Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: ChrisM on July 21, 2011, 07:27:00 PM
-
Went out hoghunting/deer scouting during mid day today. It was a cool 98 degrees so I was working my way down the drought stricken spears creek lookin for piggies cooling themselves in the sand and sparce pools. This area is thick with canebreaks and blow downs and is rarely ventured into. Well about an hour into the hunt I come to a sharp bend in the creek with a deep muddy pool with multiple gametrails and hog wallows around it. I decide to hang out next to a sycamore on the edge watching a down wind trail and hope. Five minutes into my wait I hear a low growl followed by two huffs. Now years of being in the woods and around animals it sounds like it was feline in origin. I begin to rapidly scan the area it came from and put an arrow on the string. I can't find it as the growls continue. Now in my area we have bob cats and the occasional lion. The growl sounded very defensive in nature and sounded like it was coming from the area of the pool that had a 10 foot solid bank so my mind says I have a cat cornered in that bank and I am the only way out. I look and look with pressure on the string. Then the sound stops dead silent with no sound of movement. Now what is it about to jump on me before I can find it? Just before I hollared to get its attention or to make it move I see a ripple in the water. Out pops an Otter!! I am 32 yrs old and have been in these woods since I was about 6 and I have never seen an odder in my neck of the woods. Well to my great relif the little buggers starts to growl and huff at me. Well I chuckled to myself, relaxed and sat down to watch him. He came out of the water after a while to within a couple of yards and after a few minutes he went into his hole. There for a second I thought a pissed off cat was gonna get a piece. Just one of the many reason I love getting out there. Glad to see a species finally returning to an area it used to be common in. A few years ago I saw my first beaver and now a otter.
Sorry for the long read
-
LOL!! That was awesome!!
-
Haha! Great story! Glad he didn't maul you
-
:biglaugh: Thanks!!
-
Good one! :biglaugh:
-
Wish I could send some of our Virginia beavers your way... They are all over the place and making a mess of things here. Glad your otter encounter wasn't deadly! LOL! Steve
-
Otters are fun to watch. Nice sighting. :thumbsup:
-
You had my full attention with that story. Been stalked by a couple lions, eerie feeling. Glad it turned out happy.
-
:archer:
-
They are neat critters, they like to play and are very curious. I've had them follow me down the river for a mile.
Lots of them around here both river and sea otters.
John
-
Fun to watch!
-
LOL good stuff Chris! THANKS for the *long read*
-
Great story, did not see that one coming!
-
Otters have invaded southern Illinois and are a nuisance. They move into a fish pond and literally kill every fish in it. They are voracious eaters. Some of the catfish farmers have had their summers work ruined. After they leave all you can find are fish bones everywhere.
-
Cool read. Would have got the old heart jumping for sure!
-
Too cool
-
Trag Gang Foul! Should be in the Dangerous Game Forum....
-
Great story :archer:
-
Great story and Bill Kissner is right, they will clean out a pond in short order.
-
Good story, thanks for sharing. Just goes to show you never know what you may see in the woods.
-
Great story! Thank you
-
great story. otters are very interesting animals!
-
Great stuff Chris. Otters are too cool. Thanks for the story.
-
I love to watch otters... :)
I also learned trapping in MT they are not to be fooled with or thought to be cute and cuddly because of their loveable playful antics.
They're the little cousin to the wolverine! And they are one strong, mean-butt, tear ya a new one critter if cornered or threatened.
Buddy quit trappin the Mighty MO one day when he found his 330 Conibear bent at a 90* angle with Otter hair in it! He went 240# and ox strong and couldn't do that!
Still, long as some gator don't git em, that is so very cool to know they're where ya are!
-
Great story.As soon as I started to read it,I was reminded of my "moment".
I was hiking into a steep,jungle thick draw to check a trail cam.I never hunt this draw because it is too thick to see more than a few feet but there is an almost hidden water trough halfway up.It is a favorite hangout for sow bears,female lions and bobcats.I had gotten several lion pictures already.
It was hot and halfway in,I dropped my pack to get my water bottle.Just as I got my fist swig,I heard that low,guttural squall.I got one of those adrenaline spikes that hurts.I dropped the water and grabbed the insurance policy that's always on my belt in this country.My eyes scanned the brush so fast I had to slow myself down.I just couldn't see it.I scanned a little more carefully and realized the sound was at my feet.
I opened the pack and discovered one of those little cheap,handheld,battery predator calls and the flimsy switch had kicked on when I set the pack down.I swiftly put down the threat,and sat down to compose myself.Well,I lost a couple years off my life but lived to fight another day.Big hunter.
-
That is hysterical, Jim!
Tell me any one of us hasn't done something similar to scare the bejabbers outa our ownselves!
-
Thats awesome.
To think many years ago I used to help feed/care for Ohio River otters and would get into their cage to clean it out at our local Natural History Museum. I was only around 13. Never heard them growl like that. They were always playful as long as you gave them their space. Then one day one of the otters bit the hell out of kid- shock. They quit letting minors in summer programs get in the otter cage after that.
Cool experience.
-
Very Cool. Get any pics?
-
That's funny, glad you made it out in this heat.
-
:campfire: :coffee:
-
That is great.
-
Great story well told.
But seriously, you're lucky. Very few people realize, probably because they appear so cute, that otters are incredibly ferocious. You're lucky you still have all your toes.
:D