Tragedy Averted

[Harold Pickens]

While out pheasant hunting yesterday, I followed the dogs into an autumn olive/multiflora hell hole as they worked a running bird. I was carrying my little VHE 20 onehanded in my right hand as I tried snaking thru the briars, warding them off with my left. Hit a little opening, and shifted the gun to my left hand and froze. The fore end was off/missing and I suddenly felt very sick. I hung my orange hat where I stopped and started working back along an old deer trail I was following, and about 25 yds back spotted it sticking up in the air with the metal lugs stuck in the mud. You dont have to tell me how damn lucky I was. Had it come off in a field, would have never found it.
It snapped right back on, tight as a tick, with no play or wiggle. I can only surmise that a stick had gone under the latch and popped it up and off. Don't think this could happen again, but has me thinking about putting a small piece of tape over the latch to prevent it from happening again. Has this ever happened to anybody?

[Harold Pickens]

Picture of my mother/daughter brace on point yesterday where we started into the woods.

[Dean Romig]

Opening morning of deer season this year I lost the corrugated 10" red plastic tube off the front of my grunt call which was hanging around my neck on a cord... never to be seen (by me) again. I lost something else too while deer hunting but I can't remember what it was... maybe it was my mind.





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[mobirdhunter]

Glad you found your part!

While hunting in OK a few years ago, I fired my Whistler hammer gun at a quail, and when I went to load it noticed the hammer was missing (screw broke). We searched long and hard without luck. On our way home to Missouri, we stopped in KC and I bought a metal detector. We went back after the season (6 hour drive). I walked to the spot where I fired the shot (I'd marked it in photographs). I turned the metal detector on and as I positioned it to the ground, I got the "metal detected" signal. It was the hammer. Brad Batchelder made the screw and my gun is hunting again.

Sometimes, Harold, we are just "livin' right," as my Pop used to say.

[Kevin McCormack]

After a non-productive woodcock hunt in a newly-discovered and great-looking but unbelievably gnarly series of perfect cover thickets, my setter and I arrived back at my truck to find I had dropped the hand-held electronic control device for his electric beeper collar somewhere along the way. We backtracked for about a half an hour and I saw it lying just off the deer trail I had been following. I had wrapped it with dayglo orange tape "just in case." Otherwise it would still be out there.

[Mills]

Yikes!

[mobirdhunter]

What happens in the field, stays in the field...

[Keith Doty]

Hunting flooded timber in E. Texas outta a boat, looked up and saw my favorite mallard call floating in the decoys, headed for open water! Actually got my dog to bring it back to me, took a bit of effort but she finally picked it up and returned to the boat. I was very glad, took us 20 minutes to get the boat positioned and cover up when we set up. Gentlemen, check your lanyards.

[10 bore]

I was hunting a old dry up beaver bog for pheasant , a hour of thick blow downs ,blueberry bushes and pricky bushes, I looked down and noticed i lost one of my leg chaps ! never found it.

[Double Lab]

I was hunting in SD a few years back and was working the edges of a cattail slough when I noticed a funny feeling in one of my Irish Setter boots. The sole has fallen off and I had walked about 200 yds. before I noticed it. Back tracked and found the sole then that evening used some Shoe Goo to reattach it.