What's your most memorable hunting or fishing story

[Mal]

OK being laid up and infront of the computer has gotten me a little sentimental here. I was reading on another forum about this topic, and I really got to thinking.
I think my most memorable fishing trip was June 22 1980. I lived with my grandparents and Grandpa came in early and woke me up and told me we were going fishing. We went down to Grand Lake St Mary's and caught a few channel cats, and a mess of crappie. We got home that afternoon, and 2 and a half hours later Grandpa was dead of a massive heart attack. I can't help but think that I was probably one of the luckiest kids in the world. Not only did I grow up with him teaching me to fish, I also got to spend his final fishing trip with him.

[vvarmitr]

Originally posted by Mal
I also got to spend his final fishing trip with him. [/B]
wow! :cool:

[george tinkham]

the most fantastic huntin day i can remember is the time i had 10 bucks around my treestand right out in front of me at the same time.2 were essy p&y an all the others were small boys.there was one real hot doe.i had the 2nd biggest at less than 5yds an perfect broadside at 15.i passed after seein the other that i figured was bigger.i had a chance at this one at 20 but didn't feel comfy with the shot an passed.this all happened bout 10:oo about an hour another marginal p&y came by an presented a good shot at 5 and 15 yds. of course i passed this one without a thought.i beleeve i would rather had my video camera that day...just last yr. i put ed who posts here in that very tree and he seen a marginal p&y but i don't think so from this very stand...the deer had came by me earlier at 15 yds. which i passed.i have seen many big deer here and its the same area where i got a real nice shed from this year

[lureboy98]

most of you have already probably read this but...

I went out in the morning and set up my stand. I went up in my stand, and sat there for awhile. Then I started rattling. As I was rattling I heard something and turned around. There was a big 8 point about 20 yards away when I looked back. I snatched up my crossbow, hit the safety, and set the antlers on the seat. It was pretty lackidazical (sp?) because the antlers fell of my seat with a clang and it didn't even spook, just kept on going! The deer walked where I couldn't shoot it and then behind me. I thought it was going to keep going but it turned around and started to come back, right through a pile of small trees that I had piled up when I cleared my shooting lanes. By now it was about 5 yards from my tree behind it, and I couldn't maneuver my crossbow around to get a shot. It ended up turning around and going down the hill behind my tree. Then after that deer disappeared, another 8 point smaller than that came in. It never came close enough to shoot but I was ready to get it as well. From then on I saw deer here and there but nothing I wanted to shoot. That afternoon I decided to hunt in a different tree for the first time that season. Well I'm not as small as I was when I picked out that tree, and being it windy, my tree started to crack, and it was pretty skinny. I climbed down and went to the place I turkey hunt. I was sitting in my turkey spot which has a deer trail right there as well, and I saw a yearling pass by in the afternoon. That evening as I went down a little before dark, I heard my dad calling me. I went down to the trail and there he was with the bigger 8 point I had seen earlier that day. He decided to try hunting by my area, but he said he got tired of walking around so he just went up in my tree. He says it was about 5 p.m. and he was going to give it one last-ditch effort with his rattling thingy before he came down. He rattled and within five minutes the deer had come in. The deer had ran by him before chasing a doe, and he said it came in with a dazed look on its face ( ). He said he came to a full draw when it was about thirty yards away, and then it walked right behind a tree with a white thumbtack in it which I had measured to 20 yards. He put the pin on it and got a double lung shot. I chose this to be the best hunt I've had because it was the first deer either of us have shot since I've been hunting, and it gives me confidence that I am in a good spot, and it gives me hope for the future. This was also the biggest deer my dad had shot. I helped him drag it down the hill and we gutted it and checked it in.

[Ðe§perado™]

My most memorable fishing trip I have taken is when my father first took me fishing and showing me how to catch fish. In turn taking my son out for the first time to show him how to fish. And every time I go with my kids it makes each time better then the time before.

[jeffmo]

i consider myself pretty darn lucky.i've had some very good hunting and fishing trips since i was a kid.
the one that probably sticks with me the most was a simple day of pond fishing when i was very young(probably 5 or 6 at the most).
we were visiting my grandparents in paulding ohio and my dad and grandfather took me to a farm pond for a few hours.it ended with nothing more than a stringer of bluegills that we ate that evening but it was the only time that i ever got to fish with my grandfather.he was a minister with the nazerine church and the most patient,soft spoken person i've ever known,but he knew how to fish and how to teach someone to fish.
i'd give my right arm for one more fishing trip with him.
but i guess that's how it's supposed to be.pass it along to the next generation.
taking my kids fishing and teaching them has made for some good memories for me when i end up too old to fish anymore.

[george tinkham]

NOW WITH FEESHIN IT WOULD HAVE TUH BE ABOUT THE TIME ME AN BENNY stalder got run up a trEe by the bull

[Neapolis]

In 2001, I spent a lot of time fishing on the West side of Michigan. I caught plenty of trout in the 12 - 15 inch range, but I saw several 20" + caught by friends I had fished with that year. That spring I won a half day guided trip on the AuSable, date to be agreed on with the guide at a Trout Unlimited raffle. When I called to schedule, I told him I really to try for a big Brown. He said the last week of September was the ticket. We set a date and he told me to bring the largest streamers I had. On the appointed day, I met him at the agreed upon time and spot. It was an overcast morning. He took one look at my rod, the streamers I brought and suggested I use his streamers and rod. I said I would try his streamers, but I really wanted to use my rod. The streamers he had were all at least twice as big as any I had. After about three casts with my rod and his streamers, I agreed to try his rod, mine wasn't cutting it with his streamers.

I had three on that were 20" or more, in my mind, but all threw the hook (It was then I learned that all of his flies were barbless). Then I got one to the net that went just 20". The next one took my breath away. I got a good broadside look at him when he took the streamer and I almost fell out of the boat. I had never seen a trout that big except in pictures. He was 27 " and it took me awile to get my nerves settled after we released him.

http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/507/71Ausable-1.jpg

I bought a rod like his the next week. I fished that same stretch of river last September and still haven't gotten the smell of the skunk off. :rolleyes:

[Neapolis]

My most memorable hunting trip was in 1968. My Dad and several of his friends had made trips to Wyoming and Montana 3 different years. 1968 was the best because I got my all time best Whitetail. It was memorable because it was one of the last hunting trips my Dad and I made together.


http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/504/71Wyoming-68.jpg

[Thunderflight]

My most memorable hunt has to be my recent hog hunt..... This hunt has become an annual event with my friends and I swear this year will be hard to beat.

TF

[flathunter]

It was late May, 1984, and my buddy Steve and I headed to Stewart Lake in Scioto Trails State Forest. We needed to catch approximately fifteen red-ear sunfish for our night's flathead adventure. Sunfish were spawning and the shallowed-out depressions of their beds were numerous at the shallow end of the lake. For some reason the red-ears weren't biting that day, and it took us over three hours to collect the bait we needed. However, we found from previous experiences that when the sunfish aren't biting, the flatheads are. Tonight was no exception.
We arrived at our designated flathead spot for the evening and got busy setting up for the long night. There was a hint of a storm in the distance, as thunder could be heard many miles away. We got our four rods baited up with red-ear, and after casting them into the creek, we anticipated the night's first flathead. Our wait was short, as the drag on one of Steve's spinning rods started screaming. He picked up his rod and quickly opened the bail on his reel, and at the same time was cranking his drag down tight, which had been loosened to allow a fish to run without feeling resistance. After setting the hook he realized he had a good fish, which turned out weighing 22-lbs.

About twenty minutes later, I got a hit on one of my rods, and I set the hook on what has turned out to be the biggest flathead I have ever caught. The fish put up a good fight, but I had no intentions of letting it get away, and it was no match for the heavy duty tackle I was using. We were both very excited as we were weighing the fish and it pulled my scales down to their limit of 40-lbs.

By midnight we ended up catching four more flatheads, between 15-25 lbs. We had to stop fishing because we had run out of bait. I will always wonder how many fish we could have caught that night if we had come better prepared with more bait. The moral of this story is: Always bring more bait than you think you will need.


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[flathunter]

My Wife likes to fish for whatever is hitting, so at times it's hard for me to get her to use big baits. She knows big baits will only take big fish! One night in september of 2001, I managed to get her to use a very large bluegill for bait, and a comical episode followed. After casting out her bluegill, and waiting for over an hour with no action, Rhonda started to complain. She wanted to bait up with something smaller so she could get some hits!

I finally gave in to her complaining and removed her bluegill, and baited her up with a gob of nightcrawlers. She seemed more content in knowing that she had a better chance to catch a smaller fish. It did not take long for her to get a hit. She grabbed her rod and gave a good hard hookset, unfortunately for me her rod cracked me right in the face. My glasses went flying off, and I made a few not so pleasant comments as a big welt raised across the bridge of my nose. Once I regained my composure and located my glasses, I realized that Rhonda had hooked a good one.

The fish was pulling her into the creek! When I got to her she was holding on for dear life, and I was surprised the 20-lb test line she was using had not broke. I decreased the drag on her reel so the fish could take line with out pulling her in. Rhonda fought the fish for appx 20 minutes, with her gaining some line, and then the fish taking it back. Finally I grew tired of watching this battle and suggested that she wade into the creek, to get a better angle on the fish, which was constantly taking her down stream.

That was a big mistake, as she lost her footing and fell. I ran into the water, not to see if my wife was ok, but to try and get her rod. That was another mistake, but I will not get into that here. Anyway I managed to get her rod and handed it back to her after she regained her footing. The fight was back on, but only for a short while as the big fish got her into a snag. I never heard such swearing in my life that came from her mouth, and the more she cussed the harder I laughed. However we can both look back at that night now, and chuckle a little.