Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How close you been to a.....

no GW but had 47 stiches from a Mako.

I had a couple of gar swim under my kayak on the lake once. Does that count?

I’d love to see them from a boat. Not going in a cage underwater though. I remember watching shark week in the late 80s. They were always saying “you just don’t see the big 16-18 foot long females anymore”. Fast forward 34-35 years and they’re everywhere. I couldn’t have 5 seconds of enjoyment surfing in California knowing those big monsters are swimming under me.

Ron

Never been around a Great White that I know of but I logged over 350 dives when I was stationed in Hawaii and was around some big Tiger Sharks. Neat critters but they can really put a hurting on you if they want to. I was never around one that was acting aggressive but saw enough of them to know you had to be on the alert. It is amazing how quickly a 12 or 13 foot shark can just pop into view.

No white sharks. In the water working/recreating a lot of my life. Largest sharks we've seen are 20+' tigers that come here to pup every summer. One big girl took a whole 5 gallon bucket we were chumming cobias up with in one bite. It was cleated to my 18' McKee and she shook the hell out of it for a while. We also see the biggest cudas I've seen in the world up here too. A pack of 10 or so 6 footers blew up all around the boat today. We had bait so thick at 20 miles out you could walk on them. First blackfin I've ever seen in that close came aboard today at the same place. 65' of water.

Does a cold hearted pawnbroker count?

Only hammerhead, reef and whale shark for me. Is a whale shark really a shark? Not to impressive.

Sure I seen more diving off of Okinawa but nothing else jumps in my head

No great whites but I have caught a few mediocre black tips and bonnet heads.

While doing a 30 mph with a tiller steering outboard motor [white knuckle], I have been passed by Dall's Porpoise doing 35 mph under my 14' boat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dall%27s_porpoise

I used to dive San Miguel, Shark Park, and Santa Rosa years ago. There were great whites around but never saw one. One dive I was checking out a 10” green anemone and I felt a tug on my flipper! It was a pesky harbor seal. He kept screwing around with me like he was a retriever. As long as he was around I wasn’t worried.

In the Caribbean, St Thomas, I almost bumped into a 5’ great barracuda. He was just hanging out in 10’ of water. Free diving off Anageda island I saw a 6’ bull shark close up. He just swam by me.

No, just a couple of cows and whales.

Sharks and I have an agreement-- I don't go in the water where they are,, they don't come on land where I am

That brutha is darker than Wesley Snipes.

I forgot about that.....

🤣😂🤣🤣

I can remember swimming through the kelp beds off of Coronado in a black frigging wetsuit. Seriously thought I was going to have a short lived career. Instructors had M-14's in security boats acting like they were protecting us. At least one instructor was honest, "I am just here to shoot you in the head to save you the pain of being eaten alive".

A few big bulls and smaller blacktips and bonnet heads while wade fishing and diving the rigs. Had a quick pass by a mako that looked to be about 8' while spear fishing a weed line.Bastard damn near made me fill my shorts.

Had a hammerhead slow swim past me diving on a rig in the gulf,off Galveston,i didn't feel my heart stop,but i did feel it restart in my chest.Only time i ever saw one close up during working dives.I feed the sharks on vacation in the Bahamas once.
Now,at my age,i think i'd have a stroke.

I've been brushed by sharks while fishing in the surf. Don't know what kind or how large, but I knew the feeling of their skin against mine.