Trad Gang

Right now mine is the Blue Wildebeest. I just got back from South Afica a few weeks ago where, on a 2 week hunt, I missed 3 of them and when I finally hit one it was a terrible high in the back shot. The wildebeest was not recoved (mostly because it probably isn't dead). This animal is definitely on the top of my "hit list" for my next safari. Although the wildebeest really gotin my head while I was over there I am very anxious to have another go at them,

Bisch

Mountain Goat here too!  Missed one 7 years ago, had the arrow pop off the string on another and haven't been close enough since.

black bear.  I have been within 200yds of at least 30 bears, or on 30 occasions in the last 5 years.  Something always arffs me up.  

I have bailed on stalks on deer to chase a bear only to have the deer I bailed on feed towards the bear and bust me, taking the bear with him.  

This year is different, but then again so was last year, and the year before........

Turkey...(we don't have many where I live) and Impala.  I hunted a great area in Africa where there were tons of Impala.  Still.. I never closed the deal.  Hopefully next time!

Deer or anything thats bigger than a rabbit. Two big to hit.

fallow deer for me. been hunting them for a awhile. missed a few or stuffed up at the wrong moment, blowing my opportunity. have shot a few bucks but my opportunity/success rate is low.

hopefully that will change.

Mule deer are my nemisis without a doubt.  I think I have eaten 10 mule deer tags so far, and the taste just doesn't improve.  Hope to cure that this year in Colorado as I have a tag in a very good limited draw unit.  I'll at least give it a good effort and have another great time!

A 200 lb, dressed out, Indiana Buckus Snortus.

So far a 187, 191, a couple weighing 170+, a dozen or more 160+, lots of "billy goats".

Big antlers would be hunky dory too but .....a 200+ pound whitetail, without innards.

Can't eat antlers anyway (SOUR GRAPE SYNDROME!)

TURKEY

I just can't seem to close the deal on one.I get them close and they lock up or a vine or limb  get's in the way preventing a shot or something every time.Have never been able to drop the string on one yet.  :(

TURKEYS!!!

Tag soup again this year!

Spot and stalk black bears, something has always gone amiss.

Maybe we can break that curse this year Ryan  :thumbsup:  

All though I haven't been hunting them long I would have to say Antelope for me   :banghead:  

Tracy

Sometimes I lie awake at night wondering if I will EVER shoot a turkey.

%^&*ing armadillos.  They've busted more shot opportunities at deer for me than anything else.

Dennis

Mine is the Pronghorn antelope. Been hunting them speed goats for 10+ years and have yet to get one. Mostly because where we go the numbers are very limited middle of Nebraska. Need to get farther west.

Not sure if it's a curse or not? But Bighorn Sheep is the game animal I truly desire right now more than others.  

One big problem. Oregon only gives out a small number of sheep tags each year, and this was my 37th year of applying for a sheep tag here in Oregon.     :saywhat:

Turkeys.

I hate turkeys!and I hate large mule deer!If I call for someone else on turkeys they are dumb as a rock.Big mule deer they must have nine lives,or I am a real bad hunter.Probly just a bad hunter.

ELK!!! but this year is going to be different!

Turkeys for me and also bobcats, eveytime I try to take one something goes wrong

Anything that has the ability to move!!!

I have never been able to find a decent Water Buffalo in Bedford Count, Pennsylvania.  They seem to elude me each year.    

ELK, 25 years chasing them and only taken one small cow. Montana this year again, only about a month to go!

Turkeys - just cant seem to close the deal on one of them yet. next be a black bear with a bow.

J

For me it is definitely Javelina.  Not that I can't get one, but rather, where ever I am the javelina find me.  Like Aeronut I've had more good opportunities at deer screwed up by javelina than any other human alive  :banghead:   And when they find me, it's not just one or two.  Oh heck no.  It's usually the whole freak'n family...from granddad all the way down to the grandbabies.  Cute little suckers, but dadgum they drive me to drink'n   :mad:

Brett

Truly mature whitetail buck.  :knothead:

Funny you should ask Ryan, I wrote a little article for our SD Bowhunters publication on that very subject. This will make for a long post but bear with me.

              THE CURSE  

       After 10 years of accumulating preference points here in South Dakota my buddy Tom Kostel and I finally managed to draw archery elk tags for the fall of 2006.  We were very excited to draw the tags because we knew it would allow us to do our own scouting and it would allow us to hunt for a lot more days than normally is possible on our out of state hunts.  Before going any further I feel I need to enlighten you about Tom and my prior elk hunting experiences. Tom and I and another buddy ,Leon Somsen, have bowhunted elk for at least eight years in Colorado and one year in Montana.  Three of those hunts were guided hunts yet the sum total of our elk harvests was one cow that I shot back in 2001 on an unguided hunt. Other than that cow the opportunities for shots were few and far between.  The list of things that went wrong were epic and it would take more than one small article to cover them all. The usual  obstacles  were present, unusually hot weather, too much rain, range cows/and or sheep ran the elk out , too many other hunters, etc.  I am not sure how many times we were told by local hunters or guides "you should have been here last week" but it really wasn't funny anymore. It frankly was getting difficult to convince our wives that we had actually even gone hunting based upon what we had been bringing home. Collectively we sometimes jokingly and sometimes not so jokingly referred to this phenomenon of elklessness as "the curse".
    When we found out that we drew the tags Tom and I each had a little different goal in mind. While Tom obviously wanted to shoot a nice bull he really wanted to get his first elk with a bow no matter what the size of the elk. I felt like this might be one of my best chances to shoot a good bull and I resolved not to shoot a small elk even if it meant going back elkless. We ended up having an absolutely awesome hunt! We were into elk almost every day. Just the opportunity to see and interact with all of those elk really helped us to become better elk hunters. I think we learned as much in that one season as we did in all our other elk hunts combined. I had the opportunity to pass on multiple cows and smaller bulls that were well within the range of my recurve bow. We also got to meet some great local guys who were elk hunting nuts and had them hunt with us part of the time when they did not have to work. They were not only a lot of fun but were very helpful in showing us around the hunting unit.  
    Because this was such a special tag both Tom and I had seen too it that we were able to hunt a large portion of the month long season.  On day 14 or 15 of our hunt we got onto a big herd of elk that had at least two big six point bulls along with some smaller bulls and lots of cows. We were probably 150 yards or so away when we could go no further because of the open terrain. I crawled up to the last bit of cover and Tom dropped back and started cow calling. The two biggest bulls were pushing the cows away from us but a pretty nice 5 point and two spikes started heading directly for Tom's cow calls. The 5 point eventually broke off and headed out with the rest of the herd but the spikes were just too curious about the noisy cow that they couldn't see. The spikes ended up less than 2 yards from me. The problem was that I did not intend to shoot but I knew Tom was interested and I didn't want to spook them. I was standing behind one little tree and when they cleared the tree there eyes just about bugged out of there heads. They tore off kicking up dirt right on me but stopped to look back after only going about 30 yards. I did not move a muscle. Tom continued to call and I could hear the two of them continue to walk in his direction. Then I heard them really tear out of there. Damn it!!! I figured they had scented Tom and departed the country. When I got back to Tom I found out that he had shot and hit one of the spikes! After a short blood trail we found a very delicious looking spike very dead. The even better news was it was in a spot where we could haul it a short distance with a four wheeler and load it up in my trailer.  After getting the elk officially checked in and delivered to a locker  Tom decided he better get back home to his family and his job.  
     While I was disappointed to see Tom leave I also felt it would be fun to hunt alone for awhile.  So lets fast forward to the day in question  Monday, September 25th. I arrived at my hunting spot about an hour before sunrise. I had barely gotten out of the truck and gotten organized when I heard one of the deepest growling bugles I have ever heard. I slowly worked my way towards the bugle waiting for shooting light before trying any calling. The temperature was 26 degrees and there was a layer of crunchy snow on the ground. When it finally got light enough to shoot I let out a series of cow calls. The bull screamed back and I could hear him literally running towards my position in the crunchy snow.  I was totally psyched! He was in bow range almost immediately and it was then that I discovered that instead of elkzilla he was a raghorn 5 point. In the places we have hunted in Colorado this little guy would have been a herd bull and I would have definitely shot him but this was not Colorado. I let the 5 point walk and started heading up the ridge toward another bugle that sounded just as big. I tried cow calling again in a little while and the same 5 point came running back into bow range again. After finally getting away from the 5 point I moved in as close as I dared on the other bull. It was obvious the other bull was working himself up into a frenzy. When I felt I couldn't get any closer I looked for a place to set up and call. I could see a trail that looked like an obvious way for the bull to come if he responded to my calling. I got  upwind of the trail and let out a series of cow calls and then quickly snuck downwind to a spot where I would have a 15 yd shot if the bull came down the trail like I hoped. The bull responded immediately with a booming growl of a bugle. I could tell from the breaking of branches and the crunching of snow that he was charging straight in. It was lucky that I moved downwind after calling or he would have come straight in on me giving me no shot at all. Unfortunately he was not coming down the trail that would give me an unobstructed 15 yd shot. Instead the bull was coming in at a stiff trot 25 yds away in a spot with thick vegetation. As he was coming in the bull was laying back his rack and shaking it back and forth. I suppose he was posturing to let the cows know what a good looking bull he was and to let any rivals know that he was one bad dude!!! All I can say is it was an amazing sight and something I will remember the rest of my life. I had been kneeling but I knew I was going to have to stand in order to get a clear shot. I also knew I was going to have to try to stop him in the one small opening which he was fast approaching. When the bull went behind a tree I stood up and brought my Robertson recurve to half draw. Just as he was entering the small opening I came to full draw and simultaneously made a cow call with my voice. The bull put on the brakes and turned to look for the cow. At the release of the arrow the bull took a half step forward but the arrow still buried to the fletch in the vitals. After the shot the bull took off running ... it was easy to follow his progress by the crunching snow and breaking branches. Within 7 or 8 seconds I heard a loud crash and then nothing. Up until that point I had been remarkably calm and focused. When I realized that I had just killed a nice 6x6 bull with my recurve I was overcome with emotion and started to shake. What should have been any easy track job did not turn out to be even though the bull only ended up 100 yds from where I shot him ... but that is another story all together. The bottom line is I found him and I got the meat and the cape out with some much appreciated assistance from the owner of the campground where we were staying.  He is not the biggest bull I saw in my 20 days of hunting but you better believe he was more than big enough for me. I had the bull shoulder mounted and he hangs in my office as I am writing this story. Hardly a day goes by that I do not look up at him and get transported back to that magical day in September when the curse was broken!

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   By the way my other curse animal is a big muley buck. Fortunately I have a tag for the same special draw unit in Colorado that Joe Lasch drew. I will be hunting later than Joe so hoping to get some intel on his return. By the way I have a secret weapon for this hunt. I am using a different set of limbs for my Robertson Vision Falcon on this hunt. The writing on the limbs tell me these set of limbs were once owned by a fellow with the last name of Steadman. Bocote veneers, 66lbs @ 30", does any of that ring a bell Ryan?
  :bigsmyl:

George
Try Potter County they may have moved. LOL

Dave

Great story Dan. And yea those limbs ring a bell. Glad to hear you ended your "curse" with a great bull. Good luck on the mulies, the big ones are another curse of mine as well. I can get close, but I get so shook up I can never remember to pick a spot. And I have had a TON of opportunities a truly large mulies. Hope to get another crack at them this year.
Tracy, I know we will give 'er all we got. See you guys shortly   :thumbsup:    :campfire:

My curse critter would have to be "Ole Jake No Shoulders", I've had a number of blown stalks due to face to face confrontations. It seems that speed goats and rattle snakes inhabit the same territory, go figure. Mother Nature's little practical joke that she likes to play with me. Gets me every time.

T t t turkeys    :banghead:    :banghead:    

as i heard someone say on the last hunt

"they are very clever for a stupid bird"

QuoteOriginally posted by Mo. Huntin:
TURKEY Those things are the luckiest animal alive.

I'm with ya...0-4 on birds in two years of chasing!  Missed 2 in 30 seconds this spring!

Hate those thunder chickens!

Josh

Whats a Jake no shoulders?

No North American Big game here on the Big Island so I'll go in a slight different direction. Cursed animal for me is  the "ONE" that I didn't see while I was stalking. Keeps on eye on you the whole time and "blows" just as you feel things are coming together leaving you with that _______ feeling.

So Far, Mine is that Wild Turkey!! I am with ya Oliverstacy, 0-5 here. I know they have to see me coming and decide to Laugh their Turkey Butts Off while I Try to be "Sneaky".

mine was the whitetail doe.  i had probably missed close to 20 in 15 yrs, but killed  the first 3 bucks i ever shot at.  crazy right?  however, broke the curse last bow season.  now i'm happily looking for my next curse animal.

QuoteOriginally posted by Mo. Huntin:
TURKEY Those things are the luckiest animal alive.

I often think the only reason I buy fall turkey tags is to guarantee those birds won't interfere with my deer hunting.

Big Mule Deer!! I've killed a few younger ones and have had 190 class bucks in range but I always "fall apart" when it comes time to close the deal.

Sambar deer on Guam and Axis deer in Texas. Both Jumpy critters, the sambar live in the thick jungle and are a hard hunt, so far Sambar deer 4 danny 0.

Axis have eyes in the back of their heads, I swear it is true. Drawing on one at 15 yards, his head was down and he was relaxed, so I thought, and he ducked and zigged before I got to full draw, now he did not see, hear or smell me, go figure. Axis 3 Danny 0.

Danny

I know how you feel Danny! No more curse for me...


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ak.

Holy cow I forgot about those dang armadillos.  I don't have to many around here but I had one scare several hogs off when I was in Oklahoma.  Loudest animal in the woods.

Tree Rats!!!!!!!!!!! I cant hit em.

Elk!I hate to think how many times Ive gone but, this is the year!  Ben

Great question.  We all have that one animal that keeps eluding us.  Mine is elk.  I have been focusing hard on killing one for an honest to God 21 seasons.  I have killed countless mule deer, rabbits, grouse, coyotes, while pursuing elk.  I have had multiple encounters of 20 yards or less and have never been able to EVEN TAKE A SHOT!!!!

Now that may not seem unusual until I tell you that I have lived in Montana my whole life.  Every season is the same.  We are focusing on elk and elk only until one hits the ground.  We chase them around for 10 days and shoot a deer on our way back to camp some evening.  

I absolutely LOVE chasing elk around.  I just can't seem to close the deal no matter what.  I just don't get it.  I know lots of guys around here that shoot one every year.  But for me the curse continues.  I don't get it.

This year however, I have a new plan.  I am going deer hunting and hoping to run into an elk that gives me a good shot some evening on the way to camp.   :readit:  

Actually, this is my son's first year of bowhunting and we are trying to get him a deer.  A little deer meet in the freezer will suit me just fine. I have gotten used to the elk situation.  I figure I will get a couple of deer under his belt before I ruin him on the perils of chasing elk.