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Many years ago, an old friend was hunting moose. He had paused for a look around when he saw a hare running at full speed and pursued by a coyote. Suddenly the hare turned and ran to Howard, stopping at his feet. The coyote also turned but immediatley halted, then disppeared in the near brush. The hare then loped off.

I had a yearling cow caribou do much the same thing on the Alaska Peninsula many years ago. She came up to within about 15 feet of me while I gripped my shovel wondering if I was going to have to whack her with it. A few minutes later I heard wolf howls not far off. They sounded frustrated....

She stayed with me for several hours while I worked, never more than 20 yards off. When I was done for the day and headed back to the cabin a half mile away, she stayed put, but with a worried look.......

In SW Alaska, on the Goodnews River, I was fishing for supper one evening when I saw a fish jump and land on a slanted overhanging bank which sloped toward the water. Not once, but 3 times I saw it leap out of the water, land on the bank, then flop a couple times down the incline to regain the water. A couple of guide boats had floated by earlier that day and I figured they had broken off a salmon there, the line had gotten wrapped around something, and the fish was trying to throw the hook and getting snapped up on the bank.

I crossed the river and went there but couldn't find anything. There was a deep hole off the overhanging bank, with a drowned bush in the middle, tips of branches just clearing the water. A washtub size opening was in the middle of the bush about a rod length out, and just for the heck of it jigged my spoon down in there and got a hit. With very little fight, I led a 6.5 lb. (by scale) rainbow out of the bush and on to a foot square gravel pad just upstream and secured her. Supper for 3!

On dressing her out I found 3 voles in her stomach, one in the gullet, and one on the way down with the tail hanging out the corner of her mouth. Which was why she had very little fight in her, the pig!

On looking the situation over, I determined she must have been laying under the surface in a position to skyline voles following a trail at the top of the overhang, maybe 3 feet from the water, coming out of the water to nail them on the fly, then flopping a couple times to get back in the water.

Smart fish, but she should have quit when she was full!

Yellowstones elk flock to the big hotel grounds and mega tourist sites like Mammoth to calve (spring) and breed (fall). The wolves will not come into those sites. Once in a while a bear will.

Locally our elk have figured out where the extensive pieces of private property are that do not allow hunting. With the approach of rifle season, they flock out of the forest and hang out unmolested in those wide open sweet spots.

They are fully capable of learning.

My dad was working on his car in archery season many years
ago and while he was under the car, my mom told him to look
in the road. An average size buck was walking down the center
of the road as if it was no big deal. It was probably 15 yards
from my dads car when it turned and walked into the woods.

My sister had a large owl land on her patio railing and
stayed almost all day and then flew off.

Every year a couple of does have their fawns inside my fenced 2 acre yard at the farm. Coyotes won't come near the house. We have to be very careful when they are tiny and don't move from truck or tractor.

jimmy c

A small bunch of mule deer does approached to within a few feet of me when I was seated at the edge of an aspen bush, watching an area in Alberta....they seemed very curious about me, and did not spook even when I shuffled a bit.They even grazed peacefully, blocking the view in front of me.They seemed fully aware that I was there,yet were unconcerned about it.

I wish the bucks were so trusting.....

First time I hunted brown bear, I watched a mature boar walk down a long stretch of beach,seemingly enjoying the stroll in the sunshine......he covered about a half mile,then, for no apparent reason,he turned around,and strolled leisurely back the way he came....he wasn't afraid of anything near as I could tell......just seemed to want to go back the other way.

Another stopped grazing on spring grass....peered way down the Chatham Straight.....we looked;could see nothing....he walked into the alders.Ten minutes or so later,we saw a tug boat, way in the distance,approaching....the tug went past us eventually and the sound of the engine faded away.......about this time, the boar walked back out,and started grazing again.

It dawned on me why boat tourists in SE Alaska say they see few bears....

I wouldn't call it strange behavior at all but every year when I am mowing pastures I love to watch the hawks using me to flush cotton rats or rabbits for them to catch.

A couple of years ago there was a flock? flight? bunch of swallow tailed kites that were doing the same only they were catching grasshoppers in flight. Talk about a show.

BCR

A few years ago I was working on the wife's car. It was nice out so I was doing it outside. At one point crawling out from underneath I was greeted by a doe just hanging out watching me work on the vehicle. She didn't seem to mind me banging away under there or the occasional swear, but every time I'd look out, she'd be looking at what was going on. Guess there are gear-head deer too.....

I didn't know raccoons swim, until I saw this one on the California Delta...

a coon will drown a dog if given a chance, they get out in deep water and climb on the dogs head and force it under.....

I was bow hunting elk many years and came across a ruffed grouse in the trail on the way out. As I walked the remaining half-mile or so back to the truck the grouse followed about 20 feet behind. I got to the truck and sat on the tailgate to rest awhile and cool off. The grouse milled around for a few minutes then hopped up on a rock about 10 feet away and just stared at me. I walked down to a small stream a few yards away and the grouse followed. As I knelt down to fill a water bottle, it came right-up along side me as if to see what the heck I was doing. Now for the strange part. When I drove away, I could see the bird in the rear view mirror darting back and forth for at least a quarter mile.

Next time I come up to hunt grouse in Montana, I'd like to invite you to hunt with me!

I walked up on a bull moose laying on a sand bar in a shady area of the river I was hunting. I had a tag in my pocket and shot him at about 25 yards. He had a cow with him and she wandered off at the shot.

I got all my gear off and started the difficult process of gutting and quartering a huge critter by myself. While I was bent over, I heard something behind me. I turned around and the cow was sniffing me!!!! I could have slapped her, she was so close! My heart jumped in my throat and I am sure I squealed or soiled myself...or both. She had walked up behind me and I didn't even know it. I waved my arms and chased her back into the brush.

A few minutes later I experienced the same thing with her again. Imagine turning around and looking eye to eye with a cow moose!!! Then I really felt bad. I had killed her boyfriend and it broke my heart. She wandered off about 20 yards and laid down. She laid there for a couple of hours watching me cut up her boyfriend. It was one of the most heart wrenching experiences I have ever had while hunting. Flinch

When i was in high school in central NoDak, a late Feb or early Mar chinook wind came up and melted off all the snow. The ground was still frozen, so where it couldn't run off, it puddled.

Being a really nice weekend, I grabbed a shotgun and went cottontail hunting on a farm I had permission for. I knew the rabbits were thick in an area of maybe 30 acres of pasture with many bull-berry (also called buffalo berry) thickets. These are thick-growing, spiney bushes which produce BB sized red fruit in the fall - makes excellent jelly -which grow to a height of 10-15 feet sometimes. The thickets ranged from about 6 to 60 feet in diameter.

There was no going into them myself and I had no beagle or other rabbit hound to roust them out, so was just picking around the edges. There was 2-4 inches of water on the ground almost everywhere, and I figured I could likely find cottontails camped on the few patches of dry ground. Nope, and the first rabbit to bail out of his shoulder high perch surprised me, but I was able to "wing-shoot" several following that. It was very very fast snap-shooting, and I missed several for every one I got.

I was astonished at these tree climbing rabbits, but later it dawned on me that that is how they survived in bottom lands floods over the millennia.

It was a unique experience!

I have been told by people that had raccoons as pets that
they are very intelligent and can turn on water faucets,
open jars, unlatch doors, etc.

that isn't all they can do.

Hence the old refrain, "schitting like a pet 'coon"!

we had one had in high school that if you pissed him off, would go and chit on your stuff ,shoes ,in the cab of the truck, one time on our shotgun shells.
he got in the neighbors house and stole some steaks bob was going to BBQ. rocky disappeared shortly afterward.

We have fenced (chicken wire) out some rather important research plots to keep the rabbits out. Even a fence 2 ft high will keep out the jack rabbits, but cottontails will climb up and over any mesh that is too small to squeeze through.

Kind of the same thing only with muleys four years ago.
Got out of the truck at a trailhead and hunting partner whacked a small buck. I was helping him gut it out and turned around to see two does just grazing right toward us. We were surprised that the smell didn't freak them. We pondered amongst ourselves as to whether or not he had whacked one of the does kids. Kind of freaky