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

[bikinitoboots]

So last fall 4 of us hunted West of the Mississippi for the first time ever in CO, DIY 2nd rifle Elk. We only saw a few cows like 2 miles off but had the time of our lives.

But, as not only inexperience western hunters but inexperienced campers, we had plenty of “DOH!!!” Moments.

One that stands out: Don’t filter water for the next day downwind of your campfire. We had some nice (heavily) smoke flavored water all day the next day.

My first time hunting ever was for whitetail on the east coast. A hurricane had come through and drowned the land-mosquito central. We were stalking through the woods observing some tree rubs and other signs-I knew I was supposed to be quiet. But out of instinct I very loudly started slapping at mosquitoes.

 

[Scoot]

Went on a backpack trip that was physically pretty demanding with two guys who were absolutely not ready for it. Trip got cut short and they went home sore and tired and I went home PO'd. Never again. Never!

 

[FLAK]

Not out West but I once killed a Whitetail, field dressed it, got it back to camp, hung it up had dinner and crawled in my sleeping bag feeling all smug. Just as I was about to fall asleep I remember thinking, where is my gun? I had left it at the kill site. Was still there the next morning.

 

[16Bore]

The “oh crap I should be hunting” stories are funny.

The first deer my brother and I shot was after our morning “hunt” when he met up with me at my “spot”. We were standing there talking about how it would be a good place for a tree stand and along comes a doe with a buck nose up her butt. I had buckshot and he had a 303 British Lee Enfield. We both shot at the same time....dead deer. He poked a nice hole in the front leg...said he had to lead it. Buck shot took it down. Probably a 15 yard shot. I was 14, he was 12. Had one of those “deer dressing kits” and had to read the instructions on how to gut it. Then took it to a processor in the back of my moms station wagon.

Now that shit is funny!

 

[canyonhunter47]

Not my first time out, but the extra blades for my havalon fell out of my kill kit without me noticing and the one on it was almost useless. Cursed my stupidity as a I struggled for a long while until someone from camp found me and had a fresh blade. Now I double check that I have a new one on the knife and an extra or two in my kill kit and hide an additional one in my bino harness

 

[jspradley]

Setting my alarm clock for sunrise to walk the 100 yards or so to my glassing point... instead of setting my alarm clock to enough time before sunrise to be at my glassing point BEFORE the elk starting walking past... :'(

 

[LaGriz]

Day 3 of my 1st archery elk hunt DIY public land: Hiked in on a 30 degree morning (steep uphill approach) with only a base layer to keep from over heating. Got to my staging spot and pulled off my arm guard, binos, hat to add a layer. Made a noise in the pre-dawn light and a bull screamed at me less than a 100 yards away. Instead of finishing the task of getting dress, I answered the bugle with a soft cow call. Then like a twit, failed to move even slightly and continued to get dressed on the same game trail. The 3x4 bull came in silently and busted me at 3 yards! I froze unable to move and he sensed that this quivering mass warring a black base layer and his arms stuck in his pull-over shirt should not be there. Wind at his back he could not smell me but would not take his eyes off me. This lasted about 7 or 8 min. in my best estimate. I figured he got tired of the confrontation and backed out stopping to look back at me from 25 yards. My recurve was inches away with no arrow knocked. Still barely shooting light, I moved 30 yards and cow called to him once I was actually ready. He answered a couple of times while moving out and up to bench were he would bed.

I became too predictable in the following days. The benches were hard to get near in the day time as the thermals spread your scent in all directions depending on the time of day. Knowing I had blown my best opportunity made it hard to deal with as the elk patterned my comings and goings. Over the next few days the elk got educated, and I got warn down. The only thing I did right was not blow them out of the drainage. In hind sight I was too tentative at the start. Compounding this I didn't know when or really how to call.

On day #8 I changed plans. I hiked in 2 miles the long way around in the dark in an effort to beat the heard to the bedding site. My plan was to descend from the south-facing aspen park to the benches and then side hill in once the thermals switched directions. While on a knife edge trail still 3/4 of a mile from my goal, I ran into a group of 5 or 6 elk as we surprised each other at 20 Yards in the half light. Some bailed to my left while others to my right and as they busted thru heavy cover to escape me. Only saw two clearly and they were both mature cows. It was long a winter of should have dones and outa does. LaGriz

 

[tlowell02]

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.

What was he scared of?

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[D Ray]

Spent 99.9% of the time hiking instead of hunting. It was my first time in the mountains other than skiing. The awe factor was just to overwhelming..

 

[ArrowForester]

Cool thread. Thanks for your confessions everyone. I can relate to a few of them. And if I were brave enough I would add to the list. For the moment I will just say that I can think of at least seven rookie mistakes on my first western elk hunt and a few of them were/are rather embarrassing. I'm sure I could come up with more if I tried and I have added to the list on subsequent hunts. We'll see what this year brings......

 

[Hmr]

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.

Yep, mountain meals are bad, especially 3 a day equaled butt p for us too. Lol

 

[Jaker_cc]

What was he scared of?

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Hard work I guess. He went and partied in town for 6 days

 

[tttoadman]

If at all possible, don't shoot your first elk at dark, and have to clean it up at night. I was 12, my brother was 14. We spent many hrs dragging meat around in the dirt with dull knives and ignorance to spare. When we got home, Dad was mortified. He was one of those guys that gutted and skinned an animal on the ground, and you had a hard time finding a hair or a bad cut anywhere.

This was a few years later when my brother was 16. Don't lose your head when you are by yourself. My brother shot a bull with his bow. He was so jacked out of his mind, he left it to come and get me to help him. This is before the world of GPS. He tied up a bunch of marking ribbon, but not good enough. We looked all night and didn't find it until the next morning. we cleaned it up and packed for 1 1/2 days to get it out in Aug/Sept heat. When we got home, our meat cutter said it was spoiled. No matter what you do, at least gut it and open it up if you are going to go get help.

 

[elkstabber]

Yep, mountain meals are bad, especially 3 a day equaled butt p for us too. Lol

Apparently MH has that affect on some people. But for us it was more like a MH enema.

That food was just passing through us. Especially the breakfasts. We'd wake up, boil water, and then eat the MH breakfast and head out. We didn't want to be in camp when the urge hit. But we also never made it 1/4 mile away either. It was awful. We went toward a patch of tall underbrush every morning because we were out of toilet paper and that underbrush area had some big leaves that we could use. We even divided the area in half so that he'd go in one half and I'd go in the other. We were burying our poo and didn't want to accidently dig up the other guy's poo. If you dig up your own poo then you asked for it.

Lesson learned: don't go exclusively for a MH diet (we didn't know better), and before every trip eat a few in order to prepare your gut. Now I eat about one per day with no problems.

 

[huntTX2Eat]

Not packing appropriately!