On our recent trip to the Q with a real genuine rookie (he did perform admirably though) we were discussing some pranks that would have been fun to pull, but we were lacking in the planning. Since this particular rookie, in the real world is, how shall we say, “Wired”, we thought of a couple things that could have been worth a laugh. First would have been an outlet box with a short length of conduit that we would have stuck into the ground someplace along the perimeter of camp where he could find it. Another would have been a small tape recorder with a (his?) Blackberry ring tone on it.  we figured about 10 minutes of silence on the tape, and then the ring would have allowed time to plant it off in the woods before the ring was played.

Just the ones we thought of but didn’t get to implement. How about some that actually occurred?

i once was a rookie like all was at one time the day before we were to leave my phone rang and it was my canoe partner said to flip it over to the outdoor chanel to watch something.it was a show on bear attacks.a good thing to watch going into the q. we were camped on russel lake across from chatterton falls.the blueberries were ripe and i was on my hands and knees picking for all it was worth.there was about two inches of moss and the roar of the falls and one of the party snuck up and fell on me and roared like a bear.scared me out of about ten years of my life.now every time we hear a noise they all get a laugh and say its a bear.and payback is going to be sweet someday...

Why do pranks have to be on rookies? I have found that having a little fun with seasoned veterans to be equally entertaining.

Examples: The look on QP's face is forever etched in my mind when he discovered the 'pack extenders' (pieces of railroad ties) at the bottom of the food pack he had carried all day at our camp on Gardiner bay.  ;D

The look on Jimbo's face after he commented about the great smelling fish chowder. "Cmon old salt, let's have a look". The reveal was Pink Flamingo Stew (Made pink with red food coloring). Had the appearance of pepto bismol.  ;D

Rookies:

Set an alarm clock (needs to be loud) to go off about 3 am. Set it outside their tent about halfway down from either door, so they have to get up to shut it off. Next morning, casually comment, "I heard you got up to go fishing. How was it?"  ;D

When you get to first camp, have a veteran (who is in on the prank) to take them to look for firewood. They need to be gone 15-20 minutes, and as far away as possible. While they are gone, fill collapsable 5 gallon jug, and all other available water bottles & containers with water. Remove the contents of whichever pack they carried and hide contents in a tent. Refill pack with 5 gal jug & all other water containers, cookkit, and any other misc to 'hide' water until they dig. When firewood team returns (hopefully with lots of firewood), casually announce that its time to start dinner. Ask the rookie to dig down in the pack they carried for the cookkit. Then ask them to find some water...  ;D

Give them a very quick (briefing) on the route(using the false maps you will give them). In doing so, give them maps of a completely different area than the area you will actually be traveling. Give them the admonition that one of the marks of a seasoned tripper is always knowing where you are. (In doing this prank, it is important that they never see the maps that the rest of the party is actually using. It also helps for their partner to be in on the prank to encourage them to follow the route on their maps. It is fun to hear them mentally prepare themselves for that killer portage, and then remark about how easy it was. Or to hear them talk about how the next one is a piece of cake, and it turns out to be a marathon with a quagmire. If the joke plays out all day, it makes for great conversation at end of day.  ;D and the rest of the trip... ;D

That's enough...can't give away all the pranks...  ;D ;D ;D

I agree, pranks on the vets can be fun as well.  I have a good one in mind this year.  I can't say much because we leave in a couple days and at least two from the group are on this board.  I'll make sure to let you all know how it goes.

Moose turds in the sleeping bag at the end of the trip.  When you get home and unpack you have a "small reminder" of the trip when you air out your bag.

I'll never forget !

To each their own, but I think pranks or practical jokes do more harm than good.  The next time you plan a prank, think how you would feel if the prank was on you.

Westwood

LOL Westwood...  

The definition of a good prank or practical joke is where both parties can laugh about it after the fact.  It shouldn't be mean spirited.  If friends play the occasional prank on friends, and it's done in fun, why would that be bad?

Why do you feel the way you do?

I was not a rookie, but there was a watermelon in the food pack I was carrying one year.  We ate it on Yum Yum on night one.

The easy prank (not really a prank) is tugging on the bow man's fishing line as you're trolling along.  Works especially well if it's been a slow day of fishing and the spot you're over looks extremely fishy - gotta get that tug right though, with just the right amount of head shake.

My favorite all time prank, however, was one that was built up over a period of about two years, and everyone was in on it but us - on multiple websites even.  Tales of a get together, a "jamboree" to sort out the men from the boys, in a far off, hard to reach area with no portages or trails to follow.  We bit that one hard, hook line and sinker.   :D  That joker is at it again this year, but we won't make the same mistake twice - this timewe're gonna follow some other suckers in.  ;)

pghportager wrote on Jul 7^th, 2009 at 2:03pm:

My favorite all time prank, however, was one that was built up over a period of about two years, and everyone was in on it but us - on multiple websites even.  Tales of a get together, a "jamboree" to sort out the men from the boys, in a far off, hard to reach area with no portages or trails to follow.  We bit that one hard, hook line and sinker.   :D  That joker is at it again this year, but we won't make the same mistake twice - this timewe're gonna follow some other suckers in.  ;)

Make sure you bring cloth bags along this time....so you can bring back the Snipe.    ;)

pghportager wrote on Jul 7^th, 2009 at 2:03pm:

The easy prank (not really a prank) is tugging on the bow man's fishing line as you're trolling along.  Works especially well if it's been a slow day of fishing and the spot you're over looks extremely fishy - gotta get that tug right though, with just the right amount of head shake.

 When I group tripped with 3 other guys, one of them pulled this trick ;D
Unfortunately for him, he made a few big mistakes!
 No. 1, he grabbed the line just a few feet above the stick bait with its 3 big treble hooks (barbed)
 No. 2,  he forgot the guy he was "pranking" had a bad habit of setting the hook so hard he often jerked the lure right out of the fish's mouth!
  I had to remove two trebles from his hand, which left him (or so HE said) unable to paddle very hard. Soooo I guess the joke backfired in one way, but his bow partner couldn't enjoy it, because HE had to do most of the paddling ;)
 I say ALL pranks are fair game, as long as EVERYONE can take them and well as they dish them out, which often isn't the case :(

Some pranks are recalled from several trips with boy scouts and separate trips with friends/family over the years.  Here are some.

Boys were worried about bears eating them.  When we heard of bear in camp sightings from some campers on a portage trail, the boys were particularly buzzed.   After dinner, my son, 14, was picking some blue berries, and came into close proximity to a black bear.  Beating on pans, the bear left but the boys were not going to go to sleep--they wanted a bonfire and someone to stand guard.  I told my son, who was in a different tent with other boys slightly older, to protect himself by sleeping in the middle of the tent, and, to rub some Jack Pine sap on his jeans as that is a natural deterrent.  It wasn't too long before they all had the pine sap on their clothes, and they took turns sleeping in the middle.

On another trip, the Outfitter asked if there was anything else he could do for our group as we neared our departure to Ely from Missouri.  I told him that what with all the food choices made by some of the other adults, we'd need a French Chef and maid in camp to take care of cooking and cleaning so that there would be enough time to fish.

Long about the second evening in camp, we dug out of one of 3 food packs a full sized inflatable doll--the anatomically correct kind.  No french maid or chef outfit, but we had a few travelers stop to share a cup of coffee and a story about our camp 'guest'.  

How about this one in the Outdoors section of the Duluth News by Sam Cook  :

With wit and wisdom, Irv Benson lived well on the ‘Sag’

"Benson loved playing practical jokes. Once, while ice-fishing with Mildred and her husband, the late Tumsey Johnson, he had someone distract Tumsey. Benson attached an expired rabbit to Tumsey’s line and put it back down the hole. The story of Tumsey reeling up that rabbit is still told on Sag."

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starwatcher

wrote on Jul 13^th, 2009 at 12:43pm:

Long about the second evening in camp, we dug out of one of 3 food packs a full sized inflatable doll--the anatomically correct kind.

WOW!!  :o
You must have a pretty good relationship with that outfitter. If that were pulled on someone else they would have had to refund $1000 due to the omisssion of clothing. ;)

Badda-Bing......Badda Boom ;D