Murphy's Law has become my best friend

Pyro01 · 11-13-2009, 12:46 AM

So, I want to hear your stories guys, where a perfect opportunity comes along to take a deer, buck or doe, and you can't because you don't have what you need to do it. I will give you an example, so today I was heading out to do some hunting in the afternoon, and I remembered that my deer tags and back tags were back in my dorm room, I'm only about two minutes away and so I go back and get them.

So now I have my archery tags for deer(it's not gun deer season yet in WI), and once I get out there, I decided I probably wasn't going to see a deer on a day like today, and I'm going gun deer hunting this weekend in MN. So I decide to just bring the shotgun loaded with a 3" #4 steel, and 2-2 3/4" #7 steel shells and hunt some squirrel so we can have something to eat up at the cabin at night. I grab my S&W 460 magnum and load 4 rounds of 45 colt, and the last round a .460 200-grain bullet, just because sometimes I like to take a rabbit or squirrel on the ground with the handgun, and the last bullet is in case I run into something bad like a black bear. I'm walking around the woods dressed in my camo pants, shirt, and hat. I decided to use some scentkiller, just so I don't scare deer with my scent and I could at least see them before they dash off. The winds blowing pretty hard and the leaves are really loud and crunchy, I hear something about 50 yards away downwind of me and I freeze. I see this large doe out in front of me and to the right stop about 40 yards away. Her flag is up and she's looking around, what's left of my scent is probably blowing into her nose and she probably heard the leaves crunching underneath my rubber boots. She starts running closer to me and stops 20 yards from where I was standing holding my shotgun in disbelief. She stops and looks over her shoulder behind her, she's broadside and not even looking at me. Here I am thinking if I had grabbed my bow, I could have had this deer. I got the 460 S&W revolver in my holster crying out for blood, and I'm just crying a bit on the inside. After standing there for 30 seconds, she bounds another 10 yards and now has her back to me, and so I just let her go.

I don't know why, but I should really expect to see deer when I'm walking around, but I never have the right weapon or it's not the right season to take them. She was nowhere near my stand out there, and so I think if I did bring my bow and sat in it, I would have never seen her, but since I was walking around not expecting to see a deer, I see a deer. She comes within bow range and gives me a perfect shot, but I don't have my bow. So thus I say, Murphy Law has become my best friend, whether I like it or not.

Share your comments and Murphys law stories guys and gals. One of these days I will take my first deer, I only started hunting last year, and I've had many opportunities to take a deer save for Murphy and his damn law.

rondog · 11-13-2009, 01:01 AM

Ol' Murphy has many laws, there's many posters of them.

ArkansasHunter · 11-13-2009, 01:03 AM

I don't know about Murphy but I know about me. I can find deer LOL

redrider13 · 11-13-2009, 01:15 AM

Mine isn't as long as yours but basically three or four years ago I was deer hunting in VA.
Mind you, we use dogs, but that's another discussion at another time. As I'm hopping out of the truck to walk down to where I was going to stand, I grab my A-5, some buckshot and my radio. I turn the radio down low and as I'm walking down to my stand, I start to load up my gun. If any of you own an A-5, you know that letting the action slam forward is not quiet by any means. I release the action and slide it forward with my hand. I then arrive where I wanted to be (on a creek pass just a little ways up the hill).
I know the deer are coming this way because its the last spot to cross the creek before it gets too steep to cross. The dogs are let loose, I sit there, content with my spot when I start to hear some rustling in the woods. It comes closer and closer and closer. I finally can see a buck (I think about 6 points) walking/running up toward the pass in the creek. I draw my gun to my shoulder as he gets closer and finally when he is about 15 yards from me, I pull the trigger. *click* no boom..... I knew instantly what happened. I reached forward and slammed the bolt forward but due to awkwardness of being a lefty shooting a righty gun, I have to drop my gun off my shoulder and then I proceed to fumble around with the gun as this buck is staring at me. He finally sees me put the gun back to my shoulder and bolts off, past me and into the next field.
It was the worst feeling ever. Knowing I had that nice buck in my sights and then because of my error by not letting the action slam, as to not warn the deer, he got away.

thrillbilly · 11-13-2009, 02:23 AM

5 years ago...I was heading toward my stand for a evening hunt...ghosting through a hay fields edge. I came up on the trail to my stand, and two bucks stood up in the brush less then 20 yards from me. One was a huge 10 pointer, and the other a very nice 8 or 9 pointer.
A bit of backhistory...I always carry my rifle at a "ready" stance, I usually keep my sling in my backpack and only use it when dragging a deer.
On this day however, I had my rifle slung on my shoulder...it might as well have been in my truck. I had about a 3 second interval before those bucks realized what I was and lit out of there like their tails were on fire. If I would have had my rifle in my hands, like I KNEW to, that 10 pointer's rack would be gracing my wall right now!

On a sidenote, one of my cousins killed the 8-9 pointer later that season...don't know what happened to the 10 point.

wirehunt · 11-13-2009, 06:44 AM

Thrillbilly, you broke rule number one......

Pyro01 · 11-13-2009, 09:57 AM

That is exactly why I always carry my rifle/shotgun at the ready position as long as I can, all day if I have to.

11-13-2009, 12:46 AM	#1
Pyro01 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Midwestern WI Posts: 209	Murphy's Law has become my best friend So, I want to hear your stories guys, where a perfect opportunity comes along to take a deer, buck or doe, and you can't because you don't have what you need to do it. I will give you an example, so today I was heading out to do some hunting in the afternoon, and I remembered that my deer tags and back tags were back in my dorm room, I'm only about two minutes away and so I go back and get them. So now I have my archery tags for deer(it's not gun deer season yet in WI), and once I get out there, I decided I probably wasn't going to see a deer on a day like today, and I'm going gun deer hunting this weekend in MN. So I decide to just bring the shotgun loaded with a 3" #4 steel, and 2-2 3/4" #7 steel shells and hunt some squirrel so we can have something to eat up at the cabin at night. I grab my S&W 460 magnum and load 4 rounds of 45 colt, and the last round a .460 200-grain bullet, just because sometimes I like to take a rabbit or squirrel on the ground with the handgun, and the last bullet is in case I run into something bad like a black bear. I'm walking around the woods dressed in my camo pants, shirt, and hat. I decided to use some scentkiller, just so I don't scare deer with my scent and I could at least see them before they dash off. The winds blowing pretty hard and the leaves are really loud and crunchy, I hear something about 50 yards away downwind of me and I freeze. I see this large doe out in front of me and to the right stop about 40 yards away. Her flag is up and she's looking around, what's left of my scent is probably blowing into her nose and she probably heard the leaves crunching underneath my rubber boots. She starts running closer to me and stops 20 yards from where I was standing holding my shotgun in disbelief. She stops and looks over her shoulder behind her, she's broadside and not even looking at me. Here I am thinking if I had grabbed my bow, I could have had this deer. I got the 460 S&W revolver in my holster crying out for blood, and I'm just crying a bit on the inside. After standing there for 30 seconds, she bounds another 10 yards and now has her back to me, and so I just let her go. I don't know why, but I should really expect to see deer when I'm walking around, but I never have the right weapon or it's not the right season to take them. She was nowhere near my stand out there, and so I think if I did bring my bow and sat in it, I would have never seen her, but since I was walking around not expecting to see a deer, I see a deer. She comes within bow range and gives me a perfect shot, but I don't have my bow. So thus I say, Murphy Law has become my best friend, whether I like it or not. Share your comments and Murphys law stories guys and gals. One of these days I will take my first deer, I only started hunting last year, and I've had many opportunities to take a deer save for Murphy and his damn law. __________________ Hahaha, suck railgun wabbit!

11-13-2009, 01:01 AM	#2
rondog Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Parker, CO Posts: 3,629	Ol' Murphy has many laws, there's many posters of them. __________________ I child-proofed my house, but they still keep getting in! Last edited by rondog; 11-13-2009 at 01:03 AM.

11-13-2009, 01:03 AM	#3
ArkansasHunter Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: South Arkansas. Posts: 18,224	I don't know about Murphy but I know about me. I can find deer LOL __________________ IN GOD WE TRUST NRA MEMBER

11-13-2009, 02:23 AM	#5
thrillbilly Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ozark Hill Country Posts: 3,182	5 years ago...I was heading toward my stand for a evening hunt...ghosting through a hay fields edge. I came up on the trail to my stand, and two bucks stood up in the brush less then 20 yards from me. One was a huge 10 pointer, and the other a very nice 8 or 9 pointer. A bit of backhistory...I always carry my rifle at a "ready" stance, I usually keep my sling in my backpack and only use it when dragging a deer. On this day however, I had my rifle slung on my shoulder...it might as well have been in my truck. I had about a 3 second interval before those bucks realized what I was and lit out of there like their tails were on fire. If I would have had my rifle in my hands, like I KNEW to, that 10 pointer's rack would be gracing my wall right now! On a sidenote, one of my cousins killed the 8-9 pointer later that season...don't know what happened to the 10 point. __________________ *" I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on."* John Wayne

11-13-2009, 06:44 AM	#6
wirehunt Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Otago New Zealand Posts: 847	Thrillbilly, you broke rule number one...... __________________ Happy Hunting Another kiwi bumming around Aussie (west island) welding shit up....

11-13-2009, 01:15 AM	#4
redrider13 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 103	Mine isn't as long as yours but basically three or four years ago I was deer hunting in VA. Mind you, we use dogs, but that's another discussion at another time. As I'm hopping out of the truck to walk down to where I was going to stand, I grab my A-5, some buckshot and my radio. I turn the radio down low and as I'm walking down to my stand, I start to load up my gun. If any of you own an A-5, you know that letting the action slam forward is not quiet by any means. I release the action and slide it forward with my hand. I then arrive where I wanted to be (on a creek pass just a little ways up the hill). I know the deer are coming this way because its the last spot to cross the creek before it gets too steep to cross. The dogs are let loose, I sit there, content with my spot when I start to hear some rustling in the woods. It comes closer and closer and closer. I finally can see a buck (I think about 6 points) walking/running up toward the pass in the creek. I draw my gun to my shoulder as he gets closer and finally when he is about 15 yards from me, I pull the trigger. click no boom..... I knew instantly what happened. I reached forward and slammed the bolt forward but due to awkwardness of being a lefty shooting a righty gun, I have to drop my gun off my shoulder and then I proceed to fumble around with the gun as this buck is staring at me. He finally sees me put the gun back to my shoulder and bolts off, past me and into the next field. It was the worst feeling ever. Knowing I had that nice buck in my sights and then because of my error by not letting the action slam, as to not warn the deer, he got away.

11-13-2009, 09:57 AM	#7
Pyro01 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Midwestern WI Posts: 209	That is exactly why I always carry my rifle/shotgun at the ready position as long as I can, all day if I have to. __________________ Hahaha, suck railgun wabbit!