Unforgettable experiences in nature while hunting
- Thread starter Linger
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sam menard
CGN Regular
One afternoon while deer hunting, I was sitting in some tall grass along the bank of a railway track overlooking a field. I look down the tracks and could see a hobo slowly walking towards me. When he came to where I was, he plunked his ass down on one of the rails and hung his head down. About 10 minutes later, he stood up, took a leak and continued on his way without realizing I was just 10’ away.
While sitting in a tree that overlooked a ditch line, I heard a buck chasing a doe in the brush behind me, it was the first time I ever heard a buck grunt. Not long afterwards, the pair walked out to the ditch and I watched as the buck mounted the doe. I let him have it once he finished.
Another time, I was deer hunting along the edge of a grain field. I made a crude ground blind at the edge of a steep/brushy draw that projected into the field like a thumb. Just before dark, I watched a young buck chases doe down the length of the field and down into the draw. Then all of a sudden, both deer come blasting out of the draw and ran right by me, I could have tackled them without effort. The doe the led the buck over the fence and into the bush. I could hear the deer running around, then the doe jumped the fence back into the field. This time, the doe was being pursued by a larger buck. Once the buck entered the field, he quit chasing the doe and jogged over to where I was crouched. Not a word of a lie, he stood 10’ in front of me broadside! He stood there for a least a minute looking at me and I could of shot it a hundred times. I can’t explain why he did this, maybe it wasn’t he aroma of the fresh-cut balsams.
While sitting in a tree that overlooked a ditch line, I heard a buck chasing a doe in the brush behind me, it was the first time I ever heard a buck grunt. Not long afterwards, the pair walked out to the ditch and I watched as the buck mounted the doe. I let him have it once he finished.
Another time, I was deer hunting along the edge of a grain field. I made a crude ground blind at the edge of a steep/brushy draw that projected into the field like a thumb. Just before dark, I watched a young buck chases doe down the length of the field and down into the draw. Then all of a sudden, both deer come blasting out of the draw and ran right by me, I could have tackled them without effort. The doe the led the buck over the fence and into the bush. I could hear the deer running around, then the doe jumped the fence back into the field. This time, the doe was being pursued by a larger buck. Once the buck entered the field, he quit chasing the doe and jogged over to where I was crouched. Not a word of a lie, he stood 10’ in front of me broadside! He stood there for a least a minute looking at me and I could of shot it a hundred times. I can’t explain why he did this, maybe it wasn’t he aroma of the fresh-cut balsams.
Interesting how many weasel stories there are, brought back some memories of number of bush encounters with them. Pretty inquisitive creatures.
Have a funny bear encounter story. A young bear must have been pushed out of its winter sleeping quarters early. We did not really clue in until it had taken up residence under the front deck. Heard a bunch of banging and crashing and knew something was down there, plus Harley was having fits and I could not calm him down. We hit the sack and come morning I let Harley out, he heads for the front deck and goes ape shlt again. The deck has a gap in the planking and the bear was sleeping about 18 inches below decks. After breakfast The Boss indicated I should go down and see what's what. I end crawling into the storage area, it is very dark. When I poked my head around the corner my nose was about 3 inches from a very sleepy bear's nose. It sort of raised its head as I was crawling backwards about as fast as I go. The Boss wanted to know what was what because I had let out rather loud 'Oh my goodness' the word actually started with
an F and ended with me
and the neighbour 200 yards down the road probably heard me. So now what to do? I put a couple speakers near where it was all settled in. The noise it had been making was pulling everything off the shelves and making up its bed. Was very cosy. Dialled in Rock 101 at maximum volume, a few minutes later a very sorry looking young bear stumbled off for parts unknown.
Merry Christmas to one and all.
Have a funny bear encounter story. A young bear must have been pushed out of its winter sleeping quarters early. We did not really clue in until it had taken up residence under the front deck. Heard a bunch of banging and crashing and knew something was down there, plus Harley was having fits and I could not calm him down. We hit the sack and come morning I let Harley out, he heads for the front deck and goes ape shlt again. The deck has a gap in the planking and the bear was sleeping about 18 inches below decks. After breakfast The Boss indicated I should go down and see what's what. I end crawling into the storage area, it is very dark. When I poked my head around the corner my nose was about 3 inches from a very sleepy bear's nose. It sort of raised its head as I was crawling backwards about as fast as I go. The Boss wanted to know what was what because I had let out rather loud 'Oh my goodness' the word actually started with
an F and ended with me
and the neighbour 200 yards down the road probably heard me. So now what to do? I put a couple speakers near where it was all settled in. The noise it had been making was pulling everything off the shelves and making up its bed. Was very cosy. Dialled in Rock 101 at maximum volume, a few minutes later a very sorry looking young bear stumbled off for parts unknown.Merry Christmas to one and all.
Once when my brother in law and I were out hunting groundhogs we sort of stumbled across a young couple overcome with love for each other. Naked as a newborn except the young lady was wearing a pair of red socks. Funny as H%!! It was, can still see them scrambling for their clothes ......
buck knife
CGN Regular
- Location
- Golden forest
Once while coyote hunting I made a good rabbit call sequence and calked in a fox who came right up to me and sniffed my gun barrel,I suddendly moved and once he realized I was a human he took off full speed,and when he did he shot a line of piss straight up in the air much Le a race boat leaves a rooster tail behind at full speed.it was crazy.
another time whitetail hunting I had a weasel hanging around my stand and he would conduct every day and go about his day,he would run around the tree in front of me circling the tree over and over as fast as I've ever seen anything move,well one day a branch had fallen down and landed righton the trunk of the tree he was running around,sure enough he started going around the tree fast and when he made it low enough the little bugger knocked himself out cold when he ran into the big branch .he payed on his back feet straight up,in thea if like a Tyson knock out,couple minutes he was back up,none the worse .
another time whitetail hunting I had a weasel hanging around my stand and he would conduct every day and go about his day,he would run around the tree in front of me circling the tree over and over as fast as I've ever seen anything move,well one day a branch had fallen down and landed righton the trunk of the tree he was running around,sure enough he started going around the tree fast and when he made it low enough the little bugger knocked himself out cold when he ran into the big branch .he payed on his back feet straight up,in thea if like a Tyson knock out,couple minutes he was back up,none the worse .
- Location
- Port Edward BC
I’m thinking why is this guy taking a run at me? Now I’m going to be lectured on why weasels turn color when they do? I was there he wasn’t. It wasn’t my imagination, was it? So I’m sitting here reliving that moment and visualizing the scene, no leaves on the trees, the leaves and grass all dried with the ice starting to form on the edges of the beaver pond. Me hoping a beaver would poke his nose out of the water so I could put a .22LR out of the old Cooey. The weasel coming down through the dried grass along side the poplar that the beaver had spent time to cut down but was to big to handle.How it’s coat was the whitest of white it seemed against the bark of the Aspen. Skittering along about a foot or so at time, stopping to quickly look around when it stopped. The feel of its weight on the top of my foot when it’s tiny claws hooked over the top of my boot when it climbed up and took a look in all directions before it got down and left.
Nope not my imagination, sure of that.
I go wait a minute!
I hang my head in shame and am scuffing the dirt with my toe.
It was in the fall, not the spring.
I can never post again because I was politely called out for telling a homemade story and I admitted it. How can I contribute anything to a conversation moving forward without being remembered as that guy who told a story about a memorable moment and didn’t know the difference between spring and fall?
I am very embarrassed.
I will now go quietly to my corner.
I most certainly was not calling you out... simply interested in the details of your story as I have had mink do the same sort of thing on many occasions... a couple details from your story made me think that it may have been a mink rather than a weasel... first you were sitting next to water, second, you referred to it as a "good sized" weasel... a slightly larger, weasel-like critter that lives in and around water and scampers around and over sitting people could have been a mink... twas a simple question. Not everyone can tell the difference between a mink and a weasel... but your clarification that it was white cleared that up, but the timing for the white phase of a weasel seemed different from what I am used to around these parts... again, simple interest.
LOL good post hehehe
coolest and craziest thing I have experienced in the woods..... well at least the one that sticks to me the most is being run down by a pack of wolves in a little draw on a steep mountainside in the Pemberton valley and having to fight it out to the last round in my rifle. I'm glad a friend was there as only we "get it" when the story is told.
Chargerguy
CGN frequent flyer
Had a buck come in to about 20 feet of me this season and just check me out. He stuck around for awhile trying to figure out what I was. Watched a WT doe and her twins for awhile once while my brother and I sat in the trees. Something spooked the fawns and they bolted into the bush and stopped just a few feet from us. Got a pic of twins this year too really throwing their mother around while bunting her. They were lifting her back end off the ground. Should've took video but my hands were freezing so my phone didn't stay out long. They headed straight towards me after and grazed around me well after legal light while I sat there freezing and waiting for them to leave so I could slip out of the field.
I snuck pretty deep into one of our bushes this year and spotted 5 moose in there. 3 cows, a bull and a calf. The calf started running around in big circles through the bush making all kinds of noise and just having fun. Never seen one play like that before.
I snuck pretty deep into one of our bushes this year and spotted 5 moose in there. 3 cows, a bull and a calf. The calf started running around in big circles through the bush making all kinds of noise and just having fun. Never seen one play like that before.
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I had a similar experience. I was heading to town and saw something big just off the gravel road in the ditch. I pulled over about 10 feet away and stopped to have a look when this big moose head pops up, then slowly stretches, stands up, stares at me, then trots away. This was mid day not far from a hiway.
This! Also, seeing two 300+ lb bears fight while you're in a tree stand 10 yds away is a cool and unnerving experience. Some of the coolest things I've seen in nature involved bears, they are amazing and curious creatures. Mix that with the fact that it can easily kill you makes it more special.
I've had a turkey hen peck at my feet.
Watching/hunting deer is my favourite thing to do, I observe them most evening from my kitchen window. Watching deer, calm, and doing deer things is awesome. I've seen plenty of does/fawns fight on their hind legs.
Observing herds of pronghorn antelopes move in unison is amazing. They're extremely fast critters and are amazing to watch running as a big group.
There's a lot more that I can't think of right now but my most recent one involved my last whitetail hunt with my brother. He made the trip to Saskatchewan from our home province and hunted with me. He's only killed four deer and this year I called in a buck for him, nothing special to me as I do it all the time, and he shot it. The look on his face was priceless and the realization that I was part of "His" special moment was an awesome feeling, as a fellow hunter and most of all as a bug brother who helped his little brother. Later that morning, I was the one holding the smoke pole trying to fill my Mule Deer doe tags. We watched a Mule Deer buck destroy a small willow, once again, while I LOVE watching deer, this was just "another" deer doing deer things to me, but to my brother, it was one the coolest things he had ever seen while hunting...
Londonshooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- SW Ontario
Not hunting story, but a nature one while visiting my parents. They live in a small town and at that time had a semi-wild foster cat. Her given name was "Blackie", and one day she had just shown up and claimed squatters rights to the garage.
Back to the story.
Blackie was really keen on something by the neighbors' fence. Then suddenly there's a streaking blur past us and its the cat in hot pursuit of a mink. Moments later there was a second lap around the house, and the blur had a wide-eyed black cat out front and the mink close behind.
She came away unscathed, but was a wild chase that must have been well over a hundred yards total running full out with their lives on the line.
Thanks for sharing your cool experiences, everyone. In each case I could picture being there. Tried not to, though, with the drunken bear with projectile diarrhea image.
Back to the story.
Blackie was really keen on something by the neighbors' fence. Then suddenly there's a streaking blur past us and its the cat in hot pursuit of a mink. Moments later there was a second lap around the house, and the blur had a wide-eyed black cat out front and the mink close behind.
She came away unscathed, but was a wild chase that must have been well over a hundred yards total running full out with their lives on the line.
Thanks for sharing your cool experiences, everyone. In each case I could picture being there. Tried not to, though, with the drunken bear with projectile diarrhea image.
Had a couple of really interesting wildlife experiences this past November. While my buddy and I were flopped out on a cutline in our winter whites, we had a Great grey Owl drop beside us onto a vole. He stayed nearby and caught several more voles as we laid there waiting for our deer. While the owl was continuing to take a perch then drop every few minutes to grab another vole, we suddenly had a Short-Tailed Weasel trot past us. He looked right at us and went about his hunt, pausing to listen under the snow in the same manner a fox or coyote stare intently and tip their heads. When the weasel was about 3 metres in front of us, he suddenly plunged into the snow and came up with a vole in his jaws. Although we did not see much of our own quarry, it was a great opportunity to watch some of the smaller predators finding success on their own hunts.
Was bow hunting elk West of Rocky Mountain House! Early morning! Thought I'd slip in the bush and start cow calling, did this two or three times. Within 10 minutes,
I could see a black coloured wolf come into the bush I was in, I thought great, if he gives me a shot, I will take it!!!! Gave a couple
cow calls, and he came closer, all of a sudden I could hear animal's all around me. I thought " holy crap, there is more than one".
I stood up, and the black wolf took off the way he came. I backed out to the cutline and out of the bush came out 3 black wolves and
4 tan coloured wolves! They thought I was a cow elk, I will never forget that. At the time I was all nerves, but now today, I will never forget!
I could see a black coloured wolf come into the bush I was in, I thought great, if he gives me a shot, I will take it!!!! Gave a couple
cow calls, and he came closer, all of a sudden I could hear animal's all around me. I thought " holy crap, there is more than one".
I stood up, and the black wolf took off the way he came. I backed out to the cutline and out of the bush came out 3 black wolves and
4 tan coloured wolves! They thought I was a cow elk, I will never forget that. At the time I was all nerves, but now today, I will never forget!
You sir have told the best story of the thread. Thanks for sharing.
I was hiding in a strip of woods between a couple of Alfalfa fields when I saw a young Bull Moose
heading up the field toward me. [I was hunting Elk, not Moose] He kept coming until he was right
beside me, not more than 4 meters away. I let out a tiny squeak, and he stopped, peering into the
woods. The look in his eyes when I stood up and made myself visible will forever be a source of
laughter for me. He could not have left any faster had he been shot from a cannon. Dave.
heading up the field toward me. [I was hunting Elk, not Moose] He kept coming until he was right
beside me, not more than 4 meters away. I let out a tiny squeak, and he stopped, peering into the
woods. The look in his eyes when I stood up and made myself visible will forever be a source of
laughter for me. He could not have left any faster had he been shot from a cannon. Dave.
nowarningshot
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Moose hunting. Walking a skid trail on a mostly grown slash grown up.with Poplar and Alder. Came to some blow down Alder. Sandwiches, carrot pieces, and hard boiled eggs. Joined by a.curious Marten. Eating pieces of egg, sitting on the poplar. Moment ended when i offered him a chunk of carrot. Look of horror and betrayal from the little guy.
I had a similar experience while camping outside of Regina. In my case I was petting a stray cat that let itself into my tent in the evening. Later after lights out I heard a commotion outside my tent. The ruckus ended before I bothered to investigate. In the morning I found a large snake on my doorstep, nearly decapitated.
I had the most heart warming encounter with nature while scuba diving on the west coast. My buddy that day was assigned to me by the tour operator - we didn't know each other otherwise. About 10 minutes into the dive, this guy starts tugging on my fins. I turned to see what he wanted and he just kept swimming along like nothing had happened. I should have realised that he was pretty much even with me and couldn't have reached that far back to grab my fins, but there didn't seem to be any other explanation at that point. The second time it happened, I whipped around real fast to catch him in the act. I wasn't expecting what I saw. It was a full grown female seal checking us out.
If we made a full turn and reached out toward her, she would shy away. So, we made ourselves negatively buoyant and just drifted down to the bottom in a sitting position (we were probably 10 feet from the bottom in 40 feet of water at the time). Once we were sitting on the bottom, she was less anxious. We had to be careful not to spook her, but she got more and more comfortable as time passed. At one point I slowly reached out to pet her head. Watching her eyes following my hand closer and closer to her head was nerve wracking. But, she didn't freak out or bite me. Instead she started acting more and more like a domestic dog every minute. When we surfaced 15 minutes later, she followed us up and broke the surface at the same time we did. She followed us back to the boat and hung around until we left the area.
