Weird/strange hunting experiences

I was out sitting on the May 24 weekend at my Dads camp, had the camera out trying to get some pictures of anything really. Well I think I was 15 at the time, and not really that aware of which animals make which sounds. Well with about an hour of light left I hear something moving on the other side of the beaver pond, maybe 75 yards away. Then I hear a scream, almost shat myself. I kept listening and trying to get a peek to see what was making the noise. Then I caught a wiff, like rotting flesh, kinda freaked me a little more. Well I did not wait for dark and I took off for the camp. A friend told me the scream was probably a bear cub, there are a lot of bears near us and the smell just follows them in the warm weather.
Still made me jump though, I am not really worried about bears or wolves in the bush mind you that does not mean the guns stay at home.
 
Out hunting deer with the father in law a few years back. It was just getting near the end of shooting light and a whitetail popped out onto the cutline no mer than 50 yards away. I lined the deer up in the scope when suddenly the deer bolted with no apparent reason and the father in law lets out a "what the f**k". I was trying to track the deer through the scope in case it stopped (scope was on a higher magnification setting). After the deer made a two passes across the cutline it jumped back in the bush. After I put the rifle down the father in law tells me that just as I was about to pull the trigger on the deer a massive timberwolf came shooting out of the bush and proceeded to chase the deer back and forth across the cutline. With my focus on the deer I didn't see it at all. Just goes to show you back the magnification off at close range you never know what you'll miss.

John
 
Deliverance

Haven't had any real weird experiences while hunting.

But I have 1 MAJOR rule I live by while out hunting:D

If I hear banjo music (Deliverance theme) I will immediately drop what I am doing and leave:eek:

I'm not really interested in some hillbilly telling me I have a "purty mouth":D :D

Pickles
 
As to the meteorite, I saw a huge on break up over lake Ontario about 6 years ago. It travelled almost from horizon to horizon, with big chunks breaking off and burning.
 
Weird and unusual

Possibly not so weird as unusual and I still laugh about it 40 years later. My job involved predator control work at that time. We would get a call about a cougar in a residential area and attend with my hounds. Most often my strike dog would nose the area where the animal was supposed to have been seen and promptly find a bush or tree and pee on it. Case of mistaken identity. The animal may have been a yellow lab or a fox but wasn't a cougar.

On this call out the strike dog told me kitty and all the dogs were let loose. Did I mention we were in a residential/light industrial area of a V.I. city?

After a few minutes of trailing the hounds entered a Coca Cola bottling plant/warehouse where they promptly treed some one's pet ocelot on top of a huge rack of cased Coke. The hounds of course, were also able to climb the pallets of Coke. Can you say serious breakage?

Some day I'll mention the otter and Ron Staffords' salt water aquarium in his basement. Perhaps he and his wife see the humor in it now but they didn't when it happened.
 
About 3-4 years ago a buddy and I were walking back to camp from a deer hunt. It was dark but we were walking back along the lake side and there was a bit of shore and starlight so we did not have our flashlights on. As we got near a less wooded area and the shore extend for about 30 ft as all of a sudden we heard something running across our path towards the lake. This thing was moving! I remember thinking to myself... What the hell makes that noise while running, it really sounded like it was bipedal. This is where my hackles raised.

It did not sound like a muskrat or beaver and that got my heart going. Splash it hits the water with a huge ruckus making as much sound as a deer. By this time I had my light on and pointed at the lake (about 10ft away)I saw ripples out as far as my beam would go but no more movement.

My buddy (who has a lot less outdoor time then me) is white like a sheet :D and says WTF was that.. I reply must have been a beaver. Which would make perfect sense. Thing is that is not what my ears told me at all.

It creeps me out to this day if I think about it. It is the only time in my life that my ears have told me one thing and logic was dead set against it.
 
I was out road hunting with a buddy and his dog last fall... well, I should say he was road hunting and I was along for the ride in case I could pick up a few grouse. I only had my .410 single along, he had is BAR.

We spotted 3 or 4 deer cross the road way ahead of us, so the stalk was on.. we walked up the road 200 yds or so, and my buddy says, "You go on ahead, and I'll go back towards the truck in case they try to cross back behind us". If I don't see them, I'll bring the truck and pick you up.

I guess he figured I would scare the deer back towards him or something. His dog came with me, and up the road I go. Not even 50 yds later, the dog bolts left into the bush and disappears. 2 minutes later, there's a great crashing in the bush, coming towards me from where the dog went! I can't see what it is, but it's LOUD! Then I see a black shape, and I'm thinking "bear".... and I'm standing in the middle of the road with a crummy .410 single loaded with bird shot! :eek:

Well not even 10 feet in front of me a big cow moose darts out of the bush on the left, and crosses the road to the right, and vanishes. That dam dog never learned how to flush grouse properly, but it sure could get a moose going! Amazing how such a big animal can vanish so fast.
 
I was hunting Ducks toward the end of November last year with a buddy of mine. We decided to try a small beaver pond that we knew had no hunting pressure because it was really hard to get to. The pond is surrounded by some of the thickest brush I have ever seen, to get throught the bush we usually find a game trail and crawl through. On this occasion we had split up and taken 2 game trails parallel to each other. My trail was big enough for me to stand and walk hunched over but my buddy who "Knows the trails like the back of his hand" picks a trail that forces him to crawl on hands and knees. I got to the pond first and started tossing out our decoys when I heard a whimpering shreak and some rustling. Two seconds later my buddy emerges from the bush trips and falls into the pond gracefully. After pulling him out and calming him down a little I found out that he came face to face with a Coyote on the trail. He said that he was watching his hands when he heard what sounded like someone smacking their lips, when he looked up there was a yote about a foot form his face.

He said that he froze and couldn't even speak. Apparently the shriek I heard was the noise he made when the yote forced its way past my buddy. He wasn't hurt at all but his nerves were shot and he wanted to get out of there so we left. On the way out we used my trail and I came in on. I was suprised that the yote didn't try to back out, instead it decided to force its way between my buddy and the shrubs.
 
We were going swimming in a river by a buddies house but one guy didn't think it was safe so he swam over to a nearby sandbar. He sat there terribly bored for a few minutes, I swam underwater for a bit, came back up and noticed he was out of sight.

No concern of mine...

Suddenly we hear him screaming bloody murder, but couldn't see him(there was small trees growing on the sandbar) He runs from the brush, dives into the water and swims right to us. Tells us a bear almost ate him!

Being inquisitive, We've got to investigate. We follow his tracks(the close steps of an explorer) to his meeting place. Sure enough, bear tracks confirm he was about five feet away. His tracks space out into panic stricken run straight for water. The bears tracks show the bear ran just as fast, if not faster, away!

Lucky sob felt like swimming after that.
 
Not hunting but fishing we were probably 8 or 9 years old an we fished a river on a buddy's farm. We were assured by the older folks that there is absolutely no crocodiles in the river and so we would allways walk waist deep into the river to cast our lines deeper.
Anyhow we fished that river for months and walked in till one day we found a 6' crock on a sand bar!!! :eek:
 
either my first or second year deer hunting and my stepdad and me head up to this valley
he shows me a good sit spot then heads off to push the small bluff towards me
about 15 minutes after he left, i could hear a loud crashing noise coming right at me
when it got closer, i could see the treetops in its path swaying back and forth
thought for sh*t it was a moose or something
then all of a sudden i see it, or i mean them
2 of the fattest squirrels i have ever seen chasing each other from tree top to tree top!
 
Not strange per se, but exhilarating none the less:

I was sitting hidden under the lower canopy of a big spruce watching an area where several game trails crossed a clearing.

Suddenly I hear a stampede of hooves, and a shwack of mulie does races into the clearing, stops to look back, and then crashes on into the bush about 5 feet from my position.

Then I heard something haul ass behind them, but blocked by the branches, just to the other side of me from where the deer entered.

I tried to turn around quick, but the deer and whatever was chasing them was gone. I never did see what it was, but my guess was a cougar. Lots of 'em up where that was.
 
That same summer, my girlfriend went fishing one evening down to a good spot on the river.

She told me that just around dark she heard, quite close to her, a cougar take down a deer right at the river's edge. What she heard raised the hairs on my neck, and I wasn't even there. It was only 50 yards or so away.
 
Not really major stories, but I'm a noob :)

One time, I went with my uncle bow hunting. He was doing the hunting, and I was taking the pictures. Well, we're both in treestands on opposite ends of a field, and we have been sitting there for a couple hours and have only seen one buck (out of range). Anyways, I get distracted by two squirrels who are hopping around the tree branches, until I hear a tree snap close behind me. I slowly turn around and I see a big coyote, probably 20-25 feet away from my stand, and he is just staring at me. Anyways, I am kicking myself (not literally) for not having my camera ready, but I slowly unsling it and go to turn it on when I realize I have the long distance lense on it, and I have to put the short range one on (its a Canon one which you can buy different range lenses for. I had it ready so I could take pics of things that were about 100 feet away as I didn't think anything would be so close). Anyways, I'm hasstleing to change the lense, the whole time this thing is staring at me. I finally get it on, and turn to snap a picture when it turns and casually walks away. I got a couple pictures of it when it turned around, but they weren't very clear because it was a while away and I had the short range lens on it.

And the second was during the same day. We had been on my uncle's friends property, who also has lots of friends that my uncle doesn't know. We had been hearing rifle fire for a while that day, and just assumed that it was another of his friend's friends out for some bucks. Anyways, we had a deer that had been making its way towards us for the last 10 minutes or so, when these idiots (2) start crunching right through the open field, shouting at a third who was walking towards them. They obiously have no clue that we are there, as they continue shouting and rustleing until they are all standing together. (the buck left a few seconds after they began rustleing around). Well, they talk for a while and start walking back to where their car is parked (our stands were in the path) and they get near my uncle. So he tries to tell them that they have been disrupting his hunt, and to please be quiet on their way out. They act like they don't even hear him (he was within easy earshot range), and pick up their pace to their car. Anyways, as they have likely disturbed all wildlife within a half mile, we decide to break for lunch. We hop in the car, leave the drive way, and these guys are walking down the road. They see us, and begin sprinting across a field. We are a little confused, by the time they hop into a van and drive away.

We talked to my uncle's friend the next day, and he said that none of his friends were out that day (exept us), so we assume that these guys were just hunting on his property with out permission, or perhaps poaching. We weren't about to confront them at the time (we didn't know for sure, and they had the guns).

Anyways, my noob stories :)
 
Chopperhead said:
ok heres a couple more:

I took a friend of mine out with me hunting and he had never shot a gun before. So we whent to this gravel pit to let him fire of a few round from the 22, he is alittle bit nervous and scared but he is doing ok after a couple but he doesnt want to shoot the .410 cause he is scared of it so I say fine and after he's been shooting for a couple minutes I go back to the van and grab the .410 walk up beside and slightly behind him. and I fire off a round BANG my friend jumps outa his skin drops the .22 and is like pure white like a ghost Im standing there laughing my ass off lol it was funny.

got more i'll post later.
Click to expand...

I don't make it a habit to jump all over someone's story but there is nothing funny about this. A buddy of mine did that to me once with a 12 ga. We had no earplugs in because we were supposedly done for the day. Now I have to wear hearing aids because of my 30% hearing loss. Nothing like a busted eardrum to cap off a hunting trip.
 
I shot a tom and put my tag on it leaving it on the ground near a fence. I went back to where I shot the turkey from to pick up my cushion and pack. When I got back to the tom he was sitting upright and started to run away. The tom ran in a half circle back into the fence which gave me time to reload and do the job right. I wounder if a warden would believe this if the turkey got away with my tag and I was checked with no tag???????
 
dorm said:
I don't make it a habit to jump all over someone's story but there is nothing funny about this. A buddy of mine did that to me once with a 12 ga. We had no earplugs in because we were supposedly done for the day. Now I have to wear hearing aids because of my 30% hearing loss. Nothing like a busted eardrum to cap off a hunting trip.
Click to expand...


It was .410 ao it was not as loud, and I wasn't right beside his head or anything. But I already said it wasnt the smartest thing I ever did but whatever still makes me chuckle though.
 
Not really a strange story just a cool encounter that happened to me.

In the area where we used to moose hunt there is a railroad track which we walked along to get to our hunting spots. Setting out one morning I had a good mile walk down the track to get to my spot. I was hoofin' it along pretty good, not even trying to be quiet when all of a sudden I found myself amongst many cows and bulls. I mean right in the middle of them.

I remember there were 2 bulls off to the right side of the track walking in single file, soft grunting as they went. At that moment I froze as they walked past. Ahead of me I could see cows together, there were other cows calling on one ridge and a bull answering them on another ridge , it was the most amazing scene. It was almost too much activity to take in, my mind couldn't keep.

Because the track is elevated in this particular part compared to the land beside the track, I was actually above some of the moose. Being above those bulls and due to the tall grass and cattails lining the track ditches which they were down in, they almost seemed small. I remember telling the gang later that I could have shot those bulls between the shoulder blades.

Eventually I took a seat on the track rail, a 30.06 stoked with 180 gr. noslers craddled in my arms. I watched and listened to them for roughly 45 minutes hoping for the right opportunity.

To end it all I watched a cow come down off the ridge, walk up the side of the track, and stand at the track edge. She finally exposed herself, completely broadside to me at about ten yards. We both stared at eachother, she obviously blind as a bat, and I recall thinking to myself I hope she turns and walks the other way. She did just that. I watched her meander down the track and out of sight.

I could never figure out how I could have stayed there so long without being winded by so many moose.

It was an experience I will never forget and one which will likely never to happen to me again.

That was a funny year for our group moose hunting, we saw 15 adult moose altogether and never shot one.

We only had calf tags.:(
 
Was out target shooting with my daughter on the power line behind my house. It's about a 100yd walk thru the bush from the back of my property, nice sandy hill to shoot against .Anyway we had been shooting for about an hour and had packed up and had just started back thru the bush , my two blue healers all of a sudden went ape #### and then we saw the sow bear with two cubs scatter with my dogs in hot pursuit . I found it really odd that those bears were that close to us, 50-70yds from where we were shooting only moments ago,
Another time a buddy and I were looking for a lost bull(hereford)at the back of his grazing lease(range) We were about 5kms behind the home range on horseback . We were following this old trail thru a draw and there were a few natural springs bubbling up right on the trail. We were riding side by side and when we were going thru the mud of one of these springs we both naturaly looked down for any fresh sign of the bull we were looking for.What we saw instead was one of the biggest grizzly tracks either one of us has ever seen, not only that but the water was still running into the track. I knew dam well that that bear was probably watching us from somewhere, the horses needed no encouragement and we got the hell out of there and left that draw to the bear.
 
Half frozen deer

I was toolin around the family farm when i spotted a small deer curled up by a fence post. It was pretty cold that day so I figured the deer was just bedded down.As I approached I could see it stir slightly but it wasn't getting up. Walked right up to it and started rubbing it to warm it up and get it dowing but no luck. The only thing I could do was pour a little gas in its mouth to shock it and wouldn't you know it the deer got up and ran for 200 yards then it just fell over. It ran out of gas.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom