Best Unsuccessful Hunt?

[Coldtrail]

Let's hear 'em.....

Mine was a archery whitetail hunt in Dec 1988, I was 17yo and had a spot about 1.5mi off the road on public land with a stand I made from a 2x10 wedged between two forked trees that I could stand on. I hiked in before sunrise and set up. Within an hour a snow squall started and was windy with near whiteout conditions, I had some doe scent out & did as much rattling as my cold hands would allow. I was wearing cotton army pants and a XXL woodland camo hooded sweatshirt as my outer layer & was covered in crusty snow, eventually I got so wet and cold that I ended up sitting on my 2x10 to try to get circulation in my feet again. I pretty much gave up on seeing anything and waited out the storm with my bow across my lap. As I sat there it was snowing so hard I had to squint my eyes because the snow was hitting my face, I couldn't see more than about 10yards. Suddenly I only heard the last 4-5 steps of the biggest buck I have seen to date walk up and out of the wall of white snow nose to nose with me at about 6-8yrds, neck puffed up and steam from its nose. I froze and kept as still as I could for the longest 30 seconds of my life with this monster looking at me. Eventually my patience ran out and I tried to slowly move my string hand & this caused a huge chunk of crusted snow from my shoulder to my wrist to fall off my sweatshirt & the gig was up, off he went. I sat another 30min to an hour and then started on his track, got lost in the snow storm, borderline hypothermic, hungry, and never got close to him. By far one of the best hunting experiences I have ever had.

I'd like to give a shout out to the following sponsors of this hunt as I couldn't have done it without them:

*US military & local surplus store for providing me the used woodland camo cotton outer layer at a substantial discount.
*Ben Pearson Archery for the recurve bow I was using, the "Javalina".
*My dad for making the cedar arrows & supplying the used but resharpened Bod-kin broadheads
*Dodge motor company for the reliable off road capabilities of my 1972 Dodge Coronet sedan (with the trunk loaded with firewood for extra traction during such pursuits).
*Cenex farm supply for the bias ply rear snow tires and spool of bailing wire used to reattach the exhaust system on the above vehicle multiple times a season

 

[Fatcamp]

Over the last five years my mule deer archery hunts have given me the opportunity to see so much cool stuff. Been within spitting distance of foxes, bobcats, coyotes, and some of the most amazing deer. Fossils, artifacts, and evidence of many past hunters. All without killing a dang thing.

Wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[MallardSX2]

We had a great archery elk hunt last year and came home empty handed. Wife air-balled on a nice bull. It would have been nice to have brought him home, but he lived to see another day.

 

[Northpark]

Drew an awesome archery mule deer tag in NV in 2020. Didn’t kill a deer and had the best hunt ever! So many giant bucks and no people and amazing scenery. Not to mention spending 10 days with my brother.

 

[sodaksooner]

Last year was a fun one. Brother missed one, I was drawn back twice, once on a decent bull. We were in elk every day of a 13 day hunt. I did the first week solo so that was a blast. Best of all we got into the herd just a mile from camp without a ton of climbing. We hunted the same unit 9 years ago with a ton of high altitude, many miles of hiking, and elevation changes. Took me two weeks to get the miles last fall that we did in 7 days the first time. Also, my first elk hunt was a blast, 20 years ago in an OTC unit. We worked our asses off with one shot opportunity but it was so fun.

 

[hoyt-guy]

Couple September's ago we went to the Bob Marshall for a fall rifle bear hunt. Conditions for this week were tough with high winds in the day & full moon at night. We saw some bears but couldn't get into position in time for a shot before they went back in to the timber. Came back with my tag, but hiked our butts off for 7 days straight, saw some amazing BIG country, and got to spend the week with my good buddy & hunting mentor. May go back this fall to try & even the score on those bruins!

 

[Turkeytider]

Any Spring day in the turkey woods, even without harvesting a turkey.

 

[Mojave]

I took my kid to the gila hunting coues deer this year. We didn't see any coues bucks, but we saw a Kaibab Squirrel and a slug of does. Was a good hunt, and our first time alone together in the mountains. She is my oldest, and even though she isn't interested in hunting she had a good time.

 

[rclouse79]

My best was a bear hunt with one buddy and three llamas in a wilderness area. It was beautiful and we got the excitement of chasing a big boy, but he ended up giving us the slip.

 

[Zdub02]

My 2019 whitetail rut hunt over the span of a week. Best buck encounters I've ever had. Saw bucks fighting. Lots of cruising. Missed two different bucks but it was a great week of hunting that I'll never forget.

 

[Charlie Brown]

The answer to your question is. Every single one of them. Always said the worst day hunting was better than the best day at work.

 

[grfox92]

In 2012 I played a 3 month game of cat and mouse with a 10 point white tail in Connecticut.

I wound up hitting him with 2 arrows, one in November across the top of the back and one in December in line with the heart but just low enough to be a non lethal hit.
I got pics of him in January on a mock scrape.

I had my first child the following year and didn't get to go back after him, but it was the most memorable season of my life.

He was found as a deadhead by some shed hunters 6 years later as a 180" 10 point.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[Shotgunslade]

A number of years ago I “hunted” in a buddy’s tree stand with my 11 year old son. Ground frozen and the wind blowing sideways, we saw nothing. We sat in front of a propane heater drinking cokes & eating peanuts. Not much of a hunt, but a wonderful memory. He’s 30 now and still talks about it.

 

[KP20129]

Bow elk hunt in 2019. Heard plenty of bugles and had some cows close. Fun tent camping out in the mountains even if it was by the truck. Just beautiful views and a place I could hang out even without a tag.

 

[fngTony]

Archery mule deer 2018. Late summer fire forced us to an unfamiliar area. Beautiful steep country that will humble you. Hardly saw any deer, nothing worth shooting. Moose everywhere, giant black bear. Learned a lot about how much I don’t know/take for granted.

 

[Thinkingman]

Youth Turkey, 2017.
Went into an area we had never hunted, sat in the cold dark for a couple of hours, walked around and found one 6pt shed, called in a tom that hung up just out of reach, found the matching shed on the way to the truck.