This is pretty dumb but I thought maybe my fellow bh.com members would enjoy this. I managed to get some time on Saturday to get in the stand for a couple of hours. This being only my second trip to the stand this season I was fairly excited even thought the temps reached into the middle 70's. I decided to go to my stand that I sat in the other time and actually seen 3 deer, got busted by a mature doe the 1st time so no shot. I had sense enough to pack my thermacell as I knew the mosquitos would be out in full force as the evening went on. I get to the stand and get set up, take the thermacell out of my pack and place the pad in as I was suppose to, first time using the unit by the way. I then turned the unit on and placed it beside me on the side of my bag using the holster clip. The evening wears on and as it reaches what I would call prime time I noticed that the mosquitos started coming around like I was wearing attractant. I picked the unit up again and switched it off and then turned it on again thinking maybe it did not come on. I placed it back on the side of the bag and continued to fight off the pests until it was time to exit the stand. As I am walking down the trail you can imagine the colorful terminology I was using to describe the unit that had failed me so miserably. I get back to the house and put all of my gear in the truck. After arriving home I decide to get the thermacell back out to figure out if I can take it back because I am sure that it is defective. I take it out of the holster and could not help but notice that the cartridge was stuck in the small side compartment of the holster. The wife looked at me with that look, you married guys know what I am talking about, and I knew what had happened. I would like to think that everyone has had one of these type moments but this surely earns the "Here's your sign" award for me. To add insult to injury, I did not see the first deer. Hope everyone enjoys this story, I can say that I learned to check my equipment for human error before I start trashing it....
