dangerous hunts

[whitebuffalo]

Mike I had a similar experience but I'm not telling,,LOL,,

Jake,,I think the scareiest thing that has ever happened to me  is,,,, I got lost at night in newaygo big woods,,after I knew I was lost I just sat down and waited for my buddies to come and get me,,If they weren't there I would've been spending the night in the woods,,OH BOY I heard it all after that one,,LOL,,
 I fell from a tree stand and really I was lucky I didn't break my neck,, Those years in school wrestling must've helped that out,, I walked away with a chipped tooth,,chunk taken off of the side of my tongue and a very bruised ego,,LOL,,Just till last year I hadn't really hunted from the perch,,still a little uneasy doing it,,J

Good post buddy,,

[vermonster13]

I was hunting a small in the late December season here. There was about three feet of snow on the ground and the deer had pounded some pretty good trails through the swamp/ I was following one to a blind I had set-up in the early season from which I had taken a nice doe. It had been above freezing for a few days but some nasty weather was on the way in. Walking through the swamp I went right through the snow and ground up to my neck in water, the bank had been cut under and the warm air had caused enough melt to soften the ground. 36 feels warm here in December unless your soaked and the temperature is dropping. Longest half mile walk to my truck I ever made.

[kctreeman]

Mike I had kind of the same thing happen to me.  But My wife insisted that I do it after our third kid.

I was elk hunt in CO a few years back with a buddy kind of just walking along and cow calling.  We heard something in the brush so we set up with my buddy behind me calling.  The mama black bear and two cubs came right into the calling.  Too bad we didn't have bear tags.  At Twenty yards and closing fast My buddy stood up and barked at them.  It worked they high tailed it out of there.

[Paul/KS]

Picking up the decoys after a duck hunt I stepped from knee deep water into a beaver ditch that was way deeper than the hip waders...did I mention that the water had been ice an hour before? The two decoys under my arms kept me afloat and I was glad I had my tonsils out as a kid cause my n**s went pretty high when that cold water hit...

[jacobsladder]

ttt

[countrygirl]

Well my first year hunting....after we arrived in Maryville, Mo. ...while I visited the Aunts...Tom and Dr. Rick hung the stands...they put me in an easy stand... well they came back and fetched me...and I go up to the stand...climb up a ladder stand (easy) then  grab a high branch step out on a lower but high limb and kinda swing over grab another branch and climb up in the lock on stand on the opposite side of the tree.  Sounds easy now...but I was scared...got through it on sheer determination and within 45 minutes I shot my first two deer.  Two button bucks...I thought they looked like big Florida does...  BTW that stand is one of my favorite...and I get in and out and on the ground with no trouble.

Seriously though the scariest thing was when I packed in a hurry and got all the way to the Paradise hunting camp in Ga. and found I forgot my hair dryer....NEVER made that mistake again.

[Ray Hammond]

note to self: if hunting iwth John-Alaska, always walk 50 yards behind. and Mike Bolin? They're made of steel, dude...Mitch is right- I got no game compared to that.

[dorris]

well The scariest thing happened to me after the hunt we had been duck hunting on thanksgiving morning and done the best we had ever done before the ducks were in there like fleas on a dog . well anyway my budd and i were on the way home on the parkway running about 65 mph . all the sudden the truck started bunny hopping and we started sliding slidee for about 60 feet or so and hit a guard rail head on threw me through the windsheild and i landed 30 feet from where we impacted the guard rail . honestly thought i was a dead man when i seen us going toward that rail . but i ended up with only a bruised side and a knot on my head . I had forgotten to buckle my seat belt .  

[Bonebuster]

Early October. Warm and windy. I figure I will use the wind to hide my noise and squeeze my way through some really thick stuff along our beautiful AuSable river, and do some mid-day sneaking in the swamps.

Frog hopping my way from log to log, avoiding the black muck to what I thought was firm ground, I made a looong jump. I expected to land hard, but instead I sank up to my armpits in muck. My Super Diablo is all that kept me from going under.

I remember there was no bottom to be found. I remember I could not move forward. I eventually got out, but truly I am not sure exactly how I did it.

I remember thinking that there weren`t any animal tracks where I was just before I jumped. I was experienced enough to know, but I guess I just wasn`t thinking.

[joe skipp]

The Grizzly story is quite long...got even longer when we were arrested for killing a Federally Protected Animal....Maybe later I'll have some time to break it down in 2 parts.

[Rusty Izatt]

1998 Wyoming grizzly bear attack while elk hunting.

My father and I were hunting on Union Pass near Dubois Wyoming in September 1998. My father don’t bow hunt, but enjoys hiking along with me while I elk hunt. Well we were hunting one of my favorite “Honey Holes” one morning and found ourselves surrounded by elk. After a few minutes of trying to figure out which animal would offer the best chance for a good clean shot (I had an any elk tag) I decided on a spike about 20 yards from me before one of them caught my sent. I pulled back and released the arrow which disappeared right where I was looking. The whole woods lit up with elk running in all directions when my elk took off through the trees. Well we sat for about thirty minutes before picking up the trail. The elk left lots of blood for the first 25 of 30 yards then just started dripping blood every few yards. The elk had run down a very well used game trail which forked after 50 yards and we found one spot of blood just before the “Y” in the trail and nothing each direction from the “Y”. At this point my father & I decided to split up and each check out one of the trails branching out from the “Y”. My father took the lower trail and I took the upper. I wandered up the trail with my nose to the ground for about 30 yards when I heard a bunch of timber breaking down the direction of my dad. I figured he must have jumped my elk as I had not found any more blood. So I took off in that direction. The timber breaking started again and sounded like it was coming my way, so I made my way to a little clearing that was just ahead of me and the sound appeared to be coming from that direction. As soon as I got to the edge of the clearing (approximately 20 yards wide) I could see something brown down the hill and coming my way. About that time I heard my dad yell “BEAR”. Well I also had a black bear tag so I got my self set up to shoot the bear when it got into the clearing. Well when the “black bear” came running out of the trees 20 yards from me and heading straight at me I realized it was a grizzly and he was coming full steam. By the time I dropped my bow arm down from being prepared for the possible shot, the bear was 5 feet from me. At this point my feet started to override my mind and they took over. I know you are never to run from a bear, however that is a whole lot easier to say than do when you have one at full charge 5 feet from you. I side stepped around the tree I was standing by and the bear charged past me and I took off running down hill over down falls and through the trees for everything I was worth. At one point I remember looking back and seeing the bear climbing over all the down fall after me. I made it 20 or 30 yards straight down a fairly steep hill when I felt the bear claw at my pack and trip me. When I was falling I spun around and was able to get both my feet up and into the bears chest as it jumped on me. I kicked as hard as I could and the bear kind of rolled over me and landed by my head. I spun around on my back and kicked the bear again in the side. At that the bear just kind of grunted and looked down at me, then just took off into the trees back down the mountain. I have no idea why the bear did not attack any further… I really must have had someone looking out for me that day. After the bear took off, I sat up and tried to gather my wits. I don’t know how long I sat there trying to get my head around what just happened, but finally I heard my dad coming down the trail looking for me. When he got to me he explained what had happened to him. He said he was following the trail when he seen the bear running in a big circle down below him and looking up the mountain our direction. He said the bear saw him and came running up the hill at him. My dad stepped back and fell over a large fallen tree. He said the bear came up and put it front paws up on the log and looked down at him. That is when he yelled “Bear” and the bear turned and ran my direction. I guess all the breaking timber I heard was the bear running through the trees to my dad and then my direction. We are two very lucky people to have come out of the whole deal with only a few bumps and scrapes. We figure the bear had my elk down and was protecting it. When both of us were on the ground we did not pose a threat to him and he let us be. Wow after all these years this still makes me break into a sweat and the old heart rate climb a bit.

Rusty Izatt

[Flatshooter]

Many years ago I took an elevator ride on an old  Baker tree stand. It was a rainy afternoon hunt for whitetail when I decided to use the Baker on a slick Sycamore tree... what did I know, I was only 23 and hunting with my first compound bow, a "Whitetai Hunter". No safety straps on that rig and no way to lock it into the tree. At about 20' I turned around to face the tree and begin my climb down when I shifted my weight into the tree and that's when somebody pushed the express button for the first floor! As I accelerated toward the ground, I somehow shifted my weight to the edge of the platform and abruptly stopped my descent only two feet from the ground floor. Checked my pants and went home shaking.

[joe skipp]

Trout Creek, Cabinet Mts of NW Montana. First day of our elk hunt with Guide Billy Hill. My buddy and I headed up the steep Mtn behind Bill and he motioned for us to set up quietly. First bugle brought in a big bull, wind shifted, no shot.
Up the Mtn and across some rocks to another "spot". We set up and called..wind in our faces...another large bull came in 20 yds from me, but I had no shot. He stood there raking and screaming then suddenly, went dead silent and slipped away. Thinking this was strange as we grabbed a bite, the bull bugled way down the Mtn.

So...we headed across a steep slope easing down when the timber behind us exploded. The crashing stopped then suddenly the crashing came back and right at my buddy. We were walking in order of Bill, myself and my buddy. The loud "Whoof" caused Billy to yell its a Grizzly. The bear now turned at the sound and headed straight for Bill and I...with me in front of Bill.

The bear covered 40 yds in what seemed like 1001, 1002. At 5 yds he bore down on me and swung his head right at me. I was at full draw and arrowed him at 4 ft as he passed me and chased our guide down the Mtn. My buddy also shot an arrow from roughly 12 ft.

The bear expired 60 yds away although my guide ran a stick in his eye and had Bear blood down his shirt and pants. We came on the bear, he was wearing a large Radio collar. We took some photos and headed off the Mtn and turned ourselves in to the F&G. Self defense right? Wrong...we were interviewed all night, handcuffed, arrested (I spent 8 hrs in jail).

This was in Sept...January found us back in Thompson Falls for a trial...7 days before the jury finally found us NOT GUILTY. I kept all the national headlines from the newspapers, North American Hunter Magazine etc..I still had some bad dreams for 6 months as all I could see was that large head, coal black eyes bearing down on me.

I could go into more detail about the trial and how the state and feds tried to railroad us with fake evidence etc....but I won't.

[Rusty Izatt]

I hear you Joe, 9 years later I can still see the beady black eyes and sun shining off the front claws as the bear came charging. Not to fun.

Rusty

[DiamondD]

Joe,

I'd sure like to hear the rest of the story.  Expose them for what they are!!!

[Ian johnson]

I'd like to hear the rest too, why would they try to lock you up for acting in selfdefence?, I just dont get it?

[peak98]

Thanks Joe and Rusty, I really enjoyed the true life adventures you have just posted.

Joe, just as there are honest and dishonest people in all walks of life, so to shall it be with any state or federal game agencies....I'm just glad that no one was injured or worse by the griz........

[Plumbob]

I have had some "thrills" in the mountains but I will keep them to myself. That treestep story has got me squirming so bad I can't hardly type.  

[joe skipp]

OK...bottom line, the Game Warden and my guide have been at odds for years. They tried to get my buddy and I to turn states evidence against Bill by offering us Montana deer tags, hunts etc..

They said 2 New York boys shot the bear mistakenly for a black bear. The Grizzly was 27 yrs old, 475 lbs with one testicle. The Biologist who was tracking the radio collared bear took Bill, the Warden and other guys back up the Mtn to retrieve the hide and skull the same day we shot it. They compared Bill's story to ours and said nothing added up.

After we were arrested, and when I finally got out of jail, the 3 of us headed up the Mtn with horses and retrieved the bear carcass. There was nothing in the Bears stomach AND...which I forgot to mention, the bear had a severley broken jaw. The state showed photos at the trial of fresh deer meat taken from the bear...no...the carcass was intact fully when we arrived. They brough forensic experts in to determine the entry and exit wounds and said we were lying about how far we were.

They did determine I was no more than 4 ft away, my buddy said he was 12 and they said he was 18 ft. Our lawywers brought out during the trial, the bear had been trapped by the biologist in a snare and thats when ol Griz broke his jaw. The biologist took photos of the bear at time of capture, turning the head so the broken jaw could not be seen. THEN HE RELEASED THE BEAR BACK IN THE WILD WITH THE BROKEN JAW. The state was hiding all the photographs until our lawyers threatened them.

If we had lost on a state level, the Feds would have prosecuted. After 7 grueling days, the jury finally found us not guilty. Four years later, 1989, Bill Hill sued the State for Malicious Prosecution and was awarded $100,000. However his business was basically ruined by then. He has now started back up last year. The DA who prosecuted us is no longer working, the Warden hung himself a few years later....

From our trial, I managed to walk away with my broken aluminum arrow and Zwickey broadhead along with a few pics of the bear. Something to tell the Grandkids about........

[Ian johnson]

wow, glad you and your friend came out ok