Crazy things that happen while deer hunting...

[Twanger]

The strangest thing that has happened to me while I was hunting just happened early Saturday morning, last weekend.

I'd just gotten up in the tree and it was still dark. A young raccoon started climbing my tree. I shined my light at him, yelled, and banged the tree with an arrow.

He kept coming up, and got his paws on the underside of my tree stand platform, and then went back around to the side, clearly intent on coming on up into the stand with me.

As he started on up I pried his front paws off the tree with an arrow and he fell down about 3-4 feet. That made him give up, and he climbed down and wandered off.

[ncboman]

Back in the early 70's I made the mistake of letting one climb into a stand with me before he realized what I was. He went ballistic and attacked!!!

I'd handled a lot of live coons when I was in high school but I had my hands full for a bit there before I literally kicked him out of the stand. He then ambled off with his two friends like nothing had happened.

[Bill Gunn]

Around 1980 I was hunting in the woods across the road after work.
Back then we could only use shotgun in this area, so I had my Ithaca 16ga. with slugs.

It started to get dark, so I called it a day, and started walking toward home. To do so, I had to cross the run that I had been hunting.
Just as I reached the run, I heard walking in the crusty snow. The sound was coming from the other side of a very large pine tree that the boughs grew right flat to the ground, and the run came around the outside perimeter. It was still just light enough to shoot if I had a close shot, and this one was fixin' to be about a 10 yarder.
I brought up the gun, ready to bag a deer walking around the pine. To my surprise an extremely large skunk rounded the corner, and was headed straight for me.
I wasn't all that concerned, and thought the only reason it was walking in my direction was that I was standing on the run, and that was where it happen to be walking. I took about 4 steps to the side as soon as I seen it, to let it walk by.
To my surprise it immediately turned and started in my direction again, opening it's mouth, bearing it's teeth, and it started snarling loud as it came at me.
I lowered my gun to my hip.... shot... and totally missed at about 8 yards :eek: :rolleyes:
You never seen anyone in your life pump an Ithaca 37 faster than I did. The next shot splattered it at about 4 or 5 feet :eek:
I took a quick look with my light (My heart was racing like a locomotive), and sure enough, it was foaming at the mouth.

I'm going to tell ya, I've walked miles in the far North woods in Ontario, in the pitch dark, where there were bear, moose, and wolf tracks in my boot tracks I made walking to my stand in the afternoon.
I've been totally surrounded by about 10 howling (I was actually egging them on with a dying rabbit call :p ) Coyotes in the dark woods Elk hunting near Grand Junction Colorado.
In both of those situations I actually enjoyed the excitement of the situation.
You don't feel that excitement, that goes completely to the core of your bones, sitting at a desk in your office at work.

But I got to tell you, that skunk scared the holy bejeebers out of this hunter :o

I almost never go in the woods without some sort of gun on me after that happened.

[ncboman]

:D

some years back took my son to Ohio with me and one of the places we hunted was Salt Fork. We tent camped in those days and since we were the only ones in that camping area, we often saw deer eating the clover from our tent at night.

One night I was almost asleep and heard something outside. I nearly shat when I pulled the flap back and was nose to nose with a big skunk and he was determined to come inside with us. I hadn't zipped the screen all the way closed and he'd found the hole. :eek:

I blocked his entry with a book and pulled the flap down for a shield while Aaron unzipped the back window and got out. Considering the situation, I decided to give Mr Skunk the tent and I followed Aaron. :D

Aaron ran around and managed to get the critter to run a little, but he wanted back at that tent, I could tell. Finally Aaron got his bow out and ended the standoff. The critter fell about 70yds from the tent but not before releasing the essence. We could smell it the whole time we were there. :rolleyes:

[MOGC]

My favorite skunk story involves a friend of mine that had a pesky skunk getting into his trash cans set just off his back deck. One evening after a bow hunt until dark I dropped him off at his house. The skunk was up on the deck that evening. My buddy said something to the effect of "that damned skunk is toast now" and grabbed his bow. My friend stepped around for a clear shot and loosed his broadhead tipped arrow. The arrow struck center of mass, penetrated through and stuck in the decking material effectively pinning the skunk to the deck. The now pinwheeling skunk loosed his weapon too - right through the screen of the back storm door... where my friends wife was fixing dinner in the kitchen. It was a pretty sporty rodeo around there for awhile! :)

[GF.]

I was thinking about the rabies angle as soon as Walt mentioned the coon not responding appropriately to discouragement.....

But like Bill says - it's not always the stuff that you know you should worry about that'll get you.... :(

Glad all of these tales have had relatively happy endings.....

[DaveHawk]

Years ago on the Roberts farm I was sitting under a big pine tree and I felt something on my shoulder, a small possum climbed up the trunk sat on my shoulder then keep climbing. Good thing it was late season I was cover up good.

My 1st hunt I was on the ground and a rabbit ran across my legs followed my a fox. That was cool.

I know we have all had the Hawk or Owl experience, but getting one perched at 3' staring you down is really cool.

[45seventy]

I had a flying squirrel land on my shoulder one time when I was sitting at the base of a big burr oak one time. Startled the hell out of me, but he was a cute little sucker.

[Twanger]

Once I watched a squirrel jump from his tree into my tree and start down the trunk. I was facing the tree, so I just touched the bill of my hat/face-mask to the tree and stood there still as a statue as the scratching from his claws got louder and louder. Suddenly it stopped. Slowly, I tipped my face up and there was the very surprised face of a squirrel with his nose not 6 inches from mine. I swear his eyes did the "Aaaaaooooooogah!" eye pop like in the cartoons and he swapped ends and beat a hasty retreat. I about laughed myself silly.

[Bushman]

I only encountered one thing that I thought was rabid and it was a skunk like what Bill described. It came after me instead of going the other way. I was just scouting around that day so I wasn't carrying a gun. Thankfully skunks don't run as fast as people. About stuff climbing the same tree. We used to video our bow bear hunts and I got a good video of a young bear going up the same tree that my bow hunting buddy was sitting in. I think they both got a bit anxious as the distance closed to about ten feet and Jim shooed the bear back down the tree.

[Bill Gunn]

I once had a Great Horned Owl fly just a couple feet below my stand when hunting near Baldwin, Michigan.
I just caught this HUGE thing coming at me from the corner of my eye, and I about buckled at the knees when it dove under me :eek:
I almost filled my "Depends" on that one.
I've also had a Red Tailed Hawk land less than 2 feet from my face in a tree here in NY.
It looked in every direction but toward me for about a minute, and it was awesome to see it up that close. When It looked in my direction it said "WTF" in "Hawk Talk" and I put my hand up not to be hit by a wing as it quickly left :)

[dave-t.]

I had a barred owl land within 5' of me onnce in the morning darkness, and that guy made me nervous the whole time he was there. I actually scared a deer away when I was flapping my arms and trying to shoo thhe goofy thing away.

I about dove out of a stand once when a coopers hawk was diving at me. Looking back he must have been wanting to land 2' over my head or so, and he didn't steer off course until I was ducking out of the way.

This has happended to me several times, but this season I was heading to my stand for an evening sit, and was slipping along making my way though a little clearing and closing in on the brushy patch my stand was in. When I got to the first bushes, the racket started and the brush spit out a 20lb+ tom turkey that was laying in tight like a quail. I was less than 10 feet away when it started its takeoff, and every time it's happened to me I think "How was that thing hiding so well in that little bit of cover?" Answer: It's a big part of their job.;)

[ncboman]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/ncboman/11%2008/Archery1108029.jpg

When you're ground hunting in close quarters in full camo ... and KNOW the only thing that has moved is your eyeballs .... :rolleyes:

[ncboman]

and the brush spit out a 20lb+ tom turkey that was laying in tight like a quail.

seen the same thing and agree, it's what they do.

I on an all day deal up a tree in Ohio and watched some turkeys come along late morning and split up, each going a seperate way. One, a grown hen, came my way sorta but wound around a very steep hillside up opposite me. She got about midway the really steep stuff and seemed to disappear in the rocks. :confused:

I watched the spot and finally pulled my binos up. I could see her well then, and she had the perfect spot. ... backed up in a hole just behind a little bush.

A while later a bunch of Mexicans came thru driving the woods and with one above her and several below, she held tight. I saw several turkeys flying while the drive was going on, but this ol hen had a good spot.

I'd actually forgot about her and I guess it was about 3:30 when she came out and then climbed straight up that steep hill and to the top. :eek:

I'm talking steep where she was, a man would really struggle between trees to get up it, if he could at all, but she walked it with apparant ease.

things we see. :)

[GF.]

Besides - if they flushed way out front, then they'd never get a chance to scare the crap outta ya...

And you know that cackle you hear as they sail off is the sound of them having a good laugh at your expense :D

[Waidmann]

I was sitting in a ladder stand in the woods just at dusk, all cammoed up, and an owl appeared from out of nowhere and landed on my shotgun barrel. Does that count?

Waidmann

[ncboman]

I was sitting in a ladder stand in the woods just at dusk, all cammoed up, and an owl appeared from out of nowhere and landed on my shotgun barrel. Does that count?

Waidmann

:D

counts with me. :cool:

[GF.]

Bonus points if he offered you three wishes :D

[Altjaeger]

To my surprise it immediately turned and started in my direction again, opening it's mouth, bearing it's teeth, and it started snarling loud as it came at me.
I lowered my gun to my hip.... shot... and totally missed at about 8 yards :eek: :rolleyes:
You never seen anyone in your life pump an Ithaca 37 faster than I did. The next shot splattered it at about 4 or 5 feet :eek:
About 12 years ago my oldest son had a similar incident mid-morning with an otter while suirrel hunting in November. From what he described he missed once and then skinned a side with #6 at about 12'-15' using my full choked M37 before it turned and ran off leaving a wad of hair and blood.

[Waidmann]

GF - No three wishes. He just flew over to a nearby tree and stared at me.

That was an aluminum tree stand, and it had been attached to that same tree for about two years. I'm reasonably positive that that owl had been using that stand for his perch for quite some time. So, gliding in and landing on a metal tube was old hat for him. I'm not sure who was more surprised--him or me. I 'bout dropped the shotgun and screamed. He just fell a couple feet, regained his wings and flew to a near-by tree. There is an old phrase that applies: "It 'bout curdled my pee".

Waidmann