or chance opportunity if the trophy list is different. (or just push the guy out of the truck when the opportunity strikes)


I did 2x1 hunting on the last trip.
It was interesting, challenging.

Doing it with a PH that does not know you and is (less experienced), and with a hunter that you do not know well was even more entertaining. One major screw up when we could have taken two animals at once.
PH shouting me down for aiming while he was guiding attending the other hunter. Causing the other hunter to fluster and you know the result was not good.

When with a PH and a buddy that you know and hunt with and the PH is on the ball. Bang flop two Zebra down. We even swapped animals just before the shot. Worked out just fine and everyone was happy.

I enjoyed helping with the stalks and spotting and was quite relaxed throughout the adventure. (I was also on a 7 week hunting trip, so there was no incredible pressure.)
I also just sat in the truck when it would have interfered in the stalk. Relax time. Too much of this will be boring.

Culling as 2x1 is a great time. No swapping, other than shot opportunities. Which solves Velo's concern, noted above. Not game in the salt.

If it is with someone that you will enjoy being with and watching them hunt, go for it.
To save money. DON'T.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

If it is with someone that you will enjoy being with and watching them hunt, go for it.
To save money. DON'T.

Could not be more true.

On that note check out this thread: Alone or with a friend: http://www.africahunting.com/threads/alone-or-with-a-friend.6121/

 

[jduckhunter]

I kind of feel like the odd man out here. I've been on dozens of hunting trips in the last 30 years or so and almost everyone of them was 2 x 1. Most were with relatives or very close friends that I grew up with and we never encountered a problem. Sure sometimes things didn't work out and we all didn't tag out or quite get the trophy that we were looking for, but I don't think that any of us would give up the great times that we shared and the memories that we made hunting together for a bigger trophy or one more critter in the salt. That's just not what hunting is all about for us, it's more about the time spent hunting together and sharing in our successes and our failures. And yes we do get together once in awhile and someone will say do you remember when, well hell yes we remember cause we were there.
That's what 2 x 1 hunting is all about, sharing the hunt, not saving a few bucks a day. For the last few years I've been hunting 2 x 1 with my son and I hope that dynamic never changes.

 

[jeff]

I had great hunts 2x1 with my wife, but I wouldn't do it with anybody except a good hunting buddy that I knew very well. My hunting partner and I team bugle elk and it's been very fun.

 

[billc]

I kind of feel like the odd man out here. I've been on dozens of hunting trips in the last 30 years or so and almost everyone of them was 2 x 1. Most were with relatives or very close friends that I grew up with and we never encountered a problem. Sure sometimes things didn't work out and we all didn't tag out or quite get the trophy that we were looking for, but I don't think that any of us would give up the great times that we shared and the memories that we made hunting together for a bigger trophy or one more critter in the salt. That's just not what hunting is all about for us, it's more about the time spent hunting together and sharing in our successes and our failures. And yes we do get together once in awhile and someone will say do you remember when, well hell yes we remember cause we were there.
That's what 2 x 1 hunting is all about, sharing the hunt, not saving a few bucks a day. For the last few years I've been hunting 2 x 1 with my son and I hope that dynamic never changes.

Your not the odd man at all. I like hunting 2x1 myself and sharing the time with my son or other hunters. The funny part about this topic is all the talk of why so many hunt. It is to be outdoors and enjoy it and share it with others. But then you get the you may not get everything you want if you hunt this way. Hunting 2x1 is not for everyone but if planned right it can work and be more fun then hunting 1x1.

I dont think it would be smart to just hunt with someone you don't know. But if you cant hunt with family or a good friend I myself would need to look at myself an decide if I am still doing it for the right reason anymore.

 

[Hank2211]

Great advice in this thread.

The only way I would ever consider a 2x1 would be a father/son, or something similar (and I don't see that coming up for me personally). I want to hunt the entire time myself, period.

Going to try it with my son in May. Since it will be his first hunt, I think I'm actually going to focus on him (at last until a cheetah shows up).

Otherwise, I agree with the consensus of this thread. It can be fun to spend some time with buddies, but 2 on 1 has so much potential for losing friends that I wouldn't do it for an entire hunt.

 

[BRICKBURN]

........., I think I'm actually going to focus on him (at last until a cheetah shows up). ...........
.

Everybody is your friend until the Cheetah shows up. Then it's gloves off.

 

[Hank2211]

Everybody is your friend until the Cheetah shows up. Then it's gloves off.

The boy can take the gloves off, but I have the rifle.

 

[IdaRam]

If it is with someone that you will enjoy being with and watching them hunt, go for it.
To save money. DON'T.

Absolutely agree!
I will be hunting 2X1 this August and September, but it will be with a good friend and hunting buddy that I have hunted with ALOT! He and I essentially hunt 2X1 every year for deer, elk, bear, etc, just minus the PH. Also, he has been to Africa before, I have not. His list of desired animals is completely different with the exception of Impala and Warthog. He wants to improve upon his Impala and everyone wants to shoot Warthog right?
In addition to not much overlap in trophies, we hope to get some video of each other hunting/shooting AND we've got 26 days, so lot's of time.
If the circumstances were different and both of us wanted alot of the same animals, only had 5-10 days and hadn't hunted together quite a bit, no way I would be doing 2X1. 1X1 for sure! Also, Jim and I are both cut from the same cloth in that I am usually more excited / nervous when he is shooting than when I am and vice versa. He killed a gorgeous! Shiras moose last year and I was way more excited than when I shot my own 2 years prior. Go figure Also, I have almost as much fun with a camera as with a rifle.

 

[DCN]

I leave two weeks today for Namibia with a good friend. Our plan is to hunt separate until all desired trophies are taken by each and then, should time permit (which I believe it will) do some management / cull hunting together for a few days. Best of both worlds, if you ask me.

 

[Nyati]

I´ve done both, it depends on the time you have and the number of animals you plan to take. If you have plenty of time, why not a 2x1, you will enjoy both your hunting and your partner´s . I have known my hunting partner for about 35 years, so there are no frictions.