Man I have been glued to this thread since I found it last night. What a treasure chest of reading!
I have a few mountain/backcountry experiences that I'll type up when my laptop is charged (hate typing on my phone). One about an orb, 2 black bear encounters, and a bobcat. For now though, I'd like to comment on animal noises and share a confession.
First, animal noises. When I was 15, my dad and I hiked about 6 miles into this canyon in eastern WA, that the critters move into once they get enough pressure. It's a steep climb on all 3 sides so dosen't get hunted much, even to this day. We'd cold camp in there for a few days at a time during elk season and that's where I heard my first Mtn lion scream. The cat screamed it's ass off for about 15 mins. Sounded like she was 300-500 yards away. I thought it was a banshee or some shit at first. Luckily my dad wasn't perturbed by it so his calmness got me to relax and enjoy sitting in the pitch black dark listening to that unholy sound. If I'd been alone, I probably would've cried for mommy.
Where I live now (NW IL), I have 8 acres on the bluffs above the Mississippi. Got about 10-14 deer, raccoons galore, feral cats, coyotes, bobcats, a mating pair of owls, and 2 generations of foxes, that pass thru nightly. I like to sit on my porch at night and listen to all the weirdo sounds they make. Last winter, I finally heard the sounds a fox makes and geez it's wild. I'd put it in 2nd place for creepiest sounding animals though owls and coons are no slouch either.
Funniest story was when I lived in southern WV. Used to night fish at Sandstone Falls. One night I took a girl I was dating and she was kinda uptight about it since she'd never even camped outdoors before. She was standing in front of my truck--frozen-- while I headed towards the trail. Didn't realize she was terrified until I finally turned a light on her after she didn't follow me and wouldn't respond to me telling her to move her ass. She waved me back to her so I walked over and then she whispered, "What the f**k is that demonic chanting?". I was taken aback by that and asked what the hell she was talking about. She said, "shut up and just listen to it!!!". I listened for a 10 seconds but all I could hear was bullfrogs droning and the occasional shrill sound of tree frogs. Then it hit me....she thought the damn bullfrogs were people chanting in the woods! That was 10+ years ago and I still laugh about it everytime I hear a frog.
On a side note: that girl found half a walnut alongside the river. She asked me what it was and I said it was a fossilized pig snout. I have a dry sense of humor and say shit like that with a dead pan face and voice. I figured she'd know I was BS'ing but I was wrong. She kept it and told people about it. I didn't know that until a few days later. Whoops! That relationship ended not too long after.
Anyways, now the confession. I feel kinda like a schmuck for this but.....I used to screw with people in the woods when I was younger. I've always been quiet and very observant, even as a child, when out in nature. I like to be alone in the wild and usually try to hike far enough into unpopular places that it's unlikely I'll encounter anyone. Thus, when I did encounter people in the mountains/woods, and they were loud or unobservant or throwing trash around, I used to sometimes follow them, make weird sounds, write creepy stuff in the trail dirt in front of them, etc. Sometimes I'd find spots where the acoustics would make my voice hard to pinpoint and I'd make pigeon sounds, monkey screeches, werewolf growls, cat meows, banshee screams, moaning, etc. One time I weaved some sticks together into one of those blair witch deals and left it at the entrance to these litter bugs campsite. Someone told me Bigfoot stacks rocks so I stacked them along trails or close by people's campsites a couple times.
I only did stuff like this maybe a dozen or so times. Never during the hunting season, only during scouting trips or when backcountry camping. Though I have followed (usually side hilling) hunters for couple hundred yards before just to see if they'd kick up any game my way. My point is, I'd never screw with someone's hunt. But when I was in my early 20's and it wasn't hunting season, yeah I'd sometimes screw with people that were too loud, littered, or seemed like they needed a good story to tell when they got back to their Seattle condo. All of this was done in the various mountains of WA.
And yes, I knew I risked getting shot but I was very confident--possibly too confident--in my hiding/ambushing/tiptoeing skills.
Hahaha
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