Unique things you remember

[charles m]

I would like to hear some of the unique or strange things you remember doing, experiencing, and seeing while out hunting.

This should be fun. 

[Mike Bolin]

I tend to remember sounds more than anything. Black flies buzzing, leaves crunching, different animal sounds. Many years ago, I was hunting Black Bear in Quebec. Settled into my stand at about 3:00, knowing from past experience that I most likely would see a bear for at least 3 or 4 hours. This was pre Thermacell days and the black flies were ferocious. I had my shirts sleeves and pants cuffs duct taped, and a bug proof head net on. After only a few minutes, a beaver smacked its tail in the water of a nearby lake. It seemed so loud that I about jumped out of my stand!

I heard something moving in the brush above me and toward the lake. Then I saw the outline of a bear. It was big bear, and he was moaning as he moved through the brush. He laid down and started to gnaw on something about 30 yards away from me. Every crunching sound was accompanied with a moan. After a few minutes, the bear stood up and slowly walked down the ridge to the bait. He seemed HUGE! Now, I didn't hear the black flies. I couldn't hear him walking. All I could hear was the sound of my heart pounding in my head!

Now he was on the beat down path to the bait, still moaning with each step, like he was in pain. He stuck his head into the 50-gallon drum, but instead of grabbing a piece of bait and heading back to cover to eat (that's what I was accustomed to seeing in the past), he just stood there eating from the barrel. I picked my spot and drew, but when I hit anchor my head net folded and distorted my vision. I tried again, same result! I had practiced with the head net, but having my short collar buttoned had the net bunched up and it couldn't rotate as I came to full draw. The big bear just stood there eating, so I ripped off my head net as I stood up, drew and took the shot.

He ran up the ridge and disappeared over the crest. I heard brush breaking for what seemed like several minutes, then I heard the death moan...then a second moan. Then silence. I set down to keep from falling out of the tree. I had killed bears before, but not this big and not with a recurve. Now I could hear the black flies again, and I wiped them away from my face and pulled my head net back on.

The bear had only ran 35 yards, just over the crest of the ridge. The sound of him crashing through the brush was actually the sound of him trying to jump over a downed pine tree. He only cleared the tree with his upper body and as he slid down the tree, he was breaking off the dead limbs. The constant moaning was due to the fact that several teeth were broken or worn off down to his gum line. When he was laying down above me moaning, he had been gnawing on an old beaver skull. Much like a child chewing on a teething ring for some relief. He squared over six feet and bottomed out the scale at 300# live weight. After gutting, he still bottomed out the scale. A tooth was sent to the Ministry of Resources, and he was aged at 19 1/2 years old. Skull was over 19". My first traditional bow kill, and what I remember most is the "sounds".

Now, I'm getting old and don't hear so well. Thank you for letting me relive that hunt and being able to share it with you!

[Fireman2019]

About 24 years ago I drew my first archery bull tag in AZ. I had been hiking in to a wallow 3 miles every morning in a non motorized use part of the unit. There was a giant bull (370) that had been using the wallow right at shooting light. I was sitting tucked in between some boulders, 30 yards exactly from the wallow. Sure enough I heard him bugling and coming up the drainage. He came in quartering pretty hard towards me so I needed to wait till he turned. Right as he started to kneel down to roll in the mud, I saw a straight stick rise up from behind a dead and down ponderosa pine. Then I saw a head and torso and by the time I realized what was happening, an arrow smashed right into the bulls side and poked out the other. The bull flopped over, got to his feet and trotted about 50 yards and fell over. I stood up and so the did the other hunter. Apparently we both snuck in at around the same time in the pitch dark. Neither of us knew the other was there. He was shooting a longbow and was in a burlap camo ghillie suit.We spoke for a bit and I helped him get some pictures of him and his bull. That moment is what got me intrigued with traditional equipment. It took a very long time for me to get started in it, but it was what opened my eyes to it.

[MT STEVE]

Man a ton of things over the years, I've seen two squirrels fall out of the trees from way up, had chickadees perch on my arrow shafts, lip squeaked at a red fox 30 yards out in a field and he made a beeline to the base of my tree and stood up with his front feet on my tree looking straight up at me, had wood ducks come out of a creek I was hunting along a forage for acorns like a bunch of chickens under my stand, a box turtle crawling around in the dried up leaves under me, that about drove me nuts trying to figure out what it was, sitting on the ground against a tree in CO had an elk calf come running through the timber and jumped over my outstretched legs, an owl came within a fraction of an inch of sinking it's talons in my face one morning in the dark, I could go on forever, I should write a book .........LOL

[Huntnjim]

I must share this experience due to the topic title: Back in 1989 Keith Bain and I went down to a Texas Ranch just north of the Mexico border. We had hunted together all over the US but especially in South Texas. We had been on this large open fence ranch for a week. I had assisted in helping Keith place his tree stand. My stand was within 1/2 mile or so. Each morning both of us had numerous deer, turkey and other critters about and within bow range for our longbows. On about the 7th day we had climbed into our stands. As the day started to break, I noticed no birds, no deer, no wildlife movement. After the sun had just broke, I heard movement, shortly I seen 12 Hispanic guys carrying large duffels on their backs. The lead guy had an AK47 and was all buffed out and with face paint. They came within 30 yards of my stand. I was completely camouflaged and my stand was stealth. I knew these guys were running drugs by all appearance. One of the guys in our camp was a homicide detective from Houston. Long story short, I picked up Keith after they had passed and drove back to camp. Reported the situation to the detective and within a short time the border control arrived at our camp lodge. I escorted the BP to the location and they went into pursuit. unfortunately they did not apprehend but this gave them a good clue of the trail these thugs were using.

[stevem]

I had backpacked a few miles into a remote wilderness area in Colorado, and set up a tentless campsite at the edge of a large meadow.  Elk liked to use an old burn well above the meadow, and I planned to be at the edge of it come morning.  I'll mention there were no other vehicles at the trailhead.  Come evening I read a bit using my fanny pack as a head rest, then set my flashlight and old style windup alarm clock next to me, and drifted into a sound sleep.  Much later I thought maybe I heard my alarm clock, but decided it was too faint.  But being awake I decided to see what time it was.  I grouped around for my flashlight and couldn't find it, or was the alarm clock where it should have been.  What the heck????  I found my fanny pack and found another flashlight in it.  Looking all around, there was no sight of my flashlight or clock.  But my watch said it was time to get up.  At this point I was quite uncomfortable but proceeded to make coffee and oatmeal, and get dressed.  My head was on a swivel, looking for a person or ghost or whatever.  Just as I was ready to head out, I noticed a tiny shiny thing maybe 30 feet way under some tree limbs.  It was my missing alarm clock and nearby was my flashlight.  I headed up the trail toward the old burn, turning around every minute or so looking for.... someone or something.  Eventually dawn came, and I felt a little better, but not good.  The elk were not found that morning, and I decided that was a good reason to vacate the area.  To be honest, I had no desire to spend another night there, and the lack of elk was a perfect reason, or so I told myself.  I packed up and as the miles fell away, so the did the uneasiness.  The parking lot still held only my vehicle.

[Terry Green]

Recently I was 4 yards from a mad teeth poppin javie and Gene Wensel was texting me.  Of course I had it on vibrate.

This is like some sort of phenomenon as the same thing, without the javie but stalking hogs, has happened from Denny Sturgis, Mike Yancey, Cory Mattson and MANY times from Ron Laclair. He was the watchman for Tradgang 

I saw a rabbit eating mosquitos once, more on that later....

[PrimitivePete]

I know this is going to sound goofy or political in some way, but I miss the cold. The last few years in my neck of the woods I have been able to go out and hunt in sneakers and a hoodie, that's along way from having those cold days where bunny boots, thermals and mittens were my go to while sitting on a stand. There is something about being out there, watching your breathe act as wind indicator and wait for Mr Big Horns to come by.

[acedoc]

Rabbit eating mosquitoes sounds interesting

[GCook]

Had a red tailed hawk attack a duck decoy once. 
Had a young 6 point follow me around as I worked on fence mending on my place in Missouri.  Bedded down about twenty yards away and watched.  Followed me back to the barn as I went to get more posts and clips.
Had a fisher check me out under a spruce tree on a deer sit once.  Sniffed my boots, looked at me then continued on its way. 
Nature has a way of amazing me all the time.

[wood carver 2]

Duck hunting one morning, it was pretty windy, so I set the decoys fairly close to the blind where there was less wind. It was still dark and I was pouring myself a coffee when I heard scratching noises. I turned on my flashlight and there was a great horned owl trying to grab a decoy not ten feet away.
Another time in the same blind. It was a slow day and I only had a single hooded merganser. I set it down on a log a couple of feet from where I sat. A while later, I looked and the duck was gone. There was a mink that lived there. The little bugger took the duck so quietly that I didn’t notice.
While moose hunting, I had a nuthatch perch on my knee and a little brown and white weasel run over my boots while checking me out.
Non hunters never get to experience things like this. 😊
Dave.

[Smguinnip]

My very first out of sate hunting trip was in southern Colorado we were camped in the mountains well away from society, another hunter that was camping in the area stopped by and talked to my friend and I for a while… the following year I decided to try a turkey hunt in northern Nebraska, while hunting on a two track road well away from society, I ended up running into the same man. I thought what a small world, running into the same hunter in two different states on my first two out of state hunting trips.

[degabe]

I was sitting on an old pine stump root leaning back against the stump. It was a real quiet evening where I could hear the mice moving in the leaves. After a bit I could hear something bigger coming through the brush and working around behind me. It started  coming up behind me and was too close for me to turn around so I just sat and waited as it came right up behind me then nothing for about 30 seconds later it landed on the back of my neck and scared the h**l out of me. That dang red squirrel went one way and I went the other. I'm sure I screamed like a girl and he was up in a tree calling me all kinds of names.

[mj seratt]

My wife and I were in our pop-up camper, on top of our hill at deer camp.  It was getting late, we had finished supper, and the fire was about burned out.  We started hearing a kind of buzz, or hum.  It wasn't constant, but regular.  We even got out to listen outside, but it was muted there.  I told her that I'd been coming here for over 30 years, and none of us had ever heard such a noise.  Such a mystery!  She was starting to get concerned, but I told her with the history I had here, there was nothing to be concerned with.  But still, that electronic sounding hum continued.  We finally just went to bed, even though the covers might have been pulled up a little more than usual.  Next morning, while getting dressed to go hunting, she suddenly started laughing, and turned to show me the pager she had recently been issued.  It had come off her pocket and lodged between the cushion and the wall of the camper.  Mystery solved!

[Terry Green]

Ah, I was watching a rabbit near the base of my stand eating something and snapping occasionally in some sort of deranged way.  Luckily the bunny was on some white sand.  I took my binos and had a look....

There was a swarm of mesquites around its nose and the bunny was trying to eat them out of annoyance. 

[Sam McMichael]

Once I was in my tree stand, and small bird zipped in and landed on my longbow which was laying across my lap. It was so slick that he slid right off. He was fluttering wildly trying not to fall all the way to the ground. It was funny to see him flutter so hard trying not to fall.

[STICKBENDER98]

Can’t remember the year, but it was back in my wheel bow years I had a great horned owl land in the tree I was sitting in, and stare quite intently at me. The first time I had a bobcat walk past my tree and look straight up at me when I mewed at it. Watching a fisher hop along through the snow in the U P. Looking at some different tracks in the snow in the U P not sure what they were until I sat at the base of a tree and heard something above me and looked up and had a pine martin staring back at me about 20 foot up. My two wolf experiences in the U P, the first was watching a wolf come over a ridge trotting along towards where I was sitting on the ground until it got to 23 paces away ( I stepped it off afterwards ) and turned and went back the way it came. The second, I had walked down an old logging road to a burn off looking for any deer sign and was walking back to meet up with my brother when I spotted what I thought was a deer, but turned out to be a wolf about 60-70 yards away. When it spotted me it turned and ran 20-30 yards stopped and looked back at me, then trotted off. By the time I got to where it was going to cross the logging trail it had met up with it’s pack as I heard it start howling, by the time I made it to where my brother was sitting there were 6 or 7 of them howling in a semi circle around us. Very cool to have seen and heard, but very unnerving at the same time. I was not at the top of the food chain that day!!!


Jason

[Jock Whisky]

Wasn't hunting but it was indeed unique. I was at full draw shooting in my yard, about the drop the string when a hummingbird landed on my arrow. That little fellow has no idea how close he came to meeting his maker.

[alaninoz]

I was inspecting a 3D course once and had a quail explode out from just about under one of my feet. Nearly had to change my drawers after that happened.

[Terry Green]

On a lease I named 'The Bacon Strip' we would trickle the road and hunt it for an hour or so in the morning and then stalk the rest of the day.  Along comes a big snapping turtle feeding along wide open from kernel to kernel.

Wide open meaning the fastest turtle I've ever seen.  I mean I could still have had a pic-nic in my stand before he got out of sight.