Don’t go Hunting Alone by John Bobo

Don’t go hunting alone.  We all think we are great hunters and that nothing is ever going to happen to us, but as I age and encounter more and more of life’s experiences, I have reached the conclusion that one should never “go hunting alone.”  The following are just a couple of the things that have happened to me while “hunting alone.”

I have been “stuck in the sand” on numerous occasions, and have finally wised up.  Sand in the summer is soft and you just sink.  Sand when it is wet is ok, but when it is too wet, the ground underneath just gives way to nothingness.  After a tremendous rain a couple of years ago, I went to my deer lease at Devine.  Realizing that it had rained, I walked the road first, where it crossed the creek, thinking the road might give way.  It was ok, but when I started up the far bank, where I didn’t check, the road disappeared beneath me.  That was 9:00 AM on my way to fill up my feeder.  My cell phone had no reception in that area, and I finally was pulled from the slime around 6:00 PM when the rest of the camp arrived.  You can go through a lot of emotionalism in a situation like that.  While it is not a life threatening experience, it is not fun.  I also had so much mud and sand in my wheels, I couldn’t drive more than 30 MPH, and my new truck was never the same.

Have you ever gone out in the black of the morning to your deer stand and have coyotes howl literally all around you, or have a buck snort at you close (I mean close) by, or walk up on a herd of hogs, or have a bobcat scream at you.  I mean, you just don’t want to be alone.  There are things in the wood that can harm you.  Have you ever done that with just a bow and arrow?  You are only going to get one shot, if that.  It is not good to be alone.  Because these things have happened to me, I usually still hunt with my safety off…also I don’t want the prey to hear the “click” if I would have to take my safety off.  On one such day I walked up to one of my 55 gallon feeders.  It was operated by a winch bolted to a tree about 8-10 yards from the feeder.  I laid my 270 (safety off) against the tree, lowered the feeder, as I could see it was not feeding and I wanted to find out why.  The feeder had a metal ring around the top to hold the top on.  I pried the ring off and it flew over and hit my gun, and the gun fired.  Fortunately, I’m writing this article, but it could have been more serious.  When the safety doesn’t need to be off – put it “on!”