Guest Mistake Stories...

[Big Brass]

I got a late start at deer hunting. My sophomore year of college a couple of buddies and I decided to go on a day hunt in Llano. We got there Friday night and met the landowner and set up camp. We were after does as none of us could afford the $150 trophy fee for a buck. We paid half the day lease rate up front and the balance was due at the end of the hunt. The morning of the hunt the landowner's son came to take us to our stands as his dad had gotten sick overnight. There was a thick fog that morning and when it got light enough I could make out a lone deer on the hand tossed corn. Through my binoculars I could make out that it was a doe about 100 yards out. I managed to find her in my scope and dropped her right there. I got out of the stand and that doe at 100 yards turned out to be a 40lb nubbin buck at about 40 yards. I was sick. When the landowner's son came to pick me up, one of my friends had made the same mistake and we loaded 2 nubbins in the back of his truck. When we got back to the house to settle up the landowner started laughing. He had to take 15 more yearling deer off of his ranch in the next 2 weeks before season ended and we had just done him a favor. He only charged us half price for the hunt.

I took a new position at work about 6 years ago and in my new role I was invited as part of a group of 6 to go on a hunt at one of our vendor's ranch in
Brady. We have the green light for does and culls. The landowner culls spikes, anything that has an odd number of points, or is non-typical. On the second day of the hunt one of my coworkers thought he shot a doe. That doe turned out to be a heavy bodied 4.5 year old buck that had broke off both antlers about 1-2 inches from the base. Judging by the size of the bases, he had to have been something special for this ranch. That coworker has not been back since. The rest of us still go there every year for a long weekend. I have only shot does and predators until December 2014 when I shot my first buck. It was a mature, pencil racked 16.5 inch wide 7 point cull. I've shot pictures of tons of bucks out there including some I would love to put on the wall. Most of all a tall wide 8 point that I have been watching since he was 2.5. This year he is a 6.5 year old 10 point. They also have a couple of very mature heavy 6 pointers. The first morning of the hunt this year I drew the prime stand where the 10 and both 6's hang out. I was hoping to cull one of the 6's or take a doe. Just after sunrise the landowner texted me and gave me the green light to shoot any buck I wanted. I hunted hard for 4 days and took a lot of pics of nice young bucks. I ended up shooting 2 does and had a great time. When we left the landowner was actually a little upset that I didn't get a buck for the wall. Next year.

[TxDispatcher]

This isn't so much a "mistake"story, as much as it is an aggravation rant. We have a guest policy on our lease. You're free to bring a guest with you, they hunt on your allotment, in your stand, but can kill all the hogs they desire to kill.

Well this year one of our members brought his son and 2 grandsons down at Christmas time. The lease manager reminded him of the rules, and the member kept saying "they bought out of state licenses, they're good to kill whatever steps out". As much as the manager tried to explain it, the member couldn't grasp that any buck killed would be the members buck for the year. After much back and forth, he finally got it through to the member.

Fast forward to the last night that the members family was here. We all meet up at camp for dinner. His son walks over to me and says "you sure do have a nice stand" I turn and ask him "what stand are you talking about?" thinking that he must have mistaken my stand for one of his uncles stands. Nope...he described my wife's stand, and the straw was when he said "I'll need you to build me one this summer, we'll be hunting with my dad all of next season"

Needless to say, we're having a mandatory meeting next month, where we will discuss the rules. And if anyone can't grasp the concept of the rules, we'll have to implement a "no guest" policy which sucks, because for the last few years, we have been bringing young men out to hog hunt, whose fathers aren't active in their lives. We've put some serious smiles on the faces of quite a few kids, standing behind their huge boars that they've killed, and I hate to see that end all because one 60+ year old guy thinks that he should be able to bring his entire family down to hunt on one "paid spot" and let them roam around the lease unaccompanied

[Keith]

This isn't so much a "mistake"story, as much as it is an aggravation rant. We have a guest policy on our lease. You're free to bring a guest with you, they hunt on your allotment, in your stand, but can kill all the hogs they desire to kill.

Well this year one of our members brought his son and 2 grandsons down at Christmas time. The lease manager reminded him of the rules, and the member kept saying "they bought out of state licenses, they're good to kill whatever steps out". As much as the manager tried to explain it, the member couldn't grasp that any buck killed would be the members buck for the year. After much back and forth, he finally got it through to the member.

Fast forward to the last night that the members family was here. We all meet up at camp for dinner. His son walks over to me and says "you sure do have a nice stand" I turn and ask him "what stand are you talking about?" thinking that he must have mistaken my stand for one of his uncles stands. Nope...he described my wife's stand, and the straw was when he said "I'll need you to build me one this summer, we'll be hunting with my dad all of next season"

Needless to say, we're having a mandatory meeting next month, where we will discuss the rules. And if anyone can't grasp the concept of the rules, we'll have to implement a "no guest" policy which sucks, because for the last few years, we have been bringing young men out to hog hunt, whose fathers aren't active in their lives. We've put some serious smiles on the faces of quite a few kids, standing behind their huge boars that they've killed, and I hate to see that end all because one 60+ year old guy thinks that he should be able to bring his entire family down to hunt on one "paid spot" and let them roam around the lease unaccompanied

I wouldn't make everyone else suffer for one persons mistake, get rid of that one member .

[Flint knapper]

You always have some idiot that thinks the rules don't apply to them! Often times it seems like the lease manager is the one that ends up abusing rules.

[SwampRabbit]

This isn't so much a "mistake"story, as much as it is an aggravation rant. We have a guest policy on our lease. You're free to bring a guest with you, they hunt on your allotment, in your stand, but can kill all the hogs they desire to kill.

Well this year one of our members brought his son and 2 grandsons down at Christmas time. The lease manager reminded him of the rules, and the member kept saying "they bought out of state licenses, they're good to kill whatever steps out". As much as the manager tried to explain it, the member couldn't grasp that any buck killed would be the members buck for the year. After much back and forth, he finally got it through to the member.

Fast forward to the last night that the members family was here. We all meet up at camp for dinner. His son walks over to me and says "you sure do have a nice stand" I turn and ask him "what stand are you talking about?" thinking that he must have mistaken my stand for one of his uncles stands. Nope...he described my wife's stand, and the straw was when he said "I'll need you to build me one this summer, we'll be hunting with my dad all of next season"

Needless to say, we're having a mandatory meeting next month, where we will discuss the rules. And if anyone can't grasp the concept of the rules, we'll have to implement a "no guest" policy which sucks, because for the last few years, we have been bringing young men out to hog hunt, whose fathers aren't active in their lives. We've put some serious smiles on the faces of quite a few kids, standing behind their huge boars that they've killed, and I hate to see that end all because one 60+ year old guy thinks that he should be able to bring his entire family down to hunt on one "paid spot" and let them roam around the lease unaccompanied

If people can't grasp the rules, they need to go. You don't always have to like the rules, but you don't have to stay either.

[Truckville]

I was the mistake maker one time in college. My now BIL would take a group of us out to his uncles Junction area HF ranch for a doe hunt every year. Most of us were from East Texas so it was a real treat to see a bunch of deer and this place had a bunch. We were not allowed to shoot bucks and never did except for the annual nubbin mistake usually by my BIL. Well one year the Uncle says that we are adding MATURE 8 pts to the hit list. I did not know anything about aging deer at the time. First day out feeder goes off and several 8 points are in the group. I pick out the biggest rack clean 8 and drop him. Came back to the camp with my chest out and got deflated real quick. Deer was prob 2.5. I lost my invite for a year or two, but finally begged my way back in.

[DirtyDave]

This isn't so much a "mistake"story, as much as it is an aggravation rant. We have a guest policy on our lease. You're free to bring a guest with you, they hunt on your allotment, in your stand, but can kill all the hogs they desire to kill.

Well this year one of our members brought his son and 2 grandsons down at Christmas time. The lease manager reminded him of the rules, and the member kept saying "they bought out of state licenses, they're good to kill whatever steps out". As much as the manager tried to explain it, the member couldn't grasp that any buck killed would be the members buck for the year. After much back and forth, he finally got it through to the member.

Fast forward to the last night that the members family was here. We all meet up at camp for dinner. His son walks over to me and says "you sure do have a nice stand" I turn and ask him "what stand are you talking about?" thinking that he must have mistaken my stand for one of his uncles stands. Nope...he described my wife's stand, and the straw was when he said "I'll need you to build me one this summer, we'll be hunting with my dad all of next season"

Needless to say, we're having a mandatory meeting next month, where we will discuss the rules. And if anyone can't grasp the concept of the rules, we'll have to implement a "no guest" policy which sucks, because for the last few years, we have been bringing young men out to hog hunt, whose fathers aren't active in their lives. We've put some serious smiles on the faces of quite a few kids, standing behind their huge boars that they've killed, and I hate to see that end all because one 60+ year old guy thinks that he should be able to bring his entire family down to hunt on one "paid spot" and let them roam around the lease unaccompanied

I'd say keep the rules how they are and get rid of the offending member.
You will just be making more rules for this guy to break. If everyone else is on board, just get rid of the 1 guy. Why do the others have to suffer?

[Graysonhogs]

I'd say keep the rules how they are and get rid of the offending member.

You will just be making more rules for this guy to break. If everyone else is on board, just get rid of the 1 guy. Why do the others have to suffer?

Yep

[lmartin5]

I'd say keep the rules how they are and get rid of the offending member.

You will just be making more rules for this guy to break. If everyone else is on board, just get rid of the 1 guy. Why do the others have to suffer?

Well said

[BBRU]

I'd say keep the rules how they are and get rid of the offending member.
You will just be making more rules for this guy to break. If everyone else is on board, just get rid of the 1 guy. Why do the others have to suffer?

X3 on that

[hchntr]

I made a mistake one time as a guest:
some of my buddies had a lease in Rocksprings. It was full of axis. Me and one buddy went up early thanksgiving week. Everyone else was coming up later in the week. The first evening he sat me in another one of our buddies blind (with permission) hoping for axis. I had the green light on anything I wanted. An axis buck probably 34/35" came out, with many others. Knowing my buddy that this blind belonged to was coming up later in the week with his young son, I let the buck walk, hoping his son would get a shot at him. That evening Called the buddy that the blind belonged to and told him about seeing the buck. He said "you should've shot him, we may never see him again". Well guess what, he was never seen again.[emoji852]

[popeandyoung151]

Have a friend that is new to deer hunting. A nice older couple from church invited him to come out to their ranch to try and get his first deer. He got set up in the box blind. They told him he could shoot any deer that comes out.(I don't think they really thought a nice buck would come out, pretty rare) About an hour before dark a 130" ten point steps out. He shoots at it and it takes off. He goes out to check for blood, leaving his gun in the blind. Halfway to the tree line he sees the buck looking out of the woods at him. He sneaks back to the stand and gets in. Thinking the buck is still alive, he waits for another opportunity. Right before dark the buck steps out. He shoots again and he runs off.

The ranch owner comes to pick him up. They go towards where the buck last went into the brush and sure enough find a nice 120" 8 point. While dragging it back to the ranger the come across a dead 130" ten point. The owner kicks it and says "That's fresh dead!!"

Turns out he made a good shot on each deer. They said he's welcome to come back but he has to leave his rifle at home!

[Fajkus7]

I made a mistake one time as a guest:
some of my buddies had a lease in Rocksprings. It was full of axis. Me and one buddy went up early thanksgiving week. Everyone else was coming up later in the week. The first evening he sat me in another one of our buddies blind (with permission) hoping for axis. I had the green light on anything I wanted. An axis buck probably 34/35" came out, with many others. Knowing my buddy that this blind belonged to was coming up later in the week with his young son, I let the buck walk, hoping his son would get a shot at him. That evening Called the buddy that the blind belonged to and told him about seeing the buck. He said "you should've shot him, we may never see him again". Well guess what, he was never seen again.[emoji852]

Don't feel like this is a mistake. I feel like you were just being a nice guy and did what you thought was the right thing. That's always good by me

[Outback77]

You always have some idiot that thinks the rules don't apply to them! Often times it seems like the lease manager is the one that ends up abusing rules.

Exactly the case on my lease. You name the rule, and he's broken it.

[texasdeerhunter]

I was guiding on a high fence place some years ago, a pretty high end operation with bucks that cost over $20,000 depending on score. Well, we had some guys from Alabama coming to hunt with us, and they told us upon arrival what size deer they were wanting to shoot. Keep in mind that none of these guys had seen a deer in the wild bigger than 130. This particular ranch had a big price increase from 140-150, 150-160, 160-170, and so on. So a 169 inch deer could be quite a bit cheaper than a 170 for example. Well, my guy I was guiding was an older gentleman, and smoked more weed than Willy Nelson. He smoked in the morning, at lunch, on the stand in the evening, he was having a good time.

Well, throughout our conversations and getting to know each other while sitting in the stands together, he told me he really couldn't afford anything over the 150 price bracket. Well just as luck would have it, we never saw a mature shooter in the 150 range, everything was either really close to 160, or well over 160. After about 3-4 hunts, he finally said "you know what, I can't pass another nice buck, and if he is over 159, I'll just have to pay the difference, but it will stretch my budget"

So, fast forward to an evening hunt. I took him to a stand where a known mid to upper 150's was hanging out. But there was also a REALLY nice typical 12pt hanging out at the same stand, and all the guides and the ranch owner all thought he was 168-175 depending on just a few different measurements (a 1/2 inch off on each tine on a typical 12 pt adds up in a hurry). It was big enough we couldn't take a chance on the 12 and bump him into the next highest pay bracket.

So we are sitting there, and wouldn't you know it, but the 12pt comes strolling into the feeder. We watch him for 10-15 minutes eating corn, he's pumped up, biggest deer he has ever seen, man I wish I could afford it, on and on. I told him several times he was probably 168-174 and that would put him in the 170 bracket which he said he couldn't pay.

15 mins or so go by, and here comes the slick 10 with a kicker we were after, the mid 150 deer. He literally walks within 40 yards of the stand, towards the feeder, with both of us looking at him. I tell him "that's your buck" and to get ready. My eyes never leave my binoculars the whole time because I am watching the buck waiting for a shot. And waiting, and waiting.....I have already counted about 6 times I would have shot this buck broadside, but still no shot.

Finally, a shot rings out and the buck just stands there. I say "reboot and shoot him again, you missed!" He said "no I didn't". I say "yes you did, he is still standing, shoot!" That's when he says calmly, "I don't miss, I can see him laying there."

That's when my heart sank as I looked up from the binos, and there is a buck laying underneath the feeder. I said "you shot the 12pt, that's the wrong buck". He said "that's the only one i saw". Lmao!!!

I called the ranch manager and told him we had a situation haha, we might have shot the wrong one. The ranch manager was cool about it, and since the old man was funny as heck and a super nice guy, the buck magically taped out at 169 5/8 hahaha. I learned my lesson that day though, make sure you know where you hunter is looking.