Whats the most dangerous animal you've come across?

[krueger]

Granted lions, bears and large pissed hooved animals are scarier but dogs are actually more dangerous.

 

[Jpeaston]

I am a magnet for rattlesnakes and pitbulls.

 

[boom]

rattle snake and a big pissed off bull..as in cattle.

we got permission to hunt a cattle ranch. there was one big gigantic bull that wanted a piece of me. i was hiding from it..!! it was effen scary. i thought i was going to have to shoot it. but i was a broke college student, and i figure it would void my trespass permission.. i'm glad cattle is in general is pretty dumb.

 

[Frosty82]

A grizzly at 20 yards with no gun last fall. Crossing a dried creek in SD hunting a few years ago I spotted a mountain lion, watched him for a minute before he disappeared. Had to cross that same creek after dark heading back to the truck...all I was thinking about was the cat, first step into the bottom a pheasant erupted from under my feet....thought for sure it was the cat and I was done for!! Had a 7-8 foot shark get a little to close for comfort while swimming in the gulf one time.

 

[MuleyFever]

Sow with cubs when a cub decided to try and climb my tree. Rattlesnakes.

 

[Beendare]

I think any wild animal has the potential to be dangerous.....

Heck, I've grabbed the antlers of a little 80# ca blacktail that was just knocked out [we used to head shoot them with .22] and had a serious rodeo on my hands- in both hands actually. No doubt if I let go I would have been gored.

The worst injuries i've personally seen due to animal attack was from wild hogs and an Aussie buffalo. Had hogs charge and cut a Ca parks ranger pretty good once- [hey, we told him to wait outside that manzanita!] and had a hog nail a buddy that required a complete rebuild of his knee.

The Aussie buff was wounded by an arrow that got terrible penetration.....and while trying to find the wounded bull our assistant guide wandered into a head high brush patch and got plowed by the bull....it looked like a small skid steer doing donuts in there...and then, with us yelling he came at us. The guide was knocked out and beat up badly, not good when you are 6 hours from a hospital- and had multiple broken bones. Those big bull buff must weigh 1,600 lbs. and just seem to be in a bad mood all the time.

 

[mtswampfox]

three of the first four posts hit it. surprising how that sweet little thing can turn more vicious than any critter. the cash that it cost to recover was more than the costs of several hunts.

 

[Ray]

Looking at the scars on my right forearm and my left index finger tip I would say the friendly domestic dog has caused me the most harm. I do not trust any dog but my own. I have taken to carrying a heavy wood walking stick to beat down people's "friendly" rescue sled dogs when they "playfully" go after my dog. Playful neck biting has resulted in blood being drawn from canine teeth punctures. What's wrong little Hippy Chick? Your sled dog mutt doesn't like to play my version of fetch the stick does it?

After domestic dogs, it would be the cow moose dropping a calf in the front yard. They come into the neighborhood this time of year to get away from the bears, woves, and coyotes on Fort Richardson training area. Good excuse to be late to work.

 

[norsepeak]

The most dangerous I've seen has been a pissed off wifey during hunting season....not good!

 

[jmez]

Rattlesnake. Multiple times on the prairie antelope hunting and in the Black Hills. I've seen all the large predators and never felt threatened so wouldn't consider it an encounter with a dangerous animal. I have yet to have an experience with a rattler that wasn't dangerous. They have a foul attitude.

 

[Vance in AK]

Medium size (8'ish) brown bear that was sleeping near my black bear bait as I was coming in to check it. When he woke up we were only about 6 yds apart. He was behind some thick brush & the wind was toward me. Neither of us knew the other was there. He didn't know what woke him but he was torqued & was gonna protect his food stash... After a full minute or so of him pacing back & forth in front of me snorting & popping his jaws at anywhere from about 8-18 yds, we reached an agreement. He let me leave & I did. It was dicey because to leave him I had to go through thick brush where I would lose visibility. I wasn't anxious to do that! I had a 44 mag with 320 hardcast at about 1325fps & a red dot sight. Seemed like a pea shooter There was no open season on brown bear in the area at the time.
Same general area the next year was going to help a friend pull his bait station. Going through an alder choked area the brush just exploded about 15 yds ahead & to the side of us. I dropped to one knee to see through the brush hoping for a shot at a black bear (same handgun), but I just got a glimpse of a nice brown bear beating cheeks. Turns out he had a fresh & I mean FRESH moose kill there. Nice cow & all he had done was strip the hide & meat off the rib cage on top. The kill site was probably just minutes old. Why he ran rather than charging I will never know but I was sure thankful. In that brush it would have been really ugly.

 

[AZGUY]

I'v had a few close up bear encounters but nothing scared me more than being charged by a range bull out in the desert of Southern AZ.

 

[bbrown]

Had a couple close calls.
The first was when I was working for the division of wildlife locating and signing boundaries of state lands. We were working across a shale slide in southern Colorado when we heard a rattler but never saw it. A bit unnerved, we continued on but did not make it a few yards before we heard another and another and another. Never did see a snake but I would bet there were at least a half dozen or more hidden in the rocks. Finally tip toed out of there and refused to go back until the DOW provided some snake gators. Yup went back and never saw or heard anything.

Did have a few run ins with an ornery range bull that liked to play peak-a-boo in willows during the morning darkness as I was crossing the creek to make my way up the mountain. By the third morning I was over it and just about shot him on the principal - turns out the cowboy who was in charge of moving him would have paid for the bullet.

Other than those, the only real threats here in CO are dogs and the 2-legged variety.

 

[justin davis]

Humans. Lion and tigers and big bad bears don't scare me. But when I run into humans. Scary! Never know who you will come across

 

[Ridge Ghost]

Bull moose rutting and tearing a tree to shreds 15 yards from my tarp in the middle of the night.

 

[Trr15]

Not sure if you would call it a feral bull, but a bull that got loose from a local ranch and had been roaming the mountains for a long time. Ran into that damn thing way up in the mountains at around 10,000. Scared the chit out of me. Had a standoff with him for about 10 minutes (seemed like an hour). There wasnt a tree big enough for me to climb, so I kept this scrubby little pine tree between me an him long enough that he tired of me, thankfully. Will never forget that experience.

 

[EC4reel]

My 2yr old after we lost her blanket.....YIKES

 

[Jpeaston]

I would like to add cranksters to the list, they make me a little uneasy. Nothing like car camping after driving by a crankster in the middle of nowhere.

 

[bowtech3dhunter]

Mountain lion that brushed up against me.

How do you let a mountain lion "Brush up against you"? I mean at what point do you say that is close enough mr. mountain lion.

 

[kodiakfly]

A few cow moose with calf, few bull moose and I've had six brown bear encounters within 20 yards, two false charges.