Whats the dumbest thing you've done?

[billrquimby]

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

 

 

 

Good luck to you, Ajohunter.

 

My wife broke her ankle when she slipped and fell on the ice on our cabin's deck after that early snow we had in Greer October 17. They removed the cast three weeks ago, but she still must use a walker. It may be another three months before she's walking as she did before the accident, the doctor says.

 

Meanwhile, I've been doing the housework, laundry, shopping and cooking. I never realized how much work she did until I had to take over.

 

Bill Quimby

[Browning'sCustomMeat]

DECEMBER,1996, 16 YEARS OLD,MY FIRST COUES HUNT, ALSO A DAY OF FINALS AT SCHOOL! I'M ON MY WAY BACK IN TO TOWN FROM GLASSING THAT MORNING. I STOP AND GLASS AS I WORK MY WAY OUT AND SPOT A BUCK CLOSE TO THE TOP OF A MOUNTIAN, CHASING DOES. ITS 8:30 AND I FIGURED I WOULD HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO POSSIBLY GET A SHOT OFF.

WELL I DID, BUT FORGOT ABOUT THE PACK OUT. SO I'M A GOOD 800-1000YDS AND AND 3 RIDGES FROM THE TRUCK.

I GET EVERYTHING ON MY PACK AND START ON MY WAY. SEVERAL HOURS LATER I GET TO THE TRUCK, THE DEER NOW WEIGHS ABOUT 500LBS. DO ALL I CAN TO GET IT IN THE BACK OF MY TRUCK. NO HEARS THE KICKER. I GET READY TO LEAVE, TAKE ONE LAST LOOK TO SEE WHERE I SHOT MY BUCK, AND 100YDS FROM WHERE MY BUCK FELL IS A ROAD. REALLY WISH I WOULD HAVE KNOW THAT.

[elkhunter]

I THOUGHT the dumbest thing I've done was take this buck on a Dec hunt (2005), he was bedded down and I was having a hard time on the hunt locating...any buck (good ole days with those pair of binos that gives you a headache after glassing 5 minutes with it!) Anyways he was bedded down and I thought his bases looked great, he had moderate bases and after I let the bullet fly, I found out all he had were....bases! BUT after taking this buck I was able to spend my college christmas break with my family and that was awesome so it wasn't so dumb, but now I know I will not do that again. Then that Jan I took a small pig, I was helping some other people out and they left for a few days, I was on a herd and this juvenile pig came around and was going to bust me due to the wind (snuck up behind me) so I decided to fling an arrow, 34 yards and smacked him, I thought it was dumb but after taking him (a baby), and I was able to help my sister and a friend on the rest of the hunt chasing pigs and that was one of the best hunts I've been on. Initially I thought they were dumb things to do but at the end they turned out to be worth it.

 

Buck with my dad and I (notice I still gave it a full blown smile)

 

A delicous pig (also with a full smile)

[fatfootdoc]

I was hunting in NM for elk and in a unit I had hunted 3 years in a row and was hunting one elk in particular with a very distinctive bugle and rack. It was midday and I was still-hunting down a heavily used game trail and after about 1 hour I finally decided enough, there was no way I was going to see anything in there. So I start walking like a goombah and making noise, I look at my feet and kick a pine cone look up and yep there he is 25 yards away standing next to his bed looking right at me, the very same elk I was in there looking for. To make it worse, one of my buddies popped him the 2nd hunt in the same draw!! Oh well at least it was a friend who got him. Oh and I too have experienced a 4 wheeler embedded in my rear window( in a 2 month old truck!!) at least I got the sliding rear window I always wanted!! ag

[jamaro]

elkhunter.. You look like chuck adams with that big old grin.. great job.

 

FFD... Did Tommy ever tell you about his coues deer on the trail? I will let him tell that story.

 

j-

[COOSEFAN]

Tyler, you always have a "full blown" smile........makes for great pic's!!!

 

The dumbest thing.......wow.....there's a bunch! I believe for each dumb thing you do, it makes you that much better as long as you learn from it

 

Here's a few I can remember........

 

-Playing with razor blades........work related, but resulted in several surgeries.....becuase it happened several times

 

-Transporting a full metal gas can on top of a top terminal battery in back of my brand new $25,000.00 truck....only thing left were three tires and the rims

 

-Getting three whitetail does all fired up with a fawn in distress call........had to beat them off with rocks and my fist

 

-Picking up live rattlesnakes..........I think I saw the light that people talk about ( hope that meant I was on my way to heaven?)

 

-Crawling in a cave with a wounded Javalina..........Pops didn't even talk me out of it

 

-Trusting a mechanic that "supposedly" fixed my 4-wheel drive...........happened last week and made for a LONG cold, wet, and muddy night with a client

 

-Blood-trailing a wounded lion on hands and knees in thick brush at night...........he was still alive and luckily jumped and ran away after the last shot with a pistol at 10 feet away

 

-Going on a 3-day fishin' trip with Pops on Lake Powell in the new Triton with a "severe weather" alert in effect.......I still remember the look on Pops face when the only thing "above" water were the windsheilds of the boat! " "

 

 

I could go on and on with this thread

[firstcoueswas80]

Getting three whitetail does all fired up with a fawn in distress call........had to beat them off with rocks and my fist

 

 

Oh man I love that story!!! hahaha!

[mikep35]

Getting three whitetail does all fired up with a fawn in distress call........had to beat them off with rocks and my fist

 

 

Oh man I love that story!!! hahaha!

 

 

I agree thats hilarious!

[Redbeard]

I thought mine was gonna be pretty dumb until I read that coosfan burned his truck to the ground!

 

 

When I was 14 deer hunting with my Dad in 20C we were walking back to camp when he rememberred we had driven from camp and left the truck about a mile or two away. Being a great dad he said, "Why don't you hike back and get the truck and drive it back to camp." I was only 14 but had learned to drive at 12 so I was pretty psyched to get to drive by myself. I got to the truck opened the door and remembered to unload my rifle before driving. So I laid the .264 mag on the bench seat and clicked off the safety so I can unload the chamber. BOOM! the gun goes off and rips the seat and blows a hole the size of a golf ball through the door.

 

I was of course deaf and in shock and fearing for my life because my Dad was going to kill me. As I drove up to him he was pretty excited 'cause he heard the shot. I couldn't even talk I just pointed at the door when he said, "Did you get one?" He want ballistic (pardon the pun) I tried to explain that it just went off when I clicked the safety. After getting a thorough a$$ chewing he and the other guys in camp decided to test the gun. On about the 20th time it did it again. I was off the hook on that at least but I learned to always unload away from the truck and point the gun in a safe direction. My Dad was a contractor and all the guys we hunted with worked for him and I worked with them too even as a kid so I NEVER heard the end of it. One of them took the door and screwed it to a 4X8 sheet of plywood to mount it for me.

 

 

 

When I was working for Game and Fish I was building a mini electroshocking rig to take on a river trip and shock fish in the Grand Canyon. I had some 1/4" steel cable to cut but no cable cutter so my boss said to cut it with a hacksaw. I told him that was a dumb idea but he insisted. He held one end with vice grips while I held the other with my hand and furiously cut with the saw. Well, the saw skipped and cut into my thumb half way through right at the base of my thumbnail. It had this nice blade width groove through the nail. Pretty much cut it off. I took one look at it then grabbed a paper towel and wrapped it up to apply pressure. I had him drive me to the ER in Flag where Dr. Smart A$$ said, "I guess we can't trust you with power tools." So I said, "It was a hacksaw." He looked shocked and said, "How many times did you have to go back and forth to cut it that deep." I just busted up laughing.

[crazyaboutcoues]

Ahh The buck on the trail story, It really isn't a "dumbest thing ever done" story but but pretty much Par for the course.

 

After 13 straight days of hunting Coues deer with a bow and having several close calls but no shot opportunities, I decided to walk in about three miles to a dirt pond to see if it was still there . About half way to the pond I was feeling extremely tired and pretty much wore out from two weeks of hunting these little B-sterds and not getting a shot, I decided to take a nap right on the trail. I hunkered in on a lay down pine and commenced to count sheep . After about 30 minutes I looked from under my hat and saw movement coming up the trail. Yep you guessed it, a mature three point buck was walking right at me with his nose on the ground. I slowly sat up without being noticed and drew my bow sitting on my behind, problem is I could not anchor my bow because the cam was hitting the dirt. The buck walked by me at less than 20 yards and I just sat there at full draw without being able to aim to shoot. All I could do is watch him walk away, when I finally was able to get up to aim he had already winded me and high tailed it away at a mad dash.

[GodIsGood]

FATFOOTDOC I FEEL YOUR PAIN IN SPADES!!! "I was hunting in NM for elk and in a unit I had hunted 3 years in a row and was hunting one elk in particular with a very distinctive bugle and rack..."

 

 

2 years ago I was hunting in NM 16e, was joined by another CWT Tommy Maldanado who had scouted the area we were hunting. The elk must have E-mail [get it, ELK-MAIL?] because they had moved by the hundreds onto huge tracks of private land.

 

Remember how wet in was 2yrs ago in NM? Well I was extra bummed out becuz THERE WERE no sign or tracks in the rolling hills - it was hot so I figured they were in the mtns above us... I switched from stalking to hard charging hiking. Had heard this moaning sounding like a cow giving birth, and there were ranches all around so I didnt think much about it.

 

Came around a juniper and stopped to catch my breath and saw this brama bull laying down between two junipers - was glad I didnt disturb him becuz he was HUGE... and those horns!!! Wait, why would a brama bull have 4 horns??? Glassed him for fun and recognized the eye guards and G1's & he turned his head slightly to show the HUGE rack hidden up in the juniper branches!!! First, I soiled myself, then I unslung my bow... couldnt believe what I was seeing! Recalled saying to myself "is he just gonna lay there and let me take an arrow out too??? Is he gonna just lay there and let me nock my arrow???? He's gonna do it!!! He's gonna let me take a shot [42yrds - laying down broadside]... he let me raise my bow and the MILLISECOND I started to pull the arrow back he bolted from his bed to well protected path.

 

Never saw him again, although I did encounter some outfitters who had been hunting him for years. We nick named him Elvis because he definitely left the building! Without question he was the biggest elk I have ever seen - including print and video - well over 400.

 

it was exciting and a great memory, but NO WAY had I earned that trophy - so I was thankful just to draw on him.

 

Tommy M is a great guy and guide - if you ever have a chance hunt with him or purchase a DYI scouting package - you'll be glad you did. He is also a great mouse hunter inside his own RV, but that's another thread all by itself

 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good HUNT!!!!

[crazyaboutcoues]

Hey Chingas!!!

 

Those mice made Boone and Crockett . The hardest part was trying to cape them.

 

How are things going?

[BowNut]

Well one year in 34a I had to get one more glassing session from the top of my closed tent trailer. As I was getting down i set my binos on the propane tank then drove away!! As I'm driving out I here a horn honk and my wifes uncle pointing at the trailer. I stop and get out and my binos are hanging from the tank by the Bino Buddy's!! And yes dragging on the ground for about 5 miles!!!! They were not $1000+ binos but it still sucked!

I'm sure I will think of a better one but I try to forget stuff like this.

[NRS]

Glad to see that I am not the only one that has fallen asleep on a log on a trail. I had a Dec coues tag many years ago in unit 32 and after a full morning of climbing the mountain to glass, I ate lunch laying on a log next to the trail in the nice warm sun. The sun and full stomach did their magic and I fell asleep with my legs across the trail. I was awakened by a doe kicking pine needles on me and snorting as she skidded to a stop and turned and jumped over the log I was laying on. Then I realized that the rutting buck that was hot on her tail followed her over the log and into the thicket before I could even grab my rifle. Needless to say, I dont sleep in the trail where a buck can step on me any more.

[Snapshot]

I simply don't do dumb things, I am the perfect example of the hunter that everyone else strives to be!

 

When I was 11 or 12 years old I went quail hunting with my Dad and I spooked a heard of Javelina, I proceeded to shoot one in the butt with my 20 gauge. I did not know about permits or legal game regs , and boy was my Dad mad. The Javelina was far enough away that it wasn't injured, but I did proceed at becoming very familiar with the regs and rules after that.

 

In 1996 I was practicing for a motocross race up at the track in Eloy, I hit a lip on the top of a big double jump and came down 10 feet out of the air and landed on my tail bone (cracked the core) anyway, ended up in emergency and all that 2 weeks before deer season.

Went hunting anyway, my Dad thought it was hilarious that I was carrying a big blue rubber donut on my backpack to sit on while I tried to glass, needless to say it was the most painful hunting trip I have ever been on. I stay on 4 wheels from now on.