Two days ago he went out to hunt/hunting

[Square]

1. Two days ago he went out to hunt, and he never came back.
2. Two days ago he went out hunting, and he never came back.

Are both sentences correct and do they have the same meaning?
Thanks.

[cacian]

I will go for the first one myself.
I cannot tell whether the second or both are correct.
a native speaker is needed here. :)

[mal4mac]

Both are correct, but there is a subtle difference in meaning. If he "went out to hunt" then he *intended* to hunt. If he went "out hunting" then he was hunting as soon as he went out! This is very subtle, and you might not be able to tell the difference as an external observer. That is, if he marches out the door with a gun he might already be in hunting mode, or he might be in a state of getting ready to hunt. Only he can know this.

[Ecurb]

I agree with mal4mac. "Two days ago he went out (intending) to hunt, and he never came back. While he was driving to the grouse fields, his two setters turned on him and ripped out his throat."

Or: "Two days ago he went out hunting and he never came back. While shooting at a grouse, he slipped, fell into quicksand,and made the fatal mistake of struggling."

In either case, the quote reminds me of the excellent Saki story: "The Open Window".

eta: Here's a link to the story, which is only two pages long: http://www.classicreader.com/book/1673/1/

[Iain Sparrow]

1. Two days ago he went out to hunt, and he never came back.
2. Two days ago he went out hunting, and he never came back.

Are both sentences correct and do they have the same meaning?
Thanks.

Neither are correct.

The proper way to put it would be, "day before last he was fix'n to go hunting, and I reckon a critter got'em cuz we hadn't seen him since".

But then again I'm from the Deep South, so it may not work for more northern latitudes.:)

[Whosis]

I agree with mal4mac to a fault. It might be implied that while he went out to hunt, he did hunt eventually. As he "never came back," this gives the idea that he made some progress into hunting as opposed to saying something like "He went out to hunt but decided to come back in before he made it off his property." Besides, "hunting" is already like moving about for a target, not necessarily finding one. Some people have gone out hunting without ever finding a target. So they are both near the same with some suggestive power in "to hunt." By the way, "to hunt" would be an infinitive, and "hunting" would be a gerund. Understanding those word forms would be essential to knowing.