So I get a call to go bow hunting from my buddy Hayden, who has some primo swamp land in Blacksher, Baldwin County.
They've killed some big bucks from this place through the years, including a fine 130-class buck Hayden killed with a rifle in January, but Hayden says I can cull a doe if I want.
I'm pretty stoked because this is only the second opportunity I've ever had to set foot on the place and I know it's well-managed and there are lots of deer and hogs, too.
We get to the camp, get dressed and I walk out to get my bow.
I open the bow case -- the bow's there, the arrows are there, but it becomes obvious that something's missing.
Then it hits me -- my release isn't hanging on the string loop where I ALWAYS hang it when I put the bow in the case.
I remember that the last time I had it was when I missed a doe a week before. I was so disgusted that I just chucked the release into my fanny pack, loaded up and sulked off.
In my excitement for this hunt, I had forgotten to grab my fanny pack, which at that moment was in my truck back in Bay Minette.
Bad things happen when I get mad, and this was no exception.
I tried shooting with fingers as I'd done for years before releases became popular, and actually hit the target where I aimed at 10 yards, but missed badly at 20, losing an arrow in the process.
As bad as I wanted to hunt, shooting fingers was out of the question since the only thing possibly worse than not being armed in the tree would have been to wound an animal and not be able to find it.
My buddy didn't have a spare and he turned the camp upside down looking for one, but to no avail.
He even offered to let me use his, but it was his first sit of the year and I wasn't about to booger up that for him.
So I ended up heading to the ladder stand anyway and had a good afternoon watching raccoons and squirrels scurry around looking fruitlessly for the acorns that are noticeably absent from the swamp this year.
I did see a big, fat doe, but thankfully for my nerves, she walked by way out of bow range.
Needless to say, the release is again clipped to my string loop and I can only hope my emotions don't make me do something stupid like that again.
The only saving grace is that, because I wasn't going to be using a climber, my buddy who was, borrowed my safety vest to try it out, then forgot to give it back to me.
Since he stowed it in his backpack he leaves at the camp, we decided the only logical thing to do was go back one morning this week and get it.
We also figured, since we were already there, we might as well climb a tree for a couple of hours.
I guess things have a way of working themselves out after all.

I also clip to my loop when putting case. I also keep an extra in the case.
I take off the loop when taking bow out of my case and put in my jacket I am wearing that day. I learned the hard way, just like you.

It happens.

If I was in a pinch and there was no way to get a release, I'd try something I experimented with many years ago...a rope release.

Take parachute cord or shoelace and make about a 5-6" diameter circle (IIRC) after tieing off a knot. Hold the loop (knot end) with the bottom 3-4 fingers, put the string release below the bottom nocking point and hold the other side of the release with your index finger. Release it with your index finger. That is if you can practice with it to check the sight. They'll be off, but the amount of pinch and grip on the bowstring would be almost like a caliper release and not 3-4 fingers.

It's a horrible feeling for sure, especially when you're on a piece of property like Hayden's where there's no telling what's going to walk out on you.
I'm just glad a Booner didn't walk under the stand. I may have had to go all Neanderthal on it with the only weapon I had on me -- a 4-inch pocket knife.
That thought actually crossed my mind, but I decided it would have been doubly humiliating to have my buddy pick me up only to find I'd had my butt kicked by an 80-pound nanny, or worse, that he had to carry me out of the woods cuz I'd bailed out of the tree and broken a bunch of bones necessary for walking.
There was a raccoon or two that did wander a little to close, with it not realizing how many ways I had figured out how to kill it -- and cook it -- caveman-style.
Rambo would have been proud.

Never forgot my release but i did leave my ammo on the dash on opening day of gun season several years back... Never done that since, and my money is that you will never leave your release again.

Welcome aboard !!

Yes, welcome aboard! There is some good hunting in Blacksher but lets keep that on the down low ok we don't want everyone heading that way and btw there is not any bears there either ... so far

Thanks for the tip BowTechDan. I would have never thought of that and plan on trying it out "just in case."

Bigt,
I hear ya. On the downside of hunting that part of the swamp, those guys have lost entire seasons to flooding. During at least part of every rifle season, they are dealing with high water.
They also lease about 1,200 acres of piney woods on the high ground for that very reason.

Sorry for your bad luck... I attach mine to my bow and i have an extra in my pack jic

I keep a spare in my fanny pack. My primary release stays in the left chest pocket of my HSS vest when it's not on my wrist.

I had a buddy of mine that lost his several years back on a trip down to Demopolis. He tried shooting fingers on the first doe that came into range and missed right. A little while later another doe came into range and he compensated and killed her. He's one of the luckiest SOB's I know.

JDute, sounds like you have some good character about you. As the saying goes... If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have luck at all!!

I have forgotten or dropped releases out of my climber or lock-on more than a few times and the second time it happened, I reached in my backpack and got my backup release!!! Because I'm clumsy and forgetful, I keep a backup release handy.

Heck, I have gone to the woods without my quiver and that happened this year! I was hunting with my son so he was doing the shooting anyway. To be honest, because I was so excited to hunt where I was going to hunt, I have forgotten my bow and left it hanging on the hook at camp!

I threatened myself with a making a checklist and laminating it and going over it before I leave for each hunt!! Why not, pilots with a lifetime of experience use them every time before they fly!