I'll bet your off vines for lifeThese are great stories. Here's a couple climbing tree stand adventures.
Bowhunting public land in Texas, Davy Crockett National Park. I hike far in early in the dark and come out well after dark to hopefully avoid other hunters. I'm in the dark in heavy rain, and spot a large, leaning but climb-able tree over a small stream. I thought great, I can climb on the under side and hunt at least a little out of this rain. I try to get up as high as I can. I get about 25 feet up the tree, using my tiny headlamp to look around and map the ground in my head as much as I can on the way up. Apparently I wasn't the only one taking advantage of that meager shelter. For some reason I happen to look up and I'm face to face with a large snake all balled up around something. He's so close he probably could have licked my nose. I have no where to go, so in the split second before I figured I would get bit in the face, I throw the hardest left hook I can. I'm hoping that he's wrapped around a twig or dead branch and I'll knock him out of the spot, and not just really **** him off! Thankfully it worked, and he sailed off into the dark never to be seen again. I kept an eye out around that tree trunk all day, as I figured he might climb back up there just to kick my ***. I always look a tree over good all the way up for limbs and stuff before climbing but somehow missed this little rascal. It happened too fast for me to really get a good look to identify the snake. I could have easily ended up dangling from my safety strap, backpack and bow still slung over my back, over a stream, wrassling with a snake, trying to at least figure out which end was which in the dark.
Tree stand hunting in the Mississippi Delta National Forest near Yazoo City late in the year. Climbed up a tree near a small creek running through a swamp. Most of the way up the tree and there's this very large vine, several inches thick trailing out on a branch and blocking my climb. Out comes my trusty little pocket saw, and I dice up this limb, over my head. Had a decent hunt, got a nice little buck. On the way out riding with my partner from Brandon, MS, I see a bunch more of those odd vines, with all these little limbs poking straight out of them. I ask my buddy "say what are those strange vines". He says oh that's poison ivy, stay away from it. Geez I had that sawdust everywhere, in my hair, down my neck, in my pants, arms, all over. I tried to scrub it all off with TecNu when we got back to his home, but had horrible itching all over for days.
Lessons learned.
Congrats! Too bad about the tripBear Bait, last summer. He became a grand dad this summer. So no Ak.trip this year.
FYIThis is getting worse!!
I hunt from Wilcox wilderness to Wells and that side of Speculator!
Geez
It appeared to have been a short stub of dead branch, from what was broken off where he was. I was honestly too shook up to pay much attention to it.I'll bet your off vines for life
BTW, in the first story, what was that snake wrapped around?
Don't blame you a bit. I could only imagine it may have been some critter the snake was about to dine on.It appeared to have been a short stub of dead branch, from what was broken off where he was. I was honestly too shook up to pay much attention to it.
That's one heck of a big bear you got there!OK, my last Alaskan story (unless I can remember another one). Still in the military, still a real neophite hunter. Same 30-06 my father-in-law gave me. This time some commerical ammo (probably 180 gr silver tip as I remember).
My (just as ignorant) neighbor and I decide to go hunting brown bears. We pack up my camper and drive into the outback.
In the morning we find the entire mountan is covered in heavy fog (clouds? What do we know or care) As we are slowly walking in the fog, I see a silhouette of what appears to be a bear standing on its hind legs looking towards us.
Ever see a mount of a brownie? rifles 6 ft high and two big paws just waiting for you? What was I thinking. Obviously not much as I slowly approach looking through the rifle scope. **** thing started to look really big.
Then the fog begins to clear and in front of me on a boulder is this 8 inch marmot.
Say what?
View attachment 488861
As I have matured as a hunter, I often wonder what the outcome would have been if it had turned out to be an Alaskan brownie?????
FYI
UFO sightings up in Adirondacks.
FYI
UFO sightings up in Adirondacks.
You might have to had a 30-06 pulled out of your back side.OK, my last Alaskan story (unless I can remember another one). Still in the military, still a real neophite hunter. Same 30-06 my father-in-law gave me. This time some commerical ammo (probably 180 gr silver tip as I remember).
My (just as ignorant) neighbor and I decide to go hunting brown bears. We pack up my camper and drive into the outback.
In the morning we find the entire mountan is covered in heavy fog (clouds? What do we know or care) As we are slowly walking in the fog, I see a silhouette of what appears to be a bear standing on its hind legs looking towards us.
Ever see a mount of a brownie? rifles 6 ft high and two big paws just waiting for you? What was I thinking. Obviously not much as I slowly approach looking through the rifle scope. **** thing started to look really big.
Then the fog begins to clear and in front of me on a boulder is this 8 inch marmot.
Say what?
View attachment 488861
As I have matured as a hunter, I often wonder what the outcome would have been if it had turned out to be an Alaskan brownie?????
You've started a extra terrestrial invasion Muddy.Obviously election season is looming