Creepy experiences in the backcountry

[TX_Diver]

Cool story. It is very possible that she had detected a predator such as a mountain lion in the close proximity. Deer will often get close to humans when being pursued by a mountain lion. When the lion gets close enough to smell the human scent they will usually retreat. Pretty common out here in the West.

Hmmm… I have some selfies with a fork that wouldn’t leave me alone a few years ago… I’m pretty sure I’ve been stalked by a lion before but it didn’t cross my mind when I was snapping pics with that Buck…

 

[TX_Diver]

Look closer

View attachment 730262

Anyone else have super troopers in their head??

“Enhance…”

 

[MuleDeerMike]

Whenever I have those uneasy feelings I send a pin to my wife on the inreach. There’s two places I won’t go alone or stay the night anymore. You can feel the change at both areas. I’ve had some odd coincidences happen at those places. Two stories I’ve shared earlier on this thread were from these places. We set solar trail cameras at one location and didn’t touch them for a year. One camera just quit working within a week, the other two caught lots of game and lots of nothing pictures but one got one picture that is very odd. The figure shouldn’t be there because there’s a cliff. I’m sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation. View attachment 730069View attachment 730070

This is pareidolia. There's nothing there, IMO...

 

[Pdzoller]

This is pareidolia. There's nothing there, IMO...

That is way too logical for this thread.

 

[oliveradamx]

I'm sure it's just my brain playing with me, but every time I'm alone at night in the woods, I hear footsteps, growls, and whatever, even though I'm pretty sure there's no one around.

 

[IDVortex]

I was up in the Oregon Cascades with two of my cousins during the High Cascade buck season. We were spiked out on a little butte that overlooked a massive burn. We had spent a couple days glassing with nothing to show for our efforts. It was ridiculously hot that year and animals were holding tight until absolute dark.

On the third night I was awakened by wolves howling on the ridge a couple miles away. Mind you, ODFW claims no wolves live in this area at the time. Regardless, I was pretty excited since it was the first time I’d heard them.

I got out of my tent and sat on my little chair where we had been glassing from. It was a beautiful night with the slightest orange haze from distant fires that is typical for this time of year.

I sat admiring the landscape in the moonlight and faint blue of the upcoming dawn. As I sat I noticed a little white light down in a bowl below us. It was odd. The only thing in the bowl was a deep pile of blow downs. I’m talking nearly impassible, extremely dangerous, half burned blow downs. The bowl was maybe a half mile from our camp and fairly visible due to the ambient light.

The little light kept moving around erratically and looked to be floating over the blowdown timber that littered the area. As I watched it moving around I spotted two more little white lights in different areas of the burn and they to looked to be floating around erratically over areas I would deem nearly impossible to traverse in the day, let alone partial darkness.

I watched them slowly bob around until dawn when they disappeared with the arrival of daylight. I was able to glass them with my binoculars but they were literally just little, dim, white floating lights. My only thought about what it could be was maybe fireflies? As I’ve never seen fireflies I definitely don’t have any experience to compare them. Also, supposedly we don’t have fireflies in Oregon but supposedly we didn’t have wolves in the area either…

I remember ODFW claiming there was no wolves around Santiam pass years ago even though multiple people spotted them....

 

[Wiley coyote]

Where I used to live I would explore all over looking for places to metal detect for gold. One day I went to sunny hill to poke around the North fork as it looked real good on the satellite. From the time I reached where I intended to park I had an uneasy feeling. I had planned on sniping, which means my face would be in the water and I would be extremely vulnerable. I walked the creek and headed back to my truck. I just couldn't shake the feeling of danger. I never went back. I later learned that hill was a boundary the Indians would not let the white men cross. A few notable battles were fought there.

Quite a few years ago my dad and his friend were hunting for deer. My dad was in a thicket of large valley oaks and his friend was in a deer stand in a lone valley oaks in the middle of a field. While they were waiting a hog walked into the field and my dad shot it. He stood up and started walking towards his kill when the giant valley oak he was sitting under exploded and completely collapsed, the chair he had brought was flattened. His friend didn't see him move and was sure my dad was dead. My dad said when his friend ran up to him balling his eyes out he had to grab him to assure himself he wasn't looking at a ghost.

 

[Pdzoller]

I remember ODFW claiming there was no wolves around Santiam pass years ago even though multiple people spotted them....

Pretty sure they are going to be guilty of wiping out the last remnants of the native subspecies via the introduction of the non-native species and interbreeding. I’d be interested to see some independent genetic testing of the current populations in the Cascades vs DNA collected from old pelts from the area.

 

[MuleDeerMike]

That is way too logical for this thread.

Don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of this thread. I've been following since day 1 and don't want to discourage anyone from sharing as I have read and enjoy all the stories that have been posted. But when pictures are posted, you gotta call it as you see it. I live in the foothills of the cascades in WA state where if you go 5 minutes east of my house you have nothing but wilderness until you hit the desert of Eastern WA. I've had some weird shit go on in my life.

Anyways, keep the stories coming fellas!

 

[Pharmseller]

I remember ODFW claiming there was no wolves around Santiam pass years ago even though multiple people spotted them....

Does that mean we can shoot them as coyotes and not get in trouble?

Asking for a friend.

 

[IDVortex]

Does that mean we can shoot them as coyotes and not get in trouble?

Asking for a friend.

Take a picture of them first and ask ODFW thinks if they're a coyote or not.

 

[505Wapiti]

More creepy stories, please and thank you!

 

[gwtravis]

I'm sure it's just my brain playing with me, but every time I'm alone at night in the woods, I hear footsteps, growls, and whatever, even though I'm pretty sure there's no one around.

Growls and whatever, probably Miley Cyrus. Footsteps are always mice or moose,

 

[gwtravis]

More creepy stories, please and thank you!

View attachment 731028

Any pics from other angles? I think that’s a deceptive 250. Those ears are tiny; I’d have to pass and hope to see it next year

 

[ODB]

Yeah, the Bradys figured that out in Hawaii.




P

And just like that I'm 10 again....

 

[ODB]

Alright, alright, I'm finally going to cave and tell this story (because I love this thread and this was my creepiest experience ever). 20 years ago I decided to solo hike into a remote area in Idaho to archery hunt for a few days. Tough, 6-hour hike to get to this location (on-trail with elevation for a four miles then off-trail for another two miles, climbing uphill with downhill growing alders, etc.), which I was up for because I knew the gig from hiking in there without a pack on previously. Found a flat spot and pitched a solo tent with high hopes for the next few days of hunting. I wandered around the tent after setting up and spent a few minutes at a nearby glassing spot with no unusual feelings or thoughts other than, "Man, this is going to be great." I had dinner and turned in with high hopes for the next few days. About 1:00 A.M., I woke up with the same feeling of absolute dead/terror that gulfofmexicoflyfishing described in post #1,776. I was used to being in the backcountry solo and had probably spent a few hundred nights in a tent by myself in remote places at that time. This feeling caused every hair on my body to stand on end and there was no doubt I was fully alert with a full dump of adrenalin to boot. It was a new moon and I got out of the tent (without turning on a light) to take a leak. I did some deep breathing to force this sentiment to subside and after staying up for about 20 minutes, I dismissed the whole thing as a bad dream (that I was unable to recall). After lying awake for a period of time, I was finally able to fall back to sleep. Some unknown period of time later, I was again awoken by an even stronger feeling of dread/terror, which I did not believe to be possible. I swear, if I had been anywhere other than this hell-hole, I'd have left everything behind and run for the truck. That's how powerful this feeling of impending doom was - incomprehensible as I sit here typing today. This time, I didn't try to do anything to suppress the feeling. Instead, I turned on my headlamp, pulled on my clothes, grabbed my bow and made my way to the glassing spot I had visited earlier. I recall I arrived there about 3:00 A.M. because I checked my watch. I sat there on that high spot until it got fully light. There was no way I was going to close my eyes again or try to get back to sleep that night. After the sun was up, I wandered back to my camping spot. About 100 yards out, I slowed to a very controlled pace in an effort to determine if I was able to find a cat or bear track, to which I could attribute this event. Nothing! I was rummy from being awake for what felt like all night, but I am confident I didn't miss a track on the way to my tent. I wish I could say that I saw something physical that I could attribute to this experience, but no. I half-heartedly hunted part of the day but had already decided that I was getting the hell out of that location before dark. Seriously, I've never before nor ever since had such an experience. I screwed myself out of a few days of hunting, but I truly felt happy to be alive - it was that intense. And, I've never been back to that location to this day.

Did your ears buzz?

 

[7mm-08]

Did your ears buzz?

No, I have no recollection of any sounds at all. But I'm curious to know if there is some sort of phenomenon, which might cause this to occur?

 

[tony]

Anyone else have super troopers in their head??

“Enhance…”View attachment 730342

Littering And..........
Meow!

 

[ODB]

No, I have no recollection of any sounds at all. But I'm curious to know if there is some sort of phenomenon, which might cause this to occur?

Dunno. But I've felt a sense kind of like you describe, I guess call it mega fight/flight/emergency/some shit's not right and I can't figure it out/reptile brain type of thing and for lack of a better phrase my ears go buzzy/fuzzy and I feel 'detached.' Like "I'm" not the one in control. Freaky stuff.


I remember a moment one night in Kenya where I was having an awful nightmare and got that feeling, woke up, opened my eyes, and the dream still played... now that was some shit... I had to shake myself out of that dream.

 

[IDVortex]

Taking my wife backpacking first time ever in her life camping like this. This is not a thread I have her read.