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Admissions by a bowhunter

The climbing stand thread got me thinking about some of the bonehead stuff I've done when bowhunting. So... now we can share our stories on this thread. I'll start...

Got out of the truck a full hour before first light, put my API climber on my back and headed into the woods to a favorite spot. Got to the base of the tree, took off the stand, placed it perfectly on the tree, pulled about 6 feet of my strapper-retreiver out to hook my bow to it, and then realize my bow was still in the truck. Hoofed it back to the truck, fetched said bow, hoofed it back to the tree, climbed up to 25 feet and got all set up right at first light... sweating like a pig. Ten minutes later, I shot a doe.

Hunted the am in the pouring rain. Mid day broke for lunch and dry clothes. Headed back for the pm sit and, as I'm getting out of my truck, realized my bow was back home hanging in the shed to dry. To late to make the round trip so called it a day. That's one of many.......

Ha... I'm sitting in a new stand last year (lock on) which I had never used before so I was unfamiliar with everything about the set up. Someone brought me there in the dark this particular morning. I settle in and its super dark out still. I gotta piss like crazy so I let it rip. Finish up, and realize I never pulled my bow up.... YUP, pissed ALL over my bow. Hahah what an idiot.

You talk about forgetting things... I forgot my harness last year. Ran back to the house to get it, sweating like a pig, 20 mins late... ended up shooting a bear from the ground with my bow on the way in to the stand after grabbing my harness. That one worked out okay!

My biggest bonehead was 3 years ago. I shot a doe last light of last day of archery. Of course it ran for someones yard so we let it go to be sure it was down. Went back later and the Yotes had made a mess of it. Fast forward to Monday morning shotgun opener. Im sitting in stand at just after 7 I hear something coming. Yup a yote. So I let it close the gap to 20 yds and let the lead fly. It did a cartwheel and alot of thrashing and yelping and I was cracking up. Mind you I shoot a pump. So I just left it there when it died. half hour later I see a dandy 7pt below me angling up the hill about 70yds out. I put the crosshairs on him when he stopped broadside. Pulled the trigger....nothing. Forgot to eject the shell when I shot the yote! Couldnt believe I didnt eject that round. I lowered the gun and very slowly pulled that forearm back and stopped just before the shell popped out. Then I got the crosshairs on him again made the final pull cycled the round and let it fly. Dropped in his tracks. Lady luck was with me that day.

Got to my tree on time, attached retrieving line on bow and placed it just so on the ground, using my climber went up about 20 feet, got all setup, screwed in my hanger and then realized I had never attached the other end of my retrieving line to my belt loop for climbing. Had to climb all the way down and repeat.

Got to my tree, climbed up 20', pulled up my bow and got settled in and realized I had lost my release on the way in. Climbed back down and traced my steps back, spent about 30 minutes fumbling around before I actually found it! Climbed back, sweating like a pig and needless to say I did not see a deer in that stand for the rest of the season, lol. Last time I leave the truck without the release strapped to my wrist.

was hunting in IL and got to the stand w/ the guide and realized that I had forgotten my release. He brought the other guys in and then brought me back to get it and brought me in late. Jumped a shooter within shooting range of my stand on the way in. Ugh.

Hahaha great thread. I've got a few good ones. A few years ago I was planning to hunt right after high school. Had all my clothes and gear in the truck, and headed to the stand right after school. Got over there and realized my release was at my house! Was going to say screw it, and shoot free hand if one came in. Decided not to, and battled my way through traffic all the way to my house, then back to the stand. Got up with probably 45 mins of day light left. 5 mins after climbing up a big 8 point came by and I shot him literally right under the stand. Never found him though, not a great shot angle.......

Another good one.. After hunting a morning till 930, it was time to get down. I lowered my bow all the way to the ground. Hear a stick snap, and look over to see a doe coming straight at me.. Quickly pull the bow back up, knock an arrow, and shot that deer at 10 yards! Actually found that one though.

Last one.. My buddy let a #2 fly from his climber last year. After cleaning up with his socks and what not he had a doe come by. Still no boots one. Shot and killed that deer hahahah

Classic moons. Reminds me of my buddy. He got down and did the #2. Hopped back up the tree. Few minutes later his neighbors 2 golden retrievers showed. Rolled all over his pile..............

really ..no buddy has done anything more embarrassing than the above posts. Really....never tripped on a root, fell flat on your face and bent your shotgun barrel? you should try it its a good excuse to buy a new gun. thou I can top it.

so I should start by saying Im a real tuff guy, afraid of nothing, some might even call me fearless... ok im afraid of spiders. so im sitting on a real nice river crossing with a heck of a funnel leading right towards me. its opening day so naturally I've taken the day of from work to sit all day. around nine I realize their is something crawling up my arm. Im saying it was huge, thou it probably wasn't. naturally I lose it like a little girl arms swinging in all directions. when the dust settles Im standing on the edge of the river saying.. were the hell is my bow? after a short swim to find my bow at the bottom of the river I went home to change my cloths and regroup. make's forgetting your release in the truck seem like pretty normal stuff ha.

I'm afraid of bats. Quite a number of years ago my oldest boy and I were getting into a ground blind and I saw there was a bat in it. Sent my son in to get it out. He was about 8. Many years down the road now, he still likes to tell the story.

Moons,that was my second buck last year,packed ,lowered the bow,here he comes down a hill right toward me. He held up in some brush for a minute or two,long enough to get the bow back up the tree. Wacked him as soon as he stepped out. The funniest stuff always happened with my oldest son. The first time I let him go off by himself, I gave him a radio. He sets up his blind and I get a call asking me "Dad,are fishercats dangerous? Because they keep going in and out of this tree stump next to me." Yeah,you should probably move! Lol Sometimes my mind starts playing tricks on me in the woods. I'm standing at the junction of two trails,waiting for my son ,who at this point is 18 and getting big. He's running late,and usually he's there before me, so I'm starting to worry. All of a sudden I see a large figure coming up the trail right at me. No matter how hard I looked, or how close he got,I couldn't make out a face. For some reason my mind went directly to... GHOST! At about 15 feet,right before complete panic set in and I took off running, I realized it was my son. He could tell from the look on my face something was up. "You ok dad?" I did what any parent would do,turn it around." Where have you been? I was worried sick? Do you own a phone or what?" Lol

Eastie, that's my favorite. I'm still laughing. My story is not that bad yet, as I'm still a rookie. I go out on the first day of shotgun with my buddy. I setup in the field, he is in the swamp. I put out so much doe in estrus it smells like a french wh@r $ house. My buddy could smell it 500 yards away. He is just laughing at me. Asking if I'm starting a new profession. Of course the big 11 pointer comes past him before getting to me. He gets the shot and buck. I get to help field dress, drag, and forget my stool in the woods. Oh well, it was still fun. I was back at it the next day.

Shot two deer in one morning 1.5 mi back with a pretty steep uphill drag and no game cart. Took me 6 hours and several borrowed bottles of water (thank goodness for the guy in the parking lot who keeps a case of waters in his trunk!). I was wrecked. Never, ever again.

^thats a good problem to have!

I have shot several deer over or in close proximity to a #2 pile... lol I used to get angry about this kind of stuff, but I have had great luck when hunts start out wrong over the years... weather it be forgetting my release, having my bow come off the pull string in the climber and having to climb back down and up, running late, etc... I've grown to accept it and rather than get angry, just go with it. As the stories about show, you never know!

In PA a few years ago I had a doe come in perfect. 15 yards broadside. Draw back and let it fly. Miss. She bounces five yards closer to me and has no idea what happened. Knock arrow number 2, draw, and let it fly. Miss! She doesn't even move. Knock arrow number 3. Draw and let it fly. Miss! All out of arrows. You gotta me shittin me right. I climb down out of the stand with the deer watching me the whole time. Hop on the 4 wheeler and drive back to camp. Grab the block target and a few field points. Bow was shooting 8" high at ten yards. Made the adjustments, broke open a brand new pack of broadheads and went back to the same stand. Literally 20 mins of light left. Not 2 mins after getting back up the same deer comes back. 15 yards double lung and watched her drop!

That is great Moons! I shot a small buck in ct a few years back. he came in and I shot and pulled it and hit a sapling right square in the middle. I could see my arrow in the tree. When I shot, he bounded closer... now he's at 10 yards. Didn't miss him the next time, even though he was looking right up at me the entire time putting the new arrow on, adjusting my peep, and drawing. I was w/ my buddy bear hunting in one time and was videoing him. He shot at a bear and missed to the right in front of the bear. It jumped, but stood about 5' from the shot looking around. He knocked another and shot again and hit a tree in between us about 12' up. This time the bear just stood there. He noticed his rest had moved on the way in, but thankfully he marked it prior. So he adjusted it. At this point I'm looking at the arrow stuck in the try still wobbling... I start laughing.... I can't stop. Like a kid in a classroom w/ the giggles. Then he starts laughing... the bear is looking up at us. I can't pull it together... as soon as I do, I look at the arrow in the tree and laugh again... finally, we (and the bear) settle down and he shoots it... We still laugh about this.

This is awesome, and Ill reread it all summer I think. Two that come to mind: 1.) Shoot a few in the basement, then drive 45' to Z6 and a stand I like early season. Get to tree, climb tree, realize I had no release. Ugh. Well, no chance to drive back and get in a tree so I enjoyed the sit - and watched a deer work by - to far for a shot thankfully or I may have taken up spear hunting. You can throw arrow's right? 2.) I head into a spot with my wife. She gets in the A tree and has a super morning seeing a spike and a giant 10 (ended up scoring high 140's after a buddy shot it during ML later in the year) but she had no shots. I was up on a high ridge above her, and as I'm setting the stand a deer is coming, it's dark, and I'm 5' up, I freeze, and the deer just circles and heads off. Oh well. I get set, 20~ up and relax, all set for a nice drizzly November morning. then it hit. Like firefly to a windshield on a hot summers night... the #2 was glowing hot, ready to fly. I had moments. Mess myself or try to loosen the full body harness, undo my suspenders, get several layers down, poop, missing the stand - hopefully, and use something, undies perhaps, to wipe. I tried option two and managed to pull it off.. I rattled 20' later and had a real nice buck come over the hill, but he quartered and was a little to far out when he managed to get a few whiffs. He was down hill, probably 40' below me. Had he kept coming I'd have had a steep, but solid shot. Instead, that number 2, I think, created the stink that steered him north.

Once I was pinned down in a suburban spot I hunted, sorta... I'd set up in a ground blind and a teen boy-girl showed up and decided to risk parenthood. I'd ducked and literally laid on the ground when they appeared so they wouldnt see me - hoped they would just walk by. Instead I waited for darkness to "escape".

Same spot I had a nice basket rack 6 on the way when I hear something coming... it's a pack of probably 10-12 year old boys on bmx bikes. I duck behind a log and lay down to avoid them freaking at the camo blob and running to tell mom and dad, when to my right, the buck jumps twice out of the brush he was hiding in and ends up well in range just to my right. The deer and I stayed there till they left, then the deer just stared where they exited the field of view for about 15' - not moving... till he picked up on me.

I could continue... but for today, that is it.

Its funny to see how many people have success on those days were nothing is going right. That's happened to me many more times than I would think.

Mons, that doe looked up, saw it was you and figured she was safe.

:o)

That must have been a while ago because judging from last season I'd say it's pretty evident that nowadays no deer is safe around moons...

Drove all the way to the Berkshires during muzzleloader. I go to put a cap on an old school muzzleloader and realize it is the wrong size as I bought a new nipple for it. Had to drive 45 minutes to gunshop to buy right size caps and drove all the way back. Needless to say unlike you guys I saw zip that day.

I had a couple doozies last year. One morning before first light I was hiking in with my climber on my back. Coming down a steep section one of the cables caught a branch or a root or something and sent me toppling forward down the steep hill. Me, my climber and my bow tumbled down the hill into a large rock at the bottom. I was a little bloody, but otherwise fine. After all that ruckus I of course saw no deer.

I have developed a tradition of taking my hang-on stands down a few days after the season. My process goes like this: climb up remove stand, lower stand, remove and lower steps. When down at the bottom with stand and all steps removed I unhook from my life line and realize I have no way to get the life line down.

Last one. Also last season, a doe came in and gave me a shot at no more than 15 yards behind my tree, but I still had what I thought was a great angle, all I had to do was sneak the arrow over the branch which my back pack was hanging from. I draw, settle the pin and release. Thwack! At first I didn't realize what happened. I had shot the arrow through the pack and pinned it to the branch, the fletching hadn't even made it out of the rest.

These are all great stories. Hfc I realize in some cases the lifeline can be brought down the tree with you, when dismantling things, while still keeping it (and you) tied to the tree. But in cases where that's not possible, while up at the top taking down the stand, I tie my haul line to the big loop of the lifeline. Then when I'm back on the ground, I give the haul line a good yank, and in that way I can undo the lifeline from the ground.

This is not a bowhunting admission... but it is still a hunt-gone-wrong story. I definitely chalk this one up to "buck fever."

I had just bought my first muzzleloader and was sitting on the edge of a field in the late afternoon. A decent buck came out and was about 100 yards moving along the far side of the field. When I figured he was at his closest point, being totally comfortable with that range based on siting it in a few days earlier, I took the shot. When the smoke cleared, there stood the buck, totally unharmed and looking around. So I pulled out my "possibilities bag" and promptly pushed the Powerbelt bullet into the barrel with my thumb... then looked in the bag at the Pyrodex pellets. Ummm... the powder was supposed to go in first! After a couple of minutes, the buck just walked off.

Then I noticed a small limb was freshly split about 10 feet from me.

First time hunting with a climber. Got it at SmallMart and it had no instructions. I was bright enough to wear the harness. It also came with two 6 foot strings which I couldn't figure out what they were for. No matter; 4 am comes and I'm climbing 25' up a tree. I think " Wow this is awesome" and precede to fall asleep as the tree was in a gentle sway. An hour or so goes by and to my left about 70 yards away I see about 5 deer running . I pick my target and fire. I see her tumble, get up run for 20 yards and crash. I'm psyched!!! I steady my nerves and attach my Winchester 30-30 to my lift line and lower it to the ground. I then proceed to "climb down". I'm about 15 feet from the ground and I'm still locking my feet into the lower climber bungie style ropes when the bungie lets go. The lower platform falls to the ground and I'm there trying to hold myself up on the upper part. I was not the gymnast type in High School soooo after about 30 sec I'm now hanging by my harness... which is cutting off circulation to my legs and arms. I realize I'm screwed unless I can get my own ass out of this situation as there is NO ONE in a 2 mile radius that can hear me yell for help. This was before we all had cell phones folks. I did and to this day always carry a sharp Swiss Army knife. So I cut one arm free of the harness, then one leg free, then the other arm free, then the last leg while holding on to the harness. I lowered myself down and just about crapped my pants as I still had to drop about 6 feet to the ground. My new climber has strings as well. They attach the upper unit to the lower unit so you don't end up in my situation.

Techfixer I know what you mean. When my platform hit the bottom I wasn't that high up but the thought of dropping down on a cockeyed platform and breaking my ankle gave me some anxiety for sure.

This thread is so awesome :). I'm not the only one to have "crazy" happen out there :) HFSC - on the life line... when pulling or installing a stand, Ill "double" up my restraints: use the linemans belt option on my harness but also the purssic. The latter I use with the life line, which I "shorten" for the trip up with a little electric tape - bundle the "tag" end of the life line so it's about the size of a normal harness, but admittedly, a bit heavier. Ill use em together so I can work around branches but always be connected. Same on the stand take down.

Got to thinking about a buddy on this one. He often hunts with a friend of his, and they share stands on several properties they have gained access to in CT and eastern MA (Dover - lucky dudes). Well, his friend missed a deer and hit a large (like 10" across) tree about 10 feet from the stand - about 10-12 feet up, dead center. So, since every time they hunted there, they got to see the arrow sticking out of the tree... Like any goof friend, my buddy made a nice plaque, went up the tree with a climber, screwed it to the tree at the arrow, so there was a nice note to read about the miss in addition to the arrow... he he he. Awesome!

back about 18 yrs ago,i was in my stand and ready to get down for lunch.so i took my knocked arrow out and let it drop.then lowered my bow to the ground.started to climb down from a nice sized multi-limbed white oak,and there is this huge buck standing under my tree looking up at me! shaking like a leaf,(as im new to bowhunting) i pull my bow up right in front of his face. iget it and ready to draw,as he is still there looking up at me....realise that my quiver is is hanging on a limb that required a stretch to get. he quietly walked away. i really think it was the biggest deer i have ever seen.

Will I heard that the Dover town hunting program has really depleted the deer there (which was the goal, I guess). My "anonymous source" said they've had about a hundred guys in the woods for a number of years, totally changed the Dover deer picture. Just repeating the story I was told, don't know how accurate it is.

My trip to Pa arrived unpacked and set up set up the trailer took the afternoon to scout found some real good sign next morning so I get back to camp and get out my hunting gear only to realize i packed my wife scent blocker i had one hell of a time fitting a large body into a small good thing it was hot that year ended up wearing camo shorts and a tee most of the week

Love the plaque on the tree story. LOL

Agree, plaque is great--can you imagine coming across that in the woods? It would make your day. Hopefully that whole affair stays put for years to come.

I bet it does guys, it's 10 or a bit more feet up... So most folks would walk right by it. he he he. Frigging hysterical! Jeb I have not hunted there, and this past year he was dealing with some really horrible challenges (health issues) so he didnt get out much. He's turned the corner and hopefully this year he gets in there. That said, it usually sounds pretty good... No idea how the town program works, they are on private land so maybe the guys push deer to them inadvertently? Not bow related, but I once missed a doe, um, about 5x... And none were running! I'd borrowed a buddies Browning A5 autoloader 20ga.. Nice gun, but action was sticky, so it "functioned" like a bolt action. I missed, reloaded, missed, they ran, I ran around the little hill, caught em on the other side, standing, repeat my misses and repeat the process 1 more time. Never touched the deer! The guys I was hunting with did the only nice thing a friend could do, at our silly deer week gathering (I was the youngest by about 35 years at the ripe age of 19-20), they gave me an old army surplus grenade with a string tied to it. Said it was a necklace I should use, and that perhaps with that, I could get a deer :). (hadn't yet shot one at that point, but had missed several or had good close calls)

I only have one bow admission. This is going to be a little lengthy. Little background for this is two days prior to the incident I drove from CT to NC unloaded a moving truck with my aunt and uncle and drove the thing back from NC to CT after a bite to eat and a small 40 min power nap. I got to my truck in CT and headed directly to my camp in VT for a long weekend of hunting. Fast forward to Thursday Oct 30th, 2008 at 330AM I arrive to my hunting camp in VT. Wake up my father uncle and brother for the morning to hunt. I get all my gear on pack my climber (Summit) and head to a spot pretty far from camp where I've seen a true swamp donkey. Literally get half way in to the spot and realize I don't have a release or my garmin radio/GPS both are in the cup holders of my truck. Oh well ill finger tab it for a close range shot. Planned an all day sit and I had a couple cliff bars and some H2O. Had good action all morning saw 8 deer none within range but needless to say it kept me on alert till about 9-930AM when I hit a wall. I became super tired from lack of real sleep in over 48 hours now I decide to try and catch some Z's in the tree. I shit you not I slept for over 8 hrs on stand. I woke up and it was almost 7PM and pitch black. My legs felt real heavy and I could barely move, my neck was in pain, and my @$$ was asleep. Apparently my family had been looking for me and tried radioing me but luckily I had a cell phone on me and shot my bro a text letting him know I was alive. I had a single mini mag light in my pack which kind of sucked TBH. Ill shorten this up by saying I got turned around on my hike back to camp headed in the wrong direction and legit had to be rescued by VT fish and game. Mind you I have been raised hunting these woods my entire life and was under the impression I could navigate them with my eyes closed. Well I learned the hard way on an overcast night in the pitch black big woods every direction feels like the right or wrong direction. Its not like here where you can blindly bush whack for a while and find a road or neighborhood. HAHA.

I think Buckshot wins lol

Geez, Buckshot... that's a scary situation. Glad it turned out okay.

Me too it was a situation I wouldn't want to be in again but I stayed calm remarkably. I was definitely frustrated with myself. I called my brother and cell service was horrible for him at our camp which is in a valley between two big mountains. I had great service in the mountains where I was but anyway he drove 10 mins to a road away from camp where we finally were able to talk. I told him I would stay put and wait for him to drive back shoot (smith and Wesson 44 MAG) and then had him call me back. I didn't hear a thing and I accepted the fact that I was turned around so I said just "make the call". A short time later I was on the phone with VT fish and game and explained my estimated whereabouts. They basically told me to hang out until I heard them physically or if they called me back. An hour and a half of them on the phone with me yelling and whistling into the darkness and me doing the same we were united. First thing the dude said was "You alright?" followed by "WTF are you doing way back here?" He showed me where I was on his GPS overlay and I really didn't believe I was over 2 miles away. Never again will I hunt so far away and without motorized vehicle access. We walked halfway back and were able to take a side by side the rest of the way on old logging roads which was oh so nice. I took the next morning off and my dad shot a descent 8 point less than 200 yards from our well house that afternoon. Go figure!!! I still catch flak from them today and likely will forever.

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