Humbled

[MNGrouser]

I was watching a show on the outdoor channel last night and one of those "influencers" had a show where he screwed up about a dozen different ways before eating tag soup. I was impressed that he edited and aired a show where he looked so human. I thought it might make for in interesting Rokslide thread. What was an experience that humbled you in the outdoors?

I thought about discussing my first western hunt where the vast distances were a lot for this eastern hardwoods white-tail hunter to overcome. But for my submission I don't know that I can beat my first year white-tail hunting in Wisconsin. I had just barely had my 12th birthday before season opened so I was able to participate in the annual tradition that is the WI 9-day gun season. I was sitting with my dad on an oak ridge that looked down over a small bench before dropping down into a pine swamp. The morning passed pretty quietly and it was a warm opener. A little after noon my dad decided to take a nap. He laid down on a popple tree that was half uprooted and leaning at about a 45 degree angle. Enough to relax but not laid full out. After an hour or so I noticed that a small forkhorn had materialized on the bench in front of us. He was slowly searching for acorns while I brought my gun up and took it off safety. My dad woke to the report of my .243 in time to see the deer high tail it over the far ridge. It was a small enough 4-pint that he didn't even realize it was a buck until I told him.

He figured the deer looked to be running pretty well when he saw it but told me that we'd better check for blood. I went down to where the buck had been standing when I shot. No blood. "What are you doing?" dad asked.

"Looking for blood."

"THAT'S WHERE HE WAS STANDING????"

"Yep"

We found the running track and confirmed what dad already knew. I never touched a hair.

We went back to the blow-down popple and dad stretched back out. We sat in silence for a while. "What do you think you did wrong?" Dad asked.

"You know, I think I forgot to aim." Buck fever humbled me right from the start.

 

[mgray]

Great story. Mine also started in WI when I was 12. This was the first year I got to sit by myself. I was watching a field that was no more than 80 yards across, when a small doe appeared on the fence line. Thinking she was pretty far, I put the crosshairs right on her back with my grandpas Marlin 30-30. Of course I shot right over the top of her. I then proceeded to empty the gun, maybe 7 or 8 shots? All harmlessly right over her back. My dad came over, already knowing after 8 shots that deer was pretty safe. I told him where she was standing and he laughed, telling me there’s no need for hold over at 80 yds. Lesson learned.

 

[homebru.trout]

I had been hunting with a bow for a few years and in my head was really starting to feel like I was groking what was going on. I was fortunate enough while living in TX to have one of the old gals at our church give me permission to deer hunt her ranch. I hung cameras, there an was old decrepit corn feeder in the back pasture that still worked, and tons of animals around.

My hubris at how all of this was going to go was quickly rewarded in the exact way you might think the universe might punish an over-confident deer hunter. Over the course of that October, I got up early nearly every single morning and hunted almost every evening. And in that time I released 11 arrows and MISSED 11 DEER! The icing on the cake was that near the end of the season, I wounded a doe and did not recover her but let the landowner know what happened. I received a phone call from the property owner a few days later that my 70 year old church lady had gone out with her pistol and dispatched the deer in her front yard...thus completing a very important period in my hunting education.

 

[roymunson]

I've screwed up too many ways to count but a couple memorable ones were:

1. Using the wrong pin to shoot over the top of a deer I thought was further than she was.
2. Unsnapped the chest clip on my safety harness only to have my bowstring catch the loose end and direct my arrow up into another tree 20' high just out of reach.
3. Sky Dump
4. once turned on my turn signal in a hay field going to pick up a dead deer. I was pretty worked up.

I've found a lot of ways NOT to kill animals. Hopefully I have most of them out of my system now.

 

[Mcfish]

I'm humbled anytime I fish a tournement and don't do well. I'll go to weigh in convinced they weren't biting and almost without fail there'll be guys who got on them.

 

[JakeSCH]

My 3 biggest ones.

1. Brought a box of spent cases to the trail head, 1.5 hour drive each way. A hunting day turned into a nap day.
2. Left ammo / magazine in my pack...and i dropped my pack to crawl into position. Elk came out, i had no ammo.
3. Had scope turret 1 full revolution off. Shot over back of elk.

 

[weekender7]

"You know, I think I forgot to aim."

I too fell into that same mind slip when I failed to aim at the first deer I shot at. Happened to be a 4pt as well.

 

[Jimmy]

Just about every time I get too big for my britches and I think I'm hot s#@$, is when I struggle to find animals or miss one. Or forget my license and drive late into the night to go back and get it.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I'm humbled anytime I fish a tournement and don't do well. I'll go to weigh in convinced they weren't biting and almost without fail there'll be guys who got on them.

Fishing in Iowa from March through April is one big fat slice of humble pie most years. Can't understand why I don't just wait for May every year. LOL!

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I get humbled multiple times every fall when trying to choose what stand/blind to sit for whitetails. After the analysis paralysis subsides, and I just pick a spot that works with the wind, very often the deer go by one of the other stands I considered. For what reason, who the heck knows...? However, I like to remember the book of Job and that patience is a virtue. After all, without some struggle, how do we ever learn to appreciate anything?

 

[Yoder]

I have a few. Opening morning of PA deer rifle season. I think I was 13. It was about 55 degrees in the morning, so I decided I only needed the shell of my Army jacket and jeans. No gloves or hat. My dad dropped me off at a spot and left. Over the next few hours, it started raining and the temp dropped almost 30 degrees. My jacket soaked through then froze. I seriously thought I might freeze to death. I thought about yelling for my dad, but decided I was better off freezing. I have never been so cold in my entire life. When we were finally walking out, a buck jumped up in front of me. My hands were so cold, I couldn't get the safety off on my gun, I was shivering so bad I doubt I would have hit anything anyway.

Drove to my spot, hiked in about 3/4 of a mile with my pack and tree stand, climbed my tree, pulled up my bow, got settled in. Forgot my release. Climbed down and left.

Got up early, drove two hrs to go trout fishing on a river I had been researching when I lived in OR. I got all my stuff together and closed the car door on my rod. Not very hard. I looked at it and it was still good. I hiked a mile into this valley full of blow downs to get to the river. First cast, my rod snapped in half right where I closed the door on it. Climbed back out and drove home.

 

[Silveroddo]

Thinking I was over run with hunters but figuring out during the third encounter it was actually a Herd bull and his cows. To be fair the elk I’d encountered up to that point had been very quiet and things hadn’t fired up yet. Also he did a series of bugles that sound 100% hunter and was coming down the main trail on the ridge like hunters working their way back to the truck. I was 100% sure it was hunters until I was working my way up there the next morning and he opened up again.

 

[stonewall]

I think we all have similar stories. But here’s one from my archives:

Missed the only turkey I’ve ever missed hunting with my then fiancés (now wife) brother. I’ve never heard the end of it. 15yrs later

 

[ELKhunter60]

I was watching a show on the outdoor channel last night and one of those "influencers" had a show where he screwed up about a dozen different ways before eating tag soup. I was impressed that he edited and aired a show where he looked so human. I thought it might make for in interesting Rokslide thread. What was an experience that humbled you in the outdoors?

I thought about discussing my first western hunt where the vast distances were a lot for this eastern hardwoods white-tail hunter to overcome. But for my submission I don't know that I can beat my first year white-tail hunting in Wisconsin. I had just barely had my 12th birthday before season opened so I was able to participate in the annual tradition that is the WI 9-day gun season. I was sitting with my dad on an oak ridge that looked down over a small bench before dropping down into a pine swamp. The morning passed pretty quietly and it was a warm opener. A little after noon my dad decided to take a nap. He laid down on a popple tree that was half uprooted and leaning at about a 45 degree angle. Enough to relax but not laid full out. After an hour or so I noticed that a small forkhorn had materialized on the bench in front of us. He was slowly searching for acorns while I brought my gun up and took it off safety. My dad woke to the report of my .243 in time to see the deer high tail it over the far ridge. It was a small enough 4-pint that he didn't even realize it was a buck until I told him.

He figured the deer looked to be running pretty well when he saw it but told me that we'd better check for blood. I went down to where the buck had been standing when I shot. No blood. "What are you doing?" dad asked.

"Looking for blood."

"THAT'S WHERE HE WAS STANDING????"

"Yep"

We found the running track and confirmed what dad already knew. I never touched a hair.

We went back to the blow-down popple and dad stretched back out. We sat in silence for a while. "What do you think you did wrong?" Dad asked.

"You know, I think I forgot to aim." Buck fever humbled me right from the start.

Thanks for posting this thread! I now see I'm not the only person that has called themselves a dumba-- under their breath while out trying to enjoy my hobby!!

1) I too have forgotten to aim when trying to shoot a deer (when I was young).
2) Forgot to pack waders when going Salmon fishing in the fall. 2 hour drive each way.
3) Left my bow release at home and noticed once up in my tree stand.
4) Forgot my hunting license when going on a managed waterfowl hunt.
5) Bought a brand new $200 fly fishing rod in Montana. Went out to use it that afternoon. Tripped on a
rock and busted the pole.
6) Tipped our canoe over taking a "shortcut" on a portage during a backwoods canoe trip in Canada - lost
1/4 of our gear in the rapids.

I can't believe I haven't given up yet and just sit home and watch TV instead.

 

[farmermail]

My kids first deer hunt a couple years ago. They drew youth tags, we scouted a couple times, got a lay of the land, figure I know a thing or two about this area, been hunting mulies for over 30 years, blah, blah, blah. Opening morning arrives, then middle of the day, evening. We did not see a deer opening day. Skunked. Now panic sets in, as I want the kids to at least see one, get a stalk in. Phoned friends, got some help, eventually sorted things out. Thought I had all the answers, darn deer changed the questions. Big ol' serving of humble pie with a side of a lot more to learn.

 

[sconnieVLP]

I have plenty, but the most recent was last fall. Got all the way to the parking area, got all my stuff on, and realized I didn’t have the bin with my saddle and ropes in the truck.

Drove home, grabbed the bin, drove back to the parking, and headed into the woods. Now I’m two hours behind the timeline I wanted (afternoon sit) when I get to the tree. I’m one stick up with my bow laying on the ground when the buck I was after pops out 25 yards from me and we just have a staring contest for what seemed like an eternity before he turned around and left.

Another guy wounded that buck the next night and I didn’t see him again the rest of the season.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Drove to my spot, hiked in about 3/4 of a mile with my pack and tree stand, climbed my tree, pulled up my bow, got settled in. Forgot my release. Climbed down and left.

Been there done that a couple times. Bought a spare and threw it in my pack and its been there ever since.

Similar equipment gaffe, anybody ever hiked all the way in and forgot your muzzleloader primers at home?

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I’m one stick up with my bow laying on the ground when the buck I was after pops out 25 yards from me and we just have a staring contest for what seemed like an eternity before he turned around and left.

Oh yes, the head bobbing, snorting, stomping, walking, turning, and finally bounding away... Not only do they make sure you don't get to shoot them, they make sure every deer in the woods knows you're in that spot.

I've had the same thing happen after long, slow, mornings without a sighting during the rut. I'm halfway down the ladder or zipping up the blind to leave when "mr. big" strolls by...

 

[timberland]

With my bow on the ground, I was up in my ladder stand trying to snap off a pesky limb that was in my shooting lane. I had brought up about a ten foot stick and was whacking away at this limb. Apparently this is a very effective way to call in my target buck, about 160" to 25 yds.

 

[Beendare]

Ha…forgot to aim…beentheredonethat

My first year bowhunting ( many decades ago) I had a huge 4x4 muley in velvet at 35y …probably a 190” class buck….and I shot right between the tines of his rack.

Not exactly focusing on the spot I wanted to hit, eh? Grin