What’s the gnarliest situation you’ve been in while hunting?

[Jherek]

Gaaaaaaawd damn you got giant balls! Grizz with a recurve!!!

I second that......! Are you related to Chuck Norris???

 

[Haggin]

Not even close to some stories posted in the thread, but..

Hunting with my wife a few years ago. Private 160 acre pasture in SE Nebraska. We're walking out mid morning after downing a couple does, around 930 AM. Cold, cloudy, but low wind day. Ahead of us on a dead tree was the largest great horned owl I've ever seen,easily 2 ft. tall. We're getting close and he/she is staring us down. we're 20 yards away and he takes flight headed directly to us. I initially thought he was after the coyote fur trim on my wife's hunting coat hood but he passed a foot or so above our heads and landed on a cottontail about 15 yards behind us that we walked right past and it had never moved. We turned as he went over us and he landed on the rabbit with a satisfying crunch of bones and one small painful squeal. I remember how silent he was until that crunch of bones and his wingspan was huge. Awesome sight to see. That rabbit hid well from us, we never saw it until the owl came. He may have made it to the thicket if he'd bolted as we walked past but he knew the owl was there.

 

[ewade07]

Mine pale in comparison to most of these stories.

1. Not my story but a couple years ago I called in a 5 pt bull for a friend who shot the bull. As we were getting the front half of the bull loaded onto the game cart to get it up to the gated road above us, he slipped and fell face first on the rack. One of the brow tines punctured his lower frontal face area below his lip and above his chin. Made a nice hole that took some stitches to close. Never knocked any teeth out or anything but sure hurt.

2. About 4 years ago I shot a nice cow elk with another friend. She was on a burned hillside with a lot of fallen timber and there was about 12 inches of snow covering everything. The hillside was steep and when I got to about 25 yards from where she lay I stepped on a branch about 2" in diameter that had no bark on it right about where the middle of my arch would be. Of course my foot went right out from under me and I went down in a heap and lit on my left side on a nice downed tree with my day pack (about 25-30 pounds) on my back and my rifle in my right hand. I hit really hard and both of us heard the thump when I hit the log. I cracked a couple ribs on my left side below my armpit. Still had to take care of dressing and quartering the elk out and get the quarters up to the top of the ridge to where we would come in the morning to pack out. The 3 mile hike back to the truck all uphill was tough. I used to box and in a bout one time I got a couple ribs on the same side broken and cracked in my fight so I know what broken ribs feel like. You can't hardly breath and every breath hurts. It's much worse when you start laughing.

We came back in the morning and spent most of the day taking my cow out. It was brutal with a front quarter, both backstops, and tenderloins in my pack while dragging a rear quarter with a small rope behind me!

3. When I was about 15 I was riding in a pickup with my dad's friend, his 12 year old son was sitting between us, and I was sitting by the door. His boy really had no desire to be out there hunting and you could see it and just feel it. He had no desire at all to be doing this and maybe because of this he was pretty careless. We had been out sneaking on some antelope in the snow but never got a shot. We were driving slowly on a little two track as we figured we knew where the antelope had gone and we were going to close the distance and then try and sneak on them once more. When we got back into the truck the windows were up and the heater was on as it was cold. No-one had checked his rifle or asked if he had taken the round out of his chamber. All of a sudden there was a loud boom and the truck cab was filled with dust. The barrel of his .243 had been facing down towards the floor of the cab and to the passenger side where I was seated. The muzzle of his .243 was maybe 4 inches away from my left foot when the rifle went off. The bullet nicked the edge of my left foot striking the boot I was wearing. Only than a scuff on the leather, there was no damage to my boot but it felt like someone had hit me on my little toe with a hammer, and my left leg also stung from the powder blast.

The bullet went through the floor of the pickup and took a small chunk out of the top side of the starter on the pickup. It continued on and struck the aluminum rim on the passenger front tire and the rim just exploded and the truck dropped down onto the hub. My toe and leg hurt and everyones ears were ringing but luckily nobody was seriously hurt.

I have a buddy who decided to go out goose hunting with some friends, one of whom had never hunted let alone held a gun (don't get me started on that) So, he has a gun. They're driving along and BOOOOOM!!! Dont ask me why there was a shell in the chamber or why this guy had a gun in the first place. Pellets ricocheted off the frame, blew the tire out, blasted break lines and took out his air intake. I still shake my head to this day as to why he even took this guy with.... luckily no one was hurt.

 

[ewade07]

My family had horses growing up and we used them in the mountains for hunting and fishing. When i was about 12 or so we were heading out with basically our entire elk camp on the horses. my dad was riding out front on the lead horse towing the pack horse. The horse wanted real bad to get back to the trailer. He had stepped off her to do something and she started to take off down the trail. The pack horse was busy eating and the stretch rope met its limit and snapped, slashing back and hitting the pack horse in the face. Disaster ensued. I watched as the lead horse and pack horse took off through the trees at a full on sprint. Gear was flying everywhere. I cant remember how long it lasted but finally we corralled the horses. The pack saddle at this point was riding on the belly of the pack horse. Gear scattered in a 100 yard radius. How neither of those two horses didnt hurt themselves was a small miracle in itself. I them watched my dad grab his horse and, stomp over to the nearest tree, take a wide swinging kick into her stomach and pull the lead rope tight, leaving her front feet dangling off the ground. He then took his pistol out, cocked it, and put it to her head. Pure rage is about the best way to put his facial expression. I thought that horse was a goner. Thankfully he mellowed and we all started picking up the ruin. All this took place about a half miles from the main road.

 

[timberland]

Not even close to some stories posted in the thread, but..

Hunting with my wife a few years ago. Private 160 acre pasture in SE Nebraska. We're walking out mid morning after downing a couple does, around 930 AM. Cold, cloudy, but low wind day. Ahead of us on a dead tree was the largest great horned owl I've ever seen,easily 2 ft. tall. We're getting close and he/she is staring us down. we're 20 yards away and he takes flight headed directly to us. I initially thought he was after the coyote fur trim on my wife's hunting coat hood but he passed a foot or so above our heads and landed on a cottontail about 15 yards behind us that we walked right past and it had never moved. We turned as he went over us and he landed on the rabbit with a satisfying crunch of bones and one small painful squeal. I remember how silent he was until that crunch of bones and his wingspan was huge. Awesome sight to see. That rabbit hid well from us, we never saw it until the owl came. He may have made it to the thicket if he'd bolted as we walked past but he knew the owl was there.

I knocked an owl aside right before he landed on my head when I was bowhunting out of a treestand one time. I don't think my wool had would have been much protection from those toenails!

 

[Gznokes]

Mine are a little different, I've almost been killed twice by falling objects. Once was on a scout hike down the ZIon narrows when a boulder dislodged from the rim and narrowly missed the group by a few feet. The other was while hunting in WY during a big wind storm. The wind broke a huge rotten pine tree in half and it crashed a few feet in front of me. I can still remember the air filled with bark and dust from that old tree.

 

[stonewall]

I knocked an owl aside right before he landed on my head when I was bowhunting out of a treestand one time. I don't think my wool had would have been much protection from those toenails!

I’ve had similar a couple times. Same stand. Back in high school days. One time it was coming towards my eyes (only exposed part of face mask). Think the other was towards my 3 exposed fingers (finger tab). Kinda neat. Would have hurt tho. Each time he came from a tree right out in front so I had warning

 

[Yakykgoose]

Was evaced via rappel last season. That was fun.

 

[The John]

Was evaced via rappel last season. That was fun.

We need more of the story on this....

 

[Yakykgoose]

We need more of the story on this....

Stepped into a chute that I thought was sand but ended up being some kind of crappy sandstone with kitty litter on top. Started Bob sledding down kicked my toes in and clawed the face like a cat. Stopped initially, buddy called 911, but they couldnt get to me for hours. Buddy left to look at what was below me but he never could find a way down. My toe holds were eroding, called 911 with one hand told them I was going down, called the wife to say most likely goodbye. Got to the point i was going to continue my plunge any minute so decided to try one move to get to a little patch of grass at about eye ball level. Tried it, was stuck perched like a cat, tipping backwards. Looked to my right and saw a palm sized rock sticking out that didnt pop out like all the others. Braced against it and did a move that I'd never be able to do again and got my foot on top of the dirt knob. Immediately started using the toe of my mountaineering boot to dig a little shelf for my other foot. Stood there by myself for 7 hours heel to toe until rescue guys rappelled down to get me.

 

[USMC-40]

Grizz with recurve gone bad, literal death in snow, bitten by shark, attacked by mountain lion, rescued by SAR folks off a cliff...

I used to think my hunts were exciting...

 

[spaniel]

I can't touch some of these.
1) Early winter we got back 6-7 miles into the Bob in Montana on foot gaining elevation, continued past where guys on horses turned around. Before we could crest a squall came in, zero visibility. We were waist deep in snow, I told my buddy I knew how to get us over but I was afraid if we did we may not get back out if the snow kept up. So we turned around, went down and set up camp, then tried to go up the opposite side of the mountain. Same thing happened. Limped back into camp, never been so tired in my life, slept 14 hours straight. Spent the next day boiling snow to make coffee and trying not to freeze to death.
2) Took an untested hunting "partner" who talked a big game on same on-foot back country hunt years later. I shot an elk about 6 miles from the truck. Turns out he had nowhere near the mental fitness to be more than a mile from the truck or face physical difficulty. He lost it and ended up putting us both in danger. I'll spare the details in case he finds this, LOL. I took out as much meat as I could that trip, over a quarter in addition to my gear. Wrecked me. He refused to carry any. Took a lot of convincing to get him to go back in 2 days later part way to retrieve a couple thousand in gear he'd left there so we didn't get fined. Ended up losing some meat without the help and that was the worst part.
3) Not my story but a hunting partner. Scouting in spring he was screwing around chasing a fawn through some saplings with a revolver on his hip as it was griz country. Ended up at the end of a beaver dam, started picking his way across. Halfway he looked up, and there was a big boar griz doing the same thing. Bear stood up 10 feet from him, he reached down for his pistol and got an empty holster...it had fallen out, he never found it. Raised his hands and yelled "git bear git!". He doesn't know who flinched first, but he dove off one side of the dam and the bear off the other and they swam opposite directions.

 

[timberland]

Had enough static around our boat about a mile off shore that our fishing poles rattled and vibrated in our hands when we pointed them skyward, storm coming about a mile off.

 

[TREE ‘EM]

My stories typically just make me look stupid and prove two old axioms:
It wasn’t my time
It’s better to be lucky than good

Bobcat hunting in my youth, pre-telemetry days. I had a dog get out of pocket on me and instead of leaving my jacket and hoping that the dog would make it back, I left out on foot tracking it. Found a dog treat about 4 AM and made it back in about daylight. The mercury hit -45 that night and I had some pretty significant frostbite as a result. Silver lining, I had a bobcat pelt, and my dog alive.

Crossed a river that had risen due to overflow the year after and went through at -20. My dog was never the same after that.

Scalloping using a look box on Shinecock Bay on Long Island, had fog roll in on me while my head was down in the box and it took me seven or eight hours to get back to shore. Hypothermia almost got me that time.

Duck hunting a few times during nor’easter‘s on Long Island and discovering that neoprene waders make you float upside down.

Taking my 18 foot Dory offshore to fish for tuna in my teens and losing my compass on my line got hooked around it and ripped off. I’m only here by the grace of God with that one for sure.

Unintentionally kayaked through a sluce with class 4 rapids without the benefit of a helmet or PFD. Got flipped in a pool and all my clothes were instantly ripped off my body.
My buddy John has pulled several bodies out of that stretch of water and told me I deserved honorable mention in the Darwin awards for that one.

 

[Smithb9841]

Well my 2 stories aren’t nearly as scary or as bad as some of the rest but maybe this one will teach someone from my stupidity. So last year went to Idaho first time in the area had scouted online but never set foot in the Unit. 2nd evening of the hunt I hike Up a trail that made a giant S shape going up the hill then topped out and followed a ridge on top. I hiked until dark glassing and looking prob 2 miles on the trail from truck but wasn’t too steep following the trail. Well it started spitting snow on me just at dark as I was heading back. I got to the top half bend of the S in the trail. I start looking at my map on my phone and think oh well it’s close to 2 miles or so to the truck if I follow the trail but the truck is prob only 1/2 a mile if I drop off the side of the hill it doesn’t look to steep or too thick brush...

ya that was the wrong choice, I started down the hill and quickly had to go off my path due to thick brush no biggie I got my map on my phone I’m good. Then a little further and it get too steep so I have to go back the other way to get around. Well this continued back and forth zig zagging down the hill. Then I fell busted my knee on a rock. So now I’m sitting on the side of a hill in the snow, after dark, no idea What’s in front of me. I’m already committed too far down to turn around and get back on the trail. So I check my map again and realize I got off course and am way further West than I need to be so I back track again but I can’t get where I need without going back up hill to get around the steep terrain in front of me and my knee is swelling and hurting even more.. around this time I start hearing crashing above me through the brush and all I can think of is wolves after seeing wolf tracks the day before. After a few mins the sounds in the brush go away and I start moving again. So after back tracking back and forth I finally make it back to the truck 3 hours after dark. Exhausted, cold from sweating in the snow, and a busted up knee. I had turned on the tracker on my OnX before taking off the trail and it showed I had gone 1.87 miles on my “shortcut” that really humbled me and I felt like the biggest idiot in the world

I’ll post my other story about stabbing my hand with a fence post quail hunting another time

 

[Yakykgoose]

Speaking of learning lessons and what not there are a few things I'd like to share after having some hindsight.
1. Not to be cocky but I'm a very capable backcountry hunter, however, the speed at which things went from great to extremely bad is stunning. Almost like if you were in your car singing along to beyonce and you suddenly got tboned.

2. The steepness of hillsides that myself and others scale has a luck component to it. There are other steep things I've scrambled up such as scree slopes sending material bouncing and sliding down the mountain. If you think about it, if your pack shifted weight to the outside and you fall on some slopes you are going to tumble all the way down like a cartoon.

 

[JBrew]

Turkey hunting a couple years back, I took a nap up against a big oak tree, waiting for a turkey to gobble. I had kicked out a little spot(it helps keep the ticks off) and laid down with my head at the base of the tree. When I opened my eyes, I saw a set of eyes and a tongue flickering at me about 3 feet away. I immediately knew what it was. Told my buddy...I gotta move. He says...ticks get all over ya?...I said, Nope...snake...big snake(I didn't tell him what kind because I didn't want him to freak out yet). I said to him....I'm not going to stand up...i'm going to roll over your legs...when I get rolled over, you get up. When I finally got out of the way, he looked around the other side of the tree and all chaos ensued. That's a &%%&*^(^*&^^% rattlesnake you mother &%*(&^^*!@! ….and it was a sure nuff biggun(15 rattles and a button).
It was coiled up just staring at me. Only reason I can come up with that I didn't get bit, was because we were in the shade and it had been cool that morning. Stayed sick at my stomach the rest of the day.

 

[JMF]

Several years ago I went to a seminar about rattlesnakes. The badlands of ND have plenty of rattlesnakes. The guy said that in most cases a prairie rattler bite won't kill you. He said most reaction bites are dry and even if they are venomous if you are otherwise healthy, stay calm and get to a hospital within a few hours you will be fine. However, he said the worst place to get bit was in the face. Well later that fall I am sneaking up on an antelope with my bow and as I crossed an open scoria flat on my belly I catch something out of the corner of my eye. There not 2 ft away from me is a coiled up rattlesnake, staring me straight in the face. After a brief showdown I was able to slowly move back and get out of range. I now sort of regret my following reaction because he did let me go, but I dulled every arrow in my quiver to kill that snake. He is now hanging on the wall in my garage.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

I've got 2 from my first deer hunt ever. I was 16, and on Kodiak Island. I was with a guy that worked with my step-dad and his 15 year old son. They also brought their neighbor and his 21 year old son.

I was hunting with the 15 year old about 4 miles from camp. I shot a nice buck, and we were packing it back to camp. Our plans were thwarted when we realized that the tide had come in and we couldn't walk the beach back towards camp, instead having to take the up and down path over several ridges. We were tired. It got dark. We each had a mini Mag light (two AA batteries), so we stuck them in our hats over our ears like a pencil. It got darker. We heard a woof and a branch crack, so we both craned our necks to aim our "headlamps" at the noise. There, about 20 yards away, was a blonde sow bouncing on her front paws. We both had backpacks full of deer meat, so we raised our rifles, and clicked off our safeties at the same time. At the sound of the safeties clicking off, she cocked her head like a confused dog, turned tail, and ran off. I bet we could have outrun a Kenyan marathoner at that moment, and we high tailed it the rest of the way to camp.

The second story involves the neighbor and his son. They were not really cut out for roughing it in the snow on Kodiak. After 2 days (7 day hunt) in a tent, they broke into a forest service cabin at the disgust of the rest of us. They were living it up in there and isolating themselves from the other 3 of us. After about 3 days of that, they decided they wanted to make dinner for everyone and apologize for throwing a fit and breaking into the cabin. We had dinner and played a game of cards. The 21 year old was full of insults and was being a smart-a$$. I don't have much of a filter, so when he gave me shit, I gave it right back. I thought it was all in fun until he jumped up and slapped me across the face. I hopped out of my chair, and pinned him against the wall of the cabin. Before it went any further, his dad put a .357 to my temple. Then the other adult, the friend of my step-dad, shoved a .300 Wby muzzle into the dad's ribs and told him to drop it. I was scared out of my mind, and let go of the 21 year old. The friend of the stepdad disarmed the dad and the 21 year old and told them they could have their guns back when we got back to Anchorage.

 

[i count eye guards]

Wasn't hunting, but was at a spot I routinely Deer hunted.

Around June I decided to do some early scouting. I hiked a few miles up a ridge, then headed back down. About half way down the hairs on the back of my neck perked up. I'm not super skiddish, so this took me totally by surprise.

I stopped in my tracks and looked around, trying to figure out what had set off my lizard brain.

30 seconds of silence was broken by some bushes 30 yards ahead rustling. Something was coming out of the brush towards the trail I was on.

A fawn emerged in total panic and started running towards me.

A moment later a young male cougar kept from the brush and grabbed the fawn. He then looked at me, hissed, then ran off leaving the disfigured but still alive fawn. I put the fawn out of it's agony, and slowly and loudly made my way to my truck.

Great deer spot.