OK, I know I'm gonna take some heat from some of you but I want to know how many times this has happened to you. With the proliferation of smart phones and other electronic devices and their use in the treestand, how many of you have missed a chance at a deer because you were distracted by your device. Last year I was in the middle of an all day sit when my wife called me and when I hung up with her, I turned to see a decent buck looking right at me. He was headed right into one of my shooting lanes and I surely would've got a shot at him but because I wasn't paying attention, I didn't. I also take a hand-held Yahtzee game that I play while sitting there. Once, I got engrossed in it to the point that I looked up and a doe had snuck in behind me and I missed an opportunity for a shot. Any of these things ever happen to anyone else that you want to admit? Blessings..........Pastorjim
I'll one up ya.... two weekends ago... it was about 10 AM and that second cup of coffee was talkin to me. I have a mock scrape right below the stand I was in so I whipped it out and began to freshen the scrape from my stand. Well I am about half way through enjoying my amazing accuracy from 20ft up, when I look to my left and see a nice doe watchin the show. I slowly let go of my gun and reached for my bow. She never busted but began to walk straight away from me. Would have been a ten yd shot had I not been preoccupied....... That should generate some jokes.... and... GO FTR have yet to get busted due to my phone
I have my phone in my pocket just in case I end up hanging upside down from my tree stand and need a hand getting out. Only other time I pull it out is to check the date when I'm marking my tag
I have not missed any opportunities (That I know of anyways) but I send plenty of text messages throughout the day while sitting in the deer stand.
There was a couple times I was on my phone and looked up to see a deer coming in fast. As far as I know I haven't missed a deer yet because of it. I will read books or play games, and look up after every page etc.
It's happened more times than I care to admit - thankfully not on a big buck yet. I really need to leave my phone in my pack while I'm hunting. By gun I believe you mean your snubnose?
I was in Kansas 2 years ago on a cold rainy day and a nice buck came running out of the timber 60 yds or so infront of me, ran in the open for a few seconds then ran right back in the woods.i was texting my buddy what had happened and as I am typing somehow the buck came from the other side of me and ran right by me. He was probably laughing as he went by as he saw the ,"wtf" look on my face.
I have been lucky enough to not have this happen. I have always been lucky enough to hurry and put it in my pocket and get ready for the shot but I am sure it will happen eventually by how much I am on the dang thing
Hasn't happened to me yet, just a matter of time I'm sure. Too easy to get wrapped up in these damn smartphones (in the stand as I type this) You should have just emptied your diaper in there when you got down
So far, I havent missed any deer because of phone distractions. I have a story slightly similar to tacklebox though. Last fall during rifle season I was walking the 150 yard trek back to my car from my stand when I decided to stop and use the outdoor lavatory facilities (my designated piss tree). I was just about finished when I heard some movement behind a bush about 20 yards away. I look up and see a 5-point buck looking right at me. Since I had no meat in the freezer at all yet, I decided to grab my gun and try to get a shot on him, but my movement spooked him away. I could have had a very east shot and drag if I had seen him earlier. I ended up shooting him from my stand the next afternoon.
Happened to me as well. Years ago I climb down to go number 2. Just as I was pulling up my pants I heard something over my left shoulder. I slowly turn my head only to see a wide 10 looking at me at 15 yards. He was out of there! To this day I lower my bow down for any reason I have to get out of the tree! I hope to never get caught with my pants down again!
Never with a cell phone but have also been taking a leak and had a doe walk into bow range. Was hunting on the ground and the bow was just out of reach. The only thing to do was to finish and wait for her to get out of sight so I could get ready for the next one. Of course she was the only doe to walk by that night. dammit !!!! Tim
I send a text or 2 while on stand but have never got so caught up in it that I missed an op . A couple of weeks ago , I did have someone try to send me an image that was to large , as a buck was 50 yards out and closing , dang phone made a loud warning sound and the buck slowly walked the other way .