Creepy experiences in the backcountry

bigbassin

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 18, 2022
Messages
106
Tried spot and stalking some hogs this weekend. Pretty sure I was within 20 yards, just on the other side of a palmetto thicket.

Took a step hunched over down a trail leading into the palmettos and about stepped on some birds that flushed straight up into my face. That got the blood flowing
 

505Wapiti

WKR
Joined
May 11, 2020
Messages
456
Tried spot and stalking some hogs this weekend. Pretty sure I was within 20 yards, just on the other side of a palmetto thicket.

Took a step hunched over down a trail leading into the palmettos and about stepped on some birds that flushed straight up into my face. That got the blood flowing
That has potential to create a need for sacrificing a sock.
 

BBob

WKR
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
3,623
Location
Southern AZ
We’re all worried about bears, wolves, and lions. It’s the friggin owls we gotta watch out for!
You got that right. I killed a buck back in the 90's up high in the Ruby's and overnighted up on a ridge under a juniper. I woke up and needed to roll over off my hip that was killing me and something seemed to be fluttering above my head. Grabbed my headlamp and flipped it on only to about have a heart attack with a giant owl hovering over my head at arms reach. I scrunched deeper under that little tree after that!
 

Macro

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 3, 2021
Messages
116
Location
WV
My brother once saw a giant wolf, So big you'll think it was a black bear. It looked at him and walked pass. He has never been in the woods alone since then.
 

Sturgeon

WKR
Joined
Dec 11, 2017
Messages
495
Location
WI
About 12 years ago my sister and I were camping outside of Moab. Hanging out by the fire all of a sudden we start seeing these lights floating across the sky. No roads back there so they are not cars lights. Just keep seeing one every half hour for the rest of the night. A couple years later I watch Hangover 2 and realize people were setting off floating lanterns and they weren’t some type of alien spacecrafts.
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2023
Messages
11
The only thing worse than hearing banjos in the woods is hearing electronic music lol.

Hog hunting a WMA I went back in there DEEP (for Florida standards) and was about 1.5 miles back. Crossed a swamp, went across a 100’ wide knee deep, grassy, black water river (think prime gator habitat), crossed some more swamp.

Find a tree dropping persimmons with sign all around, find a comfortable tree to sit against, and think how I probably have the place all to myself considering everything I had to cross to get there.

Then the EDM music starts blaring, had to be within 100 yards of me. I’m pissed, but also impressed because of the logistics and dedication it would have taken to get it out there. Sounded louder than double 15 subs, no clue how they dragged it that far back and across the river.

Music gets closer, until I can hear people screaming over it. Music turns off and sounds like about 3 people are moving pretty close to me but not talking.

Music turns on again after about 10 seconds, I hightailed it out of there circling way around.

Very weird deal, most likely just some weird folks throwing a weird party. And if that is the case, while I didn’t appreciate it, there’s a chance they didn’t see me and they have just as much right to be on public land.

But my gut was really leaning towards something was off. I didn’t see any reason to argue it.
Ive also pushed myself to the backside of some remote WMA's in Florida just to find a bunch of bubbas partying in their airboats....... I need an airboat :)
 
Joined
Apr 29, 2020
Messages
640
Location
MI
About a decade ago, I went looking for deer sheds in a new place here in NE Oregon. I had a pretty good day and picked up a few buck horns. As a chronic sufferer from next-ridge-itis, I was still a few miles from my truck as it was getting dark. I had stupidly left my headlight in the truck, so I knew it was going to be a long evening fumbling in the snow and deadfall timber.

Right at dark, I heard a wolf howl in the bottom of the canyon maybe 3/4 mile directly downhill (big country). I thought to myself “well that’s pretty cool,” then heard another respond a few hundred yards closer. I was really enjoying the experience until another responded ~100yd behind me in the pitch black timber with a much deeper, gut-wrenching howl.

After a moment of silence, the surrounding area ignited with howls in every which direction. No longer really enjoying the experience, I unstrapped a 4pt shed to protect myself, and began the trek towards my truck—which was right in line with the source of the deep, commanding howl.

So off I go, in the pitch black timber, in a remote area I had never been before, with nothing but a 60” shed to protect myself. Meanwhile the wolves were communicating back and forth, until the alpha would howl and shut them up momentarily with the eeriest howl you can imagine. This continues as I make my way through the woods, however every time the alpha would howl it was still ~100yd behind me. After this happens a few times, I get a solid idea of what is taking place—it’s following me. All I can do is keep hiking.

After a while, I make it back to a trail, and scoot pretty quickly back to my truck. Upon reviewing google Earth later that night and identifying landmarks, I determined that the wolf stayed right behind me for ~2.5 miles as I fumbled my way in a V-shaped line back to my truck. The next day and subsequent weekends, I went back (properly armed) and counted at least 10 wolves in that pack, and was able to identify the alpha based on his howl—a big old gray colored one.

I’ve had cats creep up on me at night, had my share of supernatural experiences (none backcountry related, thankfully), but nothing will make a guy feel more vulnerable than walking through the pitch black woods, without a headlight, without a side-arm, not really knowing where he’s going (pre OnX or GPS for me), and being followed by the alpha wolf. Needless to say, I now always carry a headlight, batteries, and some form of protection on me at all times.
Sounds like he was escorting you out of his territory
 
Joined
Jul 1, 2015
Messages
1,098
Location
Colo Spgs
Spill it! Can't just leave us hanging like that!;)

I think it was the summer of 1999. Rode horses back into the wilderness on the NE corner of Yellowstone Ntl Park to fish Crandall Creek (sunlight basin area) with my dad’s buddy that lived in Cody. It was bad enough I was scared to death of grizzlies in the area and lying wide awake next to the camp fire, but then next thing while gazing up at the stars, we spotted them.

Saw a couple shooting stars going straight across horizon. Occasional satellite moving too. But then we spotted I think 2 or 3 objects beyond the atmosphere traveling back and forth repeatedly and changing directions. It appeared like their route was like a box. They weren’t doing circles but were outlining a box with sharp corners when they traveled. All 2 or 3 of them did this for a few minutes.

And this wasn’t over a vast area of space. When looking up from the ground they only appeared to be moving within a few feet of where they originally were. You didn’t need to move your eyes much at all to watch the movement is what I’m saying. But you could tell it wasn’t airplanes because of how faint they were. They didn’t have blinking lights. They looked exactly like a star with faint light but they were moving. They blended in with the either stars except that they were moving. This went on for a few minutes and then they just either stopped moving or disappeared (can’t rem). But they definitely didn’t jet off across the horizon.

Every time my dad and I go hunting or fishing out west, he brings that up when we are star gazing at night.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Blowdowner

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Messages
175
I think it was the summer of 1999. Rode horses back into the wilderness on the NE corner of Yellowstone Ntl Park to fish Crandall Creek (sunlight basin area) with my dad’s buddy that lived in Cody. It was bad enough I was scared to death of grizzlies in the area and lying wide awake next to the camp fire, but then next thing while gazing up at the stars, we spotted them.

Saw a couple shooting stars going straight across horizon. Occasional satellite moving too. But then we spotted I think 2 or 3 objects beyond the atmosphere traveling back and forth repeatedly and changing directions. It appeared like their route was like a box. They weren’t doing circles but were outlining a box with sharp corners when they traveled. All 2 or 3 of them did this for a few minutes.

And this wasn’t over a vast area of space. When looking up from the ground they only appeared to be moving within a few feet of where they originally were. You didn’t need to move your eyes much at all to watch the movement is what I’m saying. But you could tell it wasn’t airplanes because of how faint they were. They didn’t have blinking lights. They looked exactly like a star with faint light but they were moving. They blended in with the either stars except that they were moving. This went on for a few minutes and then they just either stopped moving or disappeared (can’t rem). But they definitely didn’t jet off across the horizon.

Every time my dad and I go hunting or fishing out west, he brings that up when we are star gazing at night.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Shooting star traveling AWAY from earth? Kind of corkscrewing as it goes? Or was it really square?
 
Top