Worst thing you've forgotten before a big hunt trip?

Forgot to chamber a round while sitting in a deer stand, in 20 degree weather, and shivering all day. Thank god I didn't see anything but felt like an idiot for suffering that long and it wouldn't have mattered.

Recently I've been walking behind my house with a heavy pack to get ready for hunting season. Decided it would be a good idea to carry a rifle since that is what I'll be carrying during season and we've been getting a few pigs around the house. As luck would have it, I saw pigs on our place for the first time. As luck would not have it, I was face to face with a pig at 20yds in a thicket when I heard.....CLICK.... He didn't stick around to watch me chamber a round or listen to me cuss.
 
Last December, I went up to Wyoming for the last weekend of elk hunting with my father in law and about an hour into the drive, I realized I forgot my rifle. I had been too focused on making sure I had everything my daughter needed for a weekend with Grandma that I completely spaced grabbing my gun.
 
I've never left home without a shotgun, but have left home without the 12 gauge shells to fire said shotgun. That turkey trip was salvaged with my daughter's youth 20 gauge as a potential weapon. Sadly no turkeys came out to play that day.

I managed to leave my entire wallet at home on teal opener one Saturday. I was restless and probably rolled over to look at the alarm clock a dozen times that night waiting for the 3:45 alarm to go off (disturbing Mrs kansasdad with every movement and alarm gong). Arriving at the public wetlands and waking my teenaged son who had slept the entire way up, I reached around to pull my wallet out of my pants pocket and put in my blind bag only to find I had presumably left my wallet at home. Not wanting to wake Mrs kansasdad with a still O'dark thirty phone call to ask if the wallet was on the kitchen table, I flew down the road to get it. An hour later I did wake her up for the umpteenth time that morning scaring her in the process as she was not expecting a camo clad man to walk into the kitchen at the moment she was letting a bladder impaired dog out while it was still dark outside. On the bright side, I did make it back to the marsh just as it became legal, and found our group was well on its way to a fine morning of shooting tasty teal.
 
Got all the way to Seatac airport on my way to B.C. for a moose hunt and realized that I had forgotten my passport. Booked a quick roundtrip flight back to MT with miles and had a buddy meet me as security with my passport. Same plane turned around and went back to Seattle with just an hour stop over.... but got it done. Crappy part about that one, is that if I had been any later, I would have missed the float plane flight into camp and not been able to hunt at all. Once we go to Smithers, B.C. I found out that Air Canada had lost my bags.... all of them. So I ended up hunting in borrowed clothes , right down to the boots and undies. Borrowed the guides rifle too.... As we pulled back into camp with my moose, a chartered float plane landed and delivered all my luggage..... Mind you we were hundreds of miles out in the wilderness... and Air Canada went through all the expense to deliver those bags... even though it was too late.
 
A couple of years back, I’d planned a big trip to northern part of Australia. We had a large cattle station (ranch) that wanted us to cull every donkey and camel we could. Loaded up a pile of ammo for the 416Ruger, hoping to blood it for the mission. 2000 miles behind the wheel to discover I FORGOT THE 416 AMMO. Grumpy, very grumpy.

I did remember the 308 ammo so the little gun got a BIG workout.
 
Forgot my waders on an open water diving duck hunt. Luckily it wasn’t bitter cold that day!
 
My license. Decided to let my buddies get first crack at the deer that trip.
 
Forgot the wood stove for the wall tent on an October deer hunt in Wyoming. I thought my brother packed and he thought I had. It got down in the teens a few nights. We were kicking ourselves. Bet we don't forget that again
 
All my udergarments,Hunting the Kiabab and realized opening morning
no socks /underwear or extra thermals I was one smelly feller' at the end of the week!:cool:
 
Drove 4 hours to Minneapolis then carpooled another 3 hours to MN iron range for for deer hunting. After a long weekend of hunting and return to Minneapolis I realized I left my car keys in deer camp! Had to bum a couple rides to and from bus station, did not sleep that night on an extremely crappy two connection bus route, plus had to leave rifle and ammo with relatives because they cannot be checked baggage. Finally, had the only person I knew who lived near deer camp - my dad's friend's 84 year old mother - find my keys and mail them to me. She was an angel. Then was carless for another 3 weeks before I could arrange for another ride to pick up my car in MN. Glad that whole ordeal is over.
 
Last year I got sidetracked talking to a guy with his young son in the parking lot at about 5am before heading out to my stand. We were parked right next to each other and the dad started blowing his son crap about taking to long to get ready. As a guy that’s taken crap his entire life for being slow to get ready this Made me start to develop some major anxiety so I hauled ass throwing on my layers and lacing up my boots so as not to be a bad/slow influence on the young child.

Got dressed, gave the father and son an overenthusiastic “good luck” and took off down the trail. Made it about 300yds and realized I didn’t have my bow in my hand. 🤫. Had to do the walk of shame back past the father and son in the parking lot. I got in my car and shuffled some stuff around so it looked like maybe I’d forgotten something small in there, not the most critical piece of gear for the hunt. Picked my bow up out of the grass and took off down the trail without saying anything.

Ps. Forgetting my bow had nothing to do with my postings in the thread about legal pot yesterday. It was relatively early! It was dark!
 
Spike camp setup a few miles from base camp while finally getting onto some elk and... forgot t-paper. Of course, my body decided time to take care of business... One less set of boxers in my inventory.
 
Spike camp setup a few miles from base camp while finally getting onto some elk and... forgot t-paper. Of course, my body decided time to take care of business... One less set of boxers in my inventory.

That's the worst.
 
Spike camp setup a few miles from base camp while finally getting onto some elk and... forgot t-paper. Of course, my body decided time to take care of business... One less set of boxers in my inventory.

Reminds me of the story told around our hunt camp every year.
"Bill" comes walking into camp real gingerly and complaining about his feet.Bill what's wrong?...
Got blisters on my feet.How that happen?Forgot my T.P.
I have used my tee shirt sleeves in a similar situation. :cool:
 
Last edited:
Spike camp setup a few miles from base camp while finally getting onto some elk and... forgot t-paper. Of course, my body decided time to take care of business... One less set of boxers in my inventory.
Young Pine cones (pointed in the correct direction) smooth rocks, broad leaves (not nettle)...Outward Bound was a merciless course...but I know how to keep my skivies😂
 
Forgot my hunter's safety card en route to OTC elk hunting. Hard to buy a tag without one. I remembered it while mentally running through my final list as I started the drive out. Thankfully, I was only about 90 miles down the road.

Remembered my fly rod one year, but forgot my reel and line.

This reminds me ... time to start packing and repacking the totes.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
113,679
Messages
2,029,482
Members
36,280
Latest member
jchollett
Back
Top