TATAat27 Report post Posted December 18, 2007 After reading about Casey's hunt I started remembering a bunch of dumb things I've done while hunting. here are a couple of examples: 1. I was hiking on the side of a hill when my cousin began shooting on the other side. No sooner than I looked up, here comes a beautiful buck over the hill and heading down right in front of me about 20yds or less. I pulled my rifle up and couldn't find him in the scope right away so I proceded to lower my rifle and shoot basically from the hip a la John Wayne, needless to say I missed. 2. I was hiking up a hill first thing in the a.m. and as I neared the top of the hill, two bucks easily over 100" ran up the opposite hill. I immediately sat down found them in my scope, the first shot was off its mark and since it had rained all night the night before I was unable to see just where it hit. I went into panic mode and started shooting at them aiming my rifle right in the middle of of both of them as they ran side by side up and over the hill. I guesstimate they were only about 150 yds away at the most. I guess thats hunting. If you dont get excited, you're doing something wrong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstcoueswas80 Report post Posted December 18, 2007 Shot a buck through the base of the antler/head..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
singleshot Report post Posted December 18, 2007 There's not enough bandwidth in the fiber to mention them all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ultramag Report post Posted December 18, 2007 The dumbest thing I do on my hunts is take them so serious that I forget to enjoy myself. Next year I will have the mind set to have fun first and kill a 110 buck second. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daryl_s Report post Posted December 18, 2007 Hmmmmmmm, where do I start???? The first one that pops into my mind is from this years hunt. After a very uneventful opening weekend we were back down there with a gameplan for Saturday of the second weekend. We had a spot that we planned on being well before shooting light that would give us a great chance at spotting deer. We were out on the trail to our spot plenty early. My dad was leading the way. We were planning on going up about 3/4 to the top of a hill and then from that point staying at that elevation and getting to the saddle on the other side. We started dropping down a little to get to the saddle and since I thought we hadn't gone far enough I said that I thought we should go a little further before we droped back down. Well, we went a little further and made it to the saddle. We crossed the saddle and started going up the other side. At this point the sun was just starting to shed light on the darkness and I thought to myself....." Since when does the sun rise in the West??????" At about that time we both realized what we had done. We did a complete 360 around the mountain and started heading up a hill that was right next to the truck. We were obviously both disgusted because we busted our butts to go almost nowhere and it was an area we didn't even want to be in. At this point it is very quickly going to be shooting light. I decide I'm going to get to the top of the hill we circled and glass the best I can from there. I hurry to an area where I can at least glass in the direction where I was planning on being. I get there as fast as I can to get set up before it gets to late. I made it in time to glass first light but in doing so I absolutely drench nyself in sweat. Needless to say I was freezing my butt off wearing a wet jacket and shirt. After a few hours I glass up three small bucks about 3/4 mile away. It just so happens that had I been in my originally planned spot I would've had a shot of about 300 yards. I made it to the next ridge over and couldn't find them again. They had fed over the ridge onto the other side where it was SUPER thick. I never did get a shot this year. The hunting was tough and the bucks were very few and far between. I messed up by not trusting where my dad was going and he should have shrugged me off when I doubted him. Even though we had not gone that route before he was right on course in the dark before I threw him off. I wish I had Casey's predicament . It still beats tag soup. There's plenty more.....but that's enough for now. I'm still young and I'll take this one as a learning experience. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DesertBull Report post Posted December 18, 2007 The dumbest thing I do on my hunts is take them so serious that I forget to enjoy myself. Next year I will have the mind set to have fun first and kill a 110 buck second. I second that. Hunting is supposed to be fun and a stress reliever, not cause more stress. The smartest thing I ever did was throw away my tape measure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kilimanjaro Report post Posted December 18, 2007 ....bought a really nice home in Az and now trying to sell it.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billrquimby Report post Posted December 18, 2007 In the late 1960s, two friends and I found our way to a place called Pigeon Canyon on the Arizona Strip and built a camp the day before the season opened. We left on foot at first light -- this was before we hunted with our eyes instead of our feet -- when the season opened and began climbing a high ridge above our camp. It wasn't long before we were separated. We'd been hiking for maybe 30 minutes when I stopped and glassed across the canyon and saw several bucks. What I should have done is find my friends and tell them where I was going, but I didn't. Before I got to where I'd seen the deer I had to cross a shale-covered slope. I started across and the whole mess started sliding and took me over a small cliff, and I landed on my back, knocking the wind out of me. When I realized how lucky I was that no bones were broken I also realized what would have happened if I were unable to walk. My friends would have searched for me a mile away across that wide canyon and would never have imagined I'd gone where I did. The Arizona Strip was a heck of a lot more remote 40 years ago than it is today and my bones could still be up there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jamaro Report post Posted December 18, 2007 I had a 4-wheeler in the back of the truck and didn't secure it properly or close the tailgate... Yup you guessed it.... My 4-wheeler went flying from the truck at about 30 mph... NOT GOOD... But it survived and I didn't kill anybody.... J- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
missedagain Report post Posted December 18, 2007 I had a 4-wheeler in the back of the truck and didn't secure it properly or close the tailgate... Yup you guessed it.... My 4-wheeler went flying from the truck at about 30 mph... NOT GOOD... But it survived and I didn't kill anybody.... J- +1 except I broke out the back window of my truck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jamaro Report post Posted December 18, 2007 ooops... I almost did that too... I dented the front on my bed... i heard that 80% of all 4 wheeler accidents happen when people are loading there rigs in the back of trucks... jason Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crazyaboutcoues Report post Posted December 19, 2007 J- you never told me you lost your four wheeler out the back of your truck, no wonder you want me to unload and load the wheeler when were out and about. The dumbest thing i've ever done is shoot a doe by mistake. I was 17 years old and a friend and I watched a deer feed into a tree my friend told me he saw horns. well without making sure he was a buck I let her have it. We almost got into a fist fight on the mountain over this. Lessoned learned: NEVER EVER SHOOT UNTIL YOU EXACTLY KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SHOOTING AT!!!!!!!!! Another dumb thing I did was forget to tag my buck after getting him to my dads truck. 16 years old, first buck ever killed in my life and the game warden took him away. Funny thing is I actually stopped the game warden to show him my first buck. I wish I had a picture of the look on my face when the game warden told me he had to confiscate my animal. I did end up getting my buck back but it was another lesson learned. That's why grandpa's know so much, they have had more time to jack up and learn from it. The key is to "learn" from our mistakes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
huntech Report post Posted December 19, 2007 When I was younger and hunted with my dad I was the gate opener/beer getter/whatever else he had me doing well it took me a while to get the gate opening part of it right. I would always open the gates he would drive through and then I would close the gate. sounds easy enough right? only one prolbem. I WAS ALWAYS ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE dang GATE WHEN I CLOSED IT it took me a few times to learn that one. Crazyboutcoues what happened with the doe did you ever tell an officer about it? if so what did they do? I have always wondered what would happen in that case. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diamondbackaz Report post Posted December 20, 2007 Shoot a deer and then discover that your tag is not in your wallet and is sitting on the kitchen table at home. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ajohunter Report post Posted December 20, 2007 I have a few dumb moments from the field but I will tell you about my latest one not 24 hours ago! As I was getting my bag packed last night for my shift that started this morning I was walking down my hallway and rolled my ankle and broke it! Went to the ER last night and got home at 5 in the morning. Needless to say the ER staff got a kick out of treating a firefighter....lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
