Your worst "I forgot to bring______"

KYE-OAT · July 15, 2001, 10:39 AM

Just to get the ball rolling...last night i went up in the woods, trying to call some Coon....brought the old J.S.Caller and tape, by same, of Coon Fight, a spotlight, my Howa .223, and a box of 55 gr. S.P.............well, I get to where I want to call and start the tape and run and get set....Nothing!....not nothing came(tho' that's correct as well).........but nothing, as in NO NOISE!! In my haste to get gone before Her original decision changed, I forgot to check the Battery in the Caller!!!..........To add insult to injury, I had also decided not to bring the old Tally-Ho for back-up.......so there I was sitting out in the woods with no way to call what I knew was So close....
Anyhow, if you've Ever had a good(bad) FORGOT-story....let us hear it!!!

Al Thompson · July 15, 2001, 11:39 AM

Last time I hunted with a certain guy (last in every sense of the word) he showed up late, tromped through the woods and got put on a stand.

Fifteen minutes later he comes tromping back through. He left the bolt to his rifle in the gun case.

Giz

44rugerfan · July 15, 2001, 12:20 PM

I went bowhunting with a friend and forgot my facemask. No problem, I thought, I'll just smear some mud on my face to cover up the glare. Of course, 5 minutes after I do this the sky opens up. Seven minutes later the mud has run from my forehead into my eyes, and I am using my bow as sort of a cane to make sure I don't hit a tree, trying to follow the sound of my friend ahead of me. It is a good thing we got to the stand early, because it took 45 minutes for me to get all the crud out of my eyes. Took the biggest buck of my life that day, though...

ArmySon · July 15, 2001, 02:20 PM

Not as bad as me driving 6 hours to the hunting lodge and had everything cept .........

bolt for my rifle AT HOME

Keith Rogan · July 15, 2001, 02:24 PM

I'm pretty good about remembering all my stuff. Up here, most hunts are in fly-in affairs and if you forgot something you are hosed!
I've learned to be somewhat of a prick when it comes to this. If somebody forgot something and they are counting on me to supply the deficiency... they're out of luck. If I have "extra's" of something, well maybe - but generally people forget some pretty bizarre things. On one trip somebody forgot their frame pack and I ended up partnering with him for the day. He shot the first deer and then had the unmitigated gall to expect me to surrender my pack (basically give up my hunt for that day) so he could tote his meat several miles down the mountain back to camp. Not likely! I'm sure the 4 or 5 hours of dragging that buck through alder jungles and up and down steep inclines was a good character building exercise that made him a better and stronger man - you'd think he'd be grateful...
Another time some idjit forgot his sleeping bag! Can you imagine? You've just been dropped off in the middle of Kodiak Island in November, the plane isn't due back for a week and you forgot your bag?
This is almost Darwinian! The other three guys had enough space blankets and a spare tarp to keep the guy alive but none of us would spend the week "cuddling" with him in our bags and he just thought we were all bastards because of that.... I don't know.
The most common forgotten item is the good old knife. I buy good quality and after having a couple of loaned knives lost and then "replaced" with K Mart junk - "Gee, sorry about forgetting your hand-forged knife on that log six miles back in the swamp, but here's a nice replacement that has a $2 compass stuck in the plastic handle!" I don't loan stuff any more unless I'm standing right there with my hand out to get it back.

OK, rant mode "Off".

Spectre · July 15, 2001, 04:52 PM

Won't forget, Keith.

What kind of knives do you favor?

k77/22rp · July 15, 2001, 04:57 PM

Well the worst thing i have ever forgot was my ammo box i get to the state land where i shoot and i get all set up then i go to load my rifle and i dotn have any ammo. No big deal i just had to pack everything up again and go back to get it, I guess that was pretty stuppid but its only a 3 mile drive.

Keith Rogan · July 15, 2001, 06:01 PM

I have two knives (neither of which are available for loan...

). One is a little caping knife called a "cub-bear" by Knives of Alaska and the other is an old skinner made from a car spring and with an ivory handle that I bought from a native in Nome - it's very old and I like it for that reason among others. Both of these are small enough to be useful (no Bowie knives for me, thanks!) and excellent tools.

This is the second "Knives of Alaska" knife I've had to buy and at about $100 a pop I hope it's the last. They have a website somewhere that details all the work going into their blades - I'll just say this last one has gone through a half-dozen deer and a caribou and hasn't needed sharpening yet.

CD1 · July 15, 2001, 10:37 PM

Got all the way to my treestand, got up in it, then realized I forgot my release. Sat there all morning with my bow across my lap praying that I WOULDNT see anything.

Zorro · July 16, 2001, 12:09 AM

A Knife!

So now I carry 5-6 smaller knives instead of one medium size knife.

griz · July 16, 2001, 06:09 AM

A partial list:
Release for bow
Hunting license
22 Rifle when squirell hunting
Caps for muzzleloader (got the deer that trip too

)

And I am kind of like Zorro. Rather than take one knife and sharpening stuff, I'll carry enough knives for the trip.

Jay Baker · July 16, 2001, 02:43 PM

I've been hunting for many years, and long ago started making lists of things I should always bring, depending on what kind of hunt I would be going on. So, I always "check off" stuff, as I pack it. Also, over the years, I've taken to handing my "lists" out to my hunting buddies, so they'll have the things they need. I'd become rather proud of never forgetting anything. Of course, pride runneth before the fall, so says Mr. Murphy.

In 1998, due to a very hectic situation at the time, I was extremely rushed packing for my elk hunt. Got to camp and looked in my hard case and had forgot my rifle sling. I made one from a piece of canas strap, para cord and duct tape, but it wasn't nearly as good as my regualr sling. Looked through the scope on my .338, and the horizontal crosshair was broken! (It was not broekn a few days before, at the range. Wha' hoppin'?? I don't know.)And, I had not brought a backup rifle this trip, due to the rush.

Thirty years ago, on a deer hunt in the central Sierra of Kalif., my buddy forgot ammo for his rifle... a Savage 99 .250-3000. Anyone tried to find .250-3000 at hardware stores in tiny towns in the boonies??

Lesson learned, no matter what, Mr. Murphy is always with you.

J.B.

nedfig · July 18, 2001, 01:05 PM

One trip I got about 5 miles from the house and remembered I had forgot the ammo.

Another trip I forgot the magazine to the rifle. Not so bad, just makes loading a pain.

fed168 · July 18, 2001, 01:44 PM

the reminder to the deer that they needed to cross my path.

JohnDog · July 18, 2001, 02:55 PM

October 1997...

I didn't forget to bring it. I didn't forget to bring it. I actually planned to bring this other rifle - Yeah - that's the ticket!!

Ok I kinda forget to bring it (my elk rifle - cough cough). I actually grabbed the wrong rifle outa the safe - and it was almost the same caliber (25-06 instead of 30-06). And I did take an elk with it - after a 60 mile roundtrip into the nearest town to get ammo (as opposed to a 500 mile roundtrip back to home).

Now every year when I pull into camp, all my hunting buddies gather round my truck, to see if I brought the right rifle or the right ammo for the rifle I have with me. I still try to explain that I was just proving that a 25-06 was adequate to use on elk - Yeah - that's the ticket!!

Johndog

PS - I always remember the sour cream for the Friday night fajita fest!

labgrade · July 18, 2001, 06:48 PM

Bud o' mine didn't forget anything - well, forgot to take the keys outa his truck before locking/closing the door. Oops!

Opening day for elk, still o'dark-thirty, I'm all set & shufflin' back 'n forth wonderin' what's taking him so long. He was deciding which (cheapest) window to break on his 3 week old truck.

Ended up standing the truck bed with an ax & busted out the rear window .... ouch!

Gator · July 19, 2001, 01:07 PM

1995 went on an almost all day trip looking for birds. Got lost, found out where we were and the state had just closed the land for hunts two days previous.

Forgot to check if the fields were still in use before draging myself and two dear friends on a really lame trip.

Gator

AdrenalineJunky · July 19, 2001, 04:17 PM

with no clays.

V.Oller · July 19, 2001, 08:00 PM

I'm a sunny Florida boy. Went to Alabama on a bow hunt in late november, it got down into the low 20's. Plenty cold for me!

Half way to the stand, I realized that my nice, comfy, VERY warm hat was still in the trailer! I made everybody turn back 'cause I wasn't gonna freeze my ears off! I've never heard the end of it, since.

Vince

Sam Norton · July 19, 2001, 09:42 PM

I packed up everything and then some and headed over to my cousins to go hunting loaded everthing into his truck and he says where is you gun?

Be right back!

Best
Sam

Arizona Fusilier · July 19, 2001, 11:18 PM

Well, my buddy forgot his rifle sling too, and had to walk around with a rope around his Remington 700. I guess I have to come up with something else.

Oh yeah! After a long day of hunting, and settling down to a monstrous steak dinner, I discovered my buddy forgot the damn butter for the baked potato

mussi · July 22, 2001, 04:48 PM

My dad and I once forgot the transport pole by which we hung our wild
boar. Luckily, a big bowie knife, a small hatchet and spare rope made
up for that deficiency so carried home that 160 lbs boar.

So far, when I go hunting, I pack accordingly to the TO&E the evening
before.

Drundel · July 24, 2001, 10:41 PM

Camera.

Point Blank · July 25, 2001, 03:57 AM

Forgot the magazine to my new CZ 75B when i went to the range to test it out.Was very tempted to load one at a time then drop the slide but heard its bad on slide.Had to just sit there.....looking at it.You only do things like this once after driving nearly 70 miles to go shooting!!!!!!

Johnny Guest · July 28, 2001, 08:23 PM

After a long trip to a dove hunt, I found I'd brought the wrong shotgun! I'd put my old Remington 11-48 16-ga in the wrong case and had it instead of my 12-ga. 1100. NO ONE on the hunt had any 16-ga. shells. Luckily, I was still carrying a 12-ga. riot gun in my car in those days, so I whittled a plug for it, and still got some birds.

I've made other errors since, but not THAT particular mistake.

Best,
Johnny

July 15, 2001, 10:39 AM	#1
KYE-OAT Senior Member Join Date: July 6, 2001 Location: AR Posts: 121	Your worst "I forgot to bring______" Just to get the ball rolling...last night i went up in the woods, trying to call some Coon....brought the old J.S.Caller and tape, by same, of Coon Fight, a spotlight, my Howa .223, and a box of 55 gr. S.P.............well, I get to where I want to call and start the tape and run and get set....Nothing!....not nothing came(tho' that's correct as well).........but nothing, as in NO NOISE!! In my haste to get gone before Her original decision changed, I forgot to check the Battery in the Caller!!!..........To add insult to injury, I had also decided not to bring the old Tally-Ho for back-up.......so there I was sitting out in the woods with no way to call what I knew was So close.... Anyhow, if you've Ever had a good(bad) FORGOT-story....let us hear it!!!

July 15, 2001, 11:39 AM	#2
Al Thompson Staff Alumnus Join Date: May 2, 1999 Location: South Carolina Posts: 3,611	Last time I hunted with a certain guy (last in every sense of the word) he showed up late, tromped through the woods and got put on a stand. Fifteen minutes later he comes tromping back through. He left the bolt to his rifle in the gun case. Giz __________________ http://www.scfirearms.org/

July 15, 2001, 12:20 PM	#3
44rugerfan Senior Member Join Date: March 10, 2001 Posts: 277	I went bowhunting with a friend and forgot my facemask. No problem, I thought, I'll just smear some mud on my face to cover up the glare. Of course, 5 minutes after I do this the sky opens up. Seven minutes later the mud has run from my forehead into my eyes, and I am using my bow as sort of a cane to make sure I don't hit a tree, trying to follow the sound of my friend ahead of me. It is a good thing we got to the stand early, because it took 45 minutes for me to get all the crud out of my eyes. Took the biggest buck of my life that day, though... __________________ "Praise the Lord, and pass the ammuntion..."

July 15, 2001, 02:20 PM	#4
ArmySon Staff Alumnus Join Date: April 14, 2000 Posts: 2,926	Not as bad as me driving 6 hours to the hunting lodge and had everything cept ......... bolt for my rifle AT HOME __________________ Your friends will forgive your mistakes. Your enemies will kill you for it.

July 15, 2001, 02:24 PM	#5
Keith Rogan Senior Member Join Date: March 11, 1999 Location: Kodiak, Alaska Posts: 1,014	I'm pretty good about remembering all my stuff. Up here, most hunts are in fly-in affairs and if you forgot something you are hosed! I've learned to be somewhat of a prick when it comes to this. If somebody forgot something and they are counting on me to supply the deficiency... they're out of luck. If I have "extra's" of something, well maybe - but generally people forget some pretty bizarre things. On one trip somebody forgot their frame pack and I ended up partnering with him for the day. He shot the first deer and then had the unmitigated gall to expect me to surrender my pack (basically give up my hunt for that day) so he could tote his meat several miles down the mountain back to camp. Not likely! I'm sure the 4 or 5 hours of dragging that buck through alder jungles and up and down steep inclines was a good character building exercise that made him a better and stronger man - you'd think he'd be grateful... Another time some idjit forgot his sleeping bag! Can you imagine? You've just been dropped off in the middle of Kodiak Island in November, the plane isn't due back for a week and you forgot your bag? This is almost Darwinian! The other three guys had enough space blankets and a spare tarp to keep the guy alive but none of us would spend the week "cuddling" with him in our bags and he just thought we were all bastards because of that.... I don't know. The most common forgotten item is the good old knife. I buy good quality and after having a couple of loaned knives lost and then "replaced" with K Mart junk - "Gee, sorry about forgetting your hand-forged knife on that log six miles back in the swamp, but here's a nice replacement that has a $2 compass stuck in the plastic handle!" I don't loan stuff any more unless I'm standing right there with my hand out to get it back. OK, rant mode "Off". __________________ Keith

July 15, 2001, 04:52 PM	#6
Spectre Staff Alumnus Join Date: October 23, 1998 Location: ATL Posts: 3,277	Won't forget, Keith. What kind of knives do you favor?

July 15, 2001, 04:57 PM	#7
k77/22rp Senior Member Join Date: December 2, 2000 Location: Michigan Posts: 577	Well the worst thing i have ever forgot was my ammo box i get to the state land where i shoot and i get all set up then i go to load my rifle and i dotn have any ammo. No big deal i just had to pack everything up again and go back to get it, I guess that was pretty stuppid but its only a 3 mile drive. __________________ JeFF D on The High Road

July 15, 2001, 06:01 PM	#8
Keith Rogan Senior Member Join Date: March 11, 1999 Location: Kodiak, Alaska Posts: 1,014	I have two knives (neither of which are available for loan... ). One is a little caping knife called a "cub-bear" by Knives of Alaska and the other is an old skinner made from a car spring and with an ivory handle that I bought from a native in Nome - it's very old and I like it for that reason among others. Both of these are small enough to be useful (no Bowie knives for me, thanks!) and excellent tools. This is the second "Knives of Alaska" knife I've had to buy and at about $100 a pop I hope it's the last. They have a website somewhere that details all the work going into their blades - I'll just say this last one has gone through a half-dozen deer and a caribou and hasn't needed sharpening yet. __________________ Keith

July 15, 2001, 10:37 PM	#9
CD1 Senior Member Join Date: August 21, 2000 Posts: 320	Got all the way to my treestand, got up in it, then realized I forgot my release. Sat there all morning with my bow across my lap praying that I WOULDNT see anything.

July 16, 2001, 12:09 AM	#10
Zorro Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2000 Posts: 1,072	A Knife! So now I carry 5-6 smaller knives instead of one medium size knife.

July 16, 2001, 06:09 AM	#11
griz Senior Member Join Date: July 31, 2000 Location: Middle Peninsula, VA Posts: 1,588	A partial list: Release for bow Hunting license 22 Rifle when squirell hunting Caps for muzzleloader (got the deer that trip too ) And I am kind of like Zorro. Rather than take one knife and sharpening stuff, I'll carry enough knives for the trip.

July 16, 2001, 02:43 PM	#12
Jay Baker Senior Member Join Date: March 26, 2000 Location: S.W. Idaho Posts: 1,294	I've been hunting for many years, and long ago started making lists of things I should always bring, depending on what kind of hunt I would be going on. So, I always "check off" stuff, as I pack it. Also, over the years, I've taken to handing my "lists" out to my hunting buddies, so they'll have the things they need. I'd become rather proud of never forgetting anything. Of course, pride runneth before the fall, so says Mr. Murphy. In 1998, due to a very hectic situation at the time, I was extremely rushed packing for my elk hunt. Got to camp and looked in my hard case and had forgot my rifle sling. I made one from a piece of canas strap, para cord and duct tape, but it wasn't nearly as good as my regualr sling. Looked through the scope on my .338, and the horizontal crosshair was broken! (It was not broekn a few days before, at the range. Wha' hoppin'?? I don't know.)And, I had not brought a backup rifle this trip, due to the rush. Thirty years ago, on a deer hunt in the central Sierra of Kalif., my buddy forgot ammo for his rifle... a Savage 99 .250-3000. Anyone tried to find .250-3000 at hardware stores in tiny towns in the boonies?? Lesson learned, no matter what, Mr. Murphy is always with you. J.B.

July 18, 2001, 01:05 PM	#13
nedfig Senior Member Join Date: March 2, 2000 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 263	One trip I got about 5 miles from the house and remembered I had forgot the ammo. Another trip I forgot the magazine to the rifle. Not so bad, just makes loading a pain.

July 18, 2001, 01:44 PM	#14
fed168 Senior Member Join Date: March 15, 2000 Posts: 1,040	the reminder to the deer that they needed to cross my path.

July 18, 2001, 02:55 PM	#15
JohnDog Senior Member Join Date: January 3, 2000 Location: Colorado Springs, Co Posts: 134	October 1997... I didn't forget to bring it. I didn't forget to bring it. I actually planned to bring this other rifle - Yeah - that's the ticket!! Ok I kinda forget to bring it (my elk rifle - cough cough). I actually grabbed the wrong rifle outa the safe - and it was almost the same caliber (25-06 instead of 30-06). And I did take an elk with it - after a 60 mile roundtrip into the nearest town to get ammo (as opposed to a 500 mile roundtrip back to home). Now every year when I pull into camp, all my hunting buddies gather round my truck, to see if I brought the right rifle or the right ammo for the rifle I have with me. I still try to explain that I was just proving that a 25-06 was adequate to use on elk - Yeah - that's the ticket!! Johndog PS - I always remember the sour cream for the Friday night fajita fest!

July 18, 2001, 06:48 PM	#16
labgrade Member In Memoriam Join Date: November 29, 1999 Location: west of a small town, CO Posts: 4,346	Bud o' mine didn't forget anything - well, forgot to take the keys outa his truck before locking/closing the door. Oops! Opening day for elk, still o'dark-thirty, I'm all set & shufflin' back 'n forth wonderin' what's taking him so long. He was deciding which (cheapest) window to break on his 3 week old truck. Ended up standing the truck bed with an ax & busted out the rear window .... ouch!

July 19, 2001, 01:07 PM	#17
Gator Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2001 Location: Gainesville Posts: 141	1995 went on an almost all day trip looking for birds. Got lost, found out where we were and the state had just closed the land for hunts two days previous. Forgot to check if the fields were still in use before draging myself and two dear friends on a really lame trip. Gator __________________ Nolite me glubere!

July 19, 2001, 04:17 PM	#18
AdrenalineJunky Member Join Date: July 16, 2001 Location: Ukiah, CA Posts: 47	It's hard to shoot skeet... with no clays. __________________ Work the ditches, beat the brush...and bang'em down!

July 19, 2001, 08:00 PM	#19
V.Oller Member Join Date: March 28, 2001 Location: South Florida Posts: 43	I'm a sunny Florida boy. Went to Alabama on a bow hunt in late november, it got down into the low 20's. Plenty cold for me! Half way to the stand, I realized that my nice, comfy, VERY warm hat was still in the trailer! I made everybody turn back 'cause I wasn't gonna freeze my ears off! I've never heard the end of it, since. Vince __________________ That which does not kill us only makes us stronger. /Nietzche http://www.OmegaTactical.com NRA Life Member NRA Certified Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun Instructor

July 19, 2001, 09:42 PM	#20
Sam Norton Member Join Date: September 3, 1999 Location: Sarasota FL Posts: 93	I packed up everything and then some and headed over to my cousins to go hunting loaded everthing into his truck and he says where is you gun? Be right back! Best Sam

July 19, 2001, 11:18 PM	#21
Arizona Fusilier Senior Member Join Date: September 19, 2000 Posts: 1,082	Well, my buddy forgot his rifle sling too, and had to walk around with a rope around his Remington 700. I guess I have to come up with something else. Oh yeah! After a long day of hunting, and settling down to a monstrous steak dinner, I discovered my buddy forgot the damn butter for the baked potato

July 22, 2001, 04:48 PM	#22
mussi Senior Member Join Date: January 17, 2000 Location: Berne, Switzerland Posts: 757	My dad and I once forgot the transport pole by which we hung our wild boar. Luckily, a big bowie knife, a small hatchet and spare rope made up for that deficiency so carried home that 160 lbs boar. So far, when I go hunting, I pack accordingly to the TO&E the evening before.

July 24, 2001, 10:41 PM	#23
Drundel Senior Member Join Date: November 9, 2000 Location: Friendswood, TX Posts: 559	Camera. __________________ Shotshell Information Page Texas A&M University Proud member of the Fighting Class of '00

July 25, 2001, 03:57 AM	#24
Point Blank Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2000 Location: Armpit of the South...Atlanta Posts: 516	Forgot the magazine to my new CZ 75B when i went to the range to test it out.Was very tempted to load one at a time then drop the slide but heard its bad on slide.Had to just sit there.....looking at it.You only do things like this once after driving nearly 70 miles to go shooting!!!!!!

July 28, 2001, 08:23 PM	#25
Johnny Guest Moderator in Memoriam Join Date: August 28, 1999 Location: North Texas Posts: 4,123	Shotgun After a long trip to a dove hunt, I found I'd brought the wrong shotgun! I'd put my old Remington 11-48 16-ga in the wrong case and had it instead of my 12-ga. 1100. NO ONE on the hunt had any 16-ga. shells. Luckily, I was still carrying a 12-ga. riot gun in my car in those days, so I whittled a plug for it, and still got some birds. I've made other errors since, but not THAT particular mistake. Best, Johnny