Creepy experiences in the backcountry

Not a backcountry story but it’s a creepy one. I was young at the time but I remember fishing with my father in Southern California. While out fishing we heard a lady screaming for help, we cruised over to her row boat and apparently her boyfriend jumped in the water after the oars. Dude never re surfaced. They found his body about 4 days later. This happened in Southern California in the late 90s.
 
My buddy and I hiked in on our first elk hunt, going in about 5 miles. We got off course navigating in. Wound up in a dark part of an aspen grove with a ton of animal skulls and bones. We continued on down, as we didn't want to camp in a bear/cat neighborhood. The rain started up and we decided camp would be where we are. The trail we were on was somewhat overgrown and not used much. We decided to go 100 yards off to setup the tent. I fell asleep to rain, followed by snow. Around 2am I awoke to a bright light from outside the tent. I woke my buddy and said "you see that light" he said " that is the moon you dumbass". I agreed and went back to sleep. We woke up at 5am to start a hike to a glassing spot. As I opened the tent, i noticed there were boot prints off the trail and up to our tent in the fresh snow. As we hiked up the prints went back to the trail and then up some nasty oak brush off trail. The visibilty was low and it was super quiet. Never heard anything crashing through the oak brush. We hunted the next seven days and never saw another person. We did move our tent the next afternoon.....😀
 
Whaledriver said:
My buddy and I hiked in on our first elk hunt, going in about 5 miles. We got off course navigating in. Wound up in a dark part of an aspen grove with a ton of animal skulls and bones. We continued on down, as we didn't want to camp in a bear/cat neighborhood. The rain started up and we decided camp would be where we are. The trail we were on was somewhat overgrown and not used much. We decided to go 100 yards off to setup the tent. I fell asleep to rain, followed by snow. Around 2am I awoke to a bright light from outside the tent. I woke my buddy and said "you see that light" he said " that is the moon you dumbass". I agreed and went back to sleep. We woke up at 5am to start a hike to a glassing spot. As I opened the tent, i noticed there were boot prints off the trail and up to our tent in the fresh snow. As we hiked up the prints went back to the trail and then up some nasty oak brush off trail. The visibilty was low and it was super quiet. Never heard anything crashing through the oak brush. We hunted the next seven days and never saw another person. We did move our tent the next afternoon.....😀
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Must be something about elk hunting ( probably has more to do with where it’s done ) that lends itself to creepiness!
 
I would have to say my worst and scariest backcountry experience was in Pine Creek.

The last rappel in Pine Creek, notorious for injury due to lack of judgement and skill, decided to give me a run for my money. Luckily I a slight idea of what I was doing so I had safeties in place and didn't get seriously injured and now one below was injured.

I was rigged up, ready to rappel the drop first and the group that was ahead of us had moved on down the canyon.

If you don't know what the last rappel is like in Pine Creek then here ya go. It's a 100ft rappel and about 80 ft of it is free hanging. To get onto the rappel you have to be rigged up on the rope, feet dangling over the edge, and swing out over the 100ft drop before you are actually on the rope. There is no walking onto this rappel or easing into it. Just swing your butt over this 100ft void and then you're good to go.

It's not unusual to have weird starts like this in canyoneering, and this one isn't really that weird as I've gone into bigger and more advanced canyons.

Well I was all set up to go and I started to work my courage up (first time I had been in Pine Creek) to swing out over the void. As I was getting ready I realized there was a ledge I could stand up on and that would help me be more comfortable. Great Idea!

I stood up and got all my weight on this ledge.

Immediately after I stood up the whole ledge gave out from under my feet.

I fell about 4 feet before my self belay stopped me. I'm pretty I kept my brake hand firm, but I know the self belay worked because I had to get it lose before continuing.

I was fine, but I remember looking at my friend and his facing looking like, "Keith is dead!" Just sheer terror.

I felt it too. I was like, "Get me the F off this rock."

It was terrifying and I'm so glad I learned all the techniques I had learned, because they kept me safe.
 
great thread so far!

In the late '80's my dad and a friend with mules got a forest service contract to cut out 18 miles of trail with several lakes along the way.
It must have been May because it was a warm, sunny T-shirt day going in. We stopped and a lake about half way for the night.
Dad found a small tree broke off about 5 feet high but still attached. This made a perfect lean-to, he threw a sheet of plastic over it making a open ended shelter just big enough for both of us. his friend slept with the mules maybe 100 yards away.
we woke up to 6" of snow and a BIG set of cougar tracks that came down the trail, circled our open tent within arms reach and on down the trail...


Several years later, my dad, brother and myself were hiking up a bermed road in about 12" of snow. we had about a mile to go to get to a clear-cut we wanted to hunt. we hadn't gone far when I got the feeling we we're being followed on our right side. I kept looking back, stopping and watching for movement and listening but never caught anything.
at the top of the incline, the road splits. We went left, glassed the cut, looped up in some timber and back out the way we came. at the split in the road, over our tracks was big set of lion tracks came out of the trees and was forced to cross the road to continue in the direction we went.

When that 6th sense goes off it's unnerving! When you get confirmation it's REALLY unnerving!!

I'm not scared of cats, I carry a pistol out of respect though!
 
go_deep said:
"I'm not scared of cats, I carry a pistol out of respect though!"

That's one of the funniest damn quotes I've ever heard, but the most truest statement ever made!
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lol
I just want to have the upper hand if I can help it.
shot this one at 70 yds following my wife and I deer hunting down a gated road last November.
 

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Not scary per se, but the most scared I’ve ever been hands down. It was around November of 2000-2001. I was about 7 or so at the time. We were at a deer camp off of lake blackshear in GA. There were several older broken down cars that were scattered around the property on higher ground. The cars were parked there during the flood of ‘94 so they wouldn’t ruin and just left for whatever reason. The cars were over grown with briars and old grapevines (you get the picture, real creepy looking to a 7 year old). The old guys at camp always joked to us kids that an old man lived in those cars.

Fast forward to around lunch after a morning hunt we would ride side by sides around on the roads and just look at the property (huge piece of land 8k acres) so it’s easy to get turned around as kids. My uncle was driving my cousin and I around with the plan of maybe killing a doe or that’s what they told us. We came around the bend to a small food plot and there is the creepiest looking old car parked off in the woods on an old fire break. We drove past the car and I didn’t even look into it for fear of seeing the “old man” who lived in there. We made it about 50 yards past the car when the Polaris ranger started “stalling out”. We came to a stand still and the ranger wouldn’t start. I looked back and the car door was open. My heart hit my toes. My uncle made the statement “wasnt the door closed when we went by” to make myself feel better I stated that I thought it was, my cousin said the same. We were both white as a ghost. I then turned around and looked back at the car to see the most horrifying image I have ever seen. A man dressed in a huge black sheet stumbling his was toward the ranger. We both screamed at my uncle to start the ranger. As the man approached my uncle started the ranger and sped away. Back at camp we told the story to the older guys with tears streaming down our faces. Seriously terrified. The old guys laughed and confessed the prank they played on us.it was the land owner dressed up in a old black sheet.
Alot of the older guys are no longer with us at camp anymore but my papa loves to tell that story everytime we go to that camp. He especially loves to tell the part about how I was sound asleep on the way home in the passenger seat with tears rolling down my face. I’ll never forget that.
 
Tegr0429 said:
Not scary per se, but the most scared I’ve ever been hands down. It was around November of 2000-2001. I was about 7 or so at the time. We were at a deer camp off of lake blackshear in GA. There were several older broken down cars that were scattered around the property on higher ground. The cars were parked there during the flood of ‘94 so they wouldn’t ruin and just left for whatever reason. The cars were over grown with briars and old grapevines (you get the picture, real creepy looking to a 7 year old). The old guys at camp always joked to us kids that an old man lived in those cars.

Fast forward to around lunch after a morning hunt we would ride side by sides around on the roads and just look at the property (huge piece of land 8k acres) so it’s easy to get turned around as kids. My uncle was driving my cousin and I around with the plan of maybe killing a doe or that’s what they told us. We came around the bend to a small food plot and there is the creepiest looking old car parked off in the woods on an old fire break. We drove past the car and I didn’t even look into it for fear of seeing the “old man” who lived in there. We made it about 50 yards past the car when the Polaris ranger started “stalling out”. We came to a stand still and the ranger wouldn’t start. I looked back and the car door was open. My heart hit my toes. My uncle made the statement “wasnt the door closed when we went by” to make myself feel better I stated that I thought it was, my cousin said the same. We were both white as a ghost. I then turned around and looked back at the car to see the most horrifying image I have ever seen. A man dressed in a huge black sheet stumbling his was toward the ranger. We both screamed at my uncle to start the ranger. As the man approached my uncle started the ranger and sped away. Back at camp we told the story to the older guys with tears streaming down our faces. Seriously terrified. The old guys laughed and confessed the prank they played on us.it was the land owner dressed up in a old black sheet.
Alot of the older guys are no longer with us at camp anymore but my papa loves to tell that story everytime we go to that camp. He especially loves to tell the part about how I was sound asleep on the way home in the passenger seat with tears rolling down my face. I’ll never forget that.
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That is great!! Those are the kinds of memories you will carry with you all your days!
 
longrangelead said:
lol
I just want to have the upper hand if I can help it.
shot this one at 70 yds following my wife and I deer hunting down a gated road last November.
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That looks like a juvenile. Male or female? Looks female? What did you shoot it with? And how often do you run into these up your way? @longangelead
 
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jaredg said:
That looks like a juvenile. Male or female? Looks female? What did you shoot it with? And how often do you run into these up your way? @longangelead
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yep, yearling male. about 90lb live weight. caught him peeking around a corner of the road behind us. hit him between the front legs w/243, 85gr TSX @2800 fps.
I'm in Western Montana, plenty of cats around. it's hard to drive fresh snow and not see at least one set of tracks.
A friend spends all winter running cats almost daily. I think 5 years ago he treed 80 or 81 cats that season. Most years its more like 40.
several were moms with young and undoubtedly some were re-trees.
 
longrangelead said:
yep, yearling male. about 90lb live weight. caught him peeking around a corner of the road behind us. hit him between the front legs w/243, 85gr TSX @2800 fps.
I'm in Western Montana, plenty of cats around. it's hard to drive fresh snow and not see at least one set of tracks.
A friend spends all winter running cats almost daily. I think 5 years ago he treed 80 or 81 cats that season. Most years its more like 40.
several were moms with young and undoubtedly some were re-trees.
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Wow. So scary. 70 yards? And following you. Man I'm surprised you didn't pee your pants that a curious juvenile cat was following you. 70 yards. You're so brave. Guys, this dude's a hero.
 
2ski said:
Wow. So scary. 70 yards? And following you. Man I'm surprised you didn't pee your pants that a curious juvenile cat was following you. 70 yards. You're so brave. Guys, this dude's a hero.
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You're roasting the guy for shooting a young cat at 70 yds? What does it need to be 175+lbs at 5 yds to be respectable to you? Serious question.
 
2ski said:
Wow. So scary. 70 yards? And following you. Man I'm surprised you didn't pee your pants that a curious juvenile cat was following you. 70 yards. You're so brave. Guys, this dude's a hero.
Click to expand...

This seems a bit harsh. I didn’t read the story as self defense but rather just getting a hunting opportunity on a cat that also happened to be following them.
 
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