This may have been done before but Ive seen it in another forum and it was very interested to read. So what is the craziest, wildest or scariest thing you have ever seen or experienced while in the woods hunting, fishing, etc...?
I would have to refer you to my bear hunting thread, "Babes with bows and bears". Basically I had just got into my stand, the outfitter was baiting the site and checking trail cam pictures when he noticed the bear 10 feet away. I figured I may have to shoot the bear right there if it was going to keep going after the outfitter. Pretty tense few moments for sure!! The bear stopped short though, the outfitter was safe, and I still shot my trophy!
I too had a bear encounter. This happened while fly fishing in B.C. After sensing that I was being watched, yah it really felt that way, I turned around to see a bear about 10 feet in back of me and I seemed to have its full attention. It had come across a boulder field of about 100 yards to get that close to me. It looked to be about 5' at the shoulder, no doubt enhanced by adrenaline, and we began a "stare down". With the river in back of me and the bear in front I decided to quote Rodney King and started to quietly chant "Can't we all get along". The bear did one of those "WTF" head cocks and as I increase the volume it gradually turned around and too slowly walked back across the boulder field with occasionally looked back at me in disgust. I love seeing critters up close and personal, but that too can have its limits...
Had a bird land on my nocked arrow and sit there for about 15 minutes. I also had a squirrel run up my tree sit on the platform of my stand and eat an acorn. Once he finally realized i was there he jumped straight off to the bush below me about 18' Sent from my LG-E739 using Tapatalk 2
Lots of bizarre/exciting/wild experiences -at full draw 5 yards from a giant bull elk & no shot -watching a big mature buck chase a small buck for 30 minutes that was trying to steal his hot doe, before finally shooting him. -having a bear at the base of my tree stand up & look at me. -Had a doe making the most bizarre "shrieking" noise as she went thru the woods looking for her fawns -Racing a herd of 50-60 head of elk down a mountain to a pinch point -almost having a hawk land on or very near me that made me jump & scared the both of us
i was in alaska in 05, my uncle said hey lets go to a place called thunderbird falls, i was like awesome cool catch some salmon and what not, hes like weve gotta go to the store first i was ok, so we pull up to a massive sporting goods shop in achorage we walk in he picks out a brand new benelli i was like for fishing? hes like nah grizzlies ha, not even a few hours later were wading in the river in a narrow gorge we look up on the cliff 20 feet out and 15 feet straight up there stood mama grizzly and her cub(s) only saw one usually theres two, im like 15 years old almost crapped my pants. one warning shot and the family fled it was quite intense
I was fishing with JeffACarp (regular poster) in high school. We were fishing off of a bridge for bass when he yells over that he snagged a garbage bag. He gets it to shore, pulls it out of the water to get his hook out, and the bag rips open spilling the contents everywhere. What was in it you ask? Someone's old collection of sex toys and videos. All very hardcore stuff... some replicating a donkey or horse. There was a lot there, and it all looked like it caused a lot of pain. It was a catch of lifetime...
Moose hunting last fall here in Maine with my buddy for the Passamaquoddy tribe moose hunt. I was calling for him and we heard something coming in, thinking it was a moose he was ready to make the kill. I turned around to motion to him and in doing so I'm greeted by a 200+ pound black bear not more than 5 feet behind my friends back. He didn't notice it was there until I pointed and he turned and looked at it. We finished the sit until dark and I'm almost positive that the bear was circling us the whole time! Nothing like bears, love 'em!
o and one for humor, i was 8-9 years old my family is huge on hunting including my grandmother whom of which has accumulated quite a few hunting stories, we were sitting on the edge of a feild i was almost asleep you know warm sun cold day, when a wood pecker lands on the end of my grandmothers 30mm carbine, i watch for a quick second before i notice my grandmother was reaching for her binos, before i knew it WHAM!feathers everywhere bird takes of, she belted the wood pecker with her binos i laughed so hard the hunt was over.
•Naked 60+ year old smoking pot in a stream of a National forest •Yearling buck stepping on a plastic grocery bag in a flood plain, getting startled by the noise and watching him for the next 20 or so minutes paw at it, poke it with his antlers, get it stuck on his head and run about the flood plain crazed trying to get it off his headgear. •One doe mounting another doe
I also have a bear encounter that had me shaking in my boots. 5 years ago I was whitetail hunting back home in PA (first day of rifle season) from a homemade natural ground blind. I hike into the blind about 45 mins before first light get all comfy and situated and start the usual antsy anticipation of excitement that floods all of us just before first light on opening day. As the day slowly breaks I see movement just ahead and realize its a pretty good sized bear. He looks in my direction (seemed right at me) and made a direct line right for me. I had my rifle but still was nervous as heck.. lol He got to about 15 feet from me starred for a bit then turned around and headed back down the ridge.. That was definitely the most intense moment I've experienced hunting.. Nock em down, Drag em out!!
Two bucks locking horns last day of bow season a few years back. Watched a small but nice buck in a food plot, then what I assume was the stud in the area try to run him out of the field. After the smaller guy stood his ground, the larger one got vocal and it was on. This all happened about 200yds away, while I'm 18' up in a climber. Downed the smaller the next year but still haven't seen the big guy. If it had been firearm or muzzleloader season this would've been so much cooler.
I was fishing the Kenia River with a buddy in AK. He had a Rainbow on and it was thrashing on the surface about 40 yards down river from us. A grizzly came out of the woods and grabbed his fish. We let him have it (like we had a choice). We got in the raft and continued down stream thanking the Lord it was not "our time". That was one of his favorite places to land the raft and fish. I don't think he has stopped there since. A different year I was Moose hunting in AK. I was in this 5' tall stuff called Fireweed. If I stood tippy toe I could just see over it. On one look I saw a brown hump of fur about 100 yards away. I though cool a Moose. When it stood up it was a Grizzly. I backed out, got to the wheeler and never looked back. Later that day I ran into 2 hunters that told me to me careful by the river. They saw a sow and 2 cubs. I told them I saw the sow but there was no time to notice any cubs. A week after i got back to WI I was grouse hunting. I bird flushed to my left about 10' away. I just about came unglued and spun the gun around. I guess I was a little jumpy.
This is my 13 year old brothers story. I set him up about 1/4 mile away from me in a stand and about an hour after sunlight i see him walking back to me. he tells me he was sitting there and a squirell noticed him in his stand and started making hissing noises and standing off to him. so my brother moved his foot and said the squirell began waving his tail and hissing more. so my brother got down and walked to me. dont know why he didnt shoot it! or throw something at it. making us both noticeable seemed like the better option to him.
isaw 2 does humping eachother, i was gun hunting and watched them in my scope, i asure u there was no button buck it was 2 does... weird sh**
Walking in one new moon morning. Pitch Black, couldn't see 5 inches in front of me but I knew the way so I was walking without a light. As I'm walking I hear footsteps with mine. The timing is impeccable so I think my steps are echoing off the trees. my mind starts to wonder, getting myself spooked. my flashlight was buried so no way to use it. As i'm walking these footsteps are getting louder...meaning closer. I stop...nothing. i continue...there it is again. The woods I hunt is an old native American burial ground. The hair on the back of my neck stands as the mornings cool breeze is like ghost breath on my skin. Shivers run down my spine. My heart starts to race and my pace quickens, suddenly I wonder if the hunter is now the hunted. I stop short...and there it is...the crunch of leaves. I wasn't moving. I stare into the darkness, trying to focus. Shadows shift from left to right so fast my eyes can't keep up. I slowly unsnap my sheath, cold wood handle of my buck knife is smooth against my fingertips. I try to speak, no words will come. I stomp my foot. Thinking about what a buck does when challenged I drag my foot backwards through the autumn leaves. Then my heart stops as the sounds rings out through the sleepy woods. A sound that will buckle a grown mans knees. My blood starts pumping again. Damn Bobcat...LOL
Was fishing well up into the Adirondacks about 4 years ago. My wife and I had rented a cabin on the water, and I woke up at the crack of dawn to get the boat ready. It was not really light yet.....the kind of light where you can see an object better if you don't look directly at it. As I'm stuffing rods in the boat, etc.......from about 10 yards away I hear a growling sound. The kind of sound that you have nightmares about. At the time I had absolutely no idea what it was. I could see an animal that looked to be about knee high, but I wasn't sure if it was a domestic dog, yote, coon, etc. I grabbed the paddle out of the boat and stood upright and yelled at the animal, at which point it bluff charged me stopping about 10' away. At this point, I realized it was a grayfox. When it stopped, it didn't retreat, but didn't look interested in getting swatted with the paddle I was shaking at it. I backed away and into the cabin slowly. Once inside with the door closed, he hung outside for probably half an hour or so aggressively barking at the camp. He's awfully lucky because if I happened to have any type of weapon on me at all I wouldn't have hesitated to let the air out of him. The next day, my wife and I were out on the boat again in the morning and saw a neighbor frantically waving at us from her boat dock. Turns out she was gardening and a gray fox cornered her in her garden. She apparently ran to the dock since the fox had cut her off from the house. We called her husband from our cell phone and he came out armed and was able to get her back in the house. That night, we heard a loud gunshot next to our camp just before dark. The neighbors denied anything, but there was no more fox after that. Once I got home, I found out that there was a pretty bad outbreak of rabies in that county especially among gray foxes. I'm not sure he was rabid or not, but I've seen a lot of them in my life and had them growl when they didn't know what you were in the woods........but I've never seen one stand it's ground or charge. I know it was only a fox, but when I first heard that thing it caught me completely off guard and scared the hell out of me for sure.
