What happens when you let your guard down?

[WapitiTalk1]

I'll tell you what happens, a bull comes in and ruins your lunch on the mountain side. I'm guilty, many times over of dropping my guard while bow hunting elk during the rut. It may be after numerous days in the elk woods or perhaps, early in the season when I'm shagged out after a ba!! busting morning hunt after not so many days out. Regardless, it seems that almost every year I find a nice flat spot (not too many flat spots where I usually hunt) to stop late morning/early afternoon to take a break and snack on whatever I stuffed into my pack the night before and let my guard down. One of my most memorable was not so many years ago in a WA wilderness area where my hunting buddy and I stopped on a hillside in a huge huckleberry thicket to take a break and have a snack. I decided to throw out a wimpy locater bugle, listened for a few minutes, and then went back to chomping on whatever I was chomping on. About 10-15 minutes later, on the trail directly above me about 15 yards away, came an upstart rag horn directly at me to join us for lunch. He wasn't a shooter to me but crap, I did it again...... Another time when I was a pup in MT, my buddy and I sat an a trail towards the top of a rockslide to glass an opposite hillside. Again, mid day locater bugle.... nothing after 10 minutes or so. Back to lunch.. It was shortly after that when I heard a few shale rocks clanking above me, followed by a bugle that blew my hat off my head and into the far reaches of Lincoln County.. He was just above the rockslide, had came in quite silent, and was extremely rude to say the least.. That was a "nice" bull. After doing this for so many years, it would seem that I'd know better. How about you cats? Got a story about what happened when you let your guard down? Thanks for playing along.. RJ

[Da White Shoe]

We were in the thick stuff a few years ago, trying to cut the distance on a bull that had answered our cow calls.
He had been halfway up on a thick ridge... last time we heard him and we were in the bottom, trying to get even with him before we started uphill.
We had just stopped, called and we were standing there, no arrows nocked, listening for an answer when we heard what sounded like a horse galloping toward us from behind... on the trail we had just walked up.

Nice, big, lonesome 5x5! Luckily, he hit the brakes at 10 yards because I was seriously looking for a place to dive off that trail!
Well, he swapped ends and was gone before either of us even thought about getting an arrow out of the quiver.
I won't soon forget the look on his face when he recognized what we were!
I bet he won't forget the look on my face either...

[easeup]

yeh I'm so smart I dont let my guard down ..........

few years back it was about 3 pm and I had put the sneak walk down to a wallow on a hot Sept afternoon to sit for a spell. Looking for elk the entire time and walking like every leaf was going to bust out an elk.
I got all the way to the wallow and I thought,.....good nothing has showed yet. But,......I didnt actually see the water since it was just below a little 4 ft drop in the hill. .........I guess you could say I had let my guard down just a tad since I was standing there looking around for a good place to sit and wait for the evening....when you guessed it. a 5x bull had been laying in the wallow and stood up at 25 yds and saw me with my head up my b............

[welka]

After a long, hot walk early in morning, got to the top of a new hill and stopped to catch our breath just before a small opening. We were walking through some small pines that were about 8' tall when we heard movement. My hunting buddy and I looked at each other with the WTF look and and as we are taking our last steps to check the field, out pops a monster 6x5. Should have knocked an arrow when we heard the noise. Locked eyes with the bull for about a minute. He slowly trotted off and as my buddy put an arrow on the string, I stopped the bull at about 45 yards. Unfortunately, he didn't stop for long enough and an opportunity blown. Pretty cool to be in a staredown at 10 yards for that minute that lasted forever!

[Trophyhill]

In my short career so for, when I'm caught with my.....er off guard, it's led to missed opportunities.

[eltaco]

Happens to me every single year, to some degree. Cold calling + silent elk = missed opportunities.

Try as I might, I can't help but let my guard down after many hours and miles and no responses. Come to think of it, I've had my best luck when I'm not ready for one to show up...

[spyder24]

Last year after my hunting partner left Colorado and went back to Iowa I stayed a couple of extra days. The last Thursday that I hunted I chased a bull all morning and was not lucky enough to get close enough to get a shot. At noon I decided to go to another area I had seen elk earlier in the week. When I arrived at the spot I sat down and leaned up against a pine tree (I did at least nock an arrow) and was taking in the sun. I was dozing off when I turned my head to the left and a cow was standing around 12 yards from me trying to figure out what I was. We had a staring contest for a while then she turned and walked down the hill from me and I did get my bow up and when she turned there was a tree in my way to get a shot. I moved to see if I could get a shot and I heard a racket behind me. Several elk was leaving the area. She was the lead cow of the herd. You would think there was a bull in the herd.

[Wapiti]

I was hiking to where I was going to call from and stopped to pee. As I was peeing I looked up and ten yard ahead of me were three cows in the bush broadside watching me pee !! I had no clue they were following me as I walked along. I still look back and laugh about it with my hunting partner that was with me that day .