Lesson Learned!

IMO one of the most important factors in becoming a successful hunter is evaluating yourself and learning from your success and mistakes. One thing I like to do is read success stories and evaluate what it was that made that hunt a success and what little mistakes would have made the hunt end without that awesome trophy shot. I thought this principle would make for a good thread where everyone could share their success stories or mistakes that resulted in a punched tag or the not so delectable tag soup. I prefer to learn from others mistakes than make them myself and risk a painful lesson lol

Ill start...
So last year me and a couple of buddies elk hunted the North Slope of the Uintas for a couple days. The first morning turned out a lot better than we had planned. As we made our way to the predetermined area we knew that we were on to something as we could hear mewing and the occasional bugle. We made it to the far end of the meadow just before shooting light and found ourselves about 200 yards from a herd of about 20 elk, three of which were bulls just as they were making their way into the timber. We spent the remainder of the day trying to get back into the herd but we weren't able to locate them.

First Lesson Learned:
You gotta be on your toes! In hunting, success and failure can be determined within a few seconds and if your not ready when the opportunity presents itself you could be going home empty handed. We should have been quicker to act.I think we were in shock that we found such a herd the first morning that we didn't know what to do. ](*,) I like to think that that morning would have ended in one if not two bulls on the ground had we acted fast and got ahead of the herd. Ya never know what could have happened though...

The second and third days were spent still hunting the thick timber near the meadow where we spotted the herd that first morning but we never turned anything up. The last morning we visited the meadow again hoping the herd had finished its rotation and was back to the meadow to feed. We headed out a little later than we had hoped and we couldn't hear any mews or bugles as we got closer to the meadow. We assumed the herd had already made it to their afternoon bed and we would have to wait until next year to take another whack at it. We got closer and still couldn't hear anything, we carelessly made it over the bench that put us at the meadows edge and found ourselves choking on the dust the herd left as they stampeded out of sight ](*,) Lets just say I let out a few choice words that morning but learned a valuable lesson in the process.

Second Lesson learned:
If you're going to make assumptions always assume your next best trophy is just over the ridge.

I've made a quite a few stupid mistakes and i'm sure all make quite a few more but if I can spare someone the pain of watching a trophy trot away because of a stupid assumption i'd be happy to!

So... this thread might put some peoples pride on the line but lets here the lessons ya'll have learned during your hunting career! Hopefully well get some entertaining stories out of this too.
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fatrooster
When I was about 13 years old my Uncle started taking me to the hunting camp he was a member of down in the Florida swamp lands where I grew up. In the South East using dogs to hunt white tailed deer is legal and a regular way to hunt the swamps. I was stationed at a creek which was a regular deer crossing. The dogs sounded like they were trailing and were barking every so often and it didn't sound like they were after anything. As I played in the sand with a stick, two bucks ran right past me and after a couple of minutes the dogs came by.
Lesson #1. Always be ready.

One morning I decided to do some still hunting which usually meant walking into the swampy woods and sitting down on the ground up against a tree. It was a very windy morning and I could not hear myself walking through the woods. As I came around a tree I came up on a spike buck not even 10 yards away feeding away from me. He did not know I was there so I slowly raised my rifle and carelessly took no caution when I pushed off the safety on the gun. CLICK!!!!!! For some reason the wind did not mask the sound of that safety switch when I clicked it off. It was the loudest "click" that I'd ever heard in my life! Needless to say, that buck was nothing buck a memory in a nano second.
Lesson #2. Be contientous of every little move you make in a stalk or chance encounter.

I've got more stories of mistakes I've made but will tell them later.
fatrooster.
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Default Avatar
Know the guys you hunt with, period. I love my friends dearly but there is one thing that I have had to learn the hard way, not everyone listens. I can’t count the number of times that I have taken a friend hunting and placed them in a great spot only to have them get up and move within an hour of me dropping them off. You have to understand that most hunting back East is done from tree stands and ground blinds and the area you can hunt is limited to the size of the property, usually not much. Two problems arise from someone moving around. One is it can be dangerous not knowing where other hunters are in the woods, the other is too much movement on small properties can push deer off premises. Nothing will kill your hunting mood more than one of your buddies walking through the woods past your stand not long after you set them up. I know that everyone has a different style of hunting and to each his own, but if you are taking your time to hang a stand or place a ground blind and scout out the property you kind of expect people to respect your knowledge and listen to what you have to say.

Lesson learned:

If you take someone hunting make sure their expectations match your own and they can put pride aside and listen to what you have to say. If they want you to take them hunting they should be willing to do what is asked of them if for nothing else than safeties sake.
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Tonoonyi
2008 I was hunting a draw only unit for bulls, me and a hunting partner were hiking into a basin right at daylight. I put a call in my mouth as soon as I start walking but since it was dark I didn't have my finger tabs on or my arm gaurd on. We stopped to catch our breath and I was going to put on my arm gaurd and shooting glove, when we stopped I let out a soft cow call just to cover the noise we were making and proceeded to put on my arm gaurd. My partner put his hand on my shoulder and told me don't move. I very slowly looked up from my arm and twenty yards in front of me was a very big 6x6 bull looking at me. He calmly turned and walked away over the little ridge in front of me never to be seen by us again.

Lesson learned: Always be ready for an animal to come in if you call !!!

](*,)
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ARCHER11
I bet you guys wont make those mistakes again! Thanks for responding, lets hear some more. I have a bunch I could share but lets see if we can get a few more stories before I post again.
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Default Avatar
Always check your back trail.
Reason 1. What you are hunting may be cutting your trail. (deer)
Reason 2. What may be hunting you might be cutting your trail (bear)
Rason 3. The way out does not look the same as the way in.(lost)

Suffice to say all 3 happened on the same hunt. Talk about your luck going cold. sheesh!
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sneekeepete
When I was 16 we were on a muzzle loader hunt. It was super hot and dry for September so we were doing a lot of still hunting and trying to cover more country than spot and stalk hunting. Well after a few days I was pretty wore out and we were headed off the top of the mountain towards camp. To that point we had seen 5 deer I think so I was agrivated, hot, and tired. I came over the crest of a big knoll watching my boots kickin up dust. I looked up to see 3 of the biggest bucks I'd ever seen on a hunt disapear over the ridge forever... Like many above always be ready!
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sneekeepete
Oh and never trust a cheap wood ramrod! That is the same hunt that I broke mine in two loading up opening morning...
I did still get my biggest buck to that point by the way.
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Springville Shooter
Don't leave too early!
I was backpack hunting in the Seven Devils wilderness with a couple of friends. We hiked in a couple miles and a couple thousand feet in elevation and made a nice camp in a high saddle that sat in between two really productive deer areas. We hid our camp back in the trees and kept a really low profile as we had killed many deer within a half mile of camp. Each morning we got up and left before light to get out to good vantage points in the basins. The first two mornings in a row we jumped an animal right out of camp in a little sage flat. Being too early to see, we assumed that it was a doe as we had seen some around in years past. On the third day, my friend said that he wanted to hang back and wait for light to start out of camp. We went the other way that morning and soon after daylight we heard a shot right back at camp. When we got back, we found that he had shot a really nice thick 3X4 right down on that sage flat. Further inspection revealed that his tracks were the only ones around the area. He ended up being the best buck that we got that year and taught me a valuable lesson. Don't walk through good deer country before light. You will miss way more deer than if you wait that extra half hour and travel when you can see. Unless you are in an overcrowded area, the deer will usually still be out when you arrive at your vantage point.-----SS
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killerbee
good points everyone, i've never messeded up - so i dont really have anything to add..............................................................(yea right:) )

when i first started bowhunting,16+ yrs ago, i got withing easy bow range- under 40 yrds and many way closer- of ALOT of bulls. getting close was easy, my problem came when going for the shot. i'd loose it. get my bow drawn back and let it fly. i missed alot of bulls, and even drew blood a couple times( which i'm not proud of).
lesson learned, and we've all heard it, it wasn't untill i finally made myself literally say "pick your spot" on the bull to shoot at. thats when i started killing bulls year after year.

LESSON2:
now fast forward a couple sucsessful yrs. i had an old high country bow that i had killed both deer and elk with. the draw length was 1-2" to long for me so i decided to help improve my accuracy i'd get it rebuilt. i took it to a shop and they couldn't get the cams for it but had some in the back they could make work. THAT BOW NEVER SHOT THE SAME SINCE! i could never get it to paper tune, and the arrows would do a "whip" in the air. stupid like i still hunted with it that fall.

i had a shot at a 340" bull at 25 yrds that fall, perfect broadside. with my buddy right with behind me i shot the bull and hit withing an inch of what we called a great shot. but i hit a rib and the arrow almost looked like it bounced off of him.

we went and found the arrow and it looked like i got no more than 3" of penetration. we tracked the bull all afternoon, no blood- didn't even seem hurt.
the next morning we got up to are glassing point and there he was, still with his 10 cows, acting as if nothing ever happend. but he had a dried up blood spot RIGHT WHERE it should have been!

so lesson learned- make sure your weapon is in shape to do the killing. it's hard enough for everything to go right and get that shot at a trophy of a lifetime. your bow better be able to do it's job by cutting everything it touches!
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spoofman
Position, position, position!!

I hunt the high country for mule deer. I have taken many of my friends out when they get tags to get them excited about hunting again after they get married and loose the edge..if you know what I mean. I took one individual to one of my favorite locations and didnt tell him much about the hunting style and or terrain we would be hunting. We were black powder hunting and hiked in about 5 miles into wilderness. Most of it before light. We get into the area and set up along some saddles overlooking a large mountian face which i usually glass and find the deer we would want to pursue and stalk form there. Lone behold as we are looking off in the disatnce a small group of does came up the face right at us and crossed the saddle not 20 yards form us. I told him to hold still and let them cross as we did not know what would follow. They had crossed and not 2 minutes later 3 bucks were coming up the same trail. I was in great position to take any of the bucks I wanted. Two were pushing 30 and the other mid twenties. They were all typical framed and either of the two bucks would have been just fine. I was already in position and my friend decided to move behind me as the bucks where zig zagging up towards us. big mistake. I did not see him move as i was looking sown the barrel but the bucks suddenly stoped at about 80 yards and the rest is history as neither of us got a shot as they busted out and left us looking at them bounding down the mountain in 50 foot bounds down the steep face. I could have been selfisha nd jsut shot but, oh well. He learned to be in position for anything to happen at anytime and I learned to shoot when an opportunity is avialable if the other party member is not ready. ](*,)
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ARCHER11
Sweet stories guys! I mean... unfortunate, but hopefully I'll be able to learn and avoid some of those mistakes. Probably not haha but I can always hope!

Ill share another...

Patience is a virtue! Last year while hunting the Wasatch Front me and a friend and spotted 2 bucks moving across a face about 300 yards away. We had been hunting all day without any luck and there was probably an hour or so of light left so seeing these deer was a great way to end the day. We didn't take the time to evaluate where the deer were going and how to go about setting up an ambush and we just took of after them. We split up hoping he could push them my way but I ended up pushing them to who knows where. I hunted the area a couple times after that and never saw them in the area after that.

Be patient and take the time to evaluate the situation and put together a plan. Don't rush it, its better to pull out and go back with the time to put together a stalk.

After realizing that I had blew it, I sat for a while waiting for my friend to work his way into me so we could head back to the car together. He never showed up and after meeting up at the car later I learned that in the process of pushing the deer he spotted a good 3 point about 20-30 yards away. My friend (who didn't have a tag) just sat there for a good half hour hoping that I would come back looking for him and get a chance at this buck. He even called another hunter down off the ridge (maybe it was one of you guys??? It was last year up mill creek canyon) thinking it was me. The deer just sat there presenting a clear shot but the other hunted decided to pass on this deer. While getting my pack ready for the days hunt I grabbed walkie talkies but just before leaving decided to leave them behind.

Don't leave home without the walkie talkies if you plan on hunting with someone that doesn't have a tag.

Thanks for all the replies!

What else you guys got?

Lets hear some more!
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fatrooster
Back in 2004 I was on a Nevada muzzleloader hunt and my partner and me spotted 21 bucks accross a giant drainage on the side of a mountain. The best buck was a mid 170's typical 4x4 with a three inch extra kicker on one side. The problem was in order to get up above them we had to make a long hike to the backside of the mountain and climb over it and hope to find them in thier canyon. The next morning we started on the trail at 3:00 a.m. and finally got where we wanted to be at about noon. We spotted a couple of bedded bucks down below us and made our stalk. It was our last day of the season to hunt so we wanted to come out with something even if it was just a couple of meat bucks. We got into range of a little 4x4 and my buddy let him have it. About that time the woods came alive and the whole group of bucks started moving up hill straight towards us. They passed us at a slow trot/fast walk at about 30 yards but as they passed us they ran into a giant boulder field that they could not cross. They turned around and came back past us again and I decided to take the closest meat buck a small 3x3. So I shot my buck. We still had plenty of bucks moving around us and then three 22-23" wide 4x4's stepped out of the bushes at about 40 yards away from us and started following the pack down the hill. Then a doe came walking out with the 170's buck behind her slowly walking down the mountain. It would have been an easy shot.
Lesson- Overlook all of the bucks in a group before you get impatient and shoot a meat buck.

On the way down off the mountain in the dark, both our flashlights burned out the bulb.
Lesson- Keep an extra flashlight in your pack.

fatrooster.
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