Gotta slow down and think

[lpcjon2]

I went hunting the other night before a storm front and was so pumped up I couldn't get to the area fast enough. I got in the stand after the lengthy walk in (25-30 min fast paced)and took a quick look around settled in and then it hit me. I forgot my flashlight       I was not about to go all the way back to the truck and get it,that would take way to much time.And by no means was I gonna try to navigate back to the truck after dark( I barely mark my trail to keep unwanted guest out) was a nice and early leave for me right before perfect hunting time.So just a tip do the mental checklist so you don't blow the hunt.  

[Bobhat]

Yep, I know someone who once drove all the way (1 hour) to their hunting spot and forgot their weapon.     No, it wasn't me.  

[joe ashton]

I once drove 385 miles to hunt deer and discovered I grabbed the wrong duffel bag. My lesson was I guess I don't need as much clothing as I usually take..

[Stumpkiller]

Originally posted by Bobhat:
Yep, I know someone who once drove all the way (1 hour) to their hunting spot and forgot their weapon.        No, it wasn't me.      

I once drove 40 minutes to my spot and discovered I didn't have my quiver.  Hunted with the one broadhead arrow that I had in the car as a spare (no shots offerred, anyway).

[ti-guy]

How details can ruine a hunt!

[adeeden]

I was hunting with a freind back in bc (before cellphones). We were hunting about 4 miles from each other along the same road. He drove this particular day and dropped me off at my spot.

When I got out of the truck I grabbed my bow and pack and turned around and set them on the ground so that I could grab my quiver out of the truck bed. While I was bend over laying them down he took off down the dusty gravel road in the truck! As much jumping around and arm waving as I did he still didn't see me. I spent the evening in the stand with not a single arrow and had 3 different bucks at less than 15 yards.........

Needless to say I don't let him drive anymore!

[bawana bowman]

When in college in the late 70's, I remember at the end of a week of finals I was to meet my hunting buddy at camp for 2 weeks. We lived on opposite sides of the State and didn't get together much at the time.

I was rushed because I had to take my last final Thursday morning, drive 58 miles home, load my gear in the truck, hit the grocery store, and drive 110 miles to the camp. And needed to get all accomplished in time to arrive at camp, unload, set my stand up and hunt Thursday evening.

Managed to get home on schedule and my Dad helped load the truck so I could get on my way. Bought the necessary provisions and headed to camp.

Arrived at camp and Organized my gear for the 2 weeks. Had a Black palm bow which I had recently purchased along with some cane arrows and a bamboo quiver. It was of SE Asian origin, had brought it along to show my Buddy.

He finally arrived, got his gear together and we decided to head in and set our stands. It was around 4pm and we had just enough time to set up and hunt about 2.5 hours.

We grabbed the stands and put them in back of the truck, I went into the camper to get my bow. That's when it hit me.... I was so excited to show off the Black Palm bow, I had forgotten to get my Bear T/D and quiver when I was packing!

Didn't have time to drive home, Buddy said we  could just hang the stands and go get my bow. We would just wait and hunt in the morning. I thanked him for offering to give up a hunt and drive home with me but said no way.

I grabbed that Black Palm bow and bamboo quiver with 4 cane arrows and said lets go. (I had shot this bow only once just to see how it would shoot the hand made arrows, and get an idea as to what the draw weight may be.) He thought I was nuts, (He also was a wheelie shooter and thought I was nuts using a recurve) we did the hunt and unfortunately I had no shot opportunity.

But.... my Buddy managed to take the largest buck he has ever taken with an arrow that afternoon!
An accomplishment that would never had happened if I had agreed to forgo and drive to the house for my bow.
We drove to get my bow later that evening after caring for his deer.

 I later put the Palm bow on a scale and found out that it had a 46#@28 draw. It was legal draw weight, but the homemade broadheads were under size in width to be legal. This was the first time I ever hunted with cane, and would not be the last.

The Palm bow has never been used since, and currently hangs in my hallway along with the quiver and arrows. It has taken its place among my Native artifacts collection which it was originally purchased for.

[Mike Gerardi]

I would of walked back to the truck in the dark.

[Molson]

I forget stuff sometimes too.  As long as I have my bow and one arrow, I'm hunting.  I would have worried about the walk back after dark while walking back after dark!

[Blaino]

i agree with mike g.....

you'd be supprised how well you can see at night when you have to.  I used to fish a lot of night tournaments and going from light to dark didn't work.  once it got dark i wouldn't use a light unless i had to retie.

[Stumpkiller]

I agree there.  I carry a flashlight but do not use it coming or going (And I like to get in well before sunrise to let the woods quiet down around me).

But then I hunt my own property and there are no old fences (sliced open the rubber top of a Sorel Caribou boot once finding a strand of ancient, downed barbed wire), steep cliffs, snakes or uncapped wells to worry about.  I'm color blind but usually have great night vision and walk carefully.

[lpcjon2]

Well The briers scratching my pretty face as I try to navigate through the darkness deter me from doing that anymore. And the last thing i want is to make more noise leaving (from cursing and such)in the dark.After spending years in the Marine Corps I have had plenty of time in the woods and jungles in the dark and I can navigate and see fairly well,but I am not as ambitious to get cut to heck as I was back then.  

[KentuckyTJ]

I never used to forget stuff. But I've found the later in life I get I am forgetting more and more. Wow the 80's are taking their tole.

[reddogge]

Three of us did the same thing many years ago and we had to come out in pitch blackness holding onto the guy's portable tree stand in front of you.  We all fell into a ditch too. Fortunatel no injuries.

[Guru]

Originally posted by Mike Gerardi:
I would of walked back to the truck in the dark.

Exactly Mike!

But this is the just reason that I always carry my pack, no matter how short the hunt, or close to the house... everything I need is in it!

No need to search for things, it's always with me, and everything that comes out during a hunt, goes right back in after the hunt. Same pocket or place all the time.

[Molson]

Curt you should see the amount of stuff Mike carries with him when we're hunting a mile from the house.  Fills up the whole back seat of the truck!!  He does always seem to be missing a flashlight...  

[Guru]

[Owlgrowler]

Ditto what Curt says. I use a fanny pack. Headlamp, handheld flashlight, and a tiny triple a single cell in with the spare batteries so I can see in the event I have to change batteries in the dark. No, I'm not afraid of the dark

[Mike Gerardi]

I blame Uncle Sam!

[Andy Cooper]

I spotted a fat little forkhorn muley out on a winter wheat patch one evening about 30 minutes before sundown. I was going to another place overlooking a creek to sit until dark, but decided to play with this little one instead. I got out of the Jeep, pulled on my ghillie suit,grabbed bow and arrow, and snuck through the pinons and brush to the edge of the patch. There was 100 yards of nothing but 2" tall green wheat between the last tree and the buck. I waited until he dropped his head to feed, and began to inch toward him. He kept looking at me, but I was still every time he looked, so he kept eating. Thirty yards was as close as I could get, as daylight was running out. I nocked an arrow, waited for him to drop his head again, drew and released. He jumped the string by taking 3 quick steps, then stood and stared at the arrow sticking in the ground at an oblique angle behind him. I reached for another arrow...


...and realized my quiver was in the Jeep.