re: Hunting/Fishing Close Calls

Not me, but hunting buddy fell 30ft from a lock on. Luckily hit a pine branch about 10ft from ground that flung him around so his feet hit first instead of back/neck. Shattered his right leg.. destroyed it. Went 1year trying to save leg, ultimately couldnt and cut off below the knee. He was back hunting a month after. Never slowed him down

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Lightning strikes, broken tree stands and spending hours in the dark clinging to a yellow poplar, meth heads waiting at the truck, flipped 4 wheelers, sitting down in the dark 2' from a coiled timber rattler, sinking airboats in the marsh, or nearly getting head blown off rabbit hunting. What do you want to hear?

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And there’s the line in the sand as to who to go hunting with or who not to go hunting with

When I was a kid, my dad took me hunting in West Texas regularly, that year happened to be record cold. We were prepping to walk in for an evening hunt and started loading up his trusty 30-30. Well, that years hunting clothes were bought a couple sizes too big so i could “grow into them”. Loaded the rifle, dad says put your thumb on the hammer, pull the trigger and let it down slowly. Well, my gloves were too big, hammer slipped and i almost killed my dad. Scared the shite out of us….

Was a teenager and had permission to hunt doves on a piece of property and had shot a good bit one evening. Crazy neighbor lady was pissed cus we woke her up from her nap and decided to start shooting a .22 over our heads. First shot or two before I heard the pop was what sounded like bumble bees. Once we realized what was happening we hauled arse and called the cops. She said she was just trying to scare us if she meant to shoot us she would have gotten her deer rifle!!!

Was guiding duck hunts running an airboat behind my buddy in a Carolina j16 when it bit and threw him out then ran up on the bank. Air temp that morning was a frosty morning and by the time we got him to the houseboat (couple mile run) he was shivering uncontrollably. Stripped him down and covered with blankets for a good hour or so before he was back to normal.
Charged by several wild pigs, several strikes at the boots by snakes, climbed a tree with a Coon in it before dark one morning and almost fell out as he came down the same tree, flipped a few four wheeler and sunk a few boats that looking back at it could have been bad.

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spending hours in the dark clinging to a yellow poplar, meth heads waiting at the truck


Id like to hear both of these actually......

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Poplar night - 1995 or 1996. Can't remember exactly, but I do know it was when I first began driving, so one of those years. Borrowed mom's car to drive to our lease for an afternoon bowhunt. Coming down after dark the bottom of my old man came loose (Think my boot or pants pulled the pin) and fell to the ground. Top piece stuck in the tree, but somewhat sideways. Somehow I grabbed on before falling. I was facing the tree when it happened so was able to get myself kinda sideways on the seat and half-assed balanced. No phone. When I didn't show up at the house my pop came looking for me. I had told him where I was going. Around 9:30 or 10:00 pm I heard him drive in and come racing in the woods calling my name. I assume he thought the worst. When he realized I was ok he put the bottom piece back on the tree, and pushed it up about halfway to me with a stick. He probably got it 12' up the tree, and I was still about 6' higher. I ended up just hooking my feet in the top piece and inching down while hugging the tree. Had I thought about that earlier I probably could have gotten down myself, or fallen out and been hurt. Nevertheless, was scary for a bit.

Meth heads are far less interesting story. Was working in the woods north of Hattiesburg in 2006. While walking out to my truck with my coworker there were 2 men and 2 women walking around the truck, one of the men carrying a scoped rifle (remington jam-master from what I recall). When they saw us one of the girls started pointing at us and the dude with the rifle started to shoulder it. We
immediately hauled arse back in the woods and one of them chased us for a brief moment. We could hear them hollering at each other asking who those people were on their land. Ended up going back to the next closest highway through the woods, calling someone to pick us up, and getting a ride back to the truck. We had the landowner meet us when going back in to my truck and he said it was some local meth heads that lived down the road he'd always find on his property. He said he'd had run-ins with them before and that he'd come really close to shooting his way out of his own property before.

Rattlesnake was during turkey season on the National Forest. I sat down one morning before daylight and about gobbling time heard a turkey a couple hills over. I had brought 2 water bottles that morning, so I left one by the tree I was sitting against and covered it up with some leaves, anticipating coming back through on my way home. Walked 2 ridges over, got within about 150yds, called to him, he answered. He flew down right under the tree he was in, gobbled 3 or 4 more times, then I heard someone sawing on a box call on the other side of him. Never heard him again. Waited until I had to go to work then walked to go get my water bottle. 4' timber rattler coiled up chilling about 2' from my arse prints in the leaves. I assume he was there the whole time. Got my water bottle, got a stick and stretched him out for a picture, then went to work.

Bow hunting early season, on a Friday afternoon when everyone was at the big football game. Running late from work, I came up on a couple vehicles blocking the road. Looking around I found no one, and just kept walking to a little barn up the hill from there… witnessed a drug deal, exchange of money and a purple Crown bag from a distance. As soon as I saw the exchange they saw me, and I just kept everything one sided with just asking them to please move their vehicles so I can get to my stand, saying I was hunting a big buck and wanted to get going. Never said anything about them being there, what they were doing, just acted like I was in a hurry and more concerned about what I was doing…. Feel really lucky after it was all over. Just had a bow in the truck, nothing else….

I had a couple instances of lightning. Once hunting mid day in a box stand. Thought hunting during the rain might just be the ticket. Didn’t know it was going to be a big thunderstorm I was sitting through. Lots of lightning hitting very nearby. Actually managed to see a deer in that shite.

Another time bass fishing with my brother in bayou pigeon. Thunderstorm showed up and we tied the boat to a tree and got in the bank. I know they say don’t get under trees but we sure didn’t want to be in the boat with nothing over us.

Today I’ll hunt in the rain and fish in it a little bit. But if I think it’s a thunderstorm I’m checking out. I can catch a fish or kill a deer some other day.

Went hunting as a guest of my brother in law in 2012. he puts me in his new box blind, im sitting there in the dark waiting for sunlight. Sun's coming up and now that i can see shadows and have reference points, i feel like the stand is moving. I thought i was just tired, about 10 minutes go by, and sure enough i was face down in the water.

Climbed out, recollected myself finished the hunt with the chair on the ground. Since that day i have pretty much avoided box stands unless i anchored them myself. I usually hunt lock-ons or climbers What happened was the stand was on dry ground previously and we had alot of rain so the front legs started sinking and the rest is history.

My buddy was trying to clear a jam in an old lever action 30-30 before an evening hunt and he almost blew my head off. He somehow slipped during the process and the gun swung right at me before going off. I’m sure it missed me by more than I remember but the sound/muzzle blast from that close was insane. We were only 14-15 at the time but I’ve never hunted with him since.

My Junior year of high school(1984) we were duck hunting in the Manchac prairie. We were in 2 canoes. My friend and I were well ahead of his dad and his friend. We were running late so we loaded up and started throwing out decoys. The dog stepped on my friends gun which was on the floor of the canoe causing it to discharge. Pellets ricocheted off of the aluminum canoe and I caught a full wad of #4 lead in the hamstring while in a sitting position. Pellets flattened out like pancakes from hitting the canoe so holes were larger than normal. 17 pellets are still lodged in my leg. A straight on hit from 3 feet away would have been much worse.