What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made hunting?

[jayhawk]

What’s the biggest mistake/hardest lesson you’ve experienced in the field?

I’ll go first:

I was stalking a bachelor group of mule deer for an entire day. One of the more mature bucks must’ve been 190+. Towards late afternoon I was getting close enough to get a shot with my flintlock. But I had a problem…my bladder was reaching critical mass. Like bad. The bucks dropped over the hill out of sight and I leaned my rifle against a tree and went. Feeling better, I picked up my gun, looked up, and *SNAP*. I broke a tree branch overhead and it was LOUD. I may have well been singing the star spangled banner. I looked toward where the deer disappeard and all I saw across the top of the hill were heads with giant antlers looking right at me. They hadn’t gone as far as I thought, and I was busted.

Rookie move. Should’ve just wet my pants.

 

[Blurry1]

A few years ago we had a big group all jump in skinning out my elk. Everyone was working hard to get it done and get out of the cold. I turned my knife in order to not skin towards my friend and instead towards myself. TAP! That’s all it was. I barely felt it but had cut my knuckle through the tendon sheath and luckily didn’t get the tendon. Being in medicine I knew what it was. We packed meat out and I jumped in the truck and drove 4.5hrs to the closest ER and then back. I got back just in time for a late drink by the fire while the crew gave me shit. I now carry a butchers glove when hunting in groups.

 

[87TT]

What’s the biggest mistake/hardest lesson you’ve experienced in the field?

I’ll go first:

I was stalking a bachelor group of mule deer for an entire day. One of the more mature bucks must’ve been 190+. Towards late afternoon I was getting close enough to get a shot with my flintlock. But I had a problem…my bladder was reaching critical mass. Like bad. The bucks dropped over the hill out of sight and I leaned my rifle against a tree and went. Feeling better, I picked up my gun, looked up, and *SNAP*. I broke a tree branch overhead and it was LOUD. I may have well been singing the star spangled banner. I looked toward where the deer disappeard and all I saw across the top of the hill were heads with giant antlers looking right at me. They hadn’t gone as far as I thought, and I was busted.

Rookie move. Should’ve just wet my pants.

Depends.

 

[RockAndSage]

Taking anyone to a hunting spot I wasn't willing to have totally burned by them.

 

[Elkangle]

Now this is a thread i can contribute to !

Gen unit 350s slipping away because i took my time and thought i could just "find him again" .. missing a 180s MD because of a stupid range mistake...passing a 160s WT because of his "look".. honestly this could go on and on

 

[accountantsanonymous]

Depends.

Thankfully, you can carry more than one pair.

But that begs the question, do you pack out the dirty ones?

 

[kravguy]

Passing on animals because of score or someone else's idea of what a trophy is.

 

[Jbehredt]

Depends.

Can you really call yourself a spot and stalk hunter without them?

 

[waspocrew]

I’ve made plenty of mistakes. One I still think of is this bull from a few years back.



Had him patterned pretty well prior to opening day and knew where the herd would be in the morning. Opening morning, we were sitting where I figured we would intercept him. Only problem was that they were moving a little earlier than usual. Should have just sat about 500 yards higher up the hill. Instead, I had to watch him walk past us around 10 min prior to legal shooting light. We had a couple of close calls over the next few days, but never sealed the deal. Great bull!

 

[bojangles808]

Didn't realize that shooting on max power is a bad idea until it was too late

 

[COJoe]

Living in Colorado for 20 years and not hunting elk. I was overwhelmed with where to start with points, tags, GMUs and how to hunt them so I chose not to even attempt it. At the very least I could have 19 unsuccessful CO resident elk tags to hang on the wall...... but I could have gained a lot of experience of what not to do by now.

 

[DesertPinstripes]

Living in Colorado for 20 years and not hunting elk. I was overwhelmed with where to start with points, tags, GMUs and how to hunt them so I chose not to even attempt it. At the very least I could have 19 unsuccessful CO resident elk tags to hang on the wall...... but I could have gained a lot of experience of what not to do by now.

This one hits close to home…

 

[Raghornklr]

Taking anyone to a hunting spot I wasn't willing to have totally burned by them.

This ^ and not buying a lifetime license in my early 20's when I had the chance to in Arizona.

 

[MuleyFever]

The biggest mistake I have made is getting lazy not going hunting when I had the time. You don't get those opportunities back.

 

[Davyalabama]

I’ve liked on those that pertain to me. Not “making” my dad and uncle go more with me in their later years. I guess the word would be “pushing” them to go with me.

 

[Wheels]

Not buying the $10 deer point when I started applying for elk in AZ, could have hunted the strip by now.

 

[8mille]

Left a spot for two hours for a lunch break .
Went back to the deli at the end of the day
where I took my break earlier. The proprietor screams from behind the counter: “ my son got a 10 pointer at the fire tower” !!!
I sat there freezing my toes,fingers, butt, nose and nuts all week in that precise spot. WTF? Two hours of five days cost me that buck. Sad but true. Don’t let up cause you never know.

 

[Huntndog]

I’ve made plenty of mistakes. One I still think of is this bull from a few years back.

View attachment 885153View attachment 885154

Had him patterned pretty well prior to opening day and knew where the herd would be in the morning. Opening morning, we were sitting where I figured we would intercept him. Only problem was that they were moving a little earlier than usual. Should have just sat about 500 yards higher up the hill. Instead, I had to watch him walk past us around 10 min prior to legal shooting light. We had a couple of close calls over the next few days, but never sealed the deal. Great bull!

That one had to hurt!

 

[flyfisher117]

I wasted a good portion of my younger years not hunting, because I didn’t have anyone to hunt with.

Followed by I wasn’t buying points because I never had any desire to hunt out of state lower 48.

 

[Rich M]

Not buying lifetime license in other states i’ve lived.

Not applying for tags as soon as they became available (me, nh, vt moose mainly)

Not buying points in WY when i knew was gonna go “someday”. (Been a couple times)