Creepy experiences in the backcountry

gabenzeke

WKR
Joined
Oct 28, 2015
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1,192
This would have happened in the late nineties. My dad and I decided to duck hunt a marsh not too far from the town he lived in. It was a good spot and late in the season, so we got there real early to get a good spot. As I remember it, nobody else was there. So we walk in a couple hundred yards and proceed tossing out dekes in the dark. We weren't talking initially but both noted the lack of sound coming from the refuge, which we know is loaded with ducks and geese. There is a smaller Marsh straight south about two miles and birds generally fly between the two places in the morning. As we were finishing with decoys I notice a point of light going in a huge square pattern off in the distance....I figure above that other Marsh. Pointed it out to my dad and said why would someone be up lighting fireworks today, at 4 am? We kind of shrug but continue to watch it. This light was like a sparkler in the dark. It was a point of light changing color from blue, to yellow, to green and had a kind of trailing effect like someone writing a letter with a sparkler in the dark. Then it switched to doing a triangle shape and changing from red to pink to purple. It sped up and continued doing this for what seemed like forever but was probably no more than a minute or two. Then it just got dark again. We just kind of said that was weird and went to grass in a couple spots on shore. We get sat down to wait for daylight and notice off in the horizon to our east the entire horizon had a similar point of light alternating the reddish colors, then the bluish colors, then back again. It would light up and shut off, then move to another spot and flash and so on and so on to make a checkerboard pattern. It was doing this at a crazy speed and working it's way back and forth to the west and toward us. It moved faster and faster until it was seemingly just across the pond and it suddenly stopped. It was completely dark for a second and then it was like a super bright flash of white light lit up the whole world like an asteroid and flew over our head from east to west. Never made a sound the entire time. The weird thing about this whole story is that at the time, we didn't really say anything to each other. It was weird to say the least, you'd think we would have been talking about it. In fact, we never said a thing about it (even though I still think about it) until a couple years ago after a few drinks on Christmas. We both recall it the same way. And both find it weird how non chalantly we acted after it. I have no idea what that was. I didn't see a ship or aliens or something. It definitely wasn't northern lights, I have seen those. But I can't explain it.

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Anschutz

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 19, 2017
Messages
253
Location
Fairbanks, AK
The funny one: We were camping once in the North GA Mountains (Tearbritches Trail Area) when I was a kid. It was raining so we had a tarp over our tents and brought my little sister's stroller under. Well all of a sudden in the middle of the night, our German Shepherd is going crazy. One of those I'm going to sound as big as I can, don't come any closer barks. My dad grabs his 44 and eases the tent door open and sees a large black shadow against the night sky. As he's half growing a tail and half pointing his revolver, he realizes that he was about to send that stroller to the promised land.

Also in the same general area my dad, brother, and I were fishing along a creek off trail. We were going around a large cliff area and encountered a few fellas bushwhacking back through there. Something about the conversation made my dad feel uneasy and we backtracked out of there with him covering out six. Our guess is they were probably growing weed up in the pines.

I've heard weird sounds but nothing half as creepy as some of these. You guys hunting the southern border have some interesting ones.

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Haggin

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 10, 2020
Messages
147
Location
Nebraska
Not really backcountry, since we were close to the house.

Dad and I were ice fishing recently in North Central SD. folks had bought a new house on a slough (slew) that connected to a larger lake. It was late, wind was calm and we had what sounds like footsteps slowly approaching the shack (think - pop up hub style). There’s no public access to the slough we’re on except for the larger lake and we’re about two miles from that point, so in our minds it’s either Bigfoot or some weirdo out for a stroll.

Dad yells and tells them to find another spot, no response. We try to look out the windows but with the heat running inside and the very cold air outside they’re frosted over. All we can hear is constat slow crunching of the snow going around the shack, then moving away, then coming close again. Tired of the shenanigans, we finally unzip the door (loosing all the heat) and see a juvenile moose standing there looking at us with a WTF gaze as light pours out into the darkness. He grunts unsatisfied that there no food and wander off.

a
 

Pdzoller

WKR
Joined
Feb 27, 2021
Messages
376
Location
Oregon
I got piles of stories but I don’t mention most of them due to the BS that comes with.

Spring of 2020, early May. I was bear hunting in a new area and hiking up a trail. There had been some traffic from the week before that I could see. I had made it around a mile when I distinctly heard a little kid sobbing the word mom. I froze, It was barely first light and there were no cars at the trailhead. First thought was a cat or something worse. (I read far too much of this crap) I thought about leaving but also thought, what if a kid and his mom went out and something happened?I called out several times but no response. Must have been an animal I thought.

I continued working my way up the trail, chuckling at myself and thinking about how paranoid I am. I hadn’t made it fifty yards when I heard it again but louder! “Mom”
I immediately started walking towards the sound and yelling that I was on my way and to wave their arms because I can’t see them! I stopped after maybe another fifty yards to listen. I hadn’t heard anything back in response? It has to be a cat. I decide to wait and watch for a while.

About thirty minutes go by and nothing. I’m thinking about how I need to get going and how stupid I am following something around like that. “Mommmm” Again, my blood ran cold! It was very close and it sounded just like a little kid. I yell again and slowly walk ahead. I put my back against a tree and listen. Maybe another half hour goes by. Then, right above me, “Mom” I dropped while pointing my rifle straight above me. I was shaking so bad. I can’t see anything! I just keep looking and then the slightest breeze comes through and again “Mom”. It was a small tree leaning into the tree I had leaned against. Every time the wind blew it would make the sound.

Scared the crap out of me.
 

Pdzoller

WKR
Joined
Feb 27, 2021
Messages
376
Location
Oregon
At around 2am last night in a 3 man Big Agnes the thunderstorm all the sudden sounded different. The wind was still whipping the tent around and the rain was falling just as hard, but it sounded like a freight train was coming across the plains. Like, roaring and vibrating.

IDK if it was a small tornado or straight line winds but it certainly got my attention.
I totally had a similar experience up in a wilderness area. When we heard it we just sat there waiting for a monster of a wind gust but nothing happened. I talked with a guy that said sometimes the jet stream dips closer to the ground and maybe that’s what we heard? We definitely felt it vibrate the ground.
 

Fatcamp

WKR
Joined
May 31, 2017
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5,815
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Sodak
I totally had a similar experience up in a wilderness area. When we heard it we just sat there waiting for a monster of a wind gust but nothing happened. I talked with a guy that said sometimes the jet stream dips closer to the ground and maybe that’s what we heard? We definitely felt it vibrate the ground.

Ya, whatever it was once is enough for me. 😃
 

Carpenterant

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 4, 2020
Messages
213
I was camping about a half a mile off of a forest road. Not super remote but not many people going that far back that particular road. I was archery deer hunting and had seen some black bears on a camera I set up. In the middle of the night I hear some sort of huffing right outside of my tent. I grabbed my pistol and lay there trembling listening to this huffing and shuffling noise. I finally muster the courage to open the tent door a crack and there’s a horse right next to my tent sniffing around. I was there a few nights and that horse came by the tent every night sniffing around.
 

Pdzoller

WKR
Joined
Feb 27, 2021
Messages
376
Location
Oregon
I posted this on another thread a little while ago.

I always try to lean towards a logical explanation. A couple years ago my hunting partner and I were doing some bear hunting about six miles in and a long way off trail. He slept in a hammock and I was in a tent. I woke up to him screaming at something to get the F*** out of here and then the sound of him running off into the woods. I immediately thought about how ballsy he was to chase something off into the dark like that. Then he yelled at me from his sleeping spot to get out there with my pistol and light. I was out there in seconds and he was tangled in his mummy bag and hammock, rifle in hand and ghost white. “There was someone standing over me and I saw their silhouette. They ran when I yelled.” This was like 2am and we never found any trace of anyone the next day.

I know what I heard definitely was running on two legs.

My buddy used to be the kind of guy that did a bunch of solo backpacking but now he won’t go into the woods overnight alone.
 

quaggy25

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 18, 2021
Messages
117
To get to the deer stand I sit in I have to walk through a small path in the woods from the drive I park on and then turn on to the field edge lining the woods. I walk the field probably 100 yards or so before I turn back into the woods and walk in probably 40 yards to the stand.

As I turned on to the field I hear steps just inside the woods. Definitely something with 4 legs. Pitch black so turn on my head lamp and look. Don’t see a thing. Thinking my head is playing tricks on me. Start walking again and what ever it is starts walking as well. Step for step. Stop look again. Nothing. This went on for about 50 yards and then it stopped. I kept going to my stand not looking back but kept a hand on my side arm (was bow hunting at the time). Didn’t hear it again. Sat all morning and saw nothing.

Went in for some lunch and it started snowing around that time. Came back out around 3:00 and as I start walking through the path to the field I notice there are bear tracks along the path and then veer off into the woods.

Not sure if it was the bear pacing me or what but definitely made my walk out of my stand uneasy that evening after dark. We do have some wolves in the area but they are a rare sight. That’s always in the back of my mind.
 

Bratch

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 30, 2021
Messages
140
These aren’t back county or hunting and are more funny than creepy but they kind of fit.

We rescued a German Shepherd a couple years ago. He will sit in front of the couch and stare up at the wall and ceiling behind it, looking completely past us. I jokingly tell my wife he is watching the ghost, she doesn’t find it funny

Back in high school some buddies found an old abandoned house by the lake. They’d talk the place up; “it’s haunted “, “someone was murdered in it”, etc and convince a group to go out there on the weekend. The day of the “tour” a few guys would get dropped off in the daylight to stage it with creepiness and to hide in and around the house. After dark the tour group would show up and start looking around. They’d find the stage props and just have the general creepy feeling of an old abandoned house in the woods. After a while the guys hiding would start messing around; knocking on walls, opening doors etc. Everyone would look around to find who was missing from the group doing it but no one would be. Once everyone was accounted for and it kept happening people would start to freak out. Good fun.
 

Cowbell

WKR
Joined
Jul 21, 2016
Messages
360
A few years ago, I was bow hunting the edge of a bean field in central Oklahoma. First night of the season that I had made it out and the first time I had hunted this location. 20 min before dark I have several does feed right out of the woods underneath my stand. They continue to feed right up until dark and I of course am listening for a buck to crunch leaves behind them. Right as it gets almost too dark to shoot, I notice the does get super nervous just suddenly at something across the field. We all know this is normal for a group of does but they had been chill the entire 20 minutes or so I had watched them. I'm looking around for a buck or maybe a coyote. After 30 seconds or so, the does completely lose it and haul out of there. Just as I'm thinking "man that is weird", I see a brown figure leaping from the back corner of this 60 acre field and clearing 3-4 rows of beans at a time. My mind is wondering how in the world a coyote could do that as it's heading straight towards where the does ran into the woods. As the figure crossed closest to me at probably 80 yards, I realized that it was a long tailed cat. I had never seen one in person at this time abd they are extremely rare in that area. I went from casually thinking it was a coyote to wondering how the heck was I gonna get back to my truck in the dark. I decided to carry a firearm while archery hunting after that day.
 
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