Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Name the Scariest thing(s) you ever saw in the woods ?

"Shawl granny"? What's that?

Bow hunting with a 45 lb. recurve sitting in a tree 8' up in the early 70's just getting light where you can see I hear steps in the thick leaves coming from behind me a female African Loin walks under the tree gets 20' from the tree turns looks at me and lets out two roars...then a second loin roared 50' away in a thicket I couldn't see....didn't know wether to $hit or go blind....
2-Lions had escaped from a enclosure about 1.5 miles away....I didn't even know they escaped...didn't leave the tree for a couple hours until the farmer was driving the edge of the field with a truck made the 50 yards to the truck in about 3 steps....he had a 30-06 and was looking for the loins fearing they might kill one of the cows in the field....
Late in the afternoon the owner of the loins found them on the farm I was hunting....there was 25-30 people out looking for the lions all armed with deer rifles and shotguns....

A ghost looking for something on the ground.
Lots of hunters on Ft Campbell have had encounters all over the back 40.
Pretty erie to hear some of the stuff.
Especially if someone you have never met describes a encounter along the same of what you had.

Then have a co worker talk about his encounter years later is pretty unnerving.

"Shawl lady" has been seen by me and 2 others I know of.

Cemeteries, graves , old homesteads going back to the 1770,s and 1780,s to the early 1800,s and forward all over the place.

Govt imminent domained the land in the early 40,s for WW2.

I'll through in with cities.
Shyster lawyers on the other side of your case.

And judges that misunderstand the case.

Many years ago , when stationed at Ft. Lewis , several of us went hunting in the Olympic peninsula. It was some freaky stuff that none of us were familiar with. A buddy and I were deep into the forest primeval, on this floating mass with prehistoric looking plants. Our compasses went bonkers and would not work, it was kind of unsettling. We eventually made it out to a road and got our bearings before dark. Ranger don't get lost, just a might bit turned around from time to time!

Sitting on a stump and a Great Horned Owl decided he was going to use me a s a landing zone. I don't know who was more surprised him or I, at any rate that fugger had a good set of air brakes!

They are so quiet, had a similar experience when one flew by me in a treestand during crepuscular last light. Scared the crap out of me!

Years ago I was baiting bears in Oregon. Arrowed a chocolate bear just as it was getting dark. It ran off and I was waiting a bit before tracking. Then I hear a bear come back and it was woofing and snapping it’s teeth. That went on for 30 minutes or so, then stopped. I waited a while longer and climbed down from my tree stand. There was a large pool of blood at the base of the tree I was sitting in. I doubt the bear was after me, but you never know.

An illegal hunter of the property I was hunting pointing his rifle at me! The human animal is a real threat in the woods.

And another one. Was in Zimbabwe looking for Cape buffalo. Had two black trackers 30-40 yards in front of me and my PH. They were following a herd of Buffalo. We were moving slowly in some thick stuff. Suddenly the black trackers ran past us in the opposite direction we were headed. And the trees and brush behind them was moving, a lot. Three elephants busted through the brush at at 50 yards and were rapidly coming our way. My PH hollered get behind something. The PH raised his rifle and hollered at the elephants. They stopped and reversed direction. The PH said something must have spooked them to us and they really were not charging us. That was exciting.

Lighting on the mountain.

Had a I assume mountain lion growling above me as I had to walk pst to find my truck. Pre gps days.

I bet that it was... wow !

In Tanzania checking lion bait hung from a big baobab tree in a 1/2 acre clearing adjacent to riverine thicket. 10 am and the clearing was empty. Bait had signs of lion action the night before. I was unarmed.

Stood around with PH and trackers talking for 5 minutes when two male lions woke from naps about 30 feet away in the thicket.

They stuck their heads out a roster mightily at us and bounded away.

Startled/Scared the crap out of me!

Lightning hitting a tree I was fishing under.

Mountain lion track on top of mine.

Yup. It wasn’t a wolf coming up behind me, the bear tracking me to the base of my tree, the trees going over around me in a 100 mph wind, or the blue flame arc off my graphite fishing (lightning) rod in bad weather. It was the deranged local that wanted the woods all to himself.

Broken glass in the trail, piano wire strung, ATV sabotaged, trees cut over the trail, tire stems removed and Nylon tree stand straps cut nearly through. That guys was absolutely unpredictable.

Let me also throw out these.

Driving to camp one night in Zambia. Stopped on the “road” got out to take a leak. Got in and drove 200 yards when we came up behind a big male leopard walking in front of us. Must have stopped to pee right behind him.

Then in SW Cameroon came up on a male silverback gorilla sleeping. He woke and jumped up about 15 from me, flashed his teeth and said in gorilla “Oh [bleep]” and took off one way and I said “Oh [bleep]!” And ran the other!

Then the time a Black Forest Cobra slithered out of the grass and over the hood of the vehicle. The trackers jump out likes bomb went off

Fishing with a buddy, and he informed me I was stepping on a rattle snake. I look down and it was the biggest blow snake I ever saw, but with rattle snake echoing in my mind, I needed to clean my shorts on that one.

Worst was when I fell through the ice in -30 degree weather. Had a two mile hike to get home, and I was a ice sickle when I finally made it.

Had something similar in Zim. Hunting buff and going back to the rig. Herd of ele cows kept false charging us in and out of the jess. PH says, "Put one over her head". 375 didn't even phase her. Finally they turned and strolled off. Turned out the cow I shot over had a calf probably less than a week old. Not scary but sure was fun.

Only thing scarier would have been to seen Hillary.

I don't know, one's about as scary as the other, but having had that happen with one, you certainly don't need the other..