What’s your spookiest hunting experience?

[Rosebud]

My hunting buddy on his first elk hunt here in Arizona
He was heading to a man made brush blind at a water hole about 2 miles from me . It's still way dark and his light quit working. He's on the trail in and sees legs moving thru the brush out in front of him gets to the blind at the water hole and settles in as the sun comes up across the water is a big mountain lion on the down log sharpening it's claws.

Mine was hunting up by lake pleasant for javalina for the first time with my buddies. I was the only one carrying a pistol on the hunt . It's a archery hunt . Working a drainage out in front of me several hundred yds is a brown orange color animal . As I picked up my binos to look it turned and started barking . It was a pit bull someone had dumped out there . He's ****ed and headed my way. Thru some rocks and nope still on his way . Draw my gun and shoot a few shots his way and he turned. Later that day after everyone else had left I was sitting on a rock glossing a draw and felt like I was being watched . It's the same dog doing the low crawl and stalking in on me . I stood up and emptied about a half a mag at him . Never seen that before

Had something similar happen gun hunting in Hale County Alabama. Very rural area, dirt roads most everywhere. I'd slipped into a cutover from previous year with a tree stand on my back. Afternoon hunt and I was looking for a spot to get the best visible coverage. Found a tree and was about to attach the stand when I saw another tree that I thought would be better, A little higher up the ridge. I'd been in the stand about two hours when I heard what I thought was a deer. Turned out to be a very large hound. I also noticed it was following my exact trail in towards me with its nose to the ground. It went straight to the first tree I was going to climb and sniffed all around, even looked up in the tree, now its back on my trail and making a beeline straight to me in tree number two. It walks around the tree I'm in and looks at me. All its hair on its back is standing up and its growling very nasty towards me. I'd seen enough. Killed it on the spot If the the thing trailed me for five hundred yards only to bristle up and threaten me. It's got to go.

 

[Rosebud]

I'm afraid I would have been arrowing some yotes that day. I have a world view that all critters have a right to live and eat just like the rest of us, but coyotes (and wolves) hold a special caveat in my heart that excuses them the right. I know they're acting on instinct but it feels just evil sometimes.

On the farms I'm privileged to hunt now that I'm old if you don't shoot every coyote you see is considered bad manners.

 

[marksman1941]

On the farms I'm privileged to hunt now that I'm old if you don't shoot every coyote you see is considered bad manners.

That's how it works out here too. If you see a coyote in a farm field, you just pull over and shoot it from the road (as long as it's a safe shot).

We were driving home from a black powder shoot years back and saw a yote trying to cut a lamb out of a sheep herd. My dad pulled over and decided it was a safe shot, so he loaded up his .45 flintlock and tagged that coyote at 130 yards. It was a hell of a shot. Don't think the farmer ever knew about it, unless he found the body later on. But, the lamb made another day so we called it a good deed.

 

[Knight]

A hunting buddy of mine who lives in North Catolina asked me, would I like to do some deer hunting with him in the up coming season. Absolutely I replied.
We hunted on state land in the lower east quadrant of the state in an area he was very familiar. We separated and went our own way hoping to avoid a double scent
I came to a small clearing where the ground was almost a clay surface and that's where I saw this print in the soil that made me take the safety off my rifle. It appeared to be a canine paw print however it was one third in size of my boot print which is 10 1/2 with deep claw marks. If I had to guess what it really was it would be a Great Dane or a wolf track.. in second thought, what would a Great Dane be doing up in the middle of nowhere during hunting season... No doubt...Wolf!

 

[marksman1941]

A hunting buddy of mine who lives in North Catolina asked me, would I like to do some deer hunting with him in the up coming season. Absolutely I replied.
We hunted on state land in the lower east quadrant of the state in an area he was very familiar. We separated and went our own way hoping to avoid a double scent
I came to a small clearing where the ground was almost a clay surface and that's where I saw this print in the soil that made me take the safety off my rifle. It appeared to be a canine paw print however it was one third in size of my boot print which is 10 1/2 with deep claw marks. If I had to guess what it really was it would be a Great Dane or a wolf track.. in second thought, what would a Great Dane be doing up in the middle of nowhere during hunting season... No doubt...Wolf!

Finding wolf tracks is spooky. We've been getting inundated with wolves the past several years, and it's not fun to come across a track when you're not expecting it.

I rolled across some monstrous bear tracks (for our area) and couple years back and was a bit unsettled. Thankfully not as scary as wolf, but man that was a big set of tracks for a southern oregon black bear. That GPS is a garmin rino 650, which is 7.5" tall

 

[akdad]

One year on the Yukon we had a thaw around Christmas so river was glare ice and no snow the moose were hanging out in thick Willows on islands in the river. They wouldn't get on that ice for nothing. In my ever brilliant thinking I decided to go into them. Willows were so thick you couldn't move a rifle and moose were letting you get 10-15 ft away but you couldn't move a rifle. Sometime around when a moose didn't move I used my brain and got out.
On that same trip we had wolves circling the island howling at us right on top of our tracks. In full daylight it was kinda odd.

 

[Knight]

The good thing is, you don't need a silver bullet to kill a conventional wolf, unless ?

 

[akdad]

It was more than just a few howls and the wife got pretty scared and started hollering at me. We were only a hundred yrds at most in willows but couldn't see them when we came out tracks were all over by the snowmobile. Even with her yelling they kept howling I was completely out of silver bullets had a old savage bolt 30-30 though

 

[BigDon]

Well here's another fun Northern Alberta bear story. Two years after the 'monster' bear story in the tree stand. Different Outfitter this time, and even farther north in Alberta. It's mid week of a 7 day baited hunt. I'm out on a platform stand about 3:30 in the afternoon. The weather is clear and bright, for a change. I'm carrying the first Ruger Alaskan 375 Ruger ever shipped in my hands. Being hand assembled, it's an awesome shooter. Has the first Swarovski circle dot dangerous game reticle scope ever shipped. Gun is loaded with ammo Ruger had Hornady hand load for me. Nothing had been shipped yet - even to the distributors. Quite a combo. Heavy - but a great shooter. I'm sunning on the stand waiting for it to get darker when out of the woods comes a sow and two cubs. Cubs are yearlings and hard for her to manage. She takes them to the bait barrel, but they can't figure it out. They get bored and start running around, while she gets a snack. Great viewing and lots of fun to watch. While she's snacking, one of the cubs get curious and notices me and the platform stand. Cub comes over, circles and sniffs the platform, sees the ladder and climbs right into the stand with me. Now I'm in a pickle - how do I shoo the cub off without alerting Mom? The cub is completely unfazed by me or our interaction. Mom is getting jumpy not being able to see both cubs. Leaving is not an option for me and it's wide open - and there's no where to run. So I start flicking the cubs ears like you used to do as a kid to annoy your buddies. I didn't want it to bawl, I just wanted it to leave. Mom is running bigger and bigger circles trying to locate the 'missing' cub. After a few minutes of getting it's ears flicked - it saw Mom and decided to climb down the stand and re-unite with her. I don't think I started breathing again until the three of them were back together and Mom started to relax. Talk about a sigh of relief..... I would have hated to have a a DLP event that afternoon.

So I lead off about the Ruger. The next night I'm in a ground blind, at a barrel that had a bear on it 4 nites in a row. 3 different hunters missed that bear 4 times over 4 nites. Outfitter puts me in the blind after telling me their stories. The bear races in, makes a few laps around the barrel, and the other hunters all got excited and tired to shoot it on the run. OK, I can do that if things are right. I'm not phased. I settle in for the wait.

I carry dark chocolate bars to snack on. I like the taste and caffeine on an evening - must stay awake kind of hunt - like this one. I've taken a munch or two and here comes a squirrel thrashing through the leaves my way. I hear it, I watch it - and it runs right up to me. I'm shocked that it 's not timid at all. It hops on my boot and walks up my leg to my knee all the while looking at the rest of the candy bar in my lap. I'm transfixed at the cheekiness of this squirrel, so I break a small bit off the bar and put it on my knee. Instantly the squirrel makes the short climb and grabs the chocolate bit. I watch and wait. In only moments it wants more, and knows there is more. Now I don't really want to be moving around and risking either noise or movement, but the squirrel starts to get loud about begging. Now I'm worried. So I give it another little bit just to shut it up. Didn't work. The brat scarfs the bit down and still wants more and keeps chattering away.

Suddenly there is a great thrashing of leaves and dirt - and here comes this big bear tearing into the stand. Cool. I'm in no hurry, and now I'm not worried about the squirrel giving me away. I move the safety off the Ruger and start to prep for a shot. The bear races around the barrel and just as fast - races back off the way it came in. No shot. I wait. 15 minute latter, same bear makes the same mad dash to and around the barrel - then dashes out the same way as before. No shot. 15 minutes later - here he comes again - same running and circling drill. No shot. Now I'm getting worried. I'm not sure how to pull this off if the scenario stays the same. This is no 'running shot'. This is a mad dash high speed sprint! The squirrel and I wait. 15 minute later, here comes the bear. I kid you not - the bear is walking on it's hind legs and literally doing a victory dance/waltz/strut to the bait barrel with a big open-mouthed grin on it's face. I was flabbergasted! This guy was doing a victory dance!
I prepped for a shot and just sat back and waited while it had it's last supper from the barrel. I'm 75 yards away hidden in light brush. After snacking, he drops to all fours and poses in front of the barrel. That's all it took. One shot, bear makes it about 20 yards and is down hard. Took over an hour for the outfitter to show with the four wheelers. He said he was afraid to come to the barrel after only 1 shot, based on what had happened before with the other hunters. Turned out to be the outfitter's biggest bear of the season.

What's amazing is that the squirrel stayed right there at my boot the whole time. It was till there after I shot - and was still begging for chocolate! One brave squirrel. I felt it earned that last little bit just for the bravery he showed.

 

[PlumberEd]

I been at the beach all week and you guys and gals have provided me with several hours of great entertainment. Thank you for sharing.

Stupid/Reckless People
When I was in twenties I was hunting my grandmother's farm. I left the woods early, maybe 10 or 15 minutes before sunset since some dogs had come running through the woods and I thought that deer hunting was probably over for the day. I was standing at the campfire we always kept burning and had this uneasy feeling of being watched. When I turned around I see a hunter who had walked clear of the brush and was standing in the open maybe 400 yards away. Not thinking much of this I turned around to continue watching the fire. That is when I heard something whiz by my right ear, I didn't realize it was a bullet until I heard the report of the rifle. When I turned around that *** was gone.

Crazy animals
I have also experienced the heart stopping episode of quails busting out the cedar trees right at eye level. Though I think the worst fright from birds happens when walking to my tree stand before light and having a flock of turkeys bust of of the trees as I walk under their roost. The first time that happened I thought for sure it was over for me.
I am quite familiar with the property I hunt so I don't normally use a light when walking to my stand in the dark. One morning I'm walking along and I feel something on my pack boot, I thought about just kicking whatever it was but decided a wiser course of action would be to dig my light out of my pocket. So, I get the light out and so help me a skunk is on my boot. I froze and waited until he scampered off it to the brush before continuing my journey.

PlumberEd

 

[7Rum Slayer]

I have way to many scary and strange experiences in 38 years of hunting, I will share the scariest one. 2018 in a remote wilderness area of Nor Cal I was packed in about 5 miles from the trailhead on a solo archery hunt. I had 4 days to hunt. A group of 4 fellows had packed in from a different trailhead and camped next to me not realizing that I was camped about 75 yards bellow them. They were very loud and slopy hunters and were spooking deer all over the mountain. I decided to head out for the last night and sleep in my truck at the trailhead and hunt the country there the next day. At about 12:30 in the night I hear a truck pull into the trailhead and drive down to the lower flat bellow the trailhead which is a dead end. I peeked up at the truck as it drove by me and could tell it was a dark colored late 90's Toyota. I didn't think much of it at the time lots of people hunt there and some pull in late. All of the sudden I hear 3 guys speaking only spanish and they were throwing all kinds of stuff out of the back of there truck and making lots of noise, my gut said get dressed. While I was gathering my clothes and trying to find my boots I hear one of them walking up the hill toward me and a super bright flashlight hits my truck, I ducked back down as not to be seen. The man walked up to about 15 yards from my truck and turned around and headed back down to the lower flat. Now my ice chest and camp chair and Bow and arrows are all next to my truck and I knew they knew I was there. As I finished getting dressed and was throwing my stuff in my truck the man comes back up the hill toward me with the bright flashlight right on me. I was now crouched down in front of my truck with my own light and my concealed carry pistol as the man was approaching me, I was thinking to myself what are you gonna do if he gets to my truck? He gets about 10 yards from my truck and racks a weapon as to give me a warning, his weapon sounded much bigger and better than mine. I was scared and ready to defend myself when all of a sudden a huge light display and a super loud speaker system turns on playing Norcos Coritos music. The man with the gun turned around and went back to the lower flat, I jumped in my truck and hauled *** out of there. I was shook up and scared until I got about a mile or so away and fear turned to anger. There was one other truck at the trailhead who was a friend of mine but he was camped about 7 miles in, he later told me he could hear the music from 7 miles out. I knew they were signaling to there buddies and figured they were illegal pot farmers. I work with many Law enforcement both Game Wardens and local so I called all of them. They busted that grow and later told me they were packing mini 14's with 30 round mags and had over 18,000 plants below the trailhead. Animals never seem to scare me to bad but Humans do! cheers, Jason

 

[Calvin45]

I have way to many scary and strange experiences in 38 years of hunting, I will share the scariest one. 2018 in a remote wilderness area of Nor Cal I was packed in about 5 miles from the trailhead on a solo archery hunt. I had 4 days to hunt. A group of 4 fellows had packed in from a different trailhead and camped next to me not realizing that I was camped about 75 yards bellow them. They were very loud and slopy hunters and were spooking deer all over the mountain. I decided to head out for the last night and sleep in my truck at the trailhead and hunt the country there the next day. At about 12:30 in the night I hear a truck pull into the trailhead and drive down to the lower flat bellow the trailhead which is a dead end. I peeked up at the truck as it drove by me and could tell it was a dark colored late 90's Toyota. I didn't think much of it at the time lots of people hunt there and some pull in late. All of the sudden I hear 3 guys speaking only spanish and they were throwing all kinds of stuff out of the back of there truck and making lots of noise, my gut said get dressed. While I was gathering my clothes and trying to find my boots I hear one of them walking up the hill toward me and a super bright flashlight hits my truck, I ducked back down as not to be seen. The man walked up to about 15 yards from my truck and turned around and headed back down to the lower flat. Now my ice chest and camp chair and Bow and arrows are all next to my truck and I knew they knew I was there. As I finished getting dressed and was throwing my stuff in my truck the man comes back up the hill toward me with the bright flashlight right on me. I was now crouched down in front of my truck with my own light and my concealed carry pistol as the man was approaching me, I was thinking to myself what are you gonna do if he gets to my truck? He gets about 10 yards from my truck and racks a weapon as to give me a warning, his weapon sounded much bigger and better than mine. I was scared and ready to defend myself when all of a sudden a huge light display and a super loud speaker system turns on playing Norcos Coritos music. The man with the gun turned around and went back to the lower flat, I jumped in my truck and hauled *** out of there. I was shook up and scared until I got about a mile or so away and fear turned to anger. There was one other truck at the trailhead who was a friend of mine but he was camped about 7 miles in, he later told me he could hear the music from 7 miles out. I knew they were signaling to there buddies and figured they were illegal pot farmers. I work with many Law enforcement both Game Wardens and local so I called all of them. They busted that grow and later told me they were packing mini 14's with 30 round mags and had over 18,000 plants below the trailhead. Animals never seem to scare me to bad but Humans do! cheers, Jason

Well congrats on staying alive AND getting them busted. Good stuff

 

[Ol' Red]

Got a similar storie to. I was about 12 year old, all of my uncle keep their rifle loaded in theyr pick-up just in case a moose came across the way.... back at the camps one off them try to took is 7mm mag out of is pick-up at fired à round... cost him a transmission on is new truck and à permanent loss of earing...

Guest what I did once I have been old enouf to hunt on my ome....

Don't mean to laugh, but I get a dead transmission every year that was shot by someone unloading a gun in the vehicle. Then my ex son in law shot his transmission last year.

 

[Calvin45]

I been at the beach all week and you guys and gals have provided me with several hours of great entertainment. Thank you for sharing.

Stupid/Reckless People
When I was in twenties I was hunting my grandmother's farm. I left the woods early, maybe 10 or 15 minutes before sunset since some dogs had come running through the woods and I thought that deer hunting was probably over for the day. I was standing at the campfire we always kept burning and had this uneasy feeling of being watched. When I turned around I see a hunter who had walked clear of the brush and was standing in the open maybe 400 yards away. Not thinking much of this I turned around to continue watching the fire. That is when I heard something whiz by my right ear, I didn't realize it was a bullet until I heard the report of the rifle. When I turned around that *** was gone.

Crazy animals
I have also experienced the heart stopping episode of quails busting out the cedar trees right at eye level. Though I think the worst fright from birds happens when walking to my tree stand before light and having a flock of turkeys bust of of the trees as I walk under their roost. The first time that happened I thought for sure it was over for me.
I am quite familiar with the property I hunt so I don't normally use a light when walking to my stand in the dark. One morning I'm walking along and I feel something on my pack boot, I thought about just kicking whatever it was but decided a wiser course of action would be to dig my light out of my pocket. So, I get the light out and so help me a skunk is on my boot. I froze and waited until he scampered off it to the brush before continuing my journey.

PlumberEd

Oh man a skunk on one's boot sounds like a heart attack recipe. Such a small creature can command so much respect!!!

Two skunk stories, not hunting.

1. I know a guy who saw a skunk go into his garage out on the country one morning…this is bad! So he stays away from them for the morning, hoping it goes away. But he needs in his shop that evening and understandably is a bit "trepidatious" about going in there, unsure if the critter left or not. A brilliant idea occurs to him! He gets a laser pointer and uses it to get the attention of a random "farm cat" - you know how cats are with those things - and gets the cat to chase the laser dot into and all around the inside of the shop, himself at a comfortable safe distance with a shotgun in case a skunk did happen to come out at some point. When no chaos or commotion ensued, he figured he must be all clear. And he was. Better the cat than me he says

2. At summer Bible camp when I was a little kid…there was a "skunk warning" issued as in multiple sightings of a skunk on the campgrounds. We were all on high alert. A kid from my cabin bursts into the cabin screaming "the skunk got me, the skunk got me, it's in the bathrooms!!! It sprayed my foot!"

this all seems very unlikely and doesn't add up, his foot does stink, but not like a skunk…
The cabin leader asks what exactly happened. He says while he was using the facilities something sprayed his foot from the stall beside him…no sooner has he said this and another boy busts in laughing his *** off "I just peed on some kid's shoe!" . Disciplinary measures were taken, we had trouble with that guy in general….