I've been thinking about some of my past hunting experiences over the last 50 years which got me thinking about some of the mistakes I've made and learned from. I'm sure we've all made some costly and near fatal mistakes that others can benefit from, so how about sharing some of yours. I'll go first. 1. It was the winter of 1978 and I was 21 years old, 10 foot tall and bullet proof, and never as prepared as I should have been. I worked in the oilfields in Wyoming and we had a run of cold weather that never got above zero for 6 weeks. It was 30 to 40 below zero every night during that time and one night it hit -52 degrees. Snow fall was also a record high. It was the worst winter on record to that point in my life time and it still is. Fur prices were very high and spotlighting was legal on public land for predators. One night it was -40 and a buddy and I were spotlighting an area that had some good predator hunting and we were looking to make some money. We headed out into the night without a care in the world. Two spotlights going, stereo on, heater blaring and unbeknownst to us, a battery that was getting weak. We drove off the county road and on to a two track road that was two feet deep in snow. We were 30 miles from any main road when we plowed into a snow drift that was higher than the hood on my truck. We plowed into it just far enough to bury the truck and then it died. When I turned the key to fire it up again there wasn't even a click. We were in trouble. Miles from any road and nobody knew where we were. I was wearing hunting boots, levi's a flannel shirt, a down vest, and a ball cap; nothing more. Who needed a coat? I was in my new truck and it had a heater! Of course I had a shovel in the back to dig out of a snow drift right? Nope. My buddy was dressed slightly warmer than I was. I tried he key again; no luck. I shut off the heater, stereo and spotlights hoping the battery might get a little charge. We discussed our dilemma and it became clear in a hurry that walking out was not an option as we wouldn't have made it nearly far enough to get help. I quickly ran through all the things I should have done to be prepared for this. I was raised better than that and pride got in the way of me making good decisions. I lived alone at the time and nobody knew we were out hunting much less WHERE we were hunting. I thought of my buddies two young daughters and wife at home. I didn't say anything as I was sure he was thinking about them too. We made small talk for a few minutes denying our situation was that bad but in a matter of 5 minutes it was getting really cold inside the pickup. I said a little prayer to myself, looked at my buddy and turned the key... the truck fired up immediately. I don't know how we "high fived" in the cab of a 1977 GMC pickup but we did; repeatedly. Now our problem was getting out of the snow drift without a shovel. I did have pretty aggressive tread on my tires (because that's what young men my age needed) and I put the truck in reverse. I crept at first and the truck moved away from the drift. I felt the back end sink a bit and I stomped the gas to the floor. The deep tread threw snow 10 feet into the air and the GMC shot back 30 ft before I let off the gas. More high fives and we got out of there and headed home. 2. This second "mistake" took place the night before opening day of my first bow hunt for elk. I had been shooting my bow all summer and was consistent out to 30 yards with no sights or release. I didn't know anyone else who bow hunted and was getting ready to go by myself. I didn't have anyone to talk to about archery equipment and there was a lot I didn't know. I read an article that talked about an arrow "planing" when a broadhead was attached to it and didn't know what that really meant. I had some Bear broadheads that I was going to use but hadn't shot them. I assumed prior to reading the article that the arrow would fly the same regardless what was on it. My target was set in the corner of my back yard right against the 6 ft wood fence. I had been shooting there all summer. The neighbors across the alley were having a barbecue and there were about 20 people there. I was shooting right at them and never gave it a thought. I had worn out the middle of that target all summer and I only needed one shot with the broadhead to confirm it would work perfectly. I drew the bow and sighted down the arrow. It was a crisp, clean release and the arrow left the bow. To my horror the arrow got 15 yards out and then rose like a missile. It buried in the wood with a thunderous "POP" an inch and a half below the top of the fence, in perfect line with the party going on another 30 yards away. I almost threw up. I was incredulous. Never in my wildest dreams did I think something like that could happen. The neighbors all whirled around at the sound of the arrow plowing into the fence but they couldn't see it hanging from the top on my side. I waited awhile before pulling the arrow. I put the bow away and realized I wasn't ready for elk hunting with that set up. It was another week before I discovered the Satellite broadheads that eventually became my preferred tip. I still get a sick little feeling every time I recall that "POP".
Cool idea. I really only have one major one. Was hanging a stand a few years back, wasn't tied in, and fell. I feel a total of 21 ft. I kicked off of the tree hard to avoid the steps and hit the ground on my feet. As soon as I hit the ground I tried to absorb the shock and roll back onto my back. Short of a few sore muscles I was fine. Got very lucky on that one. Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2
This thread has potential. I haven't had any real close calls, but thinking about it, I have done some things that could have gone wrong really fast. Me and two of my buddies were up at the PA grand canyon on a boy scout trip for a weekend over summer. We decided to take a walk around the woods and do a little exploring. We came across about a 40 ft waterfall in a feeder stream that led down to the river. Something compelled us to try and climb the thing. Sounded like a good idea at the time..... The water wasn't flowing that strong at all so we were able to climb right up the center of the thing all the way to the top. Looking back I realized how easily one of us could have slipped on the wet rocks and fall onto the rocks below. Luckily we all made it home safe and it just ended up being a fun day and a cool story for us. Thinking back now, it was pretty stupid.
When I was young and still dumb, I had made a climber resembling a Baker (yeah that was a long time ago) That was about twice as flimsy as the old Bakers. I cant believe something never let go when I used it.
I'm not sure I have a story, and I think that might be a good thing. Well, actually I suppose if you count the number of times I climbed a tree in my early teens with nothing but a single chest strap (i.e. asphyxiation belts), and even sometimes with nothing at all.
Wow JGD. Those got me a little shaken. I haven't done anything hunting that was to bad but done a few things driving to fast and poor conditions.
Have a couple of these kind of stories but I'll tell this one. Have none that are hunting related but this one involves guns. In 1993 I was 14 years old and my father was stationed in Hawaii. Our house was on Iroquois Point in Ewa Beach. The base beach was next to a marine corps firing range. Of course there were huge fences all the way down to the water that prevented anyone from going onto the firing range. The actual range was probably 400-500 yards past the fence. All the ranges were situated with the berms about 150 yards in from the beach so that all shots were fired into the berms aiming towards the water. One day my friend Mike and I took his dads big 4 man zodiac boat(no outboard only had oars) out to the sandbar that was around 100-200 yards out from the beach. On our way back in the current got so strong that he and I could no longer control the boat. The current pulled us right across the fence line and they had to shut down the firing range because we were drifting directly behind the berms. 2 marines had to swim out and drag us back into shore. They slapped us in the back of a base police car with cuffs on to make us sit and think about what we did. It worked because now I definitely know not to do anything with a boat that's more than you can handle. It was a pretty scary experience getting pulled into the backside of a live firing range and not being able to stop it.
About 10 yrs ago (I was 20 or 21 at the time) I was putting a tree stand up on a buddies farm. I was using the metal screw in tree steps to get up the tree. I was around 15 ft up the tree and still climbing. I've always been told not to use tree branches as steps, and especially dead branches. Well, I didn't take that advice as I stepped onto a dead branch and it broke from under my foot and all of my weight. I went sliding down the tree and what stopped me wasn't the ground but the back of my leg catching on one of the metal tree steps. It ripped my pants open and put a small gash on the back of my leg. Luckily I was ok. I decided since I was already there to continue and put up the stand. To make matters worse as I was trimming some branches I proceeded to cut my hand with the saw. It was time to go home. On the same farm we my buddy had an old wooden ladder stand that we ironically called the "Death Trap" stand. I was climbing into it one afternoon with my bow in hand and one of the wooden steps broke out from under me. I was hanging there by one hand. I managed to pull myself up to the next step and was ok. Both instances could have been avoided had I made some better decisions.
Was out siting in my buddies old inline muzzleloader. I had just seated the 209 primer and slid the bolt home as I did the gun went off. Luckily for us both I was handling the gun correctly and the muzzle was pointed up, however I was right on the edge of the pickup cab and the .50 cal bullet just grazed the door seal. Lucky again! Still not sure how I survived my 80 mph wreck on my Harley with only some stitches. But thats not exactly hunting related. LOL
A couple close calls. I was in my 20 ft ladder stand and was getting ready to leave for the morning turned to face the tree and threw my 20 to 30 lb back pack over my shoulder's to put on. While doing that it made me off balance and started leaning backwards over the ladder stand with nothing to grab or stop me from falling. While off balance i flailed my arms back and forth and luckily regained my balance. Had to sit back down till my heart stopped pounding. Another time i was installing a new tree set and had my telescoping saw hooked on a branch above me 5ft or so ( had to cut multiple branches on the way up the tree). As im screwing in the next tree step the saw falls from where it was hooked straight down the between the tree and me. As it passes by me the teeth of the blade slide down my neck under my jaw and ear and falls to the ground. Luckily again it only scratched me and did not cut deep.
Got drunk with a few buddies in HS and we decided it would be a good idea to walk across the frozen resevoir. Not only did we walk across it we partied on the middle of the freaking lake for about an hour. Keep in mind this is in MD. It was below freezing for maybe 3 weeks at the time and not by a whole lot at any point. I went back like a week later and fell in goofing off only 10 feet off shore! The center where we were is 100 yards or more from shore on either side. We were young, dumb, and had a WHOLE lot of good luck on our side that day!
I was walking in the pitch black woods one morning and a branch poked me right below my eyebrow on a closed eyelid. Never been so relieved in my life.
I told this story on here shortly after it happened, so I apologize if some of you are reading it again. This past season, right before Halloween, I was just finishing my afternoon hunt and getting ready to climb down from my stand. I lowered my bow and put my backpack on. Normally I unclip my harness while standing on the platform of my hang-on stand and then step onto my climbing sticks. For whatever reason this particular night I decided I would change it up and step onto the climbing sticks first and then detach my harness from the tree. In order to do this however I unclipped the harness with one hand and held onto a branch with my other hand. My dad always taught me to never trust a branch, but I figured it would be ok as I wouldn't be holding onto it for very long. Well the branch broke and I fell backwards from the tree in what seemed like the blink of an eye. I landed flat on my side and laid there for a few minutes trying to figure out if that had just happened. I was finally able to grab onto the remains of a broken tree (a few feet from where I landed) to help me get up. I proceeded to walk out of the woods, changed out of my hunting clothes in case I wasn't hurt too bad, and drove out of the woods. Unfortunately I couldn't drive too fast or too far and had to be picked up and driven the rest of the way. The result of my fall were 7 broken ribs and a punctured lung. As bad as it hurt I knew that I was very lucky to have been able to walk out of the woods and share my story with others.
Ooh I've got one! Ok, I'll play. January 2012 I bought my first bow and jumped in with both feet. I was like a total newb kid in a candy store absorbing and reading everything I could and shooting as much as possible. I got a free two month range pass and the shop was a block from my office so I shot literally every day for my lunch hour for a good long while. Now it wouldn't do any good to brag on myself but either I caught on quickly or shooting every day will make you really really good at 20 yards. One lunch hour I'm in the shop and I'm having the session of my short archery career on the range. My 5 spots are lights out and I ended the session by shooting a few groups and was really banging shafts together at the target. Ripped some fletchings and even busted my first nock. I retrieve my arrows and set up to shoot again. I draw and hold, hold, hold...and finally let 'er rip. After the explosion, the first 6 inches of the shaft with the field point was laying in front of me, the middle of the arrow shaft disintegrated, and the fletching end of the show was downrange near the target. The bow derailed and the upper limb was a disaster...split at the axle. I'm damn lucky the top cam didn't come loose. A little dazed and not completely understanding what just happened I look down and the fleece I'm wearing is shredded above the wrist where where the carbon shrapnel went through and there are two deep parallel scratches on the meat of my bow hand where a split half shaft deflected off of me. Not a drop of blood spilled. About the time my brain starts working again the owner and his brother run over and grab me and force me into a chair so they can give me the once over and make sure I'm not blind or crippled. I had no idea how serious the situation was until I saw these two grown men loose all color in their faces. Being a newbie I guess I never gave the carbon arrow shafts any thought...sure it's light and strong and full of goodness but it's also brittle. Apparently you're supposed to give those things the once over and flex them every once in awhile...who knew? I got back to my office and started googling arrow failures and the pictures you can find on the internet are downright disturbing. To this day, anyone that shoots with me will notice that I habitually and almost unconsciously flex every single arrow shaft on the walk from the target to the line during the all-clear EVERY SINGLE TIME. Happy Ending: After this little incident the shop owner walked over to the wall in the pro shop, pulled down a new bow, swapped out the limbs and gave every single inch of my bow a good going over. That right there ladies and gentlemen is a phenomenal pro shop. He and I are going hunting at the end of this month.
