Broke a wheel bearing and got stranded half way through wyoming. Cooler full of elk meat and no way to get parts for the truck. I am thankful for helpful family members
American Airlines cancelled our flight day 1. They flew us out of a different city the following day, and proceeded to lose all of our gear. Lost another day to that fiasco. Finally made it to the mountains and hit the ground running, packed into camp. Somewhere along the way, I got super dehydrated and coupled with 36 hours of no sleep and a severe caloric deficit, my blood pressure dropped and I began slipping into into shock. Hunting partner is an EMT, so he was able to get me through it with liquid IVs and welches fruit snacks. I wanted to hit the button, but he assured me I wasn’t going to die and I’d be alright if I just kept eating and drinking. Came back around by morning. Flash forward a few days later, and hit a bull high in the shoulder, never able to recover him. Rest of the week was day after day of almosts, we just couldn’t seal the deal. Had some amazing moose encounters throughout the week as well. To add a little more insult to injury, AA delayed one flight on the way home as well.
I had something pop behind my knee on the back side of my leg and I went down in severe pain as I was coming down a moderate slope. I was lucky to get back to camp and was sidelined the next day. A week later my knee is still jacked and can’t get into the knee doc until October 29. The hard part was packing an elk out 2 days later.
Forgot my tent stakes at home after using them with my tarp tent last season, and also forgot that my sleeping pad had a slow leak in it from sleeping on some thorns last season. Fortunately I picked a soft spot for my tent, and it was tolerable for a week. Would deflate by about 2 am, just blow it back up and go back to sleep. If I repeat this story after rifle season, someone smack me upside the head.
Shit happens. My first shot on a bull was this year on a MASSIVE public land bull who was screaming all the way in and I whiffed my shot. Too far forward and hit him in the front leg bone. Didn’t stay focused because of my excitement. Won’t ever let that happen again…