Everyone has to learn the ropes, and it's no different when you're a kid first learning to hunt.

I'm sure most of you have a story or two about a mistake you made as a kid when you were first learning to hunt. Mine was the time when one of the men in camp told me to add some wood to the fire in the fireplace so we would all stay a little warmer, at least for a while as we slept. Unfortunately, I had never been taught the difference between seasoned oak and lighter knot and ended up adding only the later to the fire. Thankfully, those old timers cut me some slack for my mistake. With all the added heat, it sure wasn't a good night for sleeping in a top bunk.

When I was 9 or 10 years old my assignment was to get out of bed first and light the fire in a wood burning stove. I had the bright idea to load the stove with wood and placed the lighter on top of the stove so I could get it done and get back in bed until the cabin warmed up! Unfortunately there were some coals from the night before that created a roaring fire in the stove. The lighter heated up to the point that it exploded and one end went just over my father's head and dropped into my his sleeping bag! The other end went over my cousins head and put a hole in the wall! It could have ended badly but ended up just another great story we re-told every year until my father passed! This was '69 or '70. I can't recall exactly what kind of lighter it was but it could have caused serious injury! Those were the days!

As pappy once said: keep your head held high & your powder dry ...
First deer rifle was a black powder Kentucky .45 ... Year was in the 70's... My parrd & i been fastdrawing for several years & getting able ta hit cans... We got into black powder, the six shooter .44 & the .45 rifles...
We used em for plinking, trying ya out do each other, see who was better shot, friendly rivalry... When done for the day, clean, light oil & put up for next day... Few dry fires before loading when we 'd take em out...
First year for a deer hunt... Took .45 out set up cans roughly 30-40 yrds, hit can, was well familiar with Kentucky windage... Got back ta house, cleaned rifle like always, run several patches threw... Since it's not considered loaded with powder, patch, & pall seated untill cap is on... With out dry firing, since
didn't run light patch with oil...
Next morning before sun rise we were all set up for our morning sit... Since i was only one using rifle, every one else shotgun with slug, i set up on creek leading into the woods ... Seen one buck at edge of woods... We got together, put on small drive, seen a few does, we had no doe tags... Afternoon sat on hillside, above trails...
Fell asleep, woke up to a as ya'll say troufy buck stairing at me... Slowly put sights on squeezed trigger, ka- but no boom ... Didn't get all the moisture out... Deer got away... Tis were got the saying..
Did get a nice 8pointer later that day...

The "click" on an empty chamber that sounded like a bomb went off and the buck that pranced away while I chambered a round.......

Did the same, but wasn't a kid - more like 40 at the time. We had been getting reports of a monster buck on place near Talpa. I was hunting with a Rem 700 and got into blind a bit late. We kept the guns unloaded in camp, and I hadn't chambered a round on the walk, so got into the blind, got set up, and almost immediately had does around. I quietly chambered a round, but didn't get it seated while trying to be stealthy. After about 10 minutes the largest buck I had ever seen came to the edge of the clearing - easy 100 yard shot. Raised the rifle, sighted, and....click. Mr. Lucky jumped straight up, turned, and was gone. I was sick.

The good news, about 10 minutes later a 13 point buck came in from the opposite direction. By then I had figured out my mistake, and dropped the 13. The Euro is on the wall above me.

Mounted a scope to a 30-06, one of the screws in the front base twisted off. I figured what the heck, three would do it. Didn't see hardly any deer that year, final day of season missed a buck standing about 75 yds three times. He never did run, just looked at me like I was stupid and walked off. Took it to the range and was shooting about 2 foot right of where I zero'd. THink I was 20 at the time.

1980, married 2 years, took wife deer hunting. Had a make shift tent over the bed of my truck consisting of pvc pipe frame and a tarp. Sleeted and snowed all night long, cold as heck, no heater, in the 20's next morning. Just happened to be taking care of a couple of hunters/customers that day too that still had a hang over from the night before. They had been pretty rank the night before. All of this added up to the wifey being just a little bit upset with me.

Year before last.....missed a Giant sika buck because I didn't clear the window of the pop up before I released the arrow.

I can honestly say I never had any "ones that got away" while hunting before that deer. I'm still mad about it

I've had the click once on a doe. Back in my 20's I was adding a new contour line to the mountain side when a buck came pogostickin by and stopped just to look at me. Soon as I moved he headed for the next county.

I had a 35 acre place north of Bracketville in the 70's. I had a heavy barreled Ruger Mod 77 that had a defective firing pin (too short). Hunting in drizzling rain watching a gathering of does, a buck stepped out. Click! I was far enough away that he did not hear the sound.
Shaking hands from the cold, I chambered another round.
The 10 pointer is now on my cabin wall.
Ruger gave me some [censored] about having to send the entire rifle back. I sent the bolt,only. My son hunts with that .243 rifle to this day. There has never been another misfire.
You will never forget the click if it ever happens to you.

last year, left the window cracked on the blind and an owl moved in and had eight baby owls. It was a mess.... Took most of the day to clean it out.

One of dads good friends brought me and his son who was my friend out to their lease in Seymore. Me and dad saw a nice buck the previous evening but dad didn't take the shot so we set dad out in that stand by himself so I would not mess it up and we hunted the opposite side. The three of us sat in the truck on the other side of the field and BSed for the most part until a really nice buck came out. His dad got out and got set up on a bipod in the field and confirmed that was a nice deer. He took the shot and the scope lost sight of the deer. He had placed a 180gr bullet out of a 30-378 weatherby mag directly into the berm in front of him.

buck fever !

Heard a story like that except someone was standing resting the barrel on the top rail of the bed of a truck shooting across it. Ended up with a hole in the other side of the truck bed. As for the stories of no rounds in the chamber, my dad is known as "Click" Mitchell by the ranchhands down in Encinal after not having a round in the chamber and having a buck walk off afterwards.

A few years a ago I was rifle hunting one of my ground blinds.
While hunting I heard a shot from across the county road and shortly after I hear talk on the two way radio that this guy shot a buck and to come pick him and the deer up.
About 10 minutes later I hear a 4 ATV headed over to pick up the hunter and his deer.
I hear them hooting and hollering and decided my hunt was over.
I had my rattling horns with and decided to leave my stand and try some rattling.
I open the door and step out leaning my rifle against the stand so that I could lock the stand door.
I look to my right and there was a HUGE buck walking about 75 yards to my right from the direction of the hunters from the other pasture.
I step left grabbed my gun and steadied it against the side of the stand waiting for him to clear the stand to my left... The buck clears and I click my off my safety for the shot.
The click was so loud
I have never seen a deer go from 0 to 60 so fast and there was no way I was going to attempt the shot.
If I would have just stayed and hunted that ground blind I would have had my biggest buck to date

So... Now when ever I take my safety off it is done very quietly

i began hunting as a kid. My dad didn't hunt but I loved it. In those days we didn't have a DVR. We didn't even have a VCR. I started driving at 12 to hunt by myself so my dad could watch the cowboys on Sunday afternoon. The only hunting advice I got was, "if you shoot a deer, it better have horns." My dad didn't discourage my love of the outdoors and he bought me my first deer rifle, a pre 64 Winchester 30-30 that I have to this day (almost 4 decades later).

Now I take my kids every chance I can, sometimes they don't want to tag along. I think back to my dad and his warning about shooting a deer. It makes me smile still.

I'm sure everyone on this forum takes their kids hunting. They're the future of our lifestyle

I used TINKS 69

Ya do know thats not a collone....


edit: before ya get in a tif bout spelling... As pappy once said: this android makes me look dummer than i realy am... ing with spell check... :confused2 : then, most have me on thar ignorance list ...
kinda of: before you knew better ... i got cheap posts...

My dad handed me the shotgun when we were dove hunting. a bird came in low and fast from left to right my dad was a few feet to my right. I swung the shotgun from left to right to lead the bird and fired right next to my dads head. Kinda wish I had got him.

My first year hunting I had a big buck come out of the woods at 40 yards. Tried to chamber a round quietly. Needless to say I am always ready now.

"Before I knew better"....many of my mistakes, I did know better

Making mistakes is how you learn, it's repeating them after hunting for 30 years that gets me

ex·pe·ri·ence
ˌikˈspirēəns/
noun
1.
practical contact with and observation of facts or events.
"he had already learned his lesson by painful experience"

Short version - Make a mistake & learn from it!

From this you should deduce that when I tell you I have experience, what I'm really saying is I screwed up a lot but I learned something from it!

Before I knew better I told my wife EXACTLY how I wanted something done. When she took the slack out of that rope tied to the pickup, I became EDUMACATED. When she put the truck in park and got out she told me not to ever talk to her that way again. I SAID YEEESSS MAME . I GRADUATED MAGNA DUMB ARSE!!!

Looks like it was from the same school as Colt.45?

Leaving the safety off on my shotgun while dove hunting, getting my [censored] woooped by dad.