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Your biggest deer hunting mistake #6905037 10/01/17 09:08 PM
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Texas Dan Offline OP
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As the season draws closer, thoughts often turn to past mistakes and making sure you don't repeat them.

My biggest mistake came a few seasons ago when I let my rifle slide off the side of a very small tree and fall directly on the scope. It was only after I missed a very nice buck about three weeks later that I checked and found it barely hit paper. Being one who has always put strong faith in the overall durability of firearms and scopes, it was yet another lesson in "check to be sure."


"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6905089 10/01/17 10:08 PM
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TMI TMI TMI TMI TMI, cause the crows always come home to roost....and after 50 years together we've arrived at a truce of sorts...


Oh ...you said "while deer hunting"...OK I dinnit take a wish shot at the biggest WTail I ever saw while hunting on the Brisco Ranch as a guest...shouda coulda woulda If'n I'd taken Jason's Rifle Class...Oh Wait he'd still been in grade school or sumthin back then...carry on.
Ron


It is TIME for Term Limits, cause Politicians are like childrens diapers and for the same reasons...Robin Williams

"These are the times that try men's soul's"...Thomas Paine

"Those who fail to learn from History are doomed to repeat it" ....Santayana
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6905119 10/01/17 10:46 PM
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Not checking the perimeter of the clearing before I moved into the open. Those bedded bucks are really hard to pick out of the background.


...and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1:28
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6905220 10/02/17 12:32 AM
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I go to the range often just to make sure my zero is maintained, sucks to miss out on such an opportunity

Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6905371 10/02/17 04:00 AM
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When I was a teenager just getting into bow hunting, I didn't give my first bow kill (an 8 point) long enough to expire. He had ran about 40 yards and bedded at the bottom of a tree. I jumped him and the rest is history. They now get a minimum of an hour to expire, even if I know the shot was spot on.

Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: BMag] #6905697 10/02/17 03:06 PM
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Originally Posted By: BMag
When I was a teenager just getting into bow hunting, I didn't give my first bow kill (an 8 point) long enough to expire. He had ran about 40 yards and bedded at the bottom of a tree. I jumped him and the rest is history. They now get a minimum of an hour to expire, even if I know the shot was spot on.

+1. Same lesson learned. After two hours, the 'yotes will get'em.


God bless John Wayne!
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6905703 10/02/17 03:13 PM
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I actually think it was the right decision, but I had a shot at the biggest LF buck I've ever had in front of me a couple of years back. My buddy had already sold the place and had gotten 1 last year of hunting as condition of the sale, so there was no benefit to having him still out there spreading his genetics. At least no benefit to me or my friend that owned it. New owners were going to HF it and kill all deer to bring in freaks.

Rut was on hard, a doe came out of the brush looking like she was obviously being pushed, I readied myself for a buck and in unusual "worked out like it was supposed to" a very large bodied, wide, tall-tined 10-pt was right on her. I stopped the buck via a grunt, but he wasn't broadside, rather facing right towards me. Had my crosshairs on his throat at about 60 yards, but he wouldn't turn. Moved my scope down to his chest and told myself as soon as he turned, I'd pull the trigger.

He broke into a sprint straight towards me and about 10 yards from the blind, broke off into the brush. Never felt I had a clean shot, but man...

Again, probably the right move, but one that will haunt me. He wasn't a monster, but was probably a 145-155 inch buck that would've easily been my biggest.

Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6906147 10/02/17 08:05 PM
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Got in stand opening day with 20 minutes to spare only to realize my carefully worked up handloads were at home on my reloading bench. Dang it!


Smokey Bear---Lone Star State.
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6906171 10/02/17 08:20 PM
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Not checking gun sights after loaning it out as a teenager. Missed a huge deer. Scope was way off. Thanks, buddy.

Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: ErnestTBass] #6906294 10/02/17 09:46 PM
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Originally Posted By: ErnestTBass
Not checking gun sights after loaning it out as a teenager. Missed a huge deer. Scope was way off. Thanks, buddy.


Yes, many a buck owes his life to a borrowed gun.


"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6906333 10/02/17 10:06 PM
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Never really made a mistake while hunting that I regret. But AFTER I shot a nice eight point I drove into a sandy river bed to recover the buck and buried my suburban to the axles. It ain't cheap to call a wrecker service into BME to get towed out of a riverbed. hammer


To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

www.NewHopeEquine.com - Health and Healing through Horses.
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: dkershen] #6906345 10/02/17 10:13 PM
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Originally Posted By: dkershen
Never really made a mistake while hunting that I regret. But AFTER I shot a nice eight point I drove into a sandy river bed to recover the buck and buried my suburban to the axles. It ain't cheap to call a wrecker service into BME to get towed out of a riverbed. hammer


Biggest mistake not related to but made during deer hunting also applies here.


"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6906346 10/02/17 10:15 PM
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Not hunting more when I was younger. Hunted as a kid until young teens then didn't hunt until I was like 28.

Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6906347 10/02/17 10:15 PM
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Telling others what you saw during a hunt is perhaps one of the most widespread deer hunting mistakes.


"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6906353 10/02/17 10:20 PM
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Originally Posted By: Texas Dan
Telling others what you saw during a hunt is perhaps one of the most widespread deer hunting mistakes.
Why?If you aren't hunting with people you can trust you need to find a new place to hunt.

Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6906356 10/02/17 10:23 PM
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Trusting 1 screw in a scope base after the other one broke.


Shoot. Eat. Repeat.
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6906416 10/02/17 10:58 PM
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I just assumed my phone was on vibrate...

Set my bow stand feeder to go off at first light. Come season the deer were staged in there in the dark. I pushed them all out of there when I tried to get in the stand. Never saw the target buck that season

Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6906456 10/02/17 11:25 PM
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During a morning hunt about 25 years ago I got out of my tree stand (fork in the tree) to early and decided to walk towards a fairly new sendero made by the oil company for a pipe line. I was on high ground, the sendero began below at a ravine and took off west. Saw a big bodied buck coming my way from about 70 yards, I backed up and laid down with my 7 mag propped up on my coat, turned the scope down to 4X and waited. All of a sudden from about 25 yards away the buck partially crested the ravine right in front of me, all I could see was the very top of his neck right below his chin and a bunch of heavy antlers with kickers eeks333

I thought the buck had walked straight up the ravine at me, there were tall grasses in front of him blocking what I thought was the front of his body, instead of shooting what I could positively see which was just the top of his neck right below his chin, I decided to shoot a little lower through the tall grass where I just knew the bigger part of his neck was. Bam I shoot and he is gone I hear him going back down the hill. Confident of a good hit I waited about 10 seconds and walked to the top of the ravine. There he was about 40 yards away just pass the bottom of the ravine staring up at me and I am thinking he is dead and just does not know it yet scratch

I am waiting for him to drop, had time to chamber another round and shoot again but nooh. Well he got tired of the stare down and took off never to be seen again.

Walked the area looking for blood, nope. After extensive search and mind racing at what the heck just happened I found the exact trail he took up the ravine and where he stopped when I first saw him. The buck came up the ravine sideways from my left to right, so when I saw him his body was not directly behind him, it was to the left. When he got far enough up to see the buck simply turned his head to the right to look at me so I ended up shooting the grass under neath his chin.

Two mistakes were made;
1. Shoot at what you can positively identify.
2. If it is not dead, shoot it until it is bang

Last edited by Stub; 10/03/17 05:24 PM.

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Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6906530 10/03/17 12:07 AM
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About 10 years ago I shot a small legal 8 point opening weekend in East Texas. Tagged him and was walking back to camp to get the mule when a very nice NT walked into the pipeline easement and stared me down from 40 yards for a few moments. He was less than 80 yards from my stand and it had only been about 15 minutes since I pulled the trigger. One buck county.


Originally Posted by unclebubba
Just to make sure that it is done thoroughly, I go both ways.

Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Smokey Bear] #6906598 10/03/17 12:48 AM
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Originally Posted By: Smokey Bear
Got in stand opening day with 20 minutes to spare only to realize my carefully worked up handloads were at home on my reloading bench. Dang it!
this bang


hold on Newt, we got a runaway
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6906853 10/03/17 04:12 AM
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Pulled my keys out of my pocket while in stand and set my alarm off. A few bucks ran by. That was actually funny.

Missed my first nice buck by climbing out of the stand. It was old Texas Hunter tower and had a hole in the floor. My wallet fell through it and everything fell out. The chair was too short for the window so I got out. I was walking around and the buck was directly below blind 10 yards out looking at me. I was in the open at 100 yards. I made it to a tree to get a rest but he was moving out and then jumped a fence. I got to brush and grunted and he popped out at 50 yards but in other side of the fence. It wasn't our property so he got a pass. Buddy now owns that property. I shot an old broken 10 a few years later just on the other side of the fence so maybe it was him.

Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6907150 10/03/17 02:21 PM
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I’ve got two that I can’t place one higher than the other.

I woke up one morning and thought “I won’t see anything”. Went back to bed. Game cam proved me wrong with a big chocolate horned 9pt that was in the feed area for over an hour that morning in good daylight.

I let a friend of mines son in law hunt one of my blinds. He shot an immature buck that I’d passed on several times that season. We’d had the discussion on what we wanted taken. He threw that out the window. Haven’t offered a spot to anyone since.

Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6907153 10/03/17 02:22 PM
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Thinking there would only be one guinea wasp nest in my stand at a time.


~Dustin



"Life's complicated, man, like a dang ol' Rubik's cube, man. Talkin' 'bout blue and red, man. Dang ol' get one side, dang ol' messed up th' other side, man."

-Boomhauer
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6907185 10/03/17 02:43 PM
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Not sitting with a hunter who I gave a picture of his target deer. Got us removed from that property. bang


Sometimes it's hard being me! But somebody has to do it.
Re: Your biggest deer hunting mistake [Re: Texas Dan] #6907217 10/03/17 02:56 PM
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Letting less experienced hunters hunt does, alone. It's really not that hard to tell a nubbin' buck from a doe fawn, if you exercise a little patience.

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