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Old December 18, 2022, 06:43 PM   #1
bamaranger
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What next?...one of those years!!!!!!

The year started with two misses in bow season, one a literal chip shot. Two weeks into bow season and I had to bail for a month to assist with my ailing elderly momma.......she's gonna be fine and of course who wouldn't have gone?

Upon my return, first night out, I had a likely P&Y buck beneath me in the moonlight, no way could I legally or ethically loose an arrow. I've dropped stuff from the tree...arrows, ear pro (handgun hunting) and glasses necessary for me to see the dang front sight on the pistol. Drove 6 miles from the house to realize I'd left my bow in the other 4wd! Left the house the other PM on the ATV to ride a 1/4mi or so on a neighbors property. While opening the gate to access, I realized I'd left my rifle in the shed where the ATV is stored! Currently, I see deer across the road from my house daily, but can spend a AM or PM in a stand and not see a thing!
I've not been stuck, run out of gas or had a flat, but I figure it's just a matter of time.

Anybody else having one of those years?
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Old December 20, 2022, 03:43 PM   #2
Pathfinder45
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Soitenly, nyuck, nyuck, nuck!
One year, I was apparently excited to go hunting with my younger brother...When we got out of the truck at the trailhead we discovered that we left our rifles at home!

Last edited by Pathfinder45; December 20, 2022 at 03:44 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old December 20, 2022, 05:10 PM   #3
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I've had years like that. Blessed to still be able to walk, breathe and hunt.
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Old December 21, 2022, 09:42 PM   #4
bamaranger
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......it continues

I knew I should have kept quiet about vehicles.

Monday night a pal called who has some health issues and will not hunt alone if he can help it......" Do you wanna come along in the morning?" Well sure, if it helps get the guy in the woods...might even kill one myself.

The property he hunts is an hour away, I'm to meet him at 5:00AM at Wally World and ride the remainder in his truck. I load up my '95 Bronco (Walt) the night before, and crank it, just to be sure he'll start in the AM. Up at 4:15, I crank up at 4:30.....and Walt stalls at the end of the driveway.....rolls out onto the county road and will not restart. I spin it till the battery goes dead.

I roll to the berm, walk up the drive and crank the Toyota p-up, low on gas, but it should make it. Transfer stuff from one vehicle ,to the other and blast off, fussing the whole way I'm late and might run out of gas to boot.

I make it, and my buddy just laughs. He ends up killing a doe, which I drag and load for him. Back, knee and shoulder surgeries, he's kinda limited.

I see two bucks, one a dandy, but no shot. That PM, I boost Walt right off, it cranks easily, I drive him a couple miles and park it back in the driveway.

Old trucks, old men....new stories.
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Old December 24, 2022, 11:03 AM   #5
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Old December 26, 2022, 10:55 AM   #6
buck460XVR
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bamaranger View Post

Old trucks, old men....new stories.
The older I get, the more I realize it's those stories that continue to motivate me to go and hunt. Sitting in a turkey blind or in a deer stand, the majority of the time my mind is drifting off to seasons and hunts past. Those times when the truck got stuck in the snowstorm, or I forgot to load the gun, or when I found the tree with my ladder stand had been logged the week before opening day, are not some of the most vivid memories. Especially when those memories include those who have passed on to better hunting grounds. When folks ask me why I still hunt at my age, I tell them it's because I still can. The day will come soon enough where I will not.
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Old December 26, 2022, 05:33 PM   #7
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My Elk hunt this year was the makings for a bad story I guess. I had neck surgery (2 discs replaced) 7 weeks ago. Doc said I could shoot a mild recoil rifle a few times on Dec 15th. So I headed out on the 16th with my 19 year old and his friend from college, who had stayed over a few days just to go Elk hunting. High of 10F, low of -20F, and I am not back to full strength. Drove out and within a short time, got the truck high centered in snow. Took them 3 hours to dig me out, in 0F temps.

Next day was spent telling the newbie stories about this Elk or that one. The times we got stuck, almost stuck, etc. Shot an Elk. They held legs while I field dressed it. Then they got it to the truck and loaded. When we got home, they hung it. I sent them, and another of their friends, to shoot Trap and Sporting Clays (also his first) with my shotgun, and ammo and let them use my credit at the club. When they got home, I served them Elk medallions and Elk Stroganoff from the Tenderloins.

Needless to say, the kid is hooked and is "absolutely" going to go with us next year.

New stories...yes sir bamaranger.
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Old December 28, 2022, 08:13 AM   #8
std7mag
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Yeah, i've had several of THOSE years where things just wouldn't come together.

Momma said there would be days like this. Just not so many, or all in a row!! Lol

Missed 2 deer this year during archery due to swirly winds.
Usually i have no issues filling the freezer with does.
This year, i got 4 doe tags.
Only shot a buck. Still have the doe tags.
Down to late season archery for me.

Unless i take my 20ga semi auto flintlock out.

Just kidding!!!
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Old December 29, 2022, 01:53 AM   #9
bamaranger
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Did I mention......?

Oh yeah, and I'm losing stuff......but fortunately have found same x2.

First thing was my emergency fall arrestor/ descender. This gadget that will/should save your bacon if you suffer a tumble from a tree stand. Instead of being suspended in your harness (you DO hunt from a harness if elevated don't you?) a friction reel will lower you slowly to the ground. If you haven't heard of them, check it out. Money well spent....anyhow, I found mine after it went missing, lying on the ground where it escaped while loading the stand on the ATV a couple of nights before.

Next was my release (archery). I've shot the same release for nearly 20 yrs, and am as acquainted with it as my own fingers. Without it , it'd be like learning to shoot a release all over again. To boot, both of my bows and bow strings, are set up utilizing same. Normally always strapped to my bow, if not on my wrist. Not there one evening, what.......? Found at base of tree I last hunted....not sure how it got off my wrist, off the bow, and on the ground, but by golly there it was.
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Old December 29, 2022, 07:43 AM   #10
taylorce1
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I didn't get to hunt a single day this year for big game. My time off has to be put in in November for the next year and sometimes what I hope to draw doesn't match with my vacation. I didn't draw anything 1st choice in CO. I did draw a 2nd choice ML buck tag, but couldn't get a vacation time to hunt that season so I ate that one.

I had an OK deer hunt scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving. We had lease issues that got ironed out last minute, so hunt was saved. Then my wife catches COVID right at the beginning of my vacation, my buddies uncle is hunting with us and just finished chemo. So i decided not to risk exposing him just in case I was contagious and didn't go to OK.
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Old December 29, 2022, 10:01 AM   #11
stagpanther
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Quote:
Anybody else having one of those years?
Not this year--but nonetheless I wouldn't feel too bad about it. Because...

One time, in band camp... I decided I was going to do the ultimate (for me) big buck hunt in Maine. Alone--in winter, below zero stuff--yup, I was going to tell all the guys what a tough hunter I am, even haul the carcass out on my own (never would have worked). Got up at midnight, grabbed all my pre-packed gear and headed out into the darkness and drove 125 miles to the trailhead. 18" of snow but thankfully new powder so nice and quiet. did a very slow approach to my chosen area, took me about two hours of hiking in the dim moonlight but got there OK, by then it had warmed up to 4 below zero.

Climbed the stand, hauled my rifle and pack up and started to sort my gear out and prepare for a long, cold sit.

No ammo. Anywhere.

the end.
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Old December 29, 2022, 07:06 PM   #12
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Life has been Ok for me recently, but not for the wife’s favorite nephew. He was adopted as a baby, and recently found his birth mother. She was old and in rather poor health, so they sold their Florida house, moved to the Midwest and bought a home. Wanted to be close to her. His mom died suddenly right after Christmas, and he was going to drive right over to her house. Stepped outside, slipped on the ice, went down hard and cracked 4 vertebrae, his wife drove him straight to the emergency room and when they stopped, the drive shaft fell off the SUV. That’s a bad day. Poor guy.
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Old December 31, 2022, 04:59 PM   #13
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I would laugh, but I've been there too! But it's the thought or hope that next time will be different keeps us coming back for more!
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Old December 31, 2022, 05:08 PM   #14
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I set out after work to get a coyote with my Browning a-Bolt, .22-250. Picked a spot on the hill, pounded sticks in the ground for a mini-front-blind with camo burlap, got my call out and dug in my bag for ammo only to find 6mm PPC I had grabbed without looking when I left home. Called my wife and asked where she wanted to go for dinner.
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Old January 26, 2023, 02:08 PM   #15
bamaranger
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.....and even more

So I'm out on pubic land on a rifle hunt, up in a tripod stand that my neighbor and I share use of when the state land opens periodically. I brushed the stand in the day prior, it is perfect, not to much to hinder good shooting, enough for great concealment.

I see 7 deer that evening, one so-so buck and I pass an iffy shot at 200 yds+. At 5:00 PM a decent buck pops out into the clear, walking hard. 'Till I get the rifle up and on him, he's gone 20 yards. I "meep" to stop him, he keeps on. I "meep" louder,..... he continues. OK, I'll shoot him on the move, it's wide open and he's only about 75 yds away. I'm braced on the rail of the tripod with my elbows, and have the rife trapped in a small fork of one of the saplings I'd cut and attached to stand for concealment....steady as a rock.

I push the crosshairs out in front of him, intending to ambush the shot as the buck walks into my hold. NOW....but as I press the shot, the stub I've got the rifle propped in breaks!!!!! I loose the deer in recoil, can't tell anything about his gait as he gallops away, and cannot get a second shot off.
I think I was still on him and ease down and over to the spot......nothing.

I look for two hours, cutting arcs over the entire hillside.....notta.
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Old January 26, 2023, 03:08 PM   #16
Paul B.
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One of those years?????? How about one of those decades? Was talking with my neighbor and he said he though the decades of the 2020s was trying to kill me.

On 1/2/20 while on the way to the range to do a final check before leaving for an elk hunt in fours days I have a wreck where my truck is totaled and I spend the next four days in hospital. No shooting allowed until the doc clears it.

On 2/27/21 I have a heart attack. Three days in hospital and several stents placed where they'll do some good. Again, no shooting allowed until the doc clears it.

On 3/12/22 I have my five year colonoscapy. You guessed it, colorectal cancer.
Between the appointments for the chemo and later the radiation no time at all to shoot or hunt.

Now I have to wonder? What does 2023 have in store for me? Assuming I survive I want to do at least a cow elk hunt this year. Problem is now I have to find an outfitter who'll work with someone who is handicapped. My previous outfitter lost his lease on the ranch I hunted so the hunt is on for a new outfitter. At 84 years of age, I don't have too many hunts left.
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Old January 26, 2023, 09:26 PM   #17
sako2
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Paul they say things happen in 3's so hopefully your bad luck is over.
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Old January 27, 2023, 09:27 AM   #18
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I had a UTI in September that turned into a ruptured urethra. Still recovering and don't look promising to get into a stand before EOS.
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Old January 29, 2023, 08:15 AM   #19
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One time a few years back, I brought the wrong ammo for my rifle. A full box of 30-30 cartridges and my .308 rifle. But several hours later, I found a store that sold me .308 ammo and my hunt was salvaged. - Jack
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Old January 29, 2023, 09:13 PM   #20
reynolds357
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bamaranger View Post
The year started with two misses in bow season, one a literal chip shot. Two weeks into bow season and I had to bail for a month to assist with my ailing elderly momma.......she's gonna be fine and of course who wouldn't have gone?

Upon my return, first night out, I had a likely P&Y buck beneath me in the moonlight, no way could I legally or ethically loose an arrow. I've dropped stuff from the tree...arrows, ear pro (handgun hunting) and glasses necessary for me to see the dang front sight on the pistol. Drove 6 miles from the house to realize I'd left my bow in the other 4wd! Left the house the other PM on the ATV to ride a 1/4mi or so on a neighbors property. While opening the gate to access, I realized I'd left my rifle in the shed where the ATV is stored! Currently, I see deer across the road from my house daily, but can spend a AM or PM in a stand and not see a thing!
I've not been stuck, run out of gas or had a flat, but I figure it's just a matter of time.

Anybody else having one of those years?
Not years, but brief periods of time. I always say that screwups multiply themselves. In actuality, the more annoyed I get, the more things I screw up.
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Old February 11, 2023, 10:06 PM   #21
Pathfinder45
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Luck, both good and bad, often runs in streaks in defiance of the odds.
With Murphy's Law, we can at least try to anticipate everything that could possibly go wrong and make efforts to eliminate variables.
I should be more consistent to develop and use lists....

Last edited by Pathfinder45; February 11, 2023 at 10:13 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old February 12, 2023, 09:22 PM   #22
reynolds357
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bamaranger View Post
The year started with two misses in bow season, one a literal chip shot. Two weeks into bow season and I had to bail for a month to assist with my ailing elderly momma.......she's gonna be fine and of course who wouldn't have gone?

Upon my return, first night out, I had a likely P&Y buck beneath me in the moonlight, no way could I legally or ethically loose an arrow. I've dropped stuff from the tree...arrows, ear pro (handgun hunting) and glasses necessary for me to see the dang front sight on the pistol. Drove 6 miles from the house to realize I'd left my bow in the other 4wd! Left the house the other PM on the ATV to ride a 1/4mi or so on a neighbors property. While opening the gate to access, I realized I'd left my rifle in the shed where the ATV is stored! Currently, I see deer across the road from my house daily, but can spend a AM or PM in a stand and not see a thing!
I've not been stuck, run out of gas or had a flat, but I figure it's just a matter of time.

Anybody else having one of those years?
Was not a stellar year for me either. Tore ACL in April. Had it reconstructed in June. Had emergency gall bladder surgery in Sept. Had emergency Appendectomy in November. Didn't leave a lot of opportunity for hunting.
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