Stupid hunting stories.....

[BCM1323654788]

I tell myself...."aim small, miss small"....then I yank the hell out of my trigger while ****ting myself. Im trying to calm down but it's hard and I put so much heart and soul into this.

Bear44 is right about the trigger making it easier. Would probably find you shoot better under stress with something that kicks less as well, since all the factors get amplified.

The nervous feeling when you see a deer is adrenaline. The next time you see a deer and start to get nervous do this: take as big of a breath as you can while regaining focus and composure. Exhale slowly and remain focused. Continue breathing deeply and slowly and exhaling fully and slowly while observing the deer and what it's doing. It will never know you're there. Your goal is to remain calm and ready to act.

The thing about adrenaline is that it escalates much faster than it dissipates, so the faster you get control of it, the less it affects you, but if you let it get too high, it will absolutely work against you for an extended amount of time. It's very hard to bring back down once it's elevated so controlling your composure and breathing, in the beginning, is essential.

Too much adrenaline destroys your fine motor skills, seen when you jerk the trigger instead of slowly squeezing the trigger like you would at the shooting range. Start paying attention to it while you're in the stand and you'll learn how to control it.

 

[Putnambuck]

This thread needs to get back on topic.....not a shooting a gun and breathing thread

 

[drewga11]

Made it all the way to my stand one morning before I realized I left my release for my bow at home. Since then, if its not strapped to my wrist, its strapped to the bow. Only other thing I can think of that I have done is forget to chamber a round in my rifle, which I've done a few times.

 

[BCM1323654788]

This thread needs to get back on topic.....not a shooting a gun and breathing thread

Lol sorry, I guess we "zoned-out", could have been somethin wacky in the air? Agreed, back to topic!

 

[hops2899]

Redlands for ML a few years back. Brought everything except the primers.

 

[fatboy]

with some of y'all stories, i don't feel so bad about forgetting my rifle....lol

Two years ago I took my daughter (home from college) with me. We settled into the stand about 45 minutes before light and proceeded to quietly talk a little and wait on daybreak. Right as it was getting light I rattled and hit the grunt call. Within 30 seconds I see movement of what looks like a slick head. I look through my scope and see what looks to be a doe walking away from me. Wanting to make sure it isn't a button, I dial the scope up to 10 and take another look.

When I do, I see a huge rack staring back at me, biggest I had ever seen. I immediately dropped to the kill zone and then remember my daughter is sitting next to me. I start whispering trying to get her on him, all the while watching for a flinch of him starting to head out of dodge. I'm still trying to get her on him and sure enough I see him start to go, so I pull the trigger.

CLICK!!!!

I had forgotten to load my gun. Asked my daughter why she didn't shoot him, and she informed me I forgot to load her gun as well.

 

[fatboy]

Back in the late 80's I was at GA Southern, a friend and I went hunting one morning. It was an unusually cold morning for SE GA and never got above freezing while we were out there. As we exited the truck, we put some Fox Urine on our boots and headed out. Hunted for a while and didn't see anything. Got back in my Scout to head back to campus and had the heat blasting. As the heat started blowing hot air, the boots started heating up and the smell of Fox Urine became so overwhelming we had to pull over and tie our boots to the top of the Scout.

 

[Bear44]

Two years ago I took my daughter (home from college) with me. We settled into the stand about 45 minutes before light and proceeded to quietly talk a little and wait on daybreak. Right as it was getting light I rattled and hit the grunt call. Within 30 seconds I see movement of what looks like a slick head. I look through my scope and see what looks to be a doe walking away from me. Wanting to make sure it isn't a button, I dial the scope up to 10 and take another look.

When I do, I see a huge rack staring back at me, biggest I had ever seen. I immediately dropped to the kill zone and then remember my daughter is sitting next to me. I start whispering trying to get her on him, all the while watching for a flinch of him starting to head out of dodge. I'm still trying to get her on him and sure enough I see him start to go, so I pull the trigger.

CLICK!!!!

I had forgotten to load my gun. Asked my daughter why she didn't shoot him, and she informed me I forgot to load her gun as well.

I did the same thing on a very nice Kudu a few years ago and that was after the PH had warned me that this was probably the most common mistake that hunters made with him. Whenever you get in the truck you empty the chamber and then folks forget to chamber a round getting out of the truck. Perfect shot at 30 yards and "click". That's all it took for him to hit high gear.

It worked out, I killed an even better one two days later, but still felt like a total dumbass.

 

[Bear44]

Back when I was in my teens a friend and I headed out for an afternoon hunt. We stopped at a small store that was on the way for some munchies and I saw a bottle of skunk cover scent for sale. This was a new thing at the time and I wanted to check it out. We got back in the car and I decided to see what it smelled like. I cracked the top and took a big whiff.

It felt like the back of my head got blown off. My buddy damn near took the door off the car getting out.

You'd think they would dilute this stuff, but noooooo.

 

[crippen]

Dummest thing I can think of....I waited till 45 to give hunting a go.