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Bigfoot?!

About 10 years ago, I was hunting with my cousin. We were hunting a place that he's never been and didn't know his way around too well. I told him to stay in his stand and I would come get him when the hunt was over. About 15 minutes, before it got completely dark out (you know, that time when you can still just barely make out shapes in the timber) I see what I swear is a guy standing about 30 yards away just staring at me. At first I thought I was just seeing things and ignored it. I looked back and he was still there, so I said "hey". That's when the "shape" slowly stepped to the side and behind a tree. Now, I'm really creeped out. I climbed down out of my stand and the guy was gone. I hear something about 20 yards to the left of where this guy was, and see him standing again just staring at me. Again I yelled at him but this time knocked an arrow. The guy took off running and hid behind another tree. So, now I'm completely freaked out and decided to get the heck out of Dodge. Just as I turned to run, I can hear the girlish giggle of my cousin. He has no idea how close he came to getting shot that night!
 
I was hunting out west with my father in some very dark Northwest timber. I was on a clearcut and he told me to come get him because I could hunt another 30 minutes longer due to the light on the cut and he didn't want to mess anything up by getting down early.

I got down out of my stand and walked about 500 yards in to the timber to get him. I was about 60 yards from his stand and caught eyes on the ground in between us, dad was still in the stand. As I fumbled for my flashlight I caught another pair of eyes just to my left about 20 yards. Both sets of eyes started moving around.

It took me probably 20 seconds to find the damn thing, felt like 20 minutes. I was shaking like a little girl but finally found the eyes with the light, 2 bobcats. I finally spooked them off and dad got down. He said they (he thought they were deer) had been circling the stand for the last 15 minutes.

Not as good as the cereal killer, but it's all I got!!

Stay safe out there.
 
I always hate that feeling of being watched/followed. I just try my best not to think about it. I really can't let myself start thinking about horror movies and stuff or I really creep myself out. One of the scariest things I've had happen though is one area I hunt I cut through a cow pasture. The key is you can't let the horses know that you are moving through their pasture or they feel the need to run to you. It just really creeps me out in the dark either leaving or coming in when its pitch black and you can't see them, you just hear their hooves coming towards you in a hurry.
 
I had a big dog visciously bark his a$$ off 10 yards in front of me on a pitch dark trail one early morning. Never knew he was there until i walked up on him. It was so dark i never did see him.

I also had a coyote follow me out of the woods on one occation. I took a trail out in the dark that a man and his black lab had walked on hours before. I think the coyote heard me and thought he was chasing the dog out of the woods. A mile walk back to the truck in the pitch dark and the yote stayed about 100 yards behind me howling and yipping the whole way. I knew he wasn't going to tangle with me but it still makes you think about it.
 
On a serious note, the only thing that bothers me walking in, in the dark is coming head on with a badger. Not sure what one would do if you met up with him head on in the dark, but I don't want to be the guinea pig that has to find out.

Other than that, nothing bothers me walking in. On a farm I hunt, I have to cross the cattle pasture to get to my stand. The minute I step foot in the pasture, here comes the cows. They follow me all the way to the stand. One is a tame older cow, and she usually walks about 6 inches beside me sniffing and licking my backpack. She's pretty usefull if there are deer in the food plot on the other side of the fence, I have a moving blind.
 
35 years ago when I first started bow hunting I used to get creeped out sometimes walking in the dark. Then I just thought about it and told myself that there is nothing in the woods at night that isn't there in the daylight. Since then I have had no problems. It doesn't even bother me out west where there are bears & lions.
Once in Canada bear hunting I had a small bear leave the bait late and walk the trail out to the road. When the truck arrived to pick me up I walked to the road and could hear the bear moving off about ten yard from me.

One thing I am worried about is that the farmer next to us has a pasture we cross to get to one of our stands. He has sold his cattle and is going to buy buffalo. I'm not sure what we will do then.
 
Reading through these again reminded me of my encounter last spring turkey hunting in south Texas. The ranch owner let me use his electric golf cart to drive around everywhere, as opposed to the ATV from my previous trip, and I found out just how quiet those things are. I pulled up to my spot where I was going to listen for gobbling birds on roost and I started hearing some "plasticy" rustling sound in the brush 10-15 yards from me in the dark. At first I thought "hogs coming at me" and then realized that "plastic rustling" sound was followed by yawning. Then I remembered I wasn't too far off the US/Mexico border and the ranch owner had filled me in the day before about armed Sandanistas being busted in the area fairly recently. Let me tell you that the pucker factor was 10+! I set my shotgun across my lap and realized that my 4 shots were probably no match and I didn't have any desire to deal with that kind of paperwork. My dilemma was that the turkeys were gobbling down the lane. I went to back up the buggy and further realized those things have back-up buzzers. Scared the bejeezus out of me and her both. Turns out it was a single lady looking for "Arturo". I parked the buggy back out of the way and threw the key in my pocket. As I walked by her, I used my best Spanish to explain that I wasn't "Arturo", I wasn't the police, and she should just be quiet and go away. I got all set up and about 45 minutes later I hear footsteps coming down the lane towards me. She walked right through my set up (walked around the decoys) and met up with another guy about 100 yards down. I decided that, again, the paperwork wasn't worth the risk and that Mr. Miyagi was right: "Best defense, no be there!". 3 years living away from the border in southern AZ caused me to relax my situational awareness. Guaranteed that won't happen again!
 
I was walking out the other night and had not one, but 2 differwent encounters with skunks. The first one scared the shart right out of me. littl;e bugger came out of the darkness at mach one with his tail raised pointing the stink hole right at me. i could hear him scampering across the leaves but had no idea what it was till i saw the vague white stripe 15 yrds away. You never seen a grown man run so fast.
So I procede to take the long way around where the skunk ran. i was following a brushy fenceline. As now its pitch black out and i have flashlight in hand. I got to take a step and BAM, another one of those little stinky sob's goers darting in front of me down a hole on the fenceline. i could hear it hissing in the hole. About dirtied my drawers for the second time....What should have been a 20 minute walk out turned into a 35 minute walk with frayed nerves....
 
I was walking in to go turkey hunting one morning with a friend when we started hearing a bunch of growling and fighting. It sounded like coyotes fighting over something. Then all of the sudden the noise started coming right toward us. I dropped all my stuff and got into a defensive position and started yelling. Two stupid raccoons ran right by us at 5 yards - they sounded like tazmanian devils or something man!
 
I know the feeling of being watched. I was walking in to the timber the other morning and had to cross a healthy chunk of standing corn. After a few min in the corn I started looking around cause I was getting that "feeling". To make it even better a slight breeze started blowing all the corn. So I move on and climb into the stand. About five min in the dark and I hear a steady trail in the leaves coming right to the stand. Finally I see the stinkin possum ruttin around. You know its all in your head but it sure gets the blood flowing early in the morning.
 
Got a buddy that I hunt with, the real nervous type. He's always freaking out about coyotes, and Blair Witches, and crap like that. I got the idea, one of these days when I know we are going out hunting the next day, i'm going to go out the night before and hang a bunch of dolls from his tree, and pile Rocks under his stand and watch him mess his draws!:drink2:
 
What are you guys smoking, it must be pretty good stuff. :D Not a story about walking in in the dark but still a good one I pulled on my brother. When we would stop at places to ask permission to bowhunt we would take turns going to the door and he hated taking his turn because half the places would have a dog of some kind that would come out barking and growling. One time I waited until he got about 20 yards from the truck and started barking and growling out the window on the other side of the truck. You could damn near see him pucker up when he froze in his tracks. :D
 
30 yrs ago the Lockridge Monster was roaming the Jefferson/Henry county line, maybe he found a mate in the Rome/4-Corners area and had a couple youngens just sayen
 
Try walking to your stand in the morning and having something come tearing out the cornfield your walking along right at you, only to find out that after you have cleaned your shorts out that it was a turkey that must have been spooked out of a tree during the night and roosted on the freaking ground! FRICK, I thought I had a bear coming out of the corn field!!!
 
Ah, another one comes to mind. My brother and I were hunting near Ft. McCoy in Wisconsin, Way Back When...and I was the first one off stand that night, late season. Freaking coyotes all over the place. They followed us out right into the hay field, 8 of them! All the way back to the truck and then sat in the field howling at us! Now when I see them, they get shot!! Don't piss me off!! LOL
 
OLETOM, I know what you mean with the turkey, I was wallking to my stand in the wood in the pitch black when i jumped a flock of turkeys that were roosting on the ground, must have been spooked from the trees from other hunters, they were so close that I could feel the wind from there wings. It took me a while to clean out my shorts and figure out what it was. I am assuming it was turykeys. I still hate turkeys

JSS
 
Now I'm not saying completely scared out of your mind but anyone who has walked to and from a stand in the dark is not being very truthful if they say something hasn't made the hair on their neck or arms stand up a bit.
 
A few years ago I was walking in with a climbing stand on my back. I stopped and was looking for a tree to climb and heard footsteps. Shined the light in that direction, nothing. Put up my stand, still dark and WOW the blood curtling scream (sounded that way at the time) of a mountain lion! It paced back and forth until daylight then drifted off. I did see it so I know what it was. Must have screamed 100 times. Now that sh!t will wake you up!!!!!!
 
Huntergjs said:
A few years ago I was walking in with a climbing stand on my back. I stopped and was looking for a tree to climb and heard footsteps. Shined the light in that direction, nothing. Put up my stand, still dark and WOW the blood curtling scream (sounded that way at the time) of a mountain lion! It paced back and forth until daylight then drifted off. I did see it so I know what it was. Must have screamed 100 times. Now that sh!t will wake you up!!!!!!
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There have been a lot of unconfirmed ML sightings in my area including a good friend (avid hunter) that swears he was less than 50 yards from one in his truck on a gravel road not far away. Its the only thing that gives me the hebie-jebies walking the timber in the dark.
 
Highmark said:
Now I'm not saying completely scared out of your mind but anyone who has walked to and from a stand in the dark is not being very truthful if they say something hasn't made the hair on their neck or arms stand up a bit.
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agreed 100%. It s not a scary feeling you get when you walk out in the morning its more of a what s looking at me feeling that s makes you a little excited
 
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