drabdrew
Member
My first thought was hump straight up to the top of the mountain where it was all rocks and no brush but figured the smoke could have choked us out. The Polaris was a life saver for sure.
What’s your spookiest hunting experience?
- Thread starter marksman1941
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Great story. Thank you for sharing.
I've thought about wild fires more than once. Thankfully I've never experienced it. My dad told me that deer season was closed one year in NW MN back in the '70s due to extreme dry conditions.
Flatbow
Well-Known Member
I have a couple so need to figure out witch was the spookiest
memtb
Well-Known Member
I'd have to put "drabdrew's" story very near the top! That had to be very stressful! memtb
Turkeytider
Well-Known Member
If everybody was absolutely honest, and spent any time in the woods, particularly after dark, I would wager that there`s very few of us who haven`t had the feeling of, " You know....I`m not absolutely sure I should be here right this second. "
By and large, we are not creatures of the night. Our senses, certainly compared to other animals, are not well attuned to the dark. It`s in our genetic makeup, I believe, to be at the very least, uneasy in the dark. It gives rise to many fears, many irrational, but some.......perhaps not.
By and large, we are not creatures of the night. Our senses, certainly compared to other animals, are not well attuned to the dark. It`s in our genetic makeup, I believe, to be at the very least, uneasy in the dark. It gives rise to many fears, many irrational, but some.......perhaps not.
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Share both!
I have personally been reading this thread with great interest. So many stories have sparked recollections of my own, but I am really enjoying learning about other people's adventures and misadventures. Often there are little kernels of knowledge or preparation that I can take away from these too.
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I was fishing in the NW Angle (the part of MN that looks like a chimney and the northern most part of the lower 48) on Lake of the Woods with my brother in law and nephew. It's big water by most inland lake standards with the exception of the Great Lakes. We were walleye fishing about four miles south of Oak Island on a beautiful blue bird day. There was a bit if a walleye chop on the lake, maybe 2 foot waves being pushed by 10-15mph winds. Nothing unusual… that is until the wind speed quadrupled by an unknown cold front that moved in on us in an instant. Two foot waves turned instantly into white caps and grew very rapidly in height. Thankfully we were able to hunker down on the lee side of a small 5 acre island (Four Block Is.). We watched in amazement from the shelter of our little bay as 5 and 6 foot waves crashed off the rocky point. The boat and the small bay we took shelter in were covered by the leaves blown off of the trees from that little island. It was something to see. Thankfully we had cell service and were able to communicate with the rest of our fishing party. Everyone was safe. It took over an hour for things to settle down where we finally felt comfortable making our way back to the cabin a few mile to the north. All of our boats are now equipped with marine band radios and an emergency distress function as an extra precaution. That experience gave me new perspective and a new respect for that lake. Many of the stories posted here have had the same affect, especially those dealing with snow storms, wild fires, and lightning. Thank you all for sharing your tales.
Well, that makes it easier. Especially if you don't have a horse.
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PartsJr, I think you just provided the answer - a cold front - for a very similar experience I had back in the central Adirondacks 50 years ago. A couple canoes of us were on a several day canoe trip along one of the now well used canoe routes that followed the Raquette River. It was late summer/early fall. We had gotten on Long Lake, a long, narrow mountain lake 13 miles in length, and were making good time on slightly riffled waters when suddenly the wind blew up just as you described. As bowman the whitecaps were breaking in my lap, and sometimes as I went to dig into the lake with my paddle the bow would rise so high, I couldn't reach water. It got pretty tense for a little while as we got soaked, our canoes started to swamp, and our gear started floating in the bottom of the canoe. We too pulled into a tiny island for shelter until the wind subsided.
We have had summer fires in several areas where we hunt elk. Some go into fall. In 2020, a fire that straddled WY/CO did close down hunting in the affected hunting units. On my first sheep hunt (DIY 3 weeks) we had to have some contingency plans in mind for fires. Not only was it incredibly dry, but there was a month-long fire near our area. It made us stay very aware every time we smelled smoke. At a whiff of smoke, we would stop what we were doing either scouting, or later hunting, to check out where the smoke was coming from. We were a day's backpack back into wilderness, and escape from the area would have been unlikely. We had some rock talus slopes to head for, but that was it. Drabdrew was smart to think about what the smoke could do to breathing; he made some smart moves keeping them safe. The other thing about big fires is they leave thousands of standing dead trees that become widowmakers, so when hunting in old burns you have to be aware of their deteriorating condition and mind the wind direction. Under those conditions deadfalls become commonplace.
We have had summer fires in several areas where we hunt elk. Some go into fall. In 2020, a fire that straddled WY/CO did close down hunting in the affected hunting units. On my first sheep hunt (DIY 3 weeks) we had to have some contingency plans in mind for fires. Not only was it incredibly dry, but there was a month-long fire near our area. It made us stay very aware every time we smelled smoke. At a whiff of smoke, we would stop what we were doing either scouting, or later hunting, to check out where the smoke was coming from. We were a day's backpack back into wilderness, and escape from the area would have been unlikely. We had some rock talus slopes to head for, but that was it. Drabdrew was smart to think about what the smoke could do to breathing; he made some smart moves keeping them safe. The other thing about big fires is they leave thousands of standing dead trees that become widowmakers, so when hunting in old burns you have to be aware of their deteriorating condition and mind the wind direction. Under those conditions deadfalls become commonplace.
Muddyboots
Well-Known Member
It's the ONLY place where I had to stop, reset my thought process to reconfirm where the heck I was and direction out. I've hunted all over San Juan Mtns in CO and never felt "where the heck am I?" Like it happened in the Adirondacks. Plus large iron deposits that can spin that compass like you never saw before! And I still love it there!
Yes the magnetite! It disorients compasses like I had it do grouse hunting up on Lyon Mountain where the iron mines were! Good thing that day I could see the sun, I knew my compass was lying. I recently found a little chunk of magnetite on the shore of Lake Champlain that is so magnetic it jumps up to a strong magnet.
Southern 62
Well-Known Member
Hunting in Idaho on a drop camp hunt. By myself on the way back to camp after dark. There was snow that morning and on my up to my perch fresh Mt. lion tracks on the same trail I was using that morning. Finally got to where I sit off the trail. I was so ready to get off that trail!!!! lol All day I looked behind me more than in front of me. Well about two hours left in the day I decided to move about 1/2 mile to a spot I wanted to check out. Back to the trail I went. After about 300 yards I found his bed in the snow. Fresh!!! It wasn't even crusted over from the cold. Finally again I'm off that SPOOKY TRAIL!!! Just before dark my buddy got his first muley. He was about a mile from me. So I'm headed down to camp to unload and go up to help him. Dark as the inside of a mailbox now and all I could think about was being jumped be a Mt. Lion. Left my pistol in my truck at the outfitters like a dummy. With my Gerber knife out I'm totally spooked. Not going lie. Well about an hour left to go. Somthing slapped me and for about 50 yards I was speaking in tongues!!!! Running through the limbs and snow. I'm telling ya I was had in my mind lol. Turned out my sitting pad had got caught on a limb and slapped the taste out of my mouth when I broke loose lol. Prayer for forgiveness for my language and a praise it wasn't jumped!!!!!! Made it back to camp in record time. Got my buddy's deer packed out by midnight. Next morning a local hunter came by camp around noon. Asked if that was our gut pile up there. Yep. He saw a huge Tom on it. Sent chills back down my spine. Anyway I'll never forget it or my pistol 
adk hunter
Well-Known Member
Now wife took me on a weekend getaway on Long lake, NY. We were kayaking and having a great time. So the scary part...
I'd been watching the planes taxi and take off and I hear one really raving up. I am well over to shore but I start yelling GO,GO,GO,GO to my then fiancé she was really digging that paddle in!!! Holy smokes she was terrified and I was laughing so hard I had to ditch into the water to preserve the ambiance of the weekend.
Also saw the most prehistoric snapping turtle there in the late 70's. Like as big as a sea turtle!!!
I'd been watching the planes taxi and take off and I hear one really raving up. I am well over to shore but I start yelling GO,GO,GO,GO to my then fiancé she was really digging that paddle in!!! Holy smokes she was terrified and I was laughing so hard I had to ditch into the water to preserve the ambiance of the weekend.Also saw the most prehistoric snapping turtle there in the late 70's. Like as big as a sea turtle!!!
