Missed Opportunitys HaHaHa

[TravisC]

Just thought i'd share a little screw up i had this year and see if anybody had any as well.
So here goes: seen a nice 3pt mule with a couple does sunday morning (4pt or better) decided to go back there the following morning since it was start of rut. So i'm driving up to the area i wanna be when i notice a truck parked a ways up and i can see someone walking down the road (back towards the truck) i wonder if they had seen something? so i decide to pull the truck up towards a spot i can turn around and leave the area for the other hunters but as i start to go i look down the hill and suddenly my heart was in my throat. all i could see was forks and a deep dark colour. should i shoot? he's only 70 yards away and standing broadside. I can't, its wrong to shoot from in the truck. crap! he's on the driver's side too! will he run if i try and get out? crap! my hearts now throbbing. Get out and shoot! well not quite. get out i did, but i was still on the hill and i was in a stick shift. if the trucks not in gear and the e-brake isn't on on a hill and you jump out, the truck will roll away from you. And it did!! $#@^%#$ i gotta stop the truck! well i saved the truck and the biggest mule deer i could have ever had in the back of the truck skipped away. i could hear him laughing for miles.l:icon_frow

[Muleycatcher]

That sucks man!..never had anything like that happen, but I had a nice 5X4 mulie buck in my sights this year and went to pull the trigger and the safety was on!!! switched the safety off just in time to see his butt going into the timber.

[bruin]

That suck, did the other guy watch you chase the truck down cause that would've been priceless!! Funny what a big muley buck can do to a hunter. I also am fully educated on the effects of buck fever. My worst blunder was missing a buck by about 5 feet with a bow, its a long story.

[Sitkaspruce]

This is not really a screw up ,but more of some humous times while out hunting.

Not this year, but back when Princeton was at its peak for mulies, I was coming back from a morning hunt and stopping to talk to a guy in a pickup. We chatted for a bit and then I noticed movement in my mirror, I looked again and here was a nice 4x4 mulie crossing the road 20 yards beind me. The other guy was so busy talking to me that he didn't even notice it.
I said to him, in the middle of his talking, if he was going to shoot that buck.
He stopped, looked at me and then, with a puzzled look on his face said "what buck".
I said that buck about 20 yards in front of him.
He looked and then his eyes got really big, he looked at me and then realized that he nor I could get out of our trucks as we were parked close together. I realized it at the same time so I said go head as it would be much harder for me to get out on the other side of my truck (buckets and center consul). He then slid across the seat to his other door, opened it and pulled his gun out. I whistled and the deer stopped. He took one shot and the deer went down.

When I actually saw the deer on the ground, I realized that it was no ordinary deer, but a very nice 7x5 with a dropper and good forkes. For a brief moment, horn envy came over me and I was a little pi$$ed at myself for telling him about the deer, but then I kicked myself and remembered what hunting was all about.
I helped him gut it and load it in the back of his truck. He was so thankful that if I had asked for his first born he would have probably given it to me, although his first born would have been older than me. He was a very nice old guy who could not get around much, so he liked to throw his gun in his truck and go for drives. He offered me some of the deer and even a dinner for all 4 of us in the hunting group.

I still remember that day as if it was yesterday and I will never forget the look on his face when he saw the deer and when he realized he could not get out of his door. Priceless

[bruin]

That's no blunder, that's a good story

[Koot]

I had a few funny things happen to me this year.I took my 11 year old son on his first trip this year. After a sleeping in the cab of the truck we went straight to one of my spots and started to hunt our way in.We busted some deer at the timber edge in the thick stuff with no oppertunity for a shot.We continued on down the draw when we caught some movement downhill at 70 feet.We see the doe first then a few feet behind her comes the buck.He is a 4x4 with pretty deep forks so I lower the binos,up comes the rifle and nothing.WTF,I can't see the buck in the scope.Up comes the binos,there he is broadside.Up comes the gun,NOTHINGI could see the trees but no buck!! He slips off after standing there for about a full minute.I finially figured out that it was the glare from the son coming up over my shoulder!! Saw lots more deer but never filled my tag.Had a blast with my son though.That would have been my biggest Mule deer !!
The second was strictly a screw up on my part.I went into a new area to check it out as I was getting my ass kicked by a big buck I have been chasing for 3 years in one of my spots close to home.Anyway ,I hunted the day with not much success and as it was getting dark decided to head home a spend some time with the family.I get in my truck and start motering along ,I round the corner as there is a 4x4 mule deer standing smack dab in the middle of the road.I stop the truck and he just stands there.I grab my -06 and get it half out of the door and the damn gun is stuck.The safari sling is wrapped around the arm rest and when I finially get a round in I pick up the buck in my scope only to see his ass end going over the bank.I kicked my self all the way home.Both of these bucks would have been my best.But it was not to be.........next year.
Koot

[115 or bust]

On opening day in Fort Saint John about 3 years ago I snuck into the edge of a hayfield I had scouted out a few days before. Bedded down at about 150 yards was a beauty 4X4 mulie clean with tons of mass easily the nicest mulie I've ever had a chance at. I belly crawl out to a hump where I get lined up on him. Put down the bipod. Start talking myself through the shot k breath, slow right behind the shoulder, k squeeze, squeeze, squeeze CLICK WTF. Open the breach careful thinking I had a misfire but my shell got stuck in the magazine (don't ask me how) and my bolt slid over the shell in the dark. Needles to say with all the commotion the buck hops up and steps into the timber patch at the edge of the field flips me the bird and takes off lol. We won't even talk about the monster whitey that trip lol too painful.

[Chuck]

That story suggests a good "Tips & Hints" topic.
All hunting trucks must have a properly working E brake!

[7mm]

well I don't think an event like the one mentioned as a screw up, but not putting your dad's truck in gear with the E-BRAKE on when getting out on a hill ,sure would have made for some tense moments in camp I would imagine !!

[The Hermit]

Well I only allow myself three screw ups in a whole year and always pray that nothing goes wrong on my hunts. ;-) LOL Yeah right!

[Bow Walker]

TravisC - almost the same exact problem happened to me while driving my Dad's ol flat head '48 Ford pick up. It was in really good shape, except for the clutch and the e-brake.

I was going up a hill, on a righthand corner, when I saw a big 5 point (ten to our southern cousins) standing in the middle of the roadway. He looked at me as I stopped crosswise in the middle of the road, with the arse end of the truck facing a bit downhill. I shut the truck off, leaving it in gear, then I stepped out and popped a shell into the .06 I was using.

Well the truck starts moving backwards picking up momentum as it goes. I reached in the driver side door which was still open and grabbed the emergency brake and gave it a good stiff yank. Then I turned back to the buck - who was still standing there - and started to raise the rifle.

The truck again started to move backwards, picking up yardage as it moved. Damn! I tried putting one foot inside on the brake, while still standing on the road with the other foot - by this time the buck had wet himself laughing at me and staggered off into the thick stuff. Never to be seen by mortal eyes again.

All this was on a nice sunny September afternoon up in Pleasant Valley, behind Boomerang Lake. It was so nice all I had on for a shirt was a T.

I'll never forget that day.

[dana]

Screw ups? Ever forget your rifle on the last day of the season and spot the buck that you've been chasing for 5 years? Yup, that was a screw up. I still can't believe I could be so stupid. Luckily I have a good friend who let me use his rifle and 6 hours later, I killed that buck.

BTW,
No need for a e-brake if you keep a block of wood under your seat. You've got to be fast to grab it and throw it under the tire but it is doable. That is a piece of roadhunting advice that you should always rememeber. :)

[Sitkaspruce]

One time at band camp....oops wrong forum

One day we decided that we were going to go for a little walk into the alpine to chase some big deer we had been seeing. After the one hour drive, we arrived at the "spot", unpacked our gear and got ready to set off. This is when I realized that I had left my bolt sitting back at home in the drawer.:o I guess the look on my face said it all as my partner just about fell down laughing. He said he needed a packer anyways, so that is what I became that day. It was great day, no deer, but a lot of fun. I still get bugged about that every now and then. And the bolt always stays in my gun now.

[newhunterette]

oh y'all give me so much to go on when I gather information for my little novel of tales by hunters

hehehehehehttp://www.gunandgame.com/forums/images/smilies/drive.gif

[greatwhitehunter_30.06]

Just thought i'd share a little screw up i had this year and see if anybody had any as well.
So here goes: seen a nice 3pt mule with a couple does sunday morning (4pt or better) decided to go back there the following morning since it was start of rut. So i'm driving up to the area i wanna be when i notice a truck parked a ways up and i can see someone walking down the road (back towards the truck) i wonder if they had seen something? so i decide to pull the truck up towards a spot i can turn around and leave the area for the other hunters but as i start to go i look down the hill and suddenly my heart was in my throat. all i could see was forks and a deep dark colour. should i shoot? he's only 70 yards away and standing broadside. I can't, its wrong to shoot from in the truck. crap! he's on the driver's side too! will he run if i try and get out? crap! my hearts now throbbing. Get out and shoot! well not quite. get out i did, but i was still on the hill and i was in a stick shift. if the trucks not in gear and the e-brake isn't on on a hill and you jump out, the truck will roll away from you. And it did!! $#@^%#$ i gotta stop the truck! well i saved the truck and the biggest mule deer i could have ever had in the back of the truck skipped away. i could hear him laughing for miles.l:icon_frow


Hey Travis...was it a white GMC Crew Cab that was already in the block? If it was I can verify that buck was a dandy because I was the guy in the truck!! My buddy was the one walking down the road...I was over the hill chasing him from where I saw him. He was definitly a PIG!!

[greatwhitehunter_30.06]

Lets just say...Was it a Monday on "FRIDAY"?:confused:

[MB_Boy]

Have had a few good ones....

Moose hunting in NE Manitoba on a fly in hunt we had crappy weather for calling the entire time. We don't have the cut blocks to scan and it is FLAT country. Had hunted hard for 5 days and had only had one bull answer but couldn't get him to come in. We headed back to camp in the canoe one night a bit early as it was blowing like crazy. I asked my Dad if we could zip across the river to a marshy area where there were some geese honking and hoping to maybe whack one or two and possibly a few ducks. With two guys sitting in camp prepping dinner we got about a hundred yards from shore with nothing but a 12 gauge in the canoe and I just looked back to say something to my Dad and there was a ~40" bull standing about 100 feet from where we launched the canoe. To say the least there was scrambling and yellling at the guys in camp to grab a rifle. Missed Opportunity.

Second good one was when I had been hunting with a trad. muzzie for whitey's in MB with my Dad for a number of years and had only dropped one smaller buck in about 7 years. (in MB we had a separate muzzie season for 2 weeks prior to a 2 week GOS for rifle).

I snuck into an area and started rattling and could hear a buck coming like a freight train through the thick stuff so I hunkered down in some cover and waited for my chance. Well through the brush all I can see is non-typ antlers and the biggest whitey I have seen in rifle OR muzzie season.....I pulled back the hammer.....waited for my spot as he was about 40 yards away and heading for a perfect opening. Out he stepped and I squeezed the trigger with no result other than the "pop" of the cap firing but NO big puff of smoke or deer on the ground. The buck just looked my way with a look like....."nice try dude". I quickly put another cap on with the same result and Mr. Buck jumped about 20 feet from where he was and now was slowly angling towards me. I raked the branches and ground with my rattling antlers with a grunt or two and he stopped again in a great shooting lane.....third cap......same old "toy cap gun" pop and finally he flipped me the "tine" and said.....enough of you jacka$$ and that was the last I ever saw of him in muzzie and rifle season. My Dad and I tried about 15 caps trying to get it to fire when I met him back at the truck for a sandwich and could not get the gun to fire.

Turns out when we finally pulled the bullet it looked as though when I had cleaned my muzzie the night before a bit of oil had built up in the bottom of the barrel and when I poured my powder down it just turned into sludge with NO chance of igniting. From that day on my diligence in cleaning and being very careful with the oil was not taken lightly. I still see him in my dreams. :twisted:

[hunter1947]

That's what makes you feel good inside yourself doing things like that you did the right thing telling the other to shoot the deer ,the thing you did is why you will never forget.;-). It's not what you get at times ,it's what you give is that counts. Good on you ,:smile:.

[TravisC]

Good day Greatwhite. That was you and I myfriend. after i turned around i headed to the bottom end of that cut where i was able to sneek up to about 30 yards of the 4 does that bugger was with but i could never get a line on him. I never got a chance to see him go into the bush while i was trying to stop the truck. Did you 2 ever get another glimps of him?

[TravisC]

well I don't think an event like the one mentioned as a screw up, but not putting your dad's truck in gear with the E-BRAKE on when getting out on a hill ,sure would have made for some tense moments in camp I would imagine !!




Well I'd say i was good for a laugh or two in camp. if it wasn't your truck how about almost backing over my gun. :roll:

[greatwhitehunter_30.06]

We never saw him again! spend 3 more mornings in there and never saw him again...lots of little bucks, but not him. I was trophy hunting there and I would have ripping at him if I had a better angle. I had one chance to shoot as he was heading into the bottom of the draw where you saw him, but all I had was ass and antlers to shoot at so I chose not to shoot at that time figuring I would get a better chance. I didn't get that chance, but that is how it goes!!;-)


Good day Greatwhite. That was you and I myfriend. after i turned around i headed to the bottom end of that cut where i was able to sneek up to about 30 yards of the 4 does that bugger was with but i could never get a line on him. I never got a chance to see him go into the bush while i was trying to stop the truck. Did you 2 ever get another glimps of him?

[TravisC]

Not sure if there's more threads out there with these kind of stories. This thread was a from a few years ago now but lets see if anyone else has some good stories to share to get us in that mood for this opening season. Good luck to everyone and lets hope we can all have a good laugh at some more mishaps. Its not always about the bagging of an animal but the memories :)

[tigrr]

1982 in Hudsons Hope country and my father in law and I went moose hunting. I walked for miles along a valley looking for a bull moose. At the 5 mile point and about to turn around I came upon a little clearing and low and behold there stood 5 moose. 2 cows with calves and a bull. I lined up on the bull and a thought went through my head you will have to pack this animal back 5 miles by yourself because of the father in laws heart condition. I wished those 5 moose well and walked back to where he was waiting by the truck. Still to this day I haven't shot a moose.

[wideopenthrottle]

i was trying to organise a hunt but was unable to find a hunting partner .....my wife is from the UK and as adventurous as she is, hunting was a bit of a stretch for her....so i said Anne "why don't we get a hotel in osoyoos, you go shopping during the day while i hunt in rock creek"...she liked the idea and so that was the plan...

Anne was really thrilled with the idea of this and told a few of her friends...one of her friends actually was with a guy who had done some hunting but had not been out for a few years....over a few beers it was decided that we would go as couples with Anne and her friend to spend the day shopping while her friends husband and i went to rock creek...

we stayed in a fairly nice hotel right on the water near to the hill that heads to rock creek and got up early before light, guns over our shoulders, and down the elevators to the SUV in the parkade under the hotel...we even saw a muley doe in town with 2 generations of fawns behind her as we left in the wee hours to head to rock creek...

we hunted all morning and after no luck we headed back to hook up with the ladies for lunch...we ended up wasting too much time and it was turning into more of a holiday than a hunting trip so we decided to just head out with a vengence the next day enjoying our "fancy hunting" trip in town....

The next morning we headed out before dawn again and ran into the town muley doe with the fawns on our way to go to my honey hole just past rock creek....we got there just as it was almost shooting light and spotted a doe right away as we parked the truck..i kinda knew where she would likely go so i sent Pete to intercept her and set out on a 2 km loop that i liked to go around in my several years of experience with this spot hoping to find a decent buck or a doe if no bucks were to be had....

sure enough after about 1/2 an hour i hear a bang...i decide to cut short my loop and head towards the bang and sure enough Pete has gotten the doe..i help him gut it and dragging it out....

i had a tarp with me to keep the SUV clean and we loaded her into the back and headed to another spot, near by, that i had also had some luck with in the past.... as we were on the last day that we could realistically hunt that weekend we did not go back to town..

when we got to the 2nd spot we hung the deer to drain the rest of the blood off and cleaned the the blood off the tarp and hung it up to dry as well....after we ate a bit of lunch, we loaded up the deer into the 4runner and he headed back to the hotel to touch base with the ladies while i was going to see if we could get another one... i decided to sit in a good spot on an open area next to a big ridge and got comfortable sitting on the ground with a tree to my back...

i heard some noise way up on the ridge and decided to do a bit of rattling with a small antler and a shoulder blade i had found nearby....i was patiently waiting but eventually coulnt tell if the sounds were a deer or my heart beating and i started to nod off..

when i awoke there was a really nice buck and two does off to my left at about 60 feet away ..the does were moving away slowly but the buck was standing there broadside, looking away from me...as I quickly gathered my wits to take the shot, i raised up for a double lung on him and slowly squeezed....CLICK.....the bucks butt hole puckered as he perked up at the click sound and looked my way very surprised.....i tried to chamber a round as slowly as i could while he stood there with our eyes locked..i think it was because i was trying to go so slow that the bullet jammed and wouldn't feed ....the buck was still staring at me....i finally had to forcefully eject the jammed shell and rammed another in....as i raised up all i could see was his ass disappearing into the thick stuff.....i looked for him for another hour before my ride came back but no luck....i'll never forget the reaction of the buck to the clicking sound while swung his head from looking away from me to staring straight at me