OPENING DAY BLUNDERS!!

[ibillfish]

Since its sooo quiet around here days before the opener, give up your favoirte first day of hunting season goof up. Everyone has them. I know I try to hunt regardless of the weather just to get past that day I know is going to be HELL!! LOL! Ive done everything from forgetting my arrows or release. Getting turned around in the woods, climbing stand hanging on every friggin vine in the woods, sweating like a pig when finally find the damn tree. So lets hear em!!

[crookedup09]

I got to the stand and climbed up and realized i frogot my release....now it is buckled to my bow at all times. without fail I will always drop something to trying to get settled in. Its gonna be gloves or a face mask everytime. Im getting pretty excited after seeing the weather change for next week for sure

[drake2006_327]

Agree on the weather change. hope they are right and it does cool off. Lets see opening day two years ago. i climb the tree and forgot to tie my bow to the string, so went to climb down the tree and bottom half of my stand fell half way down the tree. I was stuck up the tree with deer with in shooting range at day light with a half of a stand and no bow and the breakfast that i hate that morning calling me. Very unpleasant!

[msbigdawg1234]

Too many to list over the yrs...but the best one with a good out come was in '01...had seen a good bachelor group several times in a bottom scouting and hanging stands...so opening morn get in the stand and nuttin stirred till that after noon and they stayed out of range the whole time....next morn get in the tree and realize my release in still in the truck and too far to go get and spare is at the house on counter, forgot to put in the pack after i cleaned it out night before.....so i was just gona sit and watch for while ..bout 830 as you would have it here they come down the bottom feeding straight to me.....nice 9pt came right in to 15yds wide open shot so decide to give it the ole 3 finger try and shot right over his back....the other 2 ran back up the bottom bout 90yds and he ran right past the tree bout 100 yds out and then turned and walked back to get to his buddies....came right under me facing away and i plugged him in top of the back...spread eagle 5 feet from the tree...got to love them second chances.......

[LawDawg]

I too got to the stand without my release around 4 years ago. Instead of going back to the truck to get it, I decided that I would stay (fingers shoot the same as a release, right?). well, an 8 pointer comes out and I draw on him, settle my pin behind his shoulder and release and the deer does a back flip. I go to where I shot him and I have never seen so much in my life. Long story short, using fingers I shot left about 2 feet and up 2 feet, hitting him sqaure in the jugular. I was very lucky in that I didn't injure the deer, but I will never do that again.

I had no clue how much of a difference a release made as far as impact point.

[ibillfish]

One of the funniest, and kinda one of those "you had to be there" moments, happend a couple of years ago. I was headed into a evening location I wanted to hunt. There were several very steep hills I had to go up and down. I had an Ol'Man vision stand on my back, you know the one with the big shooting rail that you use as a foot rest during bow season.... I also had my back pack hanging over the back of my stand. Im going down one of the steep hills and I friggin go to step over a fallen tree and somehow I slip. HEAD FIRST into the ground. My feet were up on the log and my arms were underneath me I assume because I was trying to catch myself, It happend so quick I had no idea where my bow went, but I was stuck!! I could not roll over because of the rail on the damn stand plus I was facing down hill and the stand had slid up and basically pinned me down. After a few minutes I finnally wormed my way down a bit and got my arms around and got up!! It was quite funny but at the same time not because I would have never thought that I could have gotten pinned down like that!! Needless to say I did not hunt that evening!! We had a big laugh about it that night at the camp!

[msbigdawg1234]

Never forget this story....old friend of my dads use to hunt with recurve and hypo needles back when i was kid...he and my dad were hunting along Still Bayou my dad shot a spike out of the group and the rest of the deer ran down the bank towards his buddy...dad said he was only bout 80 -100 yds down and actually heard the bow break....his buddy pulled back and a limb broke.....they said the deer were everywhere and did not know where the sound came from and settled down and started feeding in the flat and then decided to cross the bayou..which was very low at the time.....dads buddy was right above the big crossing cut in the bank and the deer funneled under him....so instead of being able to shoot one he just waited for the right time and dropped an arrow straight down and it hit one in the hind quarter deer made it across and fell dead on the other bank.....they hunted with some bad stuff in them hypos back in the day......lol

[Jelly]

Never forget this story....old friend of my dads use to hunt with recurve and hypo needles back when i was kid...he and my dad were hunting along Still Bayou my dad shot a spike out of the group and the rest of the deer ran down the bank towards his buddy...dad said he was only bout 80 -100 yds down and actually heard the bow break....his buddy pulled back and a limb broke.....they said the deer were everywhere and did not know where the sound came from and settled down and started feeding in the flat and then decided to cross the bayou..which was very low at the time.....dads buddy was right above the big crossing cut in the bank and the deer funneled under him....so instead of being able to shoot one he just waited for the right time and dropped an arrow straight down and it hit one in the hind quarter deer made it across and fell dead on the other bank.....they hunted with some bad stuff in them hypos back in the day......lol

you are right about the hypos. Saw a guy shoot a nice 8 point in the knee about 20 years ago and it ran about 80 yards and died.. that stuff always scared the hell out of me

[rciii]

Several years ago headed out, on the way to my spot walk up on a cottomouth (red flag #1). Get away from my squiggly, get to my tree. At time was using a loc-on with the chain. Got up the tree, stand hooked on and step out on the platform. Had just slipped my safty harness on, the old slip knot type and turned to face the tree when the bottom fell out. Dropped like a stone and the safty strap pinned my right hand against the tree about breaking my thumb. Finally able to get my wits about me, get my hand free and get down. After getting down took a look at what happened and i had hooked the chain on the small hook and not the proper hook. That was strike 3 for me that day, i got my marbles and went home.

[Take 'em]

drove about an hour away from home for an afternoon hunt and got everything out the truck and realized i had left my quiver at the house with all my arrows. decided h3ll, i am going to get something out of the drive so decided to go scout some land i hadn't been on of ours and got lost. needless to say my arrows stay in my case now and i have gps on me at all times.

and have dropped countless things out of the tree. hate that when in a climbing stand

[duramax]

I remember when I lived in Canada that my first day in the stand (first day bow hunting ever too) I forgot my harness in the car so I went back and got it, finally got in the stand and got settled in. In all the rush I forgot to knock an arrow before hanging my bow. Didn't realize it until a nice 8 point popped out about 50 yards away and I couldn't move without it spotting me. Tried to move as slow as I could but he busted me.

[duramax]

Never forget this story....old friend of my dads use to hunt with recurve and hypo needles back when i was kid...he and my dad were hunting along Still Bayou my dad shot a spike out of the group and the rest of the deer ran down the bank towards his buddy...dad said he was only bout 80 -100 yds down and actually heard the bow break....his buddy pulled back and a limb broke.....they said the deer were everywhere and did not know where the sound came from and settled down and started feeding in the flat and then decided to cross the bayou..which was very low at the time.....dads buddy was right above the big crossing cut in the bank and the deer funneled under him....so instead of being able to shoot one he just waited for the right time and dropped an arrow straight down and it hit one in the hind quarter deer made it across and fell dead on the other bank.....they hunted with some bad stuff in them hypos back in the day......lol

you are right about the hypos. Saw a guy shoot a nice 8 point in the knee about 20 years ago and it ran about 80 yards and died.. that stuff always scared the hell out of me

What do you mean by hypo needles? Did they hook needles to the arrow with poison in them?

[DUCKAHOLIC]

it lookked like a syringe on the end of your arrrow,,,it held liquid anctine. The needle poped them like a tranqualizer gun

[southernvaughan]

Forgot release, forgot to change arrows in quiver to my hunting arrows, dropped the bottom of the Ol Man all the way to the damn ground. Had to shimmy down hickory tree like a squirell. Had a black coyote walk up on me last year while I was relieving myself in a bottle... it goes on and on....

[cockandlock25]

Several years ago I was hunting a creek bottom and drank a big cup of coffee before going hunting that morning. I got to my tree and proceeded to start climbing in my climbing stand. My belt was a little tight and my stomach started to churn about halfway up the tree. I figured it would go away after I got up and sat down to hunt. Well it didn't. About 20 min into my hunt I started sweating bullets. That coffee hit me hard and I couldn't make it down the tree. Dropped my pants from 25 feet up and did work hanging off my climber. Needless to say my opening day hunt was over cause no deer within a mile was gonna come in there after that!