Worst day hunting?

[shdw633]

My worse day was wayyyyy back in my youth and I had just started bow hunting. I had a Fred Bear longbow, no sights and a quiver with 5 aluminum arrows in it. I climbed up and tree and sat anxiously waiting for a deer to come get a mouthful of acorns and sure enough in came a doe. I calmed myself down, pull back my bow and shot...missed, but she didn't move, so I pulled another arrow, aimed, shot.....missed, but again she didn't move. I proceeded to shoot all five of my arrows and missed every time. By that time she crossed the ditch and I thought was gone, so I climbed down and was retrieving my arrows when I looked up and she was staring at me from across the ditch. I quickly grabbed and arrow, pulled up and shot......missed. She just snorted at me and ran off. Not a good day.

 

[elfiii]

It was the day I didn’t get to go.

This. ^

 

[blood on the ground]

Turkey hunting on Paulding Forest way back I called up a non Caucasian feller dressed like Elmer Fud! He snuck up and walked right by me as I set silent watching! Other'nat every day a field is better than a day at work!

 

[Mark K]

Don’t think I’ve had one yet...guess there’s always this season to see if it’ll happen.
I have a few misses and have second guessed myself one too many times, but nothing bad enough to call it the worse day ever.

 

[Waddams]

Nothing that really sticks out as horrible. A cold December day last year when it downpour rained all day. Didn't see a think, it was December and cold. I had water proof overalls that eventually got soaked through anyway. Took 'em off for the ride home and the moisture from them combined with the heater wouldn't stop fogging up the windshield. I now own a few plastic bins so I can throw them in the back of the truck.

Then again last year, whole weekend on a guided hunt. Spent a lot of money it. Was supposed to be at the peak of the rut. Didn't see a think. We figure we hit the true peak of the rut when the does stop running and start letting the bucks catch them! There were 13 guys staying at the service's cabin, nobody saw a darn thing the whole weekend. tracks and heavy sign everywhere we went, but no actual deer making appearances.

 

[NickDeer]

Missed the biggest hog of my life about 2 years ago. He didn't run far and was in a bunch of thick crap and my uncle wanted to go in there and shoot it. Went in and was about 5 yards away from him. He could see us, we couldn't see him. It was snappin' its jaws at us and I still never even saw him. Worst and scariest hunt of my life, not to mention gun got soaking wet and couldn't clean it til I got home a week later.

 

[hikingthehills]

I was hunting my friends private land in Elbert county with friends and my better half and brother. It was afternoon around 3:30 and we all decided to head back out and get ready hunt. I keep my clothes in the truck in a tote and change into them when I'm heading into the woods. We decided to go hunt the land thats across the street from him that we have permission to hunt as well. We're the only ones that's allowed over there. I drive about a quarter mile in and I pull my truck off to a little side road just incase anybody else hunting with us wants to get by. My truck was pulled far enough off the side road so it could be seen coming down the main road.

Well I get out of the truck and get my clothes on and me and my better half are getting ready to head in. I look up the road and see somebody walking towards us. I think it's my brother and so I walked back out into the main to talk to him. He knew where we was so I was going to try to point him to another spot I knew about that hopefully he could get a deer.

As I walk out there the guy has got his head down walking towards me and he looks up, as soon as he does he yanks his rifle off his shoulder and levels it at me. It's NOT my brother or anybody that had permission to be hunting there. Looking down a deer rifle at 30 yards is rather unnerving. I start yelling and the dude pulls the rifle back and takes off running through a briar patch. All the while me yelling lot's of stuff that can't be typed here. It could have been a bad situation all around. I rode up and down the road looking for the guy but I'm betting he didn't come out of those woods till dark.

 

[buckpasser]

I suppose it’s not that bad, but mine was a long awaited deer hunt. I had a good friend that had a really great deer property in north FL (Jefferson Co). He wasn’t a trophy hunter but had killed some truly big bucks just by happenstance and finally invited me to hunt what I considered to be the most “Bucky” part of the place. If was a giant virgin timber filled river bottom full of gigantic loblolly pine, live oak, pin oak and cypress trees. There were little round ponds that helped direct deer traffic and not much cover at ground level so you could see for quite a ways. After finally getting my invite, driving down early that morning, and climbing in a nice looking spot I tried to jack a round into my trusty old Remington 742 woodsmaster .30-06. The round just wouldn’t seem to go in. Finally I realized there was a round already in the chamber from a deer I’d shot a week prior. No problem, I’ll knife it out. Yeah right! I finally got it out at home with a steel rod and a 20oz framing hammer. Anyway, sure enough I got to watch a mature massive seven point slowly follow a doe all around me all morning. I don’t think I’ve referred to that rifle as anything but the “jam master” since that day until this post!

Still a fun day so I guess I’ve had it good.

 

[alwayslookin]

-Crossing a ditch, fell forward and almost poked my eye out on a stick
-Nearly had heat stroke on a scouting trip one summer, couldn't cool down and a mile or more from the truck with no more water, thought I was done
-Getting turned around deep in the woods, eventually found my way out to a road and got my bearings

 

[bfriendly]

Got lost at Oaky after killing 2 hogs.......I KNEW where I was, but what I KNEW was WRONG! THEN CELL PHONE DIED! Ever get a ride from a DNR OFFICER who was looking for you??

I am a big fan of the DNR!

 

[rugerfan]

I guess I really have nothing to contribute after reading some things here. I have been lost a few times. but never had an altercation in the woods with anyone.

So my worst day is nothing in comparison.

 

[fireman32]

Not horrible days, but one so called hunter who was dealt with and won’t ever be allowed near my place again. The other was me as a youngster trying to use a baker deer stand, never again will I do that. A skint belly is tender for awhile.

 

[srb]

Having wounded some and not finding them?

 

[phillips david 123]

I guess my worst day hunting was similar to the worst sex i ever had, it was still wonderful.

 

[Rabun]

A buddy and I had a pretty good camp going for several years on a WMA. We always looked forward to spending that week in the deer woods. Came back to camp after a morning hunt to find dirtbags had gone through our camp and stole a bunch of stuff. Ruined it for us and we haven't been back since.

 

[mpwarrak]

Good read, most of my worst days include making lousy shots on deer, especially the archery spine shot when I was 14, that took the rest of the arrows I owned to finish the job.
It's really the worst feeling you can have while hunting, except for a person getting hurt.

I'm great with maps and directions, and I can hike through any vast wildnerness with ease. But last year I took my 6 year old boy out, sat on the ground with a bow, 100 yards from the truck, on a small tract of land, surrounded by roads and a lake. Shot a 7 pointer. Followed it down the creek in the dark and recovered it near the lake. Should be simple, drag it back up the creek to the truck.
That doesn't work very well when you follow the wrong creek. It forked, and I didn't realize it in the dark while dragging. Spun us around, ended up a mile from the truck. Called my dad and had him honk from the road and yell. Such a small property, of course didn't have gps or anything. Luckily my 6 year old had his pack with one bottle of water, which we shared to stay alive, was 80 degrees I sweated 2 gallons. Saved by a prepared 6 year old, go figure.

Elk hunting in CO, I followed fresh "Elk" tracks in the snow one afternoon for miles, only to find a moose standing in them. Now I'm 4+ miles from my buddy's truck in the dark, temps quickly dropping through the teens. Snow pack turns to ice. Finally made it to the road and found a guy who drove me the remaining 2 miles back to my worried friends. Realized later how dumb that was, a twisted ankle could have cost my life, no cell service and would have frozen quick. Nobody knew where I was. My back was super sore too.

Got plenty more but it's bedtime.

 

[brian lancaster]

back in the day on a cold morning with 7 layers of clothes on and get the squirts

 

[chrislibby88]

Got up early to go sit on a dry pond ringed with scrapes, rubs, and trails on a local WMA. It was a 45 minute ride from my house. Once I got there I realized I forgot my rubber boots, so I had to walk in with thin tennis shoes, which would have been manageable, but I underestimated the rain, and the dry pond was flooded, so feet got wet, couldn’t set up in the tree I scouted, so I grabbed a nearby one in the dark. I wouldn’t have had time to ride to the other side of the property and set up before daylight. Once it brightened up I couldn’t see anything for all the brush and limbs, feet were wet and cold, and I had a raging bowel movement boiling in my guts that no amount of will power could hold back. Got down, relieved myself, and figured after all the stench, noise, and commotion the spot was spent. Packed up and went home, bummed at my lack of planning and foresight. Haha. Wasted about 4 hours-for an otherwise cold clear morning that should have produced a deer, but I learn from my mistakes, and now I try to keep tabs on water levels and warm boots.

 

[chrislibby88]

Was set up one evening on my private, about 200 yards from the property line, 100 yards from a bedding thicket. Slipped in super quiet, set my climber up slowly and silently, and climbed that pine like a squirrel with felt paws.

Bummer number 1: Wind switched an hour into the sit and a random gust blew straight into the bedding area thicket, and hear something big crashing out of there.

Bummer number 2: last 15 minutes of daylight a very close shot scares the **** out of me. Then I see headlights bouncing down the property line, and another shot goes out from the headlights. I pretty much dropped my climber straight to the bottom, and stomped my *** over there cause it looked like a 4 wheeler was on my side. Turns out the neighbors kids were “checking their cotton” on a side by side shining deer, shooting anything that moved. They killed a button head that night. I later found out the game warden visited them based on an anonymous tip.

Also found out this summer that another retard neighbor trespassed my in laws property next door walking his dog every morning last season, which explains why I heard so much barking where deer should have been coming from.

 

[Timberman]

I slammed my daughters hand in the truck door one time going hunting so that was her worst day hunting and I was with her. Does that count?