• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Learning the hard way: Can't hunt without your arrows (you can't make this up)

M

mprooch

Active Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2021
Messages
158
Location
MA (zone 10)
Massachusetts is a blue law state, so Saturday is usually the only day I hunt. Look forward to it all week. This past weekend was the first time I had all my gear really tuned and ready as this is my first season in a saddle, having gotten some hawk helium minis that I put aiders on and practiced enough to use them in a new spot. I wasn't sure how to carry everything in and opted to put my bow on my tidewe pack, and carry my sticks in hand with my predator XL platform stashed in the pack's pocket.

I made my way in, moving slow on a cold and clear morning. I'm hunting around a bog/swamp so getting in usually requires moving around high ground and skirting vernal ponds, standing water, etc. Got to the spot I planned to hunt only to discover no quiver on my bow. I wasn't sure at that point if I hadn't locked the quiver down or if it caught something and came free or what. Needless to say I was pretty pissed. Given I'd followed an unconventional route in (i.e., not a straight line--skirting around the worst of the bog) so it wasn't going to be straightforward to find my arrows.

Long story short, it took awhile and was well past full sunrise before I found them. By then I'd crashed around more than once, gone over my hunting boots in muck and just headed home. the quiver had one post broken and the other intact, so I think I failed to lock it in right and the one post that was holding it attached broke off on something.

So, lesson learned: Carry the bow. I took an older, smaller pack that covers 95 percent of the hawks and lashed it to my tidewe so it will hold the sticks and they shouldn't snag. Guess trying out my dialed in set up will have to wait for another day.....

I did get a doe opening day from a stand, but I want a buck from the saddle this year!
 
We had a similar situation this year where two buddies I did a hunting trip with this fall got turned around in some thick brush coming out one night. One of them got frustrated and thought he picked a straight line, lowered his shoulder and started walking while the other one tried to keep up behind him. They did a few circles busting thru the brush before they pulled out OnX to get their bearings. When they did the one guy trying to keep up looked down and all his arrows were gone and this was a new setup for him so he had 5 in his quiver and one target arrow back at camp. Lost the 5 he had on him. This happened on day 2 of a 7 day hunt. I loaned him a few arrows which didn’t shoot the same but close and basically hunted with his target arrow the last 5 days. Luckily the last day he had an opportunity and got one with his one arrow but lessened learned he bought 12 arrows when he got home.
 
I've gotten to camp with no arrows, I've gotten home from camp with no rifle, I've gotten to the tree with no bullets.

So now I have a mental checklist and my bullets ride on the stock of the gun. Though I'm running out of 270 ammo. Haven't seen any in stock in over a year.

For the most part I haven't had any mental lapses lately. But I did get to the locked gate this past Saturday, reach into my pocket and no key. I had stayed in a friends camper and locked it. And was pretty sure I had eyeballed everything thoroughly. I went back up to camp and walked around and luckily found it laying on the ground. I was glad I did not have to make a call for someone to let me out of the gate.
 
i took two days off last week... Monday i hunted a hilltop but parked down below as the only access at the top forces u to walk through the cut corn field where the deer feed. anyway... didnt end up seeing anything monday, but love my approach just needed to adjust and set up in a different spot... tuesday comes and i park in the same spot and get all my gear on the tailgate. put my hip waders on to cross the creek at the bottom of the hill, get my pack on a cinched down... go to get my bow from my back seat only to realize its still hanging in the garage... ended up running home, getting the bow, and running to a closer spot... got setup right at legal light... wasnt pleased witth myself
 
Well this is my first year saddle hunting. Got to the tree the other day, started unpacking. Tried attaching my sticks to my saddle as that’s how I climb. No saddle, forgot my stinking saddle in the car. Can’t saddle hunt without a saddle. Lol
 
Okay. Glad it's not just me that does dumb stuff. Opening day of gun season few years ago, got 2 exits down the highway before I realized I forgot my gun...
 
Glad I’m not the only one.. after hunting hard for 3 days last week, I was on my last day.
Had my buddy drop me off at a new WMA and he was headed to another. There were a couple other guys going in at the same time as me so I got to talking to them as I was getting my pack and stuff ready. We all headed off and at that point my ride had pulled off. After going about 50 yards I had to make a quick call to tell him he needed to turn around because I might have left my recurve in the truck…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I went to CO for an elk hunt and my hunting partner and I drive two hours up some logging road to get where we are going. We get out. Get ready to go and he realizes he left his boots back in town and has only flip flops. He hunted in flip flops in low forty degree weather above 11,500 with dead fall everywhere and never said a word about it. Hahaha.
 
Daaahahaahaha

Man, reading these makes me not feel so bad about only tying my pull down rope to my rappel line once this season because I’m 56 and I’ve hunted my entire life and I can’t recall ever going hunting without a gun and bullets or a bow and arrows, lol.

I preach and preach about tying that dang line on too…….this last time I did it I was so pissed at myself that I would’ve cut the tree down if I hadn’t left my limb saw in the truck.
 
I have forgotten bow my before. Also have forgotten my quiver. I have also left the parking area in a hurry for a meeting w/ my gun leaning on truck. 90 minute drive. Right in the middle of the meeting I realized what I did. I never wanted a meeting to be over so bad in my life! I drove like a mad mad man. My Browning Gold semi auto was right where I left it. Whew!
 
This past weekend I did a similar thing. We had thanksgiving stuff going on Thurs-Sat with my family and my wife's family so I could only go out on Sunday afternoon. My family has a ranch about 45 miles from where I live so I headed north. Got my pack on with my saddle and sticks and grab my bow. I'm pumped because we have cameras out and we have some big bucks still hanging around. I walk about 50 yards and realize I forgot my phone in the truck so I go grab it. Do another quick check and realize I left my arrows at home. I was pretty pissed but I ended up dumping all my gear and walking around the property so not a total loss. Still sucks though.
 
man this past opening shotgun season in Illinois I used my 695 mossberg and as I got to the truck, I unloaded my weapon and pulled my magazine out. Placed it on top of the truck bed and placed my shotgun into its case. Put all my gear away and then drove the two hours home. Drive back the very next morning and go to grab my shotgun...see my round that was in the chamber but NO MAGAZINE!! Look everywhere for it...now I'm just here for an evening hunt and realize that i now have to shoot as though this is a single shot weapon. Talk about frustrating. I did find a website that is sort of local that specialized in "vintage" mossberg shotguns. They had two of the 695 magazine...I bought both of them. The ones on ebay went for 150.00 each. I bought these two for 35.00 each. And NO...I'm not selling one.
 
You’re in good company man, my last hunt was a comedy of errors, all that was missing was Benny Hill and yakety sax music. Got all the way to my tree, realized I forgot my release. For the release I lost during my previous hunt. So yes the replacement for the replacement. Walked back to the truck and got that, back to the tree. Then realized I set my platform down in the truck when I got the release, so no platform. Luckily I had some steps I wanted to try out in my bag. Got ready to climb the tree and discovered my thigh strap was no longer in my waist pouch so trying to 2TC the tree was like watching monkeys fight over a football. FINALLY got to hunting height, broke the strap on my pack securing my jacket and cut my hand pretty good on a broad head, had to rub dirt and bark in it to stop it bleeding. When the sun finally came up a herd of goats settled in under my tree effectively ending my hunt. Thought about just giving up right then and there.
 
Tim0712 said:
We all have brain farts and forget / loose something eventually! My personal best was trying to shoot a deer with an unloaded gun!
Click to expand...
Been there done that! One time while elk hunting ,I got dropped off at the bottom of the mountain. I grabbed my gun and started hiking up the mountain. I didn't make it 150 yds when I looked uphill and could see a cow elk bedded down looking at me. I shouldered my gun, put the crosshairs on her vitals and pulled the trigger. Click. I never chambered a round! I quickly chambered a round and put the gun up. By now she was standing, getting ready to bolt. I dropped her right in her tracks.
 
Exhumis said:
You’re in good company man, my last hunt was a comedy of errors, all that was missing was Benny Hill and yakety sax music. Got all the way to my tree, realized I forgot my release. For the release I lost during my previous hunt. So yes the replacement for the replacement. Walked back to the truck and got that, back to the tree. Then realized I set my platform down in the truck when I got the release, so no platform. Luckily I had some steps I wanted to try out in my bag. Got ready to climb the tree and discovered my thigh strap was no longer in my waist pouch so trying to 2TC the tree was like watching monkeys fight over a football. FINALLY got to hunting height, broke the strap on my pack securing my jacket and cut my hand pretty good on a broad head, had to rub dirt and bark in it to stop it bleeding. When the sun finally came up a herd of goats settled in under my tree effectively ending my hunt. Thought about just giving up right then and there.
Click to expand...
I read your story. It sounded like I could've been typing it. For me, it seems that sometimes if something is going to go, it going to go HARD! It never can go easy. I just have to put my head down and bull through it.
 
I gone so far as to make the drive, make the walk 1/4 mile into the woods, climb the tree, get setup, pull my tab out of my pocket and go to nock an arrow and THEN realize…I left my bow in the garage 30-minutes away!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top