What was your " That could have been bad" moment in the woods

[flywise]

Another thread reminded me of a close call i had many years ago. I was hunting Ft. Hood and back then there were no cell phones or GPS. I was way out in the middle of nowhere, I did not have a stand. Back in the old days I'd just crawl up in a tree where i found deer sign. Well on this occasion I had found a beat down trail of deer tracks and decided to get up in this olf cottonwood. It was extremely windy and I was standing on about a 4" diameter limb. I had been there for about 2 hours when it started getting prime time. Wind died down to nothin and it was quite when suddenly a loud crack and down I went. Probably 15-20 feet to the ground and I hit several solid limbs on the way finally folding up on limb about 6 feet off the ground which hurt pretty bad. I slid off that limb to the ground and laid there for about 10 min.
Finally, hurting i got to my feet and figured i better go back up the tree to get my bow and back pack because i didnt figure I'd ever find that tree again if I let it all there. After a trip to the ER it was verified that i had cracked 4 ribs and likely bruised several other internal organs.

So, what were your close calls

[AntlerCollector]

I think "close calls" means you narrowly avoided the kind of thing you described. That had to hurt

[The Crippler]

I think "close calls" means you narrowly avoided the kind of thing you described. That had to hurt

Yeah, I agree, I think that was more of a "that was bad" moment...

[Stoof]

I was 12 years old hunting mulies with my dad in the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains in southern NM. We were traversing one of those limestone cliff faces and being the dumb 12 yo that I was I was not paying attention to my footing. I slipped over about a 40 ft cliff face and saw my life flash before my eyes. But to my surprise, instead of plunging to my death I was being choked to death by my hoodie. My dad being the awesome dude that he is was paying better attention than me and grabbed my hood as I went over. Scared the crap out of me and I think it scared my dad even more.

[rcm719]

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=622107

[Hank Hill]

At Gus Engeling last weekend. I did not realize the hunt closed at noon on Saturday and I was walking around in the woods all afternoon looking for a good place to set up and get a deer. After settling in at a good spot I check my phone and I have a text from TPWD that says "The hunt ended at noon DO NOT KILL ANYTHING". They were satisfied with me just packing up and leaving, but I can't help but wonder what kind of jackpot I would have got myself into had I killed a deer.

Long story short - I'm an idiot.

[flywise]

I was 12 years old hunting mulies with my dad in the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains in southern NM. We were traversing one of those limestone cliff faces and being the dumb 12 yo that I was I was not paying attention to my footing. I slipped over about a 40 ft cliff face and saw my life flash before my eyes. But to my surprise, instead of plunging to my death I was being choked to death by my hoodie. My dad being the awesome dude that he is was paying better attention than me and grabbed my hood as I went over. Scared the crap out of me and I think it scared my dad even more.

Goodness that was a close call for sure. There are a couple cliff's at my lease and I get all sweaty everytime my kids want to look over the edge and i have a good grip on them as well.

[jerp]

I was by myself at the lease - pre cellphone days. I walked deep into the woods and climbed up the screw-in steps to my lock on stand 18 feet up. I made that last precarious step over to the platform and put my weight on it when the lower of the two ratchet straps snapped. (A squirrel had chewed halfway through it.) It went out from under me and down I went. As I fell I made a flailing grab and snagged a branch with one hand. I hung there like a monkey for a few seconds before getting my other hand on it and worked my way over to the trunk. When I reached the ground I sat down and started shaking from the adreneline. One of the screw in steps had gashed my shin to the bone but other than that I was OK. Went out and bought a harness the next day.

[Phillip Fields]

September 1997, about 75 miles west of Lake Iliamna, Alaska. We had been dropped off at an Alpine lake for a 10 day caribou/black bear hunt. I was hunting by myself on top of a ridge about 2 miles from camp. I spotted a black bear in a patch of blue berries some distance away and decided to do a stalk. It tool about an hour and a half but I finally got to a ravine next to the berry patch. I dropped my backpack, nocked an arrow onto my longbow and eased up over the rim of the ravine.
The bear stood up facing me at about 20 yards. Sometime during the stalk this bear changed from black to full grown Grizzly. We stood there staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. The bear started showing some signs of agitation so I decided I better do something. I knew I could not stop a charge with my longbow, we were on the tundra so there were no trees to climb, and I couldn't outrun a grizzly. I decided to back slowly over the rim of the ravine. I did that, dropped my longbow and unstrapped my .300Win Mag from my backpack and waited for the bear to come over the rim. He didn't show, so I made my way back to camp. I was through hunting for the day.

[flywise]

At Gus Engeling last weekend. I did not realize the hunt closed at noon on Saturday and I was walking around in the woods all afternoon looking for a good place to set up and get a deer. After settling in at a good spot I check my phone and I have a text from TPWD that says "The hunt ended at noon DO NOT KILL ANYTHING". They were satisfied with me just packing up and leaving, but I can't help but wonder what kind of jackpot I would have got myself into had I killed a deer.

Long story short - I'm an idiot.

Man, that would have suked if you had already shot something

[Brute Killer]

I have a writeup on here from a few years ago about my solo backpack hunt in the Colorado mountains.
I got soaked in a rain/hail storm and approached hypothermia.
I had all my stuff with me so I did not get into real trouble. I was able to make a fire. And eat.

[flywise]

I was by myself at the lease - pre cellphone days. I walked deep into the woods and climbed up the screw-in steps to my lock on stand 18 feet up. I made that last precarious step over to the platform and put my weight on it when the lower of the two ratchet straps snapped. (A squirrel had chewed halfway through it.) It went out from under me and down I went. As I fell I made a flailing grab and snagged a branch with one hand. I hung there like a monkey for a few seconds before getting my other hand on it and worked my way over to the trunk. When I reached the ground I sat down and started shaking from the adreneline. One of the screw in steps had gashed my shin to the bone but other than that I was OK. Went out and bought a harness the next day.

Yes sir, that could have been so much worse Jerp.

September 1997, about 75 miles west of Lake Iliamna, Alaska. We had been dropped off at an Alpine lake for a 10 day caribou/black bear hunt. I was hunting by myself on top of a ridge about 2 miles from camp. I spotted a black bear in a patch of blue berries some distance away and decided to do a stalk. It tool about an hour and a half but I finally got to a ravine next to the berry patch. I dropped my backpack, nocked an arrow onto my longbow and eased up over the rim of the ravine.
The bear stood up facing me at about 20 yards. Sometime during the stalk this bear changed from black to full grown Grizzly. We stood there staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. The bear started showing some signs of agitation so I decided I better do something. I knew I could not stop a charge with my longbow, we were on the tundra so there were no trees to climb, and I couldn't outrun a grizzly. I decided to back slowly over the rim of the ravine. I did that, dropped my longbow and unstrapped my .300Win Mag from my backpack and waited for the bear to come over the rim. He didn't show, so I made my way back to camp. I was through hunting for the day.

Son of a gun.....20 yds from a Griz that knows your there.....i dont think I would have hunted for a day or two after that

[talleywack97]

Cat nappin in a 15 foot platform tripod with no bar to catch me in front, and really no place to tie off a safety vest. Luckily the balls of my feet were a tad forward, or id prolly be in a wheelchair

[flywise]

I have a writeup on here from a few years ago about my solo backpack hunt in the Colorado mountains.
I got soaked in a rain/hail storm and approached hypothermia.
I had all my stuff with me so I did not get into real trouble. I was able to make a fire. And eat.

I've had a scare in that country as well but my cousin ( on his first trip with us) stayed out in a blizzard overnight when he got lost. We looked most of the night for him but could not find him. He had just taken a hunter safety class a couple weeks before and mentioned the trip. The instructor who had been in the high country several times gave him some good advice and thank goodness he did because he made it out the next day

[flywise]

Cat nappin in a 15 foot platform tripod with no bar to catch me in front, and really no place to tie off a safety vest. Luckily the balls of my feet were a tad forward, or id prolly be in a wheelchair