Hunt frustration

[ElkNut1]

44maghunter, yes it can be frustrating to have a hunt turn sour but it's nice to see you have a great attitude & positive thoughts of what you can take away from the hunt! Good on you!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[Oregon]

Last night was our last day of Blacktail season. I found a forked horn in a big clearcut Thursday morning. Tried to get closer, he fed into the timber.
I go out last night with intentions to tip over the little forky.
Around 530 I see a guy jogging up the road, with a 7/8 year old girl following. Dad yelling encouragement. “You can do it!” “Great job”!
For roughly 15 seconds I was pissed.
Then, I smiled. First time it quit raining in 4 days.
Good on dad doing something with kid.
He ran right up to landing I was on. We BS’d for 10 minutes.
I walked out and boiled my tag for soup.
Good day of hunting.

 

[tttoadman]

ID public land this year. We already had both bulls on the ground, and were heading out to pack another load. We still had deer tags. We hear a shot down low, but sounded muffled. Then a couple more shots. We conclude this sounds like a .22. We were kinda pissed at first because we are all a little greedy. Continuing down the trail we ran into 3 ladies and 3 young kids out there kicking ass hiking and looking for grouse. They had all hiked about 4 miles already and were on their way back out. We chatted for awhile, and we all went on our way.

 

[44maghunter]

Did he get a rooster??

He didnt fire a single shot lol

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[44maghunter]

44maghunter, yes it can be frustrating to have a hunt turn sour but it's nice to see you have a great attitude & positive thoughts of what you can take away from the hunt! Good on you!

ElkNut/Paul

Thanks. My season ended without a big buck, or any buck for that matter. But i had a great encounter with a big one, and got a couple does for the freezer, so I'm happy

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[huntaholic123]

It is a tough pill to swallow when an opportunity is missed. It makes it even worse when it is caused by another sportsman. Public land hunting has its highs and lows. Everyone has just as much of a right as the next guy to use public lands. Main thing is to keep grinding and try to get out early and keep after it until the end. Good luck and hope you can make it happen next year.

 

[vanish]

First year mule deer hunting, we had second choice tags close to home. We didn't really know what we were doing.

First off, we had scouted a burn earlier in the year. Looked good and was behind a closed road system. We didn't know it, but they opened the road later that year.

Opening morning, we were watching 3 bucks at about 500 yards. While trying to figure out where they would head, BAM, lead buck drops. Dangit. The other two stand there for 20 minutes until the hunter went to claim his deer. Us dumbasses never moved in on them.

5 days later we get a good snow. I decide to skip work in the morning and hit the hills. I get to a new glassing point and soon find a group of deer including several bucks. Its going to take at least 20 minutes for me to get on them. By the time I do, I missed their tracks and looped the wrong way. Doubling back, i catch their tracks and close the distance. After about 2 hours, i can see them working the hill in front of me.

I range and it is 130 yards. Placing my rifle against a tree, I steady the crosshairs on a buck. Breathe. BAM! The buck drops.

It wasn't me who pulled the trigger, but another hunter on the other side of the deer.

 

[Paterfamilias]

Honestly the odds he would have continued much further probably weren't that great. I'll second the snort wheeze as the best call to attempt in that scenario. I once had a similar situation, sans the hunter interference. By the 4th or 5th start towards me only to retreat, I tried rattling. That wasn't the right answer. I didn't even know what a snort wheeze was back then. And it took me several years after learning to come to believe it was an effective call. No way on pressured deer I thought. And that is not the case. Several really nice public land deer have succumb to a simple can call or that once I began to use them in right situations. Hang tough, there'll be more heartbreak in the future. But the rewards of success on land anyone can hunt are unparalleled when it all comes together.

 

[44maghunter]

I did snort wheeze him on the last time he went back to the doe, and thats what got him coming, when he was at 60 yards his ears were back and was starting to walk stiff legged so i honestly think he was commited. I dont have alot of experience with big bucks but at that moment my gut feeling switched from man i hope i shoot this deer, to holy s*** im going to kill this buck! Obviously anything unexpected could have happened, as it did. But i really do feel i had that buck, which looking back on it now makes me really proud of myself. No i didnt get him, but my heart was racing and i got him to 60 yards and he was coming...i chalk that up as a cool, successful hunt

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[Randle]

We had hound dogs chase a bear right up the draw where I was working a bull . Trying to get him to present a shot for my son or son in law. Bear / dogs ran those elk right of of there. I blame a F & G. Why do they have hound season during archery elk??
We ran into the houndsman later the next day. I mentioned it , he felt bad , but we parted friends after a few stories.

 

[Murdy]

Might consider wearing orange even though it’s not required for bow hunting in most places. As others have said, most hunters are courteous and will give you space, but they have to see you first.

I have a reversible stocking cap, camo on one side, orange on the other. If I'm sitting in my tree stand and note bird hunters in the area, I put the orange side out -- has always been enough to let them know I'm there and all have always respected my space.

On a related note, my first bow kill came on public land about an hour after a guy, his daughter, and their dog wandered within about 25 yards of my stand. They were passing back through the area while I was looking for it, and they (particularly the dog) helped me find it.

 

[Doug_Flutie]

Hunting public land whitetail in NE this Nov. Decide to go as deep as possible to get away from pressure. Everything was flooded, but though I knew a way around.....it worked. Found good sign, hang my stand, begin pulling up my bow/pack....then boom, a guys and his kid out of no where....came in by boat and had stands nearby. They watched me hang my stand then decided to let me know they were there after I was set up. After sorting it out in my head (I was confused how they got so deep) had to laugh and pull everything down. Frustrating at the time, but laugh now.