Deer Hunting Debacle Story...True Story

[Mygrainman]

1978
We were juniors in HS, and my good friend Bobby had a deer tag and was looking for some friends to go hunting with. I didn't have a tag and had never deer hunted before but had been up to this spot he wanted to go outside of Dufur OR that was known as Uncle Fricky's Ranch 3 or 4 times before and had great fun hunting pheasants and quail and agreed to go, also talked our friend Ray into going along although he was not a hunter.
We left on a Friday after school and after a short 3 hour drive in Bobby's 61, 4 door Impala blasting Judas Priest on his Pioneer Super Tuner with the bass turned low and the treble on high the whole way there.
The ranch was a paradise of around 500 acres 1/2 of it wooded with an old vacant 1920's house that was spartan yet had running water and electricity and a wood stove, a stereo with 6 foot tall speakers. We of course spent that night getting lit up.
Next morning were up bright and early and Bob is ready to get after it, we dragged Ray out of his cot and all hopped into the Impala to take a short mile drive through the ranch to get to where Bobby wanted to start his hunt.
Once again Bobby insist on cranking Judas and when we get to where Bob wants to start, he continues to just drive around in the Impala, next thing I know were cruising down a dry creek bed, Bob is driving, I'm riding shotgun, and a very queasy hung over Raymond is getting tossed around a bit in the back seat.
Stereo blasting rolling up this wash and I am thinking, no way in hell or we going to see anything. Then sure enough Bob and I spot a doe on the driver side of the vehicle just standing there with a what the hell are they doing look on his face 30 feet away.
Bobby slams the car to a stop and reaches for his 30-30 which is muzzle down between us, I put my left hand out to keep the muzzle from pointing my way while Bob excitedly grabs it and wrestles it out the driver side window and I use my right hand to open the car door because I knew things were about to get much louder then the stereo.
I got half way out before the blast of the rifle and by the time I turned to look the deer was down and flopping through it's death throws.
Bob is out of the car jumping around looking at the down deer and figuring his next move, Ray is in the back seat still in total shock, and I just watch.
Bob is freaking out cause he forgot his hunting knife, he had been taught that the proper way to finish a deer was by slicing it's throat.
Ray is out of the car now, Bob picks back up his rifle cause the deer was still trembling (his first shot was money, he hit the doe right below the head in the neck) and starts to shout Die, Die and shoots the deer three more times in the throat simulating a knife cut.
A few minutes go by and the deer is done trembling, Ray is still in shock and all our ears are ringing and then comes Bambi.
Bob flips out on Bambi trying to get it to leave, cursing at it, throwing twigs and branches at it. I look over at Ray and he is on his hands and knees puking.
Ray never took up hunting.

My cousin's(by marriage) family owns a large pheasant ranch outside of Dufer... Hulse I believe...sounds like it might be the same place. My cousins name is Ricky too, but he'd only be a few years old in 1978. He ran the operations for several years and
I used to go pull clays there occasionally... this was going on 20 years ago though and I haven't been out there in a long time... don't know what they do there now.
After the shoots, we'd go out with our .22s and slay ground rats at the old dump...
Good times!

 

[Andy54Hawken]

My first bear here in Washington ...
I went hunting with my neighbor and his friend....Friend shoots bear...Me being the youngest and most fit...leads the way in the tracking of said bear...

Bear gets into a overgrown thicket , blackberries , "wait a minute vines" etc..Me and the neighbor's friend continue on...finding the bear , growling and biting at the gunshot area....

"There he is , shoot him ", says I...
Up comes the friends rifle...we wait...now the bear is only 'bout 50-60 yards in front of us...not a difficult shot...
We wait some more...
"WTF"...SHOOT! " I say ...
"I can't" say the friend....
I take the shot with my Hawken....the bear is hit ...goes about 5 yards into the brambles and dies.
While re-loading , I see the friend start to go forward..."Wait" I say..."Why" he asks..." 'Cause I ain't re-loaded and you don't walk up to a downed animal with a empty gun..."

As we look at the bear , I comment on the first hit made by the friend...the hit by the way was in the bear's front left paw....
"Maybe we ought to look at your rifle or scope ...maybe check the zero"...says I...
"Why do I need to zero the rifle , I just bought it and it came with a scope"... was his answer.

After that hunt...I told my neighbor , who was my then , regular hunting partner , that never again will I hunt with his friend.
Andy
Edit to add...
To all who have read this thread...Please note that the majority of hunters and shooters are very safe and ethical with how they hunt and shoot.
Please do not think that all who hunt and shoot behave with the bad manners that have been reported here...

 

[KKG]

As we look at the bear , I comment on the first hit made by the friend...the hit by the way was in the bear's front left paw....
"Maybe we ought to look at your rifle or scope ...maybe check the zero"...says I...
"Why do I need to zero the rifle , I just bought it and it came with a scope"... was his answer.
Andy

It really makes me wonder if this guy isn't either a Brand New Shooter or a First Time Gun Owner??? The only other option is a just plain Stupid Individual. It does make me wonder.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

It really makes me wonder if this guy isn't either a Brand New Shooter or a First Time Gun Owner??? The only other option is a just plain Stupid Individual. It does make me wonder.

He owned several guns..and went shooting with us before..also went hunting before... He always "knew" better than anyone , about everything....So I'm leaning towards the "just plain Stupid Individual"....

He also at the time had waaaaaay more money than sense...His rifle in my post was a upper end Weatherby with a Zeiss scope...not that either of those things are bad...but without any idea of how to use 'em . they are useless...
Andy

 

[KKG]

Kinda sounds like this guy really needs a "Smart" Gun that does all the Tracking, Hunting, Gutting, Butchering, Eating and finally the Dumping for him. It likely would be safer all for all those around him.

 

[Alexx1401]

He owned several guns..and went shooting with us before..also went hunting before... He always "knew" better than anyone , about everything....So I'm leaning towards the "just plain Stupid Individual"....

He also at the time had waaaaaay more money than sense...His rifle in my post was a upper end Weatherby with a Zeiss scope...not that either of those things are bad...but without any idea of how to use 'em . they are useless...
Andy

Man is that ever spot on. Buy a high end rifle with a high end scope, then never even test it to see how it works?
I have told the story before from many decades back. Was in a large LGS browsing after getting what I needed. Could never leave there without doing this. LEO walks in, he has a new gun there he ordered. They bring it out. He takes it out of the box to look, does what he needs, takes his service piece out, takes the ammo out and puts it in new gun. Drops old gun in box new gun came in. Holsters new gun and off he goes back to his car. I was standing there not hiding how shocked I was. Couple counter guys just shrugged with that look of "hey what were we supposed to do" look on their face. They could obviously see why I was shocked. I mean it was a wheel gun but sill. Why would a Cop walk out with a gun he had never fired to go back to work????

 

[P7M13]

To all who have read this thread...Please note that the majority of hunters and shooters are very safe and ethical with how they hunt and shoot.
Please do not think that all who hunt and shoot behave with the bad manners that have been reported here...

He owned several guns..and went shooting with us before..also went hunting before... He always "knew" better than anyone , about everything....So I'm leaning towards the "just plain Stupid Individual"....

Takeaways from all the above posts:

1. Know all those in your hunting party better than "co-worker or buddy". Spend time at the range with them.
2. If there is anything that invokes that second thought (taking a pull on McNaughtons while heading out...), "Hey, you're not coming today...."
   
3. There are too many "just plain stupid" and "know-it-alls" - see #1.
4. Don't be that guy that someone else writes about here....

Mistakes while hunting have the propensity to be final.

On an aside, referring to #4, the first time I spent an entire day at a rifle range, I was in the company of a retired Marine who had also served as an RSO. Mind you, I had already been shooting for decades and attended multiple safety courses. In short order, I was schooled, rather sternly, on all the unsafe, lazy habits I had acquired over the years. Safety is a way of life. You don't just turn it on an off.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I have been hunting with my Brothers and Cousins most of my life, and only even had a "guest" once or twice in deer camp. We would drive from The Willamette valley all the way to Sumpter, get the camp and big tent set up and be drinking, eating, and passed out by dark. We had a friend of my Oldest Cousin join us once, nice guy and all, but dumb when it comes to hunting and firearms. The rest if us didnt know this at that time, and come first light we are all up and ready to go. We sit off like we always do, in pairs older with younger, it just seems to work that way, and off we go. Couple hours in, i hear a rifle shot but it didnt sound like any of ours, it just sounded different. Any way, couple min go by and all if a sudden we hear more shootin.
Back to camp we go for lunch and see who got what! Cousins buddy is limping around and cussing up a storm. Apparently the buddy took a bad step and went down on top if his rifle, which discharged!
Apparently he was carrying a 1903 and had released thr firing pin on a live round thinking it was safe!
Lucky he learned the lesson and no one got hurt!

 

[bbbass]

We were camping in tents. They looked at me like I was insane as I went to bed in long johns in a heavily insulated sleeping bag and tent. It was 95 degrees that day. It can drop to below freezing in the NV desert at night. Sure enough one of the two nearly froze through the night, why he didn't just jump into the truck still makes me wonder.

We left the next day as he nearly froze and the other buddies legs were rubber from the first days hunt/hike up the ravine.

I used to go boating on Lake Mead... was fond of taking the boat to far reaches and spending the night there sleeping in a bag on the sand. One morning I climbed out of the bag and noted all the Sidewinder tracks near where we had been sleeping... whoa, don't need any of that kind of company in my sleeping bag!! So I went to put my jeans on and had a sudden intuition... whoa, did I see something? I looked down into the legs of my jeans and inside one there was a scorpion.... always slept in the boat after that!!!

Why take a pistol along while hunting?

So you can shoot the dumb*** hunting partner and not waste a rifle cartridge.

Exactly! I always carried when big game hunting. More worried about 2 legged critters, too many jerks out there. Carried a Glock 19 in a shoulder holster. My buddies all had magnums on their belts. One time we were bringing a quartered elk back in the dark, which was common, and we got confused as to where the road would/should be. Then we got separated. They started firing 3 shots so we could find each other... the sound of those magnums going off close by... ouch!!!

I shot a grouse with my Glock. Right in the eyeball... pretty cool.

on my buddies last elk hunt a few weeks ago, he figured out his "rest" was actually an electric fence as soon as he touched his safety.

ZAP!

"Son of a ^]%|^|£{¥|!|\>.€£|'&&$$&&&@@"

Now that IS funny right there!!

These stories make me so upset, I spent months and months reading and researching and learning laws before I bought my guns and would love to be taken out by someone with more experience. The fact that these people have squandered it makes understand why nobody wants to take anyone any more

Despite what I wrote, I would have taken a newbie out if I had spent some time at the range so that I could see his/her gun handling to assess basic safety. Then when we get to the woods, we talk about safety in the field, basic hunting skills, etc. Booze would be a disqualifier!!!

BTW, I quit elk hunting for many years because of all the drinking I saw (guys holding both a rifle and a bottle), and because of people having their elk taken away at gunpoint. Pretty disheartening.

Another thing I don't like is being scoped... having other hunters look at me in their scopes.
Don't be that guy! I carry small binoculars/monocular for that... the extra weight is worth it.

Sad that people that don't use their brains ruin it for us common sense folk.

Not many of us left!!

That's why wet wipes are a necessity when I pack out, that or one sock it

I buy hankies by the case...

. Hulse I believe.

My stepdaughter's boyfriend's family name is Hulse. Interesting.

 

[KKG]

On an aside, referring to #4, the first time I spent an entire day at a rifle range, I was in the company of a retired Marine who had also served as an RSO. Mind you, I had already been shooting for decades and attended multiple safety courses. In short order, I was schooled, rather sternly, on all the unsafe, lazy habits I had acquired over the years. Safety is a way of life. You don't just turn it on an off.

Personally, I think everyone should go through a very Basic Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun/Hunting Class taught by a properly trained Instructor, not just someone who teaches the test. But, I'm very certain it's not going to happen in my lifetime.

 

[Mikej]

Great thread! Not hunter myself. I'm pretty sure I'd rather hear the stories that live 'em.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

My cousin's(by marriage) family owns a large pheasant ranch outside of Dufer... Hulse I believe...sounds like it might be the same place. My cousins name is Ricky too, but he'd only be a few years old in 1978. He ran the operations for several years and
I used to go pull clays there occasionally... this was going on 20 years ago though and I haven't been out there in a long time... don't know what they do there now.
After the shoots, we'd go out with our .22s and slay ground rats at the old dump...
Good times!

Used to be a pheasant preserve off of Wapinitia Rd and Delore Rd south of Hwy 216 near Pine Grove. I think they sold out a couple years ago.

 

[KKG]

Used to be a pheasant preserve off of Wapinitia Rd and Delore Rd south of Hwy 216 near Pine Grove. I think they sold out a couple years ago.

That's the kind of place that ends up being a bunch of Condos with nothing but anti-gunners. It sucks big time.

 

[johnny bob]

My stepdaughter's boyfriend's family name is Hulse. Interesting.

In the early 1980's my folks went to several Hulse family reunions in Wallowa. They were related to the first Hulse family that came to the Joseph/Enterprise area in the late 1800's.

 

[bbbass]

Personally, I think everyone should go through a very Basic Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun/Hunting Class taught by a properly trained Instructor, not just someone who teaches the test. But, I'm very certain it's not going to happen in my lifetime.

We have very good instructors here for hunting safety class... my grandson went. My wife took a class for her CHL but wasn't very impressed by the range portion.

In the early 1980's my folks went to several Hulse family reunions in Wallowa. They were related to the first Hulse family that came to the Joseph/Enterprise area in the late 1800's.

Yup, same family. Thanx for the info! BTW, my wife is part of the Harris family that Mt. Harris is named for, Joseph Harris one of the first settlers of Grande Ronde valley.

 

[KKG]

I spent 17 years teaching Hunter Ed. but, finally gave up when the Hunting Laws and included a statement that said Big Game Animals don't live(Dang spell checker!!!) within a quarter mile of a traveled roadway. How unbearably Stupid is that. IIRC It stayed in there for three or four years. Each year I challenged the statement and each year I was told they had some "Study" that said that was the correct situation. I also didn't like the Team Teaching business. I was " used" as the Primary Instructor many times but seldom got the credit for it. Getting the credit wasn't why I was doing it but I was unhappy that others were and yet they they weren't doing the job.

Please, excuse my Rant but sometimes I just need to get it off my chest.

 

[bbbass]

Big Game Animals don't love within a quarter mile of a traveled roadway.

Yep, they really don't like being watched while doin the wild thing.

I've hunted more than one deer that was bedded down just south of the roadway by a couple yards. And what about all the deer/elk visits to logging sites while logging is still in process? They get used to the noise and human activity. It's when the woods get quiet that it spooks them. But truth for sure, Spotted Owls won't live near any forest area that has been thinned, right, right right. Don't get me started on nutcase/fruitcake stuff and other aggravatin ignorance and pure BS!!!

 

[Al Swann]

Some of the guys at work found out I was a hunter and became interested enough to ask questions. I showed them pictures and told them stories and soon, I could tell they had the bug. I knew of a large piece of land that would accommodate us and we set out to form a group to share hunting camp now and forever...

Guy A bought a camper trailer. Awesome investment that I had never used before. Figured it would be way more comfortable than sleeping on the ground.

Guy B is a tactical sort who owns nothing but AR15s and pistols. He decides he will buy a rifle to hunt with. Of course, he knows more about guns being a Marine than the rest of us combined. I tell him that a light rifle chambered in a flat shooting cartridge is the ticket for the canyons were the mule deer live. Of course I know nothing and NO MILITARY uses a 270, so it can't be worth a damn. 14 lb M40 clone it is!

Guy C is the only one who has ever hunted and he's hunted every year since he was 12 (now 35). But he's never seen a legal deer. More on that later.

So, we spend the summer getting gear together, tailoring loads for each rifle, and got everyone to shooting ok. Guy C is still a bit awkward, so I decide A and B can stick together and I'll help C. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take them to the area before the season, so their first look would be the evening before opening day.

We get to the farm and I go forward as the one who knows all the people and has our access figured out. I called ahead and spoke to everyone who owns the property and permission was affirmed. As I walk up to the house, I see 6 camper trailers with 3 to 5 people sitting around each. That's a lot of people.

I talk to the farmer and he says that he forgot his nephews were coming in and it might get crowded. He suggested we hunt from the bottom of the canyone and come up, since his nephews and their families would be coming from high ground. I get the idea that we will set uo down below in the dark and let all the yahoos push deer to us. Excellent.

We have a great night and get some sleep in a wonderfully warm camper trailer. This is heaven. The morning comes and Guy A realizes its 20 degrees outside. He borrows long johns and a beanie and gets dressed. As we get ready to leave, everyone but me pulls out a pistol.

"What are you huys doing?"

ABC in unison: "Getting a pistol ready"

"Why?"

ABC: "Bears and cougars"

"So, you're gonna fight a bear or cougar with a 9mm and not use your rifle that packs 3000 ft lbs of energy at the muzzle?" (Secret, never once seen bear or cougar sign in this area)

A and B realize thats a good point, C keeps his 6-shot single stack 9mm.

After an hour of hiking in the dark where there are cacti....Guy C realizes he's lost his pistol. I hand A and B a chem light and tell them C and I will be back. Found the gun all the way back to within 100 yards of camp where it fell out of the "holster". I'm pissed at this point.

We hike back and find A and B. All together, we climb 500 feet into the rimrock just before daybreak. The farmers nephews must have gotten drunk because they were starting late.

We hear the ATVs start up a thousand feet above us. We set up shooting sticks and rifles and prepared for the mass heard of deer thay would be pushed down to is. Soon, buck comes over the saddle on the ridge across from us. Guy C had drawn first shot, and was struggling to get still. Guy A was freezing to death because he had sweat so much on the hike and he was soaked, sitting in the high desert with a nice 20 degree breeze. Guy B was being a real trooper, but pretty sure he was pissed too because he had a clear shot.

When the buck first came over the ridge, he was about 320 yards away and we couldn't count enough points on him. He came downhill towards us and stood broadside at 110 yards. I'm looking st him with a spotting scope and he is a small 3x3. I tell him to shoot.

Guy C must not have realized the deer was now 210 yards closer. First shot sails over the back and thebm buck takes off like a bat out of hell.

Dejected.

Defeated.

Dumbazz.

Guy C blows a gimmie on the first legal deer he has ever seen. After 20 minutes of b!tching about it, a 3x4 comes over the same ridge! This time, the deer holds up on the ridge where Guy A and B can't see him. Only Guy C can see him. He gets steady, and I check the wind. Its pretty much still. The buck is broadside and motionless. At the crack of the rifle, the deer looks uphill to see why rocks are falling. He then walks away. As he walks around a clump of rocks, he gets put down by a drunk nephew.

"What happened?!"

Guy C: "The gun is off! I held perfect!"

"You were steady?"

"Yes!"

"You had the first dot behind the shoulder?" (using Leupold LR Duplex with BDC dots)

Silence....

"Isn't 300 yards the second dot?"

"Not if you're zeroed at 200!"


EPILOGUE

Guy A sold his trailer, not before nearly freezing to death. Plans on moving to AZ.

Guy B blamed it all on me that he didn't get a deer. Hasn't gone since, or shot his M40 clone.

Guy C decided to continue hunting on his own. He was later cited and fined for killing an elk, thinking it was a deer.

Me?.....

Hunted alone the last few years.

Sounds like a Bill Engvall routine!

 

[KKG]

Sounds like a Bill Engvall routine!

Yeah, but who's on First?

 

[Al Swann]

Yeah, but who's on First?

I don't know... third base!!