Equipment Failure?
 

Has a piece of equipment ever failed in the field, and actually cost you a deer?

Do tell.
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Personally, I've been cost three bucks by complete equipment failure in 14 years:

First, I had an HHAsight bracket slide about 1" out of position afterthe set screw came loose. I missed a 4x4 buck two times at 13and 17 yards before he finally spooked. I think I missed him by 3 feet each time. Only after inspection afterwarddid I find that the sight had moved. I bought a new sight the following day.

Second, I had a first-generation Beman carbon-wrap arrow blow up in the bow on a shot on a 3x3 buck (ICS I think). Maybe the arrow was damaged before I shot, who knows? Immediately switched back to aluminum shafts. (I have since regained faith in carbon arrows).

Third, I put a perfect spine shot on a 4x4 buck at 5 yards at 76# with a Triska SK 125 broadhead. At impact, the broadhead completely failed, bending the ferrule into a curly-Q, breaking the blades. The broadhead failed to penetrate the spinal column, and looked like it had been fired into a concreteblock wall. I immediately switched to a stouter, chisel-tip broadhead, and for all I know, that buck is still running. That was a pretty bad feeling. I had that buck tagged and at the taxidermist before the arrow ever hit him. So much for that idea.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Wow, that is some bad luck with equipment failures. I guess I've been lucky. The only failures I've had can be attributed to me on deer. The closest thing I've had was early in my archery career I had trouble keeping the arrow on the rest while drawing and that cost me a couple of shots. That was probably from me being too excited and drawing too fast though.[:@]

I said string before and I meant rest. My arrow would fall off my rest as I was drawing. DOH!

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Not exactly a "failure....but I'll tell it again.

I had a buck I was attempting to take go on full alert at the sound of MY arrow being drug across a whisker biscuit rest bristles.

Rob/PA was down this past weekend turkey hunting with me.....and while we were in my ocal bow shop....I conducted a make-shift test.....drawing several different arrows back through a biscuit on a guardian. Some arrows had NO sound, whatsoever. The radial x-weaves I use, however, could be heard from 30 feet or more by HUMAN ears. There's no telling what that sounds like to a whitetail deer.

"Arrow" failure? maybe. "Rest" "failure"? Call it what you will. it's not a combination conducive to stealth hunting.....I can tell you that.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Jeff, I can tell you for sure that there are thousands of deer out there right now who owe their lives to the sound of woven carbon scraping against bare steel. Like fingernails on a chalkboard.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

I agree, I guess, Fran. I use a plastic pronged rest, now, though.....and again....with the aid of moleskin.....Rob can also attest to my bow being 100% silent on the draw. I just couldn't find a way to quieten the WB....or I'd still be using it.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Not exactly a failure, but the bar on my climing stand got in the way once and i missed a P&Y at 5 yards!!!

Since then ive been using my LoneWolf climber. It doesnt have a bar or anything. Feels just like a hangon once you get up in the tree

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

I had almost forgot about the mature buck that turned inside out on me when I drew on him shooting PSE Dominators, the older style ones before the X weaves came out. And THAT was using teflon fork tamers.

I've since been told that you can quiet those down using hard paste auto wax, but I'd be leery of it leaving an odor.

I also had a treestand seat completely rip out from under me. It was really passed it's prime and I wouldn't call it a manufacturing flaw really. The biggest problem with that seat, was the weight of mine! :D

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

I believe so, my sight. I had a hossbuck broadside at less than 20 yards off the ground; pefect shot. Backed into a thick canopy of dense pines, the dark man-made blind was perfect for hiding in, but due to the low light of the blind I couldn't make out my pins. I had to let him walk.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

I've never had an equipment failure while in the field in all my years of hunting. I have had some string breaks while practicing (just last year my Browning Oasis let go) but nothing in the field.

I voted other because I have had some "operator failures" over the years that have cost me deer.:)

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Do I count as "equipment"? [8D]

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

20 years ago, hunting alone behind my parents house, while I started descending my tree, I had a tree stand slip out from under my feet and fall all the way to the ground, as I hung precariously from my chest belt 18 feet in the air ...... my knife was in my back pack on the ground, as was my bow ... on the ground that is. I could not unhook myself .... the tree was too big around to shimmy up and get some slack ....... I didn't know what to do .....

I smoked at the time, and I pulled out my lighter and tried to burn the strap at the connection, but the wind kept blowing it out .... I started to feel faint ....... all of a sudden, the lighter stayed on for a few seconds ...... it was windy so it kept going out. As the belt started to melt, it caught fire, keeping the lighter lit .... it seemed like forever, but the strap let go, sending a half unconscious me to the forest floor .......

Other than a few bruises though, I was ok, as was my bow... upon further investigation, the stand was proven defective, and I got my money back.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Rest failure, having to reset a trapdoor rest after shooting one hog. In the time it took to reset I missed another shot opportunity. So while the rest didn't fail the design failed me.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Not yet, so far. I have had an issue with my inline ML that almost cost me a deer, but it worked out ok in the end. It did cost me a large deer the next day because I had to hunt with my smoothbore while the ML was being fixed. The deer was just out of what felt a comfortable range would be for that gun. Would have been an easy shot with the ML though.

Wasn't really an equipment failure as much I broke it and didn't notice until it was too late[&o]. Lesson learned on that one.

Paul

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

As John and Greg mentioned,no equipment failure but Human Failure (ME).Why is it that most learning experiences come from pain and emotional sufferring?
A friend of mine and I set a treestand in Idaho several years ago.It was in a funnel that every year get's seriously scraped up and it is close to a thick bedding area.We went in to set it mid day of our first day out there and when we got to the spot,there was so much smoking hot buck sign that I wanted to set that stand as quickly as possible and get the heck out of there.The mistake I made was not really stepping hard on the stand once I had the strap set.I was so nervous about ruining this location that I didn't take my time.
Rested the stand for a day hunted it the next,got in bright and early,got settled in and noticed the stand would squeak a bit if I shifted my weight.I said to myself I will take care of this on my way down around noon time.Now I am rifle hunting mind you.Beautiful 5x5 comes in hard off my right shoulder( I am right handed) 30 yards away,he has no idea I am there,I am thinking about where he will go on the wall,then the reality that I have to turn in the stand,hard to my right to be able to shoot this deer.From euphoria to depression as the stand squeaked and the buck pinned me like a laser beam! I still have visions of that buck several years later.
Also a cold dose of reality that never occurred to me at that time,my friend said to me after hearing about what happened,"why didn't you shoot him off your left shoulder" Yeah everyone can come up with the answers after the fact,but he was right!
If any of you ever hunt a treestand that I set you can be absolutely certain it wont squeak!

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Scot,

squeaky stand ouch.... my ? is.. how long did that buck wait around once he heard the stand squeak?

- I fell asleep in my tree lounge once..only to to wake up to cow elk feeding under me. Does that count as equipment being too good? :D

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Hey Troy,
You know it was the darndest thing.He pinned me,I stayed perfectly still while he took me apart for several minutes.He started to browse,on alert but not startled,it was the second squeak that did me in.I made every effort to distribute my weight in such a way that I could move.NOT! He took a couple of bounds,I grunted quickly and it froze him,unfortunately behind a hemlock.He stiff legged his way out of there through some thick stuff that I couldn't (or wouldn't attempt to get a shot through)
I have always wondered about after the first squeak,when he settled down a bit,if I brought my rifle up quickly would he have froze long enough for me to kill him.I'll never know.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

not bowhunting...i know i know...

but ive had rifle scopes fail..and fiber optic sights come loose on the flintlock. i really really hate to admit ive lost 2 deer with the rifle and completely missed one..all in one season. all within 50yds. this was after i already had like 5 under my belt and i knew it wasnt me. that summer dad was settin up a slug gun. i told him to take my scope so he didnt have to buy one coz i quit hunting. he tried talkin me out of it...but did take the scope...took it to the shop to be mounted and bore sighted...the guy couldnt believe how jacked up the scope was. the crosshairs moved ALOT every time you adjusted the power of the scope!!! i was jacked to say the least. none of the deer seemed fatally hit and we hunted the areas alot and never found them...hope they made it...

then another season i missed a pile of chip shots with the flintlock. i practice with my flintlock religiously..its close up there with bow shooting...you dont shoot it alot your not going to shoot accurately..dont have to shot as often as a bow but you gotta keep in practice...and i do and always have..i couldnt figure it out. i was gettin ready to throw the flintlock in the lake...target shooting after a few misses i couldnt hit jack...then i finally noticed the sight was WAY loose when i was cleaning it!!

i guess i had a tree stand failure..kinda..mainly my fault...rifle hunting opening day...i stood up when i saw a GIANT buck and another buck...leaned on the front rail of my summit viper to steady me...somehow i forgot to put on the strap for the top of the stand...i think it fell and i didnt feel like goin to get it:eek: well needless to say that top portion of my stand fell down. the bucks never took off...but they kept walking...wouldnt even stop to grunt calls or me yelling...i never got a shot....some snot nosed kid hunting the next farm over with his buddy killed the monster the first saturday[:@] man was it a whopper to say the least:( ....not exzactly a equiptment failure...just plain stupidity on my half...plus the saftey factor....i about fell out with a loaded rifle in my hands...think the saftey was off too:eek: them 2 bucks walked around my stand all morning before daylight grunting..thats why i didnt go get that strap i dropped now that i think about it[:'(]

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

1. rest got slightly knocked off once hit a 140 ish deer in the shoulder

2. me i got to excited andd right over the back of a huge 160s class doe LOL

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

i had my ripcord not drop when shooting at a doe. i his her in the neck but wasn't aiming for there

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

I can't believe that you did not list the piece of equipment that fails the most. Our brain, I would have to say that has cost me more deer than any other equipment failure.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

We're getting a lot of votes for peep sights not working properly - are those mostly problems with tubing breaking or the peeps not turning properly?

I've had both issues, but never in the field. I did break a peep tube on my way to the stand before, but I keep a spare in my bag, and changed it on the spot. Funny how the cheapiest, simplestlittle piece of equipment on your entire setup can cost you.

Tony - I bet that was a prettyharrowing situation. Call me a chicken, but Ikeep myself tethered to my stand/tree at all times. There have been times that I was 100% sure that my stand had a good barkbite, only to put my weight on it, and have it drop right out and kick in again. Scary stuff when that happens 15-30 feet up.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

I had an 8 point chase a doe behind my stand last year and then stop at 15 yards. It was a somewhat more than quartering away shot, but still good. However, I had to turn to face the tree and bend over for the downward shot.

As I released, I felt something tug on my Primos vest and saw the arrow fly 3 feet to the left. The Primos vest has "pull tabs" on all of the zippers: 2" of cord with a plastic knob on the end. The tab caught in the lower limb of the bow, yanked the tab and zipper attachment off (I never found it), and caused the arrow to go flying. The buck only moved a few feet, but it was enough that I no longer had a shot.

Needless to say, I immediately go rid of the Primos vest. I purchased the HSS harness/vest instead: not nearly as much storage as the Primos but enough for my purposes and no tabs to snag on the bow.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Wow, you SW PA boys have a lot of equipment failures. Must be karma catching up for all those Super Bowl rings.;)

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

I've never had an equipment failure in the field that cost me an animal.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Only failure I have had to date was an old cheap set of sights. I lost two deer because my sight bracket had gotten bent some how and I wasnt smart enough at the time to shoot my bow every day even during season. The two deer I lost were only does but I have learned from that mistake and shoot my bow every day usualy before I go out for an afternoons hunt just to make sure everything is still dialed in.

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

never had a bow problem but i did have a classic black powder not lightin experience. it cost me what would have been my first deer. i was ticked to say the least. :D

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Nope! Knock on wood!

RE: Equipment Failure?
 

Darn treestand.......it was put up ln the wrong place, at the wrong time!