Hardest hunt you ever had and did you tag out?

[Shane Limbeck]

Every hunter has that one. The grind that pushed you past your limit, the trip where everything went wrong, or the mountain that almost broke you.

Tell us about the hunt that tested you the most. Where were you, what went down, and did you tag out or come home empty but wiser?

 

[jacobylovell]

Last year, a friend of mine, Jeb, and I decided to put in for elk tags in Colorado. He had family out there and it was the perfect set up. We got the tag, so I decided to spend some dough on high quality gear to help me on the trip. What I had not accounted for was that I had been out of high school sports for over a year and that the “freshman 15” would hinder my athletic performance.

We woke up at 4 each morning for a quick breakfast, and would catch a ride to the trail head from Jeb’s uncle. We hiked up the mountain for two hours climbing almost 1,500 feet of elevation to get to the ridge line. Each day we walked roughly 12 miles, but we tried our best to stay on the ridge line so we didn’t have to climb as much.

Each passing day, the woods seemed to become quieter and quieter. Not because the elk were not bugling, but because Jeb and I were losing faith that we would see anything. After five to six twelve mile days, we had begun to lose all of our hope. On the last day, Jeb and I decided to go through a valley we had not ventured down yet. We wanted to make our way to a certain spot, but fell victim to getting out too late so we found a meadow and stopped.

I was so fucking tired that I passed out in a bed of pine straws and let Jeb keep an eye out. I woke up to him hitting my chest and hearing him say: “quit fucking snoring there’s elk coming down the mountain.” After glasses them, we located the herd bull and set up our rifles. The bull was at 540 yards but we knew it was our only shot. He took the first shot and connected with the elk with his 30-06. Quickly after, I followed up and connected as well. The herd ran up the mountain and left their leader in the valley with us.

This trip was special because Jeb had never hunted anything like an elk before. He had only been able to hunt a whitetail and birds in Lubbock and it was super cool being able to be there for it. My biggest takeaway from the trip was this: If you’re going to spend a bunch of money on gear and an elk tag, maybe do yourself a favor and take a break from the Miller Lite and DoorDash and maybe hit the stair master a few times before you go.

 

[olsensoutdoors]

Have a buddy that breeds blackbuck in a 50 acre pen. He needed to get rid of a few bucks and asked me if I wanted to come shoot a couple. Met him the next morning at first light, we drove through the gate and they all came walking up. I was thinking damn I knew it would be easy but not this easy. Boy was I wrong. When he shut that gate them fuckers went awol! It took 3 hours to finally get a shot on one and ended up taking a 350 yard shot. People scream high fence is easy I beg to differ!

 

[Rjohnson.307]

12 miles in from the truck boondocking with no trails hunting mountain Mule deer. Killed a buck last 20 minutes of light, quartered and deboned and packed him out in one trip. Had to boondock my way back in the dark with no trail and a 2 led headlamp, got cliffed out who knows how many times. Made it to the truck just as the sun was starting to rise. Worst packout ever, it tested me physically and mentally!

 

[gelhaargerald]

I have never really had a legendary hard hunt.

This is probably my worse experience. My first dog was a gem. We got her the week after we got married and didn't have kids. I found a decent Retriever club and started training. That dog was a PIA to get through force fetching but once she figured it out she flew through training. We spent two summer and got her a senior hunter title. She failed one test which was a JH test. She picked up a decoy instead of the bird so I called her off and brought her in and called it a day. It was my mistake, I made her pick up decoys one time because I couldn't reach them on a walk in hunt. Anyhow she was a wonderful dog and so much fun to hunt over.

There is a lake in southern Iowa that I still hunt. Its always good for a hunt or two when everything is frozen up here it stays open a touch longer. Buddy of mine and I head down there and we get to the boat landing and they are all locked up. We couldn't break the ice. We did a quick drive around and the spot we wanted to hunt had a decent hole that was open because it was full of birds. So we snuck down there with a bag of decoys. When we got there the honkers didn't want to fly so we shot a few, the one landed about 15 yards from shore, bad news was it landed on the ice. It was kind of half froze with openings. My dog went to grab the honker and she broke through the ice. With said honker in mouth she just kept swimming and trying to get back on the ice the way she came. What felt like hours was probably 5 minutes. The water was open in the one direction but we coudln't get her to swim that way. I made it about 5 yards out and the water was to deep, then I filled my waders up. It was awful, I thought I was going to watch my dog die because I am an idiot.

At this point I was froze from the waste down and I knew you don't have much time so I walked back to shore, my buddy got out as far as he could and we kept trying to break the ice between us and the dog. As he was out there I ran down the shore in the direction the water was open and started tossing boulders. That got her attention and she swam that way and was able to get to my buddy who grabbed her.

The hunt was over at that point and we made our way back to the truck. By the time I got there I could barely use my hands to open my truck, it was an F150 and I had locked the keys in the truck because it has a code. I didn't have any dexterity in my fingers. It was dumb stupid and what ever you want to call it all for a bird.

Long story short I don't fuck with ice anymore unless I have a boat. Hell I am super cautious pheasant hunting around ponds when I know it just froze.