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Apparently some don't believe I ever saw a cat that big BUT I have seen many strange and unbelievable things while elk hunting. I have seen unidentified objects flying in the sky, I have seen coyotes chase down (tag teaming) elk until they brought one down, I saw a hawk kill 5 wood ravens (in mid flight) who were harassing him and their bodies explode on impact :) I have seen wolf's in places where the DOW says "there are none" I saw a 5 point bull dragging a hind led, walk up to and clear a 7 foot wire fence and never touch it!

What wild and maybe unbelievable things have you seen in the hunting woods??

2. I was trout fishing in Wyoming about 20 years ago. I worked my way around a bend, partially hidden by some brush. On the far side of the bend in the stream were two sleeping ducks. Just then, I noticed a mink stalking the ducks, just 15 feet away from them. And 30 feet behind the mink was a coyote stalking the mink! Way cool!

2 years ago I watched, from very far away, as a bull charged 2 mule deer and shook his antlers at them, chasing them off.

Still have nightmares LOL

One other one incident that was interesting happened one summer. We were driving along a dirt road that had ground squirrels all over the place running back and forth across the road. We came over a hill to see a cottontail rabbit chasing a squirrel across the road at full speed. Don't know why. Maybe the rabbit had enough of the squirrels' shenanigans?

Man what a cool story on the lung! Just goes to show how mother nature can compensate when it needs to.

My friend walked into a no kidding Mountain Lion killing filed! Very large bolder in the middle of the woods and dead fall all around it. hides and bones were stuck under many of those dead falls, my friends back out slowly never taking is eye off the boulder! and never went back! :)

saw a squirrel laying flat across a branch reaching for a pecan on the very end of the branch when the branch broke and the squirrel fell hard.

Had a grey fox being chased by a bobcat run by me so close I could have grabbed as it went by. saw the same scenario on a larger scale in colorado when a coyote being chased by a mountain lion ran passed at about 20-25 yards.

Saw a bobcat stalking a whitetail doe along a ridge,(I dont believe he could have killed her but he was thinking about it).

I have also seen many beautiful sunrises and sunsets, Bald Eagles, giant woodpeckers (I believe they are called piliated woodpeckers),and even better than all of that I have seen joy and wonder in my young son's eyes as he experienced the woods for the first time.

A long time ago....my Dad & I were running a trap line for Fox and we kept having traps set off and only getting a few red hairs in them. After this went on for a few weeks we decided to place then trap further back on the set and sure enough we caught that fox. His belly was almost bald. All we could figure out, he was sliding up to the dirthole set on his belly and settling off the trap and then taking the bait, smart fox.

Another time I saw a guy trying to navigate an ozark trout stream sitting on top of a pallet using a weed whacker for an outboard. (Needless to say he didn't make it 50 yards before he was underwater!)

Maybe this all explains why I've pretty much quit fishing!!

Your story reminded me of something that happened when I was about 7 or 8.

We were living in Omaha in a duplex developement. Our block and the block behind us was all duplexes. Our garage was about 3' from the neighbor's garage, then those garages backed up to the garages from the duplexes on the block behind us. We were way inside the city limits, and perhaps 3/4 of a mile from the U. of Omaha and the Omaha River.

We'd play around the four garages, using the spaces between them to run between, etc. One day, I was out in the driveway and my little sister was in between the garages. All of a sudden from the driveway behind us comes a nice buck, running down the driveway and right at us! He came racing right through the gap in the garages, jumped right over the top of my little sister, then blew right by me on his way to the river.

Geeze, I hadn't thought about that in ages until just now!

Your story reminded me of something that happened when I was about 7 or 8.

We were living in Omaha in a duplex developement. Our block and the block behind us was all duplexes. Our garage was about 3' from the neighbor's garage, then those garages backed up to the garages from the duplexes on the block behind us. We were way inside the city limits, and perhaps 3/4 of a mile from the U. of Omaha and the Omaha River.

We'd play around the four garages, using the spaces between them to run between, etc. One day, I was out in the driveway and my little sister was in between the garages. All of a sudden from the driveway behind us comes a nice buck, running down the driveway and right at us! He came racing right through the gap in the garages, jumped right over the top of my little sister, then blew right by me on his way to the river.

Geeze, I hadn't thought about that in ages until just now!

Another time an owl tried stealing my Dad's hat from his head, we were just sitting along a trail in an elk bedding area. We never heard a thing, it scared the crap out of him...me too I suppose.

This one wasn't me, but my Dad and brother were elk hunting together and saw a black bear chasing down a full grown cow elk. The elk was running full bore through the trees and occasionally looking back behind her to see where the bear was. The cow finally out ran the bear and the bear just stopped. My Dad started calling like a lost calf elk (he had a bear tag) and the bear came to them on a rope. At ten yards he was still facing them and still walking directly at them when he got wind and hauled a$$!

What a great thread!

Don't laugh! Unlike most pine cones, which are fairly light and almost fluffy, Monterey cones are solid as rocks, weigh as much as a rock, and are shaped like missiles! And Monterey pines are very tall as well. That sucker hit me square on the top of head. Danged near knocked me to the ground and caused a good deal of bleeding, even though I was wearing a hat.

Had an owl swoop in and take a grey squirrel out of the tree that I was sitting in. I watched as it approached a tree at a time, just glidding from branch to branch. I don't think that it ever flapped its wings until after it had the squirrel and wasflying away.

Rick K (still a bowhunter)

I had a similar thing happen to me last year in CO. I was in a stand on a tank with a hawk in a nearby tree. All of a sudden he swooped right at me, not breaking it off until he saw me duck and throw my hard up across my face for protection.

I had a similar thing happen to me last year in CO. I was in a stand on a tank with a hawk in a nearby tree. All of a sudden he swooped right at me, not breaking it off until he saw me duck and throw my hard up across my face for protection.

gil_wy@home WOW!!!!!! I have to agree with you, to witness the sure power of a wild animal is really something to behold.

Coach coach that event with the owl is EXACTLY what I saw with the hawk and 5 wood ravens! Amen coach! your time with your son in Gds woods and watching sunrises and sun sets is a true wonder and a delight.

Hiker when I saw this cat that close so early in the morning was one of the most beautiful things I have even seen, long hair, beautiful coat, a true wonder in the wild BUT I have no idea if it had a set of NADS or not. All I know is mine were hiding in my thought! and I was hoping I was not going to be breakfast.

If you don't think animals can express near-human emotions with their faces, you have never seen something like this. That deer did a non-verbal "scream" with her eyes, and literally dove off that mountainside!

This year while elk hunting I was setting watching a small drainage. At about 720 I heard brush and limbs breaking and looks rifle up and saw a fawn running like the devil him self was behind him. A few minutes later I saw it again, this time coming the other way but this time I could see 2 deer running. A few minutes later here come both fawns! they were playing chase, this time they turned and were running straight at me, at about 7 yards the lead deer stopped. She smelled the air twitched an ear, and headed down the drainage with the other in tow. That's when I noticed the BUCK! and because I was watching the fawns play the buck noticed me watching them. Bye bye buck!!

I bowhunted for bear in Ontario, over bait that included a 5 gal bucket of donuts hanging on a tree. I was fascinated by red squirrrels that would work the donuts out of the bucket and carry them off, one donut at a time. A linx moved in and lunged at the red squirrel. The squirrel got away but dropped the donut. No problem, the linx ate the donut.

Had a weasel run right over my feet while I was taking a break while elk hinting in CO. He did not even stop but went right over the toes of my boot.

While boning out an elk I, a little pine martin kept on stealing the small pieces of meat I was laying out on a log to cool. He did not care that I was moving around. Had to hang my meat in a tree to keep it out of his reach. But her sure was cute.

Met a pack of coyotes on a trail at dusk while on my way back to camp while elk hunting. They started to fan out in front of me in prepration to attack. Luckily one of them caught my scent and they all took off.

Got many more stories....the more you stay out in the woods the more neat stuff you see. One of the reasons I bowhunt is that I experience things that most people will never see....

No kidding some of these stories are worth expanding and putting them In some hunting magazine Very entertaining!

The other thing this shows me is some animals eg Hawks and turkeys and bob cats etc... seem to do the same things no matter where they are.

I also saw another 4X4 whip a nice 5X5 on the day before the season. THAT was cool to watch, and the sound of those antlers crashing together still send shivers up my spine!

Tony

He says he was just standing there watching for ducks and happened to catch movement out of the corner of his eye and the hawk was headed right at his face. He managed to throw up his arms and yell and it flew off and past me then.

I laughed so hard I nearly fell in the slough but I think he would of shot that hawk if it hadn't taken off fast! Griz

Once watched a half grown coyote try to take a goose out of a flock feeding in a pasture. He was belly crawling towards them when a couple of ganders noticed him and went after him. He'd run until they stopped chasing and then he'd try it again. He tried that several times before finally giving up.

One of my oddest "stories" was hunting Bear near Crawford, CO. We had seen some Huge bear, and I was hunting a waterhole with some 9" pad prints on it.

I was against a barbwire fence leaning against a tree, and I could hear something coming. It was black out of the corner of my eye, and when it was about 10 feet directly behind me I couldn't take it! I spun around and it was a big black COW (beef).

I thought for sure I was about to meet my maker!

PS don't ever tell hunting buddies of stories they will make fun of you about for a long time!~

also another time i saw a buck with an infection the size of a large cantalope right where the kill zone was but i couldnt figure out what it was caused by,it didnt look like a rifle wound

also another time i saw a buck with an infection the size of a large cantalope right where the kill zone was but i couldnt figure out what it was caused by,it didnt look like a rifle wound

Another time I had shot a deer with my rifle in a field and dressed him in a brush pile in the middle of this field. The next day I was back in this same stand and I had a dog come and check out the gut pile. This dog actually gook a liking to the testicles and ran off eith them! I always thought it would be funny to see the owners expression when the dog showed up with the 'package'. Kurt

My brother was a fishing guide this summer in Wyoming. On one of the trips a different guide was cruising down the river with his clients when they heard an awful bawling noise. They didn't know what it was untill they saw an eagle coming over the top of a hill near the river with a baby deer in his talons. The weight of he deer caused the eagle to lose alititude quickly and they crashed into the river. The eagle let go and flew away, and the baby deer bawled it's head off all the way up and over the hill where they had come from.

I've enjoyed it all.

NvaGvUp - Yeah whatever :)

I was looking to the right watching the approaching flock, We were using laydown blinds and that goose dropped like a rock and hit me right in the face and bounced onto my chest. I was very dazed for a few moments and then had a whopper of a headache for the rest of the day. No lost teeth, but my glasses were bent.

the dogs got in the brush and two pheasants flushed. as they flushed, the hawk went into a power dive and chased the pheasants away. i did not shoot but we followed where they birds flew. About 200 yards away right along the fencerow was a spot in the snow with blood and feathers everywhere. The other pheasant was standing in the grass about 50 yards away. we let him go - he and his buddy had been thru enough.

Rule 67 - Never hunt a golf course b-4 Tee time ( From Hunting manual 101 )

I was hunting in this thick draw and was watching a group of deer making their way down the mountain on the other side and noticed a Bull Elk right behind them. He follows them all the way to the bottom, kind of like a Whitetail Buck pushing the does out in front of him. The deer would stop and that bull would come right up behind them the deer would start flipping their ears around, freaking out and nervous as could be. The bull wouldn't back off and the deer would take off again. The bull did this for 700-800 yards. Well once they came up the other side towards me they split up and the bull came right next to me, Yes! and I got him.

K.

I too was stalked by a lion. After the morning elk hunt, a friend and I were working our way off a very steep ridge through some gnarly blowdown. I decided to mew on our way down to the meadow below because I knew we would be making lots of noise. When we got to about 50 yards from the clearing, I saw the outline of the lion and his twitching tail.

I think he was looking for lunch, but bolted when he figured out what we weren't.

Last year, I killed the bull that was in the same oak bush as me. I could have poked him with my arrow as he stood there for a looooong time. He bugled from less that 5 yards, it was awesome.

But then there was the time we were hyper hotting a bull who was bugling from underneath us. We were set up in a meadow surrounded by oak. As the bull seemed to hold up in the thick oak, I continued to plead and moan with that call. Next thing I know, a whole group of cows come busting through the oak, hissing, showing their teeth and popping their jaws! They were gonna kick that hot cows butt!

So many more, that's why we do what we do.

DEW wrote: "Then a mountain raced out and pulled a calf down."

I've heard of a lot of things, but a MOUNTAIN chasing down a poor elk calf, now I've heard everything!!! LOL

That was funny!!!

I have even seen a bob cat walk down a trail and veer off to come take a look at me (not this close)

I sometimes wonder if because wild remote fox's etc.. are not disturbed to much by man and they don't have daily interaction they have not developed a strong since of danger! I don't know just a thought.

Elk hunting in Colorado last year. We dropped a buddy off along the highway so he could cross a field to a blind for the evening elk hunt. He got his stuff, wished us luck & we headed on down the road to our spot for the evening hunt. Appearantly after we pulled from the wide spot he crossed the fence to begin his hike to the blind. He came to a very lage "wet" area & tried to hop from grass spot to grass spot to cross it. How did that work you ask, not too good! We went in up to his waist & was stuck. This is less than 50 yards from 160 that runs thru SW Colorado. I would have love to had seen the face of the people driving by while he was trying to get out. After a good while he finally squirmed his way free.

We had no idea any of this happened. We go to pick him up about 3 hours later & hes is standing by the road covered in cow juice, both the wet & solid kind, and about froze. His bow was in no better shape. After a few minutes of rolling around on the ground laughing we threw him in the back of the truck & headed for camp.

And that is the story of Cow $h!+ Clif.

Tommy

Shot a nice buck with my muzzel loader one time and could not find any trace of him despite looking for about 3 hours. about 4-6 weeks later during rifle season my dad shoots a nice buck that was chasing some does. As dad goes to gut the deer he notices that it has a wound channel that starts behind its left shoulder blade and exits out of the base of its neck on the far side. Yep same buck, first shot didnt kill it, I guess the angle was to shallow and it missed all vitals. One tough critter.

Gunnison

Shane, my hunting partner and I had been elk hunting in Colorado and it was time to head home. We packed the truck and while heading for the highway on an old dirt road, we saw something in the middle of the road that, from a distance (about 100 yards)looked to be a rag flopping back and forth in the breeze. But there was no breeze. So I ask Shane to stop and we both looked through our bino's to see that a weasel had caught a ground squirrel. It was that fight we were seeing in the middle of the road.

As we were watching the tussle, a redtail hawk swooped down on top of both of them, but the weasel escaped with its life, as it dodged the hawk. The hawk picked up the squirrel, flew for a short distance and landed on the ground and just as it started pulling at the squirrel a golden eagle dived bombed the redtail, who barely escaped, leaving behind the weasel's squirrel.

The eagle picked up the squirrel and flew high above the trees when all of a sudden another golden eagle dove down, folded it's wings, turned upside down under the other eagle. They exchanged the squirrel in a phenomenal, acrobatic maneuver and the second eagle flew off with the squirrel. To this day, that remains at the top of the many neat things I have experienced in the wilds.

Have a great bowhunt. BB

One of the coolest things I ever saw from a treestand was a big meteor just before dawn, looked like a big fireball.

That is one cool story!! You did a very honorable ting and I salute you both for it.

That is exactly how I discovered hucking. If a guy hasn't tried it, it might be well to place that knowledge in your bag of elk tricks.

Over 25 years ago I had taken my bull in Wyoming, but still had a bear tag. So I left camp late one afternoon in hopes of spotting a bear.

I walked for several hours without seeing even a track, so as I broke out of a timbered slope, I sat near its edge for a rest. As I sat there, a nice 6 point bull elk made its way to a small creek some 25-30 yards in front of me and began to drink. Then all heck broke loose above me. The elk raised his head and looked in the direction of all the ruckus. Then he resumed watering.

Soon a huge bull moose made its way down the creek bed, rubbing his antlers on the willow's which lined the small stream, as headed towards the elk.

When the elk finished watering, he walked towards the bull moose and in a small opening, he stopped and waited.

The moose was so engrossed in his tactics, he hadn't noticed the elk. When he finally saw the nice 6 point bull, he raised his head and they had a stare down. Finally, both turned and did the parallel walk, not more than 10 yards apart, for about 50 yards or so. Then the bull elk dropped his head and charged the moose, which was twice his size. The moose ran full speed up the open depression with the bull elk right behind him. Some 1/4 mile away, at the top of the swell, the moose entered the trees and disappeared out of sight. The bull elk was still in chase.

I have often wondered what ever happened to those two critters, and how that chase ended.

The following evening I was out walking with hopes of seeing a bear when I ran smack dab into a chocolate bear standing 20 yards away facing me. That evening I killed my very first bear.

One never knows when he's in the woods what is going to happen next. He only knows if he keeps doing it, something neat, and strange will happen. That’s a certainty!

Have a great bowhunt. BB

I would love to hear more about that. I hope the mt lion whomped some arse.

In 2000 I caught a small trout on the Little Salmon River and as I was reeling it in a huge Bull Trout swallowed it whole. Fought the Bull Trout for all of 1 minute and it decided to regurgitate the trout in lieu of letting me take a really cool picture...

We figured the coyotes where on the elk and the lion came to play. The dogs would have nothing to do with it. Who knows? I just know that if I had not seen this with my own eyes I would not believe it.

One night last August, I went out for a howl. Where a hydro corridor cut through the woods, perpendicular to the bush road, I parked the truck and turned it off. I had a couple of traps where the corridor and road met. I got out, leaned against the front of the hood and gave a short howl. Off to my right, about 300m away, I had an immediate response, first from one wolf and then a second.

Getting a response is always exciting, and to have one so close was even more so. I sat tight for about five minutes, hoping they'd howl again.

At this point, I heard a noise in the dark, off to my right, at the forest/corridor edge. The grass and leaves were rustling. It wasn't very loud, I figured it was a mouse or something. The woods are full of noises at night (I'm sure no one here needs to be told that).

It got a bit louder. It might have been a bird.

Or a squirrel. Squirrels can be surprisingly loud. It was travelling faster than a bird on the ground anyway.

Deer might graze in the hydro corridor at night. A deer might make that much noise. It was certainly moving at deer speed now.

Despite it being very dark, I could faintly see the white gravel of the road in front of me. The loud and fast sound met the road, and a large, dark shape crossed the road 50m ahead of me. Doubling back again to the right, the shape split in two, moved into the grass of the corridor beside the road and closed the distance between us.

At this point, the sounds changed. What happened next was over quite quickly, but I remember it well. Besides the rustling of grass (now distinguishable as individual footfalls), the first of the shapes began a barely audible panting whine. As the dark shapes reached their closest point to me, the footfalls and whining stopped abruptly, and there was a moment of complete silence. I think in the exact moment that I had worked out that the shapes were wolves, the wolves had worked out that the shape was me. A quick rustle of the grass and they were gone, back down the hydro corridor before, I really knew what was happening.

15 minutes later, sitting back in the truck, I howled again. I got a two-wolf answer back, this time about 1km away.

If this was a movie, there'd be some good ending here now, but it was real life, so I finished howling along my trapline (no more responses) and went back to camp with what was probably a pretty silly-looking grin on my face.

Checking the trapline in the morning, the wolves tracks stopped 11m away from mine.

I've been lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time in the woods, but I think I'll have to log a few more years before I top that experience.

Appletree

No kidding 2 years ago I moved my mom to a house up in the mountains in southern Colorado. She has allot of humming birds and she liked to put feeders out for them. We went to visit her again after 6 months of living there and my niece (who lives with her) said "hey come watch this" So we went outside where the feeder was setting on the banister. She walked up and held 1 finger out directly under the feeder flower and remained still. In 2 minutes a humming bird came and was drinking and he landed on her finger. She slowly moved him away from the feeder and was looking directly into his eyes and he never flew away!! She moved him back to the feeder where he got another drink and then he flew away!!! I almost FELL OVER!! And to this day she can still dot hat on any given day the birds are around.

One more, when I was in high school my grandpa found to bucks with their racks locked. They were worn out and standing in a small stream. Grandpa shot the larger (17 pt NT). That buck dropped and weighted the other (10 pt) buck's head under water until the 10 pt drowned. It only took a couple of minutes.

I too saw a metor last fall. Only I was driving to my parents woods (an hour away) on opening morning of shotgun season for deer. About a mile north of my house, I see the bright white flash heading diagonally towards the ground. I don't think very many people besides me would have seen it.

Had a hummingbird get stuck in our sunroom a couple of years ago. Ended up with it on my finger before I let it out the door.

I think the most adrenaline I've had in one day was last fall during bow season. In the span of just a few hours, I had a 'yote run within 6 feet of me (*tried* to take a shot, I was sitting), later took a shot at one of two that came out of the creek while I was walking out. About 2-3 minutes after I took the shot, one started howling on the other side of the creek; it was 8:30 in the morning! Talk about chills up and down your spine. Later that morning I helped Dad take down a tree (had to chunk it down) in a somewhat tight space (he's a certified arborist). I climbed it and took it down in sections. That was good for 2-3 shots of adrenaline!

Hopefully I'll have more stories in a few years!

From a tree stand saw several bluejays dive bomb and eventually kill a grey squirrel. I never figured out why...

A buddy and I once saw one of those big "fire ball" things go zooming down a set of railroad tracks.(I guess its methane or some other natural gass that gets touched off by static discharge?). We were both sitting there and both saw it, but didn't say antything to each other about it until 5 minutes later because netiher of us could believe our eyes. That was REALLY wierd.

Once had a guy walk under my stand hand-jiveing and doing air-guitar. Wow, that was silly. I was becoming one with the trunk, "Please God, don't let him see me..."

I could go on....

That mouse might have been put there by a shrike (although if it was very early in the spring, they might not have been around).

Appletree

Was on a school fishing trip and saw a large Northern Pike eat a baby sandpiper

Another time wile driving back from deer hunting there was a injured goose in a field with a bald eagle slowly making its way towards it.

Onother time I was sitting at my bear bait when a young bear came in my horses share the same 100 arces of land and the bear charged the horses away.

From deep in the brush we looked up to see this beautiful, topless lady, and her boy friend-husband come floating down the river. She was laid out sunning without much on except lotion. We were concealed along the bank so they had not idea anyone was around. Did I mention she was beautiful?

About that time my buddy yelled at the top of his voice , "HELLO ". Off the canyon walls his voice echoed up and down the canyon "HELLO HELLO HELLO HELLO". She scrambled for cover, the cloth kind, and the whole thing was over in less than a minute.

Dang it.

Have a great bowhunt BB

Being the compassionate sort, I put the moth out of its misery with the grille about 0.5 seconds after the bat hit it.

Appletree

He cleared the top and was gone for a good hour or so. At this point my brother and I were scouting the mountain side and valley with out Bin’o when he said “hey there is an elk! I looked at on the very top of the divide standing on a rock over looking the valley “like he owned it” was a HUGE Ram! From where we were I could see this ram had well over a full curl and had to be the king of the mountain. At that point with 20+ years in the mountains I had never seen a ram before so I was also in awe. As we were watching him all of a sudden a blaze orange vest and hat came from around the rock he was standing on and this guy and this ram were standing face to face 5 feet apart!!! No kidding I was in SHOCK! Then I noticed it was my friend Ray and was even more in shock! After a 30 second stair down the ram bolted and was running along the ridge line away from the rock. I saw my friend get down and was doing something (he was getting his camera out of his pack) The race was on!!

He would run and the ram would watch, then the ram would run as he got closer and watch some more. I saw Ray clear 2 small peaks and never give up until the ram just smoked him!!! At this point I could see he was heading in the general direction of his gear and the trail head, so we left to try and meet him half way up. The next hour while walking my brother and I were just dumb founded as to how a man could get this close to a ram that most people in their entire lives would NEVER see! As we meet Ray half way and we recovered our breath (12,000 feet) I asked Ray “Hey was that you with the ram?” In total SHOCK he said “how did you know about that?” I said we were watching you from below! THATS WHEN HE LOST IT!! He went out of his mind because he was never going to tell anyone because he knew no one would ever believe him BUT he had 2 witnesses and he just unloaded the whole story at about 100 mile per hour!! He was so close to the ram he could see the amber specks in the ram’s eyes! Heck even killed a spike bull 2 days later and this was his FIRST elk hunt, needless to say he is hooked!

No kidding this is a true story!!

It was short lived when the roars started coming in my direction. Needless to say we split and were done for the night. I never did get a glimpse at the bear but it sure sounded like a brute. The noise from that thing echoed through the valley. I was glad to have my heater.

One other year we were returning to camp at night from hunting. We walked along a game trail that takes us to camp. Buddy stops and we hear padded feet walking towards us. The footsteps continue to come when suddenly they stop real close. Those led's only light up so much in front of you. Then suddenly mr bear jumps off the trail and bounds down hill. However, nothing compares to sleeping in camp at night alone after discovering a bear had ransacked my day pack that was left out. That sucked. It was a long night by myself and I swear every sound that night outside my tent was magnified.

Anyone else hate those long walks back to camp in the dark. I make a note to self not to watch any bigfoot discovery channel documentarys at least a month out.

Early one morning while hunting elk in Colorado, my partner and I stopped on a hill to get our breath and do some glassing. I heard something and alerted my partner to the sound and area.

Soon 5 bulls fed from the oaks to the opening where, by now, we had hunkered down.

Two bulls were pretty nice bulls for the area in which we hunt, so when the biggest got close, I shot him. My partner said he saw him fall and wanted to go get him.

I told him that the other bulls really didn't know what happened, so I thought I better rake and squeal a bit while he snuck towards where they had retreated.

Not long after I could hear the twang of his bow and was greeted with a big smile. I ask where he hit him and his answer was “just perfect.”

We retrieved my bull and worked him over and then went after my partners. The blood on his hit was very scarce, almost non existent. We mostly dry tracked his bull and after about 100 yards I looked down the hill and saw antlers laying in the brush.

When we got to his bull we noticed its face was covered with all kinds of green matter. I told my partner he must have gut shot him, but he insisted he hadn't. And he was right!

His arrow had hit the bulls leg, below the chest making a small finger cut on the bull's leg. Thus the lack of blood.

Upon skinning and quartering the bull we discovered his arrow had done no more than put a small 1/2' CUT on the bulls leg. (A band aid wound!)

We surmised the bull was chewing his cud and when my buddy shot, the bull took off running and inhaled the cud and ended up choking to death. There was no other explanation for its death.

I wrote a story about that hunt that was published in National Bowhunter. Magazine It was called “The Morning Murphy Slept”.

Have a great bowhunt. BB

A few years ago, my favorite javelina spot in AZ was at the end of a dead-end road that went up the side of a small mountain. The road was pretty rough and crossed a small stream then quickly rounded a little hill. It ended a couple of hundred yards after rounding the hill. I went into the area in the dark. The road was rarely travelled, and I saw nobody else going in.

When I drove out later that afternoon, I rounded the little hill to cross the stream, and saw a small tent set up in front of me next to the stream. But standing in the middle of the road 10 yards in front of me was a beautiful brunette completely nude (NL=Naked Lady...). She let out a scream and ran as fast as she could toward the tent, which caused her to have to run pretty much toward me. She dove head-long into the tent and I don't think she had stopped screaming yet! I guess she couldn't hear my truck approaching because the little hill, along with the sounds from the stream, blocked the sound. That was a pretty good day for me! I suspect it was a memory she's laughed about a few times over the years as well.

Turns out she hit a powerline at that very moment.

Best one, though, was when my best friend took a new girlfriend on a rifle deer hunt many years ago. They had tracked a big buck in the mostly-melted snow to about a half mile from our cabin, when they decided to take a little "lunch break". Warm day, new romance in the air, grassy meadow on a hillside - you get the drift.

Not knowing they were tracking a big buck, my other buddy and I were maneuvering for a better view of the "lunch break" after we'd heard the giggling. Up jumps an enormous muley and the other buddy with me hammers him with an offhand shot. 31", 10x12 B&C nontyp.

My best friend is still upset about that, now 30 years later! Not that our other friend shot it, but because he lost his senses during the "rut" at such a critical time. He's been a professional hunter for the past 20 years and has still never taken one as large as that buck.

BB I hope some day you write a book about all the things you have seen I'll be the first one to buy it!! Great stories!

When I'm reading all these I kind of feel like I'm setting around a camp fire drinking a cup of coffee or a beer and listening to all your stories. Thank you all!! Someone throw another log on the fire will you!!

GWEH

The most unbelievable thing that I've ever seen was 20+ years ago while working at a sporting goods store during college which was also the local deer check station. A buddy of mine was in charge of checking in deer. He came in and told me that he had to show me something so I went out figuring someone had brought in a big buck. Instead, there was this guy from OK City checking in a billy goat. There were alot of goat ranches in the area and goats were known to escape. This guy was so proud of his "spiked buck" that we went ahead and checked him in and sent him on his way. We laughed for along time wondering what happened when he took the goat to the processor.

Like the old mule story I heard so many years ago!

True story. I stalked this fox, very slowly, I thought it took 10 minutes but when it was over I learned it took over 1 hour to close the 10-20 yards.

I finally crouched down next to the fox and placed my hand 1" from his fur. At this point I realized this might not be to bright and imagined him waking and grabbing my wrist with all his mouth and killing me.

I backed off, how many guys have stalked to within 1" of a predator!

And no, he was not playing dead, I know because I watched him fall back asleep before approaching.

I condsidered grabbing and strangling him - fox with bare hands! Decided against it.

While I was walking to class there is a streak of Pines with oaks mixed in probably 50 ft wide and a 1/2 mile long beside the road. I happend to look in one of the trees and spotted a red-tail hawk. Suddenly he took off and nailed a squirrel that was on a limb. The squirrel started goin crazy in the hawks talons and the hawk landed on the ground with his alive prize. Some girls ahead of me saw what was happening, started screaming and runnin to help the squirrel out. The 3 girls started flogging that hawk with purses and he took off with the squirrel. One of the girls started crying with her friends comforting her.

I LMAO the rest of the way to class

the deers finally sees us and puts his rack down FULL CHARGE!!!!!! .....Man I never ran so fast right into into a tree man that hurt....

we backed out again and came back in the morning and found the deer.....4 more hours of tracking and with a gun this time

I was bowhunting deer on Fish Lake National Forest and after the morning hunt was hiking back to camp. I was headed down hill through a thick strip of pines and quakes when I came to a small grassy opening. On the far edge of the opening, laying next to a big fallen pine lay a hereford cow.

I decided to see if I could slap her on the butt, a thing I' had tried to do many times since my childhood. And all had been unsuccessful.

It was a perfect setup. The cow was laying facing away, fighting the flies. She was right next to a big fallen pine, which when I got on it, gave me a very quite approach to her butt.

I made my way quietly and proudly along the fallen pine. I closed the distance and she had no idea I was there. When I finally got close enough to complete my challenge, I raised my hand and then moved it quickly down to slap her, while at the same time making a loud, cowboy sound, yaa hoooooo!

She jumped from the ground and turned to face me, and low and behold in one of her eyes was a broken off tree limb, about twice the size of a mans thumb.

I could not have felt worse for her and for what I had done.. I have never attempted to do that since that day.

Have a great bowhunt. BB

Man what were those chicks thinking? Mother nature at work and they want to cry about it!

He told me that they have to put their rifles outside of the cabin because of the moisture in the cabin, he said it can cause the action to freeze after the exit the cabin to go hunt (I don’t completely under stand but this is what he told me) They also keep the fish they catch as well as the food they bring outside the cabin in coolers as well. One night at 2AM they hear something at the door! It’s scratching and trying to push the door open. Quickly the guy closest to the door JUMPS up and runs to the door to hold it closed! He begins yelling GET UP GET UP! This is when the BEAR lets out a loud growl! Now 2 of them are holding the door shut (with the rifles just outside the door) It quiets down and one guy is looking for his pistol! Then the window on the other side of the cabin POPS OPEN! And the bear is looking inside, the 3rd guy runs and slams the window on the bears nose and paws and is trying to hold the window shut.

This is when my friend decides to make his move! He opens the door and grabs his 338 Mag, the 2nd guy slams the door shut!! The bear is still trying to open the window the whole time growling! At this point my friend chambers a round and tells everyone to hit the floor!! The window pops open and he fires a 338 round out the window into the neck of the bear! The window slams shut as the bear slides down the outside walls of the cabin! His statement to me was “if you don’t think a 338 going off at 2Am in a small cabin won’t wake you up, your sadly mistaken”

And here is a picture to prove it!

Last summer, was trolling Lake Superior with topwater stickbaits and all of a sudden one of the rods goes off and the line is running way out the side and up in the air. A damn gull had swooped down and picked off the bait and was flying off with it. I played him out, and pulled him. Catch and release.

I hate golf, and pretty much suck at the game, but I did go from time to time about 15 years ago. Well, I had about 60 yards to the green on my 2nd shot, but there was a tree about 20 yards in front of me directly in line with the green. Now this is no B.S. as I have 2 witnesses. Some guys can get birdies, some even get eagles, but me.........I swing.........my ball hits the tree and lands behind me.........out of the tree falls a huge grey squirrel that lands on the ground, has a seizure and dies. I smacked that squirrel right square in the head with the ball. Wish I had gotten him mounted now.

hd

Minutes later a bull moose just sprouting antlers fed out probably 50-100 yards above the grizzly, behind the moose came two mule deer does, feeding along probably 30 yards behind the moose. We sat and watched all the animals and probably 30 minutes after we arrived four cow elk with a calf fed into the slide probably 100 yards below the black bear. It was amazing every big game animal in that part of the woods was feeding within 200 yards of each other, and none of them were bothering each other or paying any real attn to the other. Was really pretty cool, wish I could have had a picture of that.

I faught a 100 pouind catfish for 45 minutes and then found out that I had been fighting a water turtle with a shell 20 inches across......

I shot a squirell it fell out of the tree and a red tail swooped through the woods grabbed it off the ground right in front of my eyes and took off.

I killed a white crow whilel out crow hutning 3 years ago in Pennsylvania [IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b220/Mallardsx2/Small%20Game/whiterwo2.jpg[/IMG]

Deerman1

We also goated this kid into throwing a snowball (actually a huge iceball) at passing cars. We sat and laughed when he ran like a little girl as they chased him down and confronted his parents.

LOL! Man, you've got the right attitude, my friend!

I'm sorry dude that fake picture isn't fooling any one!! We only want real stories!! :) You the MAN!! You can come to our elk camp ANY DAY!

On the camera deal, I just want you to know I have a hard time getting a focus on bull elk on land, let alone a pretty lady on water.

Can any of you tell me why a guy would yell under such circumstances?

One year while bear hunting three of us were standing around camp one afternoon. My buddy Mike, looked over and saw a blue bird in a bush and ask if we wanted him to go catch it. “Sure we do”, was our answer. So Mike walks over to the bush, reaches out and grabs the bird. All the time we had a video camera running, so Mike looks right in the camera, as I zoom in on him and the blue bird, and he says, "Shall I ring his neck?" He then takes the hand that held the bird, opened it, and gave the bird a slight throw, and off the bird flew like nothing was wrong.

Why did my hunting partner yell hello? I've never figured that one out.

Have a great bowhunt. BB

OK I know some of you have seen some of these pictures BUT this is still wild!

Sure was strange.

I will post pictures later today.

Table mountain South Africa. It is the point where the Atlantic ocean and Indian Ocean come together.

I hope you enjoy.

It so happened that one of my hunting partners was to meet us near a highway that ran through the area.. There happened to be cattle guard cross the highway and right at the point the pervious, old, highway, which was now abandoned, turned south while the new highway head east.

My buddy was to meet us down that old highway about 100 yards.

When he finally got to the meeting place, he, in full camo, laid down to sun in the weeds on an old dirt cut, at the old highway’s edge.

He wasn't there long before a car pulled down the old highway and stopped right in front of my buddy. This guy steps out, unzips his pants, pulls it out, aims it right at my buddy. Politely, my buddy ask the guy to point it in a different direction.

Both of them got wet!

Have a great bowhunt. BB

While starting a hike with the wife we encountered some horseback riders, the wife asked if they saw any wildlife, they guy says" Yeah, right up there over your head is a hawk with a snake"... We thought he was joking but we about fell over, first time I had ever seen it, it was flying about 50 feet above us!

SAME Spot: Wife and I were bugling at a herd bull who wouldnt come in. We tried bugling, cow chirps, even scraping and rubbing branches. He bugled back often but wouldnt come in. As we left at dark, we got in our car (we were bugling about 30 yards from the car and paved road ha ha) and as I put it in first gear, turned on the lights and pulled into the road, a large 6X6 stood there in the middle of the paved road, just the other side of the thicket we were bugling from! We had him fully lit up with the high beams and his rack went up into the dark. CLOSE!

This winter we spotted and photo'ed a Muley FAWN in January, 1-11-06 I beleive, and it is the first time in my life I have seen a fawn this late. Complete with red fluffy coat, spots, and wary nature. Couple pics provided.

i have also had a hummingbird/s perch on my finger while standing still to drink from a feeder...worked up in the jemez mtns in NM one summer and stayed in an old house up by the fish hatchery...the girl living there told me about it so i tried it...it is pretty neat having those little birds perching on your finger to eat

Best story yet!

OK I have to tell you this story!

This picture is FRED! He is the king of the chipmunks and acrobat extraordinar!! IN 2003 we were traveling over Wolfe Creek pass in Colorado to take a deer head to our taxidermist. They have been doing construction on that pass for over 3 years now and at times you will see 400 cars lined up and stopped on the highway for 45 minutes at a time. On this trip over this is what happened to us, we got stopped and had to wait. 30 seconds after we stopped on the highway it was attacked by Chipmunks! They descended on the highway from the dirt embankment and promptly ran up to each car or truck. After getting to the drivers side door, they began to beg like a dog!!! If in the first 15 seconds you didn’t throw out some food then the dancing and acting began until you did throw out some food. What was amazing was you would see food come flying out of the driver’s side window almost on queue!! They beg, they beg some more, and out comes a cracker!!

No kidding is was almost 1 monk for 1 car! Our chipmunk we named Fred, and after NOT getting any food from me )I didn't want to contribute to the delinquency of a chipmunk) and even after his best dance routine he decided he would run up to the tractor trailer that was in front of us.

This truck was a car hauler that was empty so up to the driver’s side he ran and began to beg. When the driver began to tease the monk from the window Fred decided “Fine I’ll come get it my self” So he ran to the back of the truck and hoped up on the lowest ramp and then up to the next ramp and began working his way up the ramp to the drives side window/door.

What Fred could not see was the whole line of cars farther up was starting to move, about the time he reached the cab my friend and I were yelling and laughing at the monk to “Get off Fred!! Get off or you’re going to Kansas!” Come on Fred move you’re a$$ your going for a trip” About the time the air came out of the break lines that’s when Fred realized OH SHI%. The race was on! He began to run as fast as he could toward back of the truck. The truck is now moving! And we are laughing even harder, as he reached the back of the truck ramp I thought he was going to stop! BUT what he did was dive off the ramp to the asphalt! No kidding he looked like a little skydiver jumping out of a plain! All his legs were spread apart, wind hitting him in the chest and as he hit the ground he staggered a little and then up the dirt embankment he went!!!

As he got to the top he turned and took his place on the hill to do it again!! That event has created some very funny times for a few of us! All I have to say is Fred and we just crack up! I have never seen anything like it. It was so funny I created a song about Fred!

“This here’s a story about a monk named Fred….. Poor little dude who barely kept his family fed… then one day a truck stopped on the road… and out from the window came a flying food!... Crackers that is, peanuts and candy bars… Well the first thing you know oh Fred’s living large… kinfolk said, “Fred move away from there… said the mountains is the place you ought to be but oh Fred said this here is the life for me! Soda cans and candy bars…….

Know you know the story of Fred! The king of the monks!

This next deal happened about 4-5 yrs ago. It was spring turkey season in NE MO. I was in a fence row in a makeshift blind. I had a hen decoy about 10 yds away. Right at daybreak here comes a rabbit. It hops right up to the decoy, stands on it's hind legs and starts sniffing it. Then it puts it's front feet on the decoy and starts pushing it. The decoy is shaking. The rabbit hops away. A few minutes later he is back. Same deal, feet on the decoy shaking it. He hops away. A few minutes later he is back. Same deal, front feet on the decoy. He is shaking it but tis time is is a little farther back on the decoy. It spins on the stake and he takes off like his hair was on fire. Wish I had a camera.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was bowhunting. Right at daybreak here come the squirrels. Major chasing goes on for almost two hours. At one time there are 5 squirrels on a log 15 yds in front of me. Later here comes a single squirrel. It goes up a tree and here comes another one right behind it (her). They mate right in front of me. I can see the males muscles in his legs moving, back and forth and side to side action. Afterwards they were both in slow motion, relaxed.......I was waiting for the cigarettes to come out.

On the 3rd day of the hunt we were setting on a large haystack watching a very large open hay field bordered by heavy timber. The elk would come out into the fields in the evening from the timber and we would get them there. At about 2 pm I was BOARD! So I asked my uncle if I could hike up into the timber and walk across the top of the finger to see if I could push something out into the open.

He easily agreed and gave me a plan. So off I go, nothing but a backpack, knife on my belt and hiking stick. I walked across the open field, work my way up the hillside to the top of the timbered finger and started my way very slowly through the trees. I would zig zag through the trees and I didn’t really try to be quiet. About 40 minutes into this hike I rounded a tree and standing 15-20 yards from me straight down hill and almost at the bottom of the hill (still in the timber) was 2 bulls and 3 cows! The weird thing was one of the bulls (a 4X4 I think) was almost completely the color of his rump! No dark hair on his body what’s so ever! There was a barbed wire fence at the bottom of the hill feet from where the tree line stopped and the open field started. All I had to do was scare them 15 yards down hill and they would be in the opening for a shot.

I jumped up and waved my hands and made a sound like a mountain lion! (I was 12 what do you expect!!!)

The elk turned and started full speed down hill being lead by one of the bulls (not the pale one) Just as they got to the fence the whole group came to a halt! They spun around and were looking back up hill my direction. Then as if a whistle was blown they began running full tilt back up the hill directly at me!! NOW I’m running up hill as well because they are grabbing some serious ground! All of a sudden I tucked behind a large pine tree and they passed by me less then 5 feet away heading for NM!! All I saw was rumps heading over the hill! My heart was trying to jump out of my chest, and my legs were shacking like the devil.

When I came out into the opening I was about 300 yards from my uncle, I walked back to him and asked him if he had see that. He said “Seen what??” I told him the story and he through the BS flag!! We get back to camp and the other 4 hunting partners also through the BS flag and said I was full of shi% Then one of them said “who do you think you are the great white elk hunter?” And that’s how I got my name, it stuck to me ever since. So rather then get mad every time one of them called me the GWEH I just started calling my self that.

Now you know the rest of the story. And yes this is a true story!! Yes I was 12 BUT I remember it like it was yesterday!

The tree had fallen down from a 10' tall bank next to the trail. The elk was truly in the wrong place at the wrong time, as the tree hit the elk right at the base of the neck, probably killing it instantly. There was still some hide on the leg bones, which the 'yotes had scattered around. I went back the next day and brought my camera.

No. As a matter of fact, I never thought of it. Dummy me!

I get out, she is gone, it is dark and I can her here making a rukus going through a nearby cornfield. I feel bad for her and check my truck for damage. I see me sidewall around the rear tire is bent a little and a tailight is broken and there is a chunk of flesh and hair on my bumper - yikes, poor deer. I grab the balls of flesh and hair and pitch it. It is dark.

I am driving to still go turkey hunting - 45 minutes of driving left. I keep smelling cr@p, I think it is fields fertilized with manure. However this continues all the way to my hunting spot.

When I am there I retrieve my flashlite and make a nasty realization. I am covered in cr@p. Turns out the chunk of flesh and hair was crap and hair. I have scratched my head, wiped my hand and over the course of the drive done a heck of a good job spreading it all over myself.

At least I never bit my finger nails (I think)

One time while waiting at the Cleveland airport for my passport to arrive which I forgot 2 hours away. I was watching people and notice 2 city police officers talking not far away. Just then I look across the street and see a group of starlings with a young one hopping around the cement barrier. A crow fly's in and starts pecking the crap out of the young starling. All the birds are making a rucus and the police guys can't take it, I guess they felt obligated and head over to break up the assault. The crow made a death blow and leaves with the srarling just as the officers arrive. Made my day.

A buddy and I had my Goose decoys spead on the bank of the Ohio river. A flock of 10-12 lit on the other side in a yard in spite of all our calling ( pretty normal for us). I decided our spread was wrong so in full sight of them I changed some decoys while they watched me and went back to my hiding spot. Soon a group of 3 entered from down river and a calling contest ensued. We won sort of because they landed in the water about 80 yards from us and 200 yards from the other geese and started swimming toward our dekes. The geese on the other side started going crazy honking and calling. We were waiting till 30 yards before we flushed and shot them. When the 3 geese kept coming toward us,now about 60 yards,in spite of all the calling across the river one of the geese from across flew right at the 3 screaming at them and landed in the middle of them and then took off back to the other side with the 3 we were going to shoot following right behind. I couldn't believe it and still shake my head at this. That Goose was super hero.

One day as I was watching the troup play around the water,, bully showed up and sought out the smaller monkey...again. Off they scrambled, the bully chasing the smaller into the tree tops. When they reached the top of the tree they both stopped, with the smaller towards the outside of the branches. I had my binos on them so I could get a better view of their confrontation. It looked like the bully had him trapped. You could barely hear them but I could watch, almost visualizing what trash talk they were trading. All of a sudden the bully lept at the smaller monkey, but he little guy saw it coming and performed a great barrel roll around the branch he was on, leaving the bully flying through the air...with nothing but space to grab onto. Down he came, all 60 feet, with a thud. The smaller monkey went nuts as he scrambled down the tree.

Jr. saw his chance as the bully rolled around on the ground. Thump...Thump...Thump... I don't think he was hurt bad, but for the rest of the trip it was the smaller monkey that was the boss of the two primates.

I found a moo cow killed in the same manner while scouting. It took a big Aspen across the back, dead and rotten at the base, presumably during some good wind. no pic.

Never seen the more wary wapiti of deer fall a similar fate.. Though I have followed cougar tracks to their kill along drag marks.

One doe was untouched but she had been drug so far she had the hide rubbed entireley off one side.

Another time a fawn /yearling was found dragged and eaten, stuffed in a rock pile, the skull was 60% consumed, and the brain completely gone..

Saw a Bald Eagle in my back yard last week for the first time, though I have seen several goldens, an osprey and a couple 4 point muleys (IN TOWN).

I got closeup pics of the Bald Eagle with the new 12x optical zoom... still in camera..

8^D

Back before trail cams and such. I was hunting out of a tree stand where a deer trail crossed an old farm drive. I was sure I would have a shot because of how well the trail looked used. Nothing came through and I decided to stand there until something came by if it took all night. I had nothing else to do anyway. I wanted to know when they were using this trail. Soon I couldn't see anything and just listened. About 45 minutes went by when a flash came from the air directly in front of me and I felt an object hit and lash onto my chest dead center. I tried to yell but kind of squeeked hoarsly instead almost falling out of the stand. I kind of grabbed and swatted a flying squirrell off my chest and went home.

To escape the talons of a red tailed howk, a male cardinal (bright red) flew inside my SUV via the pasenger window that I had rolled down. With the hawk still lurking, I responsibly rolled down the back windows and "shoowed" the poor bird back into the street where the hawk quickly finished the job that I had mistakenly interrupted.

Bowsnipe

My dad, a family friend, and my older brother were doing a stalk up a wash, leaving my younger brother and me out in the flatter area to wait and watch. While we waited, I noticed a doe pronghorn about a half a mile away walking toward us. I mentioned it to my brother, he turned to looked, and then we turned back and continued chatting.

In a while, I noticed that she was only about 200 yards away and still headed towards us. The wind (there's always a wind out there) was blowing almost directly from her to us. After watching her with a turned head, I realized that the objective lense of the spotting scope (and tripod) I was holding over my shoulder was winking at her (pronghorns are extremely curious). I proceeded to wiggled it about gently to keep her interest. She finally walked all the way to us and stretched out to sniff us. I turned and grabbed one ear.

It was just like the Saturday morning cartoons as her eyes got big (huge), she spun around, and the legs started digging for traction. She didn't move for the first couple of attempts in the sandy soil. Then she shot away from us at high speed and was still running after a couple of miles. My brother and I were covered from head to toe with the dirt spray from her take-off. We just about wet ourselves laughing.

He ended up directly below me, about 20 yards away on a small shelf. On a most perfect 20 yards broadside shot, I placed the arrow right underneath his chest. I walked back a bit as my friend approached. He thought I had hit the bull, but I knew I had under shot him.

I said lets try again as he really didn't know what had happened, and he seemed anxious to come to our calling.

After several calls, here he comes again, stopping in about the same place he was when I missed him. I had walked back about 10 yards, so now he was about 30 yards away. I drew and waited for my friend Steve to shoot, but as I held I got the feeling the bull had just about had enough of this scene. So I released and watched my arrow hit the bull, center chest and at about the crease. The bull whirled and took off.

At the same time Steve yelled, I got him, I got him. Boy was I ever suprised as I had no idea he had even taken a shot.

I congratulated him and we walked over to look for my arrow. Soon we found it, beyond where the bull stood, without as much as a hair or a bit of blood. It was clean as a whistle. I was amazed, as it looked to me as though my arrow hit its mark. Steve and shot at the same instance and neither realized the other had taken a shot.

We took an hour or so and then started following the blood trail. Suddenly Steve, who was a bit ahead o me, yelled, "There he is!"

Steve was high as a kite, as that was his first archery bull. He filled out his tag, We took pictures, skinned and hung the quarters in some near by trees and decided it was time to eat our lunch.

Upon finishing our lunch Steve decided to back-trail his bull to see how far it had made it.

He hadn't made it 20 yards when he bent over and picked up the arrow that fallen from the bull. We were both very surprised to see it was my arrow and not Steve's.

We went back, to what now, was the scene of the crime. And after much looking we found Steve's arrow partially buried under the forest floor. It was only a short distance from where we had located my arrow.

The arrow we found originally was my arrow from my first attempt.

Moral of the story, make dang sure you know who killed the bull before you place a tag on it.

Have a great bowhunt. BB

HAW! Rifle hunting with one of my freinds he took a standing shot, missed clean. The buckm ran quartering to us, he fired and seemingly missed. At this I opened up, and at about 150 yards hit it inthe spine at full run. It was a spectacular shot that seemingly ended the story right there. I tagged and gutted it while he got the quad.

Upon skinning it, we found a flesh wound in the ham that went through though without any damage. It probably would have survived but I 'got' to tag his dang deer which we butchered and shared, and effectively ended MY hunting for the year.

We were amazed he hit it on the run too. Only about a foot from my hit.

I had the same experience as one of the posters above. I was sitting in my treestand totally camoed with a face mask when a large hawk landed on a branch eye level about 15 feet away. Shortly he noticed me sitting there and could not figure me out. He takes off from his perch and with two flaps of his large wings is trying to land on my head. At the last second I had to use my bow with arrow nocked to "help" him over my shoulder. I was a little shaken but it was an awesome experience.

I also had a couple of yuppie mountain bikers stop below the tree I was sitting in, and after talking to each other for a while they began getting friendly with each other. Before it got too far along I let out a "PSSST!", and then another one. They couldn't tell where it was coming from. I finally gave them an "AHEM!" before they spotted me. They nearly leaped out of their skin. I was on private property, and they apologized for being there and left. This year I shot a nice little buck in the same spot, about 80 yards from a couple of hikers that pushed the buck right to me. He was paying attention to them when I hit him. They saw the deer, heard the shot and came to investigate. They never saw me, or the deer after it ran off. When they left I retrieved my deer and went home. joe

That would be BrokeBack Mountainbikers!

I was hiking thru the desert a couple of years ago around a large dry river bed. I noticed from my right there was a jack rabbit running my direction as fast as he could go. Right behind him was a coyote trying to catch his lunch. About the same time from my left, there was another jack rabbit running towards me as fast as he could go. Behind him was a hawk that kept swooping down trying to snag Mr.jack, but the rabbit was too heavy and the hawk couldn’t quite get a good hold on him.

Well the coyote was keeping a close eye on his rabbit, and the 2nd rabbit was busy trying to escape from the hawk, and they ran right into each other, knocking them both down. They were both stunned. The 1st rabbit escaped. When they realized what had happened the 2nd rabbit took off for all he was worth. The coyote started after him.The rabbit was faster and started making some head way from the coyote, when the hawk decided he wasn’t finished. He came swooping down and knocked the rabbit off of his feet, the coyote almost got to him, but he got up in time to run again. He started putting space between himself and the coyote again, then once again the hawk swooped down and knocked him off his feet again.

This kept happening over and over again as the rabbit made a circle about ½ mile around and headed back my direction, he would keep out running the coyote only to have the hawk swoop down and knock him off of his feet again and again. This was hilarious to watch, but I sure felt sorry for Mr.jack. Well he made his way around the front of me one more time and was able to get into some rocks and bushes and made his escape. He was one lucky rabbit. I wish I would have had my bow with me at the time, the coyote wouldn’t have been so lucky.

Now whenever I’m having a bad day I think about that poor rabbit, and figure maybe I don’t have it so bad after all.

Years ago my hunting partner and I would backpack into the wilderness area of the Bookcliffs every year to hunt mule deer.

One morning we hunted miles from camp into one of the most remote areas of the Books. By now it was early afternoon, so we stopped and had lunch and decided to split up for a few hours. I would take the ridge to my west, and he would hunt up the ridge we were on. We planned a predetermined time meeting place.

I showed up on time and waited over two hours for Clair. When he finally arrived I tell by his eyes he had experienced something special.

As soon as we had split up, he watched as I hiked down the hill towards the ridge I intended to hunt. He also saw a mountain lion duck it's head as I approached its hiding place. I walked by the cat within yards without ever knowing it was there.

He watched the cat raise and lower it's head as it hunted the trial by which it lay. It did this for at least an hour and Clair finally decided to see how close he could get. Every time cat put its head down, Clair moved forward until he was right in front of the cat.(about 10 yards) When the cat raised up to look again, Clair was waiting with camera in hand and took its picture. The cat back crawled like a worm away from Clair, then jumped off some low cliffs. Clair ran to the edge of the Cliffs and took another picture as with the cat looking back toward him.

I tired to find those pictures to post with this, but I have no idea where I've put them.

Have a great bowhunt BB

Great stories,

I don't know if anyone else has ever heard this but I'll share it. The first whitetail buck I ever shot with an arrow, I hit somewhere other than where I intended, not sure where. The deer ran off about 100 yards and made a sound that still sends chills down my spine. It sounded like if you screamed iyeeeee! as loud as you could. I mean it was as loud almost as a lions roar. He did it twice. I've killed over 100 whitetails since then and still have never heard anything like it. When he did it I thought to myself "that must be what Big foot would sound like". Kinda scared me. I never recovered the deer and always wondered if I hit him in the jewels.

You know I have been thinking about washing my clothes in white chocolate coffee. This confirms it.

I kicked a mule deer doe one day - she came in that close.

I had twin fawn mule deer eating the tops of little blue flowers about the same distance in colorado once.

I too have seen hawks and owls attacking other birds and squirrels. I had a hawk come for my finger once that I was wiggling just to see if it would catch the movement. It did ! Thats a rush

I've seen the wind blow so hard in Colorado that trees were falling everywhere in the woods. You know all those blowdowns you walk around ? Yeah, I know how they got there. Scariest thing I think I've been in, wind like that, and it was daytime. And when those big trees fall, they can slide a LONG way down the mtns.

I watched a sow black bear and 2 cubs destroy my camp one afternoon. Very agressive sow. Black bears love oatmeal, summer sausage, crackers, cheese .........

My Dad once hooked a striper in Lake Norfork and fought the fish for about 10 hours. Monster fish - likely a state record - of course it got away in the end. He'd snagged it in the tail and it pulled his little boat all over the lake !

I watched turkeys one cold November morning, opening day of duck Season in MO I believe, and they gobbled at every shotgun blast and tried to walk acorss a frozen slugh that broke through with them. Crazy birds turkeys are.

I was driving my Mom and Dad around northern NM , national forest and came around the corners to see a couple making out on the hood of a car. Got closer, and it was a girl that had another girl laid out on the hood ! My Mom and Dad, very traditional people, were flabergasted !

That was an incredible story about your friend! Being a Marine my self I'm sure the wrestling was not the only thing that kept him motivated!! Great story, thanks for sharing.

About 5 years ago I was elk/deer hunting with my friends in Co and I managed to fill my buck tag about the 5th day. On the 7th day we decided to try a drive to push the elk off the heavy timbered hill side we knew they were on. The rest of the group was staggered along a fence line at the bottom of the hill and the 4 of us started. As I had already filled my tag I didn't have a rifle all I had was my .357 on my hip.

We waked and pushed and about 30 minutes into this I came around a bush and all I caught was a little movement. Standing about 12 feet from me was a group of mule deer 7 or so does and 1 little fork horn. We just stood there watching each other and after about a minute they took a few steps away. At this point I decided to play with them, so I gout out my hyper lip cow call and let one out.

ALL of their ears stood straight out and all heads turned back to me!! A fawn walked out away from the safety of the group and was taking steps toward me. As one of the does turned head to walk away I hit the cow call again! Now all of them were once again watching me.

The fawn was now about 7 yards away and still coming. I put the hyper lip in my shirt pocket and held my hand straight out in front of me with my index finger pointed straight at the fawn. Now I was thinking she was going to run home to mama BUT she came closer! All the deer are watching me and the only one with any guts was this fawn, she came closer and closer and extending her neck out she stuck her nose about 2 inches from my finger!!

She smelled and looked up at me, I winked at her and she looked back at my finger. Then as if on queue this fawn straighten up, lifted her head up, looked at me one more time in the face and with her nose stuck up high in the air walked back to her family. The whole thing looked as if the fawn was saying "See I'm not afraid of you!!" Her attitude was almost stuck up at this point and all I could do was laugh!

As I started laughing then they got scared and took off! I had always thought that thing unfolded like a kid saying "I dare you to go touch it!" The fawn was so cute all I wanted to do was pet it BUT I didn't now how the rest of them would react so I let the deer do everything.

Very cool day!!

I saw a red fox run past me with a squirrel in it's mouth.

I had an all white Red Tailed hawk living near by for almost a year. I even found one of his feathers.

My buddy is a licensed falconer and had two harris hawks, one day while hunting rabbits with them, they chased a coyote all over the woods, tag team dive bombing him, actually getting hair off his rump. never could figure out why.

his red tailed hawk kept hitting a big hen turkey and knocking her over. never did get her.

Riased an orphaned raccoon that i found in an old rabbit coop. She stayed around for two years(until she had her own babies). She would see the kitchen light on and stand in the planeter box and knock on the window till we came out with some food for her. she even came to her name...Bear.

It just goes on and on.... so many great things so many great memories.

I finally arrowed a small bull on the waterhole just before dark. It looked like a good hit, and he trotted off into the sage. I went down to the edge of the water to look for my arrow. I walked at water's edge, splashing a bit in the water looking for my arrow and evidence of the hit. All of a sudden, the whole danged elk herd came charging down the hill, jumping into the tank right on top of me! I had critters within a few feet, and 30 elk within 20 yards! It was so cool! All I can guess is that when they heard my slashing at the water and saw my form in the shadows, they figued it was safe to come in to drink. Awesome experience!

I had him in my scope and flipped the safety off. BUT he just looked as if he was enjoying the sun on his face :) I kid of liked it my self. Before you knew it he got up, stretched, scratched behind one ear and just slowly walked back down the trail kind of saying "Time to make the donuts!"

About 10 years ago, while on duty (cop in north central MN) at 2 AM, I received a call of a stolen vehicle coming my way from the next town.

I was running red lights and siren (about 80 - 90 MPH) and caught a flash out of the corner of my eye. Three deer came up out of the ditch. One hit my front quarter pannel right over the drivers side tire. Another one hit my drivers side door/window (January, about 15 below zero).

The window exploded - the deer's head struck my left shoulder, neck and chin - I ended up with deer snot/slime and glass all over me. I have no idea where the third one went.

The impact sent me off the road and after I regained my senses I got out to see how bad the squad was (crumpled the hood, took out the front quarter pannel, drivers side door, spot light, back door, rear quarter pannel and dented the top of the trunk.) almost $5,000.00 damage.

I looked around and never did find any of the deer???

Bob

The bull died about 80 yards from where he watered and 20 yards from the trail they use on their way to water. My hunting partner also had a bear tag. I told him I would I hang a stand near the gut pile and let him know if I saw any bears.

The elk had expired in some very thick oat brush, so we drug the gut pile across the elk trail and into an opening near a large enough tree in which I could place a stand.

I went back early that afternoon with my screaming eagle and placed it in the tree near the gut pile. After hearing a continuos noise, I soon realized the head, from which we had cut off the antlers was missing, and the noise I most likely hearing, was that of a bear eating upon it.

Around 6:30 that evening, a pretty good herd of elk, with 3 or 4 bulls came running down the trail towards the water. When the first cow approached the area where we had pulled the guts across their trail, the elk went on point, much like a bird dog. Soon I had elk sniffing the ground and walking back and forth, from the place my elk had died, to the place where we had pulled the gut pile.

They spend a great deal of time going back and forth, their nose seldom leaving the ground. Then all of a sudden one of the bulls took off running and the rest of the herd joined him.

Within seconds I could see a big ole bear heading down the elk trail. When he hit the same area he continued on and acted like he didn't even know anything had happened. He continued on and went down to the waterhole. I could hear him splashing and thrashing.

Not long after that, I could see a big coyote trotting along the same trail and heading towards the same crossing. Once he got within about 10 feet of that trail, he turned inside out and headed out of there like greased lighting.

It just so happened that while I was watching all this happen, my partner had arrowed his bull. Two night later, while sitting the waterhole where I had taken my elk, he took the same bear that had walked by me on the elk trail. The picture above is of that bear and it always reminds me of the eveving the elk went on point and the night the coyote showed my what a dog nose can do!

Have a great bowhunt. BB

Great story! I hope this thread keeps going! 279 posts! it's NOT the celebrity thread BUT it's a hell of allot more entertaining!

One evening after the elk hunt, we're all sitting around a blazing fire enjoying a few adult beverages and listening to the radio.

The fire's been roaring for 4 or 5 hours and a thick bed of coals has formed, feuling the fire.

As we all are gazing into the flickering flames, a big moth divebombs into the coals and disappears. In a split second, he emerges from the flames, ashes dusting from his flapping wings and his butt on fire as he escaped into the night.

I've seen a lot of moths bite it in the fire, but this guy was the only one I've seen escape coaldiving. Truly amazing, Supermoth.

After a marginal hit on a Mule deer in Wyoming I left the trail to come back in the morning. As I lay in bed I thought "It sure would be nice if a coyote helped me find my deer tomarrow". Then I fell asleep. I had never had such a stupid thought before. When I began my tracking in the morning I could see across a valley to a bench and thought that that is where I would go if I was hurt. I sat down and started glassing, about 400 yards across to the first bench. No deer but a coyote was sitting there watching me. Didn't run like usual so I figured he must have something he's interested in the area. After looking harder I see my buck about 12 yards from the coyote still alive but in bad shape and partially hidden. Over the next 4 hours I watched the coyote sleep and wake and go check the deer 3-4 times. Finally I determined the deer wasn't very alert and snuck up for the final fatal shot. The coyote trotted off.

But the dangdest thing I ever saw? Fishing a tiny lake above timberline for some of the snakey cutthroat that'd cruise the shoreline, I stepped up the scree slope to a willow thicket to take a leak and was met by a coughing guttural snarl that about made my newly-hopeful adolescent unit crawl back into my body cavity forevermore. 20 yards away the willows blew apart and this black dervish exploded up the mountain. Like watching a hairy blob of hot molasses flow up the talus slide -it seemed almost shapeless, and somehow furious. It was probably 300 feet vertical to the glacial cornice at the top of the cirque and this thing vaulted up and over in about 30 seconds. It was a wolverine, and I've never seen anything that could match it for pure compact power.

Love this thread, keep coming back to it

JUST KIDDIN"!!!!!

The hawk put on the air brakes and picks that squirrel off the tree with its wings...almost like it was using hands.

The hawk dropped straight down on that squirrel with its talons and started eating it right at the base of my tree.

I was astonished by the speed and efficiency of that predator.

The following morning I am in my stand again when I noticed this herd with two very nice bucks crossing 300 yards from my stand. I decided to climb down to try and intercept them. I am hustling over when I see what I thought was smoke. I decided I would go over and put out the small fire before it gets going. I figured a tree was hit during the storm the night before.

So I'm all relaxed heading towards the smoke when I got the surprise of my life. Instead of smoke it is steam coming out of that same badgers nose which happened to be backed into a hollowed out log. I was 15 yards away and he was just staring at me blowing that steam out of his nose. I stayed facing him and backed up about 50-60 yards before heading in another direction.

Keep the great stories coming guys.

The very first time I ever took my son on an archery hunt was when he was about 5 years old. I had drawn an antelope tag in Wyoming and had promised him months before that if I drew I would take him.

I knew where I wanted to build my blind and by dark on the eve of the hunt, my blind was ready to go.

It takes a special kid at age 5 to be able to sit all day in a hot antelope blind. I just so happen to have had that kid as my son.

We played games, and he took naps and we watched antelope come and go. We were both having a great time. Then one afternoon my son said, "Dad, look here comes a badger." We watched as this big ole badger came strolling into the waterhole for a drink. As he started to drink we heard a loud hissing noise and spotted another big badger coming in to tell the other badger to get to heck away from his waterhole. Both faced each other, hissing and I suppose cussing. I don't know what they were saying, I only know, that at some point, one of them must have said something about the other ones mother that he didn't like.

At that point they torn into one another. I've watched quite a few fights in my life, including humans, dogs, cats, and various wildlife, but I have never saw anything like that fight. And to this day, neither has my son.

Those two badgers fought for several minutes tearing up one another and creating a dust storm on an otherwise clam day, the likes of which I had never seen. Finally one of the bloody, battered badgers headed off as fast as he could run, with the victor in hot pursuit, for about 10 yards.

The winner then returned to the waterhole, puffing himself up and running around the waterhole like a racer taking his victory laps, stopping only briefly every now and then to puff up! After several minutes of this behavior, he headed out in the opposite direction from which the other badger had gone.

It truly was a sight to behold.

Have a great bowhunt BB

I also watched a mink chase 2 muskrats around a pond for about an hour. The mink kept swimming after the muskrats. One would dive and the mink would break off the chase of that one and go after the other. He got close enough to me that I could have poked him with an arrow.. That was cool.

Not hunting related, but I had a wolverine follow my team for 3 days in Norway, when we were on a winter warfare exercise. I also saw some crazy stuff in the Western Cascades of Washington,, but I won't get in to that right now.. LOL Jay,,,,, at work.. LMAO!!

best wishes andy

geat thread!!

Just as I was entering a store in a small town a gray squirrel landed at my feet with a solid thump - I swear it bounced a few inches - layed there for a few seconds - got up and staggered away. It must have fallen off the peak of the roof.

I watched a sparrow hawk take a small bird off a branch then land a few feet away and begin plucking the feathers off.

My cusin and I were scouting for a new deer hunting spot and when we came across a field about 5 acres in size - right in the middle were a couple very bare really going at it on a blanket. My cousin nearly strangled me trying to take my binoculars from around my neck.

A good friend of mine was pheasant hunting in South Dakota and had a whitetail doe run him over - his entire left side was black and blue. Bob

Then it was like a movie.. about 100 yards to the left another huge herd of impalas started coming out of the brush...same deal 50-75 ewes and small rams and a big herd ram in charge. This one was chasing ewes around as well. Then all of a sudden the two big rams saw each other and they both froze....it was like a western movie with two gunfighters staring each other on main street.

Then all of a sudden they charged at each other from about 150 yards away...It is hard to explain how fast the closing rate was. These two rams were violently shoving each other around for a good 10 minutes. While they were fighting both herds just stopped and watched.

After 10 minutes it was like someone rang a bell. They just stopped....they both headed back into the brush the way they came in and their herds followed them....It was awesome.

Anyway, one of our lab days we were going to install a lighting protection system in a walnut tree at the campus golf course. Several of us got there before the instructor, and started setting up. One of the guys, Ben, tossed his throw wieght and slick line up into the tree. Must have startled a squirrel, 'cause about 5 seconds later one went flying off of a branch and hit the ground. Probably fell about 20 feet or more. We all laughed our A**'s off after the squirrel got up and ran off after a couple of seconds.

I was stationed at Parris Island, SC. This is boot camp for Marines. On one side of the island there is an old flight line that is used for a number of training events including a 5 mile run called the combat endurance run. The Island is covered in deer! and until 1996 it had not been hunted for 20 years so the deer were like fly's! On this Saturday morning at 0730 I went out to get some temperature readings as I was on duty.

While driving down the flight line I saw 5 does standing on the left side of the flight line near the bushes. I got to the weather station and was doing my thing when about that time a full company of Marine recruits (about 600) started their run in formation down the same flight line I just came down. They were singing cadence and doing their thing in perfect unison WHEN the deer decided "lets get going while the going is good! OFF they ran, BUT is was in the direction of the formation. 3 seconds into the run they slammed into the whole formation!!

There were recruits and deer laying all over the place. In 1 second the formation run went from a beautiful motivating formation with 600 people singing into TOTAL PANIC! There were drill instructors down, recruits down and deer down. The deer were trying to get back up to their feet and kicking the shi% out of the recruits while doing it. I heard screaming and yelling and every manor of cuss word know to man or beast!!

I almost had a full blown heart attack I was laughing so hard. I was sweating I was laughing so hard!! The deer did get up and instead of going in the other direction they went on through the formation! I saw one drill instructor try to throw a deer but she didn't want anything to do with him! YEP what a sight.

About 1 hour before dark I saw 3 cow elk coming out of some dark cool pines. I waited till they went by me then I went in on the trail they came out of. As I was still hunting I saw a spike elk bedded down about 50 yards just as he saw me. I took one step behind a pine tree and came to full draw, then stepped back out (why I just didn't draw I can't tell you). The spike had gotten up and was slightly quartered away. I then let it fly. It looked like a perfect shot. The spike took one step then slightly buckled with the second step. He then took off.

I marked the spot where I shot from, looked for blood, saw plenty, then backed out where I came in. I found my hunting partner and told him "I think I stuck one and I need help tracking it."

Well, that was an overstatement and understatement all in one.

Long story short(er), we tracked it till way after midnight. Luckily I had extra batteries for the minimag-lights. It circled about 3 miles in a big loop. It took us in some of the nastiest, thickest stuff in the woods. It kept laying down and we found huge blood clots. We finally heard it kicking against some downed quakies a few hundred yards ahead.

It had fallen off of the trail and rolled down the hill about 20 yards where it finally died.

The only damage done was high on the left front leg. 2 of the 3 blades sliced the outside of the muscle for about 2 inches or so. A mere flesh wound! The spike bled out from that! My buddies call it the "paper cut elk" to this day. If we hadn't kept on the elk the wound would have clotted.

We spent the rest of the night boning and packing the elk out. What a long 24 hours and unbelievable first bow/elk hunt.

Sadly that old cedar thicket no longer exists, as a huge commercial chicken farm now resides there.

This is not a hunting story but it did happen. IN the local paper in 1997 there was a story about a guy in a 16 foot Jon boat who caught a 240 pound tiger shark just off the island in the intercostal water way. He had his 9 year old son with him and no one else. They had a picture of him in the paper with the shark in his 8 foot truck bead and it hung off the tail gate. What happened was he hooked it while anchored near the island. The line started running and he just hung on. Now there is not allot of line left so the boy pulled up the anchor and started the motor and slowly followed the shark so the dad could get some line back. After 45 minutes he had not made allot of progress in bringing in the shark but he did have some line back. Witnesses say he went back and forth in front of the sands beach 4 times!! The whole time the little boy was at the wheel of the boat and the dad was in the hot seat. 2 hours goes by and after letting the shark literally pull the boat for a bit he managed to get him to the boat. The shark is 2/3 the size of the boat!

Both man and beast are tired but the little boy gets the guys 38 out of the tackle box and hands it to the dad. BOOM! Then Boom! and the shark stopped moving. He lashed it to the side of the boat and headed to the boat landing. The shots were heard from all near by so they called the cops!! He is heading to the boat landing and so are the cops!! He shows up, the cops are standing there and low and behold the boat has a 240 pound tiger shark lashed to it. The picture in the paper had the guy, his son, the shark and 3 cops!! They helped him load it into the truck and even helped him get the boat out of the water.

THE PICTURE and story was hung in every barracks and in every squad bay, if a recruit had any ideas about leaving the island by way of the water, those were quickly SQUASHED!! Remember the story and picture like it was yesterday.

Needless to say that weasel was small, the baby was cute, but I humbly chose not to muck with it and stepped around them and left them to continue on.

Here is the first pic... It shows fear in the deers face. He has an awesome rack with a cheater drop tine that is whacked. Guess if a deer wants to become famous he needs to partake in X-treme sports LOL.

Not really a hunting story, but while at our hunting cabin, my uncle was in the outhouse. We heard him scream like a girl and saw him go running bare a**ed past the window. A cat inside the crapper decided it was time to bail out when the hole got covered and had jumped right through his legs. We just figure he is lucky it paw at the dangling...uhhh, you know.

Dave

I casted a large plug (I was casting for northerns) as hard as I could. As the lure flew threw the air the line made an arch and the Blue Heron flew right under it.

I panicked and jerked as hard as I could in an attempt to pull the plug away from the Heron - instead the line came back with a quick jerk and tangled all around it, which flapped even harder and fell into the water and began squaking and sounded as if it had a megaphone attached to it's beak.

Wayne is screaming at me that we are going to jail for killing the bird - there are people coming out of the cabins (as we were right in front of a very large resort) - I'm scared to death and not sure what to do. That stupid bird keeps squaking and is getting louder and louder - people on shore are pointing at us - and the boat is filling up with water because it leaks so bad.

Long story short - I pulled on the line and broke it - the Heron squaked and flapped and swam up to shore - we rowed that boat as fast as we could up to shore and ran in and called 911 to report a giant bird all tangeled in fishing line on shore in front of the resort. I NEVER DID THAT AGAIN!!

One hot day on a archery elk hunt this year I spotted a coyote over half a mile away. It was really warm and the elk had bedded down for the day. I thought it might be fun to call this dog over to my side of the canyon. When I started calling the hillside came alive with coyotes. They all were running toward me! I made me setup and waited. The first coyote showed up at 18 yds looking at me. I let the arrow go and pin wheeled her. She started spinning and biting at the spot the arrow entered. That made the next coyote in line mad. He ran up to her trying to figure out what had a hold of her as I drew my bow again. His hair was up and he was ready to fight! He saw me just as I anchored my second arrow and bolted at me. About the time I let the arrow go he had stopped tiring to see what I was. Too late, the arrow slammed him to the ground. I quickly knocked a third arrow when a coyote showed up to my left at 30 yds facing me. I let that arrow go and misjudged the yardage. The arrow smacked him right in the forehead and deflected into the air.

In 98 a friend and I were bow hunting a 180 class muley we had spotted earlier in the season in the Oregon desert. We spotted the buck this particular morning and my buddy was making a stalk on him while I was giving hand signals from 1/2 mile away. I was three miles from the nearest road and half way up a steep canyon on a small point sitting with my spotting binoculars on a tripod. I heard a helicopter in the distance. I don't know how they spotted me but they slowly came over to me and started hovering on my level about 60 yds away. I made signals that I was spotting a buck across the canyon. I also made signals for them to leave. I guess they understood me because the copilot gave me a thumbs up and they left. A half hour later I watched my friend put an arrow in a 181 muley.

The arrow went in front of his chest and below his neck. Rats I muttered. Then, he stopped and bugled to the cows. Another old cow with an injured leg came running up behind him. He lowered his rack and charged her. She ran past me at about 5 yards and the bull stopped broadside at about 10 yards. I was going to nock another arrow when I realized that I had left all of them back where I was sitting. I stood there watching him from behind a 6 inch in diameter aspen tree until he started chasing the cows again. He never did see me.

I will never take my quiver off of my bow again.

Tell your grandpa from one Marine to one Sailor THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AND SACRIFICE! God Bless

Sweet thread greatwhite!

These were all little guys that had just lost their spots.

Those little fellows played tag all around me for almost an hour, sometimes just feet from the blind.

I have no idea if the doe had a "litter" of fawns or if she was playing nursemaid, but it made for quite a show and mega-entertainment for the afternoon.

I have seen a few does with triplets, but never five!

I noticed a little brown spider moving up and down the limb just in front of me. Nothing too unusual about that, except he seemed too animated and movements seemed to be for a purpose.

He crawled out the larger limb, then up a small branch. Then down the branch, back to the larger limb then up another branch.

Each time he reached the tip of the smaller twigs, he would stand as high as he could on his hind legs, with both of his front legs up raised up in the air. He did this numerous times over the course of ten minutes or so on different twigs. Long enough that I had quit paying much attention to him.

I glanced back over just in time to see him jump off into mid-air! Really thinking that was strange, I thought the show was over until I noticed a few seconds later that prior to jumping he had attached a web to the top of the twig and he was now climbing back up that strand with his front legs while coiling the web on his back legs.

This really piqued my curiosity so I began to really pay attention. When he reached the top, where he had jumped from, he sat there for a few seconds and then "cast" the web that he had coiled up.

It gently floated on the air currents, uncoiling as it went, waved a few times then stuck to another limb 8 or ten feet away! He scurried across the web to the adjacent branch, climbed down onto the branch for a few inches,attached another strand, then proceeded back across his original strand to the point of origin.

Within 20 minutes he had a perfectly formed web suspended 12 to 15 feet above the ground!

The only thing that I can figure is that when he was climbing the various limbs when I first noticed him and he raised his front legs, he was testing the air currents and selecting just the right spot to launch the initial strand from.

I had seen webs like this all my life and often wondered how in the world the spider ever got them up there!

I don't even remember if I saw a deer that afternoon.

One evening, we were in the ground blind when here comes a group of elk from the woods. Sure enough, the 2 bulls that were in the group crossed the fence some 70 yards from us, but the cows and calves crossed within 25 yards of the blind. The cows started jumping the fence right in front of us, one by one, as we watched intently.

Suddenly, we were winded by the cow with the calf. She barked and the whole group started to run off into Floyd Lee's property. She jumps the fence but in the panic, her calf can't make the jump. She is on the other side of the fence, barking frantically at her calf to GET OVER HERE! Time and time again, the calf tries to jump the fence only to fail. Darkness settles in and the cow rejoins the group on the private side, leaving her calf on the public side with the 2 goons in the blind.

We get back to camp that night and feel terrible that we have split the calf from her mother, wondering if the little fella would survive the night without it's group.

The next morning, we hit the blind before daylight. As soon as the sun started to lighten the sky, we hear this very assertive bark come from the woods on the private side, where we had last seen the group.

Out from the woods on our side bolts the calf, and in one leap, clears the fence. Mama, runs out of the trees to meet the baby, licks it's face and off they run into the forest.

Amazing how the cow knew exactly where she had left the calf, I bet it was a long lonely night for the little bugger.

We were trolling some rather large Rapala lures behind the boat. All of a sudden, I noticed there were 3 large pelecans following the boat.

One of them made a dive and caught one of the rapalas.

I reeled him and believe me it was quite a chore. As I got him to the boat, the bird was pretty worn out but still more that I cared to handle. I'll bet he had an easy 6 foot wingspan.

My brother in law grabbed one wing and my son grabbed the other one while I proceeded to try to unhook the lure fron the bird's pouch. What a chore!

When we finally got him released, he just sat there in the water beside the boat for quite awhile as if to thank us while he was gaining his strength back.

solrac

I particulaly can to relate to BB. Maybe because we live in the same area.

I can relate to each of the stories. Funny how they trigger fond remembrances of about the same thing that has happened to me.

Several times I have had hummingbirds come in while on stand and check out the nocks of my arrows. One lit on my arrow and slid down the arrow shaft and checked the broadhead.

I'll relate a neat incident I had while bowhunting. I crossed a small clearing and had just gotten into my treestand when a 5-point bull stepped into the clearing about 35 yds. away and checked the wind. He turned around and went back into the trees. Something put him on edge.

About 5 minutes later a bobcat showed up and slowly walked into the clearing. Suddenly from out of nowhere a large cougar was on his tail. The bobcat dove under a fence and in a flash was up an aspen tree.

The cougar layed down near the base of the tree. Just then a 6-point bull walked into the scene about 10 yds. away. The bull let out a very large BARK! The cougar slowly got up and walked down the trail passing directly under my Buddy's treestand.

The bull elk left the scene and the bobcat leaped to the ground from about 15' up and was on a dead run the moment he hit the ground.

It's a rare sight to see any of these animals, let-a-lone to have them all in the same senario. The whole episode lasted about three minutes.

*** BB Start ***

Years ago in Utah we had an unlimited spring bear hunt. For many years a group of us (6 - 8 guys) would hunt bear every year. (Pahaska was one of that group). We sure had a great group and so many fun times.

Anyway, one year late in the season, a good friend of mine named Clair and I decided to go back and spend the balance of the season. I have a friend who owns a dairy farm, and he gives me his dead critters at that time of year. This particular year, none died and we were really in bad need of a dead critter. Well Doug (the guy with the dairy farm) knows a ton of people and said he knew an old horse trader who he said might give us one of his horses. Late on the eve of our departure, my buddy Doug calls and said he had found a horse for us. He went on to say that this guy goes to coffee every morning at 5 am, and if we wanted it we had to be there at 4:45 am SHARP!

I assured him we would be there, and we were. The guy says, pull your truck over by that correl and I will load him in for you. I go jump in my truck and try to start it, but it wouldn't turn over. I hear the guy yelling get that over here. The next thing I know is here comes this guy with a front end loader full of this dead horse. I wanted to move my stuff, but he says I don't have time for that and dumps the horse on top of all our gear. He asks if my truck is stick and I say yes, and he say jump in and turn the key on and put it in gear. So he push started us and we were on our way.

There was not place to get my truck fixed at such an early hour, so we decided to drive to Price Utah and get it taken care of there. We hit Price at 8:00 am, purchased a new cable as I knew that was the problem. We drove to a steep side street, put on the new cable and tried to start it, but nothing. So we coasted down the hill, got it started and went back to the auto store and ask where we might get it fixed. At 1:30 in the afternoon we were on our way again. But the horse wasn't fairing so well. It was the second week in June, and the temperature was near 100 degrees. Four more hours (in that temperature) crossing the desert by Green River, Utah did not help. By the time we got to camp it was 7:00 PM and we had a horse whose legs were now about 12 inches long if you get the drift. If you didn't, then it won't be long until you do.

I backed up to a tree, hooked a chain around the tree and around the leg of the horse and pulled forward, unloading the horse onto the ground. It was now time to skin it and quarter it. Seems as my whole life I have always been a screw around. This time was no exception. The poor old horse lay on the ground, looking to be 3 times the size he was, barely 14 hours before. I squatted down much like a man does to do his thing in the woods. I was just one arms length from the horse and had my sharp Puma floding knife, open and in front of me. Carefully, I lightly touched the sharp blade against the ever so taut stomach of the bloated beast. Clair, standing back, says "You better be careful buddy!" I replied, You just have to know what your doing."

Suddenly and without notice I remember hearing a big boom, and I was knocked into a backwards somersault. My mouth and eyes were full of that horses last meal. As I gagged and vomited I could hear Clair laughing in the back ground and when gaining some composure, I would hear him say "Oh Bill!, Oh Bill!" and then break back into laughter until he again would exclaim the same double phrase, two word sentence.

My entire front, and the back of my truck was sprayed and plastered gut green. With in 3 or 4 minutes I too was laughing and vomiting intermittently. I have never seen a guy laugh harder in my life than did Clair. He maintains to this day, it was one of his very favorite days on earth, and the hardest laugh of his life. He said I felt so sorry for you, but it was just so funny I could not help laughing. But he says he was torn between the humor and my suffering, which by the way, I did!

Clair still claims if we had a video of that event, we could retire from its royalties.

When he tells the story, and people ask, " Did it get in his mouth?", He proudly says, "Hell, it puffed his cheeks!"

Have a great bowhunt, and always be careful with a knife.

BB

I looked again and the squirrels seemed to be 'hugging'. ?

(Double take)

Look closer - one squirell is definitely holding the other.

It sees me and dashes up the tree to the first limb.

I stood and watched and soon realized that one squirrel was dead and the other was GNAWING ON ITS HEAD!!!

It was chewing and eating this other squirrel like it would eat an acorn.

weird.

Another time - game ranch - saw a 6x5 bull elk face off then 'fight' with a big Waterbuck! Waterbuck held its ground. I'll call it a stalemate as both retreated from the dust-up.

Game ranch again. From almost a stand-still, Hybrid Ibex clears a 12 foot fence into a goat pen. One horny goat. Ranch hand tries to 'scram' the Ibex out - jumps over same fence and out. Ranch hand looks at me and says: "now you know where hybrid Ibex come from."

ROTFLMAO

Did you get your bear? Must have been a great cover scent!

BB will have to answer the hunting trip details.

It is an unbelievable/great/funny story!

I was scouting for elk one summer a few years ago. I came driving around a corner and came to where I knew there was a huge meadow. It is listed on maps as a lake, but hasn't had much, if any water in it for most of the past decade or more.

About 100 yards out from the tree line I saw a cartopper boat sitting in the completely dry meadow. There were three guys sitting in it and drinking beer. All of them had their fishing rods and are either sitting there with their lines out, or some are casting. I sat and watched them from the trees for a little while, they didn't know I was there. They looked very serious about it, and didn't act like it was a joke or anything. I finally got out the video camera and filmed them for a little bit because I figured my friends would never believe me! All I can figure is that they saw the "lake" on the map, and after they travelled all that way they were going to fish damn it! It didn't matter that the "lake" was a dry meadow! I'm not sure how long they "fished", and I decided I'd rather make up the story in my own mind then ask them what the hell they were doing!

Marvin

My friend has bowhunted a certain area for many years. Across a huge canyon there is a dense 2 acre area with very thick pines. He always wanted to check out that pine pocket but it would take several hours of hard hiking to get to.

On opening day after a morning hunt he gazed over on the other mountainside and decided that today was the day to hit those pines. It took him 3 hours to get to. He started walking through them but quickly realized he couldn't walk far because it was too thick.

He began crawling on the forest floor. It was extremely dusty and even though it was the middle of the day it was very dark. He had to put one hand out in front of him while he drug his bow behind him.

After about 15 minutes of this he started to wonder why he was putting himself through this awful experience. The next time he put his hand out he touched something strange. As he focused his eyes on it he realized it was a rib cage. Upon closer examination he could see a darker spot. He felt it and was amazed to find an arrowhead stuck in one of the ribs!

He then backtracked out of the pines and spent the rest of the afternoon returning to camp. When he arrived back at camp they asked what took him so long. He recounted the days events up to finding the arrowhead stuck in the rib. Everyone called BS until he unzipped his backpack and showed everyone the deer rib that he broke off of the backbone with arrowhead still embedded.

True story.

I was easily persuaded to go with them. I told them I needed to go to my shed and get my gear. They said they have some nylon chord and that is all we need. I asked an explanation but they said "You will see".

We have a great trout river that runs through the mountains, down a canyon and into town. In town there are huge concrete slabs along the banks and in the river. During July-Sept the river runs fairly low in the valley (Most of the water is diverted for irrigation).

Well, one of my friends selected a slab that was partially submerged. He had us block any exits and he reached his arm under the slab and said "There is a big one." I thought he was pulling my leg. He started moving his hand gently under the fish until he got to the gills and grabbed it. He then proceeded to pull a 5-6 pound german bround out from under cement. I couldn't believe it.

We then proceeded to "fish" for the next few hours. We "caught" about 20 fish and turned 10 back. The remaining 10 fish were from 3-7 pounds. My other friend wanted to have a picture taken and show up in the newspaper. It probably would have happended, but my other buddy told the football coach he was sick and couldn't come to practice. He didn't want to show up in the newspaper.

A neighboring highschool cross country team was jogging by. They asked us what we were doing. We had the fish tied up under water and they couldn't see them. One of my acquaintances pulled up the string of fish and showed them. The next week several of them were cited for illegal fishing.

We did have fishing licenses, but I didn't even think about what I was doing was legal or not. Since then I have fished those same waters many times and have done pretty good. Early morning or when it is raining with a big fat nightcrawler seems to work best (only a swivel up 2 feet with 4-6 pound test using a fairly small worm hook.)

Some of the stupid things we do as kids...

any more stories?

best thread ever!

After a short while, I heard a grunt from my left, followed by a wailing bawl from my right. This goes on, back and forth, for several minutes and finally a Shiras bull steps into the clearing and the cow comes out too. They proceed to meet on opposite sides of the pond, which was only about 15 yards across, and the bull is obviously in love with his new girl friend. They walk around and around, with the cow keeping the bull opposite her for a good minute and then she finally goes into the pond and lays down. This was more than the bull could take, he's going nuts and splashes into the pond, trying to get her up with his antlers. Finally, the cow gets up and the bull climbs on and breeds her right in the middle of the pond.....with me sitting in a tree watching the whole show from about 20 yards away.

I don't know if that was a National Geographic moment or just moose porn. It was something I'll never see again, I'm sure of that.

I put a deer feeder up between several coveys of blue quail's territory and built a hide. While the quail from different coveys were busy fighting each other it gave me the distraction needed draw. The limit was 15 blues and I kept counting my birds I had piled right in front of the hide, I thought I was miss counting until I looked back after leaving the hide to recover another bird/arrow when I saw a hawk steel a bird.

I was stalking with a friend down a sandy ranch road when up ahead out ran a baby rabbit, it flopped over kicking and died. I'm pretty good at rabbit killing but not that good. I had my suspicions and backed the little rabbit and sure enough I found the other hunter, 4ft rattle snake. Skinned and ate the snake.

Found a baby jack rabbit, first and only one ever, I've seen lots of baby cotton tail but never before a jack rabbit. Got the camera and was taking pictures when I spooked him and hopping towards a bush a 5ft coachwhip nailed him in mid hop/air. The rabbit was squealing and kicking and the snake was backing up climbing into the bush trying to get a loop on the rabbit to constrict. I felt it was my fault for the fix the rabbit was in so I tried to knock/slap the rabbit loose from the coachwhip with my hand. When I did they both bit my hand at the same time and would not let go. I had a heck of time shaking the both of them off while the guys in the jeep were lol.

Funny thing I looked for this thread yesterday after experiencing quite a sight on my daily walk, but couldn't seem to find it, and then this morning here it is.

Anyway, daily I walk my dog a couple times a day. I always take him on a morning walk and one in the late afternoon or early evening. We most times go on the same three mile route.

Part of this route takes us through Murray Park which just so happens to have Big Cottonwood Creek run through it. We like to hike and out of the way trial, along its banks.

Many days I carry my camera, just in case I see something neat or get a chance for a decent photo. But yesterday was cloudy and windy and there was an eminent storm brewing, so of course I left my camera home.

It just so happens that in the past week I have seen quite a bit of activity on the part of the birds that spring is close at hand. I've seen magpies flying with limbs as they begin to prepare their nest for their eggs. I have seen the ducks and geese both show signs that the annual urge is starting to stir.

Yesterday as Oxford (my dog) and I walked along the bank of this creek, I heard a loud noise and llok up to see this violent splashing. It just so happened to be two drake mallard fighting, supposedly over some girl friend.

One of the ducks had the other ducks neck in his bill and would not let loose. They both splashed around and finally one of the ducks got a very solid hold on the other ducks neck, just behind its head, and it pushed the other duck head under the water. They both flapped wings and struggled, but the one duck kept the other ducks head under the water for quite some time. Finally it pulled its head up, I guess for air and the other duck got loose and finally escaped, as it had had enough.

I really think the winning duck would have drowned the other duck, but I don't think it could breathe while it held the other ducks head down, so it had to come for air and that let the other duck get loose.

It just lets a guy know how much is always going on in the woods and how much we miss if we aren't out there. I sure missed a great chance to take some neat photos

Watch how you handle a sharp knife and have a great bowhunt. BB

A few days ago (last Friday) while out fishing on the ice, we (6 of us) watched an adult Bald Eagle as it watched us from it's perch in a tree about 200 yards away.

I took three of the perch we had caught and walked over about 50 yards from where we were fishing and threw them. The Eagle imediately lofted off it's perch and glided straight at me.

Just as it got over me it turned sharply and swooped down, with talans extended, and made a grab at a northern laying next to one of the holes - it missed made a quick turn around and didn't miss the second pass. I guess a 3 pound northern is more of a meal than 3-6oz perch.

What an amazing sight as we all watched him fly off with that fish.

About 10 of us were hiking above 10,000 feet doing some early scouting. We saw deer, elk, and mountain goats. We were taking a rest just before sleighrunner gulch when we noticed a big red ant mound.

One of the bother in laws stirred it up a bit and told the two 14 year old cousins that if they sat bare in the ant pile for 60 seconds each would get $20. This never would have happened if just one young buck were there. But they really egg each other on and before we knew it the two cousins were getting the crap bit out of them. Neither was going to bail out before the other, so they in fact EARNED their $20 each.

Another time I was taking my son, then about four years old, to fish for trout in a local farmers pond. Just as we began to fish the cattle that were behind us started to act up. My son was playing near them so I stood up, and told him to come to me. Just then a flash of black caught my eye. About forty yards up the hill was a mountain lion, both front paws on a log,facing us, head up, ears pointed forward, long tan tail with jet black tip twitching far above his head. As soon as he realized I saw him he turned and ran. It still bothers me to think that my son was as close to that cat as he was to me, although the cat was probably being more curious than predatory. You never know though.

Yet another time I was taking my kids to play in a creek in the same area. Just as we came down the trail to the waters edge I saw some movement in the grass. Five feet to my right stood a gigantic great blue heron. Always on the hunt, but this time without a weopon, what could I do? I grabbed it. My kids screamed. The bird went ballistic. I tried to hold its wings down to control it. It didn't like that idea, as it swung its head around and speared me with its ten inch and very sharp bill. Right behind the ear. You wouldn't think that area would bleed as much as it did. Anyhow, I let my kids have an up close and personal look at the bird then turned it loose. Of course rather than building a newfound respect for nature in my kids I probably only succeeded in giving them nighmares about large wading birds that want to kill their daddy.

Like others Ive also seen hawks killing crows in mid flight, and grabbing snakes near the road. Out in the mountains in september I watched a large snake swimming after small trout in a pool on a mostly dried up creek in Eastern Oregon. Ive seen a Great Horned Owl kill a heron, and a Bald Eagle kill a Canada Goose out at Sauvies Island. I new an old man once that actually tamed a trio of wild coopers hawks, and taught them to fly over and snatch raw chicken from his hand, a truly amazing sight and I still dont get how you tame a wild hawk, but I saw it and he did it. I once watched a small mink work for thirty minutes or more at pulling the carcass of a fiteen pound salmon out of the river. I could go on and on. Nothings better than time spent in the woods. I love it more than anything!

Idaho somewhere in panhandle, with son inlaw after dark heading back to camp. Came around corner and in headlights spotted cow elk and calf. Stopped truck and dimmed lights, calf stayed in road and cow left.

With engine still running and lights on dim calf was confused and stayed in road. Son in law rolled window down and cow called ,calf came up to truck and put nose on front of hood.as larry kept calling he walked to his side looked for mom and then came to my side and same thing. I finaly told son in law if you keep this up we will have to take him home with us.

This was in Sept. and have lots of these kind of stories ....

Milt

"We ain't got nuff spendin' money to be buyin' no bullets so we lernt how to ugly 'em. I said, "pardon"? "We ugy 'em" they said. Ya know stare 'em down. Kills 'em raht ded". I've never heard of such a thing, I said. Is this common practice here abouts, I can't believe it? They both gave me a toothless grin and said "all their kin dun it", they said I should see some of the better ones, heck, "we's jis ammiters since we's so hansum an' all". "Ya'll oughta see our sister at it, she can kill a mess raht quick, but we had to make her quit on account o' how she tore 'em up too bad fer good eatin'."

Hoo boy

manti la sals, I watched two does go at it like big horn sheep, dont know what that was all about...

While ice fishing, had a gold eagle eyeball a 22in rainbow from a pine about 100 yds in front of us. he took off and about 5 minutes later came gliding in from our 6 and stole the rainbow... I never could believe the stories about an eagle taking a lamb until that day. we knew he was gliding in so we held perfectly still, we watched as he slid his 1 opposing talon through the fish, after two or three strokes of his wings the fish looked like a guppie...

my favorite is, in 05, I made friends with a doe and her 2 fawns. they were in the same bed ~9of10 times I would pass through. they learned quickly I would walk around if they would stay bedded. a hand full of times I set up close and let them be live decoys. It never worked but they were nice to watch. In Nov. a couple coyotes came sneaking in and made a play for the fawns, so naturaly, I made a play for the coyotes. none of us got what we were looking for, but here is where it gets interesting. The doe and fawns would infrequently follow me out at night... a week or two later I took my buck. This 06 season, again in nov. I was in the same area in some sage brush, camo'd when a group of does came by. The lead doe sniffed me out quickly, after passing down wind, and took off with the group close behind; a small doe turned around and came back, stoped about 15yds, sniffed me for a while, then started to eat... I let her be; she fed to where I was sitting, she fed around until after dark. The only thing I can figure is she was one of the fawns from 05. thats one of the most rewarding hunting experiences I've had.

...Hope she finds a boyfriend for 07 :)

My husband, daughter and I were bowfishing on the banks of a canal. There were black birds sitting on reeds out in the water. I had shot a fish and was taking it off my arrow. As I turned back towards the canal, a very large alligator came up out of the water and grabbed a bird off the reed. He was back under the water before my husband even had time to look up to see what had caused all the commotion. Sometimes you just have to be looking in the right place at the right time or you miss it.

I was turkey hunting and had set up in an area where turkeys traveled. I was on a stool up against a tree. When the sun started coming up, it appeared that I was in rabbit kingdom. All of these cottontails started coming up from under the grass and leaves. I had my quiver sitting by me on the ground. A rabbit hopped over and sat right on top of my boot. It sat there for the longest time cleaning itself and I thought that was pretty cool. Soon he leaned over towards my quiver and started nibbling on the rubber, which I didn't think was so cool. I moved my foot a little and he took off. I still have my quiver with bunny nibbles and teeth mark imprints.

Last story, again, I was turkey hunting on the last morning of the season. I was hunting hard and determined to get a turkey. The ranch where I was hunting is 45 minutes from the nearest town. I started hearing turkeys gobbling all around me and I can see them coming in toward my blind. Then a gobbler came from behind me and went into a small group of trees and started making a heck of ruckus in there. He was not drumming, but making a heck of a sound. The other gobblers start coming in faster. I felt my opportunities increasing on taking a turkey. Closer, closer and then they burst out of there. Wondering what the heck happened, I look around and there is a guy in the field next to me, jogging with no shirt and the tiniest pair of Texas flag shorts that I had ever seen. Needless to say, I did not get a turkey that day.

Two things: both Amazing (to me) if not quite unbelievable:

1) Hiked deep in the California Coast range with a buddy in the dark to hunt deer. We lay out our bedrolls and stare up at the stars on our backs, when all of us sudden some giant insect-like whirring sound roars overhead about a foot over our heads. Weird. So we get up the next morning, take commanding positions and start glassing. The sun comes up, all's quiet, until I see a tiny speck high, high in the sky that is zooming, yes, definately ZOOMING right AT me at incredible speed. Like a tiny attack helicopter this thing roars in and then stops DEAD about 24 inches in front of my nose and hovers there. This little hummingbird cocks his head to eyeball me out of one eye, lets out a string of high pitched profanity, and then slams it into reverse, pivots and buzzes up over the mountain and out of sight. This happens not once, but a half dozen times that day. The whole thing was so weird at the time that as I remember it I can still feel my jaw hanging wide open. Then I figured out the cause: my blaze orange hat. Guess looked like a biggest flower in California.

Other event: I was canoeing the BWCA (N MN) in late May and came around a corner on a lake and caught a view of a hidden shoreline. Right at the waterline a few hundred yards off from the canoe I see a cow moose, standing over what looks like a dog with a reddish pelt curled up at her feet. As we drift by, the moose regards us suspicously. After about ten seconds the "dog", which is actually a moose calf, stands up, wobbling on its legs just like a horse standing up for the first time. (I later read somewhere that moose tend to go down to the water to give birth. Couldn't been the first time it stood up. Sure looked like it, anyway).

Forager

I was checking fox sets the week before the PA deer opener. I was walking along a fence row, and come over a little hill, and I'm 10 feet from a 6 point that is laying there sound asleep. I watched him for a good while, he even peeked at me outta one eye at one point, and went back to sleep. After about 1/2 hour he got up and walked away. He knew I was there and all, it just didn't bother him I guess.

I shot a turkey with my bow, there was still plenty of time to hunt for the morning, so I figured I'd just stay in my tree. I got another arrow out, and was getting comfortable again, when I look down and there's a redtail sitting on my turkey about to have breakfast. I had to holler at it to make it leave the scene.

It was awesome!

I was on my first elk bowhunt with 4 champion archers. Two from PA and two from OH. I was a rank amateur and one day our guide had some buisness to attend to and asked if we minded hunting on our own. I loved the prospect since it would give me a break from the bloody horses. While still hunting some lodgepoles I saw a spruce grouse and foolishly decided to try my shooting ability and bagged the grouse. The rest of the day was uneventful so as I was finishing the day watching a large high meadow I decided to clean the grouse before heading back to camp and presenting the bird to Tim the cook. As luck would have it one of the Ohio hunters had also bagged a spruce grouse however not knowing how to clean the bird decided to present his "trophy" uncleaned to Tim.

Tim the cook went postal on the Ohioan and the poor devil had to eat crap for the rest of the hunt. The only thing that saved my butt was the fact that for lack of anything better to do I had already cleaned mine.

Never, never, never cross the cook. trust me! thanx gh

Damn I wish I wasn't married at the time! things like that never happpened when I was single!!!

Yes It was unbelieveable!

Elmer

Elmer

Since it was hunting season, the doe may have been wounded. Before this I would not have believed that a coyote would be able to bring down an antelope.

The stories are great... I miss seeing some of these handles on the Bowsite.

reading stories like these get me pumped for September!

'Bout wore out my thumbs!

The lion seized the moment and sprinted towards the nearest ewe... it was all over in a matter of seconds. It was an experience that I'll remember for a long time to come!

Probably one of the coolest things happened while I was turkey hunting. I had been walking for a long time and was headed back to the truck. I sat down in a cow pasture with m back leaned against a post. I was just sitting there enjoying the sun shine when I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. A opossum is walking down the cow path about 2 feet from the fence. He walks right down it and starts climbing over my snake boots. He stops and gives my boots a good sniff. He was not to thrilled with it I think. He scrambled on over me and waddled off as fast as he can.

Ergie

Another time I shot a doe (bow) and my friend and I were dressing her on a small knob. Another doe came running down and jumped over us, we never saw her until she was in the air over us. She ran another 30yds and stopped to look at us. We just started laughing. Thank god our heads were down focused on the harvest otherwise she'd probably knocked one of us out.

Have been dive bombed by screech owls walking out open meadows after shooting hours in the Colorado High Country......hate those damn owls.

Walked up on porcupines who swished their tails at me........make me levitate and scream like a little girl. Best viewed from a distance.....like a snake. Don't like them up close.

Was running to the bait shop in MN to get more leeches. Saw a black shape running next to me, figured it was the resort's black lab. Then realized it was a bear. I was about 12 years old. Ran screaming into the store while the yearling cub ran up the nearest tree.

The day before CO archery opener went with my hunting buddies to the edge of the big meadow behind camp at dusk. Saw a HUGE cow on the other side, then 4 bulls came out. 2 were locking horns. Never saw them again that hunt. Bastages.

Was squirrel hunting in MO in a creek bottom. Leaned up against a tree watching a squirrel condo on the other side of the creek...tree had 4 holes in it with tree rats running in and out. Then heard a noise in front of me. Looked and here comes a big ass fox squirrel running right for me. He leaps at my head about 4 foot away....I duck....he hits the tree truck I'm leaning against and keeps on trucking. I needed to change my shorts.

There is more but the Bourbon is about gone from my glass and its time for bed.......

I have her drop me off before Summit Lake and I head down. Folks are parked all over above with binos and spotting scopes getting ready for pumpkin head season to open the next day.

I am not 500' below the road when I hear a bull bugling his arse off. I scurry down to his level, well past the 1/2 mile buffer zone from the road, and see an okay 5X6 with a herd of a dozen cows. He is constantly bugling and raking willows. The Pumpkin Heads are above me watching through their binos.

I start raking trees and bugling challenges to see if I can unhinge the bull and get him to come to me. No doing...he leads the herd away. I drop further and cross the drainage to cut them off. I end up chasing them around for 4 hours, straight from MO, at 11000', with little rest. Had a ball. Passed up on many cows in hopes of a shot at the wiley bull.

Eventually the gig was up and the bull pulled the herd up outta the drainage and moved SE to less annoying ground at tree line. I was blown own and it was all I could do to get my tent set up and dinner made. So cold that night all my water froze.

Best Trip Hunting EVER!

I followed her, like she was begging me to do, as she jumped from limb to limb squawking at me. I followed her for about 100 yards and lo and behold, she led me to a black rat snake up in a hedge tree. Due to the fact they are heck on ground-nesting birds, I ran back to the house and quickly took care of the snake with my .22.

She flew off and I guess she was satisfied.

First post here on bowsite, so here goes.

I've got quite a few crazy things that have happened over the years, but someones story above reminded me of this one. It's not too crazy, but I thought it was funny.

So I drew an archery permit for some public over here in the metroplex (north texas). Just moved here last year and decided to give it a try, never hunted public land for deer before, always had some private ground. Anyhow, this place is archery only and you gotta pack in and out. I did a little scouting a month before the season and found some a promising area about 1.5 miles from a parking spot. So I hunted several times, saw deer every sit, and one good buck but no shots offered. I had just moved my stand to a new tree one afternoon after getting done with work early when around 5 pm a young spike comes cruising in. I decided to let an arrow fly. Arrow found it's mark and the deer went down within sight. I got down to gut him and make the long haul out when I realized how awful the mosquitoes had gotten in this bottomland. So thick they pierced my shirt and just hammered my back til I got the crazyhead. So I decided I was gonna man up and leave the guts in him and throw him up over my back and walk outta there as quickly as possible as I had some mosquito spray in the pickup. After all, he was just a young spike. Well I shimmied around and managed to get him up on my back over my backpack and started trudging outta that mosquito infested bottom. Made it like 200 yards and realized I needed to shed my pack, so I grabbed my knife and other essentials out and stashed it, figuring I'd come back the next day and grab it after work. I staggered around a half mile or so with the deer up on my back and mosquitos covering my face. It had gotten to be twilight at this point almost too dark to see when I realize that I must have made a wrong turn somewhere because I passed a certain tree that I had previously used as a landmark. I ended up having to drop the deer and sit down because I'd gotten kinda dizzy and disoriented, and just needed to rest and catch my breath. I got really outta shape working on a comp all day, so I was kinda in over my head right now. So I pull out my phone and get my bearings on google earth. Now here's the kinda crazy part. I get back up, get the deer back up on my back and begin to press onward to the truck when all of the sudden outta nowhere I hear something running right at me. I look up to see a deer at a full on sprint about to plow me over so I drop the deer again and drop to my knees as this deer is about to jump me and then tears off at the last second. I was thinking to myself, this is nuts when a second deer comes tearing in, sprinting by close enough to touch. I get back up, get the deer up and press on to the truck, I finally make it back, unbelievably exhausted, desperately wanting the bottle of water sitting in my console, needing mosquito spray, when I went to grab my keys, they're not in my pocket! It's then I realize they're in my pack all the way back 200 yards from the stand! So I turn around and head back in, get all the way to my pack and put it on, head back to the truck. Finally make it back to the truck and get it unlocked, chug the water, dowse in mosquito spray and reach in my pocket to grab my knife to gut the deer when I realize there is no knife! I am certain I put it in my pocket when I dropped my pack. So after thinking it over for a minute, decide I must have dropped it when I was turned around and disoriented and had my run-in with the crazy deer. So, once again I head back in, trying to remember the exact spot. As luck would have it I manage to locate the spot and sure enough, my knife is laying on the ground. Get back, get the deer gutted, drive home, skin and qtrd and on ice.

What a ridiculous night! First public land deer ever, ended up having to work for him!

He shoots one and as I am pulling a backstraps for him I feel a 'stick' and dig around and pull out 2" of arrow. Dig some more and find my muzzy BH. With blades disconnected against far side shoulder blade with start of a encapsulating growth around it.

I had just called in "my" bull still rutting 2 weeks and 6 miles as a crow flies from where I had shot it among a large rutting herd and retrieved my arrow segment and broadhead from it.

Extraordinary closure to a mucked up shot I had made...to put it mildly.

In a late spring day I watched the mating ritual of the sand hill cranes one day out on the snow. the hopped and twisted and jumped and twisted and made a huge range of sounds.

lots of cool wildlife interactions, not necessarily unbelievable but lots of cool interactions.

oz

You'd think with all the cameras out there now days, somebody would get this on film...

I had been settled in for a while, just being a hole in the woods as it started to get light. I had slowly rolled my head to the right to check behind my right shoulder and was still as my eyes tried to pick apart everything in view.

A good sized red tail hawk came gliding through the tree tops coming towards me. I sat still until it glided right past me, between me and the leafy tree next to me. Its wingtip passed within twelve inches of my face.

I thought it was a really cool encounter. I also thought that if I hadn't been looking in that direction, I might've tested my harness after flipping out of my stand.

It's not like a red tail is big compared to an eagle, but it seemed pretty big that close to my face.

Then shortly around 630ish I had heard a hen near me. I layed down to "roll over" so that I could see behind. Thats when i saw a hen probably like 20 feet away walking right towards me. I had to lay stiff as a board because i heard a tom a little ways off behind her in the field. She probably came within 10ft of me before she saw my decoy and wandered off behind me. When she moved far enough away I rolled back over to watch her head off towards my dad. I looked back to where I heard that Tom gobbling and saw probably 15 hens walking in a straight line followed by two Toms in full strut. I then turned to see if I could hand motion to my dad what I saw. As soon as I do that I see him get up and goes to pickup and move his decoy farther away from where he was sitting. The hen that walked towards him got spooked and ran my way, right past me. She ran into the field and went 50 yards to the woods and I watch the huge flock follow her. None of the toms came in range. After they left I got up and went to my dad to "thank" him for scaring off all the turkeys and about the racoon. He goes on to tell me he was eating beef jerky and the racoon smelled it and was by him but he scared it off.

To funny ~~~

Good luck, Robb