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

[HighUintas]

This is an awesome thread.

Two seasons ago, I was quartering up my bull solo at 1AM. I was bent over concentrating then thought I heard some odd noise behind me. I turned around not expecting to see anything, but there was a black bear coming up on my backside and was about 5 yards away. It wasn't monstrous, but big enough that it would kill me if it wanted to. With nothing but my bow, a single arrow, and my knife (which has a fairly rounded point and 3" blade and wouldn't work for defense by stabbing), my thoughts were.... "Well f$#&".

When I spun around, he started backing up a bit out to about 10 yards. He then spent the next 45 minutes pacing back and forth at that distance, huffing at me, and constantly creeping back in on me when I tried to start cutting again while facing his direction. I tried yelling with my arms and jacket as high as possible quite a few times. He went away, I went back to cutting, I heard him behind me again, he went away, I went back to cutting, I saw his eyes out in the other direction getting close to me again...

Through this time, as he got closer a few times, I drew back on him with my bow and headlamp a couple of times to see if it would even be possible to put a quickly deadly shot on him if I needed to, then decided that was a completely retarded idea.

After a couple hours of this, I lost it and made the loudest weirdest noises I could, while thrashing the hell out of everything with large branches and tossed a few large rocks between he and I for some extra noise. This finally helped him decide to leave.

The rest of the morning, cutting and packing, was not fun.

Had he been a larger bear I probably would have backed out pretty quickly and let him have my meat.

Here he is the next morning when I went back looking for my DL I dropped.

 

[Aginor]

Damn, dude! He’s a beautiful bear. That’s one hell of a story

 

[hotsoup]

Last season in Idaho I went out for a quick evening hunt a couple miles behind the house. I sat down and waited out a snow storm. As the storm let up I felt something to my right. I looked over and less than 5 yards was a young female cougar. She was crawling thru the grass towards me. When our eyes met she bared her teeth and started a low growl. I jumped up, (left my bear spray and pistol at the house)
I started yelling at her all while trying to load a round in the chamber. She lunges at me and I knocked her back with the barrel of my rifle. She then circled me growling the whole time. She made it back to her original spot and went to her belly again and lunged again. I hit her with my barrel a second time. She started to circle again. That’s when I finally got a round loaded. I’d had enough..input the cross hairs on her and let her have it.
she rolled down the hill and died a few feet from me. I collapsed where I stood and just sat there for about 30 minutes until I could get my emotions under control. I skinned her out and tagged her with my deer tag. I had her checked by IDFG and told them the story. She was a healthy young cat so no one really had a good reason as to why she acted so aggressive. I usually take one of my young kids with me to this spot. I didn’t that night and I’m super glad I didn’t.View attachment 162036View attachment 162037View attachment 162040P

Was bow hunting for elk in Montana a

Last season in Idaho I went out for a quick evening hunt a couple miles behind the house. I sat down and waited out a snow storm. As the storm let up I felt something to my right. I looked over and less than 5 yards was a young female cougar. She was crawling thru the grass towards me. When our eyes met she bared her teeth and started a low growl. I jumped up, (left my bear spray and pistol at the house)
I started yelling at her all while trying to load a round in the chamber. She lunges at me and I knocked her back with the barrel of my rifle. She then circled me growling the whole time. She made it back to her original spot and went to her belly again and lunged again. I hit her with my barrel a second time. She started to circle again. That’s when I finally got a round loaded. I’d had enough..input the cross hairs on her and let her have it.
she rolled down the hill and died a few feet from me. I collapsed where I stood and just sat there for about 30 minutes until I could get my emotions under control. I skinned her out and tagged her with my deer tag. I had her checked by IDFG and told them the story. She was a healthy young cat so no one really had a good reason as to why she acted so aggressive. I usually take one of my young kids with me to this spot. I didn’t that night and I’m super glad I didn’t.View attachment 162036View attachment 162037View attachment 162040P

Was bow hunting for elk in the Gallatin mtns of Montana several years ago. Eased up to a spot where 2 elk trails intersected. Looked to my right and about 10 feet away was a black bear. I froze and he did too.. We looked at each other for a few seconds. I knew if the bear came for me I was screwed. I raised my bow (Bear Montana LB, 55lb) and the bear didn't move a muscle. Decided to see if I could scare him off, so I shouted "woof". He bolted down the mountain sounding like a truck going through the woods. It too me about 30 minutes to get my composure and continue up the mountain.

 

[grfox92]

One of my first times hunting out of climbing tree stand when I was 14. My uncle got me to the base of the tree and got me set up and went off to go climb his tree.

About 20 ft off the ground The bottom of the climber slipped off my feet and fell to the bottom of the tree.

I was holding myself up by my elbows on the hand climbing portion of the climber. Kicking my legs against the tree trying to figure out what I was going to do.

I just had to go for it. I didn't really have an option. I let go of the climber and reached out for the tree and was able to grab it as I fell and rode it down like a firepole to the base of the tree and landed on the base of the climber.

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[grfox92]

2009 hunting Northwest Wyoming with my uncle. We're climbing up the side of a mountain off trail. We had still hunted a group of melies through the timber and we lost them.

I started getting pretty steep and got to a point where there was really only one way for us to go without turning around and it was up a small vein side helling up the side of a rock face look like there was trees on top so we could get to some flat ground.

We slowly climbed our way up that vein having to use our hands to grab onto roots and rocks and pull ourselves up. When we got to the top. IT was a small landing maybe 4 ft by 8 ft wide. And there was absolutely nowhere to go. It was about 10 ft of rock face up to the flat portion of the top where the trees were.

I can't remember what it is we wound up grabbing onto, possibly roots growing down the face of the rock. My uncle climbed up to the top, if he fell at any point he was most likely going to the bottom of the mountain. Once he got to the top he passed me down a pine limb for me to grab onto and pulled me up the rock face while I did every thing I could, grabbing and kicking to get to the top. All while my uncle is thinking about how my mother would kill him if she saw the situation he got me into.

Once we were both safely on top we turned around and there was a Muley doe standing 10 yards away just watching all this go down.

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[505Wapiti]

Bump for another great thread.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Wow... I don't think my worst experience is even top 10 here!

I did nearly die of mushroom poisoning in the wilderness as a teenager though. We had an unfortunate misidentification of 'shrooms that we thought to be Puffballs, a very delicious fungus that goes well with fish for breakfast. Everyone else in the party made themselves throw up when they noticed the dog vomit after licking out the pan. I, however, apparently cannot make myself puke. I took a full dose of mushrooms all the way through my system. For 10 hours I was sick and tired, eventually nearly slipping into a coma, horrible hallucinations, and my bowels never actually returned to normal. Being 10 miles back, and pre SPOT/InReach, we had no way to get help in there before the next morning, but I managed to sleep it off by dinner time.

 

[Rock-o]

I almost didn't get my pants down in time. That was gnarly though, at the same time, it was nothing compared to what would have otherwise happened.

That's all I got.

 

[HuntingIndian]

those are some crazy stories.

any tips on things you could do when you are walking back alone to your truck/car in the woods after hunting day is over in the dark (evening).

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

those are some crazy stories.

any tips on things you could do when you are walking back alone to your truck/car in the woods after hunting day is over in the dark (evening).

Tap into your inner predator? I dunno. You just kinda watch your step, don't give in to the fear gremlins, and trust that God's gonna take care of you. It's fun hiking in the dark once you get used to it.

 

[ceejay]

One of my first times hunting out of climbing tree stand when I was 14. My uncle got me to the base of the tree and got me set up and went off to go climb his tree.

About 20 ft off the ground The bottom of the climber slipped off my feet and fell to the bottom of the tree.

I was holding myself up by my elbows on the hand climbing portion of the climber. Kicking my legs against the tree trying to figure out what I was going to do.

I just had to go for it. I didn't really have an option. I let go of the climber and reached out for the tree and was able to grab it as I fell and rode it down like a firepole to the base of the tree and landed on the base of the climber.

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2009 hunting Northwest Wyoming with my uncle. We're climbing up the side of a mountain off trail. We had still hunted a group of melies through the timber and we lost them.

I started getting pretty steep and got to a point where there was really only one way for us to go without turning around and it was up a small vein side helling up the side of a rock face look like there was trees on top so we could get to some flat ground.

We slowly climbed our way up that vein having to use our hands to grab onto roots and rocks and pull ourselves up. When we got to the top. IT was a small landing maybe 4 ft by 8 ft wide. And there was absolutely nowhere to go. It was about 10 ft of rock face up to the flat portion of the top where the trees were.

I can't remember what it is we wound up grabbing onto, possibly roots growing down the face of the rock. My uncle climbed up to the top, if he fell at any point he was most likely going to the bottom of the mountain. Once he got to the top he passed me down a pine limb for me to grab onto and pulled me up the rock face while I did every thing I could, grabbing and kicking to get to the top. All while my uncle is thinking about how my mother would kill him if she saw the situation he got me into.

Once we were both safely on top we turned around and there was a Muley doe standing 10 yards away just watching all this go down.

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Nothing better than stories about that one crazy uncle that everyone has. LOL.

 

[grfox92]

Nothing better than stories about that one crazy uncle that everyone has. LOL.

I have a lot of uncles but it's the same one and all these stories and I have another one I have to post when I get time.

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[Beendare]

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[BazookaJoe]

When I was about 12yo, I was out on a dove hunt with my father, brother, and uncle. We would camp in the same area, every weekend, every season. So, we were familiar with the area and picked camp sites that didn't bother the local's, while keeping us close enough to town for supplies.

One morning, we decided to drag our feet to get ready for the morning hunt. While eating breakfast, my father was outside the trailer, glassing over the nearby river (scouting ahead for duck season honey holes). He just happened to catch a glint out of the corner of his eye and realized there was a vehicle about 1/4 mile from our campsite. It was uncommon to have anyone come out towards us, since we camped outside of town. When he turned his binoculars toward the vehicle, he saw a man standing with his door open and a rifle wedged between the door and pillar...pointing it at him/us. Needless to say, my father yelled to us, ran to the truck, and grabbed his .45 . My uncle grabbed his Judge and sat by the door, while my father raced his truck toward the vehicle.

As he closed the distance, he saw the man jump in his truck and tear off. Unfortunately, he didn't catch up to the guy, but he got close enough to get a license plate number and reported everything to the local sheriff. About an hour later, the sheriff came out and said he tracked the guy down, but couldn't do anything. Apparently, the guy told the sheriff he was "using the scope to see who was camped" and that he "didn't know anyone was at the campsite."

We never saw that guy or his truck again and continued to hunt that area for years. We did, however, end up buying a house in the nearby town to have a safer place to stay during our hunts.

 

[Beendare]

Been on my knees and elbows lots of times in brush piles with wild hogs. Shot one charging about 5 -7 feet away. I have shot charging hogs close. But nothing beats being face to face with one in a brush pile with no were to go. Love that adrenaline rush.

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[ID_Matt]

Some good stories here.... I don't have anything too crazy. Stumbled on black bear a few times and been rather close to a pack of howling wolves but nothing that I thought was life threatening. Most scared times I have had were in wind storms. Stuck in a tent with trees snapping all over the hillside throughout the night, or stumbling back to the pickup dodging falling trees. Maybe I should hunt less burns...

 

[Hoghead]

i used to run dogs for hogs...all of the guys that did that have a bunch of hairy stories as those bayed up hogs just seem to know that YOU are a bigger threat than the dogs and they almost always charge. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been charged by hogs, 30+ anyway.

We had one long memorable chase up near Healdsburg California in that thick steep redwood and fern country. It was pouring rain and the rivers were raging. We chased that hog over Hill and dale for miles. The dogs could not stop him. He was about 240 pounds, 3” exposed cutters and with both ears chewed off so that boar had experience with hog dogs many times before and escaped.

I got glimpses of the chase, one of my pit bulls Montana was latched on to him as he jumped into a river and drowned my dog. ( We later found him dead about 300 yards down stream)

The exhausted dogs finally stopped him in a super thick cut
with my buddies somewhere behind me. I come around a 5’ diameter redwood and there he is 10’ away with the dogs all backed off. He charges and right before he hits me my dog Tass comes out of nowhere at full speed and SMACK! Latching on to his snout.
( I loved that dog!)

All of the other dogs pile on and there’s a horrible twisting fight that drops off a little ledge. I pull out my pig sticker, an old buck general, and as the pig does a 360 with his hind end towards me I jumped down to the next level to grab his back leg and then stick him. Unfortunately I burried to the waist in rotten logs face to rear of the hog- not good.

I pushed the hog as hard as I could with both hands and lucky for me they went over the next flat in the creek bottom. After extricating myself- ( screw the knife!) I pulled out my 357, jumped on that hog and similtaneously shot him between the shoulder blades dropping him instantly.

I’ve killed hundreds of hogs both with dogs and my bow but that one I will never forget. When I rolled that hog on his back, his shield was about 1 1/2 inches thick, like a turtle shell under his skin over 2/3 of his body. We rolled him on his side and I stabbed at him as hard as I could with my razor sharp skinning knife and it went in about 1 inch and stopped dead. That hog was an armored warrior.

Sucks about your dog. That hunt is a memorable one for sure. I take people hunting and when we talk later they always say remember that hog I killed with you. I tell them if it wasn't a train wreck or a monster probably not. The bad hogs or the really hard hunts are the ones I always remember. You know you have good dogs when they lay down their lives for you or put themselves in between you and a bad hog to protect you. I had a hog by the ears in a shallow pond and was getting pushed around when one of my dogs came and grabbed the hog then I was able to get a hand free to shoot.

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[idig4au]

I’ve had some gnarly incidents after eating Mountain House Chili Mac freeze dried. My sleeping bag will never be the same. Just say No to Chili Mac and beware or at least be upwind of those in camp that bring it along.

 

[upacreek]

Wow, and I thought I had some good stories... Good reads, thanks for the stories!

 

[Bigcat_hunter]

I shot a bull in the Eagle Cap wilderness in Oregon. It's called the Alps of Oregon because it is steep granite mountains. Anyway I shot a bull way up in these cliffs. We went up to it and I was having a huge adrenalin dump and was gagging and puking while working on this bull(happens all the time when I kill stuff). It was so steep we had to tie the bull up to a granite rock and a spindly little tree. He was in what the locals call "the guts". The guts are these deep ravines in the cliffs.

Well As I was gagging and puking I was using my hatchet to break the pelvis and the guts came rolling out and shot down the cliff. As this was happening I lost my footing(with hatchet in hand) and did a complete backwards cartwheel off this cliff and threw the hatchet in mid air. Miraculously I pretty much landed on my feet right before I would have fell to my death. My hunting partners were all just looking at me in amazement as my 5'-8" 265lb fat body just did a complete ninja move while safely disposing of the hatchet and not dying. It was pretty awesome.