What was your craziest thing you did while trad hunting

[Troy Breeding]

Several years ago while on a hog hunt in TX I had to do the dumbest thing ever.    

While driving back to camp we spotted a huge bobcat walking in the road straight towards us. Rather than drive on we stopped and watched. Knowing any movement would send he running we both sat still and watched. The cat walked straight up to the truck. Once he was so close to the truck I couldn't see him I whispered to my buddy to see if he was coming on his side or not. A second later I could see he was coming down my side. When the cat was right under my window I stuck my head out and yelled Yeeeehaaaa! I thought it would turn him inside out and scare the skin right off him. To my suprise he didn't run. Instead he did turn inside out, only with his claws and teeth slashing and snapping only inches from my face.    

Never touched me but I did have one heck of a knot on the back my head from hitting the top of the door.    

My buddy did get the last laugh anyway.

Troy

[tuscarawasbowman]

Shot a doe this fall that ran into a swamp. Tracked her for a while then took a break. While taking my break I looked around and realized I had no idea where I was. Luckily the High school off in the distance had one of their pole lights on so I oriented myself off of that. Never realized how different a swamp looks when it's dark out....

[joevan125]

Man theres not enough room for me to list all these things but here's one.

Up in Canada a few years ago and the temp was in the single digits and the wind honestly could knock you down because everything was ice.

First morning in the stand and 15 minutes later a 120in 10 pointer comes by grunting like crazy with a doe.

They went to the bait that was 50 yards away and man it hit me worse than ever before, i had to go do #2.

I got down without scaring the deer off and just left everything in the tree except my backpack with all my things in it.

I ran 100 yards in world record time im sure and got up close to the road and did my business.

I always carry 2 packs of those huge scent free wipes when hunting for many reasons. Clean my hands after cleaning a animal or wiping the sweat off my face after a long walk in.

But the main reason is when i have to go while in the woods. Anyway i got through doing my business and reached in my pack to get those wipes and they were so frozen i could have drove a nail into the tree.

This happened 3 times in 2 hours and i ruined my smartwool shirt.      

[lpcjon2]

Jovan thats some funny stuff right there.  

[ron w]

While hunting in Illinois on a 4 day hunt, I passed a 17 yard shot on a doe. They encouraged you to shoot a doe, but I passed. Now why would someone who has never killed a deer with a trad bow and only had one shot since 1971 pass a 17 yard shot at a relaxed doe.          I still don't know why ........

[donw]

drawing on a doe at less than 25 yds from me...wrist watch alarm goes off...bye-bye deer...

[DuffyRP]

I was lucky enough to get stuck in a tree with my climber.  Funny how the cables slid right over that 3" thick 9" long stump sticking off the back of the tree 18' high on my way up but no matter how hard I tried they would not go back over on my way down.  I had lowered my stuff to the ground and released the other end of the pull rope because I thought I would just be climbing down.  I ended up climbing up higher to get a branch that I could use as a hook. climb down to where I was stuck then tied my clothes together and to the stick so I could lower it down and snag my pack. I pulled it up got my saw and went to work on stump.  In all it took about an hour to get down.

[rolltidehunter]

this happened when i was about 7 years old. my dad was in a tradtitional hunting club called smoke and feathers. you could hunt with a bow or black powder muzzleloaders no scopes and no rifles. it was very cold that morning and FOR SOME REASON my dad loaded the muzzleloader in the truck that morning. he had the barrel of the gun in the floor board and his finger slipped off the hammer when he was putting a cap on it!!! BANG!!!!! he shot the truck! DUMB DUMB DUMB! we laugh about it now. i can still smell the rotten egg smell from the back powder

[bucksbuouy]

Well this year...
I was hunting along a creek that was bordered by large tracts of private property. One side being owned by the sewer company, the other side by the railroad. I had found a few crossing points where the deer went from one side of the creek to the other. I would sit here, and early in the season there is a lot of activity.

Now the way this works is if you walk on the land your trespassing. Stay below the flood zone and its public property. Part of your estuarian right. Essentially the only way to access this area is by kayak or canoe. Im some what of a large man and my legs tend to fall asleep and go numb in my little olde towne otter.

One chilly day about mid November I was trying to get out of my 'yak and didnt realize my legs had fallen asleep. Sound asleep. Put one foot on the ground and tried to get up. My legs gave out. Kayak rolled. I went face down in the water. Bow floating away in the current. Im floundering in about 10 inches of ice cold water trying to get my cell phone out of my pocket and catch up with my bow, and my yak, which are now both sailing away without me, all with absolutely no feeling in legs. All said and done I, and my bow, and my yak, were all fine.

Ive since learned to rotate which butt cheek I sit on when in my kayak so as to prevent any further incidents resulting from a loss of sensation.

[kstout]

Back in the day of the old kwikkee quivers without a hood to cover broadheads, my brother and I were trying to push deer along a river.  he was standing, I was pushing toward him, along a steep river bank when I slipped, and slid about 75 yards down the bank. I got up, and felt a draft.  When i looked down, I had slit the inseam of my pants, from the crotch all the way down, and they were just flapping in the breeze. i was very lucky, and never cut any skin!

[the rifleman]

I unstrung my beautiful Toelke Whip longbow with my treestand!  I was climbing down out of my tree with my climbing stand in the dark in the brush.  I had lowered my bow using one of the retractable string reels.  I was getting close to the ground and felt the bottom of the stand hang up on a branch so I gave it an extra flip with my feet and heard the very disturbing sound of a bow being unstrung the wrong way (the branch turned out to be the upper bow limb that had been lifted by the string reel, held upright and caught in the stand section).  Got home and examined bow and string.  Restrung the bow and tried it---it shot as good as ever.  Dan's bows are not only great looking they are strong and hold up to guys like me doing things like that.

[Zbone]

Got many, but you haven’t lived if not awaken in mid-air after falling asleep in a treestand, or had to slit a wounded bucks throat, or even drown one, but probably the craziest  - was receiving something from my girlfriend while in a treestand…8^)

[Encino Man]

Was out stalking and still hunting one afternoon when I came across one of the many delopidated barbed wire fences on our property. The top of the fence was laying on the ground away from me at about a 15 degree angle. I decided to step on the top wire to keep from tripping over it and as I did the bottom of the post broke loose and shot backwards. My feet went backwards with the wire and I did the prettiest 10.0 swan dive right in the middle of a 4 foot diameter prickly pear cactus. Spent the rest of the weekend pulling needles from clothes and flesh.

[RedShaft]

I was hunting state land and it was a warm rainy fall day and as i was walking down the logging road see a deers back and got off the road and hunkered down to see what it was. well the deer moved off in the opposite direction. but the whole time i had been crouching down along a large tree watching the deer with my binos, i kept loosing my balance swaying but never falling to the side or back. as soon as i stood up i heard what it thought was a locust on the ground in the leaves. so i was looking for this noise when i finally spotted it... a huge and i mean huge rattle snake was a foot from me and never struck me, and he was pissed! thank God i didn't loose my balance and fall backwards or put my hand back to catch myself or it would have bit me for sure!! i was so mesmerized cause this had been first one i ever seen in the wild, the eyes and look of those are crazy! it was a black faze and you can tell by looking at those even if you didn't know what it was... it was death! there no doubt about it! it was about the size of my calf in the center and i would say 4-5ft long with about 12 rattles! i was later told that was a really large one. i was just so amazed by the thing i kept watching it and it started to leave so i cut it off and it was all curled up buzzing like mad and i got closer yet to get a really good look not knowing the strike distance of a snake that large... all of a sudden death lunged at my shin missing me only by inches!!! i about craped myself! it was like lightening, fastest thing i have ever seen in my life! only by my guardian angel did that strike fall short.. i wish i would have killed it and kept it but they were out of season and i didn't have my license for them... never seen one since..

[Adirondackman]

I tried to put the sneak on a Bull Moose that was rubbing a Blue spruce just to get some good pictures while elk hunting in colorado in Sept. 2005. Bad Idea when the flash went off! Good thing the wind was in my favor and Moose have poor eye sight. He was not very happy.

[Whip]

I can relate to that pumatrax.  One season I decided I didn't like my bow quiver anymore and switched to a side quiver.  A buddy called and invited me to hunt with him at his honey hole.  He's pretty tight with sharing his spots so this was a rare opportunity.  He picked me up and off we went.  

It wasn't until I was comfortably seated in the stand that I discovered the big difference between a bow quiver and a side quiver.  With a side quiver you need to remember to bring more than your bow.....

I guess in a way I was relieved that I didn't see anything that afternoon.

[Gray Buffalo]

I was hunting with a good friend. We knew there was a buck in the valley below  us. We decided  to try and rattle it in for a shot. I climb up a post oak and set a stand and my friend moved back about 60 yards to rattle. He had barely started rattling when the buck (8 Point) came stomping up the hill and walked right the my stand and turned broadside. I made a good shot and was so excited I turn around and walked right out of the stand. Took off about 4/5 limbs before hitting the ground. I jumped up and checked myself and had only had tore my coat. Lucky

[Tom Leemans]

This is back in the day, you know, before safety belts or harnesses. I sat down on the platform of my home made portable stand and took about a 45 minute nap. I was surprised I was still in the stand when I woke up! The funny thing was that a doe was standing there looking at me when I woke up. I was probably snoring.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I tried unstrining a recurve bow using the push pull method.  The bow slipped and I cracked myself in the face nearly missing my eye.

Use a stringer.

[lpcjon2]

The only one I have that is not a gun related story is; I was clearing out some briars patches around a new stand with a machete and was not paying attention, when I took a good semi downward swing to the right and felt a thump on my foot. The machette had hit the top of my boot cutting almost all the way through the toe all but about 1/32nds of an inch.Thank god I had on a thick pair of hunting boots or I would be a Jack Dempsey of archery. Just had a nice bruise across the toes for a couple weeks.