Your worst hunt stories...
 

Lets all here that story that made you feel the sickest and wished you could have had another chance at...

Mine takes place in Colorado elk hunting in 06'. It was the second day of the hunt on public land after not seein much the first day. My morning started with working my way up a thick spruce and aspen tangled raviene that the elk returned to to bed for the day. At light I heard a soft bugle up the valley on the other side and figured I'd just hunt my way towards it. Aboutan hourafter light and closer to the bugle I heard some elk coming about 3 or 4 and as they cleared a knoll at about 50 yards I caught horns comin through the brush and saw it was a nice 6x6. He came past with his head laid back swaying his head through soem brush and limbs and I drew. He continued at about 30 yards and made it to a clearing and as I tried to stop him he turned to walk straight up the hill away from me so I turned my body back towards the others coming in hopes of a shot at them. As I turned I caught the bull turning back quartering away from me so I ewwed with my mouth to stop him, settled the pin and let er rip. Arrow entered last couple ribs and looked to go straight up in the cavity. He turned and bolted to the left and sounded like he went down after only 80 yrads or so but I couldnt see him. I was so excited. My first bull with the bow and he was about 300"s after killing a 250" 6x6 with the gun and a couple cows with the bowpreviously. I was jacked, I heard him go down, so I went and found first blood where I had hit him and sat there waiting for about an hour. I tried reaching guys on the radio but got no answer so I decided to go ahead and look for him. Well he wasn't dead and I jumped him from his bed and he busted the fletching half of the arrow off (about 6 inchesand blood was spotty. Never found him after hours of searching and to this day I still play that over in my head. I should have just gone back to camp and waited for 5 hours for everyone to return and then go find him. I was just to excited and wasn't thinking, I had no reason to go looking for him cuz I had all the time in the world that day to wait. Figured I must have got liver, one lung, and stuck the arrow in the off sholder...... What did I learn? I learned from that hunt that if you don't SEE the animal go down to leave them for plenty of time and return later. I'll never go looking for an elk that I didn't see go down without waiting 5-6 hours now. Lesson learned but still makes me sick. I did redeem myslelf somewhat by killing a huge cow two days later and will be back out there this fall again chasing elk. WCL

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

i was hunting in 1999. and my tree stand started to shake for no reason at all. im 16 ft in the air early in the morn and chilly out. so im looking around. and i see nothing. then i hear growling im looking around still nothing. then i look up and their he was the biggest raccoon you will ever see. 3 ft from my head trying to get down the tree and he was mad. so i swear i jumped down without even using the ladder and from the adrenaling i landed right on my feet. must of been the boot blankets that protected the landing with a cusion. but i never used that tree again

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RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

This happened on my father's elk hunt, I was tagging along, it was his 1st elk hunt. We had a hot elk responding coming in......mainly wish we made more of an agressive move, he came in, but held up / out quite a little ways I think had we got in much closer then called, we may have gotten lucky. Didn't really see an elk that entire hunt.

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

Oct 2000, 3:35 pm 2 bucks walk up at the same time, one is small, the other was around 115-120" 8 pt, pretty buck to say the least, I would have mounted him. Anyway, he walked up to the tree at 6 yds and then didn't present a shot if you can believe it, then he turned and walked behind the tree around the other side at about 4 yds!! I was at full draw when he stopped, as I hit the trigger on the release he stepped forward and i hit him in the top of the hind quarter. I watched him run away bleeding profusely, but I knew it was not good. I found him about a 1.5 months later in a broom straw field about 250 yds from where I shot him. He was nice and I would have put him on the wall, I never got over that deer and that day, it took me two yrs just swallow the whole episode.[&o]

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

My worst hunt involves a loc-on stand - I was about 70 miles away from the house by myself, climbed 15 ft to a loc-on I had hung months earlier got both feet on the stand and promptly got dumped out- a bolt had back out to one of the supporting cables and it was like a trap door- luckily for whatever reason put my safety belt on the way up (God was looking over me because I never done this a lot)- brkn and bruised ribs and a fear of loc-ons from that day - I don't trust them and not sure if it was an adjacent Landowner or what but the bolt was nowhere to be found

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

im not gonna get into the whole story, but i shot and hit about a 130" 10 point, back in 7th grade. still would be my biggest buck

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

Last season I was in my stand and heard a noise. I thought it was just another squirrel making some noise, so I turned too casually tolook in that direction. Wouldn't you know it, it was a 10pt not ten yards from me!! Of course he bolted. He was the nicest buck I've ever seen in the area! That was a beginners mistake for sure.[:@] Lesson learned? Every noise is a deer.;):D:D

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

i was sitting in a big oak when i hear growling from below[:o]i look down and 7 coons were climbing my stand trying to get to the baby coons i did not know were 3 feet above my head...........i started whispering telling them to leave but they didnt, soon i was screaming and kicking and cursing to get them to go away but they still didnt.............i then triedslapping them with my arrow but that didnt work and at a distance of .5 feet, i stuck my knife through the leaders head, killing her almost instantly, luckily all the others left and since it was such an amazing scenerio, i decided to get the coon mounted and now its sitting in my hunting room !!! this may sound like a joke but i will post pics tomarrow of the devilcoon..............ive also gotten attacked by a wounded goose, and i was ran over by a doe on a deer drive[:'(]

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

Make a very long story short, LOST! Brother-in-law found me by honking his horn, Coyotes nest ridge, No flashlight, and lost a good 120" buck in the process!!

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

In Nov 1996 I came home from a morning hunt. I watched one of the biggest bucks i've ever seen chase a doe around my neighbors woods. My dad stopped over and he watched as well. Finally I could take no more. I grabbed my bow and went over there. I circled around and sat near the back edge of his property. a while later the doe came running full blast. She turned to my left and ran by me at 20yds. the buck was following. I picked an opening and as he ran thru I released an arrow. I hit him right in the shoulder blade. I got very little penetration. He was a VERY high racked 8 pointer and had unbelievable mass. I have one on the wall with 40" of mass and I know this one was thicker!
Needles to say I didn't get him[&o]

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

I'm going to need a shrink ,Just to think about them. I have a few to many missed chance. Who brought this up ,now I got a sour filling in my gut.


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RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

I made a huge mistake a few years ago. I was rifle hunting on a ridge and I was watching these deer walk the ridge. I was looking for a certain buck on my farm and I had no doe tags. As I was watching these deer in the snow walk threw the briars on the ridge I saw him he steped into an opening and my scope fogged up[:@]So i quickly wiped my scope with a paper towel from my pocket pulled the gun up saw the deer found the boiler room and squeezed BANG!!!! Deer scatter everywhere! SO I start my walk down the hill and up the other side. I see the deers belly I was pumped I got up to it pulled it out of the thicket and BAM it was a doe...**** there is no way! [:-]I know it was a buck! Well The only thing I can think of is that when I went to wipe my scope the buck moved on and a doe stood directly where he was head behind the brush! :(So I clean her up drag her to my car and I call the game warden whom I know. He comes down I explain to him what happens and he says Tim you done it this time...So I'm nervous as hell now. He said where is your doe tag I told him I got my doe in archery he said where is your buck tag I gave it to him. He said pay more attention to your shot next time! He took my deer for the feed the hungry and allowed me to keep hunting. Everytime we see each other he reminds me and I'm still buying him a beer for it. It was an honest mistake but I felt like crap about it and he still reminds me of it all the time. We joke about it now but it was not a joking matter at the time! I was upset! Never did get that buck I was looking for and recently quit gun hunting!;)

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

Haha yeah I figured this would bring up some bad memories, sorry. Some of these are funny though haha. WCL

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

Steven McBee---" i was sitting in a big oak when i hear growling from belowi look down and 7 coons were climbing my stand trying to get to the baby coons i did not know were 3 feet above my head...........i started whispering telling them to leave but they didnt, soon i was screaming and kicking and cursing to get them to go away but they still didnt.............i then triedslapping them with my arrow but that didnt work and at a distance of .5 feet, i stuck my knife through the leaders head, killing her almost instantly, luckily all the others left and since it was such an amazing scenerio, i decided to get the coon mounted and now its sitting in my hunting room !!! this may sound like a joke but i will post pics tomarrow of the devilcoon..............ive also gotten attacked by a wounded goose, and i was ran over by a doe on a deer drive "

HAHAHAHAHA!!

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RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

For me one of the worst is when I first started bowhunting--I didnt even have a climbing stand so I hunted from the ground. I laid down some doe in heat scent before sunrise....I had a nice 7 pointer come in on a rope to the trail I was working. He was about 15 yards from where I wanted to shoot broadside. I raised my bow and then....I heard a LOUD grunt over and over behind me. It sent shivers down my dang spine. I slowly turned around and not 15 yards right behind me was one of the biggest bucks I have seen to this day, a massive 10-12 point. I froze. He looked dead at me and acted as if he wanted to KILL me! He then grunted loud and began chasing the 7 point around the edge of the lake I was hunting. Needless to say I shot neither of them!

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

lol thats another funny one. WCL

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

my first year hunting, new years day. i was sitting at the base of a huge oak tree in a man made turkey blind. sat there all day freezing my nards off, so i decided to walk around for a bit just to warm up. so i get up, walk about 30yrds. from where i was sitting and realize i left my cushion seat. just as i turn back to get it, i hear this crazy thrashing noise just over the crest of the hill(roughly 20 yrds. from stand site) i was on top of. i manage to get back to the tree and start to look around, nothing!! i go to reach for my cushion and off he goes..biggest 10pt. i ever saw. if i would have waited five more minutes he'd be on my wall.
about ten minutes later i hear more noise, raise my shotgun thinking it was another buck, nope it was an old man that kicked up that buck. he asked why i didn't shoot, i told him, he laughed. that's why whenever i leave the woods nowi always wait that extra five min......man o man:(

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

Dan,
I'm not slamming you personally and I hope that you learned from the experience, especially since it was your first year hunting. Never raise a weapon until you're sure it's something that you're going to shoot.
My worst day hunting, my best friend and hunting buddy was shot and almost died. He was hit with a 12 gauge slug, from someone else in our hunting party no less.

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

Had the bottom part of my climber come un locked and slide to the bottom of the tree. Had no choice but to yell like a girl after about seven hours.

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

On my second bow hunt last season I set up near a fairly new cutover that the deer were coming out into near dark, crossing and going down to watering pond. 30 minutes before dark, I had at 30 yards broadside, one of the farm hands playing push the dirt pile around for ten minutes on a bulldozer. Seriously, he came up in his truck, ran the dozer for ten minutes... smoked a cigarette and left.

The next day, another farm hand was spraying one of the paths threw the woods, and rode right underneath my treestand... he saw me and appologized profusely. Hey, they have work to do and I appreciate that, but its hard to hunt around that kinda thing....

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

centaur 1.....very good point!!! i was typing to fast to really give every aspect of the situation. i'm very safe andcautiouswhen i hunt, even back then.that day was on private land(15yrs ago)that only i had permission to hunt. even with that being said, i wasn't in a firing position, just started to bring the gun up.man, what happened to the dude that shot your buddy. no more hunting for him?

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

Like I said before, I'm not picking on you personally and I have no doubt that you're a safe hunter, most people are. Since the accident hunting hasn't been the same for me and I hope that no one else ever has to go through what we did that day. As far as the shooter goes, nothing ever happened to him, it was ruled an accident. I'll try and keep this as short as possible and still give the full story. There were 5 of us hunting that day and we were hunting on land where 2 of them lived. It happened in New Jersey where you're limited to shotguns.After lunch we were heading out to hunt on the final day of the season. I went one direction and the other four went off together toward a cut corn field. When they reached the field my buddy Vinnysat at the edge near one end not really expecting to see anything but it was late and he was tired. From where he sat the field was about 150 yards across and it extended several hundred yards to the left. The other 3 crossed the field widthwise. When they got to the other corner one of the guys went into the woods and the other two made a left toward the other end of the field. That's when things got bad. The guy who went into the woods kicked up a doe and it ran across the field lengthwise. At that point in time the two guys on the other side of the field and Vinny were 137 yards apart, the deer was about 35 yards from him and over 100 yards from the guys who shot him. My buddy didn't even think about shooting because there were 3 people in front of him. The other two jerks started shooting at the running doe with their shotguns, one was using slugs and the other used only buckshot. The slug hit him in the penis almost cutting it completely off, shattered his right testicle and entered his groin and exited his buttocks. The surgeon served in the armed forces in Vietnam and he said that the slug passed within 1/4 inch of his femoral artery, he saidif the slug was still traveling above the speed of sound the shockwave would have taken out the artery and killed him within minutes.
I'm sorry for the long post. I wish that my worst memory was a missed opportunity at a large buck. Since that day I no longer measure success by what I shot, spending the day in the woods and making memories and coming home safe is what is most important. Thanks for listening to my rant.........Mike

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

I agree a good day hunting is a safe day huniting.

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

This was......4 years ago now I suppose.....I took a couple days in early november off to be in the woods for the chase phase. I was sitting in an inside corner and the wind was perfect. I was in the tree early, and didn't see a thing. I had a few errands I had to run, so around 10 I climbed down. I headed back out after I was finished, and hopped on my climber and up the tree I went. It was straight up noon. I had literally just got to hunting height and taken off my backpack....I've been in the tree MAYBE 20 seconds. I hear something running to my left, and there is a doe busting tail straight at me.

"Hm, what's her freakin deal?" I ask myself. Didn't take long to find out. A 140 class 10 point was chasing her, and it's obvious they are going to pass by my stand. And they'll be here in like...10 seconds. Oh, did I mention....BY BOW WAS STILL ON THE GROUND???!!!! [:@] I hadn't even had the opportunity to pull it up yet.

That big ole boy stops, perfectly broadside, @ 15 yards. Ya'll, this was a PERFECT shot. Except for that one small problem. So he runs off, and I quick fast pull my bow up, because there is another buck coming. Bow in tree, he stops in the same place, but is an illegal buck. He takes off, and I nock an arrow. Here come the doe and the first buck, around my other side, through the bean field. Oh, that's right.....I DON'T HAVE MY RELEASE ON YET!!! [:@][:@] He stopped @ 20 yards this time, and I drew anyway......But I knew I was just going to wound him so I let him go. They run off, and I watched those 2 bucks dog that doe the next ridge over for the next 3 hours.

Needless to say, I do a few things differently now. ;)

RE: Your worst hunt stories...
 

probably the time I talked my brother into helping me pack out a whitetail buck via quads in a very steep clearcut.. I ended up flipping the quad (hit a small stump)end over end with the buck tied too it.. I bailed.. (hvy rain/muddy) beat the crap out of my quad and my buck.. broke his antlers off.. it was a flipping goat show.. I was soaked and mudded up.. we got out on Robs quad and came back the next day to retrieve the buck and my quad with a chain saw wench