What was the dumbest thing....

[trkyhntr]

you ever did on stand? A couple of years ago I was out bowhunting. I was running late and was in a hurry to get up the tree. I got up there and was getting ready to pull the bow up and forgot to tie the bow rope on. So I had to go back down to get it.

Another time I was in my treestand I had my gloves on cause it was kinda cold out. I had to get my call out of my pocket, that was under my clothes, so I took my gloves off, took my release off my wrist and stuck it under my armpit. When I got my call out, I went to put my gloves on and you guessed it, I dropped my release on the ground! I just said the hell with it and sat there pissed!

[stackenem]

I have forgot my release once and dropped it several times now it has its own rope.

[timhicks]

The dumbest thing I ever did,,humm there are so many!! somtimes I can be a total blonde,go figure. Well it was about 7 years ago I got a new bow, it was a new pearson I was so proud I went over to a freinds to shoot and his brother was looking at my bow and said may I see it I handed it to him and watched him draw it back and dryfire it before I could say NOOOOOOOOO!! I was sick when the cams slapped the cables off and wrapped around his arm and wrist. I was devastated. It was like 2 weeks before hunting season and I had no spare. I went the next day and had it overnighted to pearson, I told them what happened and they had no problems helping me out. I got it back 3 days before opening morning. I got it sighted back in and ready, and opening morn I climbed into my quadpod and set down I pulled my bow uo and had deer all around me,before I was even sitting good, I saw some deer eating down the fence row on some acorns, and leaned out a bit to get a better view, my bow slid off my lap and sounded like a shotgun going off , it had fell just right and came apart again,,, I was sick I watched deer for about 2 hours and finally went home explaining to my wife what happened, she was hot! She had got the bow for our anniversary or however you spell it. I got a new bow about a week later ,and did get a deer that year but you asked for stupid stuf,, Tim

[loserchumpandfool]

okay here goes.i was hunting a ridgetop that had about 40 oaks that were producing acorns.i had my climber in the same tree as i had had it in for 5 years in a ROW.for 5 years deer going thru the cedars would either come out of it to the left of my tree or go straight to the neighbors field.i was getting ready for the sun was close to dipping over the horizon,primetime.i heard a step over my right shoulder and there stood 2 P&Y 10 points.one was a 130 class one was pushing 150.i got stood up and had my release on the string.i was going to let them pass and an easy 8 yard quartering away shot.i let the smaller go by and when the bigger one gave me the perfect chip shot i went to draw my bow.now here is the dumb part.i couldnt draw back for the safety strap was in the way.i tried moving it with my elbow but there was no moving it so as i held my bow in 1 hand i loosend the strap with my other.i got it loose enough that i slid back a bit and it fell to my knees were i caught by bowing my legs out so it wouldnt clank the stand.i went to draw and at that time the bucks stepped behind a tree and started walkin directly away from me.by the time they cleared that tree they were 40 yds away and no shot.i watched them feed away on acorns headed toward the neighbors corn field never to be seen again.you would think that sometime in 5 YEARS i woulda figgered out that i couldnt draw and shoot to the right side of my stand but every single deer that had came outta the cedars went to the left side of the tree so i never realized it until it was to late.[in a homer simpson voice]DOH

[mrjbigfoot]

All right, I guess I'll tell my big rookie storie

I got permission to hunt on a farm that was in the big hill country within a mile of the Ohio river & the 1st time I went to hunt was with my bow. I parked down in the bottoms & made about a 400 foot (sea level) trek up an old logging road, in the dark, to the top of the ridge. In the pre-dawn light, I could see the hay fields running up & down the ridge & there was a thick intersecting fence row between an upper & lower field. I walked about 75 more yards to where the fence row intersection was & found a tree that had an old wood stand up in it, so I climbed up got set & started looking around. The 1st thing I noted was an old barn over across the upper field about 400 yards away that looked like it had a vehicle parked next to it. The next thing I noted, as it was just starting to get a little lighter out, was what looked like a hereford cow walking down the far side of the hay field heading towards the barn. It got to where the tractor path was that led to the barn but then it turned & started crossing the hay field coming towards my side. All the while, it was getting lighter & I was trying to figure out just what I was looking at... It made it to about 1/2 way across the field & that's when it raised it's head up. What I thought was the white face of a cow, was the monster white rack of a huge buck... That's when I started freaking out... The buck continued across the field with his nose to the ground most of the time on a path where he was going to intersect with the woods edge about 80 yards up from where I was at in the fence row... He entered the edge of the woods & made a turn on a trail that was coming my way right down through a thicket of multi-flora rose & then I really started freaking out because it was getting lighter all the time & I was catching even better glimpses of how big his dang rack was ... If he made it all the way to where I was, there was a decent opening for a clear 20 yard shot & I started positioning myself for that... He made it all the way to within 35 yards, bobbing up & down and then he stopped dead in his tracks, raised his head & started sniffing the breeze that, at that moment, I realized was blowing right across the back of my neck... He very gracefully turned, ducked down a little & started scooting out slowly & quietly back up the edge of the woods with me trying to get my knees to stop shaking.... Well a little while later, here comes this guy, from up out of the woods below me.... He sees me, walks up & we have a quick conversation about who I am & that I have permission, he then gets real nice & asks me if I've seen anything and I proceed to tell him the story... at the end of which, with a very disgusted look on his face, he explains how he'd drug his scent rag all the way from the vehicle parked next to the barn... down to a position in the woods where the wind would be in his favor... He was pissed! I felt stupid as ever! And 3 days later I found out I didn't have permission to hunt there any more because he was apparently real good friends with the owner. Oh well, crap happens, looking back on it, I would've been friggin pissed to...

[beesobrien]

Here's one I will never live down.....

I did some heavy scouting in two different areas in 2003 and was gearing up to give one of these spots a go.

Both spots were about a mile from where i was parked but they were about 10 miles apart. The night before opening day i decided to take my stand to the first location (both location had plenty of deer and they both had identical 8 pointers in the areas).

So i walked my stand up to the spot and headed home. When i woke up the next morning i was about ten minutes behind so i was in a hurry too much of a hurry.

After i parked the vehicle i gathered up my bow and pack and began walking back the trail. I got about 200 yards back and i realized that i was going to the wrong to my other spot and not where i had took my tree stand the night before.

So with dawn on the horizon i was pretty much done for because there was no way i'd get over to the other spot where my stand was in time. So i stayed in that spot found a log and sat on it 20 minutes later i had myself a doe out of the way.

humans are entitled to error I guess, but ive done it all. Not tying the bow to the string to pull it up, forgetting my bow, rifle and shotgun, leaving my gun by a tree and dragging the deer back to the house and realizing i forgot the gun.....i could go on and on

I even forgot to pick up partners, which seems to never go over well

[turk2di]

Musta been 25years ago, but i had to go real bad and i had nuttin to go in Didn't want to climb out of my tree as it was prime time, sooooooooooooo, i used my flashlight . It didn't.....er couldn't, hold it all

[mrjbigfoot]

Heck, I pissed right out of a stand one time, squirted a bunch of doe in heat down on it after I was done & I had a rag hanging up in the tree with me. I figured I wasn't going to see anything after I pissed but 20 minutes later here comes this buck from down wind & I stuck him with an arrow!

[tuffbroadhead]

Yeap, here's my story and I'm stickin to it....I was hunting a special buck that I had patterend really well and it came that magical moment of truth, me looking at a sweet looking non-typical that would gross around 150 P/Y and I told myself that I would draw when he was behind the tree at 13 yards from where I was kneeling on the ground by a trail... He went behind the tree I started to draw and second guessed my self and stopped... (BAD IDEA) he fed behind that tree for a couple of minutes and took a few more steps out into a pasture.. His head went into the deep grass and I attemped to draw only to be BUSTED!! at less than ten yards.. I went ahead and came to full draw a scared the buck somewhat.. He trotted over to a tree that I had allready ranged at exacly 48 yards... He looked for a breif second and then just looked the other way. I made the choice to let her rip!! In my hast e I used my 50 yard pin and put the arrow in the tree just above the bucks back....then came the worst insult.. the buck jumped a bit and turned and started to smell the arrow that was now stuck in the tree, then and only then did he blow and run away..... Only if I would have just drawn whe I had planned instead of second geussing myself..

[rjet]

Spent all day sitting in a climber in a pouring rain while bow hunting, saw a few small ones that I let walk. Was pretty warm out so like an idiot just sat out there and got myself and equipment drenched. My bow was new so when I got to camp I wiped it down real good paying real close attention to it. Got out in the same area next morning and a decent buck came out at aroune 7 yards from me. Put my release on the string and it wouldnt lock on, the trigger would move back and forth freely. Spent so much time on the bow didnt even think about oiling the release up.

[sj]

Turkey hunted all morning with an unloaded gun.

[rjet]

sj said:

Turkey hunted all morning with an unloaded gun.

Thats a good one.

Here's my recurring dumb move:
Isnt a year go by that one morning I get up and go to the stand early and when the sun comes up realize I forgot to wear my glasses or put contacts in.

[midrivers]

I had a 9 pointer with about a 16 inch spread walk up on me 4 years ago. One of those crispy mornings I could hear him coming for 45 seconds. Ihad all hte timeinhte world, was all setup readyto go. Scoped him, pulled the trigger and KLICK!!! Left the safety on the 30-30. Hunted for so many years with the half-cock only models. I was rather pissed. I did however recover and lay the smack down on him. Why he stuck around to figure out what that noise was I will never know. Pretty dumb! ( I have lots better stories, but this is on par witht he rest. I will tell if you will tell)

[bbbh]

My buddy and I got up at 2:30 and drove 3 hrs to vinton county to bow hunt upon arrival I relized I had left my hunting tags at home so I put my bow back in the truck and decided to just do some scouting for next time we come. I found a really good spot and decided to just sit there for awhile. 20 min later a 140 class P&Y walked to within 10 yrds of where I was sitting.

[clearwaterart]

haven't got to hunt out of a stand because my dumbest thing I did was at a bear baiting site. I hung my stand and restocked the bait site. I don't know what I was thinking because I put my harness in a bag with my micro torch for honey burns and couple bottles of anise/molasses, and the best part a bottle of bacon grease. Now was I smart enough to put it up a tree, no I stuck it under a bush close by. So the next day I went into the site and I was pissed because some one come on to private property and stole my bag with my harness in it. them I found the bag about 30 yards away all tore up, never did find the harness or anything else from it.