What is the dumbest thing you have done while hunting?

[ARCAT]

I have 2 that are hard to top.

1. While hunting Coyotes with dad in kansas, a coyote took of on dads side of the pickup. I got out on my side and took a shot with my 22-250 and shot right though the bed of dads pickup. My first lesson of the socpe being taller than the barrell. He was really mad but no one got hurt and we have laughed about it many times thoroughout the years.

2. While elk hunting in the snow I was riding along glassing and just hopeing for a drive-by shooting. I stopped got off my horse to take a leak and about half way thorugh saw some elk on the far hillside. I zipped up grabbed my bino's and plopped down on the ground and started glassing. my buddies came up and stood their glassing with me. After a few minutes I said to no one in particular "Man this spot smells like Piss". i was laying right in it. My buddy was even worse, he took a woods dump behind and tree and $hit on his shrit-tail then tucked it in! Top That.

 

[Tom]

I started my truck once while standing outside it, to warm it up, while I had some coffee. It was in gear and took off. I ran along with it a while and managed to steer it into to some rough stuff to stop it in about 70 yards. Pretty close to a major dissaster, but it came out ok.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Tested the life of a recently shot whitetail buck by putting my ear on it's ribcage to listen for it's heartbeat. Got kicked right in the face. I was in high school.

 

[ELKCHSR]

Last year chasing antelope put me into a silly position.

I had been working into a nice little buck for 3 days, finally was right where he and his little band of girls should walk right by about five yards away over by Roundup Mt.

To make an awful long story very short, as they came around the mound of dirt I knew they would, I ducked into the brush, estimated on how long it should take them to walk by me, then I stood up very slowly...

The little buggers were all gone...

I hadn't even heard them run off but figured they must of, standing all the way up and even on my toes to figure our just how far they had run, happened to glance behind me and there they all stood just five yards behind me.

Instead of walking in as they had done the last couple days, they must of run to the water right past me.

My hard beating heart had covered any sounds they probably made as they passed.

They looked as surprised as I, and before I could redraw the bow, they turned inside out and all I saw was ass holes disappearing over the ridge a mile away minutes later....

OOPS.... Note to self, next time, look all around before standing up and giving oneself away...

 

[GFHunter]

Was antelope hunting south of Malta Montana when I was younger. My younger brother and I had just returned from hunting all day. As we got into the truck my younger brother forgot to unload his gun and we hadnt been in the truck 2 minutes and BOOOOM, my bro put a hole right through the floor board of the truck. Man did my heart jump.
Later that same year while elk hunting, my father, same brother and myself were all taking a nap in the middle of the dayon a big rock slide, when we were rudely awakened to a BOOOOM! My brothers rifle went off while he was messing around with the trigger. The funny thing is, he had the butt of the stock sitting right between his legs. The recoil racked him good and has been speaking an octive higher since then.

 

[txDEERhuntr]

my brother was so scared of wild pigs he would run all the way to his deer stand and 99% of the time scaring deer off.....dumbest i have done.....hmmmm i really havent done anything dumb!...

 

[jmcd]

A buddy of mine and I went archery hunting a few years back. I killed a cow early in the day and while we were packing it out, we came across a small bull that he tried a stalk on (and failed). Later, when we got back to the truck he remembered that he forgot to buy his ellk tag the day before! Another freind and I drove 50 miles to go waterfowl hunting and he realized when we got there that he had forgotten his shotgun. As far as the dumbest stuff that I personally have ever done, well thats one I would rather not share.

 

[JB Florida]

I guess I should bring this up before someone else does.

In the early am hours of a new mex archery elk hunt, I decided to get in even closer (I was already about 40yrds) So I removed my boots as the sky got pink with the rising sun and then I dropped my Boots, My pack with a new pair of swaros and of course my wallet.

I had to slip over to the side afterwards and keep up with the herd headed to bed. Short version is the wind started to change and Well being that close to a HUGE bull (yes, Bull Fever) made me draw a little too soon and got busted. I backtracked to grab my stuff and it was no where to be found in the cedars, they all looked just alike. And being camo I just could not find the stuff. After I looked for 3 or so hours I walked back out to the forest service road in my worn out socks (I felt like a real dumbass too) walking back to where I had started in the dark earlier that morning.
I did learn to watch for those low cactus though.

Later Quiensabe and my bro in law came back to help me look for my stuff and after a bit Quienabe found it! Yes, He is THE MAN!

Funnier still is a full year later I'm walking down a road in the same unit and a guy in a truck pulls up and asks if I need a ride (it was mid day) and we BS for a minute. He asks where are you from, I say florida, he says "hey are YOU that guys who lost your boots trying to get in on a bull out here???"
I say "I guess" he goes man you are famous! |oo

These days I keep my boots on most of the time and I ALWAYS GPS the spot where I put something down.

 

[danr55]

Hmm.. I guess I should tell about the hunt and the buck and the rifle .... left on the saddle. We were hunting in the Gila in 1994. We'd been hunting with some friends from Silver City who brought along mules for us to ride while hunting in the wilderness area. We'd been chasing a group of four reasonable bucks for two days. We never got close enough for long enough to take any of them, so there hadn't been any shooting to scare them off. On the afternoon of the last day we were headed back toward camp and decided to take on last look along a canyon that the bucks had favored. We rode out to a small flat on the west wall of the canyon and decided to stop and glass. We got off the mules and tied them up, grabbed our binos and wandered to the three side of this little shelf. As I sat down and brought the binos up, who was standing directly below me but the largest of the bucks we'd been following. He just stood there looking back and me looking at him. I very quietly called to Glen and Bruce and told them to come over here. I realized that my rifle was still with the mule but figured we couldn't all be that stupid. Guess what, no rifles. By the time we got back with the rifles, the deer were several hundred yards up the canyon. We waved good bye and swore each other to silence.

Fortunately, the next year I went back to the Gila and hunted the same canyon. I didn't leave my rifle on my mule once. Took a nice buck that year.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

This event even made the Chicago newspaper and I live in Shreveport, Louisiana! We were hunting Missionary Ridge north of Durango, Colorado. I had dropped off the fellows that were hunting with me and went to a logging road to walk it out, everyone was to meet up in a couple of hours for lunch. As I walked the road it petter out and I started making my way along a Creek that had some bare spots of snow showing some grass that I hoped the Elk would be using. It started snowing, then it started snowing hard and the wind picked up, it was covering everthing fast! Well, I got turned around, this was supposed to be like "a three hour cruise" kinda thing and we all know what happened to Gilligan. My buddies got back to my truck and radioed me, asking where was I, Heck if I knew! Then I gave my door code to one of the boys to unlock my door where they would find a cell phone, 44 mag pistol and my GPS! It was total whiteout, so I told one of my buddies to take the pistol and fire it and I would come to the sound...BOOM, alrighty I am headed your way and I promptly walked to the ECHO! After I got out of radio contact my buddies freaked, as I have some Medical Issues that do'nt bother me but I guess it worried them, so they used my cell phone to call for help. The LaPlata county rescue team went into action, men were looking for me, a Helicopter was looking and I saw that Helicopter get blown off the Mountain 3 times! I finally got beneath the storm and tried to find the Missionary Ridge Road, no luck! I finally walked out into the valley just as the Helicopter found me, eight miles from where I had begun. My buddies told the Helicopter people that that could'nt be me, as that was too far away!!! I made newspapers all over, fame is'nt worth a chit!

 

[BigHornRam]

Heading out one morning in the dark, I backed into something. First I thought it was a tree.....then I reliezed it was my wife's car! She still reminds of that hunt everytime she has to raise the hatchback.

 

[MarvB]

Well....don't know if it was the "dumbest thing" I've done hunting but it ranked up there. Had just hung a treestand in an old oak tree for the opener of blacktail season and was making my way back down the trunk. I'm a big believer in the 3-points of contact motto from being in line construction for years but...I was hurrying as I had one more stand to place and it was gonna get dark on me. Bout' half way down I stepped on what I thought was a screw-in tree step but what was actually a finger sized dried up branch stub.

Ouch #1 one (while falling) was hitting a REAL step with my hip on the way down (good thing I didn't nut myself on it ) and Ouch #2 happened (on landing) when I ended up on my back atop the 2nd tree stand I had left at the base of the tree!

To top it off I had left my fanny pack (and cell phone inside) drapped over my bow hook back above the stand I had just placed and had to climb the friggin tree again....would'a sucked to have laid there with a broken leg, or back, and stare at a cell phone hanging twenty feet above me |oo

 

[noharleyyet]

...forgot to bring ammo while whitey hunting..twice.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

Dropped my compass, thinking I was putting it in my jacket pocket, in a white out snowstorm in Montana, at umpteen degrees below zero, while dressed for walking and not for hunkering down in a blizzard. I remembered the direction to the road from the barbed wire fence I was able to see, found the road and walked 9 miles to town. Once I got down a thousand feet, it was clear.


Or it could be the time I didn't bring any toilet paper on a long hunt-hike and had to use my undies for that purpose.

 

[T Bone]

On a warm September morning I stuck a raghorn, I hurried and got him skinned out and went down the truck to get to camp and get the pack.

The truck was parked on a dead end logging road on a very steep hill. It required a 6 point turn around. Being tired and in a hurry I backed right off the mountain so my rear axle was completely suspended in air.


My other most stupid thing elk hunting was real stupid. Unfortuneatly I had a witness for it. He even frequents this board. We bugled in a big herd bull and I stuck him. At the THWAK of the arrow I was 100% confident of the shot placement. I let out a victory yell. The bull is still standing there.....Then I think, maybe I should shoot him again....I nock and arrow and he takes off. We go up and find a stinky green arrow....Didn't recover that bull. And I'd of likely had time to stick him again had I not been dumb.

 

[Quick Draw]

I lost my hunting license.
Quick Draw

 

[GFHunter]

Calif.Hunter
Or it could be the time I didn't bring any toilet paper on a long hunt-hike and had to use my undies for that purpose.

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I forgot TP this spring while bear hunting and had to use a SNOWBALL. Now thats cold.

 

[Ironhead]

I missed a 390" bull in unit 9 AZ. 4 years ago. 34 yards slightly quartering away, drilled the only stick within 15 yards of the bull. The arrow rattled off his antlers and I never saw him again. Still have nightmares about that day. |oo

 

[elkfarmer]

i am sure i have some but the ones that come to mind involve....

1- my brother, he moved to new hampshire and it toook him like 5 years to kill a deer there. when he did, it was a huge 7 pt. he dressed it, dragged it to the logging road and went and got his truck. now, at the time he worked for thompson, and just bougth a limited edition encore. he left that with the deer and covered them up with his coat. on the way down the logging road he didn't see his gun or deer and drove right over top of them. smashing one antler beyond repair and destroying his gun....

2- i know how ARCAT feels. one day me and my buddy just pulled in the driveway from woodchuck hunting. he was driving, when he was getting out he grabbed his 25/06 and it went off. inches from my foot. that was 20 yrs ago and i still remind him of that.