I gotta admitt. When I'm walking home at night in remote mountain lion/ rattlesnake country by myself, at times I'm a little on edge.
During the daylight, yes.
After dark. . not as much.
ChuckC
Glad I am not the only one...
Snake weather gets me on edge sometimes, but come cool weather, even when in bear country, I feel at peace. Sometimes when the sun hits a nice spot on a winter day I will lay down in the leaves and sleep. I did this once and woke up 6 hrs later in the dark!
Rank Bull,
I am the same as you. The time that gets me is in the evening when the dark is setting in. Never bothered me a drop as kid sleeping under a cliff all night with nothing but a fire and blanket. I was just an idiot then I suppose?
We have lots of bear around the house here now and it makes me just a little edgy.
In the dark coming back from an late afternoon hunt, I worry more about running into a small pack of coyotes than anything else.
I think it is our natural instinct to be more on alert as our main sense, which in most cases is sight, is diminished or totally eliminated. If I am in camp and not in grizz country I am fine at night even by myself. But if I have to pack out in the dark it can make you tense at times. I remember packing at night to start a hunt. I was going in about 3 miles. I came around a corner on the trail and didn't know a deer was there. It stayed still until I just got too close for it's comfort...it exploded in a whirl of dust! Just about had to change my shorts when I finally got into where I made camp.... :eek:
durring the summer ill take off and go out camping by myself or with my friend in the woods and try to live off the land with our bows and arrows and stuff. the night kkinda buggs me but its not to bad after awhile. i coon hunt alot so that kinda helped me get used to the whole darkness concept
No! I'm in the woods.
backpack 4-6 miles into a wilderness area by yourself, set up camp and as darkness falls tell me how it feels - especially if you're bowhunting and have no side arm with you !
I did the above when I was 22 years old I guess it was .... and the ONLY way I could sleep was to tell myself that if/when the bears/cougars came? I'd never hear them slipping up to eat me. Once I realized that, all the noises in the night didn't matter so much and I slept ... somewhat
I have a one hour hike (some times more) up onto the mountain I hunt. It is some 1,000's of acres with bears a plenty, and a mountain lion has been seen on occasion. I never use a light even when there is no moon. There has only been one time I remember that I had the creeps. I have walked into a few bears now and then, and even got tackled by one that was just trying to run away. I feel very normal walking around up there in the dark. I just don't think any thing is going to try to take me out. :dunno:
Oh man when the coyotes get to yipping out of control, it can make the hair stand up. Makes me wonder what wolves would sound like.
I am more concerned about someone seeing a dark blob and shooting me than anything else. Whne I waterfowl hunted almost exclusively, I loved rowing a boat or paddeling a canoe-as opposed to using an outboard-because I could hear the sounds on the marsh.
I blunder around in the dark a lot and it took me years to become completely comfortable with it. Now my daughters ask me the same question a lot when we're walking around at night and I tell them nothing in the woods is scarier than Daddy. :^)
I think humans are hard-wired to be "afraid of the dark." Our senses aren't made for night-time operations and we are pretty helpless.
When I was a kid I went to "An American Werewolf in London" the night before a foggy dark-thirty whitetail hunt. Darn, was I alert that morning!
Yes I feel more home in the woods in day light or dark, I Love the woods I have more trouble in the city than I do in the woods.
Not really on edge......usually I'm armed! I have had the hair on my neck stand up when the brush wolves get yipping in the Adirondacks.But I know guys who won't put them selves in that spot for love or money.....everyone is different!
QuoteOriginally posted by CA BOWHUNTER:
Yes I feel more home in the woods in day light or dark, I Love the woods I have more trouble in the city than I do in the woods.
same here!!!
I got used to the dark early on because I would roost turkeys in the woods or swamp. Then get out over hour and a half or more before first light so I could get within 75 80 yards of the roost tree- when you're that close you can't make much noise so it takes a while walking that far
That got me comfortable- yes there's stuff out there that COULD hurt me but I've walked OVER big timber rattlers and moccasins and bumped into big hogs a time or three, been stalked by a mountain lion and stood just a few feet from a 500 lb black bear while walking out at night so I guess I'm just used to stuff goin bump in the dark after all these years
Probably end up being eaten by a sounder in the dark but what's the option? Not going or worse being there and walking out at primetime?
As George W says - "wouldn't be prudent at this juncture"!!!!!
Nope, doesn't bother me at all to be in the woods after dark. I'm in the woods alot after dark during bear season.
There is really nothing around these parts to worry about, but I was thinking this evening walking out how I love that odd,lonesome feeling walking out at night.
Double post woops
I am comfortable day or night in areas that I know well. I spent a lot of time coon hunting when I lived in South Carolina and night fishing for catfish in the swamps and rivers.
I also had a lot of field time at night in the Corps.
Yeah I saw a video of a mountain lion full on tackle a full grown elk like it was nothing. Kinda wish I never saw that. Lol
I've also come close to stepping on a rattlesnake. I think I floated all the way home. Those suckers are LOUD.
I love the woods at night. It brings out a different and beautiful sound we don't during the day. Plus, Id feel more comfortable getting taken out by a four legged critter, than the two legged variety up to no good. When its my time, its my time. That way of thinking has confidently gotten me though a lot bigger scenarios.
Like John Wayne said "Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway"
I have absolutely no problem at all being in the woods of Michigan in the night at all. Now visiting Detroit, day or night, that's a whole different story.
I can spend days on end in the woods and love it. I get totally freaked outed in the city at night. Give lions and bears any day.....
I don't mind it. For years it seems my eyes would play tricks on me and at dusk I'd think I'd see something. Then I'd think "nothings that quiet" until I remember the Schwarzenegger predator movie where they're in the jungle. Hmmm..they didn't believe it either :scared:
Couple weeks ago I was skirting a marsh in the afternoon heading for a stand. A coyote I called "Big Red" saw me and was heading out of the marsh about 75 yards away (I called him Big Red, because he had a reddish coat and looked like a German Shephard).
Well he trots out of the marsh and into the grassy field, still about 75 yards away. He didn't seem too bothered. He stopped, stood and let out a huge howl, deeper than other coyotes.
A couple responded from the woods. This was about 3pm before we changed the clocks. I thought either that was a warning sign for the others or he's ringing the dinner bell. After that he trotted off non-chalantly.
This was in a suburban area and with the increase in coyote incidents with pets and their increasing lack of fear of man got me wondering if maybe I'd be the first attack in the area. Makes you think.
I love the woods, I'm so at home I belch ,fart,sleep,and use the restroom in the woods. :laughing: :laughing:
I'm at home during daylight and at night(as long as I have a hunting buddy),alone at night it can get a little spooky depending on how long the walk is. Its like I tell my day when we fish in the ocean at night,"there are things out at night that just aren't out in the day and if I don't have to meet them I'm good!!".
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by CA BOWHUNTER:
Yes I feel more home in the woods in day light or dark, I Love the woods I have more trouble in the city than I do in the woods.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, I'm with you guys. I'm more uneasy around cities and strange people than the in woods at day or night.
For the most part, I`m just fine. There have been a few times in years past when I was creeped out and I just felt on alert. No explanation why, I just felt SOMETHING.
It is then that you watch your backtrail a bit more, and your heart is already above it`s normal rythum, and you are ready for a fight.
Listen to your sixth sense.
I agree with ca bowhunter, I love the woods!
BEWARE the Chupacabra at night! :laughing:
Hey Mark! Think you are watching too much T.V.!
... mike ... :D ...
Night and day time have always been my friend. Although I am aware of the night critters I am still at peace.
I'm at home in the woods around here (Central Ohio). Nothing too scary around here other than (perhaps) other people.
At the risk of a slight thread derailment - what's up with the coyote thing? Why do they make you nervous? We've got some big ones around here, but I'm higher on the food chain than those friggers. What gives?
I love the woods obviously and feel I could survive in a lost situation. I pretty much know the edible plants and can identify most (if not all)the trees in my area and can set snares(if I lost my bow), fish, etc. But to be honest I have a terrible sense of direction and have been lost so many times, but luckily only for a few hours at most. Forget being out there at night, thats when I really get turned around!.... Phil
QuoteOriginally posted by Rank Bull:
Oh man when the coyotes get to yipping out of control, it can make the hair stand up. Makes me wonder what wolves would sound like.
Coyotes are cowards, but I absolutely love to hear them, especially when a chase starts. They scare me not at all. A small pack lives less than a quarter mile from my back door but it's too settled around for the .22-250 to take care of business.
Wolves, OTOH, give me the creeps, even though I've only heard them in the wild once. I had a 30-06 with me, and they still gave me the creeps. I don't like being out after dark in cougar and bear country. I was followed by a cougar one night on my way back to camp. I thought something was there, but it was dark and I didn't want to stop to get a light out of my pack. I found its tracks in the mud the next day, and I'd been followed nearly half a mile. Was it stalking me? Who knows, but I've never walked that trail again, even in the daytime, without watching extra carefully!
I still hunt that area alone, though...just am not as relaxed at night as in the daylight.
I love being in the woods, day or night. I've done some remote solo camp/hunt trips. I love sittin by the campfire, or layin in my sleeping bag at night listening to some of the strange sounds you here in the woods and trying to figure out what animal is makin it. Coons fighting, owls, birds, elk, etc.
I wont say I havent had an unnerving time or two, usually when you heard a sound you havent heard before. Now here in Mich,aside from bears, there really isnt much out there to worry about.
At least where I hunt. No poisonous slithering snakes to worry about either.
Ive walked a good long ways through the Colorado mountains with 80 lbs of fresh bloody elk meat strapped to my backin the dark. Plenty of bears in that area too. I keep aware of my surroundings, but I dont worry too much. If something happens, its gonna happen. But 99% of the stuff we waste time worryin about never happens anyway. As for the other 1%, well nothing much we're gonna do about it. And its sure not gonna keep me out of the woods.
Confidence in your skills and equipment you carry goes a long way to keeping you relaxed and at home in any environment you may find yourself in. If God decides my exit is at the hands of Mother Nature, well thats just the way it goes.
Aint none of us gettin outta here alive anyway!
I couldn't resist Mike!
I love being in the woods even at night. It doesn't bother me much here in the Lower 48 but when I lived in Alaska, We would sleep in small Mt. Tents and knowing there were Bears around made me a bit uneasy. I had acouple of friends have their tent colllapsed in on them in the middle of the night by an 8' Interior Grizz! :scared:
QuoteOriginally posted by GingivitisKahn:
I'm at home in the woods around here (Central Ohio). Nothing too scary around here other than (perhaps) other people.
At the risk of a slight thread derailment - what's up with the coyote thing? Why do they make you nervous? We've got some big ones around here, but I'm higher on the food chain than those friggers. What gives?
I can't say I am really scared of them but when a bunch of them really get going vocalizing, it's like out of control and frantic. Just kind of chilling...and at the same time really cool.
QuoteOriginally posted by Autumnarcher:
If God decides my exit is at the hands of Mother Nature, well thats just the way it goes.
Aint none of us gettin outta here alive anyway!
Amen!
I have always felt at home in the woods. Night or day. That changed a bit after a small trip out of the US during the late 60's early 70's.
Now I am once again almost back to where I once was. However, with purported cougar sightings in Southern Illinois I must admit I cast a very discerning eye sometimes. You know, when the hair on the back of your neck just stands up for no reason..... The Warning Woof" of a coyote at close quaters does not bother me... Its that dead no sound quiet that will get you.
That "walk" out at evening in the fall with bow in hand is the best I have ever felt in my life. I have said so many times. As far as feeling anxious about the dark. Embrace it. It makes you feel alive.
I am comfortable day or night in the woods. A big wooded or forest area with no other people around to worry about, an More so at night when it is quiet and peaceful and my senses are at their highest level. As far as animals harming me? There is more humans and human related happenings in the day that could kill you as fast.
I really like the dark woods now, but didnt always. I always pushed thru and got to where i wanted to be in the dark but didnt enjoy it the way i do now. We dont have the threats that some of you have but I still think your in much more danger "downtown" than you are in the most desolate region of anywhere in the 50 states. I could be wrong tho, the most dangerous animal we have "on the books" is the black bear here in Pa. A bunch of people here think we have mountain lions but i dont believe it right now. I could be wrong tho, but I love the dark woods right now.
No problem, even at night, if I'm in camp... Me, my wife and daughter go every year for multiple long trips, 4 to 15 days in the bush and I don,t have any problems... That sayd, if I'm by my self, and have to travel at night I'm more alert indeed!!
Cheers
Just 6 short weeks ago, I hit the woods an hour before daylight just off a pipeline I'd been on many times before. Thought the pipeline went east/west. It didn't. I got lost & near panicked in huge thick heavy sticky underbrush. No water. Finally fell out of the woods at 11:15am w/bloody hands & face over 1 mile from where I started. Spend a lot of time in the woods; but, I can make a mistake as quick as anyone. Pretty humbling.
I love the dark. I spent to many years hunting dangerous hominids in the night to be afraid of other things that hunt at night. Knowing another predator is close at night is a rush.
When my sixth sense kicks in I slow down or stop and listen and feel with every sense I have. Once an animal senses that you know it is there it will often move off or fall back a bit and follow. More of us have been stalked by cougars and bears than will ever know. They are very curious and move in to see what you are doing in their homes. I wouldn't enjoy the woods nearly as much if I wasn't a bit nervous about what is out there with me. Life without risk is no life at all.
As far as the coyotes go. Not afraid of them but makes you think sometimes with how they act in suburbia. I think some if it has to do with the primordial feeling of hearing them howl so close by.
Ok-back on track and we now return to our regularly scheduled programming...
In my home area I have no concerns. We have a few snakes and coyotes but that's it and neither of these are out to get me. I was in Nova Scotia last October when the young, female folk singer was killed by a couple of coyotes--extremely rare!
In fact, the only time I'll use a light is if I'm bowhunting during the firearms season to make sure a tresspassor (no other hunters allowed but my son and I) won't mistake me for his trophy.
When I'm in bear country it does feel hinky walking out in the dark, especially from a bear stand. I whistle to help the bear not to bump into me.
I remember as a teenager walking on a horse trail in the dark in Brown County, Indiana. I flushed a ruffed grouse 3-4 steps away. Fried heart of a deer tasts good, but my raw heart tasted pretty bad stuck in my throat!
My biggest concern in big, unfamiliar country is getting turned around (ok, lost). I spent 3 months after college in the mountains of Colorado counting trees near timberline. Never got lost one time, because I always followed my maps and compass. However, I've been "delayed" twice in Colorado while hunting because I got distracted (and off my maps) by an unruly elk or two. I found my way out in both cases in less than 30 minutes, but the feeling of "doom" (and slight humiliation) was as yucky as it gets for me. Ironically, in both cases I had left my compass, map, and even GPS in a pack I laid down because I was going to go off course for just a short distance.
I coon hunted as a kid. I've slept out many nights in the wilderness in tents and under the stars. I haven't felt uncomfortable at night in a long time. Last week, on the way home from work, I stopped to grab the SD card out of a game cam. It was dark and the terrain is tricky so I used my headlamp. As I was opening the cam, I heard footsteps to my left. I turned my head to see what it was and it ran away. Scared the #$@!% outta me!
So now my answer is, it depends on the situation!
When the dark comes, I feel like I am all that more hidden amongst the trees and brush, and with a bow in my hand I have nothing to worry about. Unarmed at night in the bush is for whatever reason, fun for me. As a computer dweller (for my company) I feel alive in this situation. Last year turkey hunting walking back from a late pig hunt I stepped on an armadillo and jumped about three feet in the air, along with the armadillo! I had a smile on my face but I was SURPRISED!
QuoteOriginally posted by Autumnarcher:
If God decides my exit is at the hands of Mother Nature, well thats just the way it goes.
Aint none of us gettin outta here alive anyway!
Very well spoken - couldn't agree more!
QuoteOriginally posted by Rank Bull:
QuoteOriginally posted by GingivitisKahn:
I'm at home in the woods around here (Central Ohio). Nothing too scary around here other than (perhaps) other people.
At the risk of a slight thread derailment - what's up with the coyote thing? Why do they make you nervous? We've got some big ones around here, but I'm higher on the food chain than those friggers. What gives?
I can't say I am really scared of them but when a bunch of them really get going vocalizing, it's like out of control and frantic. Just kind of chilling...and at the same time really cool. [/b]
Fair enough - just trying to make sure I'm not missing something. :D
Great stories! Night time adventures can definitely make you feel alive at times.
Haha stepping on armadillo in the dark! What about those quail covies that explode all around you in the dead of the night? Those are fun.
Nothing around here big enough to eat Me. So I kind of enjoy a midnight stroll through the woods. I also do a lot of catfishing on the river at night.
The only thing that really worries Me are the Meth cookers and the Pot growers. They like to booby-trap their little areas.
There is really nothing around here to be afraid of in the dark, so I'm comfortable in the woods at night. I can't say I haven't been startled. A turkey busting off the roost right above your head will get your attention, even though it is totally harmless. A deer blowing from ten yards will wake you up, though there is certainly no danger there. Coyotes at 20 yards are LOUD and will make you pay attention, though I certainly don't fear them. Owls always seem to wait until you are close before they open up. Though I haven't heard one around here for years, a bobcat makes an eerie sound, but good luck getting close enough to one of them to be in danger. Raccoons fighting makes an awful racket that certainly sounds dangerous, though it is far from it.
We don't have venomous snakes where I hunt, so I don't worry about that.
Altogether, I feel way safer in the woods, night or day, than in any city. Heck, I feel safer there than on the road getting to the woods!
I love the woods day or night, but I can't say I don't get that uneasy feeling every now and then. I think it's human nature to be a little more intune in the dark. When I take my 12 year old boy with me to the woods it is totally differant, I get that protective thing going I guess. We don't have anything to worry about around here besides coyote's and a occasional moutain lion sighting. I worry more about the nutjobs out there than I do anything else. Plus being mainly a ground hunter, critters don't have to climb the tree to get me!! HA! Jason
I don't get squirreled up about being in the woods as long as I'm dressed for the occasion. My problem is that I'm incredibly clumsy and I can easily trip over my own two feet. Especially in the dark.
I was raised by Woodsman and Swampers and I feel very good in the woods. I often hunt big woods and its no big deal. I do always carry a compass and a spare along with two good lights. Not out of fear but it just makes it easier to see where you are going and know what direction it is.As far as snakes they are out any time here if the weather is a bit warm it doesn`t matter what time of year it is.I killed a big Timber Rattler a week before Christmas last year.Gators bother me more than snakes if I`m crossing slews at night.I once was about halfway across a slew that was a bit over my knees and started hearing baby gators chirping....a bad bad feeling.If you hunt far enough in you`ll see gators that have`nt seen many people and don`t know to be scared. I`m not talking Big Water but small slews where they catch a lot of stuff that crosses.
All in all I could live in a cabin in the swamp and be happy but if I`m camping in a primitive campground with other campers I don`t know I`m a bit skittish and usually have Brother Ruger around.RC
Have been reading through this and it is educational to see the things and places that give each one that has posted the creepys!
Generally being out in the woods, swamps or other places after dark don't bother me.
If I am in a place that is infested with snakes, well I'll be somewhere they won't be.
Now on the other hand, sleeping in a tent in bear country, doesn't really bother me at all, I am aware of things that are going on and sleep a bit lighter, but other than that its no worries.
Always figured there are worst ways to go.
BOO!
not far from where i live a guy murdered two hikers a man an woman off of the AT while they slept in their sleeping bags.there is also a few other creepy stories coming out of the pa part of the appalachains.Yeah day time im fine but come dark i at least like to be with one other person.
Never been to worried out in the bush, night or day the more remote the better. Lot of times we'v been out with hippo's feeding around camp, lions roaring near by. When you know the bush well there is really not much to worry about.
I think whats important is you need to have a respect of the dangers out in the bush...not a fear.
i feel out of place in the cities, i think there's way more dangers there, then in the woods.
The woods don't bother me, others have told me that I feel to much at home in the woods simply because during the daytime if I'm tired I will just lay down in a nice comfortable place and go to sleep.
When its my time to go, I hope I'm doing what I love to do.
Wolves sound real cool at night. It's the dang cougar screams that scare the crap out of me. LOL
Had one night when my two partners and I were packing an elk out and had about 75# each in the packs. We walked through a herd of elk and heard a cougar take down an elk very close by. Let me tell ya double time would have been a jog.
Mike
As faras the woods themselves and the wildlife that live there, none of that bothers me. AS a couple others have mentioned, I do have concerns of running into some of the dirtbags that prey on others in wild places. Camp raiders, dopers, meth heads etc. There are areas of the country with big problems in the national parks and wilderness areas with illegal aliens, and drug labs.
Havent run across any of that, but regardless of where I am, I have my carry gun with me. Not so much for critters, but for dirtbags. Ya never know where theyre gonna pop up.
The snakes, coyotes, cougars...they don't bother me.
But, I love to walk thru the woods at night without a light. A perfect recipe for getting a tree branch gouged in my eye or twisting an knee or breaking an ankle.
Then while I'm writhing around, screaming in pain, maybe ill develop a fear of the coyotes as they circle me in the brush, waiting for me to become fatigued so they can finish me off.
Pleasant thoughts. It actually doesn't sound too bad after Thanksgiving with the kinfolk!
I hate the dark. I enter most of my stands in pink light.
I just love being in the woods.It is my drug of chose.There is something MYSTIC about walking in the woods at night during a full MOON.
MAY THE SIPRIT OF FRED BEAR GUIDE OUR ARROWS.
You're supposed to be alert in the woods of for that matter anyplace you are. Just because your aware of possible danger doesn't mean your not comfortable in that environment. I'm comfy anywhere I am maybe because when I was a young man I hunted people and they hunted me. Frank
QuoteOriginally posted by Ragnarok Forge:
I love the dark. I spent to many years hunting dangerous hominids in the night to be afraid of other things that hunt at night. Knowing another predator is close at night is a rush
I wanna hear dangerous hominid stories!
theres nothing there at night thats not there during the daylight hours.i absolutely love being in the forest after dark.your senses go into hyper drive.its good for your soul,dont think of it as fear its just normal instincts taking over.
posted by vanilla gorilla:The snakes, coyotes, cougars...they don't bother me.
But, I love to walk thru the woods at night without a light. A perfect recipe for getting a tree branch gouged in my eye or twisting an knee or breaking an ankle.
Then while I'm writhing around, screaming in pain, maybe ill develop a fear of the coyotes as they circle me in the brush, waiting for me to become fatigued so they can finish me off.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaa...cracked me up .
:D :laughing: :laughing: :D
"Camp raiders, dopers, meth heads etc."
Me too. The critters don't bother me, it's the human encounter that make my hair stand up. I carry a handgun daily, whether I'm in the woods or in town., just for that reason.
I feel totally at home in the woods. More comfortable there than elsewhere. Now a mall.....forget it.
I am quite comfortable outside after dark. I even go canoeing and whitewater kayaking after sunset (sometimes not by choice). Being in the woods is like a walk in the park. All my senses are heightened and on high alert. It's better than drugs.
This is a excerpt from the book "Hood" by Stephen Lawhead.
As Bran watched,he listened to the sounds of the woodland transforming itself for night as the birds flocked to roost and nights children began to awaken:mice and voles,badgers,foxes,bats-all with their particular voices-and it seemed to him then,as never before,that a forest was more than a place to hunt and gather timber,or else better avoided.More than a stand of moss-heavy trees;more than a sweet-water spring bubbling up from the roots of a distant mountain;more than a smooth-pebbled pool,gleaming,radiant as a jewel in a green hidden dell,or a flower-strewn meadow surrounded by a slender host of white swaying birches,or a badger delving in the dark earth beneath a rough-barked elm,or a fox kit eluding a diving hawk;more than a proud stag standing watch over his clan....More than these,the forest was itself a living thing,it's life made up of all the smaller lives contained within it's borders.
I thought this description pretty well summed it up.Whether we experience fear or awe it's still the closest man will ever get to being whole.
It's the only place I feel truely comfortable. I almost stepped on a bear in the dark once that was on a kill(3 yrds). I thought it was a calf elk in the trail until my eye's focused. Seen lost of rattlers at night and even had a cougar stalk me for awhile once but I still feel more at peace in the woods than anywhere else. I fear the big towns!
I'm pretty chunky and I got a bum knee. I may as well be alone in the woods at night, cause if anything attacks they are going to single me out as the easy meal in the herd anyways.
"I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself,a bird will drop frozen dead from a bow without having ever felt sorry for itsself"
Your either a wild thing or your not.
I carry my bow and knife and rarely need a flashlight.
Realy thers no difrerance day our night you just do not see the thing thats going to eat you. Two leged predators are way worse than the four leged kind.We do not have woods we have forest,when the sun goes down its black.Kinda cool.