Your biggest hunting regret

Winchester_II said:
I regret having a full bladder......

I was in my tree stand just before daylight (6:30 or so),waited up there until about 10-10:30 when I needed to take a piss.I unload,crawl down and lean my rifle against a tree,unzipped and enjoyed relieving the unbelievable pressure on my bladder.It was just about then (mid-stream) that a big Doe ran thru with her young buck.Nothing in my hand by my pecker,rifle 3 feet away and unloaded,I'm pretty sure I heard "nana na na nahhh hahaha" as she went by.Now I have a funnel and hose geared up.
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You need an ice cream bucket and a rope.
 
DragonFire said:
My biggest regret has not being able to hunt with my Father more often. I moved to Winnipeg in 76 and my parents live in northern B.C. Getting married, raising kids, and work mostly kept me away from traveling home as much as I would have liked over the years. Dad is now 85, uses a walker, has Alziemers, and is just not doing too well. His hunting days are over now. Please don`t let this happen to you folks.

DF
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I know the feeling. I moved to Saskatchewan several years ago. Never hunted with him much when I was younger either; that privilege went to my older brother. Anyway, he is elderly and partially disabled and lives across the country. I still remember the feeling though when I tagged my first buck as a young man. Proudest moment of my father's life and one of the few times I heard the old man express it to me. I won't make the same mistake with my boy, that's for sure.
 
50 or so feet away, click as I pulled up on the bolt, clack as I hauled it back to engage the firing pin and cllunk as the round stripped off the magazine and entered the breech.....Moose was gone like a bat outta hell...Never saw him after and it broke my heart.. First opportunity in my life to shoot a moose and he twitched his ear laughed at me and was gone.
 
My first season deer hunting I was planning to hunt off a small bench made on the ground on the edge of a small ridge of thick hemlocks overlooking an old cut line with grown tag alders. It was a nice clear, calm, and crunchy morning in the bush and as I made the short 50 yard walk to the gravel road to bench. As I was walking in I could hear, what I thought at the time was a cousin or uncle walking through the bush. I knew they were in the area and was hoping to look over this area to see if they got any deer moving as they were walking into their spots. Just for fun, being a new hunter, I decided to give a couple grunts from the old grunt tube as I walked in. When I got settled I could still here the crunching steps walking towards my location, but they sounded way too loud be the "extremely quiet steps of a deer" (coming from my partially deaf Dad). Just for fun I decided to cal some more and the steps continued to get closer. Soon I could hear the steps so clearly I was surprised I couldn't see the blaze orange of a member of the hunting party coming through the thick hemlocks beside me. All of a sudden, with my old 30-30 lying nicely on my lap, safety on, antlers (~3x3) appeared about 10 yards from me, then the body of a buck stopped and looked directly at me as I slowly lifted my gun. He was gone in no time. I told myself I would never forget that sounds of a deer walking in the crunchy leaves, let alone a buck in the peak of the rut. That was the first buck I got to see during deer hunting season, and I've only ever had a handful of deer that close to me since then. I ended up having to wait 4 more years before I got my opportunity to for a shot at a buck, and I didn't screw that one up! Knowing what I know now, that could have been an easy shot to break the ice so to speak. I'll never live that one down!
 
A decision to postpone to 2013 an African safari scheduled for 2012, with one of my long life buddy, he became ill ( cancer )and he past away a month ago, i regret so much postponing that trip for a not so important reason, the worst hunting decision ,i ever took... JP.
 
I grew up in a hunting family and for a handful of years in my late teens/early 20s I refused to hunt with my parents for what in hindsight was some pretty silly reasons. I can't get that opportunity back now and every fall I count the years I have left to hunt with my father and appreciate what little chance is left.
Every year has game won and lost- that never fazes me.
 
i have no regrets. I'm happy for every moment I've been able to go hunting. I've missed some big ones but I've connected on others. I've spent the best moments of my life with my dad and uncles and thats something I'll always have.
 
My biggest regret was learning the bitter truth about a man I used to hunt with.

He is a complete machine on the range: he can shoot groups that will turn the precision guys green with envy. He can quote ballistics tables almost verbatim from memory. His trophy room in incredible. Over on Alberta Outdoorsmen you see him every year with a couple of animals on the ground as he poses for the hero shots. He even wrote a few scholarly articles about hunting ethics and conduct in the field.

And he is an utter, complete hypocrite and a fraud. I know, because I made the mistake of hunting with him and saw him do it.

He's a poacher. He tresspasses. He cheats at shooting tournaments (keep your eyes on your rifle, his favourite stunt is 'adjusting' your scope while you are off having coffee and chatting with the boys). The first couple of incidents left me scratching my head and wondering what to do - everyone can make an error in judgement, right? Unfortunately the 'errors' continued and got so bad I wouldn't hunt with him anymore for fear of being seen as an accessory to his BS. I quietly made some inquiries with other hunters that know him and my experiences with him are not unique. And - if you say anything - he has a very large following of fanboys that will spring to his defense; most of them are noobs that haven't seen him pull his crap, or they are unsporting slime like he is. Others are the mods over there at AO; I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it is because they have never hunted with him - but I won't post over there anymore just the same.

I regret that a man like that can have the position he does within our community; and that uninformed laypeople will accept him as a spokesman for us. Eventually he is going to get caught, his type usually do - and the entire shooting sports community will take the hit as a result.

And who knows, maybe he will get through life without getting caught and branded for the slob he is...but that Karmic wheel goes round and it is my experience that the guys that get squashed by it vastly outnumber those that don't.

The next time you see some hunter who has an inordinately high number of kills on trophy animals - ask yourself why that is. Why is it that you spend tons of cash, do your scouting, and put on the miles in search of the Big One and maybe only see the odd one - while this guy gets a couple a year? Either he is paying some outfitters some huge coin...or more than just luck, perseverence and skill is working for him.
 
My biggest hunting regret is that I never got to shoot a moose in my life. I got drawen a few times in Alberta for a bull moose but never seemed to ever get a shot at one. My last time hunting them I seen a big bull in low light and got such buck fever I was afraid to try and shot it as I shook so bad. The last tag I got drawen for I had to work the whole season and didn't even buy the tag and never hunted in Alberta again before having to move.
I can never hunt here in Quebec for one as they require two people to hold the tags and I know nobody young enough to hunt with anymore.
 
so far i dont have any hunting regrets. I am still young. I would love to get my old man to come hunting. He has no intrest in it. Last year I got invited on my first moose hunt with my uncles and cousin. I have heard his stories since i was a little kid about "the moose hunt". When we would be camping and drank a few to many he would somtimes belt a long cow Call.

Need less to say i am happy to be a part of the stories now.
 
Mine would have to be one of my first deer hunts when I was getting bored and decided to swap out the broadhead tipped arrow for a blunt to shoot one of the many squirrels that were around. Not a minute later I looked up and saw a massive 8 point (one of the biggest deer I've seen to date) less than 15 yards away staring me down.

Needless to say, my attempt at switching back to an arrow with a broadhead was unsuccessful. But, I did learn that day to always be prepared as you never know when a critter will show up...
 
I can think of a couple of situations that I would like to have another crack at, but
overall, I have no regrets.
I started hunting at 12 [shooting much earlier], and I am now 68.
The years have been kind to me, and I count my blessings each time I get out in
the field to hunt.
I have a close circle of hunting friends/relatives, who I enjoy keeping company with.
It's been a great ride, and it's not over yet!! lol.
Eagleye.
 
Last deer season... I only manage to get one day in the bush (I'm in the military and went on exercise in Wainright, seriously who the f&ck plans those freaken exercises, every year, during the hunting season...) anyways so my only day in the bush was a rainy day and I didn't pack my rain gear, so around noon, I got out of the bush to change and try to get dry before heading back. I ended up spooking a buck walking back to my stand in the afternoon...

I would've probably ended my hunt on that day if I would've manned the f up. Lesson learned, buy one of those umbrella thingy to hang above my tree stand AND ALWAYS BRING MY RAIN GEAR!!!
 
With no place to display a 320 4/8's Roosevelt Elk antlers, mounted on a 3" thick burl coffee table top, It went to auction with a history which the auctioneer did not read and sold for $75.00!
 
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