spookiest thing you've ever seen in the back country [Archive]

noway

08-10-2005, 11:41

A tiger? I bet that freaked him out ;)

About a year ago, one of the ,main actor that tarzan was created off, had his exotic tiger escape. The location is out in the middle of nowhere kinda, but I was always wondering that would be a very weird situation if you where out hunting a deer/hog and out of the blue a full growth tiger ran out and caught your game animals or worse attack you. ;P

by the way his tiger was corner and killed by game comission folks after the bigcat elude authorities in Palm Bch county for I think 3-4 days. Alot of negative PR developed over this. Tarzan also got fine for improper containment and a few weeks later iirc , a portion of his ranch had a fire. He a series of bad luck like in one month.

ECVMatt

08-10-2005, 13:03

with the cooks still in attendance...I was driving around out in the desert, came over a small hill into a valley and lit up some folks making meth. We were all sorta suprised and I got out of there before they could collect their thoughts. Sorry ,no Bigfoot.

Matt

vafish

08-10-2005, 19:59

I saw an Emu running around a Suburban Northern VA Park a couple weeks ago. Must have broke out of a farm somewhere.

Castigliano

08-10-2005, 22:13

Well not bizzare, but two unique predator hunting incidents.

1. Sitting in my deerstand on a cleared fenceline behind the family farm. No heavy snow yet so the deer can run fast through the woods. Well A doe comes out to the fence line 100 yards out and runs to me so I put up the rifle out of instinct. She does not flinch and keeps bounding towards me and I start watching behind her for a buck and she comes within 5 feet of me and we were looking eye to eye and she never spooked. She jumps over the fence and all of a sudden I look down and there was lone coyote trying to run her down in the snowless woods (no chance for him). Didn't get a shot off at the coyote, but he lost a lot of hair crashing through the barb wire fence.

2. December grouse hunting in the snow you occasionally see weasels out hunting. Several times I have stood still and had them walk right over my boots praying they don't go up the pants leg though. One morning I stop to look for birds and I start looking at a broken off birch tree that has rot voids under the bands of bark. As I am standing there I see a mouse poke out of a bark hole at about the same time a weasel shows up. That weasel starts climbing up the tree going in and out of the bark holes looking for the mouse. This lasted for 10 minutes where I would see the mouse poke it's head out and scurry back under the bark and the weasel was doing the same thing and looking at me. Eventually the mouse jumps to a closeby sappling and crawls down to the ground. I start telling the weasel "down here" and finally the weasel is about 7 foot up and it looks down at the base of the sapling and spies the mouse there. The freakiest thing is this weasel jumps off the dead tree and nails that mouse dead on. I heard a little squeck when the weasel gave it a bite and up comes the weasel out of the snow with the mouse in it's mouth and bounds away. I actually cheered for the weasel. Scary to say it, but I cheered the same way when Bush got re-elected! (lol)
c

noway

08-10-2005, 22:37

Will for me I guess it would be crazyiest thing.

The most crazyiest thing I've ever seen, happen this year at the end of spring turkey season. I was in a makeshift blind constructed out of some fallen limbs and the back from a big sand live oak that fell down from the last year hurricanes.

I was calling some turkeys in and trying to get them around to my front, so I was peering thru the back of the blind at 3-4 yurkeys hens that where standing 4-10ft away. One hen had me nailed and was staring at me eye-ball to eye-ball. It had just let out a loud putt and I knew for sure she would put 2+2 and = 42 come up with human! When all of the sudden out of the middle of nowhere I saw a splash or grey/brown/blackish object runnning to my right of my position. It was a hog that ran right thruthe middle of the hens. It freak me out but more so it freaked the hens out and they all scatter.

A few minutes the hens came right back behind me, sratching and peeking at the dirt. The same hen who had me eye-ball-to-eye-ball was not satisfied and kept a close watch on me the whole time. I don't thing I moved an inch or a muscle. To bad that hen wasn't a tom. It woiuld have been a point-blank shot ;)

vafish

08-11-2005, 07:19

I did also see a woman in a brown fur coat walking her light brown german shepard in the woods during deer season.

Cicero

08-11-2005, 07:57

Stalked by a mountain lion while backpacking in Glacier. Back in my wacky leftist days when handguns were bad. It never came all the way out in the open, but it kind of felt like the first Predator movie - we could see its shape in patches through the dense underbrush (12 feet away), we could hear it, and we could see the brush move while it paralleled us.

mpol777

08-11-2005, 12:16

I have an emu story, but I'll have to keep that one to myself. Emu ranching was a get rich quick deal out here. It didn't take so now AZ has "wild" emus.

I've met some crazies out in the sticks. One fella was out there to stay away from "them". Not sure who "them" was, but the way he was talking it was either UFO's or ghosts or something. ;5

My old man shot a male wood duck that was on a direct path over our blind. With the timing of the shot and the trajectory he was able to reach out and catch it. Never hit the water. Not spooky, but kind of cool.

Lawrence Keeney

08-11-2005, 18:24

About four years ago, I was in the back country about a half-mile away from my car looking for an illegal garbage dump. I use to write articles about such things for our local newspaper.

I came upon what I determined to be a Satanic sacrifice site. It was a large pentagram painted on the concrete base of an abandoned coal mine tipple.

There were half-burned candles on the ground and the dead body of a dog in the middle. About the time I became totally aware of what I was seeing, I started hearing all-terrain vehicles coming across the treeline. At that point, I started realizing how much potential trouble I might possibly be in. That old movie, "Race with the Devil" started playing in my mind. However, I wasn't armed with Warren Oates' pump shotgun, just my 5-shot j frame, and no reloads.

At that point, I decided retreat was the best option, and hot footed my fat ass down the hill and across the road to my car. As the ATVs got closer I made it to my car and peeled out of there.

I came back with a couple of sheriff's deputies the next morning. The pentagram was there, but the dog was gone. I can tell you though, we all brought a lot more guns than just my little 38.;f

mikeashurst

08-12-2005, 20:52

Yep. I've seen a bigfoot. It was in Lee County, Alabama at about 2:00am. Very big, very hairy, and very scary.

Castigliano

08-14-2005, 21:46

Last fall during the unusually warm & sunny minnesota deer hunting season, My brother and I walked up to deer stand to find a guy laying by the base. The stand is about 100 yards from the neighbor's hunting cabin so we figured he had jumped the fence and sat in my stand. Well we determined he was not dead and he woke up after napping in the sunlight. We tried to point him home, but he was pretty drunk so he kept saying "I will sleep here and you just shoot if a buck comes out, don't worry about me.". I really didn't want to do that and I finally got him pointed home and he kept talking about how nice my deer stand was. At least he asked "do you want me to take my beer?" since it was on the handrail of the stand. We kind of laughed with the neighbors later when they found out we had found "ted" who had too much "fresh air" and they didn't know where he wandered off to. Thank god we are pretty friendly here and no feathers got ruffled. Thinking about evicting a drunk guy with a rifle gave me chills when I heard about the Wisconsin Vang shootings.
c

A_Swede_17_1911

08-14-2005, 22:25

A erie feeling is hearing a Cougar scream in the middle of the night, one thing I had happend which was kinda funny, after watching the Blair Witch Project, I went bow hunting for Elk in the Ochocoes of Oregon, well we had to hike a little under six miles to get to were we slept cause one of the roads we usally take was closed cause of the fire danger, well that night we had a couple pulls of tequillia, (bow hunting, so this was the last weekend of August), and go to sleep, well in the the middle of the night me and about 4 other buddies wake up to the sound of a can being kicked across the ground. Well for a second it kinda freaked me the #$*% out, well soon you saw two does playing with a beenie weenie can that a buddie set, out a couple feet from the sleeping bags, so we watched these two does kick this can around for like ten minutes then they left.

I also had a doe scare the hell out me and a friend once, we were chasing some grouse and mountian quail around the lower elevations of the Cascade mountains well, we came across some cougar tracks early that afternoon, again this was in early Septemeber so I was bow season for deer as well so i had my bow with me. Well we walk up to a landing and didnt kick anything up, well there was a a group of small trees that was pretty thick, well we walk up on em and start hearing some sorta purring/ growling noise, so were like damn, all we have are .410 over unders loaded with 8 shot, and my bow down the road in the truck, so we back up and throw a rock at the group of trees, and a damn does come rocketing out.

UtahIrishman

08-14-2005, 22:27

I was in the Saw Tooth mountains of Idaho a long time ago for a summer of camping and lazy gold panning. One day I was hiking up the trail when about 200 yards in front of me a grizzly bear stepped out onto the trial. I stopped right where I was and just watched him. He turned and looked at me then poof he was gone. I mean he didn't amble off..he was gone gone. Not a sound the whole time.

It didn't really spook me until later. At the time I thought it was cool to see a grizzly. I didn't feel any fear or anything. Just felt like an observer watching something magnificent.

I had a similar incident happen with a big bull moose in Utah about five years ago. One minute he was there the next he was gone. Those big animals can sure move quietly when they want to.

mikedb

08-24-2005, 23:30

I found a grave site in an isolated area of a state rec area that had markers going back to 1835. The grave site contained a woman and two kids. The park knew nothing of the site but the local historical society did and asked me to keep the location to myself for fear of vandalism.

Lawrence Keeney

08-25-2005, 10:01

You know, with all the things we read, and the creepy movies about people being menaced in the woods by monsters and inbred hillbillies, I don't know why anyone goes camping or hiking unarmed.

I know I sure don't.;b

Cicero

08-25-2005, 13:03

Originally posted by Lawrence Keeney
You know, with all the things we read, and the creepy movies about people being menaced in the woods by monsters and inbred hillbillies, I don't know why anyone goes camping or hiking unarmed.

Gosh, haven't you been reading all the stories from the park rangers and cops out in the southwest, esp. on the border? Don't you know that it's illegal to have a firearm in a national park? According to one higher-up down there, the last thing you want to do is "inject a gun into the situation." The experts tell us that we need to take precautions against crime - you know, like have a whistle and make sure to lock up your belongings. But don't even think about bringing a gun.

< /sarcasm off >:soap:

Lawrence Keeney

08-25-2005, 15:25

Well...that may be true. However, I wouldn't be making any gun-like noises in the campgrounds of state parks in my part of West Virginia about 2 A.M......If you get my drift.

Fifty different campers and their kids appearing from tents and campers armed with every kind of self defense firearm can make anyone get religion,AFTER they get done cleaning out their undershorts...

Trust me, I saw it happen to someone once. ;a;b

IV Troop

08-25-2005, 21:22

I have seen an emu, a few mt lions, lots of bears, badgers etc. The scariest of all was what I thought was a bigfoot early one morning. Ended up being my mother in law before she shaved her back.

;) ;P

jonathon

08-26-2005, 23:51

On a surival outing, was just settling down and barely dosing off when I heard a cougar scream.

Another time, we were hiking late into the evening(about 11pm in August under the stars) just below Mount Hood. Ran smack into a herd of cattle and it scared the **** out of us. Almost had steak that night, I drew so dang fast and had the hammer eared back, wasn't fun. The way the things grunted and moved around in the dark was scarey. Till someone got out a flash light.

jonathon

08-26-2005, 23:52

Originally posted by Cicero
Gosh, haven't you been reading all the stories from the park rangers and cops out in the southwest, esp. on the border? Don't you know that it's illegal to have a firearm in a national park? According to one higher-up down there, the last thing you want to do is "inject a gun into the situation." The experts tell us that we need to take precautions against crime - you know, like have a whistle and make sure to lock up your belongings. But don't even think about bringing a gun.

Its perfectly legal to go armed in the National Forests.

Rusty Shackleford

08-27-2005, 06:02

When I was younger I was wandering through the woods of NC.. my foot broke through what I quickly realized was a wooden coffin that had been buried very shallowly, very long ago. Seems it was a very old graveyard, unmarked.. As I became more aware of my surroundings I noticed there were pieces of broken coffins scattered around the area, and it appeared that either the water table had risen or the surface had eroded exposing them all. Pretty sure I made a very womanly shriek that I'm not real proud of, before hauling ass back the way I came.

Cicero

08-29-2005, 12:27

Originally posted by jonathon
Its perfectly legal to go armed in the National Forests.

Actually, when I lived in Virginia, there was a big issue over whether the forest service could ban CCW and, in fact, all firearms from the forest on the West Virginia border. This might have been the local rangers attempting to cozy up to the clintons, but there were signs and restrictions posted for some time.

branden

08-29-2005, 18:39

In Ava Missouri at my friends deer hunting lodge couple years ago. There is a gate that is locked at night so no " meth heads" can enter, or about half a mile back, a river you can cross in a 4x4 to get to the cabin.

One night after hunting, everyone was standing around the campfire drinking beer and conversing and we saw truck headlights coming up from the river. This is very remote and the only people that would be around would be looking for trouble.So my friends uncle goes behind the cabin with his 30-30 and when the fellows came up with guns hanging out the truck, his uncle placed the scope on a fellow in the back of the truck. Make a long story short, it was the uncles son coming up for the night. He placed the crosshairs on his own son. Not very smart, but with the kind of people running around down there at night, it makes sense. Very chilling and the son was really fortunate he didnt make any sudden moves.

Other than that, last year bow hunting I scared the $#^$ out of a very unfortunate cat. This all black cat came out from the woods and walked right under my stand. I was going to shoot it because I hate stray cats but thought it might be my friends fiances pet at there farm so I didnt. But anyways, he walked under me and couldnt see me from the camo I was wearing so I made a pssst noise, and he looked up at me but couldnt make me out. Than I jumped up and made the sound again and this cat literally jumped straight up in the air about 2 feet and hissed REALLY loud and took off.....She didnt come back lol. I later found out it wasnt a pet so was pissed I didnt shoot it, but that story was better than killing a cat;f

needaglock

08-29-2005, 18:53

FWIW cougars don't scream.

el_jewapo

09-10-2005, 21:21

I guess I've led a very boring hunting life.

Owls make some spooky noises.

The first few times walking through the woods to and from my stands in pitch dark after seeing Blair Witch Project were a little more spooky than usual.

branden

09-11-2005, 14:01

My girlfriend and I lost my friends on the way to my farm on Friday night to go camping, and made some wrong turns. I thought we hit the right farm road, so we got on it and drove for about 3 miles down some tight twisty dark gravel roads, then I saw something that scared her and I. A white small abandoned church. I dont know why it scared us both, but it was so haunted looking and nothing else was around for miles...I turned her little car around and hauled butt out of there..I finally found my friends and we had a decent camp out. That is until my best friend wrecked my new 05, Honda Rincon into a tree at about 20 mph. Thank God for the Honda brush guard we got! It bent that in but spared the plastic.

;a

method

09-11-2005, 19:07

Originally posted by needaglock
FWIW cougars don't scream.

What would you call the loud scream-like noises they make sometimes then?

Boeman

09-14-2005, 23:51

well, I have seen some very cool things while out in the wild. Its fun to watch chipmunks and owls and what not, while in the deer stand.

I'd say the thing that spooked me the most would have been this.

We were out in Colorado elk hunting. We were on a hunt that we do every year, which everyone hates. Its called hell's hole. Its a 10 mile hike through the worst terrain colorado has to offer. Noone ever pulls the trigger because, in most cases, it would take a chopper to retrieve game.

Anyways, I was about 1/2 way through and I happened to run into two of my buddies. This was about midday so we took a break and sat a bit and had a sandwich. Well, when I sat down with them, I put my pack on the ground. I got about 3/4 of a mile from the spot we stopped, and realized that I had forgot my flippin pack. I am not in very good shape and was extremely tired at this point. i actually concidered leaving my pack, but I had just bought some low end(still 175 bucks) leopold binocs and they were in the pack.

I was so beat, I decided to travel light when going back for my hat. In one of my more foolish moments, I decided to leave me rifle, and my orange hat, there, and go back for my pack with just my gps.

Well, I finally found my way back to my pack, and headed forward to find my rifle. There was about a 15 minute period where I thought I wasnt going to find my rifle, but I finally found it. But the rifle wasnt all I found.

About 4.5 feet from my rifle and hat, were a set of tremendous bear tracks. The track was about the size of a dinner plate. I do a lot of outdoors hiking and am kind of a track-junky. Using my judgement, I would say the bear walked past my rifle around 20 minutes before I made it back. Two days before this, a guy had to put a bear down, after being charged in the same valley.

Not one of my finer moments, and my rifle will be the last thing I leave behind from now on.

sdakota

09-15-2005, 03:29

Went backpacking/camping this recent Labor Day weekend.
Set up my little tent next to a game trail with thick brush on both sides.

In the middle of the night I was sleeping on my side, dead to the world.
Woke up to some animal running through the brush and crashing into the side of my tent, smacking me in the chest.
It bounced off me and scrambled off through the brush on the other side of the trail.
I remember thinking something like "OK that was "Prey" so "Predator" is going to be right behind him", so I sat up and yelled "Hey !".
I don't know if that helped, but I didn't end up with a confused & bloodthirsty predator in my lap, so I was happy.

I can only guess but I suspect it was a rabbit, possibly being chased by a bobcat.
I'm lucky it wasn't an elk or deer being chased by a mountain lion, but it was still a startling way to wake up !

PS> The stories involving bears are VERY scary !
I was camped on Grizzly Bear Creek, but we don't have wild bear any more - and that's pretty much fine with me !
I don't think I could ever relax and have fun when camping in bear country.
Then on the other hand, I guess I would prefer bears to tigers !

Boeman

09-15-2005, 03:53

Originally posted by sdakota
Went backpacking/camping this recent Labor Day weekend.
Set up my little tent next to a game trail with thick brush on both sides.

In the middle of the night I was sleeping on my side, dead to the world.
Woke up to some animal running through the brush and crashing into the side of my tent, smacking me in the chest.
It bounced off me and scrambled off through the brush on the other side of the trail.
I remember thinking something like "OK that was "Prey" so "Predator" is going to be right behind him", so I sat up and yelled "Hey !".
I don't know if that helped, but I didn't end up with a confused & bloodthirsty predator in my lap, so I was happy.

I can only guess but I suspect it was a rabbit, possibly being chased by a bobcat.
I'm lucky it wasn't an elk or deer being chased by a mountain lion, but it was still a startling way to wake up !

PS> The stories involving bears are VERY scary !
I was camped on Grizzly Bear Creek, but we don't have wild bear any more - and that's pretty much fine with me !
I don't think I could ever relax and have fun when camping in bear country.
Then on the other hand, I guess I would prefer bears to tigers !

That would be one rude awakening!

Its not so bad unless you are camping amongst grizzlies. If its just a blacky, a textbook headlock or elbow drop will usually do the trick :cool:

commander

09-15-2005, 09:23

Glassing a wooded area across a canyon about 300 yards away with my binoculars, I observed my son-in-law (the idiot) looking at me, THROUGH THE SCOPE OF HIS .270 - YIKES!;P

I was even more "spooked" later on that day when he stated he always has a round in the chamber and never engages his safety because he didn't want to spook a deer with the click his rifle makes when taking it off safe.

Needless to say, I don't hunt with him anymore.

pesticidal

09-15-2005, 09:32

Originally posted by needaglock
FWIW cougars don't scream.

Hmmm
http://www.sound-effect.com/sounds/animal/BigCats/cougar.wav

http://www.sound-effect.com/sounds/animal/BigCats/cougar6.wav

Gunlawyer

09-18-2005, 10:57

Happened a few years ago in Vermont. I had settled into my stand for an afternoon bowhunt and was enjoying the late afternoon sun. These two came up the field, and by chance decided to have at it maybe 30 yards away. I never said a thing, they didn't take long and never knew I was there!

JD HHI 6092

09-18-2005, 18:25

Originally posted by IV Troop
I have seen an emu, a few mt lions, lots of bears, badgers etc. The scariest of all was what I thought was a bigfoot early one morning. Ended up being my mother in law before she shaved her back.

;) ;P

;z

Dogbite

09-28-2005, 23:18

A buddy of mine took me down to his hunting club and told me---"ok, the hunting club is on both sides of the road and nobody hunts over on that side..its probably a great area." I hiked way back into the woods, and through an old gravesite, with fresh dirt on one grave. I kept wondering who in the world would be buried this far back in the woods--in this day and age--it was really strange.After dark, walking back through those gravestones....it pegged the spook-o-meter at 10.

wuhungsix

09-29-2005, 02:05

...was out in the woods camping in desolation wilderness. Was out there with three other friends for a woods shoot. We brought a small arsenal and the ammunition to boot. Been there for a few hours and dust was coming up, when we had some visitors coming up the road in a truck. At the time my buddy was putting a few slugs into a log and the rest of us were near our vehicle. He turned around with a big "howyah doing" wave and a smile. The two men in the truck had this creepy stare and didnt acknowledge his gesture. They pulled about 50yrds past our position when we heard rapid fire from their direction. Sounded like a handgun. I wasnt sure if they were shooting at us or not, but the passanger hopped out of the vehicle. I reacted and grabbed my SU-16 just in case. Next thing i realized, my buddy had his DPMS M4 shouldered and unloading a full 30rd, not at them but at our set up targets. he quickly relaoded and when the passanger jumped back into the cab and continued on their way. we knew the road was a dead end and expected them to come back. 2 hours later the same truck rolled by, they didnt stop this time. I was thinking they were just trying to scare us but didnt realize we had more firepower than a mossy pump. but either way they did put us on edge. by the way we took a look at the spent casings. just a 9mm about 10-12rds. i can just imagine that if it came down to it, we would of lite that dodge up like our boys would of done at a failure to stop at and iraqi road block.;I ;I

2 Hawks

09-29-2005, 16:22

Originally posted by commander
Glassing a wooded area across a canyon about 300 yards away with my binoculars, I observed my son-in-law (the idiot) looking at me, THROUGH THE SCOPE OF HIS .270 - YIKES!;P

I was even more "spooked" later on that day when he stated he always has a round in the chamber and never engages his safety because he didn't want to spook a deer with the click his rifle makes when taking it off safe.

Needless to say, I don't hunt with him anymore.

Commander;Pucker factor +1
Pucker factor +2 ; The sound of a supersonic rifle bullet sound zipping by to damn near to just hit the deck.
Hunting or being hunted....I hate when that happens....

sdakota

09-29-2005, 19:11

Originally posted by 2 Hawks
Commander;Pucker factor +1
Pucker factor +2 ; The sound of a supersonic rifle bullet sound zipping by to damn near to just hit the deck.
Hunting or being hunted....I hate when that happens....

Yep, that's a sphincter-winker for sure. ^4

Happened to me, and in a wildlife preserve no less.
The shooters weren't hunting, just doing what idiots do.
I voiced my displeasure and they vacated rather quickly. :steamed: ;L ;6 ;2 ~shame~

Cali-Glock

10-04-2005, 09:14

I was pretty scared at first, but then I realised it was just a kitty cat! ;)

http://www.b3tapix.com/pic/scary%20cat.jpg

Seriously: the spookiest thing was walking on my property on a dark night (I back up to the National Forest; bears, cougars etc are on my property reguarly.) with my dad and his dog when it suddenly got quiet, and my dad's dog took off for the house. VERY unusual behavior for that dog. My dad and I simply looked at each other for a moment and then quickly made haste to the house ourselves - we did not have to say anything but something spooked that dog, and thus we were spooked ourselves.

W.E.G.

10-04-2005, 09:50

Camping with several friends in the George Washington National Forest in Virginia in 1979. Woke up around 0400 to take a leak. Encountered four armed strangers near the smoldering campfire. One of the strangers accused me of having been in a fight with one of them earlier that night - which was false. I'd never seen any of them before in my life. One beat me in the head several very hard blows with a large single-action handgun while another held a tubular-magazine .22 semi-auto rifle (Winchester 190?) pointed at me. With blood running in my eyes, I managed to escape into the darkness when one told me to kneel down, and told one of the others to fetch a tire iron to beat me some more. I figured I'd rather get shot in the back running, than beat with a tire iron face-down in the dirt. None of them fired on me. One of my friends (who also had not previously been in a fight with anybody that night) got it worse, but survived with a skull fracture. After about five hours bleeding and roaming in the dark and dawn, I found some Samaritans, camping at a different site, who took me to safety.

That experience was real fxxxing spooky.

valkyrie182

10-04-2005, 20:33

Wow. That is why I carry in the woods, f'ed up people like that. Animals are of minor concern in my area, and animals wouldn't make you kneel down while they beat you with a tire iron.
WTF is wrong with people?

Short Cut

10-09-2005, 14:13

Originally posted by gary.jeter
Woke up around 0400 to take a leak. Encountered four armed strangers near the smoldering campfire.

Dayum Gary. Sounds like you guys were lucky to escape with your lives.

Your experience makes me even more vigilant about always carrying. These days my camping is with the wife and kids so there's a lot more at risk.

W.E.G.

10-09-2005, 18:42

All I had at the time was a Crosman air rifle - and that in the trunk of the car.

Things could have been a lot different if I'd been seriously armed. Although, I gotta say that back then, I didn't select my campsites for their quiet environs. That place was much more a place for rowdy kids to hang out in a rural community. I had a lot of fun there on prior occasions, but there was lots of foolish stuff that happened there too.

Choose your company, and your hangouts as carefully as you choose your firearms.

recal

10-09-2005, 21:44

I have never told this before to anyone - because of the shame factor. Four of us high school buddies were dove hunting along the creek. All of us were excellent wing shots. A redwing hawk suddenly appeared as it flared-up from below the bank to hover almost motionless above and in front of us. 15 yards max.

Maybe it was the surprise element, as we hadn't shot hawks before. All four of us fired as one...Nothing. No feathers, no crumpled carcass, no nuthin! It vanished into thin air. And believe me that air felt mighty thin as we questioned each other as to what just happened.

Since that day I have not shot anything I didn't eat. I look at hawks a little differently now.

2 Hawks

10-10-2005, 17:29

sharpstick

10-11-2005, 14:54

The scaryest thing I have ever seen while hunting,was the game worden.

mad_dog30

10-12-2005, 15:44

We're not supposed to have bear here in southern Indiana. I was out Deer hunting last year and heard something under my stand. It was right before day break and the first thing I thought was damn thats a big dog. I leaned over and made a noise and the damn thing stood up and looked at me. I about crapped. It took off and I wanted to track it, but was'nt too sure about the legalities of shooting it.

mufasa1023

10-14-2005, 21:33

one time while out geocaching (hiking) with my girlfriend we heard a really strange noise about a quarter mile behind us, but since it was thick foilage and near dark we couldnt see what was making the noise. Every thirty seconds or so it was a strange loud "whoosh" very eery because otherwise it was COMPLETELY silent, no twigs breaking no brush moving nothing. I finally creeped us out enough that we hunkered down behind some fallen logs and I pulled my revolver. We were both watching the direction the noise was coming but saw nothing. After a minute of watching for the devil himself we finally saw what was making the noise. A hot air baloon almost directly above us flying at tree level. Never thought to look up!

king catfish

10-15-2005, 18:20

Originally posted by mpol777
My old man shot a male wood duck that was on a direct path over our blind. With the timing of the shot and the trajectory he was able to reach out and catch it. Never hit the water. Not spooky, but kind of cool.

Just a few weeks ago I saw my buddy Dan do that with a dove. He was as surprised as I was, and I had no choice but to award him bragging rights forever on dove hunts.

king catfish

10-15-2005, 18:38

Originally posted by recal
I have never told this before to anyone - because of the shame factor. Four of us high school buddies were dove hunting along the creek. All of us were excellent wing shots. A redwing hawk suddenly appeared as it flared-up from below the bank to hover almost motionless above and in front of us. 15 yards max.

Maybe it was the surprise element, as we hadn't shot hawks before. All four of us fired as one...Nothing. No feathers, no crumpled carcass, no nuthin! It vanished into thin air. And believe me that air felt mighty thin as we questioned each other as to what just happened.

Since that day I have not shot anything I didn't eat. I look at hawks a little differently now.

I'm glad you learned a lesson from that. I fly red-tailed hawks on squirrel, and I have put a lot of time and sweat into training each bird. Although I usually avoid hunting where there will be people with guns, I have heard stories of other falconers getting hawks shot while hunting. One guy even had his captive-bred hybrid peregrine-saker falcon shot by a hunter. That was a $9000 bird he had trained and flown for several years. I understand he sued the hunter for something like $100,000, based on time expended over years to train that bird (which he loved). I don't know how the suit turned out.

I might be wrong, but I believe shooting raptors is a felony under the Migratory Bird Act. Either way, there's never any reason to shoot a hawk. I'm glad you missed and learned from it.

engineer151515

10-15-2005, 18:58

A couple of weeks after a major hurricane when every wild creature was stirred up, I was out, maybe two hours after sundown walking in an open area with a few trees. A very large owl, silent in flight, wooshed silently over my head, maybe within four feet or so.

It's silence was amazing.

Then there was my first encounter with a Red Fox Squirrel. I thought I had run across the mutant Squirrel from Hell. HUGE and very perturbed at MY presence.

D25

10-15-2005, 19:04

Count me in with the cougar people. Worst of all, I only had my bow. The noise those things make is the spookiest thing about them.

major

10-16-2005, 08:07

Drove up on a KKK rally one night while out late on a very rural road. Robes, masks, the burning cross, etc.

I stopped in the middle of the road, then backed up about a hundred yards or so, turned around, and went the other direction.

blboyd

10-17-2005, 07:39

Went on my first dove hunt this last weekend and had an absolute blast. There were four of us and we were walking through some thick brush to get to a huge clearing. Just as we had made it all the way through the brush a dove took flight and my friend put the bead on him and squeezed the trigger. Dove folded and landed about 10 feet in front of him. We were congratulating him for the first dove of the day as he reached into his vest and grabbed another 12gauge round to put into his shotgun when a hawk swooped down right in front of all of us and stole his dove. That was the first time and probably the last I will ever get to see that. What an amazing sight!

Brandon

enigma2y0u

10-17-2005, 21:02

One time we were camping for 5 days. The first night we noticed a farr off sound. Second night we could make out the sound a bit better. The third night it was loud enough to keep up awake. It sounded like someone was shutting down a large 4-stroke engine. it was periodic, every 45 seconds or so. Kinda like:

thump.thump..thump...thump.....thump.......thump.........thump.

We almost though it was a bird flapping its wings if you know that sound, but it was different. So the fourth day we loaded up at camp and set out to find this noise. It only happened at night so needless to say we didn't find anything till it was starting to get dark. Then we followed the noise. Came up on what must have been a really old corral or something. It was there somewhere, but we couldn't pinpoint it. it was loud. We went back to camp in a bit of a rush and pretty much huddled in one tent all night long. The last night we were there it was louder still, we got some sleep and packed up the next day.

havensal

10-20-2005, 12:20

Originally posted by enigma2y0u
One time we were camping for 5 days. The first night we noticed a farr off sound. Second night we could make out the sound a bit better. The third night it was loud enough to keep up awake. It sounded like someone was shutting down a large 4-stroke engine. it was periodic, every 45 seconds or so. Kinda like:

thump.thump..thump...thump.....thump.......thump.........thump.

I here that all of the time around here. They are Ruffed Grouse drumming (I assume other birds do it also).

The scariest moment I ever had was when I was about 12 or so. I was out with a friend about 1/2 hour before first light. He was bow hunting in a stand and I was laying against a tree about 20 yds away with my .22 for small game. We were there for a few minets and the woods were silent. All of the sudden a screem like I have never heard before pierced the air. I froze. The another screem let loose. I detected a slight purr at the end. It had to be a LARGE cat of some kind. I called for my friend, but he didn't answer. After calling a few more times, each a little louder, and no doubt a little higher pitched, than the one before, I was scared out of my mind.

I try to decide what my options were. Run, no it would catch me, assuming I didn't run face first into a tree. Try to shoot it, no I had no light and the scope on my rifle wouldn't help either. So I think hard. The only way I could be taken quickly would ba a pounce to the throut.

Picture this I am laying flat on my back, rifle across my chest and my hunting knife, edge faceing up, laying on my windpipe. If it pounced it would only get a mouth full of steel, or so I thought. In reality if he had attacked I, more than likely, would have stabed myself under my chin.

I layed there for what seemed like hours, motionless, listining for approaching death by sharp teeth.

When the sun finaly showed I could see nothing but a fallen tree laying at an angle. I went over to my buddy and asked why he didn't answer me. He didn't want to anounce his location to the animal, like I did. We headed back to the house and looked through the library and found out it was a Screech owl. He must have been purched in the tree, laughing his tail off no doubt, and we never heard him fly off. I will never forget that morning, partially because of how scared I was, and partially because of how badly I overreacted to an unknown situatoin. I was proud of my defensive solution I came up with. ;c ;z ;g

Swanny

10-21-2005, 14:05

The Amish

http://library.thinkquest.org/5089/amish.jpg

C9X19

10-25-2005, 17:30

Was about 7-8 walking into a campsite with a summer camp group. On the trail over to the site, I saw a decaying coyote carcass. Kinda made me wonder what had killed it.

Blitzer

10-28-2005, 21:38

Originally posted by needaglock
FWIW cougars don't scream.

I have heard, what was later told to me, a screeching owl at 12:30 AM while out in the boonies...

...I nearly wet myself over that experience! Works better than coffee! ;P ;b ^3 ^4 ~fnt~

Hoingshiba

10-29-2005, 17:23

Originally posted by G17raider
Was about 7-8 walking into a campsite with a summer camp group. On the trail over to the site, I saw a decaying coyote carcass. Kinda made me wonder what had killed it.

Probably a hunter. A lot of guys shoot em and let em lay where they fall. They can stay for a long time. Some guys I know shot one and months later it was still there.

Binky .357

11-03-2005, 11:07

I was out in the back forty at home with a wide array of "Plinking Tools". My friend called me over, around a bunch of evergreen trees where I found a canvas-looking butchers apron stained pink and red.

It was hanging from a branch about four and a half feet off the ground.

A closer look revealed two deer legs inside this makeshift bag.

No one had permission to be back there, and no one in the family could explain it. I was actually fairly glad to be armed at that point.

Capt Charlie

11-19-2005, 16:54

Hope y'all don't mind me reviving this thread. When I was a LOT younger, I was walking the fields of a local ranch late at night. Warm night, full moon, fog settled in the valleys... beautiful! I was near a treeline when something screamed like a stabbed woman, almost at my feet. Can we say heart failure here? Found out later that I'd gotten too close to a fox den, and that was her way of telling me to "get lost" ;f .

I was a back country ranger at Grand Canyon in the 70's, and we were patrolling the Tuweep area of the Canyon. We opted to camp outside the park, at an area called Mt. Trumbull, at around 8000 feet. Much cooler, and no damned bugs. Now we heard coyotes singing every night; no big deal. But about 1 AM, we woke up to something much deeper and richer. Mournful and drawn out. I've heard coyotes by the hundreds, and wolves by the dozens, and I'd swear these were wolves,... and CLOSE! I've studied wolves and I know that they don't generally pose a threat, but that sound definitely puts the hair up on the back of your neck. Next day we checked in with Park Ranger John Riffy (a literal legend in AZ, RIP John), & he suggested that we might have heard Mexican Wolves. Interesting, especially since they've been deemed extinct since the early part of the 1900's, but then, that's mighty remote country. The reason it came back to memory is that, only a few years ago, the presence of Mexican Wolves has now been confirmed in AZ. John knew that all along.

The funniest had to be my cousin and wife, and the "great bear caper". Cuz and his wife are tenderfeet... city folk. We all went to Cook Forest, PA for a couple of days, and their version of camping is a cabin on the river. The whole trip they had been bugging me about wanting to see a bear. We hiked the Longfellow Trail, and I pointed out bear scrapes and scat, and they kept saying I was BSing them. That evening, and after one two many beers, I decided to call it a night. I was just about to doze off when cuz and wife came RUNNING back into the cabin, slamming and locking doors and windows. They looked like they'd seen a ghost, and when I asked what all the fuss was about, all cuz could manage was "B-B-B-BEAR!!" ;f . I looked outside, and lo and behold, a medium sized black bear was helping himself to the munchies on the picnic table thoughfully provided by cuz. I turned back to them and said "I thought you wanted to see a bear?" ;Q ;f . Geeze, city slickers! ;Q

c10bonanza

11-21-2005, 19:17

Multiple times, too many to recount here. But the last two...

1. I was doing some solo backpacking in the Ouachita National Forest (south eastern Oklahoma and a bit of Arkansas.) I was in a VERY remote area of the forest and was on my third day. As I was headed back to my vehicle (which was hidden off an old logging trail) I stumbled upon a drug deal of some sort. 3 rough looking men, cash and stuff all in hand. They gave me a long, long, long look as I backpeddled and changed direction. I have never, ever in my life felt so fortunate to be carrying. It was a Ruger Security Six .357 FYI.

2. Was on my father-in-law's land doing some snooping about. He has around 300 acres in BFE. I was on the far 20 and came across 2 guys camping, with all their hunting gear. Needless to say they were poachers. I don't know who was more surprised, them or me. I would have told them to leave and then left the area, but my wife has 5 younger bro's and sisters that ride 4-wheelers in that area frequently. I persuaded the poachers (with the assistance of my holstered G19) to make the long walk back to the house and keep me company until the Sheriff got there.

There is nothing quite like that feeling when your heart stops for a minute, and then pounds your chest like no tomorrow.

Good thread, keep 'em coming.

jdpharmd

11-28-2005, 11:23

Just a quick spook, but while walking on some very popular hiking trails (AZ), I came around a sharp corner with thick trees/veg on both sides. This guy was on a small hill roughly 10 feet from me and a few feet above.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v683/pb2au/_MG_6811.jpg
I was expecting loons and grasshoppers, not this gray fox. I have never seen a gray fox (foxes are red where I come from), so for the first instant I thought it was a smaller bobcat and stood VERY still. Of course, I was only armed with my camera and had left my .38 in the car, but the camera's monopod makes a handy club. We stared at each other for a few seconds, and he (she?) took off. It was nothing to be afraid of, just a little spook for a second or two.

Capt Charlie

11-28-2005, 11:55

Man, that is an absolutely outstanding photo! True Natl. Geographic stuff! That had to be a once in a lifetime opportunity; thanks for sharing. By the way; know what the neatest thing about grey fox is? They climb trees!;P

Sharker

11-28-2005, 16:24

Spooky... well this isnt spooky to me, but the guy I brought with me... he was freaked...
Went up to Maine visiting my family (which by happenstance coincided with hunting season) Well we head off to the hunting cabin WAY in the middle of no where. I mean remote, crossing rivers, going down old logging roads. No plumbing here, just old fashioned crap boxes.
Well the guy I brought with me is a flatlander through and through. He likes to hunt, but wasnt any good at it. We drift off to sleep and the next am he is all quiet sitting next to the fire. I asked what was wrong and he said that in the middle of the night a bear walked up to the window where his bunk was, and looked at him... saw it clear in the snow. We go outside to check (still before light) and low and behold, a mouse had ambled up to the window. Freaked him out good.
The scariest thing I ever saw in the woods was a guy from Mass. with a gun in his hands.

StockGlock23

11-28-2005, 23:52

Originally posted by Swan1172
The Amish

http://library.thinkquest.org/5089/amish.jpg

I am sure it is a joke to some but one deer season I was scouting pre-gun season (during early archery)and when I got out of my stand I was walking back to my car and as i walked down a trail I heard a strange sound. As I looked around and then finally up, I see a 50+ year old Amish man full draw with his bow pointed directly at me. After perhaps dozens of choice words I walked off and called the police. I was the only person with permission to hunt this land (25 acres), and let him explain his actions to the officer that responded. It turns out that his son and him had 6 stands through out the entire woods and were dodgeing me during archery in order to fill their tag before muzzleloader and shotgun season came in.

I now have possession of his 6 stands.

Lawrence Keeney

11-29-2005, 13:45

Better watch out, otherwise you could be the victim of an Amish drive by shooting...you know how those go down...don't you?

Clip clop..clip clop..BANG...clip clop.. ;a ;z

Boeman

12-01-2005, 17:28

Off topic, but I once had to enter an amish village alone. It was very creepy for a lad of only 16 years. I was off-roading at a near by off road park and my truck was stuck beyond the means of another truck pulling it out(we even tried 2 trucks :() So, I went to ask if they might be interested in pulling me out with a tractor, in exchange for money. Well, they said all of their tractors were being used, after I had walked through a barn full tractors before I found someone.

We ended up getting a guy down the road to bring his shiny new stieger with duals all the way around over and pull us out, for 45 bucks. It was worth it, but unfortunately, my truck was pretty much destroyed.

I think it would have been alright if I would have dropped the oil before trying to start it again, but I was young and foolish and didnt. I did change the oil after limping it back to camp, but the damage was already done. We were about 3 hours from home and we made it about half way back before it died on sunday night. Needless to say, my dad wasnt too pleased to get that call at 11:30, but he brought the car trailor none the less :D

Good times

-Boe

tyesai

12-02-2005, 13:00

Originally posted by Capt Charlie
Hope y'all don't mind me reviving this thread. When I was a LOT younger, I was walking the fields of a local ranch late at night. Warm night, full moon, fog settled in the valleys... beautiful! I was near a treeline when something screamed like a stabbed woman, almost at my feet. Can we say heart failure here? Found out later that I'd gotten too close to a fox den, and that was her way of telling me to "get lost" ;

I hate that sound, it has sent me flying out of the woods as a twelve year old boy and hustled me out as a thirty year old man.:cool:

oldsmith

12-28-2005, 20:06

Originally posted by StockGlock23
I am sure it is a joke to some but one deer season I was scouting pre-gun season (during early archery)and when I got out of my stand I was walking back to my car and as i walked down a trail I heard a strange sound. As I looked around and then finally up, I see a 50+ year old Amish man full draw with his bow pointed directly at me. After perhaps dozens of choice words I walked off and called the police. I was the only person with permission to hunt this land (25 acres), and let him explain his actions to the officer that responded. It turns out that his son and him had 6 stands through out the entire woods and were dodgeing me during archery in order to fill their tag before muzzleloader and shotgun season came in.

I now have possession of his 6 stands.

The amish with whom I'm familar have no respect for hunting laws or seasons. They kill what they want when they want. They hate modern things unless it can make them money.

Blitzer

12-28-2005, 20:28

Originally posted by vafish
I did also see a woman in a brown fur coat walking her light brown german shepard in the woods during deer season.

Suicide by hunter no doubt! ;P

Blitzer

12-28-2005, 21:16

I spent about a year in Biloxi, MS while in Air Force RADAR School.

We traveled around during the holiday weekends and came on a side road off a main route going west. We saw a pop case with a few balloons attached to it sitting by the turn off. We drove down almost to the river. Two of my traveling companions walked down to the river while I stayed with the truck and our camping gear/guns. They came back and said there were tents and awnings and a big banner "Welcome to Klan Country!”

We had been told "NOT" to get involved with the Klan while in the Air Force so I said it was time to be moving on! ;P :soap:

-----------------------------------
Later that weekend I learned a lesson on keeping one box of ammo in reserve!

We had been plinking a lot by the river and had burned up a lot of ammo. That night we found a place that had been used for camping before and settled in, my partners in the pup tent I chose to sleep in the cab of the mini-pickup, wrong choice!

It was a full moon this night. About 1:00 AM a searchlight came on at the East end of our large clearing waking me from a light sleep as the cab seats were terrible for sleeping. I peeked over the dash and looked under the fogged glass to see a slow moving car, with only the spotlight on. I grabbed my .357 magnum Ruger Blackhawk, loaded with my last four rounds, and held it under my blanket. I kept crouched across the seats. The spotlight swept the truck and the tent as the car continued to the other end of the clearing and turned around making another sweep as it returned. The light extinguished and I peeked out of the foggy windows trying to see if the car was still out there. I opened the driver’s door, after switching off the dome light, and crept to the tent 5 feet away. I spoke waking up my roomy and told him what had happened, he jacked a round into his M1 carbine! I told him the car went away and crept back to the truck and closed the door. The light flashed from the Far East side of the clearing for 10 seconds and went out. I watched the car, in the full moon, as it headed south toward the main county road.

Must have been the law. It could have been some of the boys from "Deliverance"! ;P ;g

Needless to say I now keep 6 G17, 2 G26 and two G18 31 round loaded magazines around. :cool:

chutestrate

12-30-2005, 14:12

10 years ago I took my wife camping. I find a lot of camping sites during hunting season, and return in the spring. We got to this location late, probably midnight. The weather was warm, but there was very heavy fog. The site was on the top of a mountain with the closest trees about 75 yds from the crown of the hill. It was not easy to offroad up to the site, but the view was worth it. We lit the lanterns, turned on the headlights, and started setting camp. An hour later while we were finishing up we other trucks comimg up the trail. The 3 trucks get to the edge of the clearing which put us in clear view of them. Instead of leaving they drive up the camp site, and stop. They never said a word, and sat there for 3 or 4 minutes. The only thing I did was call my wife back to our truck, and put my .357 on the hood of our vehicle in plain sight of the locals. They left, but I didn't sleep that night. It was unerving. These guys were all dressed in camo, had cheesy goatees, and generally looked like they were looking for trouble. I have never gone camping w/o a firearm, and never will. Animals don't scare me, but people do.