As hunters we spend many countless hours in the woods. what strange or unusuall sights or things have you seen? In Texas ranchers have claimed to have seen and have the body of a chupacrabra? In Ohio, many have claimed to have seen the grassman. It seems as if every part of the country has its' stories of the wierd and unusuall.
Near Bloomington, Indiana there are boulders that have been placed in the boughs of large trees. Some of these boulders weigh more than 300 pounds. There are different stories as to how the boulders came to be in the trees. I have heard everything from ufos to hot air balloons.
another story unfolds by a bridge that is popular as a fishing spot and also serves as a dropping of spot for a days hunting but it also has an eerie side. It seems that on certain nights travelers driving along the road and over the bridge have encountered a young woman walking towards town. Being a friendly place many have stopped and offered the young lady a ride only to discover that as they get near town the girl disappears. The story goes that she was a homesteaders wife and the couple were going to town when their buggy turned over killing the young bride and on certain nights when the moon is bright she appears to those traveling and accepts a ride to town only to never arrive
Post your stories and share your experiences in the woods and streams that we as hunters tread
Unionville, Indiana - Large Boulder in a 40-ft. Tree
At the Limon State Forest in Bloomington, I saw a very odd thing. At the top of a 40-foot tree is a big boulder about 4-foot across resting in the fork of tree. This is deep in the woods of the park, well off any the roads or paths unaccessible to any heavy equipment due to the thick woods.
I have asked others that live there in Bloomton about this,and it turns out many have seen it. How something that large could have got there is unknowb to me (my guess is a tornado). I had my GPS and recorded the location: GPS N 39*12.604, W 086*22.314. [Randy Stoops, 03/30/2003]
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/INBLOrocktree2_stoops.jpg)
Looks like it was either placed in the crotch of a tree when it was young, or a very determined tree grew around it, then up. You can see where it split a little at one time, then healed. Either way, Mother nature likes to play these little jokes on us now and then.
I usually find old abandoned wooden tree stands. Some are really intricate, others are just planks nailed to a tree.
They always kind of creep me out.
Nearly twenty years ago I was hunting and saw a pure white animal that walked like a skunk and sure enough it walked right under my stand and my hunting buddy saw it also, it was a pure white skunk. I have also seen white and piebald deer in this area. Maybe it's the water.
Plants typically grow up. What was the bottom today will still be near the bottom in twenty years from now. Unless it was indeed a very virtuous tree in its youth, the rock was placed there.
ChuckC
Didn't happen to me but did to my brother. He was in his tree stand when a barred owl flew in at first light one morning. He watched the owl for a while, then it flew to a new perch behind him. All the sudden he heard it fly from behind him and then it snatched his hat off his head. I would have never believed him if I hadn't seen the bloody talon marks on the side of his head. The owl dropped his hat 40 yards away. To this day he is scared to death of an owl.
Years ago a couple of friends an I were rabbit hunting along a levee in a river bottom. I saw the dogs rolling around in something in some tall grass. I went over to investigate as it it usually some type of dead animal, I have found many nice deer skulls/antlers this way. This time though it was a dead man. Ha been there quite some time. had been picked clean from the waist up by coyotes and buzzards. We called and reported it to the Sherriff. Had to meet them and the coroner at the main road and take them to the scene in my truck as it could only be reached with 4 wheel drive. I have found an seen a lot of strange things while hunting but a dead body is certainly something you dont run into every day.
Shazzzam!
While elk hunting on a warm September afternoon, I spotted some unusual blonde-colored movements about 100 yards away in the trees. I immediately thought elk.
After retrieving my binocs for a closer look, it was a naked couple enjoying a romp on a blanket. :eek:
I guess they figured elk hunting was slow that day. ;)
Once while turkey hunting some public land a mile or so from anything back in 75.I can aross a car tire high up in a tree,70 foot at least.It was down over the main trunk about 25 feet from the top.The tree all most took up the whole inside of the tire.
Last year agian I was on public land bow hunting deer.After it got daylight I saw a bow hangig on a limb.I walked down and someone must have gotten mad and let his high country bow.4carbons with rocky mountain broadheads.Another laying beside the bow broken into.His stool was laying 5 or 6 yards away.And and arrow sticking in a tree about 7 or 8 feet off the ground 30 yards down the hill.
His pack,10X RAINGEAR,GLOVES.KNIFE,SURVIAL PACK,SNAKE BITE KIT,GPS,COMPASS,TOPO'S OF THE AREA,WATER CANDY BARS that the squrrels got.
I wasn't sure of what happened at first untill I looked the place over.Saw the arrow in the tree,broken arrow at his bow.And stool kicked over.I think he just got mad and left and quit bow hunting after a miss.
I needed some new rain gear.
O'yea I forgot he must have really been mad because he also left his bag of weed and pipe and lighter.
My Dad and I were turkey hunting one morning when I heard a funny squawk. I called in a red and yellow parrot miles away from any house. I took off my coat and tried to catch it (couldn't fly because wing was clipped). I tell ya, they can run like a turkey.......I tripped on a grapevine and I fell down. Finally gave up with my Dad laughing so hard we had to move to another area to continue to hunt........the parrot followed us. Must have liked my calling :p
While groundhog hunting around a soybean field I noticed what I thought was a pink ballon quivering in the wind at the far end of the field. As I got closer it would disappear and reappear. At about 75 yards I threw the binoculars on it and it turned out to be a girls pink underwear. About that time she decided to stand up with her boyfriend. My truck was parked on the farm lane they walked out on. I'm sure they were a bit surprised to see it there.
About 10 years ago we were sitting around the campfire at noon time during the October archery season here in southern Indiana. My buddy was looking down the large creekbed by camp and all of a sudden he stood up and said who the heck is that walking up the creek? It was 2 guys wearing all black. I grabbed the binocs out of my pack and took a look. It was 2 people dressed in black scuba suits. This was right after 911 and we said something about them really looking hard for terrorists!!! As they got closer it was 2 search and rescue divers looking for a body of a man that had washed over a bridge during the highwater a few days earlier. The water in the creek was only a couple of feet deep at the time. They found the body right accross the creek from camp, not 70 yards away in some downed timber. We had to wait until the coroner got there and then help them carry the body accrossed the creek.
Was hunting elk in Colorado in 1999 and walked into a meadow with one tree at the end overlooking a beautiful big valley with other mountain ranges in the background. Just happen to look up and there was a plague with a guys ashes and spurs in the tree. I thought it was very fitting location for someone remains to rest. I have a photo and thought about adding it but then thought the guy would like his privacy, so I won't.
Summer of 1995, scouting for elk and deer near Black Sage Pass in Colorado. Had my compound with me to do some stumpin' (before i saw the light and ditched the wheels). I was alone and don't often tell this story cause folks sometimes don't believe me. Anyway, I was walking along a hillside through mixed timber, mostly aspen. Happened to see a coyote about 50 yds off to my right. I stopped to eyeball him, and he also stopped walking and sat down like a dog. After a while I continued walking slowly, and the yote paced me, keeping his distance, watching me all the time. After about 300 yds of this, he stopped and changed angles. I followed him and he let me get closer and closer, angling down the mountain. At one point, I was witing 10 yds of him and was talking to him like a dog. No alarm was evident from him at any time. Then he took a turn to the left and I followed. He rounded a blowdown right in front of me, and there curled up was another coyote! This one saw me and bolted. The first one just looked at me and then sauntered off as I stood there open mouthed. He showed no signs of illness or anything, seemed healthy and alert. It seemed to me at the time that he wanted me to follow him to the other coyote. Still haven't figured it out to this day. Wierd, huh?
On a elk hunt years back maybe 10 years. We were hiking in for an afternoon hunt and came acrossed a dead calf at the edge of a waterhole. It had been killed by an aspen tree that had fallen and smashed it's head. At frist we thought that it might had died frist but it was fresh. That poor calf just had pick a bad time water I guess.
That was a heifer not an elk.
I once saw a rabbit run under my tree stand and just behind it a fox was chasing it. I don't think the fox caught it, as I never heard any squealing.
George
Me and a buddy were elk hunting in Co last September and were miles away from the nearest road when we came across a make-shift shrine. It was in sort of a pyramid nailed together from odd sticks and branches and stood about 3 1/2' tall. It also had a small statue of Mary on top and some small items inside the "pyramid". Thought it was a good place for someone's memory to rest.
About 1999 i set a stand on the side of a hill.On a place i've hunted for years.The second time i sat in the stand right at dusk i saw a animal about the size of a small bear but kinda shaped like a coon running up the side of the hill.I told my hunting partner about it he had no idea what it might be either.About 6 weeks later i was setting the same stand in the morning.I spoted two of the mystery beasts comeing up the hill towards me.When they got about 30 yards from me i relized they were coal black chow chow dogs.I have no idea where they came from. But to this day we call that stand the coobar stand.
Once while rabbit hunting, I saw the rabbit run by, followed closely by a red fox, who was followed closely by my beagle....
Another time while deer hunting, a yearling doe in heat was circling around the thicket with a coyote close behind followed by a young buck.....
I had a trio of cotton tails about 10' from me while hunting hogs in my ghillie suit last weekend. I was sitting at a feeder and I had tucked myself under a big cedar tree. They were chasing each other around and hopping straight up in the air, barking at one another, making tons of odd noises. It was hilarious. I stood up from my chair, and they kept right at it, until I took step or two.
i once saw a fallow deer with 3 legs. i think it must have caught it in a netting fence when it was young, broke it off and survived. tough!
One time during PA gun season i was sitting in my stand before light. There was about 8 inches of snow on the ground. My stand is up on top of a 15 foot high rock and as it was still grey i could see a little movement coming towards. Lo and behold a red fox climbs up on my rock and paws away the snow and sits down. This lasted about an hour him and i just sitting on our perch looking over our hunting area. I wonder if he felt the same as me that this area is pretty good. After about an hour he took off after something. He must have spooked a deer because right after he left i shot a buck. I don't think he ever knew i was above him
QuoteOriginally posted by KentuckyTJ:
Didn't happen to me but did to my brother. He was in his tree stand when a barred owl flew in at first light one morning. He watched the owl for a while, then it flew to a new perch behind him. All the sudden he heard it fly from behind him and then it snatched his hat off his head. I would have never believed him if I hadn't seen the bloody talon marks on the side of his head. The owl dropped his hat 40 yards away. To this day he is scared to death of an owl.
"The Owls are not what they seem" - Dale Cooper, FBI
COlongbow, I've had a coyote follow me and my dogs one time. It was yipping and howling too. wigged me out a little. It was all I could do to keep my collie beside me. She really wanted a piece of that coyote. I found a den in the vicinity a few days later and I believe that is why that yote was following us.
The neatest thing I ever saw in the wild is not unusual or spooky but I believe few people have ever seen it. It was the weirdest but most amazing day I've ever spent in the bush.
My friend and I were spring bear hunting in Willmore Wilderness Prk which is a large area of the Northern Rockies here in Alberta. There is no motorized vehicle acces and so we were backpacking. On our 3rd night there I was having trouble sleeping. I was tossing, turning, and dreaming alot. The day before my partner had found a horseshoe on a trail and sometime during the night I dreamed that I found a horseshoe grown into an aspen tree.
The next morning we went seperate ways in our quest for a bruin. I found an old, unused horse trail and followed it up towards some high mountain meadows. As I got closer to the meadows I started seeing a lot of whitetails. I also started seeing bones, bits of hide and wolf droppings. When I broke out into a meadow I decided to follow the edge as I have often found elk sheds inside the treeline of these meadows. I had only gone a short distance when I spotted 2 sheds out in the middle of the meadow but I decided to stay on my original course before I went to retrieve my find. As I neared the top of the meadow I caught movement ahead of me about 20 yds. I didn't recognize what I saw for a few moments and a chill went up my spine when I realized I was looking at 2 wolf pups! They looked at me for about a minute and then walked into the trees. I thought that they couldn't be far from the den since they appeared to be about 8-10 weeks old. I followed them and a short distance into the trees I spotted them, their den and 7 of their brothers and sisters! That's right, 9 pups!!
I watched them for about 30 minutes and then went to get the sheds I found before heading back to camp to get my buddy and his camera. On my way down the mountain my boot lace came untied and I looked for a branch to hang my bow on so I could tie it back up. As I searched for a branchin a small aspen I spotted a HORSESHOE grown into the trunk!! There were once again chill running up my spine!
Later in the day we went back to the den and got a few pictures before the camera batteries died. We saw the pups nurse when their mom came back to the den and later that evening I got a bear and saw 2 more.What an amazing day.
My son and I are planning a trip to that den this spring. Even if there are no wolfs there it will be a great trip as the valley we are heading into greens up first and all the wildlife congegrates there. It's just a beautiful place to be. I can't wait!
I still sometimes wonder what the signifigance of the horseshoe and the dream and all that was or if it was merely a coinsidence.
Speaking of barred owls, I was in a stand many years ago and had one land in a tree about 10 yards from me. After about two minutes of sitting on the limb, it decided it didn't like the looks of me sitting there and took off......streaming the wildest looking "stuff" out of his tail end that I've ever seen. Closest thing to describe it was grey cheese whiz! Nasty!!!!
Now that's just too much information. :biglaugh:
Saltines or Ritz?
Elk hunting above Telluride, CO many years ago, my wife and I were stalking down through the aspens toward a Forest Service trail. Along came two girls on horseback, one with her tube top pulled down to her waist, Lady Godiva style. They never saw us.
I've seen two mountain lions where they're not supposed to be, one on the MS/AL border between Tupelo and Birmingham, and one in central SC. Both were clear, definite sightings in broad daylight, both while driving.
Well this isn't a trad archery story but, once I was duck hunting when I came back in and pulled the boat up to the beach there was a car on the narrow road.I needed the car to move so I could back up the trailer and started to walk up the road.Now I am 6'3" and 235lb in all camo with a Boonie hat and face paint carrying a 12ga I kindly tapped on the window of the Mercedes with the barrel of my Mossberg and the gentleman(about 50yrs old) jumped off the girl( no more than 20 yrs old)over the the back of the front seat and was scared to death and almost went off the narrow road trying to get away.They both looked like they crapped themselves by the time they hit the blacktop.
:clapper:
Me actually launching an arrow at a game animal, does that count as weird or unsual? LOL! :biglaugh:
QuoteOriginally posted by lpcjon2:
Well this isn't a trad archery story but, once I was duck hunting when I came back in and pulled the boat up to the beach there was a car on the narrow road.I needed the car to move so I could back up the trailer and started to walk up the road.Now I am 6'3" and 235lb in all camo with a Boonie hat and face paint carrying a 12ga I kindly tapped on the window of the Mercedes with the barrel of my Mossberg and the gentleman(about 50yrs old) jumped off the girl( no more than 20 yrs old)over the the back of the front seat and was scared to death and almost went off the narrow road trying to get away.They both looked like they crapped themselves by the time they hit the blacktop.
:clapper:
Not sure how old you are but maybe he thought you where the young ladies Dad or brother coming to protect their Kin's honor
There's a joke out there about a father's rules for dating his daughter.
"The camouflage face you see at the window is mine."
Guy
Cool story Sheepshooter! :thumbsup:
My luck must suck while hunting,i have never walked up on a live porn or unleashed boobies.Guess i need to change spots.
While hunting some farm land in Ohio a friend of mine was set up along a river bank near a corn field. From each of our stands we could see a large maple tree that had what we thought was an old tree stand made of wood. Late one October evening we where in our stands and saw a person in that stand. My friend got to the tree before I did to run the poacher off. When I arrived my friend was not acting like himself. I asked him twice were the person went that was in the stand. All he could do was shrug his shoulders. The next day we asked the farmer if he had let anyone else hunt the farm and told him were we had seen the poacher. The farmer told us that about eight years earlier there had been a grizzly murder there and that no one was ever arrested. Seems that the murder victims torso was nailed to that tree. His limbs were never recovered. The best part is that my friend never hunted that side of the farm again or talked of what he had seen that night. As for me I took some nice bucks from that area but always had an eye on that tree.
Northern Minnesota 2006.
Hill River we were out deer hunting in mid October. We hunt this area every year; there are more than a few Wolfs here. I was walking back to my stand alone late in the AM got that hair on the back of my neck feeling. Turned and saw a large all silver wolf walking in the same trail and approaching fast head down. I stooped and nocked an arrow feeling this was going to get serious.
I wear wool just old faded shirts and pants nothing fancy no sent lock or any thing. The wolf never did anything but head down to the same trail as I was on, as he passed he slowed down looked up sniffed me and just kept going.
I used to hunt a farm in the mountains of SW PA and saw a black goat running with a small herd of deer. The second time I saw this, I asked the farmer and he said that one day his goat saw some deer out in a field and joined them, never to return. I was surprised that the deer accepted the goat.
Hey Doug, maybe it was just one old dog to another lol. Sorry just couldn't resist.
I was hunting antelope when I saw a golden eagle dive bomb an antelope fawn. He plummeted out of the sky and nailed the little goat right on the neck. The antelope went right down and the eagle had a fresh meal. That was quite a show.
I rember the first time I saw a fisher in NYs southern zone before there was one in every woodlot.I couldnt believe my eyes.Same place a 350 pig which wound up getting shot, a black goat, a chinese golden pheasant that cost me 2 arrows and 6 misses, an antlered doe and a bearded hen turkey.All this on the same hill! Its close to several farms but it is wilder country.I think aliens have something to do with the weird encounters on this hill. :eek:
My Cousin his Buddy and I were wrapping up a day of footing around in the wilderness and were resting at an abandoned camp. We had just popped the top on our beers. We were about to share what we had seen. We were all sitting in a line on a couch when all of a sudden.....we saw a great big tan animal with a short, stumpy tail, like a dogs cropped tail, it was just trotting by. It stopped in front of us and its head that was looking in the other direction turned towards us. When it looked at us all three of us shuttered, spilling our beesr and kind of grabed one an other and let out a Uuhhhhh...ahh sound from our throats. It was the biggest, meanest, toughest, teeth barring panther I had ever seen. It took off silently like it came. We started to laugh because the three of us thought the same thing. It was a real big Great Dane until it looked at us and flexed its muscles and barred its teeth.
My brother and I were hunting a well known draw only hunting area just west of St. Louis Missouri. Little brother was hunting about 150 yards down the draw from me. About and hour after we climb the trees I heard a commotion down toward my brothers stand and shortly after wards I heard a car racing out of there. Then all was quiet. At the end of the day after we got together I ask what the hell was going on down there. It seems a red headed boy and his girl friend came walking in the woods with a blanket which they spread under little brothers stand and started making out. When the boy put his hand on the girls breast Dennis said " I don't think her father is going to like this". It didn't take long for them to leave.
I once had some type of bird slam into my face while on stand in the pre-dawn.Or,maybe I was sucker punched by a squirrel. :confused:
No weird but cool.
Duck hunting last December, our blind had Bald Eagles all around it. They would wait for the ducks to come in and for us to shoot. Any wounded ducks that tried to get away were snapped up by the Eagles. Really cool to see, kinda bummed to lose the ducks though haha.
QuoteOriginally posted by thunder1:
While hunting some farm land in Ohio a friend of mine was set up along a river bank near a corn field... The farmer told us that about eight years earlier there had been a grizzly murder there and that no one was ever arrested... As for me I took some nice bucks from that area but always had an eye on that tree.
Don't know if that is true or not, but I got a chill reading it. Nice story!
I had a lock on stand hung in a big oak on a creek bottom.Around dark i had a herd of does come under me and decided to shoot one(i was black powder hunting).When i shot i heard a hell of a commotion above me and looked up and noticed a big squirrels nest about 10 or 15 feet above me.I didn't think two much of it till i started getting my stuff ready to get down and noticed a big pile of nutty crap in my lap.I guess i literally scared the sh-t out of the squirrel that lived there.Little s-o-b.