crutch

I've only been hunting 6 yrs now. This is kind of a worse tobetter ending . Went down to Shawnee National forest. I barrowed a buddies summit climber.After we got there we picked outour tree we were going to hunt the next morning . The next morning (still dark) I climbed the tree, First I didn't know I was able to sweat like that.After settling inI was pulling up my bow and reached out to grab it and it slipped off..Crash to the forest floor.[:@] I thought I was done for the rest of the trip. So I had to climb down and get my bow.It was a new rope but the clip slid off the end,so I tied it on this time. Climbed back up to about 8-9ft, I was so hot that thats where I stayed.After romoving a couple layers of clothes I cleaned the dirt out of my nocks and rechecked my bow/arrows. I drew it back as slow as I could (looking away), seemed to draw ok.

I did take a doe later that morning at 22 yrds. She went about 30 yrds right into the middle of an old cattle pond. After she was down, I didn't mind walking into the pond.Going 1/4 mile back to truck to get thecamera before dressing her out. Dragging her out 1/4 mile out, mostly up hill. That I kind of stuff I can handle Anyway it was aruff start with a good ending!

The great part is I had a deer to drag out. Lesson learned.... Do not over dress when using a climber

burniegoeasily

Worst would be about 6 years back. I saw a nice buck pusing a doe in the distance. I spent about 1.5 to 2 hours stalking these two. I finally set up behind a bush cross wind of where they were headed. Every thing was going as planed. As this buck got closer I realized it was one of the nicest ive ever had a chance to arrow. As the doe passes, I draw, and in mid draw the cable on my quick tun 2000 sliped. The arrow wouldnt raise. All I could do was watch as they walked by. I guess I had snagged it as I was crawling, or something. I soon switched to a Muzzy and fixed the problem.

early in

Mine was when I got to myspot and my cable locked Lone Wolf climber is no longer at the base of my tree! This was on "private property" three years ago.[:@]

quiksilver

I've had too many things go haywire to even pick one incident out as being the "worst."

If I had to choose, I'd say it was the Rifle Opener in WV about eight years back. I see a buck, pass. See a buck, pass. Finally see a shooter - no shot. I finally getfrustrated and shoot a scrub spike that runs down off the mountain before he expires(adding a full hour onto my drag). While I'm still kicking myself for shooting this spike and lugging him back up out of this canyon, my buddy whiffs on a big 4x4. He's mad too. Everybody is mad.

We get to the check station and it's honestly an hour wait. My girlfriend is nagging me on the phone about getting home late, my buddy is complaining about missing that buck, and I'm disgusted with myself for shooting a spike. I call my uncle on the cell to see if they did any good, and he says he can't talk b/c he's at the hospital. Apparently, his buddy rolled an ATV over himself while towing out a deer and crushed a lumbar vertebrae. He's in a body-cast, the quad is trashed andtheir deer are still laying in the woods. Not good. He says "Hey, will you come help me drag these deer out tonight?"

How can I say no to a guy who just watched his buddy crush his spine? So I agree. I race home and drop the atomic bomb on the gf that I'm heading back down to WV to drag deer again. Will be home around midnight. You can just imagine that scene. What an awful day.

tschammel

This year I was watching this "Grossing mid 170-180's" Monster in a field that I couldn't hunt. Had 15 scorable points very thick wide and had huge double browtines. For three mornings in a row during the ruthe cameout of this field following what I think was the same doe. I just watched him and felt privilaged to even see him so close threw my scope and so often, but frustrated that he was not on land that I could hunt. Well on the 4th morning I pulled up to my spot to wait for him to come out and watched and the farmer drive his 4wheeler into the woods where he has been bedding. Out he comes with the doe and runs accross the road onto a fense line that I can hunt in the open. He lays down with the doe in the fense line. So I go and park and start the stalk, I crawled for about an hour to get to him on the other side of the this thin thick fense line. I got within 12 yards of him, got to my knees and gave myself about 15min to calm myself down. I then realized that I had no shooting lanes while he was laying down. So I got ready and was going to throw a little piece of dirt from the plowing up into the air into the fense line, (throw it high enough to give me time to draw before it hits the grass). Hoping that he would stand up to investigate qickly, then let him have it. (I've done this before and it worked!). So I throw the dirt clump in the air and try to draw and he stands up looking right in my direction. My arrow was off my rest in between my drop away and my riser!!!!!!!!!! So I quickly let up, while he's 12 yards away looking at me broadside!!! Try to redraw but by the time I came to full draw againhe took off!! I just fell to my knees and I swear to god I almost threw up.12 yards broadside and I F***** it up!!!!I have never lost so much sleep in a two weak period.

WalkSoft

I have been hunting this big 8 pointer all year. Would be my first ever buck. I rattled him in to about 15 yards. Broadside looking at a spike. Drew back put the dot on the vitals and touched off. My arrow never left the rest.( i had knocked it off the string somehow while drawing)I dry fired my bow throwing it all out of wack. peepsight flew off. Deer just stood there. eventually he walked away. I got down. smaller 8 point ran out of the corn straight to me. 10 yards. couldn't shot becouseI had to get my bow fixed.

Germ

Ohh yes the log spliter buck, in 2000 the year I ate tag soup. I did not hunt much because of work. It is now Dec and I have shot3 doe's and no bucks. I am hunting a nice 8 i have seen couple times. It is Dec 18th and cold as hell. I had to nock the ice off my stand. Sitting in the tree when around 4:30 I see 15-20 doe's. They are walking towards me, and deer always enter the woods in this spot. I look behind them and there he is, the big 8. I am now counting my chickens, at 30 yards out the doe's are coming in and so is he. At this point I hear the log splitter fire up, Dad is in his wood pile. Which is less then 100 yds away, deer freeze. Then walk to the other side field. Along with the log spliiter buck, LOL

PS
I cursed at my Dad for the first time, LOL

Red Lion

My worst hunt, taken as most disappointing was 5 years ago during rifle season hunting in a shotgun only zone with an old hand-me-down shotgun.
I and a buddy bsing in my buddies garage when another buddy living next door runs over and says. I just had this huge 12 pt buck nearly run me over by my poleshed. I and my other buddy think, yeah sure. Then the buddy2 goes and there he is and points across the road. Sure you know what there is this big boy right across the road (about 125 yards away) and he is making his way for our little 80 acre patch of pines.
I and buddy 1, get our shotguns and enter the pines. Buddy 1 goes straight down the middle/main trail and I cut through some thick underbrush and head, in a 45 degree angel to the left of him and the main trail toward tree stand off an ajoining trail about 130 yards into the pines.
A little while later, when I get to the ajoining trail I see buddy 1 waling back down the main trail as if leaving. I figure I might as well walk toward the main trail and then folow him in if I do not see anything.
I get to the intersection with the main trail, pause and hear some rustling in the brush, off to the rightabout 20 yards down, left on the main trail.
I immediately take a knee and get ready.
Mr. big, 12 points and all walks right out onto the main trail about 20 yards in front of me broadside. Could not ask for a better shot and he wasunaware that I was there.
I go to pull the trigger, nothing. Try again, nothing again. He still does not know I am there, so I chamber a new shell and he hears it, and I pull the trigger again, nothing again. Henow looks toward me, as I chamber another round, he turns and bounds for the brush behind him, and I pull the trigger out of frustration as he is about 5 yards into the brush and it goes bang.
Needless to say, bought a brand new shotgun after that, but probably lost at least a 170 class buck that day.

hoseromon

Last weekend a buddy and I went out crop damage gun hunting. Well he had cleaned his gun earlyer in the month. Well when we got in the field 2 hrs from home he noticed his trigger assembly wasnt in his gun he forgot to put it back in. Lucky for him he brought a second brush gun that he was able to use but it was still pretty funny.

SuperRedHawk

Oh, the "squeaky fence buck"! I was a kid hunting in Illinois on some unreal farm property about 25 years ago (God I miss that place). I forgot my portable seat when I found a section of fence that was bent over and made for a real nice seat.
But I told myself, "remember the fence squeaks a little with quick movements". I looked up and there were 8 does circled around the most magnificent buck I have ever seen (to this day!!), and they were coming right to me.
I knew he was mine, everyone would be envious, he will be mounted on my wall. Even the old timers I hunted with never killed anything like THIS!
As I went to take a knee and shoot him, the fence goes "squeeeeeeek".
They stop, alarmed, and I knew it was all over. They slowly turned andtrottedaway. I'll never forget it.