What’s your spookiest hunting experience?

[Nomad458]

I lived in the country of Iowa, and one spring/winter day before the landlord plowed I saw tracks in my long driveway not 30 yards from my front door I looked them over and they were from a large wolf. My sister in-law had said she seen a wolf months before, and my place was down a large stream from their place a few miles. That's the back story.

I'd prefer to let it live and not hunt it, but the tracks were back and had spent some time trying to get in to my chicken coop. So I said he'll with it and grabbed my coyote rifle. I followed tracks and mulled around a bit. I got to an area of the creek bead that gave me a bit of a tingle like I was being hunted. I saw sign headed to the water and followed it. Creek was about 3ft wide and snakes around. As I looked at the other side I heard sploosh sploosh in the water behind me.

I spun around weapon up and ready to see ripples in the water, but nothing else. The opposite side of the creek was a sheer dirt bank, and two more clods of mud fell in to the water. There were no tracks up above, I checked that after my shorts. I mulled around a bit more but found nothing. A couple weeks later someone said they seen a wolf near where that creek went down the highway a couple miles down stream from my place. I'm glad I didn't have to shoot it, but I'm also glad I didn't get turned in to poop

 

[gareyg]

I've got a great one for ya. A group of us took a motor home to Texas to go pig hunting. We had a great time. On that trip the first morning we were going to shoot some prairie dogs up around Hereford. We pulled into the field and when my buddy stepped out of the rig there was the first rattlesnake of the trip, literally right outside the passenger door. He screamed, we killed it with a pistol and this set the tone for the rest of the trip. Once we arrived in San Antonio at the place where we were pig hunting the guy running the place told us to watch out for snakes, it was a banner year for then apparently. One of my buddies, Curtis, was deathly afraid of snakes so he was on high alert all the time. There was another older gentleman in camp with us that thought he was the greatest hunter to ever live, he had killed everything and everything he had killed was the biggest, longest etc. etc. etc., you know the type. My buddy, Curtis, took a little disliking to him for being such a blowhard right away and decided he needed to do something to bring the guy down a notch.

On this particular trip we were doing alot of night hunting over bait. The first night we were sitting along a road, there were three of us sitting in chairs about 15 yards off the road that the outfitter had corned. We had some libations in the backpack and after about an hour one of the guys that was with us said 'Hey Curtis give me a cold one". Curtis reached into his bag and the next thing I know he launches clean over me right onto our other buddies lap. We all turned on our lights to see what the hell was going on and he said there's a snake in my bag. Of course we called BS but when I turned the light on the bag sure enough a copperhead had crawled right into the backpack. I dumped it out and we killed it. We had quite a laugh over it but Curtis was scared to turn the lights back off. Eventually we did and actually had a great night of hunting. We killed four or five hogs that night so the next day we had to go to Walmart to pick up some coolers for the meat. While at the store Curtis decides it would be funny to pick up a rubber snake and put it outside the old man's door.

When we got back to camp it was dark and Curtis placed the rubber snake, coiled up right outside the old mans door. He figured inteh morning when the old man came out he would step righ on it, soil himself maybe a little and we would all get a good laugh out if it. We all went to our room to sack out for the night. While laying in bed, which were bunk beds, I looked down to talk to another one of my buddies and there was a scorpion climbing his way up to my bunk, **** things were everywhere, I slapped at him with my hat which was on the bed post and he ran back down towards my buddy Scott, hit a cross member on the bunk beds and ran into a crack in the wall of the bunkhouse. I said ******** grabbed my stuff and started to climb down from the top bunk. The guys said "where you going" and I said "we had a perfectly good motor home sitting in the parking area and I knew there weren't any scorpions in it". Before I could get out the door they were all following me. My buddy Curtis decided to take the lead, remember, he is the one that placed the snake on the old man's doorstep, and headed for the motor home. The path took him right by the old mans door and when he got there he launched ten feet in the air and let out the best six year old girl scream a guy could imagine. His sleeping bag and pillow went flying as he cartwheeled onto the front porch. I literally laughed so hard I almost wet myself as did the others in our group. Sometimes Karma is a real Bitch. Great Hunt with Great Friends and some fun along the way!

You may have seen this here in Texas. I saw it live. I emailed the station and suggested they buy a bag of rubber lizards and everyone throw them at Michael all day

 

[memtb]

Ok, Muddy. Don't look at this. My neighbor was weed eating around his house when this guy scared him big time. Was well within striking distance when he saw it. Then a week later, he's telling his college age grandson about it and is showing him the tree the snake was hunting squirrels in. Dang, number two is in the same place almost the same ready to strike pose. Living in the mountains in East Alabama can be exciting.

Do you 'bama boys routinely lasso your snakes? memtb

 

[Rosebud]

Late September of 2017 a friend of mine was asking for a transition snowshoe hare for a taxidermy mount so I took to my favorite river bottom to see if they were changing color yet. I knew there was a lot of bear activity because the salmon run was winding down here in Kodiak so I grabbed my camera instead of my 22 in case of a good photo op. About 1/2 mile in I see a sow laid out on a gravel bar sleeping with two yearling cubs playing around eating salmon carcasses. I duck down on the high bank and start snapping photos. They're pretty occupied twirling fish around and wrestling and I'm a solid 50 yards away so I'm feeling pretty confident. This particular sow and cubs had fished right past me a few times earlier in the season and she was pretty known for being pretty relaxed. After a couple of minutes one of them must have seen me and got curious as to what I was and starts walking towards me. At that moment I knew I had a problem. Momma was still fast asleep and as the little guy got closer I was quickly trying to decide what to do. He got to about 20 yards and I quietly stood up and waved my hands hoping he'd turn back. Well, he let out a noise I'd never heard a bear make and stood up and the sow instantly sprung up. I'm still standing with one arm up and a big DSLR and lens in my other hand and now momma is heading my way like a freight train while the cub is running back and I'm starting go back up.
You know how they say not to run from a bear charge? Well, she was up the high bank and on me in seconds. I jumped down into the water, ran across the thigh high creek and when I looked back all I saw was a sow's open mouth, claws, and a curtain of water. As soon as my feet hit dry ground I turned upstream and one more look back I was relieved to see she had turned downstream to gather her cubs. That experience shook me to the core and I made it home absolutely high on adrenaline. I have had hundreds of bear experiences here over the years and this was the only time I genuinely felt I was about to die from one. Lessons were learned. Here are a couple of photos from right before the incident. You can see a bit of the sow on the left sleeping.

Wow, glad it turned out ok. Never go un armed on Kodiak.

 

[Rosebud]

You may have seen this here in Texas. I saw it live. I emailed the station and suggested they buy a bag of rubber lizards and everyone throw them at Michael all day

To funny!

 

[Rosebud]

Do you 'bama boys routinely lasso your snakes? memtb

You talking about the blue bungy cord. It held electric wires for Christmas lights. But no lassos involved! Also, there were no survivors of the reptile kind.

 

[C-130 Dude]

I doubt that the Navy would be conducting experiments in a major shipping lane. Besides, they would have reported the interference


I suspect that our military doesn't "always" tell us of experiments! ThoughI agree, unlikely in a major shipping zone……but also, not out of the question! memtb

Not the military, the shipping. Any water craft experiencing interference would have reported it. Worded the sentence wrong, sorry.

 

[Rosebud]

Tag

 

[DMP25-06]

In 1987 , my 2 younger brothers and I were hunting in Colorado , just a few miles north of the small town of Powderhorn . We had parked our 1966 Bronco , and walked into some deep canyons to hunt the early morning hours . About 11:00 AM , we walked out of the canyon , to return to the vehicle , to drive to a different area to meet our friends .

As we approached the Bronco , when we were about 15 feet away from the vehicle , a bullet skipped on the ground , between my 2 brothers , with the boom of the shot just after bullet impact . The shot came from very close !

We all dived behind the vehicle for cover , and just layed on the ground for several minutes . I crawled to the left end of the vehicle/cover , and began a visual search of the area that the shot had come from , and having not seen anything , one of my brothers cautiously stepped-out from behind the vehicle on the opposite end from me . About 5 seconds later , another bullet flew by my brother , who heard the supersonic "crack" sound as the bullet flew by , closely followed by the "boom" sound .
My brother again dived behind the vehicle , and began to fire 3 slow-paced shots into the air , back toward the canyon that we had walked out of earlier , as I cautiously opened the driver's side door and began honking the horn .

At that time , I saw a man stand up from behind some Sagebrush looking toward us .
I told my youngest brother to be ready to shoot this man , if he raised his rifle , as I slowly began walking toward this other "hunter ???".
I approached this man , un-armed , waving my hands and shouting as I walked toward him (all the while staying out of my brother's line-of-fire).
When I got to where the man was still standing , I saw that he was at least 75+ years old (twice my age of 37), carrying a Winchester Model 94 Lever Action 30-30 , iron sights , and he was wearing eye glasses with the proverbial "Coke Bottle Lenses" . He was almost blind .

I asked if he had fired the 2 shots , and what he had been shooting at ?
He replied that he was a blocker for a "Drive", that his Sons and Grandsons had positioned him there about an hour earlier , and that he had shot at a cow elk that had a calf following it , had missed his 1st shot , and the elk had run behind "that big white rock" , pointing towards my White Bronco , and he had fired his 2nd shot when 1 of the elk had stepped back out from behind the"white rock".

I told him that he had shot , twice , at HUMANS , my 2 brothers and me .
At this time he dropped the rifle , began shaking , stuttering , and almost crying , as he tried to apologize .
I picked up his rifle , emptied the chamber and magazine , and waved to my brothers to come over .
When we all were standing in front of him , I said "Did you not see that all 3 of us were , and are , wearing full , long-sleeved , Blaze-Orange sweatshirts and Blaze-Orange caps ??"
His reply was that he was color-blind .

I took all of his ammunition from him , and said that I would leave it next to the BLM entry gate .

I was FURIOUS at this point , not so much at the old man , but instead I was really pi**ed at his Sons and Grandsons for having left this "Visually Impaired" old man by himself to hunt .

We decided to wait for the "walkers" to arrive , but after 3 hours , they had still not arrived , and we needed to be elsewhere , so we decided to leave .
I think that they might have witnessed the happenings , and did not want any part of our anger .

After the 3 hours waiting for his group , the old man was still shaking and stuttering , but as we left him , he said "I will never hunt again , this was my last hunt".

We were VERY LUCKY !!!


DMP25-06

 

[Allen Kitts]

In 1987 , my 2 younger brothers and I were hunting in Colorado , just a few miles north of the small town of Powderhorn . We had parked our 1966 Bronco , and walked into some deep canyons to hunt the early morning hours . About 11:00 AM , we walked out of the canyon , to return to the vehicle , to drive to a different area to meet our friends .

As we approached the Bronco , when we were about 15 feet away from the vehicle , a bullet skipped on the ground , between my 2 brothers , with the boom of the shot just after bullet impact . The shot came from very close !

We all dived behind the vehicle for cover , and just layed on the ground for several minutes . I crawled to the left end of the vehicle/cover , and began a visual search of the area that the shot had come from , and having not seen anything , one of my brothers cautiously stepped-out from behind the vehicle on the opposite end from me . About 5 seconds later , another bullet flew by my brother , who heard the supersonic "crack" sound as the bullet flew by , closely followed by the "boom" sound .
My brother again dived behind the vehicle , and began to fire 3 slow-paced shots into the air , back toward the canyon that we had walked out of earlier , as I cautiously opened the driver's side door and began honking the horn .

At that time , I saw a man stand up from behind some Sagebrush looking toward us .
I told my youngest brother to be ready to shoot this man , if he raised his rifle , as I slowly began walking toward this other "hunter ???".
I approached this man , un-armed , waving my hands and shouting as I walked toward him (all the while staying out of my brother's line-of-fire).
When I got to where the man was still standing , I saw that he was at least 75+ years old (twice my age of 37), carrying a Winchester Model 94 Lever Action 30-30 , iron sights , and he was wearing eye glasses with the proverbial "Coke Bottle Lenses" . He was almost blind .

I asked if he had fired the 2 shots , and what he had been shooting at ?
He replied that he was a blocker for a "Drive", that his Sons and Grandsons had positioned him there about an hour earlier , and that he had shot at a cow elk that had a calf following it , had missed his 1st shot , and the elk had run behind "that big white rock" , pointing towards my White Bronco , and he had fired his 2nd shot when 1 of the elk had stepped back out from behind the"white rock".

I told him that he had shot , twice , at HUMANS , my 2 brothers and me .
At this time he dropped the rifle , began shaking , stuttering , and almost crying , as he tried to apologize .
I picked up his rifle , emptied the chamber and magazine , and waved to my brothers to come over .
When we all were standing in front of him , I said "Did you not see that all 3 of us were , and are , wearing full , long-sleeved , Blaze-Orange sweatshirts and Blaze-Orange caps ??"
His reply was that he was color-blind .

I took all of his ammunition from him , and said that I would leave it next to the BLM entry gate .

I was FURIOUS at this point , not so much at the old man , but instead I was really pi**ed at his Sons and Grandsons for having left this "Visually Impaired" old man by himself to hunt .

We decided to wait for the "walkers" to arrive , but after 3 hours , they had still not arrived , and we needed to be elsewhere , so we decided to leave .
I think that they might have witnessed the happenings , and did not want any part of our anger .

After the 3 hours waiting for his group , the old man was still shaking and stuttering , but as we left him , he said "I will never hunt again , this was my last hunt".

We were VERY LUCKY !!!


DMP25-06

Unbelievable but probably happens more times than you ever hear about. Glad you guys made it out OK.

 

[338 dude]

In 1987 , my 2 younger brothers and I were hunting in Colorado , just a few miles north of the small town of Powderhorn . We had parked our 1966 Bronco , and walked into some deep canyons to hunt the early morning hours . About 11:00 AM , we walked out of the canyon , to return to the vehicle , to drive to a different area to meet our friends .

As we approached the Bronco , when we were about 15 feet away from the vehicle , a bullet skipped on the ground , between my 2 brothers , with the boom of the shot just after bullet impact . The shot came from very close !

We all dived behind the vehicle for cover , and just layed on the ground for several minutes . I crawled to the left end of the vehicle/cover , and began a visual search of the area that the shot had come from , and having not seen anything , one of my brothers cautiously stepped-out from behind the vehicle on the opposite end from me . About 5 seconds later , another bullet flew by my brother , who heard the supersonic "crack" sound as the bullet flew by , closely followed by the "boom" sound .
My brother again dived behind the vehicle , and began to fire 3 slow-paced shots into the air , back toward the canyon that we had walked out of earlier , as I cautiously opened the driver's side door and began honking the horn .

At that time , I saw a man stand up from behind some Sagebrush looking toward us .
I told my youngest brother to be ready to shoot this man , if he raised his rifle , as I slowly began walking toward this other "hunter ???".
I approached this man , un-armed , waving my hands and shouting as I walked toward him (all the while staying out of my brother's line-of-fire).
When I got to where the man was still standing , I saw that he was at least 75+ years old (twice my age of 37), carrying a Winchester Model 94 Lever Action 30-30 , iron sights , and he was wearing eye glasses with the proverbial "Coke Bottle Lenses" . He was almost blind .

I asked if he had fired the 2 shots , and what he had been shooting at ?
He replied that he was a blocker for a "Drive", that his Sons and Grandsons had positioned him there about an hour earlier , and that he had shot at a cow elk that had a calf following it , had missed his 1st shot , and the elk had run behind "that big white rock" , pointing towards my White Bronco , and he had fired his 2nd shot when 1 of the elk had stepped back out from behind the"white rock".

I told him that he had shot , twice , at HUMANS , my 2 brothers and me .
At this time he dropped the rifle , began shaking , stuttering , and almost crying , as he tried to apologize .
I picked up his rifle , emptied the chamber and magazine , and waved to my brothers to come over .
When we all were standing in front of him , I said "Did you not see that all 3 of us were , and are , wearing full , long-sleeved , Blaze-Orange sweatshirts and Blaze-Orange caps ??"
His reply was that he was color-blind .

I took all of his ammunition from him , and said that I would leave it next to the BLM entry gate .

I was FURIOUS at this point , not so much at the old man , but instead I was really pi**ed at his Sons and Grandsons for having left this "Visually Impaired" old man by himself to hunt .

We decided to wait for the "walkers" to arrive , but after 3 hours , they had still not arrived , and we needed to be elsewhere , so we decided to leave .
I think that they might have witnessed the happenings , and did not want any part of our anger .

After the 3 hours waiting for his group , the old man was still shaking and stuttering , but as we left him , he said "I will never hunt again , this was my last hunt".

We were VERY LUCKY !!!


DMP25-06

That makes me angry and sad. I will never let myself get that bad, but I could only imagine what it felt like to know that was my last hunt. I know what happened is way bad don't get me wrong. I just can't imagine what that man felt like for both reasons mentioned.

 

[C-130 Dude]

In 1987 , my 2 younger brothers and I were hunting in Colorado , just a few miles north of the small town of Powderhorn . We had parked our 1966 Bronco , and walked into some deep canyons to hunt the early morning hours . About 11:00 AM , we walked out of the canyon , to return to the vehicle , to drive to a different area to meet our friends .

As we approached the Bronco , when we were about 15 feet away from the vehicle , a bullet skipped on the ground , between my 2 brothers , with the boom of the shot just after bullet impact . The shot came from very close !

We all dived behind the vehicle for cover , and just layed on the ground for several minutes . I crawled to the left end of the vehicle/cover , and began a visual search of the area that the shot had come from , and having not seen anything , one of my brothers cautiously stepped-out from behind the vehicle on the opposite end from me . About 5 seconds later , another bullet flew by my brother , who heard the supersonic "crack" sound as the bullet flew by , closely followed by the "boom" sound .
My brother again dived behind the vehicle , and began to fire 3 slow-paced shots into the air , back toward the canyon that we had walked out of earlier , as I cautiously opened the driver's side door and began honking the horn .

At that time , I saw a man stand up from behind some Sagebrush looking toward us .
I told my youngest brother to be ready to shoot this man , if he raised his rifle , as I slowly began walking toward this other "hunter ???".
I approached this man , un-armed , waving my hands and shouting as I walked toward him (all the while staying out of my brother's line-of-fire).
When I got to where the man was still standing , I saw that he was at least 75+ years old (twice my age of 37), carrying a Winchester Model 94 Lever Action 30-30 , iron sights , and he was wearing eye glasses with the proverbial "Coke Bottle Lenses" . He was almost blind .

I asked if he had fired the 2 shots , and what he had been shooting at ?
He replied that he was a blocker for a "Drive", that his Sons and Grandsons had positioned him there about an hour earlier , and that he had shot at a cow elk that had a calf following it , had missed his 1st shot , and the elk had run behind "that big white rock" , pointing towards my White Bronco , and he had fired his 2nd shot when 1 of the elk had stepped back out from behind the"white rock".

I told him that he had shot , twice , at HUMANS , my 2 brothers and me .
At this time he dropped the rifle , began shaking , stuttering , and almost crying , as he tried to apologize .
I picked up his rifle , emptied the chamber and magazine , and waved to my brothers to come over .
When we all were standing in front of him , I said "Did you not see that all 3 of us were , and are , wearing full , long-sleeved , Blaze-Orange sweatshirts and Blaze-Orange caps ??"
His reply was that he was color-blind .

I took all of his ammunition from him , and said that I would leave it next to the BLM entry gate .

I was FURIOUS at this point , not so much at the old man , but instead I was really pi**ed at his Sons and Grandsons for having left this "Visually Impaired" old man by himself to hunt .

We decided to wait for the "walkers" to arrive , but after 3 hours , they had still not arrived , and we needed to be elsewhere , so we decided to leave .
I think that they might have witnessed the happenings , and did not want any part of our anger .

After the 3 hours waiting for his group , the old man was still shaking and stuttering , but as we left him , he said "I will never hunt again , this was my last hunt".

We were VERY LUCKY !!!


DMP25-06

How incredibly stupid! You guys are very lucky.

 

[Rosebud]

In 1987 , my 2 younger brothers and I were hunting in Colorado , just a few miles north of the small town of Powderhorn . We had parked our 1966 Bronco , and walked into some deep canyons to hunt the early morning hours . About 11:00 AM , we walked out of the canyon , to return to the vehicle , to drive to a different area to meet our friends .

As we approached the Bronco , when we were about 15 feet away from the vehicle , a bullet skipped on the ground , between my 2 brothers , with the boom of the shot just after bullet impact . The shot came from very close !

We all dived behind the vehicle for cover , and just layed on the ground for several minutes . I crawled to the left end of the vehicle/cover , and began a visual search of the area that the shot had come from , and having not seen anything , one of my brothers cautiously stepped-out from behind the vehicle on the opposite end from me . About 5 seconds later , another bullet flew by my brother , who heard the supersonic "crack" sound as the bullet flew by , closely followed by the "boom" sound .
My brother again dived behind the vehicle , and began to fire 3 slow-paced shots into the air , back toward the canyon that we had walked out of earlier , as I cautiously opened the driver's side door and began honking the horn .

At that time , I saw a man stand up from behind some Sagebrush looking toward us .
I told my youngest brother to be ready to shoot this man , if he raised his rifle , as I slowly began walking toward this other "hunter ???".
I approached this man , un-armed , waving my hands and shouting as I walked toward him (all the while staying out of my brother's line-of-fire).
When I got to where the man was still standing , I saw that he was at least 75+ years old (twice my age of 37), carrying a Winchester Model 94 Lever Action 30-30 , iron sights , and he was wearing eye glasses with the proverbial "Coke Bottle Lenses" . He was almost blind .

I asked if he had fired the 2 shots , and what he had been shooting at ?
He replied that he was a blocker for a "Drive", that his Sons and Grandsons had positioned him there about an hour earlier , and that he had shot at a cow elk that had a calf following it , had missed his 1st shot , and the elk had run behind "that big white rock" , pointing towards my White Bronco , and he had fired his 2nd shot when 1 of the elk had stepped back out from behind the"white rock".

I told him that he had shot , twice , at HUMANS , my 2 brothers and me .
At this time he dropped the rifle , began shaking , stuttering , and almost crying , as he tried to apologize .
I picked up his rifle , emptied the chamber and magazine , and waved to my brothers to come over .
When we all were standing in front of him , I said "Did you not see that all 3 of us were , and are , wearing full , long-sleeved , Blaze-Orange sweatshirts and Blaze-Orange caps ??"
His reply was that he was color-blind .

I took all of his ammunition from him , and said that I would leave it next to the BLM entry gate .

I was FURIOUS at this point , not so much at the old man , but instead I was really pi**ed at his Sons and Grandsons for having left this "Visually Impaired" old man by himself to hunt .

We decided to wait for the "walkers" to arrive , but after 3 hours , they had still not arrived , and we needed to be elsewhere , so we decided to leave .
I think that they might have witnessed the happenings , and did not want any part of our anger .

After the 3 hours waiting for his group , the old man was still shaking and stuttering , but as we left him , he said "I will never hunt again , this was my last hunt".

We were VERY LUCKY !!!


DMP25-06

Couple of friends and myself hunted South west of Meeker Colo. Near Twenty mile gulch. If anyone here knows where it is. One of my buddies came back to camp one night saying he saw a guy on top of one of the bluffs and looked at him with his binos. The guy was looking through a scoped rifle at him. This is early archery season. Not supposed to be guys on the BLM land gun hunting. Spooked him pretty good.

 

[CrickBottom]

A couple years ago, during the western WA early muzzleloader elk season, I was walking in behind a gate before daylight on a solo hunt. About 1/2 mile in on a straight stretch, I'm clipping along when something smacks me hard in the back of the head. (It was like when you're in high school and your dip**** buddy runs up and whacks you in the back of the head) I spin around and there's nothing, no sound, nothing at all. My mind didn't know how to process that. Instant goosebumps, man. At this point I'm really confused, and after 30 seconds or so, I continue on. Maybe 20 feet later in my headlamp all I see is talons and a huge wingspan right in my face. It didn't even make a single noise, just a stealth attack. Luckily I reacted quick enough to avoid this big owls attack, as the photos I've seen online of owl attacks don't look like much fun! After it missed me, it flew into a tree again, but this time I was gonna be ready for it. So now, holding my musket by the barrel and fore end of the stock, I'm anticipating another attack as I back down the road facing the direction it went. Sure enough, it tried again and I took a swing and missed but saw where it landed. I picked up a stick and chucked it into the tree it was in and it flew off for good.

That tripped me out more than anything I'd experienced in the woods, just turning around and not seeing or hearing anything at all. Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.