I hate it when you sneak into your elk stand (over a superb wallow), after climbing 1000-1500 ft or so, you climb the tree, get in the stand, change your wet shirt out for a dry one, settle in, look around, take a few ranges (as if you can't remember the last 100 times you did it), then draw your bow without an arrow in it to tune your muscle memory and make sure there are no cricks or screaks in the "outfit," and then!!! you dry fire the bow and it leaps out of your hand and drops 22 ft to the ground. UHhh...

Anyway, you have to get down, and "oh my god" the bow still is intact except for the sight shroud! You shoot one field point to see if it is on at 30, and get back up.

The best thing about that evening was that I could have killed any one of four cow elk under me, but I chose to pass for the bull I killed 10 days later.

I have to say this might not be the biggest blunder I have made in 27 seasons of bow hunting, but it is sure the most recent - 07 baby!!!