One moose trip we heard the shots of one of our group members and instantly he was on the radio stating the moose was down. The only member out of reach of our radios had no clue. I instructed the closest hunter to that hunter to fire off a few rounds so he would hear the shots and attempt to communicate. remember one moose per group in our area. The closest hunter was a Scottish guy and being very frugal agreed to fire a round but had to have a reason. He spotted a grouseabout 25 yards and let him have it. The grouse immediately keeled over. Upon inspection of the grouse, we learned it was never hit by a bullet and died of natural causes i guess. The scottsman was satisfied he got the message across with no waste of a bullet
Strangest hunting moment?
- Thread starter Ardent
- Start date
Caught in a rainstorm, I sought cover in a thicket. Where a rabbit wouldn't go thick, I had to get on my hands and knees to crawl into it. Once inside, in an open spot, I was able to stand, and as I waited for my eyes to adjust to the ambient light, the day began to go dark...like an eclipse of the sun...and as I'm thinking, "They didn't say anything about an eclipse today" it got darker and darker as a shadow quickly fell upon me...like a demon, or Batman's shadow...and then the darkness passed, and the swooping source of the shadow landed, in a tree, about ten away from me and about seven feet up. It'd missed my head - on purpose, of course - by only centimetres.
It perched there, facing away from me, before turning it's head toward me, to cast a stern gaze directly into me. Heart racing, holding my chest, I accused the owl: "You Bastard!"
I'd scared it, so it had scared me back.
It perched there, facing away from me, before turning it's head toward me, to cast a stern gaze directly into me. Heart racing, holding my chest, I accused the owl: "You Bastard!"
I'd scared it, so it had scared me back.
crazyjackrabbit
CGN Regular
Oddest thing I have ever had happen to me, was when I shot a red squirl with a 22lr.
Was maybe 20-22yrds away. Shot went right between the eyes top of the head (he was on the tree looking down) It fell and stay still for a sec so I started to walk towards it. Got withing 5ft of it when it started to jump in the air strait up and dive head first to the ground. Did it twice.. shocked the hell out of me..waited a min then checked it out.
Was maybe 20-22yrds away. Shot went right between the eyes top of the head (he was on the tree looking down) It fell and stay still for a sec so I started to walk towards it. Got withing 5ft of it when it started to jump in the air strait up and dive head first to the ground. Did it twice.. shocked the hell out of me..waited a min then checked it out.
Trimmer 905
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
These stories,oops,I mean experiences,are really funny. All I've had happen is a damn Black Bear sneaking up behind me on my Deer watch and swiped my pack with my lunch in it. I wasn't sleepin' and I never heard him,either. Honest!! That was the same year my buddy bought a brand new pair of heavy quilted coveralls with the attached hood and all. He was happy as a clam wearing these new duds. Later on in the morning while he's on his watch,nature calls,so,he unzips the coveralls and gets all hunkered down,finishes his business,but,when he zips up the coveralls and flips up the hood "WHOP!" right in the back of the head. How he managed to drop his runny ol' chili load dead center in the hood is still laughed about to this day.
I was hunting around home, Pemberton BC. t was an early September hunt and I set out early in the dark into the mountains and planned a loop to get me into some high country for dawn and then loop back over some cut blocks in the afternoon, then back to the truck. I had glassed all morning in high ground, only seeing some does. I hiked down a bit to the old cuts, found some deer trails into the cuts, got off them a bit into a good position and had a late lunch. It was one of those wonderful early fall BC days that any hunter knows, where it's crisp and chilly in the morning, but the sun comes up and it warms up a bit an we all feel just great enjoying the outdoors in the last bit of good weather. A great time to be in the alpine.
I ate my lunch, and laid back in the moss under the mature timber on the edge of the block, the food and the sun making me drowsy. Most of us know that wonderful, luxurious feeling of drifting off for an afternoon nap with just the sound of a breeze or trickle of a creek. Nothing better.....
Except this time, just as I was drifting off, I got an uneasy feeling. Being "watched" feeling. I dismissed it as I really wanted to sleep but then curiosity got the better of me and I opened my eyes and there he was- a cougar sitting in a tree above me, peering down at me! We made eye contact and I reached for my rifle, as he bounded from one tree to the other, then scampered down and was gone!
I was slightly unsettled, but started chuckling. He was doing the exact same thing I was doing, waiting for deer to funnel below me. I spoiled his hunt! But then I was thinking, he must have been up that tree the whole time, hiding around the backside of it, not moving, and watched me approach and eat lunch. Might have been eyeballing me for a meal or just been thinking "I hope that arsehole gets the eff out of my spot!"
I had another weird experience, but the cougar one was pretty cool.
I ate my lunch, and laid back in the moss under the mature timber on the edge of the block, the food and the sun making me drowsy. Most of us know that wonderful, luxurious feeling of drifting off for an afternoon nap with just the sound of a breeze or trickle of a creek. Nothing better.....
Except this time, just as I was drifting off, I got an uneasy feeling. Being "watched" feeling. I dismissed it as I really wanted to sleep but then curiosity got the better of me and I opened my eyes and there he was- a cougar sitting in a tree above me, peering down at me! We made eye contact and I reached for my rifle, as he bounded from one tree to the other, then scampered down and was gone!
I was slightly unsettled, but started chuckling. He was doing the exact same thing I was doing, waiting for deer to funnel below me. I spoiled his hunt! But then I was thinking, he must have been up that tree the whole time, hiding around the backside of it, not moving, and watched me approach and eat lunch. Might have been eyeballing me for a meal or just been thinking "I hope that arsehole gets the eff out of my spot!"
I had another weird experience, but the cougar one was pretty cool.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
This one will be hard to top
I was hunting moose in an area where moose hunting was new. It was calf tag only at that point.
We'd been there a few days, spot and stalk, take a stand,...... whatever was our style.
I was walking an ancient logging road, approaching a 'T' in the road. As I did, I had to go over a little knoll. I saw by buddies head as he walked the other road, go past. Then, as I got closer, I saw a cow and calf following him down the road!
The calf was on the off side of the cow, and I couldn't make an ID on the calf until they saw me and turned. Then, they dropped off the old road into the bush, with me running down the road to try and get a better look/shot.
My buddy has at this point turned around, with the WTF? look on his face, and I hand signaled what was going on.
I could hear the cow and calf running towards the bush road up the hill.
I took a gamble that they would not cross that road, and started running for our camp, hoping they would loop back, and motioned Mike, to stay put.
They did turn back!
I was within sight of my Van when I shot the calf with my 338WM and the tremendous distance of 21 feet. (Had to be careful not to hit the Van, or our tent.)
The calf was dead and on the ground so fast I couldn't find it when I recovered from the recoil.
Then the fun started.
The cow would have no part of leaving.
Two guys yelling and screaming, firing shots, etc, did no good.
So, WTH, I'll go back and get my camera, take some pics...
As I start to leave, Mike, now alone, gets charged by the cow. He's yelling, so I ran back to his aid.
Apparently the brilliant new Orange coveralls I wore spooked her enough to keep her at bay.
We both went back to camp. It was only 50 feet away.
Instead of the camera, I grabbed the school bell a friend had given me for a morning prank on the guys at deer camp.
Back to the cow we went, and I started ringing the bell. The cows eyes got big as saucers and she bolted for the bush, with me, in blaze orange, ringing the bell chasing after her.
Must have been quite a sight I admit, and Mike is laughing his ass off.
But it doesn't end there.
That night, Mike wakes me quietly, and points at the tent wall, where, the shadow of the cow moose is clearly visible in the light of the full moon, along with drool on the tent! Had she taken a step to the side she could have flattened Mike in his sleep.
Crap, the damned bell is in the van!
I tripped the alarm clock, and was rewarded by the sound of the cow running off, never to return.
In the morning, when we got up, we saw the she had browsed off all around where the calf hung from the tree.
That was a trip that made many memories, and could have gone very badly in a couple of spots.
I was hunting moose in an area where moose hunting was new. It was calf tag only at that point.
We'd been there a few days, spot and stalk, take a stand,...... whatever was our style.
I was walking an ancient logging road, approaching a 'T' in the road. As I did, I had to go over a little knoll. I saw by buddies head as he walked the other road, go past. Then, as I got closer, I saw a cow and calf following him down the road!
The calf was on the off side of the cow, and I couldn't make an ID on the calf until they saw me and turned. Then, they dropped off the old road into the bush, with me running down the road to try and get a better look/shot.
My buddy has at this point turned around, with the WTF? look on his face, and I hand signaled what was going on.
I could hear the cow and calf running towards the bush road up the hill.
I took a gamble that they would not cross that road, and started running for our camp, hoping they would loop back, and motioned Mike, to stay put.
They did turn back!
I was within sight of my Van when I shot the calf with my 338WM and the tremendous distance of 21 feet. (Had to be careful not to hit the Van, or our tent.)
The calf was dead and on the ground so fast I couldn't find it when I recovered from the recoil.
Then the fun started.
The cow would have no part of leaving.
Two guys yelling and screaming, firing shots, etc, did no good.
So, WTH, I'll go back and get my camera, take some pics...
As I start to leave, Mike, now alone, gets charged by the cow. He's yelling, so I ran back to his aid.
Apparently the brilliant new Orange coveralls I wore spooked her enough to keep her at bay.
We both went back to camp. It was only 50 feet away.
Instead of the camera, I grabbed the school bell a friend had given me for a morning prank on the guys at deer camp.
Back to the cow we went, and I started ringing the bell. The cows eyes got big as saucers and she bolted for the bush, with me, in blaze orange, ringing the bell chasing after her.
Must have been quite a sight I admit, and Mike is laughing his ass off.
But it doesn't end there.
That night, Mike wakes me quietly, and points at the tent wall, where, the shadow of the cow moose is clearly visible in the light of the full moon, along with drool on the tent! Had she taken a step to the side she could have flattened Mike in his sleep.
Crap, the damned bell is in the van!
I tripped the alarm clock, and was rewarded by the sound of the cow running off, never to return.
In the morning, when we got up, we saw the she had browsed off all around where the calf hung from the tree.
That was a trip that made many memories, and could have gone very badly in a couple of spots.
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Pretty crazy experience for sure ..............................but it made me sad...
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Yes, calf hunting does that, and so far, it has NOT increased moose numbers as it was supposed to.
They reduced the adult tags, and left the basic license valid for calf, on the idea that large numbers of calves die anyway.
Fail. Moose numbers are crashing, bear numbers are skyrocketing. At least for now, we have the spring bear hunt back.
They reduced the adult tags, and left the basic license valid for calf, on the idea that large numbers of calves die anyway.
Fail. Moose numbers are crashing, bear numbers are skyrocketing. At least for now, we have the spring bear hunt back.
was wondering around a copse of trees hunting the formidable woodcock and had a whiff of the old red fox.
the scent was fresh so i crept slowly through the trees thinking i would be lucky to catch him snooping around.
nothing found,so i made my way back to my original point were the scent was deadly strong.
the scent was getting stronger and stronger until i then heard the rustling above me in in the ivy clad fallen tree limb.
suddenly this red fox fox sticks his head out above me.
boom no more fox,gave him some 32g loads of No6 through the O/U.
bloody fox had made his way up a fallen tree limb for a snooze until i disturbed him.
the scent was fresh so i crept slowly through the trees thinking i would be lucky to catch him snooping around.
nothing found,so i made my way back to my original point were the scent was deadly strong.
the scent was getting stronger and stronger until i then heard the rustling above me in in the ivy clad fallen tree limb.
suddenly this red fox fox sticks his head out above me.
boom no more fox,gave him some 32g loads of No6 through the O/U.
bloody fox had made his way up a fallen tree limb for a snooze until i disturbed him.
Last day of deer season my buddy Wendell needed a whitetail buck to fill his limit. Come up on a small 2 pointer so he cranks it drops like a stone, walks back to the truck grabs knife and saunters out to bleed his buck. Grabs it by one horn and then begins the rodeo. Turns out he was shooting uphill and just nicked the top of the skull knocking it out for a bit. He managed to get it down and cut its throat. I was no help cause I was rolling in the dirt laughing. This was before the era of camera phones, dammit.
A way back in time when homesteaders still used work horses, a friend had a horse die and had hauled it into a scrubby bush area. I used to hunt with the BC game department wardens, so I called one of them whom I often hunted with and he suggested we go and see if any wolves had come to the horse carcass.
It was January and really cold, like 20 to 30 degrees below zero. As we approached the horse we were amazed to see a lynx sitting on the dead horse, with its front feet tucked under it, exactly like a house cat does when it lays in comfort on the chesterfield! I didn't think the lynx would have any interest in eating horse meat, but there he lay.
I started to walk up on it, to see how close I could get and I got closer and closer. I got to within twenty feet of it and the lynx still hadn't made a move, then it turned up its lips and loudly hissed at me!
Not wanting to disturb him any further, I backed off and let him stay on his comfy sleeping perch, in the deep cold.
It was January and really cold, like 20 to 30 degrees below zero. As we approached the horse we were amazed to see a lynx sitting on the dead horse, with its front feet tucked under it, exactly like a house cat does when it lays in comfort on the chesterfield! I didn't think the lynx would have any interest in eating horse meat, but there he lay.
I started to walk up on it, to see how close I could get and I got closer and closer. I got to within twenty feet of it and the lynx still hadn't made a move, then it turned up its lips and loudly hissed at me!
Not wanting to disturb him any further, I backed off and let him stay on his comfy sleeping perch, in the deep cold.
4 guys walking a wide trail shooting grouse. I line one up in a tree, 10ft high. Shoot it and it drops straight to ground, motionless. Other 2 guys start walking to pick it up. They get a foot away and the bird flys into the bush to see another day!
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
I've also been hissed at by a Lynx. He had decided to swim across the lake, so we swung the boat over to take a look at him. He didn't like that much.
Runningfool
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- SW Ontario
Made me feel uneasy as well.
In 2009 I was told there were some white tail bucks in the area. I had never seen a WT while hunting but I bought a tag.
On the second morning of any mule deer buck shot a mature mule deer with half a dozen does and fawn.
I saw him enter a strip of bush but he did not exit. Started walking towards where he was last seen when I see another buck and this one is waving a white flag and I shot him too.
Two five by five bucks in less than one minute 100 yards apart.
On the second morning of any mule deer buck shot a mature mule deer with half a dozen does and fawn.
I saw him enter a strip of bush but he did not exit. Started walking towards where he was last seen when I see another buck and this one is waving a white flag and I shot him too.
Two five by five bucks in less than one minute 100 yards apart.
When I was a young eager moose hunter, I went out one early morning to a back channel river snye, where moose were coming to feed on water lily roots. I walked back up a moose path a ways, then sat down beside the path and leaned back against a tree, after a while I dozed off!
Something roused my sleepy mind and I opened my eyes to see long black, hairy legs so close to me I could have touched them, as a cow moose walked by!
She carried on to the river channel and soon was sticking her long head into the water and eating the lily roots, but no bull came along.
Something roused my sleepy mind and I opened my eyes to see long black, hairy legs so close to me I could have touched them, as a cow moose walked by!
She carried on to the river channel and soon was sticking her long head into the water and eating the lily roots, but no bull came along.
MapleSugar
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- On the loose from NIMH
Shot (at) a spike buck at 35 yards, close enough to go for a head shot, and resting over the hood of the truck.
Drove up expecting to blood and brains . . . nothing.
Knife out and cut the throat . . . now there was blood.
The shot had shaved the hair off the ear and nicked a burr on the antler.
YUP . . . killed a deer with my knife!
Drove up expecting to blood and brains . . . nothing.
Knife out and cut the throat . . . now there was blood.
The shot had shaved the hair off the ear and nicked a burr on the antler.
YUP . . . killed a deer with my knife!
Was having a hard time finding a whitetail buck one season, and mentioned it to a buddy. I was out of work, and gas money was tight. He told me to head up this one road, drive to the end and park in the standing timber and walk back where I'd just driven. It was all tiny peckerpole pines, not really deer habitat at all, no feed or cover or anything, but after a couple of days I figured I had nothing to lose.
Drive in, shaking my head the entire time. Couldn't possibly be deer in this area. Park truck, shaking my head. What was I thinking....Cody was obviously messing with me.
Since I was convinced there was no reason for a deer to be there, I simply grabbed my rifle, and left my binoculars and knife in the truck. Walked about 100 yards, looked down the hill, and there were 3 whitetail bucks.
Sat down, chambered a round, and picked out the biggest buck. Looked at him, and looked at him. Big bodied, big antlered 2 point. Yep, big frame, lots of mass, but only a main beam and one tine. Decided at that point I was going to pass on him. Made the decision while looking at his antlers, and then the rifle went off. Deer drops instantly (not surprisingly, when the cross hairs are centered on his ear.)
Look at the rifle, look at the deer 100 yards away, and wonder what the hell. Regardless, deer is down and dead now. Walk back to the truck, unload the rifle, drive up the 100 yards or so to where I'd been, find my knife out, drop it in my daypack, and start down the hill. Get about 30 yards from the truck, and think about what my dad had always said, "always approach a downed animal from behind, with your rifle ready"... Go back, get my rifle. Drop a shell in it as I approach the deer. The back of his skull cap is blown free and clear and hanging by a piece of skin, and I can see his brain. Deer isn't breathing. Put the rifle down, take off the pack, and look at him again as I pull out my knife. His eyes are closed.... Stop, look at him again. Definitely not breathing. Cut my tag, look at the deer again, eyes are still closed.
Bear in mind, it's been at least 6 or 7 minutes by this point since I shot him. In the head. With a 264 win mag.
Put down my knife, grab up the rifle, and give him a jab in the ribs. Deer takes a big breath in, and starts to try to get up, with wobbly legs. I jump back (after all, I can SEE HIS BRAIN), and the deer turns to face me, and lowers his head as he stumbles, give him another one in his neck for good measure. (After all, I'd already shot him in the head!)
Deer ended up tasting ok, even if he was a zombie.
Drive in, shaking my head the entire time. Couldn't possibly be deer in this area. Park truck, shaking my head. What was I thinking....Cody was obviously messing with me.
Since I was convinced there was no reason for a deer to be there, I simply grabbed my rifle, and left my binoculars and knife in the truck. Walked about 100 yards, looked down the hill, and there were 3 whitetail bucks.
Sat down, chambered a round, and picked out the biggest buck. Looked at him, and looked at him. Big bodied, big antlered 2 point. Yep, big frame, lots of mass, but only a main beam and one tine. Decided at that point I was going to pass on him. Made the decision while looking at his antlers, and then the rifle went off. Deer drops instantly (not surprisingly, when the cross hairs are centered on his ear.)
Look at the rifle, look at the deer 100 yards away, and wonder what the hell. Regardless, deer is down and dead now. Walk back to the truck, unload the rifle, drive up the 100 yards or so to where I'd been, find my knife out, drop it in my daypack, and start down the hill. Get about 30 yards from the truck, and think about what my dad had always said, "always approach a downed animal from behind, with your rifle ready"... Go back, get my rifle. Drop a shell in it as I approach the deer. The back of his skull cap is blown free and clear and hanging by a piece of skin, and I can see his brain. Deer isn't breathing. Put the rifle down, take off the pack, and look at him again as I pull out my knife. His eyes are closed.... Stop, look at him again. Definitely not breathing. Cut my tag, look at the deer again, eyes are still closed.
Bear in mind, it's been at least 6 or 7 minutes by this point since I shot him. In the head. With a 264 win mag.
Put down my knife, grab up the rifle, and give him a jab in the ribs. Deer takes a big breath in, and starts to try to get up, with wobbly legs. I jump back (after all, I can SEE HIS BRAIN), and the deer turns to face me, and lowers his head as he stumbles, give him another one in his neck for good measure. (After all, I'd already shot him in the head!)
Deer ended up tasting ok, even if he was a zombie.
I've got a few that I've been there for, and a few that the story was passed on to me, so grain of salt with to be applied.
First one was kind of creepy. Two of us were hunting an area that we had hunted before, but didn't have any stands or anything set up. So after walking through the brush for most of the afternoon, we pick a couple of spots to sit for the last hour or so and do our best to quickly cut a few branches to make a ground blind.
I was sitting just behind a mound of rocks overlooking the edge of an old field with a real thick bunch of little firs behind me. As the sun starts to set and everything gets quiet I hear something walking in the wood behind me. I hear the crunch crunch crunch and it sounds like whatever it is will walk out to my right.
So while I'm trying to quietly and carefully turn towards where I think it will walk out it stop and walks right up behind me on the other side of the fir thicket. I don't know if it was a deer, bear, moose, sidehill gouger or sasquatch, but the noises it was making as it was (I can only assume) trying to sniff me out and figure out what I am are something I've never heard in the woods before. I was torn between trying to stay still in case it was a deer and hoping it would walk out, and jumping around and trying to scare it off before it decided I smelled tasty enough to do something about. The only thing I can compare the noise to is someone who's sick and very phlegmy trying to breathe in through their nose and sucking it back into their throat. Either way, I was sweating bullets even though it was down around 0.
When I was younger and just able to hunt on my own, a friend and I were hoping to find some deer. We were using an uncles stand that was on the edge of a big cut. The deer in this particular area were very unpredictable. we'd seen them there in the morning, evenings, at lunch time, and at night, but they always seems to be somewhere else when we were in the stand. So one night about an hour before dark I decided to walk the road back while he stayed in the stand and he'd pick me up on his way out.
As I packed up all my stuff, grabbed my bag, rifle and got ready to leave, when I opened the door there was this big cow moose looking up the ladder at us. She had snuck up from behind completely silent and was giving us some shifty eyes as I tried to leave.
Ended up having to wait for her to get bored and wander off, not wanting to be loud shooing her away in case a deer came along.
A few years ago I was driving along on the bike going to put out some apples out with my brother in law and we see a partridge, but all we had with us was a 30-30, so after thinking about it I hand the gun to him, he looks through the scope, aims carefully at the head, and missed very low and took the bottom half of the bird cleanly off, but didn't touch the breast. There was literally a perfect breast with 2 wings and a head.
So we pick it up and keep driving along and like half a click down the trail I spy a rabbit in the brush. Once he stops I decided to try my luck with the rabbit. Knowing that he hit low with the scope, I used the open sights, aimed for the head and hit it right in the neck, and with the 30-30 it pretty well took the head right off. With the nerves still firing the back legs started kicking and it literally jumped itself right out and landed on my boot as I was getting off the bike.
Now for some of the passed on stories. The first year I was old enough to go deer hunting I was pumped. I didn't have a rifle yet, but my dad was giving me my grandfathers old .303 enfield. He was off the first day of the season, so that morning while I was at school, he took the old rifle out to set up a target and see if it was even close to hitting anything. The thing hadn't been fired it close to 20 years, so he wanted to make sure before he gave it to me.
Being in no rush he loads some stuff into the truck, drives out the closest back road with a decent flat shooting stop, gets out, takes a leak, sets up a target, and looks over at 5 deer watching him on the other side of the truck. So without even trying on a target first he picks one out, aims, shoots and has his deer an hour and a half into the season. The old rifle was still shooting pretty well after not being used for so long.
The last one is where the grain of salt comes into play. I was just a kid at the time, so I can only go on the stories I've been told.
My dad was out hunting, walking around an old woods road through an old apple orchard. There's a small brook that runs beside the road for a small stretch on the downhill side. As he was walking along he could hear something walking up along the brook, so he kind of got off into the bushes a bit on the side of the road and a big buck hops from the brook onto the road about 40 yards from him and starts walking straight toward him along the road.
He was all ready, so he took am and tried for a head shot. I guess it kind of had its head down a bit and it was the only real clear shot he had. Well he hits the deer right in the head, blood sprays, the deer gave a big shake of his head, kind of stunned, but still standing, lets out a grunt as he does one big shake and then starts walking right towards my him again. So this time not taking any chances he aims a bit lower and hits it in the chest from the side as the deer was turning and jumped back towards the brook.
When they tracked him down and finally found him, it seemed like the first shot hit right in the forehead, but at a pretty shallow angle, so it made a mess, but basically deflected up and the bullet was lodged in the antler. That's why it was able to shake it off and keep moving, but it would certainly be a surprise when a deer gets hit right in the head and keeps coming at you.
Is this story true or just made up after a few beers at the camp? I don't know for sure, but I do still have the antlers from my dad with what appears to be a big chuck where a bullet looks like it hit the base of the antler. It could have just been a fun story about how he missed completely and just caught the antler of a deer.
First one was kind of creepy. Two of us were hunting an area that we had hunted before, but didn't have any stands or anything set up. So after walking through the brush for most of the afternoon, we pick a couple of spots to sit for the last hour or so and do our best to quickly cut a few branches to make a ground blind.
I was sitting just behind a mound of rocks overlooking the edge of an old field with a real thick bunch of little firs behind me. As the sun starts to set and everything gets quiet I hear something walking in the wood behind me. I hear the crunch crunch crunch and it sounds like whatever it is will walk out to my right.
So while I'm trying to quietly and carefully turn towards where I think it will walk out it stop and walks right up behind me on the other side of the fir thicket. I don't know if it was a deer, bear, moose, sidehill gouger or sasquatch, but the noises it was making as it was (I can only assume) trying to sniff me out and figure out what I am are something I've never heard in the woods before. I was torn between trying to stay still in case it was a deer and hoping it would walk out, and jumping around and trying to scare it off before it decided I smelled tasty enough to do something about. The only thing I can compare the noise to is someone who's sick and very phlegmy trying to breathe in through their nose and sucking it back into their throat. Either way, I was sweating bullets even though it was down around 0.
When I was younger and just able to hunt on my own, a friend and I were hoping to find some deer. We were using an uncles stand that was on the edge of a big cut. The deer in this particular area were very unpredictable. we'd seen them there in the morning, evenings, at lunch time, and at night, but they always seems to be somewhere else when we were in the stand. So one night about an hour before dark I decided to walk the road back while he stayed in the stand and he'd pick me up on his way out.
As I packed up all my stuff, grabbed my bag, rifle and got ready to leave, when I opened the door there was this big cow moose looking up the ladder at us. She had snuck up from behind completely silent and was giving us some shifty eyes as I tried to leave.
Ended up having to wait for her to get bored and wander off, not wanting to be loud shooing her away in case a deer came along.
A few years ago I was driving along on the bike going to put out some apples out with my brother in law and we see a partridge, but all we had with us was a 30-30, so after thinking about it I hand the gun to him, he looks through the scope, aims carefully at the head, and missed very low and took the bottom half of the bird cleanly off, but didn't touch the breast. There was literally a perfect breast with 2 wings and a head.
So we pick it up and keep driving along and like half a click down the trail I spy a rabbit in the brush. Once he stops I decided to try my luck with the rabbit. Knowing that he hit low with the scope, I used the open sights, aimed for the head and hit it right in the neck, and with the 30-30 it pretty well took the head right off. With the nerves still firing the back legs started kicking and it literally jumped itself right out and landed on my boot as I was getting off the bike.
Now for some of the passed on stories. The first year I was old enough to go deer hunting I was pumped. I didn't have a rifle yet, but my dad was giving me my grandfathers old .303 enfield. He was off the first day of the season, so that morning while I was at school, he took the old rifle out to set up a target and see if it was even close to hitting anything. The thing hadn't been fired it close to 20 years, so he wanted to make sure before he gave it to me.
Being in no rush he loads some stuff into the truck, drives out the closest back road with a decent flat shooting stop, gets out, takes a leak, sets up a target, and looks over at 5 deer watching him on the other side of the truck. So without even trying on a target first he picks one out, aims, shoots and has his deer an hour and a half into the season. The old rifle was still shooting pretty well after not being used for so long.
The last one is where the grain of salt comes into play. I was just a kid at the time, so I can only go on the stories I've been told.
My dad was out hunting, walking around an old woods road through an old apple orchard. There's a small brook that runs beside the road for a small stretch on the downhill side. As he was walking along he could hear something walking up along the brook, so he kind of got off into the bushes a bit on the side of the road and a big buck hops from the brook onto the road about 40 yards from him and starts walking straight toward him along the road.
He was all ready, so he took am and tried for a head shot. I guess it kind of had its head down a bit and it was the only real clear shot he had. Well he hits the deer right in the head, blood sprays, the deer gave a big shake of his head, kind of stunned, but still standing, lets out a grunt as he does one big shake and then starts walking right towards my him again. So this time not taking any chances he aims a bit lower and hits it in the chest from the side as the deer was turning and jumped back towards the brook.
When they tracked him down and finally found him, it seemed like the first shot hit right in the forehead, but at a pretty shallow angle, so it made a mess, but basically deflected up and the bullet was lodged in the antler. That's why it was able to shake it off and keep moving, but it would certainly be a surprise when a deer gets hit right in the head and keeps coming at you.
Is this story true or just made up after a few beers at the camp? I don't know for sure, but I do still have the antlers from my dad with what appears to be a big chuck where a bullet looks like it hit the base of the antler. It could have just been a fun story about how he missed completely and just caught the antler of a deer.
