Anything interesting you guys see while hunting? I saw a peregrine falcon once, & it was fast flying in a straight line. I can only imagine what they look like when they dive bomb. Heard termites eating a fallen tree so much it sounded like the tree was on fire. My favorite so far is a badger, just north of Abilene, TX. They are God's enigma because they are extremely cute, but you keep your distance due to their nature.
I've seen a hawk crash through the trees in a dive for a squirrel. Had a mink crawl under my stand and throughout the creek several times. Coolest moment on stand non deer related was definitely my first and only bobcat sighting. They are becoming more populated and sightings for some are nowhere near as rare as they used to be, but this one is still the only one I have seen in 42+ years on this Earth. Thought it was a coyote and had a video cam mounted on my bow, filmed it watching me watch it for about 2 minutes. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
I've had a handful of cool ones. A couple of weeks ago a hawk nabbed a squirrel. Talk about a racket. Every squirrel in the woods was going nuts. A couple years ago I was watching some quail walk along a cedar thicket when a bobcat jumped out and caught the last one. Lightning quick! It was over and he was gone almost before I figured out what was going on. It was nuts. Saw a coyote try to put a stalk on a fawn. Then momma saw the coyote and went after it. On her hind legs stabbing at it. That was a really cool one.
Everytime out I see interesting things. The small things I'm sure we take for granted. That's why I love being in the woods or in the swamp.
Saw a house cat at 110 yards once... when I looked back at it it was 20 yards and definitely not a house cat. At 10 yards it saw me and tensed up. You could see the muscles rippling under the fur. Big bob cat. Also heard a ruckus close to me and later saw a hawk eating a bird directly upwind of me. Little feathers were floating all around me.
I had a hawk grab a squirrel out of the tree I was in that made me check my britches. I had a squirrel bite through my can of buck bomb and it spray all over him and the tree. lol I saw a doe get ticked off at a button buck messing with her and jump up and smack him in the head with her hoofs and knock him silly. but once I thought the devil was after me while I was getting in the stand in the dark about 2 feet from my face and it was a possum hissing at me. And last week I saw an armadillo come strolling through and I've never seen one in this area. North and South of here but not here where I live. Those are a few just off the top of my head. Mother nature is pretty comedic sometimes......
Couple of years ago I climb up in my 2 man ladder tree stand, it was still dark out, I had about an 1/2 hour before daylight. I felt as if someone was looking at me. a I scanned the area and I came eye to eye with a grey horned owl. he was perched up in the tree next to me. he was bout 12 feet away. it was cool and creepy at the same time. I realized that i was not the only hunter that day. As soon as it go light out there was movement in the leaves down below. The owl perked up an flew down to the leaves and snagged a treat. The owl was able tag breakfast, he sagged a mouse.
I don't recall ever seeing any unusual animals while hunting. I've shot several bobcats over the years as well as yotes, coons, skunks and opossums, the occasional squirrel and turkey as well. I once watched a crow and a rabbit playing a game of tag, it was about the funniest thing I've ever watched...never seen anything like that before or since. The rabbit would run at the crow and the crow would hop over it then pretty soon the crow would flutter up and come down at the rabbit and the rabbit would dodge the crow. It was like something out of a cartoon. One morning I got up in a tree stand and just as it started getting light I heard a gawd awful bunch of screams really close by. Turned out it was a pod of coons fighting over a hollow in a tree. I've had squirrels crawl on me and had one try to pee on me on purpose. I also had a young spike buck smell my boots while sitting on a low branch in the only usable tree in a spot I wanted to hunt. I literally had to shoo him away. I've also seen badgers twice from a bow stand and a weasel once...those are probably the most unusual animals I've seen from a stand. Armadillos are common here now which is odd as crap to see them on a normal basis in MO/KS.
Watched a blue darter hawk come flying right towards me doing 90 to nothing and he landed on my bow rest until he figured things out he took off.
Wednesday, I saw two bald eagles from the stand. That was really cool, because they aren't very common around here!
My favorite encounter was a flying squirrel...he climbed up the tree right next to mine right at dusk...looked at me for a minute while I was thinking what the heck kind of squirrel is that...then off he leaps and glides down out into the darkness of the woods. That was pretty awesome to see.
While riding a quad through a cut block I noticed someone else's homemade tree stand (It looked more like a tree fort). While checking it out I realized that it appeared to be occupied. Right about then a head lifted up. It wasn't a hunter sleeping in the stand... it was a black bear getting his afternoon nap.
while I didn't see it happen, I had a friend where a fur hat in a tree stand, NOT A GOOD IDEA he got smacked by a hawk, he had some nice cuts on his face and back of his neck, said it felt like getting hit by a bat I've not seen anything crazy, yote, bobcats, more raccoons then need to exist, lots of different types of interesting birds, small hawks, falcons, owls, timberdoodle (woodcock) etc nothing too fun,
The most unique animal I have seen was a badger in Michigan's U.P. while bear hunting. Others I enjoy seeing every once in awhile while hunting would have to be Eagles, Owls, and Hawks. Birds of prey are cool!
I just love being out and watching animals that are not aware of my presence. I love watching bobcats and badgers (have only seen 3 of those) and some days even the squirrels are amusing.
Ive had racoons fighting a tree over from me. i snuck into my stand super early and nodded off it was pitch black and i awoke to what sounded like 2 tazmanian devils killing each other. i almost fell out of my stand. Had a squirrel jump on my head once, again, almost fell out of my stand. ive seen a bobcat putting a stalk on about 30 turkeys. Too many eyes, he got busted. One time i climbed this tree in my climber and was super quiet, knowing i was next to bedding area. mustve taken me 30 min to climb the tree. As daylight broke i heard some soft clucks right by my head, looked over, there was a hen roosted about 8 feet from me on a branch. she gave me that look with her head tilted then did her flydown, as she hit the ground i looked up and there was at least 50 more turkeys roosted in these huge sycamores in front of me. i watched them all flydown, it was super cool. I could go on and on im sure. those are just a few that popped in my head.
Got to see a bob cat after it attempted to grab a turkey. Also got to see 3 Great Horned owlets and both parents. Watched as one of the parents fed a mouse to one of the young. That was probably the highlight although the bob cat was pretty cool. Not many here in RI and they are pretty secretive.
I have had a few good encounters over the years. Bobcat lay down at the base of my tree Eagles hunting and catching rodents I had a red squirrel materbait in front of me a few wolves over the last few years I'm sure there's more but that's what comes to mind now.
We have Pine martins in our area. they are known for killing for no apparent reason. Sitting in my stand a few years back and I see it come in and this little tree squirrel was on a log. It literally came over and killed the squirrel and left. I've also seen a few good owls come through that scare the crap out of ya when they swoop through right in front of ya.
A red squirrel choking the chicken......classic!!!! I forgot that when I was fishing earlier this year I saw a bald eagle dive down and catch a fish, that was pretty dang cool. He made this big splash and came up with about a 3 lb. bass.
