Strange Sightings, Creepy Feelings

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Great thread idea.

I had an owl land on the metal outside rail of an unshrouded elevated “blind”. It sounded like a hurricane for 1/2 a second. It hung around for a bit and was much more quiet when departing.

I stuck a rental car in the snow on Tie Hack road in Wyoming on a business trip. The sun was setting and I had no cell service. Then I discovered large cat footprints.

I know your last sentence is “then I discovered large cat footprints” but in my mind I read it “then I heard banjo music” I thought it quite cleaver but then I’ve had few brandies this evening.

 

[Ravensview]

That's another topic, sounds.
I heard on a Farm one night out in Stonington, what sounded like a screaming screeching woman in the woods .. indescribable.

Bobcats can sound like that, have worked in the Northern Woods most of my life mostly alone sometimes with a partner, a beaver slapping the water with its tail in the dark, bears sniffing around your tent, wolves howling nearby, lights in the sky jumping erractly, worked the SOO locks when it was like an abandod ghost town, out on the snowmobile trails in a below zero winter storm and no sign of human life during the UP 200, canoeing James Bay and the tide rolling in like somebody turned a water faucet on, a porcupine that I shot with an arrow taking its last rasping breaths in the silence of the winter woods, coyotes yipping and howling nearby with a fresh kill, ice scraping on the hull of a commercial fishing boat in the springtime, walking on the ice and listening to it crack, a lightening storm during the winter, could go on and on sounds like we have covered some of the same areas.

 

[Ravensview]

I know your last sentence is “then I discovered large cat footprints” but in my mind I read it “then I heard banjo music” I thought it quite cleaver but then I’ve had few brandies this evening.

If you hear banjo music, while in the woods I think your done!

 

[Papa72]

1975. I had just purchased a Cessna 150 for my wife to complete her student pilot time. I decided one night to fly a short joy ride to another airport 20 miles north, then return. When 5 miles out, I reported my position to the FSS as inbound for landing. The FSS guy stated “Be advised Angelina County airport is now IFR with fog. Would you like to divert to College Station?” There was no fog. Weather was CAVU. I could see the runway lights clearly. Long story short: I had to obtain a Special VFR clearance from Houston Center to land at my airport, in crystal clear conditions. After contacting the FSS employee later that night, he explained that the temperature and the dew point converged and at the time of my stated position he could not see the red beacon on top of a radio tower located 3 miles distant from the airport. Fog. Go figure.

 

[AlanBigStick]

I know your last sentence is “then I discovered large cat footprints” but in my mind I read it “then I heard banjo music” I thought it quite cleaver but then I’ve had few brandies this evening.

I too (two) are a few brandies into the night. I tried to explain to my beautiful wife why “Deliverance” was a cult movie. I’m afraid I failed.

 

[Ravensview]

Same boat here, had a good cigar today and contemplating my third bourbon now.

 

[93marlin]

Cold winter night in northern lower Michigan (tip of the Mitt). Took the dog out for one last time before bed.
Wolf howling a couple of hundred feet from the house.
Keep in mind, DNR says there's no wolves in the lower peninsula.

 

[Ravensview]

Same song for a long time with no cougars in the UP.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Same song for a long time with no cougars in the UP.

Dnr claims no cougars in eastern Canada also

 

[Ridge Runner]

I was raccoon hunting many years ago by myself. Was in a woods way off the road about 2 in the morning. As I was walking I thought I heard something. Stopped. Silence. Started walking again. Same thing happened. The third time I was getting spooked. Took the rifle off my shoulder, headed back to the truck, and went to another woods. Maybe it was my imagination, but I hunted raccoons for over 10 years all hours of the night and it was the only time I had a weird feeling. Looking back I have wondered about the possibility of it being a 2 foot critter.

LMAO....something happened to me while I was stationed at Fort Bragg. I was deer hunting it was getting dark. Like you I walk, it (they) walk, I stop, it (they) stop,. I looked the area over for deer, nothing. I ducked off the trail, readied my 30-30 expecting to get a shot on a deer, pig, coyote, or although not likely, but it is Fort Bragg, it could be another hunter. Not likely because of the particular location of this area it was considered a "joke" that deer wouldn't be it.

As I waited it didn't take long for the gang of bandits/ camp thieves/ vandals to come into view. It was like they were looking for me or the direction I went.

I took careful aim and had the leader not moved I would have killed him. I did kill the second, and third one.

The other 4 raccoons sped away to safety.

 

[WAB]

If you hear banjo music, while in the woods I think your done!

Ya got a pretty mouth boy…

 

[Ravensview]

“Squeal like a pig”

 

[Tra3]

Mountain lion in the dark while on horseback. We didn’t see it, but the horses lost their shit! A small rodeo ensued and the one flashlight we had showed fresh cat tracks just in front of us.

I’ve had to walk by a hippo in the dark to get to my tent. As long as they are still chewing, things are “mostly” ok.

I took a short nap in on a wooded mountainside on the last day of an elk hunt. When I woke (maybe only 10-15 min?) I retraced my steps and crossed big bear tracks over my boot prints not 70 yards from where I was napping.

Today: buy a thermal handheld and you will have a much different impression of the night. There are quite a few animals moving about in the dark. Owls are truly amazing. They are a lion in a small package.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

One eve we(few clients and their kids) hung out at a waterhole braaied some meat amd drank a few sundowners
Packed everyone up and all the gear on the truck when started the truck and put the loghts on there stooda spotted hyena not 20m away !!! Wonder how long he was watching us

 

[Travis Johnson]

Had built a fresh road into middle of nowhere the year before. I had set a bear bait 20 km up road then prob 30 km by quad into bush. I had been baiting it once about every two weeks due to time to get in. I had set up a tree stand 15 yards from barrel, barrel was chained to a 6-8” aspen tree , the bears had been there lots and had a small depression dug under barrel from licking up molasses. On this trip up I brought my tent trailer to camp by road , got it set up then quaded in to Rebait Barrel for next days hunt. When I got to where I park my quad I grabbed a bag of oats over one shoulder and bucket of molasses in other hand and walked 100 yards ( my rifle and bow on quad still) through some thick aspen regrow to the bait site on the edge of trees with small river 100 yards away in valley. When I get to site ( making noise whole way). I walk past my stand and look ahead to bait , no barrel ? Walk closer no chain? Closer no tree just hole where roots dug up. Now I’m scratching my head wondering what’s going on , standing over root hole . When something starts roaring down by river at me ( never heard a black bear or a moose make that sound) super loud .I start backing though the aspen towards the quad briskly, the roaring continues towards me keeping about 60 m from me , I can see the aspen shaking as it follows me. When I get to quad , I bolt a shell in my rifle and lean over my quad aiming at direction trees shaking. Trees shook and roaring kept up for a couple minutes( felt like longer) , then silence. Got on my quad drove back to camp , packed up went home and never came back . Tree stand probably still in tree. That was 25 years ago. Maybe it was a grizzly ? Heard they released the odd problem bear up there , maybe they roar like that. Had tremendous power to rip a 6-8” aspen tree out of the ground .

 

[Inline6]

Mountain lion in the dark while on horseback. We didn’t see it, but the horses lost their shit! A small rodeo ensued and the one flashlight we had showed fresh cat tracks just in front of us.

I’ve had to walk by a hippo in the dark to get to my tent. As long as they are still chewing, things are “mostly” ok.

I took a short nap in on a wooded mountainside on the last day of an elk hunt. When I woke (maybe only 10-15 min?) I retraced my steps and crossed big bear tracks over my boot prints not 70 yards from where I was napping.

Today: buy a thermal handheld and you will have a much different impression of the night. There are quite a few animals moving about in the dark. Owls are truly amazing. They are a lion in a small package.

It is hard to explain to people who have not used one. It is like having a superpower. It is amazing what you can see with good thermal.

 

[mauserhunter]

One cold beautiful morning hunting I kept hearing this noise, it was familiar but couldn't put my finger on it. After a few minutes of the noise getting louder a hot air balloon landed in my field I was hunting 50 yards in front of me after it came over my head.

 

[mauserhunter]

Walking out in the dark one morning bow hunting I Hurd what sounded like a women screaming, sounded like it was a few hundred yards away. I turned on my big head lamp and walked to the noise then all of a sudden I hear this loud screech/roar noise and got the heck out of there. My cousins run a sorta animal reserve/ animal retirement home. They take in all kinds of animals mostly from circuses and zoos, lions triggers bears elephants camels all kinds of stuff. Well after talking to them a few days after they said they had a black Panter get out, I was happy to tell them were they may find her.

 

[mauserhunter]

Was out fishing hopping ponds around my house, I'm up on the bank with a farm field behind me and a few old maple trees I was standing under fishing. All of a sudden this 50-100 pound rock smashes on the ground infront of me half in the water half on the shore, I got soaked and looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon with the amount of mud and frog weed on me. It looked like a stone from the rock wall behind, the wall was yards away and not no higher then my waste. Only thing I figure when they built the rock wall 100+ years ago some how the rock got picked up by the tree and was sitting up there until it fell.

 

[mauserhunter]

Shot a doe one afternoon she was clearly going down after she went over the hill infront of me, heard her crash over the hill. Was about hour or better to sun down so I sat down to see if anything else came it to the field, nothing came out and I packed up and walked down the field and drove my truck over to the hill. Blood trail a blind man could see, get over the hill no deer. Find were the deer crashed and the circle of blood where it bleed out laying. Looking around I noticed coyote prints and some hair with a small blood trial I fallow it. Must have tracked the prints for 100 yards up the hill, and I climb up on a rock wall and see 4 or 5 coyote dragging the deer. I managed to kill 2 of them, the others weren't to happy but ran off. Called Dec and they said I didn't have to tag it after I reported what happend.