Scariest thzing you’ve experienced?

[Jordan Budd]

One night I left the vestibule open on my hilleberg because it was hot and a ground squirrel ran in there and must have gotten lost in my gear because it was making a high skreetching sound that sent me trying to take cover inside my tent. Once I half way woke up and figured out it wasn't a man eating animal it found the door ran away.

Second thing was this year on Kodiak chasing goats. There was a bit of snow on the slick grass and I slipped and slid a little ways down the hill. I couldn't get myself stopped and was picking up speed pretty quickly, even with micro spikes on, but finally grabbed a lone alder that got me stopped. Luckily we weren't in the cliffs, but it was a long way to the bottom and really got my attention.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Second thing was this year on Kodiak chasing goats. There was a bit of snow on the slick grass and I slipped and slid a little ways down the hill. I couldn't get myself stopped and was picking up speed pretty quickly, even with micro spikes on, but finally grabbed a lone alder that got me stopped. Luckily we weren't in the cliffs, but it was a long way to the bottom and really got my attention.

Any luck with the goats?

 

[Jordan Budd]

Any luck with the goats?

Unfortunately no. The person I was filming wasn’t well versed in Archery or hunting really and we crashed and burned.


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[Desk Jockey]

Wife saw how much I spent on gear once. Terrible. Just terrible.

 

[Halfslam]

in Sept 2016, I was out elk hunting solo and went to the top of a ridge for the middle of the day and was napping with my head on my pack. All of the sudden I am hearing foot steps coming closer and closer at a good speed (I'm talking in seconds here). As I began to hear them, I thought, of course I'm laying here flat on my back and an elk is going to come within yards of me and i can't do anything to get it..So I move my head over to realize its no elk! It was a mountain lion in full crouch stalking mode!! I immediately jumped to my feet and yelled and raised my arms. The lion was at a run and locked up its front legs startled and dove off the ridge. But right as it was digging in its front paws to turn, we locked eyes for a very brief moment! I went over and took pics of the depressions of its paws when it pivoted and it was 9 yards from where I was laying.

If it had been not been a dry day to where I heard the footfalls, I don't know what would have happened. I estimate I heard it and jumped up within 1-2 seconds and it had gotten to 9 yards in that time before I jumped up.

I think it thought I was some weird deer laying there and it was going to pounce. The wind was a cross wind from the direction of the lions approach.

That right there is scary!! Your lucky day for sure.

 

[Disco14]

Great thread & great stories- glad they all end positively. Definitely makes me think about planning better before heading out west on a backcountry hunt.

 

[MtnOyster]

last September in Colorado i was elk hunting an area that i had seen a couple bears and had been told it was heavy bear populated anyway, i was heading over to the mtn opposite of the one i was camping on early one morning and while i was on the trail the oak brush above me started parting ways towards me from prolly 60-70 yards up, i could catch a glimpse of a black body coming right at me and gaining speed crashing through all that brush, man i backed up, put the bow down, drew my 40 cal pistol and right before it hit the trail i was on it stopped.............poked its head out of the brush and looked at me and said......Mooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was some ranchers black faced calf, that little bastard scared the hell out of me, i literally laughed out loud thinking about all the ribeye steak i nearly had for the rest of the week!

 

[rayporter]

a couple of life threatening close calls have happened but they were over before fear had set in.

the longest night have ever spent was in a snow storm about 1989, give or take a year. we had went to 10400ft and it started to snow so we packed up and moved camp to 8000 ft. the snow continued and by dark trees and branches were breaking all over. every ten minutes a tree would fall and we would bounce off the ground in our sleeping bags. I got no sleep that night. come morning the snow had slowed some but with 3 feet on the ground it was time to leave the high country. every rest stop brought more branches breaking over out heads from our voices. the mules could go no more than a hundred yards without a break.

the fear of not knowing what was next and knowing you could do nothing about it drove me nuts.

a few miles from us a tree fell on a tent and seriously hurt a fellow that night.

 

[Bl704]

Right up there with kicking a turkey up in CRP!!

+Partridge and a few pheasants.

Most have been self imposed: •injuries (fractured vertabrae atv wreck, kidney stone hurt like a sob and I had no clue what was happening-didn't care after morphine, the day I had 2 concussions),
•weather (lightning, hypothermia a couple times),
•getting lost...

A guy and his kids decided throwing black walnuts (instead of clay pigeons) would make for fun rifle target shooting...I was down range archery hunting and fortunate to be sitting on the backside of a huge popular tree...when I heard 'I got to reload' I waved some fluorescent orange garb which caught their attention and they took off...pissed I chased them back to their truck.

A pack of wild dogs stalked in on me on a deer hunt, ground set, before dawn...flipped on the head lamp as I thought deer were feet from me...brown out moment as all hell broke loose.

I carry a sidearm a lot more often now...

 

[rackskullsnfur]

I've been stalked by a Polar Bear, charged by Kodiak Brown Bear, a stare down at 10' from a Brownie with no sidearm or bearspray....the list goes on....

 

[Downeaster]

Never really spent the time to think about all the close calls with animals and mother nature ive had over the years. If it wasnt bred into every fiber of my being, i might have to re-think my lifes choices. Good thing i have a hard time remembering short term details, makes it easier to forget how utterly scared to death i was the last time something stalked, chased, or otherwise made it known that i was food. Nevermind the brushes with hypothermia, steep rocky dropoffs, and sharp pointy sticks. Why do i do this again?? LOVE THIS LIFE!

 

[choovhntr]

Didn't happen to me directly but a couple years ago a few of us did a pack in trip about 20 miles into the Sierras. We didn't have enough stock so we hired a packer meet us with the remaining gear on mules. It was the last summer trip before deer season opened so we offered the packer to stay and hang out as we had plenty of supplies. With no other trips going on, he accepted and all was going great. I offered the packer my tent as we had an extra one but the weather was good and he was happy to just bivy out against a large fallen pine. Fast forward to night 3 and we all woke to an animal screaming up the canyon. We checked the livestock which was highlined about 100 yds away and everything was fine. Shortly after, one of the horses started snorting so we figured there may be a bear nearby and went and checked. All was good. Not more than 30 minutes later we woke to a large fire outside our tents. Looked outside and the packer had started a fire and was sitting in a chair. We all figured he was just cold and went back to bed. Come to find out the next morning that shortly after the horse was snorting the packer was laying in his bivy when something landed on top of him. He said he slowly grabbed his flashlight and shined it around. Not 10 ft away was a mt lion staring at him. I'm guessing the lion was traveling down the canyon and jumped over the log the packer was sleeping against. I dont know who surprised who more but telling by the size of the campfire that night I would say it was the packer. Needless to say the next night there was another tent set up at camp hahaha. What are the odds?

 

[Farmingdale's Finest]

Opening day firearm deer season in NJ. I was hunting the Delaware Water gap and have a treestand set up on a bench just below the top of the ridge. Running through the bench is a steep creek gully. I see a deer walking down the hill towards me along the creek edge I need it to come about another 20 yards when suddenly I see a flash and hear the firing of a shotgun. I ended up jumping out of the stand 10 feet because the wad hit the tree about 3 feet above my head. Some idiot was walking up the gully and shot the deer without knowing what was beyond. I haven't gun hunted since. This was 25 years ago.

 

[NDGuy]

I've been stalked by a Polar Bear, charged by Kodiak Brown Bear, a stare down at 10' from a Brownie with no sidearm or bearspray....the list goes on....

You should elaborate on those tales!

 

[Huntindog45]

I almost bought the farm while spear fishing out on the ocean side of Catalina Island last year. Just got tumbled around in the kelp and panicked badly. sucked a bunch of water in. Had some very experienced guys there that saved my bacon. It has not been the same for me sense then when it comes to water. I used to be the guy that would jump off of anything, swim out in the open ocean and love it. Now it just freaks me out.

 

[Brock A]

Chose a head shot on a dall ram at 15 yards...bullet struck between its eye and the base of its left horn. Sheep flipped over backwards, eyes open and fixed...dead.

Posed for a selfie with him and it came back to life in my hands. The first minute or so was scary but easy to manage my legs around its torso in a back-lying position, but the stronger and more panicked that ram got the less grip i had on that reality. Thrashes from those hooves feel like hammers and rakes stripping bare skin. Unimaginable power.

had to manually suffocate a thrashing ram on a precarious scree slide, and it took a surprising 6 or 7 minutes for it to stop kicking my ass completely denied of oxygen.

it was the scariest loss of control (and winning) and the most humbling event of my hunting life.

Ryan and Kenton Clairmont told me this story several years ago. I think about it all the time.

 

[pmharvey]

I was stalking a bear from across a large avalanche chute. Got to about 200 yards from the bear I was going after, and was charged by another bear from above me. I Never saw him before that and it was so fast I had no time to respond. I'm just lucky he wasn't hungry. It came to within 10 yards of me then continued on down the mountain.