Dumbest thing you ever did afield?

[Kingpuck]

Okay cabin fever has taken hold, I twitch at work when someone talks about the opener. So as I sit here tonight dreaming of the day it got me thinking.

What is the dumbest thing you or *someone you know* did while out hunting? There have got to be some good stories lurking out there. Wondering what yours might be.

One year my brother and I were out backpacking and we woke up to find that he had gotten up during the night and peed into the water source we were using. Had to explain to him the stupidity behind that.

For the record hoping to prove I was adopted...

[ghosthunter]

Running across the top of a snow covered snow chute with rain pants on, trying to get ahead of some deer.

[DoubleJ]

climbing sheer rock cliffs with my then 8 year old son chasing mule deer that weren't even legal

[jaymark6655]

Tried to use a fallen tree to cross a gulley during a rain storm while wearing some pretty hard soled boots.

[Doublelunger]

To make a long story short...When I was in high school I shot a hole in the roof of my dads truck while road hunting rabbits.  Their was a lot of beer involved, as well as a .22 that I had recently purchased from a yard sale for cheap(I think I figured out why).

[washelkhunter]

I let my son use my muzzleloader. It was'nt the gun it was the sling. I use one of those safari slings that keep your weapon at the ready and I hunt with a Knight ML. When your walking along holding the gun close to you the bolt safety works itself into the fire position. I was semi aware of this but never gave it much thought because i am always checking my safety. Well we were all walking down the trail at night single file and about 50yds from camp when boom, my son had at some point in our travels swept the secondary safety into the fire position and then pulled or brushed his finger on the trigger and my 50 went off, from about 4 feet behind my hunting partner. He never even flinched, but i was shocked. He could have easily blown my best friends leg off. Make sure your kids know all about the safety and to constantly check it. And never let a kid use a safari sling. They are good slings but they are for experienced hands only imo. Needles to say we had an indepth discussion about this later that night, and we all agreed that if we are walking single file down a trail in the dark we pick the caps off of our muzzys.

[Bushcraft]

In an effort to go ultralight back before that was even a word, I left the sleeping bag at home and just rolled with a bivy bag during an October deer hunt in the backcountry.  I wore all my clothes and used duff and such for insulation as I had done before. The temps dropped into the low 20's and it snowed several inches on us.

I was able to get a fair amount of sleep, but it sure wasn't very restful...all because I wanted to leave 4 lbs. behind.

Estupido!

[seth30]

Leaving the trigger lock key at home

[Sitka_Blacktail]

In an effort to go ultralight back before that was even a word, I left the sleeping bag at home and just rolled with a bivy bag during an October deer hunt in the backcountry.  I wore all my clothes and used duff and such for insulation as I had done before. The temps dropped into the low 20's and it snowed several inches on us.

I was able to get a fair amount of sleep, but it sure wasn't very restful...all because I wanted to leave 4 lbs. behind.

Estupido!

Did basically the same thing on a moose hunt. Sept in Alaska isn't the best time to be camping out without a sleeping bag. A buddy and I kayaked about 4 miles into the Suckling hills near the Bering River and saw a few cows but no bulls. We decided we could make a fire and wait the night out instead of paddling back and then turning around the next morning. Didn't get much wood gathered before dark and the fire was pretty small, even tho we kept it burning all night.  It didn't take long to realize my sox were slightly damp and my feet were getting cold. And sleeping on the bare ground really sucks the heat out of you. We survived, but were pretty miserable. And as luck would have it, we saw more cows but no bulls the next day so it was all for naught.

[JimmyHoffa]

Forgot to load the gun one time.....had a close encounter of the big buck kind....standing still about 15 yds from me....   Now I check it loaded about every 20 minutes.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

But come to think of it, an even dumber move was when I hunted deer all day in Prince William Sound without any bullets in my gun. Made one stalk and got busted by a doe, then made a perfect sneak on this buck to about 30 yards and had him stand up broadside to me and.......click....... what the? and frantically reaching for bullets as he stood there looking at me. Then I realized they were in my pack at the bottom of the hill where I left it as I made my final sneak.

The first is the pic I took of him zoomed in from about 400 to 500 yards. The 2nd pic is a blow up of the first pic.

[RadSav]

Asked my mother to put my boots in the truck while getting ready to head for Catalina.  First morning on the island I wake up and go to put the boots on...one left Browning Magnum and one left Danner Sasquach   My old pair of Nike's were like wearing ice skates on a glacier.

Shot at a 6X6 bull with a spike standing directly behind him.  Guessed the distance wrong.  The Zwickey tipped Easton XX75 2219 flew right over the big bulls back and double lunged the spike.  Thank goodness it was an "Any bull" season.  Spent the rest of the season bugling big bull after big bull for my hunting partner.  On the last day I decided to sleep in and cook breakfast while he went out for a short hunt.  Had a nice 5X5 walk within 30 yards of our camp while I was cooking eggs and corned beef hash.  I still have nightmares about that trip.

Left my $100.00 release on when I stopped to use a Sani-can crapper out past Fish Lake.     No way in heck I was going to try and fish that thing out of there 

Etc...etc...etc...

[Ducknut97]

Leaving the trigger lock key at home

I did the same thing, was at my uncles house in Snohomish getting ready to go duck hunting and i opened my gun case to find the lock still on my 870. I left the key at home in Olyimpia. Upset uncle  .

[NWBREW]

To make a long story short...When I was in high school I shot a hole in the roof of my dads truck while road hunting rabbits.  Their was a lot of beer involved, as well as a .22 that I had recently purchased from a yard sale for cheap(I think I figured out why).

Let's see...A lot of beer, a loaded weapon while road hunting. I do not see what a cheap .22 from a yard sale has anything to do with a dumb move like that. 

[Doublelunger]

To make a long story short...When I was in high school I shot a hole in the roof of my dads truck while road hunting rabbits.  Their was a lot of beer involved, as well as a .22 that I had recently purchased from a yard sale for cheap(I think I figured out why).

Let's see...A lot of beer, a loaded weapon while road hunting. I do not see what a cheap .22 from a yard sale has anything to do with a dumb move like that. 

oh wait...so you're saying it was a dumb move? Thanks for pointing that out, for a second I forget what the subject title of this thread was.