Stupid mistakes I have done this season

Just to keep conversation away from politics, let try to laugh a bit.

Topic stupid stuff I have done this season:

Me:

Got to tree stand to realize I forgot the quiver with arrows in the car (4km away)

Walked into to "ideal spot" without realizing does are bedded 20 yrds. Results: a couple of angry does running and haffing at me. Silent the rest of morning of course.

Walk to spot where I know turkey is roosting, start calling the sh... of this tom.. only to later read that toms don't get off their tree and expect hen to come to them, if they hear one close by(spent 6 mornings doing that btw thinking I am on top my game [emoji846][emoji846][emoji846])

Last season pearl was :Got to good hunt field, setup layout blind, decoys, got into blind, tap tap something is missing - left shotgun at HOME

You ?



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LOL
I have done all those things over the last couple years.

I drove an hour from home and forgot my ammo bag. That one got my blood pressure up.

More than once I've gone to hunt small game and forgot my boots so had to get soaked in shoes. (Or chicken out and go home)

Being forgetful can be a real curse at times. I just have to put all my gear where I literally trip over it to get out the door.

This is my kinda thread lol

Dumped an entire XL Timmy's Double Double onto my gun and shell bag while sitting in my laydown blind few weeks ago. Didn't notice until after a shoot when I reached in my shell bag to find a handful of cold sticky coffee then realised THATS WHY MY GUN IS SO STICKY AND SMELLS LIKE CREAM AND SUGAR LOL

So awesome because every shell is coated in it, Gun picked up 10x as much grit being sticky, But still worked and I still shot birds, But I was not happy at the time lol

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Once went hunting,drowe 15 km on logging roads ,got to the spot, stepped out to get ready, to realize, the bolt of my rifle is back in camp.

Bless you for creating this thread. It helps to know that there are others like me.

Last season I sat all morning in floating wooden blind for ducks. After not seeing anything for hours, a large group of teal flies over, cups their wings, and starts to drop in to the decoys. I stand up to shoot, slip on the wet floorboards, hit my head on the bench, and watch the birds fly away. No ducks for me that day.

I've also made the mistake of not drying my gear out more than once. Have had chokes rusted into my gun, and canvas tents peppered with mold.

Got to stand forgot trigger lock was on and left key at camp.

Walked around hunting for rabbits only to find at the end of the day there was no shell in the shotgun.

Went to shoot a grouse and no shell in the gun.

Drove 45 minutes to my deer hunting spot on opening day of muzzleloader season. Arrived at crack of dawn. Put powder down barrel, started bullet down barrel, forgot ramrod at home......... Drove home, then back to farm..... started hunting at 9 am. Lol

forgot gun going goose hunting in field 45min away, decided to make best of it and had drink with farmer instead. Left keys in truck at boat ramp, took boat 30 min down lake in the dark, get all set up legal shooting time get gun out and have trigger lock on and keys in truck. best I seen was my dad, using 3030 lever for deer, every time we met someone we took shell out of chamber, I put back in when leaving he didn't. come across couple deer running in front of us, we pulls up and click no shells in gun.

Seen a coyote, go for the trigger only to find out I didn't rack in a shell, click....that has happened more than once :(
Walk to my spot a few hundreds yards from the truck, get all setup only to find out I left the bolt back at the truck :(
Went coyote hunting one time forgetting my boots at home. Walked in my dress shoes through the couple inches of snow, this time it worked out and I shot a coyote :)
I am sure there are more but those ones come to mind first.... oh as was mentioned earlier..... If I don't put it in front of me, I am liable to forget it :(

Great thread.
Opening morning of late shotgun hunt, I text my hunting partner that I'll meet him at certain time where I dropped him off. About 3 minutes before I was going to leave I see silhouette of a big deer walking 120yds inside the bush line. I get the gun on him and its one of my target bucks I've been after since Oct.1. Only problem was he was moving through a lot of brush and I had no clear shot. I decided to wait until he crossed an ATV path 10 feet in front of him. It was likely only a few minutes but felt like an hour as I struggled to keep him in sight. Then I see his rack and head as he bolts straight away from me. I tried to figure out what I did to spook him and look over my shoulder and my hunting partner is standing there. Worse than that about a minute later a shot rang out in the direction he was running.

Have forgotten the rope cocking device for 380 more than a few times.

Forgotten winter layers in December

Forgotten boots

Brought a hub blind down on myself by shooting one of the poles that was in the bolt travel path but not visible in the scope

Forgotten lighter for my cigars

Forgotten calls

Forgotten Decoys

Standing up taking a pizz off the ladder stand when beauty buck walks in.

That took a bout 3 minutes to think of - probably lots more.

took friends goose hunting, didnt see a damn thing so figured i'd take a leak. suddenly a flock flies over and i yell "shoot over me boys" while my pants are still down and 3 birds fall in front of me.

I've done most of those and a couple of more,but,you haven't lived until the poop log goes K-e-e-r-a-c-k.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

I've done most of those and a couple of more,but,you haven't lived until the poop log goes K-e-e-r-a-c-k.

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Cover Scent. Just like after pounding a case of beer the night before the opener and you wake up with the worst case of the beer #$%*s ever. Bring a roll and carry on. Can be very problematic if you forget to stuff the roll in your pack - that's an amateur mistake.

Went moose hunting with a buddy.
He forgot his coffe mug(cut up Coke can was an Ok substitute for a week)he forgot bath towels(ripped up T shirt did the job)...all this was funny until i realized i did not try out my new gunsling at home-and the new one sling's pin would not fit into my Sako's retention lug's hole..............i can tell you ,it is no fun lugging a rifle for a week.

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Originally Posted by H-MAN

. Put powder down barrel, started bullet down barrel, forgot ramrod at home

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Similar, loaded up the ML (powder/bullet) at the house walked out in the dark to my stand, climbed up settled in, broke open the barrel to put in the 209 primer looked in and all I saw was power. No breach plug.

30 minutes later..a little sweaty from all the walking back in stand ready to go.

Was trailering the boat after having a good layout boat shoot for Bluebills a few years ago about 1.5 hours from home -- once the boat was trailered I took my $600 waders off to get ready to head out, and left the waders at the launch :ashamed: Didn't realize until a week or so later when I went to go duck hunting closer to home.

-N.

At the local hunting store I bragged about the big buck I saw from 'my' new public land hunting spot, a week later a bunch of tree stands appeared and the buck I was after vanished.

ohh too many.

opening day for deer rifle.
I left my tree stand harness in the car .. walked back and got it ... 3KM lol
lost my magazine on the walk in dark, but luckily only one shot was needed.

Countless goose and duck encounters have gone wrong too ... either safety, or forgot to pump the shotgun ... it sucked cause it took me all day to get a group of geese to land in my spread, just to stand up and pull the trigger and nothing .. lol

Hunted an entire morning with a used primer in my muzzleloader! Good thing a trophy of a lifetime didn't come by... lol

This deer season, I carefully still hunted though mountainous terrain for a few hours. I monitored the wind, watched where I stepped, and looked around constantly to spot a deer before it spotted me. When I finally gave up after seeing nothing, returned to my cottage and unloaded my rifle, I realized that I hadn't even chambered a round from my magazine!

Several years ago I did something similar. My 870 has a trigger lock built into the safety switch that requires a special tool to unlock the trigger lock (J-lock, I think it's called). I walked around for several hours in the freezing cold lugging the heavy shotgun while trying to find some grouse or rabbits. I only realized I had forgotten to unlock the trigger lock when I returned to my vehicle, unloaded and packed up to go home. That time I had a friend with me, so we had a good laugh about it.

Yep......my kind of thread. Where do I start.

- Early on I was so concerned about prepping the duck boat, camo and ammo I forgot my gun leaning up against my beer fridge in my garage. I still have not lived that one down.
- Forgot my boots on a couple of hunts but have hunted in crocks, running shoes and blundstones on more than one occasion
- Dropped my phone on the walk in (but found it on the walk out)
- Lost my hen decoy on my walk in only to spot it in the middle of the field at first light - doh!
- Getting to the blind only to remember there was no chair in it (that was on my list of things to replace)
- Lost track of how many turkey have caught me trying to sneak in a morning pee.........call that D&*K in hand!
- Backed boat into lake and realized I left my keys in my garage (keep one on the boat at all times now)
- Sacrificed an amazing sock after an evening of hot wings and beer came back to bite me in the arse early the next morning.
- Forgot about the worms I left in the back seat of my truck in July

I've hunted in crocs until my feet were so cold they hurt to walk on
I've dropped my bolt on an old 308 and somehow it locked and wouldn't engage the firing pin so without knowing I hunted the rest of the moose hunt (4 days) with a gun that wouldn't fire ended up finding out on the last day when we did our annual swamp stump bash and the gun went click
forgot my knife and gutted a deer with a broadhead blade

Some good stuff in this thread, goes to show that we’re human!

Earlier in the fall, I was setting up my trail cams and got into a spot about a mile from the truck and realized that I forgot the sack of deer chow for the feeder. Then later at deer camp, I realized that I forgot my rifle sling, and my ATV helmet. Then while hunting, I swapped out the micro SD card in one of my trail cams and promptly lost the card, I went back a day later and re-traced my steps and couldn’t find it. A few days later, one of the guys happened to find it below a ladder stand. I guess it fell out of my pocket when I pulled out my cell phone. Funny thing was that I looked there but never saw it.

Once, on a Saskatchewan deer hunting trip, I locked the vehicle keys inside the truck. I walked halfway back to the cabin (6kms) before I got a ride. That was a tough lesson to learn,

I made a terrible call on one of my very first deer hunts by myself. I was likely 15 and dad let me have his tree stand and he goes about 200 yards down and onto the next field. He says radio me if ya shoot so I know what happens.

30minutes later here comes an 8 pointer down the tree line for my stand. The shaking starts....he stops maybe 20 yards in front of me and I CLICK the safety off my old 870. Buck stares right at me.


I proceeded to unload my gun on him and didn't touch it.

I pick up my radio as the buck is running full speed for my dad. I'm on the radio "Dad!, Dad! YOU THERE!?!

Hes trying to get the radio out of his pocket and finally says "what did ya get?!"

I say "There's a big buck running right for you"

Nothing for a few seconds....he goes "ya, he just ran past me as I was digging for the damn radio!"

"Next time just say into the radio there's a buck coming my way, Don't wait for me to answer"

Whoops, Dad didn't yell or get mad at me but I know he wasn't happy, Thinking back now he was likely SUPER PISSED but didn't wanna ruin my first hunt on my own. LOL


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Oh I've had a few...

-First year ever moose hunting at the young age of 15 I had a chance at taking a nice bull moose at about 45 yards.. Carried a 30-30 Marlin Lever and when my uncle said shoot I shot! or should I say clicked.. I cycled/clicked 6 shots through that gun at the moose and none of them went BANG! Turns out 15 year old me remembered the Half safety but NOT the cross bolt safety.. Thankfully my uncle was able to take the moose down with his shot.. All I walked away with was the name click-click..

- Similar situation but many years after (age about 25) same rifle.. First chance at a buck ever at 18 yards.. Nice 8 point.. My click reappeared and brought myself to his attention. Thankfully steady hands and quick reactions clicked it off and took him down.

Many stories with that old 30-30..

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Originally Posted by Winterfisher

Many stories with that old 30-30..

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You should check out the pic I have posted on this thread:

https://www.oodmag.com/community/sho...-not-forgotten

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Originally Posted by MikePal

You should check out the pic I have posted on this thread:

https://www.oodmag.com/community/sho...-not-forgotten

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Well I dont have any on that list but something close tot hat is my trusty Remington 870 was bought by my grandfather brand new for a whopping $89 at k-mart back in the day.. And My dad has taken a few deer the past few years with his .32 Special model 94 made in 1903. Still shoots straight

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winterfisher

Oh I've had a few...

-First year ever moose hunting at the young age of 15 I had a chance at taking a nice bull moose at about 45 yards.. Carried a 30-30 Marlin Lever and when my uncle said shoot I shot! or should I say clicked.. I cycled/clicked 6 shots through that gun at the moose and none of them went BANG! Turns out 15 year old me remembered the Half safety but NOT the cross bolt safety.. Thankfully my uncle was able to take the moose down with his shot.. All I walked away with was the name click-click..

- Similar situation but many years after (age about 25) same rifle.. First chance at a buck ever at 18 yards.. Nice 8 point.. My click reappeared and brought myself to his attention. Thankfully steady hands and quick reactions clicked it off and took him down.

Many stories with that old 30-30..

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At least you pulled the trigger. I know a guy who cycled his bolt 4 times without pulling the trigger. When he was done all his fully loaded shells were lying at his feet. He has no problem shooting deer but the moose hunt seems to bring out the heebie jeebies in him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cantgetright

At least you pulled the trigger. I know a guy who cycled his bolt 4 times without pulling the trigger. When he was done all his fully loaded shells were lying at his feet. He has no problem shooting deer but the moose hunt seems to bring out the heebie jeebies in him.

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I know a guy that emptied his Browning BAR with a huge bull moose standing less than 50 yards away listening to him work his rifle.

When he loaded it, He was being quiet and didn't close the bolt with any force.

When the moose appeared, He shouldered his rifle and pulled the trigger..nothing, So he opens the bolt(ejects the live round)

Watches the bolt pick up another round and he again, tries closing it slowly and quietly. Aims again and pulls trigger....Nothing


DOES THIS 5 TIMES until the gun is empty and bull has him figured out and runs over the ridge to the next guy that flattens it with 1 shot.

We get back to camp and the guy with that BAR is so mad, Ready to burn his rifle.

My dad asks if he can see it, Loads one shell into the magazine, Inserts the mag, Reefs the bolt back and let's it fly closed. Points it at the wood pile and fires BOOM

Nothing wrong with the gun, Just the operator my dad says....LOL

I thought buddy was going to cry.

Don't baby your rifle! Let it work!

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I am not sure if this qualifies as a stupid mistake.
Moose hunting with my buddy.He has a scoped rifle,i have an open sight.

Beautiful moose comes thru the ridge-i would guess in 50 "range. Chocolate brown, wide palmation.
My buddy has no clue...........the bull stands broadside to me, and listening to me trying to call him.
My buddy has no clue.

(I never shot a moose-he never shot a moose.Lots at stake.)
I figured, the bull is too far for me to take an ethical shot at the distance with open sight(yes ,that ethical shot idea exists)so i wave him down, and show him the moose.He is lot closer,and the scope works for him too.Lots at stake-but Lets him have it.

The bull is standing broadside,pine plantation to its armpits, watching me-oblivious to my buddy.
My buddy picks up the rifle,aims.Nothing.Drops the rifle down.Picks up the rifle,aims.Nothing.
Drops the rifle picks up the rifle,aims-nothing.

I am sitting there, amazed-and waiting for the BOOOM.

After a while the moose gets bored,and walks back the way he came from(obviously figured something was not to his liking).
My buddy stands up-goes to the camp,all shaking,and gulps a pile of Whiskey down.

I could not shoot- I could not pull the trigger-he was repeating over and over.

Here comes the stupidity of the story:

I put a scope promptly onto my rifle,AND bought a range finder(not cheap in 2001)
I had to know the distances .
The distance to the bull was 20 yards less for him,then to me.We were in a triangle.I was not even 200 yards away.

Yep, sat in deer stand for 31/2 hrs. this fall until dark and went to unload and case the rifle for the walk out and found that I hadn't loaded it! sat there and talked to myself for a minute or two. lol

GBK’s moose story reminded me of my first moose hunt in 1982 when I lived in Ignace. Back in those days, you needed 2 hunters to tag a moose so a life-long friend came up from Ottawa to look for Bullwinkle with me. On opening morning, we jumped into my Datsun hatchback and drove to a spot where I saw a bull in the summer. After a couple of hours of nothing, we got antsy so off we went to another spot about 75 kms away. Gas was cheap in those days lol. We ended up driving by a wild rice lake and oogled at the flocks of ducks swimming by and within range. We both loved to shoot “at” ducks so the scene in front of us was incredible. Since we didn’t have shotguns, we left the ducks alone and got back in the car. We didn’t get very far before we drove through a recent cutover. As we drove down a hill, we spied a bull feeding out in the cut about 400 yards away. I immediately slammed on the brakes and we got out the binoculars. It was about 10:30 in the morning and there was a light rain falling. We quickly came up with a plan to try stalking up to the bull. We got out of the car and put on our rain suits. My buddy happened to lean his rifle on the fender of the car and it wasn’t very long before it slid off and hit the ground. The rifle had iron sites so at least he didn’t ruin a scope. Everything appeared to be in order so off we went after the moose. Surprisingly, we stalked within 75 yards of the moose. Being the nimrods that we were, we continued to get closer and we split up. I got into a dip and lost site of the moose and looked over at my buddy who was leaning over a log and getting ready to shoot. A second later I hear him shoot which prompted me to stand up and shoot too. I go to aim but my rear iron site was folded down, so I had to correct that problem. I shouldered the rifle again, aimed, and tried to shoot but my safety was engaged. I lowered the rifle again and released the safety and fired a Hail-Mary shot at the bull as it ran into a block of woods. Things unraveled quickly and in an act of desperation, I ran into the woods after the moose. This stunt caused the bull to circle back out into the cut and stop broadside once more and gave by buddy another shot. After the shot, the bull ran uphill into another block of timber and out of our lives for good. As it turns out, when my buddy’s rifle slid off the fender of the car and hit the ground, the top half of his front site broke off which resulted in him shooting high on the moose.

It was a good thing that we missed the moose as we weren’t really equipped to deal with after the shot. We definitely would have needed help. We were amateurs in every sense of the word!

A lot of the mistakes we make end up causing us embarrassment and /or inconvenience but some could cost you a lot more - like you life - over the years I have made some stupid mistakes and I guess that's how we learn from those experiences - the one I can't forget is the time I moved my ladder stand to a new location - I set up the stand and then tie the strap around the tree - then put another strap around the tree so I have something to tie the safety strap to - put the safety strap around my waist and push myself away from the tree to see how it will hold me if I fall - the strap around my waist slips open and I start falling backwards off the stand - reached out to grab something and luckily grabbed the rail on the stand - was able to get my feet on the ladder and stop me from falling - boy I stopped doing anything for awhile and thought what just happened and how I nearly got really injured or even killed - there is danger in a lot of things we do so we need to be very careful -

I cut a lot of trees down for firewood and over the years I ended up with situations where I had to be extra careful because of the way the tree was leaning again another tree or because of the dead branches on top of the tree - the advice I can give is take your time and think things out before you do something stupid

I was bear hunting one year on a property I used to own about 30 minutes from my house. I go over one afternoon to rebait and hunt. I put some more bait out and climb into my stand to find out I left my magazine at home. I walk back to the truck, drive home, get my magazine and drive back to my spot. I am not in the stand for 5 minutes and a bear walks out. As I was loaded and ready this time I let him have it. That was one of the fastest hunts I have had.