Most Forgettable Hunt?

[802bowhunter]

Brought the old lady bow huninting.

There's got to be more to that story...

Not appropriate for this website

[Thesouthpaw]

Iv'e definitely had some lows while bow hunting, but by far the worst was my first year when I was 12. My parents didn't really help me much with archery equipment, and I remember going to Walmart and buying my first three carbon arrows, to go with a 15 year old Hoyt Mystic. I had been practicing for hours every day before the season, and in the meantime had lost two of my arrows, dropping me down to one arrow to hunt with.
When the WV archery season opened that year, I hunted behind my house every day after school without seeing much. Finally, about 10 day in, a doe and a fawn came slipping by me just before dark. I drew my bow, settled the pin, and released the arrow. The doe jumped the string and the arrow went over it's back. I was super bummed about the shot, but when I got down to look for my arrow, I was unable to locate it.
I looked and looked, but It was nowhere to be found. I just wanted to hunt, but now I couldn't because I didn't have any arrows, my parents wouldn't help me out at all, and I was out of money, because I had spent it all on bow hunting supplies. I literally cried my eyes out on the way back to the house because I thought my season was over.
I have certainly experienced lows since that day, 11 years ago, but every now and then I think back to that day and remember how bummed out I was.

[Chuck B]

My first time hunting, I was probably 15 years old. I was sitting on a rock on a bluff. I have no idea what I am doing (my dad doesn’t hunt). In comes a nice deer (8 point)? I take a shot, and down he goes. He is struggling on the ground but my shotgun gun jammed so I can’t reload to shoot him again. Eventually he gets up and takes off. There was No blood. I must have spined him a little. That day haunted me for quite a while. I had a chance at beginners luck and I blew it!

[<DK>]

The doe jumped the string and the arrow went over it's back.

That was a good story to read. You guys are bringing back memories for me talking about being a young teen and the woes of becoming a hunter.

Id argue that does can jump a string better than any buck. IDK if its true or not they just seem more agile and iv missed some "chip shots" on them too. Seen it alot on tv shows as well.

[Twenty Up]

I’ve had more than a couple..

Misjudging distance and shooting over top a would-be 151 1/8” public land freak
Clipping a twig the diameter of dental floss, which sent my arrow 45* the wrong direction
Having the bolt in my QAD rest back out so I shot 9” left at 10 yards, cleanly missing the buck I stalked up on
Playing around in my saddle as a ~130” buck walks through my shooting lane at 23 yards...

List goes on, if anything it’s only fed the obsession and craze to get on another buck. On the bright side, I know what NOT to do

[kcole1987]

First time ever hunting, first ever sit in a tree . Had a big ten pointer on cam for months prior. He was running with a couple smaller bucks. I'm using a borrowed bow from a friend. It just gets light and I fumble standing up in the stand and drop the bow to the ground. I climb down to get it and while I'm on the ground I hear leaves crunching I turn around and there is the ten and 3 other bucks just staring at me twenty yards away. They took off and I never saw that ten again , never did find out what happened to him. I laugh now, but I sure wasn't then

[<DK>]

First time ever hunting, first ever sit in a tree . Had a big ten pointer on cam for months prior. He was running with a couple smaller bucks. I'm using a borrowed bow from a friend. It just gets light and I fumble standing up in the stand and drop the bow to the ground. I climb down to get it and while I'm on the ground I hear leaves crunching I turn around and there is the ten and 3 other bucks just staring at me twenty yards away. They took off and I never saw that ten again , never did find out what happened to him. I laugh now, but I sure wasn't then

Oh man! I can feel that story lol. I guess the only way to from there was up!

[oldrank]

Ugggg, I'll make a long story short. I'm sure I've posted this before.

Biggest buck of my life still to this day follows a herd of 17 does in. The does all move in front of my stand perfectly out of my wind. I watched them from 200 yards out. Scope on the buck the whole time with my .50 cal. He was on private land I couldn't hunt. He gets on to my cousin's property but is quartering to me. He stops at 25 yards vitals behind a tree. Just then the last two deer ahead of him for some reason decide to break the line n come behind me into my wind. I need one more step from the buck. One of the does behind me hits my wind and locks up. That buck didn't even think. The split second she locked up he turn around and bolted full bore back where he came from. Me sitting there like an idiot jaw hanging open. Haunts me to this day. I could have killed him, neck shot, or front pocket. I tell myself deep down I made the right move ethically.....but that sure didn't put him on my wall. All I have is a story.

[SplitG2]

I'll keep this short. I wouldn't say that I have ever had a forgettable hunt but hunts more along the lines of hunts that made me say along the lines "what in the heck just happened" or "how did I screw that up". The most memorable of those hunts was November 19, 2015. It was undoubtedly the single worst tease I have ever had in my lifetime......and that even includes the days back when I was a single man and dating.

I was hunting my favorite timeframe of the rut, when the main rut is pretty much over and bucks are in search of the last few remaining does. I was doing an all day sit with nothing but squirrels for entertainment until about 1:30 in the afternoon I heard what sounded like a deer jump into the creek below me. Before I knew it, a doe topped the hill in and stopped to look behind her and she looked panicked and plum wore out. Then it was like the big buck flood gates were opened. What transpired over the next 11 minutes was a hunt we all dream of. She bolted directly for my stand, passing directly underneath me and I could hear more deer coming. With bow in hand I watched 9 different bucks that emerged from just about every direction possible, all ranging from 130 to 170. It was like a scene out of the greatest deer hunting movie ever made.

In that 11 minutes I had every single one of those bucks inside of 20 yards at least twice. Honestly couldn't tell you how many times I was at full draw but it was several. I can remember whistling, saying "meh" and practically yelling "hey" nearly as loud as I could many times over to get bucks to stop and it just wasn't happening. It was the rut frenzy of all rut frenzy's and just as quick as it started, it ended. Fastest, most electrifying minutes of my hunting career. I can remember standing there with my bow in my hand when it was all over for quite sometime thinking "what in the heck just happened" and "how does something like that happen" and "how does a guy have that many big bucks within range at one time and not kill something". I'm pretty sure at one point I even said to myself that had I known something like that was gonna happened I woulda just stayed at the house. So in a way it was kinda forgettable. But either way it was something to see and something I will likely never see again. I've been in the middle of rut frenzy's before but never with that many big bucks at one time.