Closest you've ever been to an animal?

[joe ashton]

my first elk season I was in an Aspen grove and looked ahead see to a bull coming my way.  I dropped to my knees behind a mature Aspen tree.  My left shoulder was against the tree.  When the bull pasted the tree I had to move so his right leg would not hit my arrow..  

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

YORNOC takes the cake!!!

Touched a few different bears.....shot a deer who was standing over my left extended leg while hiding behind a big elm tree. The arrow was actually pushed through the deer by the string...

[dirtguy]

I've walked right up to a fawn twice - they know that they are not supposed to move.  I've also had a very large buck explode out of the rose bush in front of me - about three feet away - talk about an adrenaline rush!

[chall]

YORNOC , that was hilarious . I've had does get within 4-5 feet before freaking out. I'm a big guy and I had a 2 man tent  that my feet touched one end and my head touched the other. We were camping one night very frosty and cold with a full moon . I watched a bear circle my tent (shadow on the tent) walk up and press his nose against the top of my head and sniff. Needless to say I don't sleep in small tents or mummy bags anymore. I felt like a meat  burrito. My buddy was camping in Yosemite once with his daughters laying on the ground in sleeping bags and had a cub run his wet nose up his arm like a dog.

[59Alaskan]

Several deer at less than 10' on the ground.  Some I could touch.  Several so close I could not get a shot off.  Several with nothing between us but air.

Many more right under my stand while in a tree.

Close encounters are awesome!

[cmh]

A few years back I was hunting a fence row and was all tucked back into it. The corn was still up on one side and soybeans on the other side. I had a young doe saunter up and stand literally against me as she peered out over the soybeans for a couple of minutes...... I finally had enough and reached down and patted her on the head. She learned a lesson I imagine as she went frantic as she turned around to see what was doing that.... I had a good laugh at that young doe's expense  

[saltwatertom]

I've caught deer and various small game including a weasel once ( if you think a squirrel is lively try a weasel some time!!       ) caught fish by hand, caught a seagull as it flew past, played with baby eagles in the nest but maybe the best was when I caught a great horned owl as it flew out of a tree I was walking by.   Looking into those DEEP yellow eyes is an experience that is unforgettable!     :eek:  

Also, on the worlds most dangerous game I did a sneak close enough to touch, then backed away undetected. After that I lay next to the trail as they walked by, on my back, looking them in the face again close enough to touch by moving my hand just a bit and not one of the group of 5 detected me.    Big fun!!!

PS, oh yea, then there's the bears,.............

[Whip]

Originally posted by Cyclic-Rivers:
Joe,

A. you take your boss hunting?
B. I thought you were retired        LOL

It must have been funny after the Elk realized your hat wasn't what she was expecting.

Stupid auto correct.... Sorry - should have read bow.  You're right - I have no boss other than the one I'm married to.    

[EWill]

I don't comment much on here but thought I would share a few of my close encounters. I had a small doe this past year come within 3 steps of me when I was hunting from the ground. I put my hand out to her and made a kissing sound like calling a dog, that was fun.
I've also had two different black bears close when I lived in Pa. The first was during spring gobbler, it was face first into a large patch of skunk cabbage. When we, my hunting partner and I, saw it we " melted " into the brush beside the trail and the bear walked past us so close I could see the water running out of his eyes.... from the skunk cabbage... I assume.
The second bear was a young one that ran by during a deer drive. I could have touched both but decided it would be best not to.

[Bill Turner]

While ground hunting I had a nice size doe walk up to me and stand within touching distance, like 1 foot. I could have easily touched her leg while she studied a feeder 15 yards away, but chose not to do so. The wind was blowing directly in my face. She eventually moved directly behind the tree I was leaning against, maybe 3 feet from where I was sitting. When she got the first whiff she tore out of there. Made me glad I didn't touch her.

A few years later I killed a nice 8-point whitetail at maybe 3 yards. I was standing in the crotch of a tree, maybe 5 feet off the ground, while the buck worked a scrape behind a cedar bush immediately adjacent to my hide. When he stepped from behind the cedar bush he stopped and surveyed the area for what seemed like an eternity. He finally looked back over his back trail giving me an opportunity to draw and shoot. That was a hunt I'll never forget. You just can't beat getting close to your pray.    

[Tradtical Commando]

I've had several turkeys within a couple feet of me. Of course I didn't try to touch them as they were one eying the fire out of me.
First time I tried predator hunting I had two coyotes come up behind me and got so close behind the tree I was against that I could smell them. That was a little creepy.
Of course birds and squirrels and stuff too.

[Bjorn]

A fellow hunter and I were out for a stroll late-moon was bright-we were walking a dirt track. All of a sudden there's a commotion; a large herd of pigs is running right at us and there was no time to move. They ran right through us but not making contact.
Often wondered about that. Did they realize we were humans? No idea but they "parted" to avoid running into us so they knew we were there. A few of them reacted more than others, some looked right at us as they ran by, others did not even raise their heads. We had pigs no both sides, they could easily have knocked us down had they wanted to.  No doubt they were as surprised as we were. It was over in seconds we just looked at each other totally baffled.      

[MnFn]

I had to lean out of the way when a large buck almost ran over me.  I had another nice buck standing underneath the same tree I was in but on the other side.  He backed up like he was on rails until he was twenty yards or so...

A black bear stood up on his hind legs to get a better look at me in my stand, I suppose he was about ten to twenty feet away.

[TDHunter]

While hunting in Norther BC, my brother pushed a group of rams around the Mt. towards me and I had a 3/4 curl Stone Sheep sniff my boot.............about a minute later, I arrowed his leader! Tree bark camo works wonders against grey rock.

[Hummer3T]

TD Hunter ,your really stealthy when your sleeping though.  Likely snoring making sheep noises also.

[foxbo]

" the best was when I caught a great horned owl as it flew out of a tree I was walking by."

Wow! Did you get clawed up? I would think so!

[larry f]

I was in Quebec hunting caribou, I was kneeling down waiting for a shot at a big bull that was heading my way and calf was standing on the edge of my foot.

[saltwatertom]

foxbo, no, the bird just went limp and calm. I released it after a few minutes and it flew away.

[Ulysseys]

These are actually hilarious.  Why does driving on the hood of a dodge cop car and jumping on a doe make sense in high school but not now?

[beachbowhunter]

Shot a javelina at about two steps. Whip was about 10 yards away at the time.