Drama hunts?

[eelgrass]

Let's hear some stories.

We're all young in the beginning and I'm sure we've all had our share of hunts that involved some kind of childish drama.

When I started hunting ducks while in high school, my very best friend and I lived for duck hunting. We got along about as well as two young guys could.

Just starting out, we shot a lot of mud hens, ruddy ducks, mergansers, etc. Very seldom a coveted puddle duck like a mallard or pintail.

From day one we always started our hunts by flipping a coin to see who would first shoot if a single duck came into the decoys. If he won, he would get first shot at a single, and then the next single, I would get first shot.

Well, I won the toss that day, and right at first light a single Drake Mallard cupped his wings and tried to land in the decoys. Neither one of us had ever shot a Mallard. My "buddy" shoots it before I could get a shot. He made all kinds of excuses. "I didn't want it to get away" and "I didn't think you saw it" Whatever A-HOLE!

We parted company and haven't spoke to each other in over 40 years. I hate that SOB.

Some day I might get over it, but I'm not ready yet.

Eel

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

 

[elkantlers]

He's still a SOB after all these years. lol

 

[sageadvice]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-19-14 AT 05:57PM (MST)[p]Out of State, my ol hunting Pard, killed lots of big bucks, spots a huge Buck crossing over while he's headed back to camp after a long day's hunting. He's coming down a Forest service road but it's not much more than a trail, a newer hunter friend of his, killed no big bucks, behind him maybe a hundred yards. My buddy waits and when they together sneak over and look down over the edge, there is not one but four huge bucks, all within 50 yards and completely unaware that they are in trouble.

My Pard lets his buddy shoot first at the no doubt "Book" 5X5 and he lines up on the tall heavy non-typ to shoot soon after. His friend missed, my pard hit. The non-typ barely made it down into a small isolated patch of Quakies. Looking for a hit on the Huge 5X5, it's gets dark thirty and they decide to let the non-typ sit overnight.

Next morning, My pard sits above the Quakie patch while his friend goes in, shoots, and starts hollering. When my buddy gets there, his friend already has his tag out, is talking about how he's going to have the buck mounted, just flat claimed the buck as his as he said the buck was still alive, even though he was never ever to leave that patch, and under the law, he killed it.

Long story shorter, the Buck, a beautiful 225+, is not hanging in my Pards house but his friends. Drama? I'd say so!


Edit;
"You wouldn't lose a friend over something like that would you?"
"No, i wouldn't, but he did!"


Joey



"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[eelgrass]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-19-14 AT 07:17PM (MST)[p]Thanks for your honesty Joey. There has to be more stories, come on guys.

I hunted with my Dad in the Devil's Garden one year. Opening day on Blue Mountain. We're at about the half way mark on elevation. I hear a shot above me and then this big 4X4 comes crashing down through the brush and flops down almost at my feet. The buck is taking his last breaths and these two Mexicans that I hadn't seen run over and shoot this poor buck 3 more time. I'm thinking WTF?

They start filling out a tag and the guy who shot it showed up. I went over and explained what I saw. The Mexicans ignored us and the guy just shrugged his shoulders and left.

Oh well, it wasn't my business.

Later that day we saw the buck in the back of these Mexican's truck with the warden checking their tag. The warden was giving these guys praise for shooting such a nice buck. It about turned my stomach, as I pulled him aside and told him the real story.

Eel

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

 

[sageadvice]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-19-14 AT 09:35PM (MST)[p]One night after dark back when was about 11 or 12 years old, there was the noise of walking out on the old Ranch house porch. A knock on the door and soon Grandpa had our crew headed up to a ranch we had a couple miles away, looking for a buck our neighbors Son had killed. I knew the kid from school but had never met his Dad or the other two guys with them as they lived on the other side of our home town. Turns out that they were hunting on their ranch and my new friend had shot a buck, a BIG buck he said, and it ran over the hill, across a fence, and down into a canyon on our property.

We searched and searched, must have been about a dozen all told looking for the blacktail buck. We all wanted to help my friend find his buck. Someone finally shouted out near midnight, "i found him".

Turns out, the buck was a Spike! Not legal in Cali. I felt bad for my friend. His dad was a bit embarrassed, they gutted the buck and loaded it up, worse things have happened in this world, that kid and i are great friends to this very day!

Joey



"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[ASB]

Are you talking about Trophymulestein & the Yellster with this thread?????????????

Tough to think their next collective 40 years are already laid in stone based on your premise above!

 

[Wiszard]

I have a friend that was a few years older than me at the time (I was 38 or so) and he had never shot a buck. I told him I had some private land to hunt on and that I'd take him out if he wanted. Long story short, along comes a small forked horn and he shoots it. He's stoked, I'm stoked for him and we dress it out and get it home. He puts the antlers up on his roof to dry out and they end up getting blown off the roof and his dog chews on them for a while and he wasn't too happy.

About 3 seasons AFTER that hunt where he shoots his first buck, I over hear a mutual friend of ours talking about how he took so and so out and he shot his first buck...a real nice 3x4 up in Hollister. I chimed in asking if that was so and so's first buck. The friend confirmed that was so and so's first buck and that he had told him it was his first buck. I didn't say a word.

What I don't understand is why you'd lie about your first buck? It's a memory one will never forget. To this day, we've never talked about his first buck....either one. I don't hang out with him any more.

Steve

Cancer doesn't discriminate...don't take your good health for granted because it can be gone in a heartbeat. Please go back and read the last line. This time really understand what it says.

 

[deadibob]

Ending a friendship because someone shot a duck out from under you seems quite shallow.

 

[sageadvice]

Here's another one. I meet this guy, we were both house painters at the time and we became friends thru after work activities at the same water hole. One thing and another, i invite him to hunt bucks with me up on our family ranch. He takes a couple bucks thru the years and we get to be better friends.

Here's the rub. This buddy had his ducks all in a row and had no problem, ever, getting laid about whenever he wanted. I was doing ok for myself too but was then working two jobs, one as a weekend bartender, and had to watch other guys walk out with some fine gals that were flirting with me... but i had to work.

Anyway, each year back then, i always threw a big kegger, BBQ, and dance the Fri. before deer opener for all my friends and hunting buddies thru the years. I had met, while working the bar, one sweetheart of a babe, tasty looking hide, and invited her to be my date at the party. She agreed, showed up at the party and we were having a good time until i got busy with the events of the party.

Next thing i know, my former good buddy was looking back at me over his shoulder as he was in the process of escorting her back to his place and out of my life, after i had already told him to, for once, lay off my date. Maybe he did me a favor but i was pissed and I never talked to him again. nope, puck him! lol

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[foundation]

Hate to say it but I have had my share of drama on hunts, mostly from one guy and that bridge is burned so things should be drama free now.

This guy was a ex neighbor that didn't know about hunting and was always asking me about everything and just wanted to be involved. He basically just invited himself on my limited entry bull tag and the problem was I just didn't know how to say no to him because I felt bad for him. Additional problems were that my real hunting friends wouldn't go on the hunt because the neighbor was going and they couldn't stand him.

He assures me he will stay at least 5 or 6 days to help and in my mind that seems normal since I have gone for a week or more on helping friends with hunts. I knew this guy was abrasive but I had hoped he would kind of tone it down for my hunt. He is the kind of guy that just walks up to people he doesn't know and the second word out of his mouth is a F bomb. Made it kinda awkward talking with other hunters and landowners because I felt judged by the person I associate with.

When we get to the hunting spot he tells me he is going to have to check in with his wife by phone a couple of times a day and the closest spot for cell phone service was like 30 minutes away, so he is making all the other campers super happy when he has to fire up his noisy diesel at 3 am every morning so he can go call his wife and then race back to camp.

He makes it two days of hunting and decides he needs to go back home to his wife. I was happy that he left but it rubbed me wrong that my real friends didn't come to help glass because this guy just had to come.

There was lots more drama deals that I could write a book about, but this was enough for now. Haha

 

[eelgrass]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-21-14 AT 09:04PM (MST)[p]I agree deadibob. I don't know why he threw our friendship away over a duck. I do know that he spends his entire life surrounded with drama, so I have no regrets.

Eel

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

 

[NVPete]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-22-14 AT 09:39AM (MST)[p]I'll share one! Years ago now, I had spent the summer teaching my wife to shoot, and it was in the days of otc tags here in Nevada. In the Area we were hunting, there was tremendous opening-day pressure, so I decided we would wait a couple of days and then begin hunting. I had patterned a small group of deer that had a nice three point buck in it. I thought it would be a nice deer to try for, but not sure the deer would survive the opening day onslaught. Monday afternoon came, we got baby sitters for our two kids, and we drove to where I'd seen this deer group. It was about four in the afternoon and I was amazed to find the group still intact just feeding along. My wife was suffering from the jitters, and I was patiently trying to help her get set for a good kill shot, but it was taking a bit more time for her to get settled than I was used to. About the time she was ready to shoot, uphill from us I heard noise and commotion of two vehicles coming to a stop, and a lot of noise and conversation...Then all hell seeemed to break loose with volleys of high powered rifle shots. The deer scattered before my wife even had a chance at a shot! One of the bucks being shot at was a spike, and in those days here in Nevada, a spike was considered antlerless, and I was certain that I'd seen the spike go down. I realize that it was public land hunting and the other hunters did not know we were there, but I was still pretty upset...I approached the group and told them in no uncertain terms what a bunch of idiot hunters they all were. I told them I saw the spike hit and was going to find it and then let the Game Warden know about it. They all jumped in their vehicles and hightailed out of there. Didn't know what to do next, I stayed around 'til dark trying to find the deer to no avail. I later reported the incident to Game Warden, but cold trail and sketchy descriptions, I don't think they were ever caught.
Several years later, I was out hunting when I came upon some guys gathered around a campfire and stopped to chat and exchange a few stories of current hunting events. I shared my story of what I've told here, and was shocked to find out this group was the very same bunch! One of them even admitted it was a spike they had killed, and that they came back after dark to retrieve the deer! The gall! After a quick exchange of more further unpleasantries about their hunting ethics and what I thought of them, I abruptly departed. This still ruffles my fur to this day!

 

[sambo3006]

I used to travel to hunt Utah or Colorado each fall with a friend I'd been hunting with for 15 years. Over the last couple of hunts our friendship had deteriorated and everything I suggested was stupid. For example, verifying the zero on our rifles or bows after driving 1200 miles, the last hour over bumpy back roads was stupid. One year we hunted Fishlake NF in Utah and the first thing I did after setting camp was to start shooting my bow to check my sights. I told him he better do the same and he said "I'll find out on a deer." The next day he found out all right, shooting almost a foot over a 3x3 buck at 15 yards. Back at camp, his first shot went clean over the block target. That was the only shot he got on the trip. I only got one shot too, but nailed my buck 'cuz my arrows were hitting right where I knew they would.

A couple of years after that we were passing through Kansas on the way to Colorado and I was snoozing in the back seat of his extended cab. We were running on fumes and pulled into a gas station. I glanced out through the tinted window and the pump handle looked green to me so I asked him if it was a diesel pump (his truck took gas). He just grunted at me and filled her up. The truck died about 100 feet past the pumps. You guessed it, diesel. He called a shadetree mechanic he knew who told him to siphon out as much as he could and put premium in it. I thought it was a bad idea since only half of it came out. He and the other guy had the bright idea to squirt starter fluid down the intake to keep it running while they burned out the diesel. I told him it was a really bad idea and that we should call a tow truck but he wouldn't listen. 10 minutes later there are flames shooting out of the engine and his face is burned. Ambulance, fire truck, state trooper, tow truck and a $1000 bill to replace the melted fuel injector block. Guess I'm just stupid.

The last straw was about 4 years ago in Colorado when he shot a cow elk in the afternoon. He found blood but didn't want to be down in the dark timbered basin after dark and elected to come back in the morning to blood trail. He asked me if I would tag a cow for him if he shot another one in the morning before he looked for his. I told him NO I won't do that when he already had one wounded or dead down in the basin. He later told me he didn't want to hunt with me any more because I was selfish for not offering to tag another elk for him. Good freaking riddance!

NRA Life Member

Lefties are the only ones in their right minds--and I ain't talkin' politics!

 

[Longbow6360]

I hunted muledeer with my ex-wifes' cousins down in Utah many years ago. I got back to camp after dark on opening day to find they had all shot bucks plus an extra one. Years before, I had shot a whitetail buck in Idaho and tagged it with my Washington tag. My Dad chewed my butt out for breaking game laws and since then I had been committed to walking the line. In order to get this extra buck out they needed a tag on it and fish and game always had a checkpoint at the bottom of Logan canyon. After a lot of pressure, I handed them my tag and let them notch it out and tag the buck. Now my hunt was over and I still had three days of vacation left and I wanted to shoot my own buck. I was pissed off and they knew it. I never hunted with them again.

 

[BIGJOHNT]

Come on EEl over a stickin duck ! Get over it brother !

 

[Calif_Mike]

A couple come to mind.

In highschool a buddy and I used to float a couple of our local valley rivers here in Calif for ducks every fall. We would have good jump shooting on woodduck and teal. One time my buddy wants to bring along a friend of his. I reluctantly agreed since I didn't know the guy. The guy turns into a total D Bag through the day. To avoid shooting each other we had a rule that only the guy in the front seat got to shoot and we would rotate throughout the day. I was up front when a great big rooster phesant jumps up out of the river side bushes. I pull down on it and this guy yells "NOOOOOO!" I drop my barrel and ask him what was up. He said he just didn't want me to shoot it since he couldn't.

When i was married my wife asked me to include her father in some of our local deer hunts. I said no problem as the place we hunted was big and there were pleanty of places we could put him or he could go do his own thing. We aren't the best hunters but we pretty much score at least one deer a year in a zone with a 6% success rate so I tried to help the guy out with the local knowledge. He wouldn't listen and everything we were doing "was wrong". Third day of the hunt I drop a nice little buck. Father inlaw was livid, wouldn't help bring the buck off the ridge. Sat around the fire while we hung and skinned it and grumbled the whole time. Never did get himself a deer.

 

[eelgrass]

That reminds me.....

At one time I hunted on a great blacktail ranch in Kali. I had to miss opening weekend because my sister was getting married. It worked out to where I got away Sunday afternoon and headed up to the ranch in time for the evening hunt. As luck would have it I killed a very nice 3X3 that evening. This one guy who hunted the ranch got all butt hurt because he'd been there all weekend and hadn't seen a buck. When I saw he was seriously upset, I might have rubbed it in a bit

He threw all his stuff in his truck and quit the ranch, never to return. LOL!

Eel

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.