What’s your spookiest hunting experience?

[sidpits]

About 40 years ago my hunting buddy Steve and I took a bowhunting trip to Northern Indiana to hunt public access areas for deer.Steve had hunted there before and always done well.
First day we walked back in along a soybean field hedge row and hunted til sundown. As we're walking back Steve just body slams in to me,out of the blue! I jump up confused, as Steve is swearing and hollering .When he turned to talk to me he saw a green dot on my chest.Some idiot hunting from a tree stand, after dark, with a laser on his bow.If not for Steve I would have taken a broad head through the chest. The guy kept apologizing as Steve called him every kind of stupid.
We didn't hunt quite so late for the rest of our trip.

 

[Rosebud]

I'm stationed on Shemya AB Ak. Advanced radar site fourty miles in from Attu, The end island. Its two miles by four miles square. As C130 guy said The Rock. During WW2 it had over fifty thousand service men on it, with huge amounts of equipment. None of it left the island. It was pushed into the Bering Sea. On one side of the island we called it metal beach. Hundreds of yards of trucks, tanks half track, munitions. Barrels of weapons sticking out. It was crazy. There was a beach gravel road that circled the island, and the day of the quake we took the fire department pickup and went to the beach, Middle of Feb and the day was beautiful. Shemya is never beautiful, weather wise. Not a cloud in the sky. But still cold. You could walk the beach that wasn't covered with metal and pick up jade and jadite. Every now and then someone would find a piece of emperor jade. $$$. Had to set a picture. Shemyas weather was bad to worse. Weekly and biweekly hurricane force winds. Rained sideways. Well its get very dark very fast in Feb. So we head in. I had early alarm room shift the next morning, so I hit the sack. I fell the bed shake a little. It does that often there, ok, back to sleep. It sounded like Giants ripping concrete apart. I sat up on the side of the bed and watched the small refrigerator fly across the room at me. Everything in my room is flying from one side of the room to the other. I thought it went on longer, but it was only seventy five seconds. I'm hearing people yelling to get out of the building. I'm digging around in the mess of my room to find my uniform. When I find it I can't get it on I'm shaking so bad. Grab my uni and wolf fur parka and run outside in my underwear. Plop my butt down in the snow and get dressed. It's pitch black, no lights anywhere. I'm standing outside and its 34 degrees, but the wind is about twenty mph. Its getting cold fast. About the time I decided, screw it I'm going back inside a SP security police for you army types. With his lights flashing comes up to the barracks talking over their PA saying, we're looking for Sgt. Belcher. I'm thinking, I had nothing to do with this mess. I'm a little confused at that point. Anyway, I got their attention and they said get in your needed at the fire station. I asked why but no-one knew. I got to the fire station the chief and several of the high ups on the island we there. I'm really confused now. They point out one of the trucks , A P4, it a eight wheel four to each side and weights 22,tons. the seven of us cram into the truck that was only meant to seat four. I'm told to drive to the highest point on the island, its 90 feet above sea level. Shear cliff dropping into the Bering sea. So far everything has happened very fast. Now I'm asking what is going on. The O6 setting beside me says something that scares me worse than the quake, Tsunami! Ok now I'm thinking this is it. The other officer in the back says Belcher, your young and strong, if you survive this tell my family I love them. I'm thinking, what, shut up. We sat there for an hour. Finally the colonel gets a radio call saying every thing is ok. We did get a tsunami, but it only washed up over the runway on the Pacific side. The 6.5 quake hit four days later. That is a story for another time. You will love this, only the military could do this. Myself and one other guy had a license to drive the P4, and he was lucky enough to be on leave. Any of them could have started it up and put it in gear. It had a automatic transmission. But they sat right beside the runway at the fire station knowing a huge wave was coming waiting for SP to find me. Only in the military.

 

[Rosebud]

About 40 years ago my hunting buddy Steve and I took a bowhunting trip to Northern Indiana to hunt public access areas for deer.Steve had hunted there before and always done well.
First day we walked back in along a soybean field hedge row and hunted til sundown. As we're walking back Steve just body slams in to me,out of the blue! I jump up confused, as Steve is swearing and hollering .When he turned to talk to me he saw a green dot on my chest.Some idiot hunting from a tree stand, after dark, with a laser on his bow.If not for Steve I would have taken a broad head through the chest. The guy kept apologizing as Steve called him every kind of stupid.
We didn't hunt quite so late for the rest of our trip.

That's nuts. I might have waited until he came down from the stand.

 

[Radman]

Thanks! I went many years not telling that story, as I had a hard time articulating it and I didn't expect anyone to believe me. Then on my bear pack out in early august, the impetus for this whole thread was when I told my good buddy Tom that story and he stopped dead in his tracks and said "Holy S*** dude, I know that sound. My brother and I heard it once too. Clearly communication, but I've never heard an animal EVER make those noises". He relayed his experience, and I got to wondering whether anyone else had been involved in something similar.

Nothing to do with my hunting but I've had 2 close encounters with them before - one an actual "close-up & personal" sighting with 3 witnesses along, (one was a state trooper)! I always "wondered" what those noises were but after that sighting in Florida I'm a believer! Glad that you brought this great thread up!

 

[memtb]

I have a story…..though, not my own!

It was told to me by my uncle, and I'm not certain of the year, but probably just before or after WW II.

This happened somewhere near Baton Rouge, La and I can't even remember what he was hunting…..squirrels, I think!

He drove down a gravel road, in very dense fog, until he arrived near his hunting spot. As it was before daylight, and extremely foggy….he decided to take a nap while waiting on daylight and perhaps the fog to lift a bit.

Sleeping with the window down, after all it's Louisiana in early October…..it's pretty warm. A short time later he's awakened by an odd noise…..close to the car. He turns on the car lights, and kinda freaks-out at what was illuminated by the lights. There in front of him, walking down the road…..was a line of elephants.

For a brief period of time he was freaked-out…..was he hallucinating or what the hell? Then he saw that the elephants were being lead by a man.

When he gathered his wits, he questioned the man about what was going on……they were part of a circus group headed to Baton Rouge! memtb

 

[Radman]

Setting decoys in the dark on the slough on my property, surrounded by trees along and overhanging a good portion of the slough, a female bobcat was above me when she let out a wail, I about pee'd my waders and I may have let out a little wail myself. If someone had of chunked a rock in the water near me, I am pretty sure I would have been a couple miles down the road before I got my wits about me.

I have walked up on a porcupine in the dark, stared across the river at a large mountain lion, stood toe to toe with a wounded wild boar, had a semi tame buffalo bluff charge me and had an alligator slap the side of my kayak, but nothing has scared me to the core like that bobcat did. It was just unnerving.

Dang! There is still a calling in your life!

 

[Alibiiv]

I don't have a story that can match some of these stories, and...no Big Foot story either. "Many, many" decades ago while whitetail deer hunting in the Greenville, Maine area I did have a frightening experience. It was one of those days where it was snowing very lightly, not too cold and the tracking was pretty good due to an inch of fresh, light snow on the ground. It was early in the morning when I cut a big buck track and took off on the track. I was taking my time because this buck was just meandering along and not in too much of a hurry. We cut through some high hardwood ridges and then down to a fairly decent logging road. This buck was not in a hurry, but was not stopping either, I'd probably tracked this guy for a good five-miles or more to this logging road. After about a mile on this road, the buck veered off and started to head into a swampy area, using an old tote road that had a game trail tracked down in the middle of it. The only way to distinguish this road was from the smaller trees growing up in the middle of the road, compared to the surrounding trees. I tracked down this road for about a mile when I came to two large spruce trees that had grown so big that they blocked off the entire tote road. The buck managed to walk around the spruce trees by going around them, but the going was swampy, so I decided to push through the trees instead. So...I pulled the collar up on my red-checked, wool Carter hunting coat, turned around and pushed my way through those two spruce trees. When I broke through I turned around onto the tote road again, only to come face-to-face, like five-feet face-to-face, with a bull moose who was as surprised as I was!!! The moose stared at me and I stared back at that moose only momentarily before I leveled my Remington 600, .308 Winchester in his direction and backed out the same way that I came in, only it didn't take as long getting through those spruce trees and less time to walk back to the logging road.

And....fast forward, many, many decades. Two years ago while black bear hunting in the Crawford, Maine area I had a frightening experience as well. I have been around the sun 7 1/2 times, my walking is not so good, but....I still keep going as much as possible. It was the middle of the week, the weather was not too promising and thunderstorms were predicted, but for later in the evening. We had all packed our rain gear, but had not put it on as we were being dropped off to our hunting blinds. I looked at my NOAH, it showed that there were in fact thunder storms coming, but....it looked like they were not going to hit until later in the evening. I wanted to travel light and made the dumb decision to leave my gear in the truck. I walked into my ground blind and set up. I could hear the storms approaching, however it was close to that magic last hour of hunting so I decided to wait it out. Again I can hear the storm approaching, but it seemed a bit away and it was right in the peak of that magic hour of bear hunting. So....I make this dumb decision to continue hunting. It was really quiet when suddenly I could hear the rain coming through the woods in my direction, and....it was coming fast. At this point I realized this storm was right on top of me, it was a fierce storm, it was right on top of me, and it was time to get out of the ground blind and out to the main dirt road. I got about 25 yards from my stand and hit the tractor road when all hell broke loose. The peak of this storm was upon me with all of its furry!! The rain was coming down so hard that it looked like fog and the lightening was hitting all around me. I realized that I had made a terrible error in judgement and that I was in real trouble when the lightening struck the tree right behind where my ground blind was an took it down. After this tree going down it was more wind, thunder and lightening going on all around me. I don't walk very fast because of a back injury, and I am trying to make my way up this tractor road and cannot see by 20-30 feet in front of me due to the heavy rains. I was walking in the edge (rut) of the tractor road towards the place where I was to be picked up about 1/4 mile from where I was hunting. The water in the tractor road was rushing down so hard that it was flowing over my boots and filling them up, the rain was running down my back, and I was soaked to the skin everywhere and my wet clothes were slowing my walking down even more! After what seemed like hours, although only minutes, I saw what looked like headlights coming down the tractor road, and...it was the outfitter!! He realized that I had left my rain gear in the truck, he knew that the storm was a serious storm, and he came in early to pick me up. I was never so happy to see anyone in my life as when I saw that truck driving in to pick me up. So was this a scary moment for me, yes it was!!! I also realize that this experience could have been tragic had that outfitter not come in to pick me up when he did. And...I created this mess for myself. Even if I had brought my rain gear it was still a stupid judgement call to stay in those woods with that storm approaching. And also stupid of me for underestimating the severity of that storm. And again it was a really scary moment for me. Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories on this thread.

 

[marksman1941]

About 40 years ago my hunting buddy Steve and I took a bowhunting trip to Northern Indiana to hunt public access areas for deer.Steve had hunted there before and always done well.
First day we walked back in along a soybean field hedge row and hunted til sundown. As we're walking back Steve just body slams in to me,out of the blue! I jump up confused, as Steve is swearing and hollering .When he turned to talk to me he saw a green dot on my chest.Some idiot hunting from a tree stand, after dark, with a laser on his bow.If not for Steve I would have taken a broad head through the chest. The guy kept apologizing as Steve called him every kind of stupid.
We didn't hunt quite so late for the rest of our trip.

I've never heard of someone putting a laser on their bow! Is that common back east? Nothing electronic is legal on a bow in Oregon so I've never seen one. Did the hunter actually launch the arrow?

 

[marksman1941]

Nothing to do with my hunting but I've had 2 close encounters with them before - one an actual "close-up & personal" sighting with 3 witnesses along, (one was a state trooper)! I always "wondered" what those noises were but after that sighting in Florida I'm a believer! Glad that you brought this great thread up!

Can we hear about your first person encounter?

 

[Rosebud]

I don't have a story that can match some of these stories, and...no Big Foot story either. "Many, many" decades ago while whitetail deer hunting in the Greenville, Maine area I did have a frightening experience. It was one of those days where it was snowing very lightly, not too cold and the tracking was pretty good due to an inch of fresh, light snow on the ground. It was early in the morning when I cut a big buck track and took off on the track. I was taking my time because this buck was just meandering along and not in too much of a hurry. We cut through some high hardwood ridges and then down to a fairly decent logging road. This buck was not in a hurry, but was not stopping either, I'd probably tracked this guy for a good five-miles or more to this logging road. After about a mile on this road, the buck veered off and started to head into a swampy area, using an old tote road that had a game trail tracked down in the middle of it. The only way to distinguish this road was from the smaller trees growing up in the middle of the road, compared to the surrounding trees. I tracked down this road for about a mile when I came to two large spruce trees that had grown so big that they blocked off the entire tote road. The buck managed to walk around the spruce trees by going around them, but the going was swampy, so I decided to push through the trees instead. So...I pulled the collar up on my red-checked, wool Carter hunting coat, turned around and pushed my way through those two spruce trees. When I broke through I turned around onto the tote road again, only to come face-to-face, like five-feet face-to-face, with a bull moose who was as surprised as I was!!! The moose stared at me and I stared back at that moose only momentarily before I leveled my Remington 600, .308 Winchester in his direction and backed out the same way that I came in, only it didn't take as long getting through those spruce trees and less time to walk back to the logging road.

And....fast forward, many, many decades. Two years ago while black bear hunting in the Crawford, Maine area I had a frightening experience as well. I have been around the sun 7 1/2 times, my walking is not so good, but....I still keep going as much as possible. It was the middle of the week, the weather was not too promising and thunderstorms were predicted, but for later in the evening. We had all packed our rain gear, but had not put it on as we were being dropped off to our hunting blinds. I looked at my NOAH, it showed that there were in fact thunder storms coming, but....it looked like they were not going to hit until later in the evening. I wanted to travel light and made the dumb decision to leave my gear in the truck. I walked into my ground blind and set up. I could hear the storms approaching, however it was close to that magic last hour of hunting so I decided to wait it out. Again I can hear the storm approaching, but it seemed a bit away and it was right in the peak of that magic hour of bear hunting. So....I make this dumb decision to continue hunting. It was really quiet when suddenly I could hear the rain coming through the woods in my direction, and....it was coming fast. At this point I realized this storm was right on top of me, it was a fierce storm, it was right on top of me, and it was time to get out of the ground blind and out to the main dirt road. I got about 25 yards from my stand and hit the tractor road when all hell broke loose. The peak of this storm was upon me with all of its furry!! The rain was coming down so hard that it looked like fog and the lightening was hitting all around me. I realized that I had made a terrible error in judgement and that I was in real trouble when the lightening struck the tree right behind where my ground blind was an took it down. After this tree going down it was more wind, thunder and lightening going on all around me. I don't walk very fast because of a back injury, and I am trying to make my way up this tractor road and cannot see by 20-30 feet in front of me due to the heavy rains. I was walking in the edge (rut) of the tractor road towards the place where I was to be picked up about 1/4 mile from where I was hunting. The water in the tractor road was rushing down so hard that it was flowing over my boots and filling them up, the rain was running down my back, and I was soaked to the skin everywhere and my wet clothes were slowing my walking down even more! After what seemed like hours, although only minutes, I saw what looked like headlights coming down the tractor road, and...it was the outfitter!! He realized that I had left my rain gear in the truck, he knew that the storm was a serious storm, and he came in early to pick me up. I was never so happy to see anyone in my life as when I saw that truck driving in to pick me up. So was this a scary moment for me, yes it was!!! I also realize that this experience could have been tragic had that outfitter not come in to pick me up when he did. And...I created this mess for myself. Even if I had brought my rain gear it was still a stupid judgement call to stay in those woods with that storm approaching. And also stupid of me for underestimating the severity of that storm. And again it was a really scary moment for me. Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories on this thread.

Sudden severe weather has killed lots of people in the outdoors. You got lucky my friend.

 

[memtb]

This is one of those almost spending the night out…..and not preparred nor wanting to!

I'll attempt to set the stage…..I was about 20, deer hunting from a blind in the thickets of Central Louisiana just north of my Grandfather's fence line. His little 40 acre place is at the end of a road of about 4 miles in length, with only 2 other places along the road, another 40 acre parcel and another 20 acre place. Both of which are timber/brush covered with no fencing…..it would be real easy to go right past or through these places without even knowing!

If you miss any of these 3 places….. from where I was hunting it's a pretty good ways to roads, a very small town, or any other homes. To the west, the small town is about 4 or 5 miles, to the north about 10 or 12 miles through some really nasty terrain, to the east about 4 miles to the gravel road running N/S, and to the south just a few hundred yards away my Grandfather's fence line…..if you didn't veer to the right very far, as I was near the NW corner!


I hunted until I could no longer see the sights on my S&W Model 28, and headed out to my Grandfather's place. In mere moments it was pitch dark, making any landmarks useless…..even with a flashlight!

After walking for what seemed like a long time to cover just a couple hundred yards…..I decided to take a look at my compass. What I saw left me in disbelief and denial…..it said that I was going almost 180 degrees the wrong! I didn't want to believe the compas. I even went so far as to, put ever metal that I had a ways from me to get an accurate reading…..still showed me 180 off.

Now came one of the hardest decisions that I had ever made……believe my compass or my uncanny sense if direction! With all of my thoughts telling me the compass was wrong…..I, with great difficult, made an about-face and started walking!

Much to the dismay of many of you, in a little while I found the fence line…..and lived to tell this story! memtb

 

[Rosebud]

This is one of those almost spending the night out…..and not preparred nor wanting to!

I'll attempt to set the stage…..I was about 20, deer hunting from a blind in the thickets of Central Louisiana just north of my Grandfather's fence line. His little 40 acre place is at the end of a road of about 4 miles in length, with only 2 other places along the road, another 40 acre parcel and another 20 acre place. Both of which are timber/brush covered with no fencing…..it would be real easy to go right past or through these places without even knowing!

If you miss any of these 3 places….. from where I was hunting it's a pretty good ways to roads, a very small town, or any other homes. To the west, the small town is about 4 or 5 miles, to the north about 10 or 12 miles through some really nasty terrain, to the east about 4 miles to the gravel road running N/S, and to the south just a few hundred yards away my Grandfather's fence line…..if you didn't veer to the right very far, as I was near the NW corner!


I hunted until I could no longer see the sights on my S&W Model 28, and headed out to my Grandfather's place. In mere moments it was pitch dark, making any landmarks useless…..even with a flashlight!

After walking for what seemed like a long time to cover just a couple hundred yards…..I decided to take a look at my compass. What I saw left me in disbelief and denial…..it said that I was going almost 180 degrees the wrong! I didn't want to believe the compas. I even went so far as to, put ever metal that I had a ways from me to get an accurate reading…..still showed me 180 off.

Now came one of the hardest decisions that I had ever made……believe my compass or my uncanny sense if direction! With all of my thoughts telling me the compass was wrong…..I, with great difficult, made an about-face and started walking!

Much to the dismay of many of you, in a little while I found the fence line…..and lived to tell this story! memtb

You may be the only person on the forum that would argue with a compass. You the man Memtb!

 

[Radman]

I miss opening day of squirrel hunting in N. LA. A friend/coworker told me to hunt his family land on opening day one year. He told me that more than likely nobody would hunt it because it wasn't close to anything. To get there I had to open a locked gate, drive about 1 mile in, and park at a very old family cemetery. Like Civil War era old. That was an interesting place.

Not far from the wrought iron fence of the cemetery the land dropped off into a big hardwood and pine bottom. Some of the trees there were big enough that I couldn't reach more than 1/2 way around them. very old. They were there during the Civil War.

As I walked in I noticed that it was near impossible to be quiet when I walked through the dead ok and hickory leaves. It's easy to be quiet walking on pine needles, you just had to feel the sticks under the needles so they don't crack if you step on them. I found a big pine that was near some smaller pine trees, leaned up against it, and waited for the sound of pine cone seeds hitting the leaves. I'd been there maybe 30m when a deer came by. I heard it coming through the leaves before I saw it so I didn't feel too bad about sounding like a Walrus when I walked in. Not long after a voice very near me said, having an luck. I froze and looked around. Not 3' away there was an old man, wearing old tiger stripe camo, and holding a shotgun. I said no sir, just a deer. He said yup, I followed her in. That man did not make a sound coming or going. I watched him disappear into the woods. I stuck around for an hour or so then left with a few squirrels.

I've always said, with nothing but true respect: "It takes an Indian to sneak up on an Indian."

 

[Radman]

This is one of those almost spending the night out…..and not preparred nor wanting to!

I'll attempt to set the stage…..I was about 20, deer hunting from a blind in the thickets of Central Louisiana just north of my Grandfather's fence line. His little 40 acre place is at the end of a road of about 4 miles in length, with only 2 other places along the road, another 40 acre parcel and another 20 acre place. Both of which are timber/brush covered with no fencing…..it would be real easy to go right past or through these places without even knowing!

If you miss any of these 3 places….. from where I was hunting it's a pretty good ways to roads, a very small town, or any other homes. To the west, the small town is about 4 or 5 miles, to the north about 10 or 12 miles through some really nasty terrain, to the east about 4 miles to the gravel road running N/S, and to the south just a few hundred yards away my Grandfather's fence line…..if you didn't veer to the right very far, as I was near the NW corner!


I hunted until I could no longer see the sights on my S&W Model 28, and headed out to my Grandfather's place. In mere moments it was pitch dark, making any landmarks useless…..even with a flashlight!

After walking for what seemed like a long time to cover just a couple hundred yards…..I decided to take a look at my compass. What I saw left me in disbelief and denial…..it said that I was going almost 180 degrees the wrong! I didn't want to believe the compas. I even went so far as to, put ever metal that I had a ways from me to get an accurate reading…..still showed me 180 off.

Now came one of the hardest decisions that I had ever made……believe my compass or my uncanny sense if direction! With all of my thoughts telling me the compass was wrong…..I, with great difficult, made an about-face and started walking!

Much to the dismay of many of you, in a little while I found the fence line…..and lived to tell this story! memtb

Total agreement. The hardest thing about using a compass is learning to trust them!