Gear that failed to the point that the hunt was over?

[16Bore]

Kinda of a tag along to another thread, but I'm assuming it's happened. Seems gear drives a good portion of the topics here.

So, what failed to the point that you had to call it quits, turn around, game over? The only thing I can think of in all my years of hunting and fishing was the battery in my father-in-laws bass boat.

There may things that are better comparably (and subjectively) this pack vs that, etc. But what stopped you in your tracks?

 

[IdahoElk]

My legs

 

[Eagle]

A Burris FastFire3 I was using on my turkey gun.

 

[justinspicher]

I knocked my bow off of a ledge and it exploded upon landing. That was on day two of a seven day elk hunt.

 

[toadmeister]

Brought wrong ammo for First day of WI rifle season and they were sold out of 30.06 for miles around. It was election year 2008. Thanks Obama....

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[ChrisC]

it wasn't on the hunt, but happened during my check to confirm it was good to go just before the hunt. bought one of those gun/scope combo deals at bass pro (Savage w/ bushnell scope). scope didnt handle the recoil well and the prism shifted, or whatever happened to cause you not to see through it. fortunate to get it swapped out in time for hunt. so didnt didn't really ruin my hunt, but close.

 

[StrutNut]

Ripcord drop away rest. Cord stretched and the rest wouldnt drop. Seemed fine when you look at it. I always do a practice draw back in the stand just to loosen up the arms and when I did the rest didnt drop like normal. Has to leave a prime stand during the peak of the rut to drive 3 hours to get it fixed. I now really watch that cord prior to a hunt. Also had a muzzle loader that the front site fell right off during an easy 50 yard shot on a trophy buck. I missed of course and it took a while to find the site in the dirt. It was a 1 year old gun. Overall vehicle issues has been more of an issue than hunting gear.

 

[5MilesBack]

My first year of elk hunting at 15, the Burris scope that was on the Remington 700 BDL rifle I had bought fogged up so badly I couldn't even see through it several days later. In this case I had a shot, but when I brought it up to my eye I couldn't see anything. Luckily that rifle had fixed sights mounted on the gun, so I took the scope off back at camp and shot an elk a couple days later.

 

[Randle]

I took my daughter on her first deer hunt and while out there we had a buck come in, she pulled up on it and it looked like she was stuggling to put the crosshairs on it. I motioned whats wrong and she said she couldnt see thru the scope, she gave me the rifle and sure enough the scope was all blurry and foggy, we had shot the day before just to verify everything. I was a bummer day for sure.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

I had rain and specifically rain gear fail during a 8 day hunt. We got rain and wet heavy snow (may as well have been rain) for 7 consecutive days. 1st day was nice, after that it was solid precip for the 10day forecast. We cut it short on day 5 or 6 (it was a few years ago) as it started to become a safety issue. Wasn't life or death as we were only a 1 day hike out but the last night we were shivering in our damp sleeping bags, couldn't get rid of condensation (before we had floorless shelters with stoves), and couldn't dry anything. I vowed after that to always have a decent set of rain gear.

 

[alexanderg23]

my buddy had a massive 6x6 at about 15 yards and his new Remington wouldn't set off a bullet, after a few rounds bull ran off. Remington said it was a bent firing pin....bull of a lifetime, thanks Remington. But I know he should of shot gun more I guess. Remington QC is crap though.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

No gear failures stopped me but lightning strikes, exploding and burning trees chased me outta the woods in Williams, AZ for a spell. Monsoon season in the mountains there is no joke.

 

[Beendare]

Different strokes....

Some of my best days in the elk woods [archery seasons] have been before, during and after those lightning storms in Az out of Williams/Tuscyon and in the Weiminuche wilderness in Co. Those storms get those elk riled up.

 

[Jskaanland]

Yes of course it was Obamas fault that YOU took the wrong ammo.
I guess I can blame trump when I don't draw all the tags I apply for.

I think he was blaming Obama for people buying more ammo than normal not for the original purchase.

To stay on point, my boot/sock combo. It was more of a not prepared not failure. The temps dropped to highs around -10 and I couldn't keep my feet warm. I ended being able to borrow a pair from another guy, they were a size too big but kept my feet warm.

 

[hodgeman]

I've seen more hunts end early due to boots than anything else. Amazing how many people have never hiked in their boots before they go on a big hunt, one buddy ended up sitting in sheep camp barefoot for three days in his socks after his feet got chewed to hamburger by some ill fitting boots.

 

[toadmeister]

I think he was blaming Obama for people buying more ammo than normal not for the original purchase.

You are correct. Election fears had people gobbling up and hoarding ammo.


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[KHNC]

I brought Mossy Oak camo on a western hunt once. Totally ruined my trip and i didnt kill an elk.

 

[kicker338]

my buddy had a massive 6x6 at about 15 yards and his new Remington wouldn't set off a bullet, after a few rounds bull ran off. Remington said it was a bent firing pin....bull of a lifetime, thanks Remington. But I know he should of shot gun more I guess. Remington QC is crap though.

Had a similar one like that, cow elk at 20yds, firing pin would fall but gun wouldn't fire. Had to go home which wasn't a big problem as it's only a 45min. drive to where I was hunting. Got home and took the bolt apart, rem. 700 and found that rust had built up at the bottom of the bolt hole shorting up the firing pin travel. Cleaned it out headed back to woods.

 

[Yellowknife]

Optics have come up a few times here, and that has done me in a couple times. Broken scope (fixed power leupold) brought me in from the field once, and much more annoying, a permanently fogged Minox spotter made the last part of a wet sheep hunt kind of pointless.

I've had a couple pair of bino's permanently fail too, although thankfully only on short hunts.

Along those lines, I was at the range this week getting ready for spring bear and my .338 killed that (rebuilt) leupold again. Luckily it did it on the range and not on Kodiak in two weeks! Borrowed a scope from another gun, and all is well again.

I've fixed lots of gear and guns on the fly, and dealt with leaky tents and torn up boots a few times. So far, I've been able to limp through all those failures though.

 

[Rope14u]

This was a sad day in New Mexico on morning 2. This truck hates the mountains. I drive it at home without issue but EVERY time I take it to the mountains something happens. My wife says I should get a new one and something about an emotional attachment to this one. She's nuts. It's barely broke in at 270,000 miles and I have no idea what she's jabbering about an emotional attachment. Killed a good bull on day 5 of a 5 day season so the blue beast was forgiven and it was a good ride home.


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