Most Painful Hunting Experience???

[eggshell]

This an easy one for me and I hope no one can top it. My most painful turkey hunt was a fall archery hunt. I was shot through the left thigh with a mechanical broadhead (no I didn't shoot myself). It is an absolutely horrible feeling to pull down your pants, see an 1 1/2 inch hole in your leg and blood gushing out like a stream. This is the day your whole life flashes before your eyes and you wish you'd kissed the MRS. goodbye, you wonder what your kids will turn out like and you hope that your heart is right with God. After all those thoughts, you tie a Tourniquet around your leg and muster all you have to get the mile to your truck and the 17 miles to a hospital. Then you get a lot of attention and the most expensive helicopter ride you can imagine. After that you get to go home kiss the Mrs and hug the kids and PRAISE GOD ALMIGHTY! The next 8 months are filled with pain, healing and physical therapy and then you have to grow a new set of balls and go turkey hunting again...just so you can believe you'll survive it.

DID I SAY SAFETY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF HUNTING

[MK M GOBL]

Mine was painful in another way... I had a youth hunt for a first time son & father coming out with me. Scouted the area, put my time in on this and set up a blind and chairs in the "spot" we needed to be and ready for the weekend. Here's where things go wrong... I had another "hunter" don't even like to call him this, purposely park his truck in the field I am hunting and within 20 yards of my set/blind' the field road in was within steps of my blind so no way he walked past it not knowing what he was doing, he had an easement across the property to the farm he had access to. Instead of accessing the property he decided it was better to park right in our set and screw up our hunt... (I did "talk" to this guy after they decided to leave their hunt early) I guess I would say I cleared things up about his parking and what an easement means, and respect and ethics. He said he didn't know we would be hunting... He knows the farm I'm on and the owner and a simple phone call would have cleared it up. So our "morning" hunt was pretty much done, told the guys we are going to do some run & gun and go from there. Well it didn't take long to find a bird, make a set and kill a bird! The dad and kid were way wound up after the hunt, was so great to see and the reason I put so much time into my turkey hunts. In the end it turned out and told them you never know what to expect

Pics of the Bad and then the Good stuff


MK M GOBL

[Kylongspur88]

Not turkey hunting but I did fillet my left hand on a muzzy 3 blade. While turkey hunt I ruined a new pair of lacrosse boots on a old barbed wire fence that was laying in some brush. That was financially painful...

[Tail Feathers]

Not turkey hunting but I did fillet my left hand on a muzzy 3 blade. While turkey hunt I ruined a new pair of lacrosse boots on a old barbed wire fence that was laying in some brush. That was financially painful...

I know a guy that was walking out from a bow hunt and had his bow in front of him walking through some thick stuff.  I branch pushed an arrow from the quiver and it stuck the broadhead deep in his thigh.
He unscrewed the arrow from the broadhead and made it back to his truck and his phone with the broadhead 2" deep in his thigh.  It was a few hundred yards to his truck  OUCH!

[Sir-diealot]

Mine was painful in another way... I had a youth hunt for a first time son & father coming out with me. Scouted the area, put my time in on this and set up a blind and chairs in the "spot" we needed to be and ready for the weekend. Here's where things go wrong... I had another "hunter" don't even like to call him this, purposely park his truck in the field I am hunting and within 20 yards of my set/blind' the field road in was within steps of my blind so no way he walked past it not knowing what he was doing, he had an easement across the property to the farm he had access to. Instead of accessing the property he decided it was better to park right in our set and screw up our hunt... (I did "talk" to this guy after they decided to leave their hunt early) I guess I would say I cleared things up about his parking and what an easement means, and respect and ethics. He said he didn't know we would be hunting... He knows the farm I'm on and the owner and a simple phone call would have cleared it up. So our "morning" hunt was pretty much done, told the guys we are going to do some run & gun and go from there. Well it didn't take long to find a bird, make a set and kill a bird! The dad and kid were way wound up after the hunt, was so great to see and the reason I put so much time into my turkey hunts. In the end it turned out and told them you never know what to expect

Pics of the Bad and then the Good stuff


MK M GOBL

Jeepers, I have horrible vision and even I would have seen that. What a jerk!

[tomstopper]

This one hurt.  Bird did everything wrong came in to 10 yards max, busts me, I swing and eat a tree 2 steps in front of me. Thought I was high enough.

Good God man, I bet that scared the crap out of you . Definitely would have me

[tomstopper]

I figured there would be some painful experiences shared in this thread but dang some of these are real nasty. Glad you all are ok and hopefully we can all learn from each-others painful mistakes.  I will say that I am surprised that there wasn't anyone who fell from a tree stand or after reading about the fire ants, that has been bitten by a venomous snake (after moving to North Carolina from the southern tier of NY, I have seen more venomous snakes here than ever).

[Greg Massey]

I'm always perfect , never had a problem or missed a turkey ... i left the house one morning driving 24 miles one way and forgot my gun ... so i really didn't miss that morning ... all part of getting older i guess ..

[Spitten and drummen]

I was bit by a cotton mouth in my thigh. 3 doses of anti venom , a butt load of iv anti biotics and 6 days in the hospital. Through 40 years hunting i have had alot of painful stuff happen but this is by far the one that always comes to mind. Lost dang near 3 weeks of turkey hunting from this.

[tomstopper]

Have not done the gun at home thing yet but if I look at one of the most costly and stupid things I have ever done (besides buying gear and licences), it would have been the time my newly wife and I were driving the back roads in PA and we were rubber necking off to the birds in the field to my left while slowly creeping forwards and hit a mile marker post/sign and not only did cosmetic damage to the front, but also ripped a whole in my oil pan. That didnt make me happy...

[tomstopper]

I was bit by a cotton mouth in my thigh. 3 doses of anti venom , a butt load of iv anti biotics and 6 days in the hospital. Through 40 years hunting i have had alot of painful stuff happen but this is by far the one that always comes to mind. Lost dang near 3 weeks of turkey hunting from this.

I knew there had to be someone out there bitten. Never worried about it up north as all I had to worry about was rattle snakes (not a lot and if there is a large populated area, you better believe that DEC knows about it and so do the locals) and believe it or not, the are for the most part docile creatures as long as you just back away and heed their warning.

[paintbrush]

I was out in South Dakota hunting these grand birds several years back.  I was moving looking for a tom that wanted to play for a couple hours when I finally got one respond back to my calling. I cut the distance towards him as he was cutting the distance to me and the last time he gobbled he was just over the ridge top and close! I plopped my butt down right there and then and sat right down on a blasted pear cactus I didn't see!  I of course jumped right up and spooked the turkey but I really didn't care at the time. Now I'm like 2 miles from camp with a dozen or so cactus spines stuck in my butt. Some I got out, others I couldn't get. After I finally got back to camp, my buddies had to pull a few out. I'm not sure what hurt more, the cactus spines in my butt or the ribbing I took from my 3 buddies!

[Sir-diealot]

I was out in South Dakota hunting these grand birds several years back.  I was moving looking for a tom that wanted to play for a couple hours when I finally got one respond back to my calling. I cut the distance towards him as he was cutting the distance to me and the last time he gobbled he was just over the ridge top and close! I plopped my butt down right there and then and sat right down on a blasted pear cactus I didn't see!  I of course jumped right up and spooked the turkey but I really didn't care at the time. Now I'm like 2 miles from camp with a dozen or so cactus spines stuck in my butt. Some I got out, others I couldn't get. After I finally got back to camp, my buddies had to pull a few out. I'm not sure what hurt more, the cactus spines in my butt or the ribbing I took from my 3 buddies!

[wade]

Not turkey hunting or any kind of hunting.

There I was on my hands and knees, blood dripping from somewhere, the pool of blood was spreading out on the hard ground getting larger with every drop. My vision would come and go, from just a small pinprick of light to full light. The last thing I remembered was saying PULL. Never, ever stand anywhere but behind someone who has never used a hand clay target thrower.

[Brwndg]

Deer hunting has caused me more injury than any other outdoor activity I take part in.  Here are two of the better ones:

1) A few years back was hanging a tree stand that uses a chain to wrap around the tree. 
Once the stand is hung, I always put a 3" lag bolt on the back of the tree just under the chain as one extra safety measure so it never slips.  So, I'm using a ratchet wrench to crank the bolt into this red oak while hanging 18' up in the tree.  As the bolt sunk into the tree the ratchet hit the chain and as I was giving it one last mighty crank, it popped off the head of the bolt and right into my mouth busting my lip wide open, knocking out one of my upper teeth and cracking a bottom tooth in half.  Five stitches to close the lip and it took over a year to get the implant done because of all the crushed jaw bone that had to regrow. 

2)  Shot a nice buck one evening with the bow and was dressing him out when the knife slipped and I cut my left hand at the base of my index finger. No tendon damage, but a good cut nonetheless.  Finished dressing the deer, went home and cleaned the wound as best I could and proceeded to get ready to head out again the next morning (this was during peak rut). 
Woke up the next morning and my left hand looked like a catchers mitt. Ended up spending the day in the ER getting IV antibiotics for a blood infection.  Nasty bug.  Had to take hard core antibiotics for the next 21 days!!  But I was back in the tree hunting two days later!
I now wear a fillet glove on my left hand while gutting deer.