I thought this would be an interesting topic to start. One of the reason I hunt is to enjoy God's great outdoors and observe the critters doing their thing.
It's truley amazing what I observe when I'm bowhunting when the animals don't know I'm there.
Here's something I whitnessed one Saturday evening that made the whole hunt.
I was sitting in a natural ground blind I made up and watching this little grey squirrel trying to manage this big acorn along this branch above my head. A cooper's hawk came in and nailed that squirrel 5 feet above my head and took him to another branch 20 ft away and got it situated and flew off with it....What an awesome experience. I've had a few Sharp Shinned Hawks land close to me, but have never seen anything like that.
Usually see something cool each and every time I'm out and about. One that sticks in my mind was while elk hunting years ago.
We were in a small timbered canyon and had 4 or 5 bulls close that were all bugling steady. A thunderstorm was going pretty good several miles to the southwest as we could hear loud thunderclaps, and after several loud bangs the bulls would all bugle.
Across a little draw were some big old growth yellow pines and all of a sudden a bolt of lightning hit a big pine and it literally exploded into pieces! One big sliver landed about 25 yards from us.
The thunder when it hit was the loudest thing I've ever heard! The bulls went quiet for a couple minutes, then slowly began bugling again.
Taking no chances, my brother retreated to the bottom of the canyon as fast as we could to wait out the storm.
It was quite a rush, especially when I was already stoked with adrenaline because of the nearby bulls.
i saw a similar thing with redtailed hawk / took squirrel off side of tree down on ground for coupe de gras, then made off with him / today saw probably best buck fight i've everseen / they were serious not just bump and shove like most times ! very exciting
Was sitting in my stand Sat. afternoon and saw two bald eagles flying around me making acrobats in the air.I was not sure they were eagles but I know they were huge and could see the white head but had not hunted my club yet this year.When I got back to camp I asked if I was seeing things and others had seen them the last month. To some eagles are not rare, in Louisians it has only been a few years some have come and those were near Tolodo Bend and Homua so this was a great sight.Kip
In 1984 I went on My first Elk hunt with a bow. We were hunting outside of Hayden Co. and it rained on us at least once a day and usually twice.
I was taking refuge under a pine one afternoon from a sudden cloudburst and hail shower. Like always it only lasted 10 to 15 min. You know just enough to drench You.
It ended as quick as it started and a very bright sun emerged from the clouds producing a small rainbow on the other side of the draw from where I sat. The base of the rainbow was only 100-120 yds. wide and it wasn't much taller. I've seen many rainbows in My life but I had never seen the end of one, let alone both ends at the same time! It followed the shadow of the clouds and rapidly climbed to the top of the hill and out of sight. Something I will always remember.
I also saw a redtail get a gray squrril off a log.Twice I been close to fox squrrils that fell asleep and hit the ground.High from top of popular trees both lived.Although not bow hunting I once saw a a red fox attack a ground hog and lose.
Being face to face with a doe at 200 yards to start with, then slowly getting within 50 yards of her, with us both walking towards each other! She may not have known what I was, but she definitely knew I was there. We were in a large pasture. That was a new one for me. Usually, even the curious does won't do that.
p.s. Same night, I saw an all black squirrel, except that the last 2" of his tail was pure white.
while i was turkey hunting this past spring i had two decoys in the middle of a clover feild .one strutting tom and a one hen. i had two hens come in and start feeding. all the sudden they looked up in the sky and and started putting and ran off the feild. a immature blad eagle swooped down and picked up my globbler decoy and took it about 20 foot in the air and dropped it. i guess he reaized it was fake. that was pretty cool!
A few years before this hunt we had our club clear cut of pines(not hardwood bottoms), sprayed with herbicide and replanted in pines.
I was sitting in a grove of white oaks just off of the clear cut. The acorns were heavy that year and there were probably 50 redheaded woodpeckers collecting nuts from the oak trees and putting them in holes in some standing dead trees along the perimeter. After watching this for an hour or so I noticed a few squirrels heading to the top of the fruiting oaks.
Well, the woodpeckers were not going to allow those pesky tree rats have their nuts so, for the rest of that morning hunt, I watched the woodpeckers reek havoc on the squirrels. They were so relentless the squirrels gave up!
On another occasion I was sitting over a cane bottom. I caught movement about 100yards away then noticed it was a mom coon with 4 or 5 kits. I watched them walk in single file to a very big long leaf yellow pine then one by one climb straight up that tree, mom in the lead. The first limbs on this pine were at about 50' and probably a safe place for a day time nest for the coons. Just before the last kit got to the limb it missed a step and fell to the ground....bounced a few times, got up and climbed back to the limb where his family waited. It hurt me to watch but apparently he took it in stride.
Well, the coolest thing I ever saw was something I wrote about on here in the articles and stories section but I went ahead and copied and pasted it below. It's a little longer than a standard post, but I thought it was pretty cool.
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The Second Button Down
by Dave Bulla
Ever had a mouse fall on your chest inches from your face when you were asleep in the woods? No? I did and it tends to give you a reason to stay awake if you know what I mean. In my case three Novembers ago, it gave me about a half hour of special memories to cherish.
It was one of those perfectly crisp November days when a wool jacket and pants feels just right and the afternoon sun gets just warm enough to induce a sleepy feeling while you are snuggled down on a hillside waiting for something to happen. I'd been set up on the southeast side of a wooded bluff topped by a shelf of broken rock and overlooking a timbered creek bottom. The rock shelf made a decent back rest and being on a hill I got the feeling I was in a recliner. Three draws came together below me and my hope was to ambush a nice Missouri whitetail as it came from it's bed at the upper end of one of the draws. I fidgeted around a bid to get as comfortable as possible and ended up more or less laying on the ground with only my head and shoulders propped against the rocks and my longbow across my legs. After several uneventful hours I had reached that quietly alert, almost hypnotic state when you are totally relaxed in body and your eyelids get droopy but your ears and other senses are highly tuned and waiting to hear distant footsteps long before any animal is visible. I watched through half lidded eyes as plate sized sycamore leaves fell lazily to the ground fifty and sixty yards away and marveled that I could hear them tic past small twigs on the way down to the ground where they rustled to a stop atop others that had already fallen. This was my favorite part of bow hunting. Being so relaxed yet so attuned to the sights, sounds and smells of the autumn woods without a care in the world. Just the persistent and pleasant hope that you will see an animal or something special, something unanticipated or new that you've never seen before.
Between the warm sun and my comfortable position, I was soon so close to sleep that I could scarcely claim I was awake but I was alert enough to hear a very high pitched squeaking sound to my right about six feet away. When I rolled my eyes that way I was surprised to see a little brown deer mouse come out of the leaves with four or five very tiny, still hairless babies clinging to her. Some were clamped down on a teat and some were hanging on to her back and Mamma was having a tough time getting anywhere. What was she doing? Why was she out and about with those tiny babies? I couldn't think of an answer so I just watched to see what I could learn. For some reason she decided to climb up a little three inch diameter sapling to about four feet high. Suddenly, one of the babies lost it's hold and fell, landing in the leaves. It began a pitiful squeaking. This was getting interesting. I was totally engrossed and wondered how Mamma with all her other babies would handle the situation. Well, Mamma seemed to know her business and climbed down the tree and gathered the fallen baby in her front paws and gave him a bath right there fussing over him and acting for all the world like any human mother who just had a close call with one of her children. She then cradled him between her forearms and chin while making her way towards the rocks I was leaning against and disappeared from my field of view somewhere to my right never knowing she was within feet of me.
I lay there thinking how rare it must be to see something like that and surprisingly, about how pretty that mouse was with her soft brown colored body over a creamy white belly, little jet black beady, bulging eyes and delicate whiskers. I'd never really looked at a mouse as a thing of beauty, they are just a nuisance in most cases but in her natural environment she was a wonder to see. Not like when you see one in the basement and instantly worry about damaged property and urine soaked items under a nest of white fluff. No, this was an entirely different experience. Not unlike the difference between seeing a filthy lion in a dirty cage at the zoo and seeing a clean, healthy one hunting in the wild. I had to savor it knowing it was something unique.
Figuring the show was over I was soon back in my half dozing state dreaming of big bodied, heavy racked bucks, my ongoing quest for a white tail that dresses over 200 pounds and all the similar fantasies that go with deer hunting when it happened. Kerr-plop! A tiny baby mouse landed on my chest about two buttons down from my chin. I experienced an instant "WHOA! what the heck?" moment before I realized what had happened. The rocks above me were typical of Missouri in that they were riddled with cracks that ran deep into the hillside making perfect hiding places for all kinds of small critters. Mamma mouse must have had her nest in one of them or perhaps she had had reason to leave her nest and was out looking for a new location. She'd ended up directly above where I lay and the little baby had fallen out only to land on my chest. Remembering Mamma's careful attentions earlier, I decided to stay still and see what would happen. Seconds later I heard a rustling above my head followed by delicate scratching noises as Mamma climbed down from the rocks, across my right shoulder and down into the leaves by my elbow. This time she didn't have any clinging babies to worry about so I figured she must have stashed them in some attractive crevice above me. She began casting back and forth like a beagle looking for a rabbit track and made her way down past my hand with a little pause to sniff my glove. Seemingly unconcerned, she continued towards my feet with additional pauses to sniff my boots. I began to have concerns that she would go running up the inviting looking tunnel formed by my pants leg that was gapped open on my right leg but instead she decided to avoid the strange smelling tunnel and come up between my legs. WHEW! I thought, that reminds me of the song about of the Mississippi Squirrel Revival (remember that one?) where the squirrel gets into church and runs up somebody's leg and the whole congregation goes nuts a prayin' and confessin' all sorts of things. I was beginning to relate a little bit too directly to that song and I was still a little concerned because Mamma was still headed towards a rather tender area but at least she was on the outside of my pants so I figured I was safe for the moment. Suddenly, it appeared a new crisis might occur. Mamma started to sniff and lick at my bowstring causing me to fear she would start to chew on it. Luckily, she decided she didn't like beeswax and Dacron and continued on in her search. She crossed over my thigh to the left then back again to the right before she stopped to sniff the air somewhere around my belt. I swear I could see concern on her face as she sat there sniffing and wiggling her whiskers. Suddenly she must have gotten a whiff of junior cause she made a beeline to him and scooped him up in her paws. She looked like she was hugging him and began to give him a bath just like she did the first one that had fallen only this time she was so close to my chin it was a strain to see her. She spent a good full minute rolling her baby over and over like a little ball while licking and grooming him right there on my chest. She only stopped occasionally to look me in the eye as if to say "Don't mind me, I'll be out of here in a minute. I'm just doing my duty as a mother." When she was satisfied all was well, she tucked junior under her chin and scooted back up across my collar and past my right ear on to somewhere higher up in the rocks.
This time, the show was indeed over as Mamma must have gotten all her brood safely to their new home or wherever it was she was taking them so I didn't see her any more. But to this day I can see her in my minds eye. Washing, licking, rolling, cuddling that little pink and gray baby next to my second button down..... You know, I don't believe I ever did see a deer that evening but I honestly can't remember for sure. It seems ironic that a hunt that started out in search of an animal the size of a deer ended with such strong memories about a tiny little antlerless creature who's weight could be measured in grains instead of pounds. In fact I feel it's safe to say that the whole experience constitutes one of my most vivid and cherished hunting memories.
About the coolest thing I have ever seen hunting was snow, but not just any snow. I was sitting in a tree, mid February, overlooking a food plot that was about 3 acres. It started snowing so hard that all you could hear is snowflakes hitting the ground. They were huge snowflakes about the size of a half dollar. Soon, the ground was white and still all that could be heard is snowflakes landing.
Withing a half hour several does came out to get a bite to eat. I just sit there and watched them feed in the snow, with a backdrop of snow covered fields and woods. Had to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
While ground hunting I had a red fox come to within 20 feet of me, walk in a circle just like a dog and lay down for a nap. He tucked his nose under his bushy tail and slept for a half hour...
I watched a bobcat "hunt" three young coons one morning. I giggled to myself when the coons busted the bobcat. He just made too much noise.
One day last season a buck came in that was not legal due to not having 4 points on one side. He laid down and bedded under me for three hours. Maybe 4 steps from my tree. He would nap about 20 minutes then wake up and groom himself, stretch out either front leg and lay his head back down. At one point he stood up stretched then walked in a circle and laid back down. One of the neatest things I've ever seen in the woods. After three hours I had to pee so bad that I finally started talking to this buck in a whisper. He stared at me for five minutes I guess not believing what he was hearing. I took me moving my arms for the buck to bust out! Too much fun.
John III
Almost forgot about the time a fawn stuck her head IN MY BLIND then licked and sniffed the feathers on the arrows in my quiver.
last year I fell asleep( as I sometimes do) in a cedar tree and was awoken by a coopers hawk @ 20"trying to land on me. And the other morning just before first light an Owl made a swoop and a turn to land on my tree stand and was stopped short by the end of my bow.It was pretty amazing seeing how much grace they have in flying through a thick cover of scrub oaks.
I watched two mature bucks conduct a prolonged battle on a cold frosty day this year. The whole thing was illuminated by the rising sun with clouds of steam coming from their mouths and noses. 25+ years of hunting and never saw a true battle like this one. I ended up shooting the loser (8 point) who traveled up the draw to me.
I was at the very last bit of grassy cover once when trying to stalk donkeys. As I couldn't get closer, I decided to just watch for awhile. They were just slowly drifting, grazing along. One at the back of the mob decided to tip-toe - I mean, you could see this donkey go into stealth mode! - up to another one that had its head down peacefully grazing. The cheeky one silently snuck-up to the feeding one, and opened its mouth wide, and clamped down on the rump of the feeding one with one savage bite! I saw the eyes bulge out of the feeding one's head in fright and pain, and I swear it jumped a foot off the ground, as it bolted away. The cheeky one seemed to be laughing and grinning.
I was sitting in a treestand waiting for sunrise when I felt a slight tap on my left shoulder.It was still pretty dark and I couldn't see anything and a few minutes it happened again.Now,as I'm thinking "what the heck",I looked up in the bare branches in the treee in front of me and see the tiny silouette of a screech owl.When I climbed down later that morning I looked the tree over and it was healthy with no holes in it for a nesting tree,just figure he was curious about this big blob in a tree on his turf.
Another time,just before dawn,I had a barred owl land on a branch 6ft.in front of me,bobbed his head around looking at me and fly off.
On one early morning hunt for deer I heard some growling like sounds. As I walked down the side of a huge cornfield, I came to a patch of stunted plants, drowned out/or whatever. I got to about thirty yards or so of two coyotes fighting over some deer parts- don't remember if it was just a leg or part of the hide. They looked like they were playing tug o' war.
While sitting on the ground early one morning, I watched 2 coyote pups walk about 5 yards in front of me on the other side of some tall grass. When they got downwind of me, they stopped, smelled the air, and then saw me! It didn't take them long to vacate the area.
I love to bow hunting because of how many cool things I have seen,too many to tell. I seen everything for deer stepping over my legs to hawks scaring deer,and even been bitten by a cow elk. But the coolest thing that comes to my mind was a time I was hunting up a slot canyon. I was hiking in the dark in a dry wash that turns into a narrow canyon about 8 Ft wide in spots. I herd somthing walking down the wash so I stop and became quite. The sound keep coming closer so I turned on my head lamp to discover a rabbit. It was 3 to 4 yards away and still coming. It stop for a brief second then peeled around me and down the canyon. To do this it had to run up the wall of the canyon about head level to get around me. It blew me away. I turned off my light again to reflect for a moment. And once again I herd something coming down the canyon. I turned on my light and this time it was a fox. This stupid fox was not turning around but trying to get by me. He keeped zig zagging back and forth in front of me. Until he found a narrow shout then ran up the canyon wall( by my head again) and went after the rabbit. At this piont I had to laugh a bit. The crazy part is after walking up another 20 yards I herd a sound again. This time it was a rattler. It was already to close to move and I had my appendix removed the week before. So I held still as it slitherd by. I never even seen a deer that day but what a day!
Hunted the mountains in western MD and while sitting in my tree I heard a big ruckus coming over the hill. About 25 turkeys were grubbing around through the leaves. Was the first time I'd seen turkeys out in the woods. About an hour after they left it got dead quiet. No birds, bugs, and it seemed the slight breeze even quit. Few seconds later a bobcat energed from a blowdown, jumped on a log and just walked away. Soon as he was gone the birds and the bugs started again. I guess nobody wanted to bother that guy.
Fred...
Elk hunting about 3 years ago upon waking up from a mid day nap I heard a crash just on the the other side of a small finger ridge. I quickly went to look over the top just in time to see a mountain lion on the back of a small cow as it was taking its last breath.
I slowly pulled my camera out to find that the batteries were dead!
I watched for about a minute more and left as I didn't want to spook the lion from its meal.
I have had a few real close bear encounters that made the hair on my neck stand up.
The coolest thing I have ever seen while hunting?
That would have to be...my wife in tears because she was so excited she had just killed her first deer with her bow!!It took her 3 seasons before she connected.You just cant fake that kind of excitement.
Bill
I've had lots of raptor encounters. Had a Great Gray Owl buzz me. Watched a little Eastern Screech Owl (or a Northern Saw-whet Owl - not sure which) hunting from a branch just a couple of feet from my head. Had a Barred Owl hunting from a tree about 40 yards from me at my 5 o'clock - every time I slowly turned my head to see if he was still there, he turned his to look at me - that went on for hours. Earlier this year, I turned just in time to see a Red-tailed Hawk just a few yards away from attacking my hands (apparently I had been twiddling my thumbs) - he flared when I turned my head to the sound he made slicing through the wind en route to me.
I dunno - too many cool things happen to pick just one.
:)
I once looked up and saw a owl comming straight at me and when he got about 2 ft from me i realized he was headed for my face. I stuck my hands up just in time and his wings nearly beat me to death. I had a face mask on so i guess he thought my eyes might have been dinner. Scared the crap out of me.
My wife and I were working our way down an aspen bench toward a Forest Service trail near Telluride, CO in the late '90's when we heard hoofbeats. Thinking it was elk, we got ready. Along the trail came two young women on horseback, taking the trail back to Telluride. One of them was doing a Lady Godiva imitation, with her tube top down to her waist. We watched them ride by, and I looked at my wife and asked if I had just seen what I thought I did, and she confirmed it, with a big grin. They never saw us in our camouflage.
The guys in camp were fit to be tied when we told them about it!
Hmmmmmm......lets see one time in band camp, just kidden. I seen an owl fly by me and land close, those bird are so neat. I seen a wooodpecker jam a corn kernal in some tree bark for a later meal (didn't no they did that).
heading out of the stand, a huge fox squirrel ran out in front of the truck , we barely missed him, and he sat next to the road, 6 feet from the cab, for a couple seconds then ran off. they are amazing creatures, and huge! this one had to about three feet tip to tail!
a bull moose tearing apart the bush I was contemplating hiding behind at 10 yards, then my arrow in his chest at six steps
My buddy Neal Wolf and I were in a pit blind overlooking a small waterhole in Wyoming. I had already taken an Antelope and some nice mulies were coming in but right at dusk.
About 15 minutes of good light left when a doe and 2 yearlings came strolling in. At 15 yds, a yearling stared at the blind...Neal tried to muffle a "sneeze" and I can't even describe the sound. The deer didn't spook but...here comes the yearling to investigate.
I had a 10" hole to shoot through and here stands this deer looking straight in at us from 5 yds away. Those big eyes and ears...he looked so funny, I slowly lowered my head and started laughing. The doe and other yearling were about 25 yds on the other side of the water, not paying any attention to us.
Finally...this deer decides to "visit us" and pokes his head right through the hole knocking my bow over. That did it...Neal and I broke out laughing and this deer blew, jumped as high as he could and all 3 headed for safer cover. That was back in '95 and we still talk about that incident today. That was funny....
The coolest thing that happend to me was when a red tailed hawk landed on a branch above my head only 18" away. I could just see him sitting there if I moved my eyes as far to the right as they would go. After about a minute I wanted a better look so I turned my head, at the movement
the hawk about fell off the branch trying to get out of there.
The strangest thing I saw was while I was hunting on public land. It was the most disturbing site I have seen and will never forget.... A big hairy man walking through the woods wearing nothing but bright red panties and black fishnet stockings :eek:
After day break one morning I realized I was sitting about five feet from what was a gut pile two days before. A little while later, I looked over my right shoulder to see a coyote at ten feet and still closing. Had a small bird light on my head last Wednesday. Have had an owl take my hat off. Have seen a hawk catch a grey squirrel that was trying to cross a gas line. Have seen several squirrels fall from trees. While hunting in a tree stand one morning, watched a sow stop and lay down beside a small pile of palmetto about thirty five yard out. Then several small striped pigs came out from under the palmetto and suckled.
I was in my tree stand a couple of years ago and i see a deer coming towards me. I grabbed my bow to get ready but as he got closer i could see it was a year and a half old 5 point.So i decided to let him pass.
I then decided i was going to practice draw on this buck. I had my bow up ready to draw when a Chickadee landed on my arrow and was peeping something like your not going to shoot that buck are you and then flew away. I thought that was pretty cool!
Two years ago I was in a brush blind when a sow bob cat was escorting her kittens past me at about 5 yards and she stopped looked me in the eye and snarled at me. 30 lbs of pissed off cat at five yards was hair raising. Once the kittens were a good ways passed she ran to join them. Another time I watched two hawks fighting over a squirell. The little bugger got away in the middle of the maylay.
Coolest but scariest was when I had a Owl knock my longbow from my hands. I guess he liked the beaver balls. I screamed like a little girl at a Hanna Montana Concert. Since that adventure you'll never see beaver balls on any of my strings. :scared:
This is more of a "heard" than "seen" incident...
A couple of weeks ago, myself and a couple of TradGangers were hunting deer in Kansas, next to a lake...each morning, we were treated to hearing a LOON calling...
The first morning, we were all kind of apprehensive about mentioning it, as none of us had heard of loons in Kansas before.... :readit: :saywhat:
Probably posted this here before, but...
A nice buck caught my scent once in a blind I had pulled together in a briar patch. He had no idea where I was and the escape routes were limited. He went off at a tangent from my location and circled around on a trail that would lead him right past me where the trail turned.
Only trouble is he didn't turn--he came dead toward me in great bounds. I could see he was going to run right into me where I stood in my full camo. He was looking right through me.
Not being Howard Hill, I wasn't going to try for a brain shot, so I through my hands out as wide as I could in a "Hold it right there!" posture.
The buck was in midair when I did that and he hit the ground not 6 feet from me, already shifted into reverse. He was outa there in an instant.
I was disappointed to not get a chance at him, but I was laughing so hard I couldn't have shot anyway!
Have had owls and woodpeckers examine me and chickadees land on my shoulder and hat. Chipmunk ran right up my side and perched on my shoulder once and I didn't even have camo on--red and black plaid wool coat!
Reparrow man
One day me and my pa were in the blind, and along came 12 qauil in a sinlge file line right passed us , then 1 hour back agian.
Well I have had a lot of close contact in trees with owls, and hawks including when they were grabbing squirrel.
I had a fox squirrel set on my chest once when I fell asleep on a hill side in the sun. He was looking right in my face when I woke and I am still not sure who jumped the highest.
I was hiking back from a night hunt this year and had something dark run up on me from down wind about a half your after full dark. I didn't have a light and I was getting kind of jumpy when it kept coming at me and ran right up to me. It was one of the largest tom turkeys I have seen in a long time. He got to about 4' from me and then started eyeing me and walking around me. I guess their eye sight is not where near as good in the dark. I was tempted to pull an arrow from my quiver and spear him.
A long time ago I was still hunting some grass and had a doe jump up and knock me right off my feet.
Two years ago a fox tried to steel my turkey decoy.
I was setting at the base of a tree on the ground with my legs stretched out once and had a doe step on my foot.
The one that sticks in my mind the most was about three years ago. I was on a tree stand at the corner of a corn field. I had some briers and other brush with grass mixed around me, that ran about 15 yd. to the corner of the field and then down on side of the field. two foxes came in to one end of the cover right under me. They huddled for a few minutes almost looking like they were communicating somehow. One took off through the corn angling to the other end of the cover down the other edge of the field about 30-40 yards away. The other just stood there for a couple minutes. Then it started working through the cover. At the corner of the field about 10 yards from me I saw a rabbit jump and head down the cover along the edge of the field. I heard it squeal when it ran head on into the other fox. I had never seen anything like two foxes team hunting.
Don't know if it was cool or just my luck, but way back in my youth when I would hunt all day perched high up in a tree, waiting it out for a nice Whitail to slip by. I heard dogs barking, like a whole pack of dogs barking all day, seemed to be coming from everywhere. Finally I hear a deer running through the woods, Man this deer sounded huge. And the dogs were getting closer. Barking like crazy. Dang it the dogs where chasing the deer I thought. Well maybe it wouldn't hurt if they chased him past me. Well a few minutes later, a large pack of beagle looking dogs runs past my stand. As for the deer, let's just say I didn't think the deer with the red jacket and black hat on horseback would taste any good. I swear I can still hear that deer running through the woods some days.
so many hunts - so many memories...
I remember still hunting for bears- on a logging road covered with thick brush in places. I would wait at the thick spots for a real strong breeze; and then push through the noisy stuff; stopping if the wind stopped.
It was - I believe - the only way to go on that trail without being heard.
I noticed the wind was knocking berries off bushes and that the birds were in a feeding frenzy. Problem was; some of the berries were fermenting; and contained alcohol. So some birds just looked at me like I was an illusion.
I got to a spot that was open for 5 yards or so; and out from under a bush walked a bird.
It stumbled left and then right; and was obviously very drunk.
THUMP !!
... a bear stepped on it.
I had no idea the bear was there until it jumped on the bird. It carefully put its foot on the birds feet; and put its mouth over the bird and pulled up.
In one quick motion it stripped the meat right off that bird.
Then it looked at me.
That bear was gone so fast; and although it jumped into thick brush; it didn't make one sound.
The birds feet; and its breastbone and some feathers were all that remained.
I don't know if that bear had a badge; but I know the bird failed the sobriety test !
After dark driving my 4 wheeler beside a bean field deer started crossing in front of me. One of the deer was a med. size buck jumped and landed on the front of my 4 wheeler and i hit him hard. Scared the crap out of me.
I don't do much tree stand hunting here in AZ. But while I was living in Houston I used to hunt pigs in the Whooping crane wildlife refuge in OCT. I don't know if any of you have done that but it is an interesting place. It has more mosquitoes than Canada or Alaska. You don't need camo because you can't tell what color of clothing your wearing because they cover you so thickly. I had chosen a tree overlooking a big open crossing point in the tallll grass. As previously stated I fell asleep, when I woke up there were two other hunters sharing my tree. I think they were just getting up to be free of the bugs. I can't beleive they didn't see me. But I can say they acted surprized when the tree spoke to them.
MAP
LV2HUNT,
That is my dream hunt. All of these sound pretty cool.
last year somebody stole a car and when i was sitting in my treestand there were two choppers flying around and trucks and everything you could imagine only like a 1/4 mile from me i got interviewed and questioned it was weird but cool at the same time they ended up cathcing the guys they stole my dads hunting pack out from under his tree while he was in it in the dark
7 years ago I was ground hunting and called 2 foxes within 10 feet by sucking on the back of my hand. They were very surprised when I said boo. I watched them come in for 80 yards.
Dan
This season I watched a small red fox stalk and kill a squirrel. She then ate half, buried the other half next to a tree. After her meal she found a sunny spot on a log and took a nap for 30 minutes. All this while only about 30 yards from my tree. It was better than TV!
My then 9 year old son's smiling face!!! I felt like the luckiest man alive to have him there with me for the 1st time.
I had lousy archery hunting during the rut this year; due to poorly placed shots on two different whitetails (within a week).
I also had some health issues (nothing serious) that I've been dealing with.
But since I read this thread, I'm reflecting just how blessed I have been.
So, I've got quite a few I'd like to share. I'll try to classify by state.
PA
My son's first deer.
My wife's first deer.
Watched 2 bucks battle and lock horns for 10 minutes this year.
I watched a doe eating honey out of beehive on her hind legs. She kept getting stung but didn't care.
Had an 2' owl land 4 feet from my face while on stand this year.
Ground hunting in a swamp - had a small 8 pt buck basically walk into my nocked arrow. I booed him.
The first time I went archery hunting when I was a kid I had a P&Y deer at 20 yards. I was standing on a branch of an old oak tree and missed that deer three times with an old untuned recurve. Uh, hooked for life.
Missouri
Seeing what a whitetail's size potential really is as opposed to years of PA mountain whitetail.
Body of cow, rack like a mule deer.
Watched a B&C deer breed a doe at 50 yards during Missouri rut.
Iowa
2 different B&C deer at 3 yards with no shot in 1 day.
Next day different B&C deer at 5 yards with no shot. I was at full draw for over a minute. I heard one the valves in my heart "click" a few times. I had to calm myself down before I had a heart attack.
5 bucks running a doe like a pack of wolves.
Ohio
Did a solo DIY hunt a few years ago. Researched an area, talked to game commission, etc. Had a successful hunt that ended in a nice whitetail buck.
Colorado
Did a solo DIY wilderness elk hunt on the continental divide. No shot or harvest, but ate dinner with spike elk when he came into my camp the night before the season opened. Took my recurve for a nice vacation...
One hunt I was on in the lowcountry of SC, I was hunting a little food plot next to a creek. I got on the stand around 3 pm and spooked a couple of does off when I walked in. After things settled down I noticed a great blue heron stalking along up the creek. Every now and then he'd grab a little fish, through his head back and gulp it down.
A couple of white egrets landed near the heron and he chased them off, squalking loudly. Around 6 pm, deer started showing up. And they kept coming in. I had never seen so many in one little spot. There were over a dozen all feeding in this one little patch of grass.
One little buck strolled over to the creek for a drink. He didn't get it, though. That heron went hissyfit crazy on him. I had never heard such a racket. The little buck spun around like a rabbit one a waxed floor, with that old bird squawking and pecking and beating his wings.
The other deer freaked out as well. They started running every which a way, jumping over each other, etc. Two yearlings knocked each other off their feet. The triplet fawns ran back and forth across the clearing multiple times and finally all curled up in tight balls beneath a bunch of Palmetto plants.
Another time I was still-hunting up in the mountains. I almost stepped on a baby groundhog. He had flattened himself out like a pancake. I picked him up and he proceeded to let out this blood curdling scream. I set him back down and he went about 3 feet and flattened out again.
A chickadee sitting on my
arrowshaft amidst the snowflakes
near evening. I ain't a religious
man but that sure gave me pause.
Wow, that's a tuff one. A bobcat with no particular place to go, a pair of grey fox following my trail, (I had FOXX Pee on my shoes), and I once was sitting in an old cut over thicket when a huge Holstein Bull came strolling through.....it wasn't in a pasture:) A doe with three fawns! But the coolest thing I ever witnessed was a pair of humming birds chasing one another during mating season. They literally looked like two tiny fighter jets darting around on each other's tails.
I read this thread and it is so great. I have seen so many things over 50 years of bowhunting that I can't even begin to come up with the greatest one but some really neat things and most of them with birds.
I was on a tree stand one morning and this little owl came up and set on a branch about 2 feet from me. He stayed there and just stared at me for about a half hour. He would turn his head clear around backwards. Really neat.
I saw a little blacktail doe walk down a spur road and a hen turkey came from the other direction. They walked right up to each other and touched each other. Then they started feeding and walking around. Definately friends.
I arrowed a big cow elk on the last day of elk season one year and took one lung. I laid down on the ground so I could watch her through the vine maple and she grabbed hold of a tree limb to hold herself up. She didn't want to lay down. I finally sneaked in and got another arrow in her and killed her. However I can never forget her will to live.
I was calling a bear one day that my grandson had just seen and a black wolf came in to the call. But we don't have wolves. or didn't at that time. Again an unforgettable experience.
I saw a lion walk up to an elk herd and set down like a dog on his rear end and watch the elk. A young cow walked within 15 feet of him and never knew he was there. The cat never moved. Finally he stood up and walked off. Just keeping track of dinner.
This one stands out though. My son and I were hunting blacktails up on mount Ashland and I hear a scream. I look up and there are three bucks headed right at me. I am down below them and they are coming down the hill. Open meadow. I hear another scream and I see a huge golden eagle coming down the mountain like a jet fighter plane. Wings set and gliding really fast about 10 feet off the ground. There is a nice three point buck in the back of the group and this eagle hits him full blast in the center of his back and just knocks the buck for a flip rolling down the hill. The eagle hurt that deer really bad and he just barely made it up and out of there,. The eagle set his wings and went out over the valley and didn't come back. He certainly put the hurt on that buck though. I have since wondered if he would come back later when the buck was stove up and eat him. Or maybe he meant to get into the spinal cord and didn't because the buck went down. Anyway that was probably the experience of a lifetime unless bigfoot is real.
I was not bow hunting but maybe 25 years or so ago. I was spring turkey hunting. I had a bird working pretty good and I set up with my back to a rock with some small trees around me. I was doing some really sexy turkey stuff on my home made turkey call and right in the middle of a good Purrrrrrrr a Bob Cat jumped from a tree limb behind me and landed about six inches from my left toe. This was just a Bob Cat but I almost had a heart attack. When I jumped being startled that cat jumped at least 3 or 4 feet straight up!! He hit the ground and ran off. I went home and changed my...............
This year bow hunting in New Mexico I had my first bear with cubs encounter, that was interesting. The cubs went up a tree and the sow stood her ground not happy at all. I just waited her out and the cubs came down and they left.
Three years ago I was in a tree stand and heard a deer snort off in the distance. It was upwind of me, so I didn't figure it was due to being winded. About 5 minutes later another snort, then 5 more minutes and another snort and it kept continuing. The deer was getting closer with each snort. I then noticed movement and glassed that area of the old logging road. A bobcat was slinking in my direction. Then running over the hill came an old bottle-nosed doe that ran up to the bobcat, snorted and stamped her foot. The bobcat slunk away from the doe, and she then repeated her run. This continued all the way across the valley and over the next hill. Watched the whole thing for probably 10 minutes. Fascinating behavior. The bobcat looked like an old housecat trying to get out of getting a bath..
While elk hunting,I watched a group of satellite bulls(5 to 6 of them) pen down and kick a herd bulls butt.
One that I have never forgotten: "Sensed" a motion behind me and turned slowly to see a big redtail hawk lang on some blow downs. All day, chipmunks were running that log and making a racket in the dry leaves. This big redtail walked up and down the top log looking under the rest...finally, this is the best part, it jumped down on the ground and took one big wing and stretched it over the logs and beat the ground on the opposite side as it peered under the log, presumably trying to "flush" out a chipmunk to it's hungry beak.
I watched fascinated for at least 5 minutes or more and then it froze and slowly turned it's head, looking right at me. I'd not moved, but it "sensed" my presence and flew off when it made eye contact.
Totally amazing. Who'd ever expect such interpretive behavior from a hawk?
just a few weeks ago i was hunting in a place where i killed a nice 6 pointer that morning. Well four o'clock rolled around and I had yet to see a deer when i start to feel the ground rumbling. As Im wondering what this is I start to see something BIG come crashing through the corn, then another, then another, until there was a stampeed of thirty cows heading right twards me through the corn field. I almost wet my pants form fear when they ended up passing me at 5 yards and almost wet them again when I saw the thing chasing them was a small calf ramming the last few grown cattles hind ends.
It ends up they escaped the farmers pasture across the road and about 700 yards to my right.
The coolest thing I have ever seen bowhunting occured this past September, during our "youth hunt".
I have two sons, who both love to bowhunt.
To condense a long story and make it short, I watched my 14 yr old son pass an opportunity at a big doe, in the hopes that his little brother would get a chance. I watched him get ready for the shot, and watched with a pounding heart, as the deer passed within easy range of his Predator recurve.
I watched him switch his bow for his binoculars to watch the action.
To this day, I have never told him how I watched the whole thing, from the rifle "shooting shack" I was sitting in. He still does not realize that I could watch them both at the same time. I asked him at dark, as I stood under his stand "did you see anything?" "One big, lone doe" was his response. "No shot?" I asked.
"Too far" he said. I was standing on the trail she used, and it was nine yards from the base of his tree.
Little brother moved at the wrong time, and a bouncing tail waved goodbye, but he did get his close encounter.
As for me, I don`t think a more satisfying hunting experience has ever happened to me. By far, the "coolest thing I have seen while bowhunting".
Proud is a word that falls short. :D
Bonebuster, that's awesome. What it's all about!
Bonebuster, looks like the boys had a very good teacher. Good for you.
Bonebuster, looks like the boys had a very good teacher. Good for you.
Sorry about the stutter lol.
Two seasons ago I was setting in my tree stand watching the three trails coming into the clearing where I hunt. Suddenly a red squirrle came rushing through the trees going from limb to limb as fast as he could. Just as he got to the tree next to mine he leaped to a tree a little further from him then he realized and nearly missed the limb. I remember thinking how stupid could a tree rat be, and stupid squirls don't last long. He proceded into the ceaders across the clearing out of sight, I shortly heard a thud and a squeal. Watching the area where he disappered I spotted movement heading toward the clearing about 35 yards to my left. I quickly realized a young bob cat had been laying in wait for our fast moving squirrle and had scored supper. He took the body into the clearing and proceeded to play with it like a kitten with a ball of yarn. He would throw it up in the air then hunker down and pounce on it. He would batt it around like he was trying to make it move. After aprox 30-45 min of this he slipped into the trees with his prize. Coolest thing I have ever seen.
In 2006 I was hunting early season mule deer in the Kaibab national forest in Arizona with a buddy. On the last day of the hunt, the very last evening as it got dark I realized I was done hunting and relaxed in my ground blind as it got dark. I was very well hidden, and overlooking a small waterhole. Behind me I heard movement and began the ever so slow turn to see what it was. A muley doe was right there.
Right there, as in close enough to touch. She had no idea I was there. What a rush!
The hunt was over for me, and I didn't dare get up with the doe right there, a foot away, so I did the next best thing.
I slapped her on the butt. There was a sh$%storm right then, almost got kicked to death, and heard a loud farting noise. Not sure if it was me or the deer.
After that we both ran off.
The best way to tell one of my best stories is to have you think about a time when you have given or seen someone give a yellow lab a bath in the yard. You know when you are done they go nuts and run all over the yard, goof with the cat, roll around then do it all over again. All at full speed.
Now picture a spike bull elk doing the same thing. I was sitting over a wallow in ID that was quite open like a lawn I wasn't sure I was gonna shoot a spike right then and as it turned out, the fact that I didn't try was likely the reason the show was so good.
Well the little guy first came to the water and rolled all the way over his back several times. He as almost black. Then he would jump and run crazy circles in the area as fast as he could in about 100 yard circles. He would come back and do it all over again. About half way through the show a mule deer doe came in and he proceeded to bounce around that deer just like the lab teasing the house cat. The deer wanted nothing to do with the youngster and the more she shunned him, the more he bounced around her trying to get her attention. It was crazy fun. I think the show lasted about 10 minutes.
As a bonus I was hunting with an old buddy that I had not hunted with in years. We both got to enjoy the show together.
I was turkey hunting one spring with a lone hen decoy out in front of me. A hen came in and was feeding around me. All at once I caught a shadow swoop down and a hawk attacked my decoy. The hawk was sitting on top of my decoy when the hen spotted it. The hen ruffled up its feathers and st
I was turkey hunting one spring with a lone hen decoy out in front of me. A hen came in and was feeding around me. All at once I caught a shadow swoop down and a hawk attacked my decoy. The hawk was sitting on top of my decoy when the hen spotted it. The hen ruffled up its feathers and started squaking and charged the hawk. The hawk flew up in a tree and the hen commenced to circle the tree and fussing at the hawk until it finally flew away. Then the hen paced all around my decoy checking out the decoy until she finally moved off into the woods. About 15-20 minutes later she came back and paced all around the decoy. She seemed very worried.
I was on a ILL. paid hunt a few years back and i had 6 rack bucks come into a cut cornfield. The big ten headed my way and started jumping up and down in some tall cane like a bird dog.
He would get a run and go and just jump straight up in the air and come down and shake his head in those canes and had them all in his antlers.
I grunted at him and he came running up the hill toward me with at least 5-6 long pieces of cane hanging off his horns. He ran by me 3 times and never would stop long enough for a shot.
The 4th time by he finally stopped at 10yds and i was so excited i shot a good 3ft over his back. Man i wish i would have had a video camera because i have never to this day seen anything like that happen in the woods or on TV.
Back in the 80's I hunted a big creek running through a public hunting area. In early October I was sitting on the ground in a tangle of small trees and tall grass. Leaning back in full Predator camo i heard someone talking. Here comes a man and a women with their dog. The dog came over and smelled the soles of my boots and pee'd on a tree bye them. The couple never did see me and walked by four feet, than they stopped around ten yards out and started kissin and hugging and a little grabbing. I just sat there motionless and than they walked off.
Hey Vic what would you have done if they started getting reall frisky. :bigsmyl:
QuoteOriginally posted by joevan125:
Hey Vic what would you have done if they started getting reall frisky. :bigsmyl:
Perfect time for a loud, aggressive toot on the predator call. Cotton-tail scream makes frisky people levitate.
:bigsmyl:
i watched a 150 class buck breed a doe at 40 yards when i was 18, also this year while with my cousin kid for the youth gun hunt we had a young bear walk 5 yards from us whle sitting on the ground in a group of young pines that was pretty cool
This June while hunting with Rob DiStefano in SC for hogs I sat and watched a rabbit eating mosquitoes.
That was too funny!!!
It is not a bow hunting story, but it was kind of funny. Once while goose hunting in a fence row blind we had a fox run right up and about jump in with us. It would have if we didn't stand up and spook it off. Then about 30 minutes later a coyote did the same thing. We just looked at each other puzzled. A little while later I asked what that odd noise was I kept catching every so often. One of our group members had in a pair of those high dollar hearing protectors with electronic sound cut off and enhanced hearing. It was turned up to loud or something and making a very faint to us high pitched sound. It was calling in predators.
One year I decided to hunt across a lake on the wild side that was boat only access. I built a traditional lean-too over there and made a couple traditional bough beds for our sleeping bags to lay on.
Me and my buddy decided to try out the "hunters rest" one frosty October night and were paddling my 18 foot guide canoe across the lake. It was dark, but a full moon was up. The lake was perfectly calm, just as still as a plate of glass under the moonlight as we ghosted across. Suddenly, a six pound landlocked salmon jumped right into the air by my buddy in the bow, bounced off his shoulder and into his lap, thrashed around and then did a tail dance along the gunwale before splashing back into the water. Surprised is an understatement.
We think he was going after the flash of my buddys paddle blade, which was a new spruce one I had just made- it was still pretty blonde.
Joshua
It wasn't while bowhunting but it was the coolest thing for me, I loved watching my 13 year old son shoot his first deer this season! It won't get any better than that!