Over on another thread, somebody mentioned about getting "cliffed-out". I was gonna reply with some uh-oh lessons I'd learned as well, but it was off-topic on that thread. Didn't wanna thread-jack, so here we are, a new thread!
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Bad sh*t can happen instantly... when doing things that don't even appear all that sketchy at first glance.
Day after Xmas 2015... crossing a creek.. not wide at all... last rock before reaching other side...slip and fall... wrist lands/smacks a stone embedded on the opposite bank... shattered my wrist!
It was 32 F that morning so probably a thin sheen of ice on the rocks? Underneath the thin amount of water which occasionally flowed over the tops of some of them?
Big point here is... when you're out there? First and foremost... you gotta remember to NOT take chances. If something you're about to do...gives you any mis-givings about it? Don't do it! Just DO NOT do it!
Be 100% sure you can execute the maneuver you are about to entertain doing, before you do it. And I know ya can't always know and be sure of that, but you get what I'm sayin'.
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Recognize that moment when you've gotten yourself into a situation, and be willing to accept that you'll have to take the long way out.
What do I mean? Working our way back up a very steep hillside (hangin' of Glendora Mtn Road, for my SoCal peeps that know the area). You might say hugging a sort of "ridgeline" of a finger on it. But it had many bushes to bust thru along that apex of the ridgeline. At some point... I spot a trail-line that crosses over horizontally and looks to connect over to another trail line that continues up but with less crap in the way going up. The small... and I mean small.. horizontal shift was like... maybe 8-9 foot? A very well-defined line cut/pushed into the dirt. But the dirt there was steep and soft and no growth on it.
I'm sure it would be fine for a deer. But for a heavy human, with a heavy pack? Nope! After my second or third step over into it I realized I'd just f*cked up. I could not return back to where I entered from. My steps were just sinking in and each step was making me slide further and further down the hill. Attempts to return back to point of entry were expending massive amounts of energy and just making the situation worse.
It was gonna suck... but I realized I was stuck now so I was just going to have to turn and ride-it-out and make my way down this slope/funnel of soft stuff that was funneling me towards a downed tree that I'd have to bust thru (with a bow in my hands too, ugh). And it probably dropped me down a good, I dunno, 20yds back down the hill that I'd have to redo the climbing of. Wasted soo much time.
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Had a downed tree cover up the whole trail at one spot. The line to go around on the downhill side was sketchy as heck cause very steep and soft and a bear to do when coming in the am in the dark. I'd decided to leave a little earlier so I could try to bore a hole thru that downed tree so I wouldn't have to do that sketchy line in the dark with a pack full of heavy meat. At least, that was my thinking.
I had a small 11oz pack hatchet. And had like a 4" bonesaw. Most of the stuff I just snapped off or stomped on to break since I'm decent sized. But there was some larger branches like 4"-6" that required you'd have to get onto your knees to go under, and other branches of same stout sized prevented climbing over it. The ground right there is always wet/muddy with a little standing water in the reeds/grasses lotta times because it's part of where a seep flows down from the uphill side at this spot.
Bonesaw not best tool. Slow going. So often cutting just enough... then pushing to bend limbs far enough until they break, then maybe cut or hatchet the remaining splintered up piece to free em up.
Well... after doing this a bit and getting tired, I wasn't thinking straight, wasn't thinking ahead properly. And on this one 4" branch. While pushing on it to bend and try to break it at my saw point... this branch was much more greener and flexible this time. I messed up and didn't think about the path of that branch for when it'd break and snap back. As a result... it clocked me somethin' fierce in the jaw. I got very very lucky. Doesn't seem to have cracked any teeth or my jaw. But I do have a molar that's been very sensitive ever since then. It's been greater than a year. (Xrays look fine. No dead nerves or anything either).
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I'm hoping others will share their lessons learned from experiences like these. I've found that these types of situation are unfortunately the ones you learned the most from. So figure the more we can share things like this... the more newer hunters (like myself) can take notes from.
===
Bad sh*t can happen instantly... when doing things that don't even appear all that sketchy at first glance.
Day after Xmas 2015... crossing a creek.. not wide at all... last rock before reaching other side...slip and fall... wrist lands/smacks a stone embedded on the opposite bank... shattered my wrist!
It was 32 F that morning so probably a thin sheen of ice on the rocks? Underneath the thin amount of water which occasionally flowed over the tops of some of them?
Big point here is... when you're out there? First and foremost... you gotta remember to NOT take chances. If something you're about to do...gives you any mis-givings about it? Don't do it! Just DO NOT do it!
Be 100% sure you can execute the maneuver you are about to entertain doing, before you do it. And I know ya can't always know and be sure of that, but you get what I'm sayin'.
===
Recognize that moment when you've gotten yourself into a situation, and be willing to accept that you'll have to take the long way out.
What do I mean? Working our way back up a very steep hillside (hangin' of Glendora Mtn Road, for my SoCal peeps that know the area). You might say hugging a sort of "ridgeline" of a finger on it. But it had many bushes to bust thru along that apex of the ridgeline. At some point... I spot a trail-line that crosses over horizontally and looks to connect over to another trail line that continues up but with less crap in the way going up. The small... and I mean small.. horizontal shift was like... maybe 8-9 foot? A very well-defined line cut/pushed into the dirt. But the dirt there was steep and soft and no growth on it.
I'm sure it would be fine for a deer. But for a heavy human, with a heavy pack? Nope! After my second or third step over into it I realized I'd just f*cked up. I could not return back to where I entered from. My steps were just sinking in and each step was making me slide further and further down the hill. Attempts to return back to point of entry were expending massive amounts of energy and just making the situation worse.
It was gonna suck... but I realized I was stuck now so I was just going to have to turn and ride-it-out and make my way down this slope/funnel of soft stuff that was funneling me towards a downed tree that I'd have to bust thru (with a bow in my hands too, ugh). And it probably dropped me down a good, I dunno, 20yds back down the hill that I'd have to redo the climbing of. Wasted soo much time.
===
Had a downed tree cover up the whole trail at one spot. The line to go around on the downhill side was sketchy as heck cause very steep and soft and a bear to do when coming in the am in the dark. I'd decided to leave a little earlier so I could try to bore a hole thru that downed tree so I wouldn't have to do that sketchy line in the dark with a pack full of heavy meat. At least, that was my thinking.
I had a small 11oz pack hatchet. And had like a 4" bonesaw. Most of the stuff I just snapped off or stomped on to break since I'm decent sized. But there was some larger branches like 4"-6" that required you'd have to get onto your knees to go under, and other branches of same stout sized prevented climbing over it. The ground right there is always wet/muddy with a little standing water in the reeds/grasses lotta times because it's part of where a seep flows down from the uphill side at this spot.
Bonesaw not best tool. Slow going. So often cutting just enough... then pushing to bend limbs far enough until they break, then maybe cut or hatchet the remaining splintered up piece to free em up.
Well... after doing this a bit and getting tired, I wasn't thinking straight, wasn't thinking ahead properly. And on this one 4" branch. While pushing on it to bend and try to break it at my saw point... this branch was much more greener and flexible this time. I messed up and didn't think about the path of that branch for when it'd break and snap back. As a result... it clocked me somethin' fierce in the jaw. I got very very lucky. Doesn't seem to have cracked any teeth or my jaw. But I do have a molar that's been very sensitive ever since then. It's been greater than a year. (Xrays look fine. No dead nerves or anything either).
===
I'm hoping others will share their lessons learned from experiences like these. I've found that these types of situation are unfortunately the ones you learned the most from. So figure the more we can share things like this... the more newer hunters (like myself) can take notes from.
