Da Hitman's post (which I thought was funny) reminded me of the time I got lost and scared the bejesus out of myself. I am in my mid fifties now and have been blessed to hunt some very remote country and got myself into some schetchy situations but the worse was when I was around 17yrs old. I had only duck hunted on my own a few times on my own to that point.
One foggy morning I drove down to Galveston to hunt Christmas bay. The fog was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. I arrive at my spot and boy it is even fogger but I figured when the sun rose the fog would lift. I follow my trail to the blind and set my stuff down turn on my flashlight and set it up so I can see it (like my dad taught me) and wade out about 30 steps and start tossing decoys. I only had about 2 dozen dekes so I wanted them spaced out pretty good. Well I toss my last decoy and start looking around. I cant see the flashlight. I started shuffling around and cant find the decoys.
I know in just a matter of a few feet I will come across a decoy or two. Nothing>>>
Water is not getting much deeper but now I am pushing thru the water and doing circles trying to find land. I am not in any immediate danger but I am completely turned around. It's completely black and the fog is so thick I start instinctly start raising my hand as if I am walking into a wall. Understand I am standing in no more than 12-16 inches of water and cant be no more than 40-50 yards from the grass line.
I start to panic a little and start moving faster. About that time a big fish spooks making a pretty big splash. OK now I am freaking out. I know I should not move too fast or I will step on a string ray so I just stop and stand still for what seemed like hours. I start getting cold and I am nervous so I start shaking. So like an idiot I stand there in the dark in water so shallow I would have to lie down in to get wet and I am the scaredist I have been in my whole 17 year life. It gets light enough and I find the spread and get back on semi dry land. I may have walked 100 hundred yards in circle but never more than 20-30 feet form the spread. I can honestly tell you that was the second scariest time I ever had while hunting. Never fired a shot that morning.
Man I think about that time many moons ago and still get a little shiver up my spine.
How about you?
One foggy morning I drove down to Galveston to hunt Christmas bay. The fog was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. I arrive at my spot and boy it is even fogger but I figured when the sun rose the fog would lift. I follow my trail to the blind and set my stuff down turn on my flashlight and set it up so I can see it (like my dad taught me) and wade out about 30 steps and start tossing decoys. I only had about 2 dozen dekes so I wanted them spaced out pretty good. Well I toss my last decoy and start looking around. I cant see the flashlight. I started shuffling around and cant find the decoys.
I know in just a matter of a few feet I will come across a decoy or two. Nothing>>>
Water is not getting much deeper but now I am pushing thru the water and doing circles trying to find land. I am not in any immediate danger but I am completely turned around. It's completely black and the fog is so thick I start instinctly start raising my hand as if I am walking into a wall. Understand I am standing in no more than 12-16 inches of water and cant be no more than 40-50 yards from the grass line.
I start to panic a little and start moving faster. About that time a big fish spooks making a pretty big splash. OK now I am freaking out. I know I should not move too fast or I will step on a string ray so I just stop and stand still for what seemed like hours. I start getting cold and I am nervous so I start shaking. So like an idiot I stand there in the dark in water so shallow I would have to lie down in to get wet and I am the scaredist I have been in my whole 17 year life. It gets light enough and I find the spread and get back on semi dry land. I may have walked 100 hundred yards in circle but never more than 20-30 feet form the spread. I can honestly tell you that was the second scariest time I ever had while hunting. Never fired a shot that morning.
Man I think about that time many moons ago and still get a little shiver up my spine.
How about you?
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