I'm sure this has happened to everyone on here, and if it hasn't yet it will soon. You get up the tree and all of a sudden you hear it. “Those noises in the dark.” Noises that would startle most people who aren't on a hunt. You know what I mean. A twig snapping, leafs wrestling or every once in awhile in a hunters career the sound of breathing from something underneath you. You continue to hear these obvious signs of life on the ground until the darkness fades. Sometimes you make out a silhouette and other times the noises stop all together, but what a way to start the day. Right? What do you do during those intense moments? Do you continue getting set up? Do you freeze like a deer in the headlights? I personally, try and limit my movement. I'll turn off my light and grasp my bow, if I'm lucky enough to have already pulled it up. I'll wait till it starts getting light and I can either determine that noise maker is gone, or I can make out its location.
In the morning its not usually a big deal to me. It doesn't bother me too much. It's when I climb down out of my stand and start the hike back to the truck in the dark. That's when I bug out. Last season I watched the movie "Insidious" the night before the season opener...bad idea. The walk back to my truck the next night was windy and it felt like something was following me the whole way. I more or less powerwalked with all my gear on my back for a mile and a half. I freeze up when I get scared so every time I heard something I'd stop dead in my tracks.
I know exactly what you mean Chris! Thanks for sharing. I was more or less wondering what you do when you get to your stand in the early hours of the day while it’s still dark, and you just get up into your stand when you hear the noises underneath. You can only imagine/hope that it’s a deer possibly that buck we’ve all been after. What do you do in those situations? Freeze, ignore it, or prepare for day light with bow and arrow in hand?
I dont really know what you should i guess just stay calm....whats really scary I had uncles and friends tell me that i had a ghost following me to my stand they said he was walking with a lantern and i was in a gator so i had no clue that the ghost was behind me but after the hunt they told me that story and that has me spoke to this day weird stuff there
I'll get out on public land 2 + hours before daylight to start my walk I'm always the first and I almost always go in the deepest. I usually know the exact tree and how to access it so I try to not use a light. It can get a little weird sometimes but 99% is in your head. Of course I don't have any big cats to worry about either. Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2
I try and be as still as possible just incase it is that big boy. I'd pray my bow is all set up and ready in case light comes and the deer is broadside at 20 yrds. Depeding on how close it is and the extent of the sound i dont think i would have a head light or anything on and continue to get ready
owls 2 times i have had owls land on a branch over my head you do not hear them until they are landing it makes me jump out of my skin and my hart gose in overdrive
This reminds me of something posted on here by Christine. I think it was Christine, anyway. She kept hearing something behind her and would stop every time she heard it, but each time she stopped, the sound stopped. This kept happening and I would imagine it was a little unsettling. She finally figured out what the sound was: Her bow rope was dragging behind her.
Yeah, that was me. I don't scare easy but that was starting to freak me out. (and I only had my little AA maglite... takes a serious effort to beat something to death with it) When I'm setting up in the dark and I hear stuff, I usually keep setting up (at least to the point of being able to shoot) but try to be as stealthy as possible.
When I hear something close I normally stop setting up until I think I know what it is. I may or may not continue setting up even if I think it's a deer. If I'm climbing a tree that I've been in before I don't have to worry about shutting my light off since I turn it off as soon as I get to the tree, get in my stand and get set to climb. I prefer to climb with no light on if I can, and I've got the routine down so well that I can do it in total darkness. Since I normally get to my stand 45 minutes to an hour before first light, I do mean darkness. As I said, though, until I think I know what it is, I'll stop and listen. There was one time, though, that I heard a sound that brought me to my feet scrambling for my light in my pack and I didn't care if I spooked a deer or not. It's only happened once and it scared the crap out of me. What I'm talking about is the sound of something climbing the same tree I'm in. This, of course, is accompanied by the fact that you can feel the vibrations in the tree, so I knew it was coming up MY tree. I didn't know what it was and I felt like a little kid again, terrified of the "monsters" lurking in the dark. Stupid raccoons.
Why is it that I have no trouble at all conjuring up a mental image of you actually trying to do this?
I can think of two times that I have been spooked, but one was my best friend and hunting partner, the other we have no idea what it was. The first one is funny now but I could have killed my best friend. We were hunting a soy bean field I was on one side he was on the other, it got dark and on the way back to the truck I kept trying to get him on the phone but couldn't reach him. So as I get up to the truck and put my stand in the back, that jack *** reaches out from under the truck and grabs my leg, if I would have had a gun I would of shot him. I laugh about it now but I damn nera S%^t myself. The only other time I recall was hunting public land with the same jackass buddy of mine, we got out of the truck and were walking in, all of the sudden it got really quite and we heard a scream, I mean a scream, the kind that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. I thought it was a bobcat or something but it freaked my buddy out enough that we didn't hunt that day. P.S I think of another incident that involved a pot farmer and a shot gun, other than that I just go in and don't really think about stuff like that......
A few years back, while walking in pitch black darkness to my stand at the back of my property, I had a bobcat scream somewhere directly in front of me. I had never heard a bobcat scream before and I did a nonchalant about face and then a nonchalant stroll as fast as I could home. After that morning, I always carry a light on both morning and evening hunts.
This is my stance. On my way back from the stand last year I was cruising all quiet like when all of a sudden the loon let loose with a call about 5 ft from me! I nearly jumped out of the canoe. I can still hear him laughing...
Even though I'm pressure sure they won't harm me hearing Yotes in the area (even if they are not in the direction I am going) freak me out - especially when you can hear them feeding on something, just going insane. No thanks! Once I'm in the tree, I'm in the tree - I usually don't stop what I'm doing - might stop and listen for a minute, but I usually get up in the tree and get settled in as quickly as possible - mainly so I can take a nap before first light.
My most strange moment was in the 5am morning climb up my tree in the dark with my climber stand. When I got about 18 feet high and started to pull my bow up, I heard what sounded like a little girl scream from the tree above me. I almost jumped out of the tree. It sounded almost paranormal. Turns out it was a porcupine in the tree above me. FYI.....a porcupine scream sounds like a small child and it will scare the shi# out of you in he dark I don't care how tough you are.
