Coolest thing you've seen while bowhunting?

[FubarFred]

Hunted the mountains in western MD and while sitting in my tree I heard a big ruckus coming over the hill. About 25 turkeys were grubbing around through the leaves. Was the first time I'd seen turkeys out in the woods. About an hour after they left it got dead quiet. No birds, bugs, and it seemed the slight breeze even quit. Few seconds later a bobcat energed from a blowdown, jumped on a log and just walked away. Soon as he was gone the birds and the bugs started again. I guess nobody wanted to bother that guy.
Fred...

[IdahoCurt]

Elk hunting about 3 years ago upon waking up from a mid day nap I heard a crash just on the the other side of a small finger ridge. I quickly went to look over the top just in time to see a mountain lion on the back of a small cow as it was taking its last breath.
I slowly pulled my camera out to find that the batteries were dead!
I watched for about a minute more and left as I didn't want to spook the lion from its meal.
I have had a few real close bear encounters that made the hair on my neck stand up.

[zipper bowss]

The coolest thing I have ever seen while hunting?

That would have to be...my wife in tears because she was so excited she had just killed her first deer with her bow!!It took her 3 seasons before she connected.You just cant fake that kind of excitement.
Bill

[GingivitisKahn]

I've had lots of raptor encounters.  Had a Great Gray Owl buzz me.  Watched a little Eastern Screech Owl (or a Northern Saw-whet Owl - not sure which) hunting from a branch just a couple of feet from my head.  Had a Barred Owl hunting from a tree about 40 yards from me at my 5 o'clock - every time I slowly turned my head to see if he was still there, he turned his to look at me - that went on for hours.  Earlier this year, I turned just in time to see a Red-tailed Hawk just a few yards away from attacking my hands (apparently I had been twiddling my thumbs) - he flared when I turned my head to the sound he made slicing through the wind en route to me.

I dunno - too many cool things happen to pick just one.

   

[joevan125]

I once looked up and saw a owl comming straight at me and when he got about 2 ft from me i realized he was headed for my face. I stuck my hands up just in time and his wings nearly beat me to death. I had a face mask on so i guess he thought my eyes might have been dinner. Scared the crap out of me.

[Don Stokes]

My wife and I were working our way down an aspen bench toward a Forest Service trail near Telluride, CO in the late '90's when we heard hoofbeats. Thinking it was elk, we got ready. Along the trail came two young women on horseback, taking the trail back to Telluride. One of them was doing a Lady Godiva imitation, with her tube top down to her waist. We watched them ride by, and I looked at my wife and asked if I had just seen what I thought I did, and she confirmed it, with a big grin. They never saw us in our camouflage.

The guys in camp were fit to be tied when we told them about it!

[Day Dreamer]

Hmmmmmm......lets see one time in band camp, just kidden. I seen an owl fly by me and land close, those bird are so neat. I seen a wooodpecker jam a corn kernal in some tree bark for a later meal (didn't no they did that).

[the longbowkid]

heading out of the stand, a huge fox squirrel ran out in front of the truck , we barely missed him, and he sat next to the road, 6 feet from the cab, for a couple seconds then ran off. they are amazing creatures, and huge! this one had to about three feet tip to tail!

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

a bull moose tearing apart the bush I was contemplating hiding behind at 10 yards, then my arrow in his chest at six steps

[joe skipp]

My buddy Neal Wolf and I were in a pit blind overlooking a small waterhole in Wyoming. I had already taken an Antelope and some nice mulies were coming in but right at dusk.

About 15 minutes of good light left when a doe and 2 yearlings came strolling in. At 15 yds, a yearling stared at the blind...Neal tried to muffle a "sneeze" and I can't even describe the sound. The deer didn't spook but...here comes the yearling to investigate.

I had a 10" hole to shoot through and here stands this deer looking straight in at us from 5 yds away. Those big eyes and ears...he looked so funny, I slowly lowered my head and started laughing. The doe and other yearling were about 25 yds on the other side of the water, not paying any attention to us.

Finally...this deer decides to "visit us" and pokes his head right through the hole knocking my bow over. That did it...Neal and I broke out laughing and this deer blew, jumped as high as he could and all 3 headed for safer cover. That was back in '95 and we still talk about that incident today. That was funny....

[David Lewis]

The coolest thing that happend to me was when a red tailed hawk landed on a branch above my head only 18" away. I could just see him sitting there if I moved my eyes as far to the right as they would go. After about a minute I wanted a better look so I turned my head, at the movement
the hawk about fell off the branch trying to get out of there.

The strangest thing I saw was while I was hunting on public land. It was the most disturbing site I have seen and will never forget.... A big hairy man walking through the woods wearing nothing but bright red panties and black fishnet stockings  :eek:

[BWD]

After day break one morning I realized I was sitting about five feet from what was a gut pile two days before. A little while later, I looked over my right shoulder to see a coyote at ten feet and still closing. Had a small bird light on my head last Wednesday. Have had an owl take my hat off. Have seen a hawk catch a grey squirrel that was trying to cross a gas line. Have seen several squirrels fall from trees. While hunting in a tree stand one morning, watched a sow stop and lay down beside a small pile of palmetto about thirty five yard out. Then several small striped pigs came out from under the palmetto and suckled.

[doubleo]

I was in my tree stand a couple of years ago and i see a deer coming towards me. I grabbed my bow to get ready but as he got closer i could see it was a year and a half old 5 point.So i decided to let him pass.

I then decided i was going to practice draw on this buck. I had my bow up ready to draw when a Chickadee landed on my arrow and was peeping something like your not going to shoot that buck are you and then flew away. I thought that was pretty cool!

[ChrisM]

Two years ago I was in a brush blind when a sow bob cat was escorting her kittens past me at about 5 yards and she stopped looked me in the eye and snarled at me.  30 lbs of pissed off cat at five yards was hair raising.  Once the kittens were a good ways passed she ran to join them.  Another time I watched two hawks fighting over a squirell.  The little bugger got away in the middle of the maylay.

[Big Ed]

Coolest but scariest was when I had a Owl knock my longbow from my hands. I guess he liked the beaver balls. I screamed like a little girl at a Hanna Montana Concert. Since that adventure you'll never see beaver balls on any of my strings.  

[fatman]

This is more of a "heard" than "seen" incident...

A couple of weeks ago, myself and a couple of TradGangers were hunting deer in Kansas, next to a lake...each morning, we were treated to hearing a LOON calling...

The first morning, we were all kind of apprehensive about mentioning it, as none of us had heard of loons in Kansas before....      

[Jim now in Kentucky]

Probably posted this here before, but...

A nice buck caught my scent once in a blind I had pulled together in a briar patch. He had no idea where I was and the escape routes were limited. He went off at a tangent from my location and circled around on a trail that would lead him right past me where the trail turned.

Only trouble is he didn't turn--he came dead toward me in great bounds. I could see he was going to run right into me where I stood in my full camo. He was looking right through me.

Not being Howard Hill, I wasn't going to try for a brain shot, so I through my hands out as wide as I could in a "Hold it right there!" posture.

The buck was in midair when I did that and he hit the ground not 6 feet from me, already shifted into reverse. He was outa there in an instant.

I was disappointed to not get a chance at him, but I was laughing so hard I couldn't have shot anyway!

Have had owls and woodpeckers examine me and chickadees land on my shoulder and hat. Chipmunk ran right up my side and perched on my shoulder once and I didn't even have camo on--red and black plaid wool coat!

Reparrow man

[yekrut]

One day me and my pa were in the blind, and along came 12 qauil in a sinlge file line right passed us , then 1 hour back agian.

[xtrema312]

Well I have had a lot of close contact in trees with owls, and hawks including when they were grabbing squirrel.  

I had a fox squirrel set on my chest once when I fell asleep on a hill side in the sun.  He was looking right in my face when I woke and I am still not sure who jumped the highest.  

I was hiking back from a night hunt this year and had something dark run up on me from down wind about a half your after full dark.  I didn't have a light and I was getting kind of jumpy when it kept coming at me and ran right up to me.  It was one of the largest tom turkeys I have seen in a long time. He got to about 4' from me and then started eyeing me and walking around me.  I guess their eye sight is not where near as good in the dark.  I was tempted to pull an arrow from my quiver and spear him.  

A long time ago I was still hunting some grass and had a doe jump up and knock me right off my feet.  

Two years ago a fox tried to steel my turkey decoy.  

I was setting at the base of a tree on the ground with my legs stretched out once and had a doe step on my foot.  

The one that sticks in my mind the most was about three years ago.  I was on a tree stand at the corner of a corn field.  I had some briers and other brush with grass mixed around me, that ran about 15 yd. to the corner of the field and then down on side of the field.  two foxes came in to one end of the cover right under me.  They huddled for a few minutes almost looking like they were communicating somehow.  One took off through the corn angling to the other end of the cover down the other edge of the field about 30-40 yards away.  The other just stood there for a couple minutes.  Then it started working through the cover.  At the corner of the field about 10 yards from me I saw a rabbit jump and head down the cover along the edge of the field.  I heard it squeal when it ran head on into the other fox.  I had never seen anything like two foxes team hunting.

[LongStick64]

Don't know if it was cool or just my luck, but way back in my youth when I would hunt all day perched high up in a tree, waiting it out for a nice Whitail to slip by. I heard dogs barking, like a whole pack of dogs barking all day, seemed to be coming from everywhere. Finally I hear a deer running through the woods, Man this deer sounded huge. And the dogs were getting closer. Barking like crazy. Dang it the dogs where chasing the deer I thought. Well maybe it wouldn't hurt if they chased him past me. Well a few minutes later, a large pack of beagle looking dogs runs past my stand. As for the deer, let's just say I didn't think the deer with the red jacket and black hat on horseback would taste any good. I swear I can still hear that deer running through the woods some days.