This was sparked by yesterdays WI opener.

To start off, the first spot I wanted to hunt is pretty much unhuntable (except by canoe at the moment). All the rain we've had the past month flooded out the entire area, so spot one is out.

Spot #2 looked promising on my last scouting trip. There are several well used trails, going to and from a couple of different corn field edges and bedding areas in a thick oak creek bottom. Get out to that area and the wind switches and is blowing in the completely wrong direction, right towards those bedding areas. Scratch #2 off the list.

Spot number 3. Another promising spot, it involves a couple of well used trails along the outside edge of a corn field and another bedding area I stumbledupon last gun season. I get out of the car, the wind is good for this spot; I'm thinking sweet, I'll be able to hunt! I grab my gear and start heading out. It's about 250 yds to where I was looking to put up my stand and I stop about halfway to try to keep from sweating and I am swarmed by mosquitoes.

Now, my hometown is built between two rivers on top of a swamp AND we have a stagnant canalgoing through downtown, I've had my fair share of bad mosquito stories. But this was the worst I have seen them. My light, open color camo pants turned a dark shade of gray with all of the mosquitos clinging to my legs. I tried going a little further, it just got worse. By the time I got back to my car, my eyes were almost swollen shut from the bites around the openings of my facemask around my eyes and every other inch that was left uncovered was swollen from multitudes of bites as well. That was the most misearble day hunting I've ever had.

So please share your most miserable, horrible opening day/weekend story, recent or otherwise. This should be entertaining!

I foreshadow it will be this year because instead of being on stand, I may be on my back with my leg up, or working on log siding my garage.[&:]

I have mesquitos but not like that. I always look forward to colder weather but if I were you, I'd be getting one of those quality bug suits, thermacell or something.

Every place I looked was sold out of the thermacells! That shoulda told me something I guess!! [&:]

My buddy has the worst opener luck. about ten yearsago he had two nice bucks broadside inside of 20 yards. he drew back and his release malfunctioned (loosened up) and the arrow sprung off the string and landed about 3 feed from his stand. That night he missed a doe broadside at ground level from 5 yards. Still don't understand this one.

He had bad luck this weekend too, but that's a long story and I'll skip it.

I had an opener where my super secrect kick butt, no fail tree was taken (saw some yahoos dragging a buck out of it later that morning) then went to my inlaws andlocked my keys in the car right after I got there. Drove half an hour home and my father inlaw calls me and says I left a window open just a bit and he was able to unlock it. ooooh, was i mad.

last year, opening day im 3/4 of the way up my tree..actually may been all the way up..i know i had my flashlight on..may been getting settled in..

i hear something crashing through the woods like a freight train...then see a flashlight..dude is chargin me ready to rumble. im a laid back, easy goin kinda guy....aint too much worth fightin over...not even a good huntin spot to me...dude starts flippin. "this is MY spot! i been hunting here 20 some years!! blah blah etc...

my buddy is a farmer and farms all the land in the area. he hooks me up with spots...from where he been seein the good ones to getting the permission. i thought somehow he was my buddies friend...so being a nice guy, i said whatever dude...i'll pack up and go no biggie to me i surely aint gunna fight you over it.

hunt somewhere else and dont see jack all morning. goto my buddies farm and tell him...he says he never heard of the guy or seen him there in his life..so while farming he drives the tractor to the edge of the woods and goes has a chat with him.

to top things off, he was there most of the day Sunday...we cant hunt on Sundays....and one of the 2 monsters was never seen again[:@]

i did get a shot at a buck in there in bow season and seen the other monster in rifle season....but i would loved to been there opening day....

his stand was gone before rifle season...though his truck was there in rifle season, he drives his work truck so he could been in the area with his buddies or something...all i know is he never came back except to get his stand...i rifle hunted that spot and he wasnt there..must been across the road..

im beating him there this opener and i aint leavin if he does try to come in...for all i care, he can sit in his stand and i will sit in mine...mine is hung already...his wasnt as of a week ago. maybe he aint comin back..GOOD..i plan on using my lock on AND my climber opening day..and dont plan to leave till its dark again

That is deffinitely a crappy opener Mauser. Do you guys (you and your farmer bud) think he poached one of those monster bucks?

I might have a winner here in WI. Well, I planned on hunting this whole opening weekend in my new spot, that I thought was perfect. Long story short, I didn't end up being able to hunt but I was able to take a walk out through the woods where I hunt. When I came to the field which my stand is set up off of I immediately saw a nice big doe and two fawns standing around not a hundred yards from my stand (mind you that I have no bow, gear or anything with). So I sneak around a small two acre patch of woods going toward my stand to get a closer look. After two Sandhill Cranes fly out just a sqwaking away and make me almost crap my drawers, I see five more deer. Three bigger does, a fawn, and a little basket rack. So, I watch them for a while and then call my dad to tell him about this because 3-4 deer are taken of this property at most every year. While when I turn around I spot some tails through a very small row of trees in an alfalfa field. So I mosey over there, just expecting some more little does. Well, lets just say I hit the motherload of all deer herds I have ever seen. I counted 16 mature does, 8 fawns, two spikes (one at least a foot in length), another six point basket rack, two 8's (both 120-130's) all standing there eating about 50 yards from me. The big spike and the basket start to fight a little which I thought was amazing for this time of year. All of a sudden a hear some crunching on the right of the field and they all pop up and look. A really nice 3 1/2 year old ten pointer steps out and starts to check out the situation (guessing around 140). So I watch for a while in awe at all these deer. Then some more crunching from the same spot and the mack daddy steps out. I seriously almost cried when I saw this monster. He had great mass, spread was 3-4 inches past the ears, and I counted 12 POINTS!!!! I am positive that this deer would be over 160 with no problem. He also looked very old and weathered, 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 for sure. I sat crouched by the tall grass just watching for at least an hour, until it was pitch black. Finally, I slowly walked back to the house with my tail between my legs and my head down.

Oh and for some background info. I have hunted this land for 4 years now, and have seen 3 deer while in the woods, all smaller does. I have hunted some other properties and seen maybe 1-2 other does but never a buck........ever. I have managed to bag two of the smaller does with the gun but nothing with the bow. And then all this, IN ONE NIGHT!!!

That one tops mine Tikka. If you don't mind me asking, why weren't you able to bring the bow out and hunt?

Well my dad had to work until 6 o'clock opening morning and it's an hour drive to the land, so I wouldn't be able to sit in the morning. We eventually didn't get up there until almost 6 that night, so there goes my evening hunt. We had to get back earlier the next morning so that sit was shot to. Dang parents!

i might have yall beat...and dont ask me what i was thinking. Mustve been bc it was my 4th day in a row hunting morning and the lack of rest hit me.

i wake up, put all my gear in my truck (or so i thought) and drove 25 minutes to the field. started to walk into the woods and realized i forgot the four clips to my cables for my climbing stand. DIDNT EVEN REALIZE I FORGOT SOMETHING ELSE. so i drive home real quick and got the cables clips. drive back out and start walking in the woods. O CRAP, left my bow in the truck. walked to the truck and realized i left that at the house too!!!haha. i drove all the way back home again, grabbed it, and drove back. thank goodness i was out there really early- the first time. after hour of driving, $25 in fuel, i finally got to my tree-even before daylight, i get set up, and didnt see anything the whole day... grrrr. i hated life then..lol. please dont ask how, why, what the heck was i thinking, etc.i still get made fun of to this point.

and its not like i can put it in the truck the night before because we were robbed 2x last year and one vehicle was broken into. [:@]