Newbs Unite: What’s the Dumbest Mistake You Made 1st Time Out

[ethan]

Carried way to much crap in on my first trip.

 

[JeremiahG411]

Not making sure I had my release



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[JeremiahG411]

Haha me too, everything but the kitchen sink, 50+


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[MtnOyster]

Waiting too long in between trips...……...I went at 20 years old and didn't get back at it until I was 44 now at 47 it's getting tuff...……...just got to get tuff with it!

 

[Randle]

By the time I was 12, (1967)and legal to hunt in Oregon I was a very competent woodsman and had tagged along on Dall sheep, moose, caribou, deer and elk hunts. Opening day of deer season found us in the Ochoco national forest. Dad dropping me off on a ridge, mom giving him hell because I was only 12. I ended up getting turned around, spent the night on the ground, dad found me at first light the next day. Learned you gotta keep track of your direction changes, those mule deer can lead you astray.

Haha I did that the first year my son elk hunted with me. I learned to not tell wifey what I did . What happens on the mountain now stays somewhere on the mountain.

 

[5 shot group]

70+ pounds for a 3 day hunt, with enough food for a 10 day hunt.

 

[Jaker_cc]

My first trip I hunted with a guy that liked the idea of a backpack hunt but didn’t like the reality. He made it 2 miles in and bailed the second morning. Hitched a ride to town and flew out, left all his gear in the bed of my truck.

 

[elkstabber]

My first Western hunt was a drop camp for elk. My buddy and I went from eating regular food to a straight diet of Mountain House for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We exploded! Ran out of toilet paper halfway through the trip and had to just stop eating some meals. I can no longer stand the smell of Chili Mac.

Lesson learned: you have to acclimate your digestive system to freeze dried food.

 

[oake]

Well mine is still a painfull memory...

I have been western hunting a few times, however at this time (2015) had never done a pack in archery hunt. On the first evening walking back to camp. I was with a friend and spotted an elk above the trail about 200 yards. I know this because I ranged it the next morning. Famous words, on an elk hunt "There's an elk up there." As I continued to walk, my friend says - " Hey we're on an elk hunt? Want to get a closer look?"

Long story short, by the time we made it up to were this elk was standing it had vaporized with the wind. Had we made an initial stalk when the animal was first spotted, could have resulted in a different outcome.

Lesson for me: Kill the first legal animal presenting itself..... I just made the assumption - "Hey it's here tonight, they'll be here tomorrow also."

 

[work765]

Having my scope set to 20 power on a deer that was less than a 100 yards away. My friend was yelling at me to take the shot but I Couldn’t hold the rifle steady. Blew that chance and a few more that trip. I’ll get my retribution with Utah one day. I’m coming for you!


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[czim]

Left my magazine with my loaded ammo at the house and headed out into the woods.

 

[fwafwow]

Try

Try being 46. This Oct is my first try at missing.

Ditto for me but 49

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[Mike 338]

I've been close to my camp a couple times but couldn't find it in the dark. Before the days of GPS. A cold night in the woods will cause you to come up with a better plan next time. Also parked my rig and couldn't find it quite a few times. A long day of wandering can do that. Learned how to use a compass for that problem.

 

[timekiller13]

My biggest mistake was not "hunting" from the moment I hit the woods. My first year elk hunting that cost me a shot at 6x6 bull. I just strolled up a ridge a few hundreds from camp and a main road. Just killing time the last 1.5hr of daylight. Wasn't expecting to see anything. Walked right up on 9 cows and 6x6 bull!! Literally walked to within 25 yds of them!! I had my bow, but I wasn't really "hunting" just more taking a stroll through the woods. Had I been paying attention, I would have most likely had a 25 yd shot at a 6x6 bull, on public land, 300 yds from my truck. If that bull would have died right there, I could have kicked him and he would have rolled right to my truck!! So my biggest take away from that was to be "hunting" and ready to shoot the moment I left the truck. That encounter right there taught me that I didn't have to walk miles and miles in the woods to find elk. A few days a later, I was talking to a guy who at the trailhead who had just spent 7 days back pack hunting several miles deep. He told me "The only shot I had was when I walked in on the first day. There was a rag horn bull standing right in the middle of the trail! My bow was strapped to my pack. No chance to shoot. If I had my bow out, I would have had a 40 yd shot at a bull less than a mile from the truck."

Another mistake I made was not understanding the wind/thermals in the mountains. My second year elk hunting, that cost me a shot at a 5x5 bull. Had I paid attention to how the wind and thermals were shifting, I would have approached that bull differently. But, instead, I just tore off through woods, haphazardly after that bull. He got within 90 yds and then winded me. After analyzing the situation, I realized that I completely ignored wind patterns/shifting thermals when I pursued that animal. Simply approaching from a couple hundred yards in a different direction would have probably given me at least a shot opportunity.

 

[H2PVon]

Letting a buddy start cow calling while I'm still just walking to a spot. Head down, bow down, no arrow knocked etc. Look up and there's a bull at 40 yards. He wasn't there long, infact I'm still surprised he stuck around long enough for me to see him. He had come to the top of a ridge and I was still making my way up from the opposite direction. Be ready.

 

[Wmmichael20]

Walked into some thick brush with my scope on 9 power and had a buck jump up from laying down behind a log not 5 yards away and couldn't find him in the scope...

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Walking along bow hunting through an area I had never hunted
and having sipped a few adult beverages the night before AND eaten
some Red Eye Chili,had to take a Toilet Paper break.Found a good tree
dug a nice hole leaned back to lettr' rip!
Dude in the tree stand above me litterely scared the Crap out of me
when he yelled!Why didn't he let me know before I dropped Trow?

 

[sndmn11]

Left my bow leaning against a tree in camp when I walked off to find a pooping log. Dumb, dumb, dumb!!!

I could have more than double my harvests if I learned this one the FIRST time.

 

[Savage99]

Not western, but back east. Walking back after a morning hunt and inked a buck just stomping around impatiently. I got into my best stand location predawn and hadn’t seen anything. Muzzy season in FL and just after a hurricane. My route to the stand was through a “dry” creek that was now flooded. I had a poor attitude, was getting ate up by squeeters, and my rubber boots were full of swamp water. I got back to the trucks before my buddy and heard a gun shot. About 20 minutes later to guys were dragging a six point out, coming from where I jumped him earlier. Lesson learned, toughen up and always be hunting.

I plan on updating this after archery season in CO. I’m sure I’ll have some gems.


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[wind gypsy]

Hunting checkerboard (USFS / Corporate Timber), i hiked up the mountain through the nastiest blowdown hell around to stay on USFS. When I got back to camp that night, my buddy informed me that all of the "Private" was Plum Creek timber land (now Weyerhaeuser) and open to the public. I could have hiked right up nice logging roads and other existing trails.

Made another dumb mistake last year when I had a day and a half for an eastern MT Mule deer hunt. Packed a buck out 4 miles solo on BLM. A friend later informed me he believed the Block management 300 yards to the south of where I shot the deer would have allowed me to drive my pickup damn near to the deer.