Hunting bloopers 😁

Hope everyone's having a good time here!

I'd love to know, what’s one hunting mistake you’ll always remember? Maybe it was that moment your scope went busted, or you realized the boots you wore were totally wrong, or perhaps you spooked the game way too soon. I’d love to hear your stories. Let’s swap some lessons and have a good laugh along the way!

A few years ago, I went elk hunting in some really thick timber. I hiked about an hour before dawn, making my way to this ridge I had my eyes set on. I heard bugles from multiple bulls echoing through the woods. One sounded close, just a couple hundred yards away, and I could feel the excitement building inside me.

I reached for my grunt tube to call back, but then it hit me, I had accidentally grabbed my predator call instead! In my pre-dawn scramble, I had picked the wrong call off my gear shelf. So there I was, surrounded by all this elk chaos, and the only thing in my hands was a rabbit distress call!

I tried to make do and used my own voice to throw out a cow call. And let me tell you, my elk impersonation needs some serious work. Those bulls just didn't seem interested in coming any closer.

My dad passed away years ago. He told me a story that pretty much ended his hunting in groups. The idiot that made the massive blooper was an ex Navy decorated hero who survived the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese. His ship went down, and he saved multiple seamen's lives diving into the burning water and craving them to safety.
They were driving to a site to go deer hunting when someone in the car spotted a deer. My dad was sitting in the back seat next to our hero. The car stops and hero has loaded his rifle and aimed it out the window with the muzzle over my dad's lap. He pulls the trigger and the explosion inside that car, well, you can imagine! My dad was so pissed off at hero, I don't know how they stayed friends. My dad, when I was a teenager, would only go hunting with me.

JosephSGo said:

A few years ago, I went elk hunting in some really thick timber. I hiked about an hour before dawn, making my way to this ridge I had my eyes set on. I heard bugles from multiple bulls echoing through the woods. One sounded close, just a couple hundred yards away, and I could feel the excitement building inside me.

I reached for my grunt tube to call back, but then it hit me, I had accidentally grabbed my predator call instead! In my pre-dawn scramble, I had picked the wrong call off my gear shelf. So there I was, surrounded by all this elk chaos, and the only thing in my hands was a rabbit distress call!

I tried to make do and used my own voice to throw out a cow call. And let me tell you, my elk impersonation needs some serious work. Those bulls just didn't seem interested in coming any closer.

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Your story made me laugh! We’ve all had that crazy pre-dawn scramble at least once and it’s much better to discover you’ve got the rabbit distress call during elk season than to realize you’ve packed the elk call for predator season. That could get pretty hairy!You’ll get another opportunity with those bulls, and I’m sure next time you’ll be extra diligent about checking the gear shelf.

punajon said:

My dad passed away years ago. He told me a story that pretty much ended his hunting in groups. The idiot that made the massive blooper was an ex Navy decorated hero who survived the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese. His ship went down, and he saved multiple seamen's lives diving into the burning water and craving them to safety.
They were driving to a site to go deer hunting when someone in the car spotted a deer. My dad was sitting in the back seat next to our hero. The car stops and hero has loaded his rifle and aimed it out the window with the muzzle over my dad's lap. He pulls the trigger and the explosion inside that car, well, you can imagine! My dad was so pissed off at hero, I don't know how they stayed friends. My dad, when I was a teenager, would only go hunting with me.

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Wow, that’s one of those stories that really sticks with you long after you hear it. First off, I’m so sorry to hear about your dad’s passing. He sounds like someone who experienced things most of us can hardly fathom. I can’t blame your dad for being mad. Having a rifle go off inside a vehicle, with the muzzle just inches away, must have been absolutely terrifying. I understand why that pretty much put an end to his desire to hunt in groups. What really hit me is that, despite everything, he still chose to hunt with you later on. That speaks volumes, not just about his trust in you, but also about how seriously he wanted to do things the right way. I can imagine those one-on-one hunts meant a lot more to him than you might have realized at the time. Thanks for sharing that. Stories like this remind us that no matter someone’s background or experience, safety has to come first. EVERY SINGLE TIME.