Every year many of hunt and talk about what we collected for game. That is good but not the only reason for being out there. I did several all day sits. I had a wood pecker entertain me several days . He would fly in and work over the same tree day after day. On one rainy day I watched a doe approach. She stopped and shook her body dog style and I watched a wall of water fly off. I did have a visit by a porcupine one day. It took him a full minute to waddle 100 yards. None of these were earth shattering but all made my day brighter.
You are correct that there is SO much more. Lots and lots of entertainment by mother nature. I was hunting in a controlled city hunt years ago and my brother tagged along as an observer. He couldn't hunt. Had him tucked into a deadfall below me. A red fox came by and jumped up on one of the logs in the deadfall. He walked within a few feet of my brother until he caught his scent. Fell off the log when he spooked. Very fun to watch.
I spot lighted a gray squirrel. Got in my tree an hour or so. Edited daylight. I have a hemlock growing in front of it. The limbs offer a ton of cover. Anyways, I feel something in my tree and had debri falling on me after a while. I dismiss it initially until it gets right above my head.
I started getting mildly concerned so I started fishing out my light in my pocket. That movement made whatever it was panic and dive into the hemlock. I got my light out and turned it on to find a grey squirrel about 10 feet away. He wasn’t happy about it either.
Never saw a squirrel that long before daylight before.
I saw a Pine Marten in Bradford County, PA which according to the PA Game Commission there have only been a few sightings in PA over the last 100 years. I was a very cool looking animal.
I watched a woodpecker dive bombing any squirrels that got close this year which was very cool Some spectacular moon viewing early in morning in stand as well as sunrises
Had a red tailed hawk coming right at me as I was about 18' up in my climber. I caught him out of the corner of my eye when he was about 15' from impact. I startled and he dove and flew directly under the platform of my Lone Wolf. Had a pair of black capped chickadees land on my knee, bow quiver and nocked arrow and flit around back and forth between these roosting spots for a few minutes. A couple big pileated woodpeckers, lots of squirrels, a few coons and ground hogs and a couple of farm cats on the prowl. Always something in the woods to observe and entertain me, gotta love it.
Lots of people have the big misconception that the ONLY reason we are hunting, is to kill something. That is definitely a major factor, but far from the only reason we spend time in the woods. Every year, it seems I get to experience some new sights or sounds while hunting, and anymore, with a camera on the cell phone, I can oftentimes document and share those experiences with friends and family.
A couple from the past few years, include getting to watch a flying squirrel glide from one tree and land on the trunk of the tree next to me, then work his way into my tree, and end up face to face with me, from less than 3 feet away. Another was having at least 200 bluebirds flit around me, from tree to tree, until they worked their way from my view. I’ve seen small groups of bluebirds (5-15 of them) migrating in years past, but nothing like this huge flock.
Nothing pops out at me from this year. But I agree I've gotten to see a lot of cool things.
Several years ago I watched a coyote play with a live mouse for about 30 minutes. He would throw it in the air and catch it. Or run over and grab it again. He laid on it, and treated it like his little buddy. Then he'd throw it. And finally he ate it :) Then he ran by and I killed him :)
Besides the usual assorted squirrels and birds, the most interesting sighting this season was a huge bobcat. I've only seen six ever, but this was by far the largest. No season here, hunting or trapping.
I have seen lots of cool things while sitting waiting on deer to walk by, hawks killing squirrels and chipmunks, big grey fox, pilliated woodpeckers, beavers, coons, possums. i enjoy seeing all of it.
I watched a bobcat play with an empty clorox jug for 15 minutes. He was just like a giant house cat, batting it around, than stalking it and pouncing on it. He was like a 100 yards away and I was not sure what he was playing with. When I climbed down I walked over to see an old beat up gallon jug of Clorox with teeth marks in it and all beat up. Pretty cool for sure. Shawn
List of things seen: Porcupine, timber wolf, squirrels galore, brown creepers, kinglets, hawks, owls, many other birds, chipmunks (seem to be on the rise in my area), opossum, bobcat, black bear, ruffed grouse, wild turkeys. Probably more. This is why sitting in a tree is my mental health time.
I know everyone has their personal likes but I love morning hunts, there is nothing like watching/hearing the woods wake up around you.
I have watched some of the most beautiful sunrises/sunsets imaginable. I have seen the joy in a young kids eyes as he/she got their first deer, along with this I have seen that same joy in an old mans eyes because those were his grandkids.
I once saw a squirrel trying to get the last pecan on the end of a pencil thin branch, he was laying stretched out on his belly along the branch reaching for it when the branch snapped dumping him about 10 feet. He scrambled back up the tree and went to cussing as only a squirrel can.
I watched a momma coon teaching her 4 babies how to survive.
I used to have 4-5 giant pileated woodpeckers that lived around my stand, they were almost daily company for many years.
I have watched a kingfisher diving into the water almost every day one season.
I watched fawns zooming through the woods back and forth playing like a couple of dogs in the yard.
I have seen a doe rear up on her hind legs and beat on another does side/back with her front feet. I sounded like someone was thumping a watermelon.
I watched a group of crows flying along with an owl taking turns divebombing him until he had enough and did a barrel roll in mid-air, sunk his talons into a crows chest, and took them both to the ground where he proceeded to eat the crow.
When I was younger I was sitting with my dad on the ground one morning when we heard something running through the brush coming our way, All of a sudden a fox burst out of the brush into the clearing we were watching headed right towards us at top speed. About 5 feet behind the fox was a bobcat. the fox ran past us close enough that I could have reached out and touched it, I don't think he ever saw us. The bobcat however stopped, stared at us for a few seconds, gave us a look that can only be describes as "well, you F'd that up for me", then turned around and walked off. Some years later my dad saw the same thing on a larger scale while elk hunting in Colorado. He had a coyote being chased by a mountain lion run by. Same basic outcome although my dad claims that a mountain lions big, amber eyes will bore a hole into your soul.
I once saw a hawk grab a mouse and fly off with it. All of a sudden an eagle came in and hit the hawk causing it to drop the mouse which the eagle then snatched out of the air.
There have been many others over the years but these are some of the most memorable. Great thread, thanks for starting it.
I saw the mention of a Pine Marten above, and had never seen one in person either until this Fall. I was Elk hunting in the Routt/CO and I think I set up at the base of "his tree"?
This year I had a couple of firsts. My favorite birds to watch are owls, just never get to see them enough. One morning a couple weeks ago I wasn't even hunting, but had taken my son to a stand in the woods that he wasn't sure he could find before daylight. Got him set up and then made my way back to a different stand and got set up just to watch for the morning. It was cold and drizzling and since I wasn't hunting I had brought an umbrella. Just before daylight broke I felt something brush up against the top of the umbrella and looked up and an owl had swooped me and landed on a branch just a few feet right in front of me. Guess he was just checking out something he knew shouldn't be there. Made me think of a time many years ago when an owl swooped my brother and knocked his hat off before daylight.
A few days earlier I watched a buck and coyote have a standoff. When I spotted them they were standing in a field along a waterway filled with cattails. They were about 20 yards apart just staring at each other. The buck dropped his head and lunged a few feet at the yote. The yote retreated a few yards and then charged straight at the buck! The buck whirled and hit the cattails at a dead run. The yote stopped at the edge and started pacing back and forth looking for the deer before moving on.
There's so much more to deer hunting than shooting deer!
While in western KS mule deer hunting I noticed a couple Jake rio’s flogging something on the ground in a winter wheat field. I got closer and realized it was another turkey. They kept flogging the carcass and pecking at its head. I assume they killed it because I couldn’t see any other injuries besides the head area.
Watching a doe one day when I hear a flock of geese coming. The doe stopped eating, looked up and didn't take her eyes off the geese until they were out of sight.
In WY walking out at last light had an owl swoop me until I took out my bugle and swung it at him as he went past just a couple feet above my head. Told the guys back at camp and one of the guys said he had the same one, same spot do that to him as well. Many years ago I used to wear a grouse feather in my Jones hat while in the deer stand in MN. Had an owl, with talons stretched out coming in at just a few feet when I raised my arm to cover my face, he jerked up and landed on a branch and twisted his head all around watching me for a minute or so then flew off.
Watched 2 bobcats go past at about 30 yards, hunting the edge of the swamp.
Couple years ago while in a deer stand early season it was upper 70's, had a good sized black bear come running down the hill and straight into the swamp. He would swim around then turn on his back and splash - he was playing around like a little kid would do.
Had a small hawk take a sparrow off a branch and proceed to pluck its feathers and eat it about 10 yards from me.
Had a gray squirrel run up a tree just a few feet from me and go into a hole about half way up the tree. All the sudden several flying squirrels came out another hole near the top of the tree and jumped and were landing all over the place. Had one land right by me and just looked at me with those bulging, black, beady eyes. The grey came out the top hole, ran down and then up another tree where a couple of the flyers landed. They launched and landed on another tree. The grey seemed to be having fun chasing them all over the place. Eventually they came back landing on the "hole" tree and back inside.
As much as I enjoy the threads of successful hunts and pics of game and places I'll likely never have a chance to hunt or see, threads like these are my hands down favorites.
Great memories shared by all, thanks and keep them coming.
I should of said this is the second time I have seen a bobcat or bobcats playing. A few years back I saw a big male and female bobcat playing out in a field they to were playing with an old plastic bottle as well. Shawn
A few years ago, I had a red fox follow me like a well-trained dog for about 1/4 mile as I hiked out of some remote and unpopulated elk hunting woods. If I stopped, he'd stop and sit down about 3 feet away from me. As soon as I started moving again, he'd be right on my heals. He seemed perfectly healthy, and never showed any aggressive behavior.
This year I had two fox that frequented my stand area, not close enough for me to get a shot but within view of the naked eye 3-4 times.
they looked different if I get to categorize them I would call one a red fox an the other similar with black markings, I think it was a cross fox.
The second event where I saw them, they were coming out of the swamp fighting. They stood on their back legs, locked front legs, then started biting at each other. Made one heck of a racket.
I'm in northern IL. This year I saw what I think was a mink swimming in a small creek near my stand. First for that. A few days later just after daylight I saw a owl come to rest on a branch maybe 20 yards from me. 15 minutes later he nabbed a squirrel and flew another 50 yards landed again and started feasting....squirell still screaming. Nature is badass.
New Jersey has lots of people. Some venture into the woods. A man and woman walked about 50 yards from my tree. The women left the man and came to about 10 yards from my tree and proceeded to —-ah, you know! She pulled up her pants and joined her friend. Bet l’ll never see that again.
Bald eagles, bobcats, unpressured ducks. Squirrel fights. My all time favorites are when a screech owl let's out a call about 20 yards away while walking in, that'll get the blood going!
Some great stories, pics, and video's here! Paul@thefort, what kind of camera do you use?
I've seen an owl and hawk catch and eat a squirrel. One year we had a beautiful red fox in the woods and I got to see him stalk and catch a squirrel. Absolutely amazing how still they can be. One other really neat thing a couple years ago, I was hunting a fence row that had been pushed out and there was a massive pile of logs and limbs about 20 yards to the left of my stand. A bobcat came stalking down the fence row and got 20 yards past me on the right going the other way when all of the sudden a rabbit breaks and runs deep into the middle of pile. That bobcat turn on a dime and busted into that piled up mess and I thought "there is no way he can get that rabbit". Boy was I wrong. I learned that day that rabbits don't stand a chance against bobcats. It was incredible how fast that cat was burroughing into those limbs.
Nothing this year due to Covid-19 shutdowns but thinking about seeing all the wildlife over the years makes me appreciate that aspect. The most memorable for me has been the sighting or calling in (by accident) of mountain lions. I have been fortunate to have seen a total of nine over the span of fifety plus years in five different states. It always seems exciting to me especially when they are fairly close. I've only seen one grizzly and that was enough.
Some of my favorites over the years, besides the bobcat this year. About twenty years ago, a gray fox climber a pretty straight oak tree about 12-15' up. I thought it was a cat until it came down and walked under my stand.
A coyote that went into some thicket and came out five minutes later with a cottontail in his mouth. Then he walked on top of a stone wall until out of view. Didn't know a coyote would travel on a wall.
A hawk that made an attempt to catch a squirrel on a branch. No way he could miss. The squirrel just let go and dropped thirty feet to the ground.
Mink, fisher, red and gray fox, owls, hawks, coyotes and bobcats. And I always play with the predators by kissing at them. Shooting coyotes as I can.
Seen three chocolate colored bobcat's hunting but playing cat and mouse last year. This year watched a red headed pileated wood pecker precisely engineer a 8 x 12 inch hole in a old pine just above ground level. He would actually work 1" slivers out and cut them off top and bottom.
Pine Martin in Colorado some years back, and he wanted me in the worse way.
I was sitting in the dark this year waiting for the sun to come up and a single beam of sunlight illuminated the green moss I was surrounded by. Looked like I had a ring of emeralds around me. My favorite of all time was getting in my stand 30 minutes before light right after an ice storm had come thru. The sun comes up and the entire woods looked like a gigantic prism of colors. I have never seen it but this one time.
Bake I've seen grey fox do that with mice too. Theyre almost cat like. Never a coyote though. I also had a mink climb my tree and pull a mouse out of a hole about ten feet below me. I think he heard or smelled it in there. Cause he turned on a dime and went right to it.
I was in an antelope ground blind in Wyoming before sun up. There was a small waterhole next to the blind. Just as it started to get light, I started hearing a clucking sound, like chickens. Couldn’t figure out what I was hearing. Lifted my binocs and spotted some sage hens coming through the sage brush, to get a drink. As I was watching them, I caught more movement in the sage. A red fox was stalking the sage hens. Then the fox made a dash at the hens, they flushed and the fox leaped into the air to catch one, but he missed. The fox’ s gaping mouth five feet in the air, inches behind a sage hen would have made a great magazine cover. Ten minutes later, I arrowed an antelope.
I had a bird land on the branch in my camo sleeve this year... I remember thinking people were fibbing when they said a bird landed on their arrow as they held their bow... till it happened to me. To me it’s a big part of why I do it... I can at times limp out of the woods empty handed but still feel fulfilled... That being said this girl may not agree...
I had an elk find an elk shed for me one summer while scouting.
I was glassing a few bulls 2 or 3 miles away and I watched one bull repeatedly stick his head down into the sage and come back up with something in his mouth flinging it all around. Finally I realized that it was an elk antler. I hiked over and sure enough, a small white 6pt elk shed. Never in my life would I have spotted that if it wasn't for the elk chewing on it.
Was sitting on the ground on a fence line tonight and must have done a good job of sitting still. Had a flock of turkeys feeding at less than 15 yards.
Had 2 juvenile bald eagles land right next to where I was sitting above a pipeline in PA this year. Then they proceeded to fly back up and circle the pipeline and both came crashing down getting mice running in the grass. One proceeded to eat his catch on a tree stump about 15 yards from me. Very cool to watch.
While hunting Mule deer from a natural ground blind, a pack of does chased a coyote right into the blind with me. I'm not sure which one of us was more surprised. We stared at each other for a few seconds, wondering who was going to make the first move, then he cautiously crawled out of the blind, and the does picked the chase back up. That got my heart rate up a bit.
When I hunted Central Texas, we saw a lot of large lizards. I can’t remember what species they are, but they look like miniature alligators. Broad snout, thick tail, and the general color looked gator-ish, although they were only 8/10” long. One of these lizards lived in or around one of my favorite bow stands, a 12’ tripod between two mesquite trees. I often saw him on limbs only a couple feet from me. He would cock his head and watch me, motionless, for minutes at a time. Once he crawled up my pants leg, on the outside thank goodness, and when he got to my knee he just sat for several minutes looking me over. He finally turned around, jumped to another limb and went on his way. After several of these “visits” I was disappointed if I didn’t get to see him.
Another satisfying distraction were the bobwhite and blue quail that came to the feeder. It was fun watching them and listening to them also, always one or two birds watching for predators, standing guard for the group. Sometimes they would all scurry into cover and where there were 12/15 quail eating corn giblets, in two seconds there would be nothing. I’d look up and sure enough there would be a hawk soaring overhead. They usually saw it before I did because I was watching them. It was really entertaining when two coveys met. There would be much posturing between the the roosters and a little wing whupping too. Lots of noise from all of them as they jockeyed for their places in the chow line.
I watched an owl get a squirrel one afternoon. Squirrel was cutting nuts on a limb co-altitude with me, so about 20 feet up, and about 15 yards away. He had his back to the trunk of the tree. Owl flew about 10 feet in front of my face and slammed into the trunk of the tree where the squirrel was at top speed. Didn't even attempt to slow down. Sounded like a bomb went off.
They both fell out of the tree unconscious and bounced off the ground. Well, the owl came too first and pounced on the squirrel. Sat there for a minute collecting itself, then flew off. And I swear it was almost flying sideways like it was drunk. Squirrel firmly in its grip. He kamakazied that squirrel and it paid off. But dang...
This year, while deer hunting, early one morning before first light. I heard this noise that sounded like a flare. Looking up I saw a bright white shooting star with green tipped ends to the flames. I never thought I would be so close to a shooting star to hear it before I saw it. And for thous who would ask as far as I know there were no frozen peanuts involved.
My wife and I were hunting for antelope in Wyoming this past August. We were setup at a water tank and I covered the back half with landscaping mess netting to force them to drink on the front half. One day a yearling doe came in and for about 10 minutes she was determined to try and drink from the back half. She kept poking her nose into the mess, only to be thwarted by the netting. Eventually she figured things out and moved over to the open half and quenched her thirst. We had a great laugh......I only wish I would have got it on video.
Highlights of this year - watching a bobcat work an area for about 15 min. He was just inching along. Really put it into perspective I'm probably moving too fast when I'm stalking!
The next was watching a group of 5 moose all bunched up together. I think it was 3 cows and 2 dinky bulls, but still cool to see.
My favorites of the past - watching an owl swoop down to within 20 yards, sit on a perch, and just hang out with me for an hour or so.
I've also had a hawk swoop down inches from me ear while sitting on stand. Pretty sure my late movement caused him to stray from his original plan of grabbing my ear!
I also had a morning where I had 7 does in a field (that's a really big deal up here!) with a couple yearlings that would feed from their mom (this was the first week of November). Watched them for a good while until a nice buck showed up and I ended the party.
Was turkey hunting in a pop up blind one morning. A hawk landed on a blowdown a few yards away. He sat there cocking his head looking at the blind. I thought he was trying to make me out through the mesh window. He fluttered down onto the ground right next to the blind. After some commotion he flew back to the blowdown with a garter snake in his talons. Watched him eat it piece by piece beginning with the head. The snake wriggled around until it was almost gone.
Was turkey hunting in a pop up blind one morning. A hawk landed on a blowdown a few yards away. He sat there cocking his head looking at the blind. I thought he was trying to make me out through the mesh window. He fluttered down onto the ground right next to the blind. After some commotion he flew back to the blowdown with a garter snake in his talons. Watched him eat it piece by piece beginning with the head. The snake wriggled around until it was almost gone.
Back when I rifle hunted I had a chickadee land on the end of my gun barrel, I've had one land on my arrow and this year I was sitting on a stand with my long bow in my lap, when a chickadee landed on my bottom limb tip, hopped along my bowstring till it got to my "beaver ball" silencer, where it took a peck in the fur, looked disappointed when no seeds or bugs were found and flew away!
Embry...great video. I would've thought he would've rolled over and started snoring afterwards.
This spring while turkey hunting, I was easing down a road on the edge of a clearcut one morning right at daybreak. I had two woodducks flying towards me so I crouched down. I stayed crouched and they were going to fly just a few feet over my head. Right before they got to me the hen saw me and veered to her right by a couple yards and flew into a cedar tree and it knocked her out of the air. If you have ever watched a woodduck fly, they don't usually make mistakes. She was walking around disoriented under the cedar tree. The drake came back circling. She eventually shook it off and rejoined the drake.
We see snapshots of nature and marvel at it and they (the critters) do it everyday. Being out there is like a narcotic to me.
While in a tree stand this Fall, I had a young red fox climb up onto a flat rock about 15 feet from my tree, curl up and take a nap. Eventually he woke up and left. Many years ago I saw a red fox at a distance across a small gorge on the other slope at nearly eye level to where I was in my tree stand. It had been a very rainy several days and the ground debris was soaked and the leaves silent. I was able to climb down, sneak across and up to him with him still curled up sleeping.........and at about under ten yards managed to shave the hair off of his back. He was a bit surprised to say the least and was out of there like a cartoon. I saw a hawk dive-bomb some squirrels and missed. He hit the ground and sat there for awhile with a wing cockeyed suggesting that it was broken. He looked around while he got his wits together and very much gave the impression of being embarrassed as in "I hope that no one saw that". Then he seemed to shake it off and flew away. One day a group of deer was hanging out and a black cat came strolling through the woods. They were curious about each other and came nearly to touching noses , then just drifted apart and went on their ways
I say a bobcat pounce on a squirrel 10yds in front of me then climb a tree 20yds from me and start eating it. The tree had a pretty good lean to it. I was actually watching the squirrel and the bobcat came out of nowhere.
Had a cool one just happen this early morning... Am watching deer feed on corn, a doe and her twins when a 3-year old 5x5 buck wonders up... As the buck approaches closer, one of the fawns, a button buck turns his attention to the antlered buck and walks over and lowers his head and in return the big guy does the same and they start sparing...8^) The big guy is just toying with his little buddy but the button is pushing and giving all he's got...8^) One of the coolest things in nature I've seen and definitely a Kodak moment, but didn't have a camera...
