Fear and loathing in the woods

[jhg]

This is more directed at those of you who hunt where there are the big bears, but there are also the cougars and maybe the wolves.

When you go into the timber in the dark or have to walk out late, how do you manage the fear?

I rarely get nervous where I hunt, the bears are black. But sometimes I get the feeling all is not quite safe. I do worry about the big cat sometimes and have had a couple sketchy moose encounters.

Tell us your story and your ways of dealing.

[Sam McMichael]

While we do have a few bears and reports of cougars in this area, they are not a concern. I am bothered more by the possibility of venomous snakes, since I have had a few close encounters.

[Trenton G.]

I worry more about wolves than anything else. I encounter them fairly frequently while hunting here at school and they just don't have any fear of people. Two years ago I was walking out after an evening hunt in the snow. I turned and looked behind me and could see a dark shape following through the woods about 40 yards back. I turned my headlamp on and there was a big wolf trotting along in my tracks. I swept around and counted 5 other sets of eyes glowing at me from the woods. They followed me all the way back to the truck. That was the longest walk out of my life.

Another time I watched a pair trot through, hit my tracks and turn on a dime and start following them straight towards me. I stood up and told them to get when they were about 30 yards out. They kept right on walking until they were about 20 yards and just stood there staring at me. No sign of fear at all. They eventually circled out around and kept on going.

I believe that like the grizzlies out west, they've learned to associate gun shots with food. Opening day of rifle season a few years ago I shot a buck, gutted him and drug him out to the truck. When I came back for the rest of my gear a half hour later they had already come in and cleaned up the gut pile. For them to move in that fast I'm almost certain they were just sitting up on the ridge watching me work.

Bears don't bother me too much as all we have are black bears. I had a sow charge me this fall and keep me up my tree for a while this bear season, but she eventually backed off once her cubs moved off a ways. I respect bears, but they always seem willing to give me space if I give them space so it's not usually a big concern.

I have not seen a cougar yet, although I have seen tracks. That's not something that I care to run into in the woods either.

I definitely try not to let these encounters influence my hunting or prevent me from doing it. It's just important to keep ones head on a swivel and pay attention to what's going on around you.

[David Mitchell]

Are you sure that isn't a bigfoot track?  Now that would scare me. 

[trad_bowhunter1965]

 when I am hiking out in the dark I try to remind myself that I am the baddest Predator in the woods. And it helps that my headlamp last for about 4 hours before I need to change out battery's .

[MnFn]

On the land I used to own, I had bear and timber wolves (personally observed) and suspected mountain lions.

I never worried about it too much,  but was always prepared with a handgun or long gun, when walking back in the dark.
Sometimes with a 9mm but mostly a Ruger BH 45 Colt.

I took pictures two years ago of an adult timber wolf and two juveniles. I’m assuming the adult was a female but she was big, larger than most deer around here.  Once I saw them,  my deer sightings dropped to almost nothing.

[PrimitivePete]

While the worst I could probably expect to encounter in my woods is an angry racoon I have experienced more danger sadly from other hunters. I was walking back to my car from a hunt on private property, treestand on my back, large flashlight in one hand, bow in the other. As I it the trail I picked up movement and focused my flashlight on a hunter with a compound bow pointing at me. Needless to say I was over the top angry and gave the guy a piece of my mind. What happened was he was driving down the road and saw a buck jump the fence into the property I was leasing. He drove his car onto the property and decided it was ok for him to hunt. I bet this bozo also believes in Rudolf because I know if I see a deer with a flashlight, treestand and bow coming at me, I'm done.

[JonCagle]

As Pete stated, people are the most worrisome around here. And bags, can’t forget the bats.

[woodchucker]

Years ago, before all of NYS was open for bear hunting, I was hunting the local archery club property.

One of the members had a ladder stand out by the 80yd target. He told me he had dumped a bag of corn out there for the turkeys, and was welcome to sit in his stand if I wanted to... Now baiting is not legal in NY, and old woodchucker never was much of tree stand guy. However, there were several wooden benches set around the 3-D course, and 1 of them was out by the 80 yarder..... I stillhunted around the 3-D course trail, and set on a couple benches. I ended up over by the 80yd target and there was the stand. About 5 yards in front of it was a pile of corn. About 20-25 yards away, was a bench. So, I set my butt down for a bit.....

Now, I'm a law abiding bowhunter.... I'm not really hunting "over" bait? If I wanted to, why not climb up in the stand right?? So, I'm sitting there, thinking, and watching, and thinking, and.... Here comes a black dog.
I'm watching this dog coming through the woods, and it's getting bigger.... I think to myself, that's a BIG dog!
I'm thinking it's probly a big Newfoundland like my brother in-law has. Then, it dawns on me.... That Newfy has no tail...?? It's a BEAR.... and a BIG BEAR!!!! He walks in to the pile of corn, plops down on his belly with the pile of corn between his paws, and starts licking it up....

So... there I sit, on a bench, in plain sight, with a bow in my lap, no legal bear season, and it's getting darker....
So, I holler... HEY!! He picks his head up, looks around, and goes back to the pile between his paws.
Well, THAT didn't work. So, I holler again.... HEY BEAR!!!! He picks his head up... and looks at ME!!!
Hmmm? MAYBE this isn't a good idea.... So I think, maybe I'll try and wait him out? It's getting darker....
About dusk, he's cleaned up the pile of corn, then he get's up and wanders back into the woods where had come from. Now, I'm sitting in the woods, in the dark. The dark woods, and the trail out, are in front of me... So is the bear!! Behind me, is a strip of power lines. The still gray sky provides more light, and it's more open... But a tangled mess of briars and wild rose bushes..... The choices are... Ripped to shreds by the briars, or maybe the bear?? I chose the power lines. I reached my truck a ripped, tattered, cut and bloody mess.
But, at least I wasn't eaten by a bear!!! 

[PrimitivePete]

That was a great story Woodchucker !!!

[M60gunner]

Guess I really didn’t give it a thought although there are Bears where we used to hunt up north. In Ca. we had mountain lions but really didn’t give them a thought either. They preferred joggers anyway. No wolves so can’t comment. Yotes don’t count here. I am in the “fear man” camp. Still have visions of an article I read back in early 70’s where a guy walking to his tree stand got shot by another bowhunter. He was on the operating table for hours while the docs tried to sew his guts back together. Now that scares me.

[bowkill146]

We were mule deer hunting a few years ago.  My step son shot a doe at a waterhole.  My two brothers and I went back to help him track the deer.  When we got to the brush blind by the waterhole that he had been sitting at, we started shining flashlights around to find blood.  I happened to shine behind where he had been sitting and saw one pair of eyes at first.  I was trying to figure out why the doe would have circled around behind to within about 20 yards of where he had been sitting.  I moved a little closer and realized it was a cougar.  Then I saw another pair of eyes.  It was an adult and a subadult.  They just stood there watching us not afraid, not running off.  We started hollering at them with little effect.  Finally, they just turned and wandered back into the brush.  We started tracking the deer through some thicker brush and happened to flash the light behind us.  There were the eyes.  They were tracking us as we were tracking the deer.  We ended up finding the deer and my step son had to finish it off.  Meanwhile the eyes had moved around and were behind the area where he had to shoot the deer.  He got the deer finished and we drug her out into the open to gut her out.  We got her out to the truck, the same truck that had my pistol in it!  We went back the next day to check the gut pile.  They had eaten a couple of the better parts but had taken all the rest and drug it back into the brush and piled it up neatly for later.  That was certainly a memorable encounter.  After that, I was a little better about carrying a pistol with me at least for a while.  It does help take some of the nervousness away. 

[Longrifleman]

Where I hunt in PA, I have encountered Black Bears, especially in the northern part of the state. They normally run away when they realize that I'm around, so no big deal there, but there was this one time...

It was fall about 5 years ago-early season-& I was hunting a 16 acre wooded parcel that I own up in Warren County. I had made a nice natural ground blind at the intersection of 4 trails that previous winter when I was up there doing some scouting. The trails all ran into very thick stuff-briars & scrub, & I figured that it may be a good bedding area for deer.

So I'm sitting there watching the sunset, and a large female bear emerges from the briars with barely a sound-she's about 8 ft away from me. I wasn't sure what to do next, but when she took a step towards me, it was clear that she didn't see me, so I started talking to her in a low calm voice, hoping to gently get her attention. It worked-she stopped and looked at me, then she made a sound like a loud "WOOF." I then heard and saw 2 cubs rapidly climbing 2 trees about 15 yds away, & thought to myself," so Lord, this is how my end is written in the book? I'm gonna be bear chow?!"

I didn't move-she didn't move-this was probably for 3-5 minutes, but seemed like a half hour. Then she turned around and went back into the briars. I stayed right there and didn't move until well after dark, and after i heard the cubs come back down & the 3 of them move off.

...probably cost me 5 yrs on my life span!

I haven't seen any wolves or tracks yet, but the rumors are that they're coming...also haven't seen any lions or tracks, but have seen photos posted on various forums...maybe they're around, or maybe not..

Even so, I started carrying one of my .357 snubnose revolvers or a compact 9mm after that encounter-not a fan of the extra weight & gear, but I'm thinking that it's better to have it and not need it....

[Jim Wright]

Some years ago I lived in Montana and had a sheep permit both years in what is now the Absaroka/Beartooth Wilderness area. Back then there was only a slight chance of coming across a Grizzly but there were plenty of lions and black bears. I spent many nights alone, camped usually near timberline and don't recall ever being scared. I return to western Montana app. every other year to fly fish. Where I fish there are plenty of Grizzlies, Black Bears, Mountain Lions and wolves to boot. I am concerned with self preservation as much as the next guy and do carry bear spray but am nowhere close to "fear and loathing".

[InFamousElGuapo]

I hunt South Texas and what I fear the most are rattlesnakes and illegals coming from across the border. They are everywhere. I always wear snake boots and carry a handgun.....just never know.

[Yooper-traveler]

I have a wolf pack on my property.  Until they start drinking my scotch or borrowing my bows without asking I don’t worry about them.  If anything I don’t want to stumble into a moose lol.

[Yooper-traveler]

The wolves that swim can be scary.

[Orion]

We have a lot of bear and wolves in the area I hunt.  Cougars are rare to non existent, though a few have reported seeing cougar, and I caught a glimpse of what I thought might have been a cougar about five years ago.

I don't worry much about bear because they're hunted heavily in the early fall here and usually run at the faintest hint of man.  I did have a close encounter with a bear while leaving the woods at dark a few years ago.  He finally left when I charged at him after he ignored my verbal persuasion, which I later decided wasn't the brightest thing to do.

Haven't had the type of close encounters that Trenton has had with wolves, though I feel I may have been escorted out of the woods a time or two.

I'm most worried about other "hunters."

Used to feel like I was the toughest thing out there, but now that I'm half way through my 8th decade, not so much. I've taken to carrying bear spray.  It's a non-lethal way to handle any of the critters above.  Hope I never have to use it.

[jhg]

These are great stories! Keep them coming!

I like the fish photo, knowing well how savage those things are.

[Flem]

Embrace being part of the food chain and don't worry.