Strange or Unexplained

[ksbowman]

ttt

[bowkill146]

I haven't made it through all the posts yet, but I think this will fit in with what some of the stories you guys are telling. 
Myself, two brothers and my step-son were mule deer hunting.  My step son was sitting in a natural blind on a water hole and had shot a doe shortly before dusk.  He came out and was able to contact the rest of us and we got our tracking stuff and went back to where he had been.  We got to the waterhole and started shining our flashlights around to see if we could find blood, eyes, body, etc.  I flashed my light back toward the blind just to get our bearings for where the shot had been and saw eyes.  I couldn't believe that the doe would have gone back behind the blind.  We crept up closer and quickly realized that there were two mountain lions about 10 yds behind where my step son had been sitting.  It looked to be an adult and a yearling.  I suddenly realized that my sidearm was back up the hill in my truck!  We hollered at them and chucked a couple rocks but they definitely weren't scared off.  They just turned and moved back a little. 
We decided to continue tracking the deer.  Of course she went through the only thick underbrush there seemed to be in the area.  While we were tracking, we periodically would shine our lights behind us and, sure enough, there were two sets of eyes following behind.  We finally found the doe but she wasn't done yet.  My step son managed to get another shot in her and we got her dragged out into an open area to get her gutted out.  While we were gutting her the cats continued watching from back where the doe had expired.  They just circled back and forth a little while watching us.  We got her cleaned up and loaded on a cart and didn't waste too much time getting back up the hill and back to the truck!  The next day, we went back to find my step sons arrow and to check the gut pile.  The cats had moved it back into the brush and piled it up again.  It looked like it had been gutted right there.  Nice, neat pile...no bloody drag marks, nothing.  It was really weird just how neat of a job they had done. 
We have seen cat tracks in the past and since that hunt but have never seen another cat.  It makes you wonder just what is watching you when you are walking in and out of your hunting areas in the dark!

[Roy from Pa]

Buddy of mine doused himself with doe in estrous lure before heading out in the early morning to his stand.

He heard something behind him and turned around.

It was a buck trailing him.

The buck charged him and my buddy climbed in between a group of 4 tree trunks growing out of a larger tree to protect himself.

He finally scared the buck off.

It wasn't funny then but we all got a good laugh out of it later.

Last time he used doe in estrous lure:)

[RANGER94]

Worlds greatest Thread!

[shankspony]

I was hunting with a mate in some rough country some years ago. We had to head down off a steep ridge, and ended up in a bluff system. As we negotiated our way down we came to a cave hidden behind a large rock. I looked into the cave and saw a very large bone on the cave floor. There was a giant flightless bird in NZ some centuries back, the moa, and i thought it maybe bones of one of them, so I climbed down into the cave to look around with a cigarette lighter for light. I flick the lighter and realise that on a ledge at eye level is a human skull looking back at me. Its was startling to say the least. Closer inspection revealed a whole body cut up and placed on the ledge.

[ozy clint]

WOW. was that a Maori custom?

[shankspony]

Yep, Its not unheard of. But not common to find them.

[Roy from Pa]

Shank, I would have had to change my undies after that:) LOL

[shankspony]

It was an interesting feeling for sure. Im not superstitious in any way, But for the rest of that morning I had a feeling that I wasn't 'Clean" if that makes any sense. Id picked up the bone on the floor of the cave- a human leg bone before i saw the rest of the skeleton and realised what it was, so placed it back where I found it with respect, but found myself subconsciously wiping my hand on my cloths for a while afterwards.
Some very interesting sites around our farm. Buriel mounds, trees tied in knots. evidence of ancient gardens which is another story I will tell at some stage. 80 years ago our farm was owned by a Maori family, and something happened that caused them to walk off the farm and put a ban on anyone entering the area for many years until they eventually sold it.