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15 Dumb Hunting Mistakes

By Michael Hanback

Oct 1, 2007

Don't Drop Your Guard

The Mistake: Todd and Josh's excellent adventure began at lunchtime last November 10. The two Virginia deck painters drove by a farm they usually hunt and spotted a huge 10-point buck ambling into a woodlot. The hunters followed in hot pursuit.

Josh snuck up a ridge to see if the tall-tined rascal had dropped into the next hollow. Near the top, he heard grunting and hit the dirt. The monster lunged within 10 steps, "slobbering and crazy-eyed," Josh recalls. He reached for his .50-caliber muzzleloader—and remembered he had left it back with Todd, who was now in a pickle, too.

The 10-point rolled off the ridge within 30 yards, but Todd couldn't shoot because he didn't know where Josh was. The biggest buck either guy had ever seen got away.

The Fix: Keep your rifle or bow handy and never drop your guard. A buck is apt to pop up anywhere, at any time. Never split from a buddy without a plan. Hang tough after a screw-up, as the Virginia boys did that day.

Other bucks started coming out of the woodwork. "We said to heck with going back to work," says Todd. Before the day was over, Josh and Todd each busted an eight-pointer. November 10 can be magical north of the 35th parallel. An uncanny number of rut-crazed bucks are killed on that day each season.

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