Creepy experiences in the backcountry

[rclouse79]

Ahhh, the thread that will never die. Keep them coming.

 

[505Wapiti]

This thread can’t die, it’s too good.

 

[Mdk_archer88]

Yall stop I get freaked out in the woods bad. It's hard for me to get out before daylight. I feel bad for the fool that creeps up on me before day break and takes 3 full clips of .40 to the body. And when that runs out I grab the 380 strapped around my ankle and then the .300 blk on my pack. I hunt with 45-70 and those are just too expensive to use on anything, last resort. And that's just when I take my nephew out squirell hunting on the back 40

 

[Marshbanks12]

My buddy pistol whipped a black bear that was trying to get into his tent. When I woke up to him yelling I asked him what happened and he told me "Get out of your tent and check". I went back to sleep and did not get out of the tent.

 

[Marshbanks12]

Also a consistent thing I find in this thread is people saying that they are more concerned with people than animals. As a police officer I can confirm that people are much more dangerous than animals.

 

[def90]

Also a consistent thing I find in this thread is people saying that they are more concerned with people than animals. As a police officer I can confirm that people are much more dangerous than animals.

The only reason why I carry while archery hunting is because of the 2 legged animals.

 

[NABG Hunter]

In 2001 I was deer hunting in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan about 11 miles from the town of Watersmeet. My uncle decided he should take me, and my 2 cousin's to go see the Paulding Lights. We drove down this 2 track and parked at the end of the clearing waiting for it to get dark. About 30 mins after it got dark all of a sudden a bright light in the distance appeared and just seemed to dance all thru the air not really in the sky.

My brother lived in Pauling. I‘ve seen that light. Pretty weird!

 

[Ryhole]

The last 4 years, I’ve went archery hunting with my brother in law for elk. He knows the area very well since has has hunted it since he was a kid. this will be my 6th year hunting in this area, so I’m getting to know it pretty well
also. Anyways, we hiked from 3000 feet to about 6200 in one day to get up high for glassing and to setup camp. This was the first time I had been up this far. There was a nasty shale peak that went up maybe another 800 feet and I wanted to check it out because I could see game trails and was pretty set on finding a high country Muley. As we stood there and discussed a game plan, he told me he went up there probably 10-12 years back. He came across an odd stack off rocks. Being bored and taking a break he checked it out. When he moved some of the rocks he said he found an old bag and opened it. It was full of really old infant and toddler clothes along with some toys. He knew they had been there a long time. He said he got a weird feeling and quickly put everything back as he found it. That peak kind of creeps me out every time we get near it now.

 

[Boarmaster]

Back when I was in my mid 20’s I solo hunted in a very remote area of Florida. Pretty swampy area with lots of cypress heads, scattered pine and some clear areas of unimproved cattle pasture.

One evening I was walking around a cypress head. There was a lot of Spanish moss hanging off the tree limbs and it was sort of creepy as it got dusk. I was on my way back to camp for the night. I got the strangest feeling that I was in some sort of danger or I guess just uneasy. I never had got that feeling before that evening so I didnt know what to think about it.

I got back to camp and I still couldn't shake that feeling. I tossed my rifle and duffle in the truck and drove home that night without spending the night. I never had such a feeling ever before or again and I have always been quite comfortable in the outdoors.

 

[aclawrence]

You’ve got to trust your gut. It might have saved your life. You’ll never know.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hunter1212]

When I was just getting into solo backpack hunting a few years back I hiked into an area I knew fairly well about 5 miles in. There an old guard station that my high-school friend had camped at the year before so I just figured I'd camp there, i had been there for several days and didn't make it back until almost dark that night. I fired up my stove and boiled water for my mountain house and as soon as I turned my stove off I heard what sounded like metal clanging together out in the meadow, I was only 18 and never really so hunted and I was freaking out, it sounded like someone walking down the trail clanging a pot and I thought forsur I was gonna see them any second and probably be murdered. After several minutes it went away and I got into my tent fast and tried to fall asleep. After a scary sleepless night I finally got up to make my breakfast happy to be alive, I boiled some water and turned off the stove. I instantly heard the clanking, I realized I had been terrified of the sound of the metal on my stove cooling off

 

[cod007]

I guess you don’t own a flashlight?

Actually, we did NOT have one with us in the back of the truck. We had a dome light attached at the back top of the canopy for tasks on the tailgate and I had installed another dome light above our head in the canopy at the forward of the bed for inside bedtime tasks.
There was NO WAY I was going to light up the back of the truck with the two of us in the bed and it being pitch black outside.
The next day I loosened the screw that held the tailgate latch in place inside the bed and attached a line with a loop on it to slip over the canopy door latch on the inside for when we were in there. As it prevented the canopy window from swinging open more than an inch or so with the line looped on it.
For the next 25 years whenever I/we camped out of that truck we ALWAYS looped that latch that prevented the canopy handle from being pulled open from the outside.

 

[CorbLand]

A little light hearted one to settle the mood.

About a month ago I woke up early to go do some glassing then wanted to hike to see where a trail went and work on getting in shape. I hiked about 1.5 miles in and glassed a spot I wanted until the sun was making it difficult. Packed everything up and headed up the trail farther. I was making decent time, chugging along listening to some podcasts with ear buds in. All of a sudden I was being pulled backwards as if someone had grabbed the top of my pack and yanked me back. At least that is what my brain went to, I turned around throwing hay makers to find out a branch from a bush had wrapped in the handle on the top of my pack. I have no idea why I went straight to someone is grabbing my pack when it happened but it was good to find out I still go for fight when it comes to fight or flight.

 

[CorbLand]

Back when I was in my mid 20’s I solo hunted in a very remote area of Florida. Pretty swampy area with lots of cypress heads, scattered pine and some clear areas of unimproved cattle pasture.

One evening I was walking around a cypress head. There was a lot of Spanish moss hanging off the tree limbs and it was sort of creepy as it got dusk. I was on my way back to camp for the night. I got the strangest feeling that I was in some sort of danger or I guess just uneasy. I never had got that feeling before that evening so I didnt know what to think about it.

I got back to camp and I still couldn't shake that feeling. I tossed my rifle and duffle in the truck and drove home that night without spending the night. I never had such a feeling ever before or again and I have always been quite comfortable in the outdoors.

I had this happen once to me at about the same age as you.

I have a little cot that is about 6 inches tall and is pretty small. I would leave it in my pickup and when I would get back from scouting or checking cameras, I would toss it out next to the pickup and sleep. I had gone in late one night to check cameras and got back around midnight. Put the cot together, ate some food and jumped in my sleeping bag. About 10 minutes later I got the most uneasy feeling. I had done this plenty of times and at least 10 times in this spot. I tried to shake it for about 15 minutes and couldn’t. My mind was racing for those 15 minutes trying to justify what was going on with me and it just kind of went blank for 10 seconds. After those 10 seconds in my head I heard “just leave.” I still have no idea how I fit that cot, still put together in my 01 tundra and drove home with it but I did it all in record time.

I will never know what could of been but all I know is it was not my own voice that told me to “just leave.” There was even a tent setup about 150 yards away from where I had planned to sleep, so it wasnt like I was completely alone.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Reading the last few has reminded me of a story from when I was about 15. I was visiting a friend of mine that I grew up with in a mountain community of Colorado at about 9,000 ft (location withheld so nobody shows up at one my best creepy experience spots).

It was a beautiful September day and my friend's parents had taken us into town to run errands and have lunch. We decided on a whim to walk back to their house instead of ride back with the parents. This was about an 8 mile journey that took us all afternoon, and to shorten our walk at one point we decided to cut across part of a large piece of an old private ranch that as far as we could tell then was unoccupied. There was an old ranch house that looked very run down but was otherwise a wide open valley with dense forest on all sides and perfect looking Elk habitat. As we were ascending an open mountainside through this property we passed closely by an island of Aspens approximately an acre in size. When we got to within about 75 yards of this aspen stand we heard the loudest most blood curdling scream I've ever heard, followed by large branches breaking, and the sound of something large just absolutely thrashing about in there. We stopped walking and stood there for maybe 3 seconds before breaking into a sprint up to the ridge. Once to the ridge we started descending a steep downfall ridden north facing slope at speeds that were unsafe and we are lucky to have not been hurt. We stopped when we had finally reached the dirt county road in the next valley. To this day I remember the scream and the incredible anger and volume. Most vividly though, I still remember not feeling safe at all in broad daylight. It's actually one of the few times I can remember feeling like my life was just threatened, and I could be in real trouble. Not a good feeling at any age. Whatever made the scream was clearly directing it at us as we were talking loudly and walking out in the open and clearly came too close to its Aspen stand. We were only 15 to be sure, but we had grown up exploring the woods, hunting with our dads and encountering bears and other wildlife so we weren't complete outdoor idiots. That area has since been acquired by the county it's in and turned into a popular open space with biking and hiking trails, but back then it was a very seldom if ever visited area.

 

[Capn]

Some good stories in here!

 

[minengr]

I'll share mine. It happened about 20 years ago when I was living in Nevada. I lived in Central Nevada, pretty much the middle of nowhere, so for fun on the weekends I explored the endless number of canyons and trails in that part of the state. On one particular weekend after a couple hours of driving I needed to relieve myself. After taking care of business I noticed a very tall tree that didn't quite look right a couple hundred yards away across the meadow. I got a little bit of a weird vibe looking at the tree and pulled to .243 out of the truck for a better look. Thinking back I don't know if it was the distance or cheap glass, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. However, I thought what the heck and touched off a round into the ground. Next thing I know that tree sort of looks like it explodes and 100+ buzzards take to the sky. Not that weird or creepy, but a first for me.

 

[def90]

Reading the last few has reminded me of a story from when I was about 15. I was visiting a friend of mine that I grew up with in a mountain community of Colorado at about 9,000 ft (location withheld so nobody shows up at one my best creepy experience spots).

It was a beautiful September day and my friend's parents had taken us into town to run errands and have lunch. We decided on a whim to walk back to their house instead of ride back with the parents. This was about an 8 mile journey that took us all afternoon, and to shorten our walk at one point we decided to cut across part of a large piece of an old private ranch that as far as we could tell then was unoccupied. There was an old ranch house that looked very run down but was otherwise a wide open valley with dense forest on all sides and perfect looking Elk habitat. As we were ascending an open mountainside through this property we passed closely by an island of Aspens approximately an acre in size. When we got to within about 75 yards of this aspen stand we heard the loudest most blood curdling scream I've ever heard, followed by large branches breaking, and the sound of something large just absolutely thrashing about in there. We stopped walking and stood there for maybe 3 seconds before breaking into a sprint up to the ridge. Once to the ridge we started descending a steep downfall ridden north facing slope at speeds that were unsafe and we are lucky to have not been hurt. We stopped when we had finally reached the dirt county road in the next valley. To this day I remember the scream and the incredible anger and volume. Most vividly though, I still remember not feeling safe at all in broad daylight. It's actually one of the few times I can remember feeling like my life was just threatened, and I could be in real trouble. Not a good feeling at any age. Whatever made the scream was clearly directing it at us as we were talking loudly and walking out in the open and clearly came too close to its Aspen stand. We were only 15 to be sure, but we had grown up exploring the woods, hunting with our dads and encountering bears and other wildlife so we weren't complete outdoor idiots. That area has since been acquired by the county it's in and turned into a popular open space with biking and hiking trails, but back then it was a very seldom if ever visited area.

September? Scream, large branches breaking, thrashing around.. sounds like you ran in to a bull elk in the peak of the rut.

 

[505Wapiti]

September? Scream, large branches breaking, thrashing around.. sounds like you ran in to a bull elk in the peak of the rut.

That’s the first thing I thought of, LOL.

 

[long hunter]

Years ago my best friend and I were trout fishing in WVA. kind of truck camping, It got late and we found a spot out in the boonies to set camp,this was in the early spring and the weather was turning kind of nasty a rain,sleet,snow kind of thing. So decided a pot of coffee and some crackers,cheese and jerky would suffice for supper and hold us over till breakfast, we also had a huge yellow lab with us (jasper was his name) well got out of the truck to start the coffee and called the dog was sure he had too pee, jasper just set in the truck and growled would not get out, any other time he was the first one out. Well my buddy comes around the truck with a drawn pistol ( we were both carring and had a loaded riot gun in the truck) and the strangest look on his face, I have know this guy since we were 18 years old and served in the Marine Corps together ( he does not get rattled easy) and have been in some tight spots together. So he quietly says get your gun out, while he got the shotgun, then he tells me I got a feeling something is not right here we are leaving, I knew right there it was time too go, ( no questions asked) moved down the road (mountain trail really) about five miles, the dog settled down and went about our business. Needless too say it was a restless night even with moving. The next morning I ask him if he wanted too go back too the spot we were at and recon the area, and he says no hell no, told you it was a bad spot, guess there are places like that about. Just evil spots.