What is the strangest thing you have seen?

[Wait, I'm Reloadin']

Met a guy that got hit with buckshot right between the eyes and lived. He said it felt like a headache and the pellet split in two. one piece supposedly went all the way to the back of his skull down the center of his brain and the other ripped through his sinus and landed on his tongue to which he then spit out. This was ten years ago and he goes to work everyday, tough old goat. He also met someone else in our town that survived a .22 to the head while hunting and it is still lodged in the back of his skull. I don't hunt in my neck of the woods

[cnimrod]

Upstate NY neighbors would go rattlesnake hunting, shot one near its head, still wiggling around his dog grabs it and starts shaking it something fierce, head flies off and imbeds itself in the guys leg. Why take your dog rattle snake hunting? coulda been the beer involved.

[sc outdoorsman]

I was hunting on public land about 15 years ago. I heard someone shoot a shotgun probably about 300 hundred yards to my right. About 20 minutes later a 4 point buck came about 80 yards below me. I dropped him with my 30-06 and sat back waiting for another to come my way. I geuss it was about an hour later some idiot came over and asked me if the deer had been hit. I told I didnt know but it was dead now. He turned around and left saying nothing else.
I never would have believed someone would walk in on my stand knowing if a deer came between us he stood a chance of being hit by a high powered rifle not to mention me mistaking him for a deer.

[Capt. Charlie]

I'm glad this thread's still going. Lots of interesting stories here. Here's (one of) mine.

Back in the 70's, 3 of us were doing a back-country patrol of Grand Canyon's North Bass Trail. It's a really rugged trail and inner-canyon temperatures soar over 100 every day, so we usually wore shorts on foot patrol.

Ranger Jim King was the most experienced of us and was in the lead when he stepped over a small rock ledge. Well, there was a big ol' Western Diamondback resting under the ledge that apparently didn't like Jim's leg blocking his view. The rattler sunk both fangs into Jim's calf muscle, which of course caused Jim to take off running. Bad idea, as the snake couldn't let go .

It wasn't funny at the time, but recalling the sight of Jim running 15-20 feet with this big snake flopping along behind, hanging onto Jim's leg still makes me chuckle.

We were about 2 days out, so we had to radio for the park helicopter to medivac him out. It sounds serious, but he ended up with nothing more than a sore leg as it was a dry bite, no venom injected. I think the snake was too surprised to think about venom.

Given that it had a happy ending, we ribbed Jim about that sight for months afterward .

[Booner B]

I was bowhunting in October this year, and had a sow and her three cubs come up the hill and right to the base of my tree. In NY, you are not allowed to shoot a sow who you know to have cubs, so i put down my bow and picked up my video camera.

As i was climbing up the tree at the start of the hunt i dropped my face mask on the ground beneath my tree. I let it lay there, because it I was in a climber and already buckled in and was late getting to the timber, so it was there when the bears were coming up the hill.

One of the cubs went directly to my face mask, and began playing with it. She was rolling over on her back and throwing it up in the air above her, then rolling her face in it! Another cub joined in and they were both rubbing all over it! (it could have been the Peanut butter and jelly sandwich i ate on the morning hunt). Eventually they got bored and all four moved off and went on their way.

Definitely the weirdest thing i've ever seen. The sow just stood there and let the cubs play with it. she came over once and investigated, then let them have their fun. Weird stuff, but made for some great video!

[irishguy]

Was out Buck hunting in Northern Penna and jumped a bunch of deer approx 30 yards in front of me. Turned out all 6 of them were Doe. One of them (the biggest) stopped, turned around and started barking at me. It was just like a dog's bark. Never heard of anything like this before.

[Departed402]

My father and some of his friend go hunting in Wyoming for Pronghorns every fall, and weird enough stuff has happened out there.

1. Occasionally in Wyoming we'll see a jack rabbit. My dad's friend is a taxidermist, and wanted one to make a jackalope. I had a Ruger Mark I so he asked me to shoot one, but be careful not to ruin cape. This rabbit is 12 yards away and I shoot it in the lower chest. The rabbit recoils from the impact, but stays up for 30 seconds. My dad's friend says to go ahead and shoot again. I shoot it in about the same spot, and then gets on it hind legs and stands up like they do. "Keep shooting" my dad's friend says. So I do, I put 2 more bullets in it, and still it stands. It goes back to all fours, and sits there. "Keep going." I shot twice more, and appearently the jack rabbit decides it's time to leave, so it does. It just hops off like nothing happened. We're all stunned! We go to look, and there is probably 3 ouces of blood on the ground, and the rabbit is no where in sight!

2. Two people in our hunting party shoot buck antelopes and they have 4 horns. Two on each side! Do not mistake, they had 4 seperate horns with bone underneath, not like the non-connected horns like does have. Four true horns.

3. Same old guy that almost stepped on the snake makes an amazing shot. There's an antelope about 150 yards away and it's running up a hill. The old man shoots, and the antelope comes to halt, turns broadside, and puts its head down. The old man shoots again, and puts him down. When we get up to the animal it become clear why it "gave up". On the first shot the old guy shot the ballsack clean off! I would have given up to.

Non-Wyoming stuff

1. This didn't happen while I was hunting, but I saw a falcon take down a pigeon in midair, take it to the ground, and proceeded to eat it.

2. We took our old chocolate lab pheasant hunting, and even though he couldn't hunt we brought my 8-year-old cousin along. For whatever reason our lab takes off running at my cousin and hits him in the legs and keeps running. Not only was my cousin lifted of the ground he did an almost-complete flip over the dog , landing squarely on his back. He had the wind knocked clean out of him, and understandably started to cry.

[Pahoo]

I suppose you could start a sub-catagory about Tree Stands ....
Anyway, back in the late 80's, at the hiegth of my bow hunting phase, I was working shifts so my hunting times were a bit odd. One day, noticed that my tree stand had a visitor and it was not I. One afternoon, I'm up in this stand and I hear something coming through the woods. Sure enough, it was another bow hunter, all decked out in full camo and into the full stalk mode. Wondered if I looked that bad when I stalked. He came right down the trail and then stopped at looked right up at me. I kept quiet and still and he just kept coming. Got to the base of my tree, looked up again and started to tie off his bow with the line he had left.
I softly said, "Gees buddy, it sure is goiing to get crouded up here" ....

WOW, he stumbled back a few feet, looked up again and walked off grumbling. I then reminded his that; This is my stand and he just walked away. I then asked him if he wanted his line back and no reply. ....


Be Safe !!!

[MTT TL]

A Giant Rabbit. The thing was at least 45 pounds, maybe more.

[Jobfix]

Was on trip with my neighbor and his two sons John 12 & David 13 yrs. old Hunting Quail & Chinese Red Leg Partridge in California's Mojave Desert
The brothers get along as normal kids do, they have occasional squabbles, but they are responsible boys.
We were moving across the desert attempting to flush a covey of quail we had just spotted that morning. The boys were about 30yds. apart, we had a rule if quail flush behind use know where your muzzle is pointed if you turn to shoot, Safety 1st then the target. As we stalked there was a commotion over towards the boys I turned to see David backing up as John fired his shotgun. This happened so quickly I didn't believe what I thought was happening. "OMG!" We rushed over to the scene, the younger boy pointed to a bush, there beneath it was a huge snake. Upon examination, it was a Mojave Green Rattle Snake, a "fat one", just under 6' long. David said it had stood up & was rattling when John ran over and shot it. This was before Mobile Phones, nearest town for snake anti-toxin was forty miles. We were very thankful...

[Dan M.]

Fishing along a trout stream with a buddy and came upon this deer carcass, blood still pooled in the body cavity. Thinking back, I suppose it could've been stream water that was tinged with blood. Big smear of blood on the rocks across the creek. Wasn't much in the way of sign due to the rocks. I suppose something (Bear? Cougar? Big coyote?) dropped it there when it got wind of us or heard us coming. Never found where it was killed, or any of the missing pieces. Kinda unsettling trying to fish and looking over your shoulder at the same time.

[Booner B]

a few other encounters: not weird, but pretty interesting.

Both happened while bow hunting from a treestand. I had a red squirrel at the base of my tree for a while, eating acorns and making a racket... it decides it wants to come up my tree, so it proceeds up the right side, and when it gets to me, uses my left arm and shoulder instead of the tree trunk! :-) up close and personal. Another close encounter, i had a chickadee fly in and land on my leg while i was in the same stand. Those things are so light, that if i didn't see it fly in and watch it land, i wouldn't have known it was there. my camo must've been perfect for that set for whatever reason... too bad i never got a deer there.

[m.p.driver]

I drive a tractor trailer,on a stretch in Indiana i crested a hill and could see

turkeys in the roadway ahead,slowed down and hit the air horn.All got off

the roadway except for one that started running down the center line.He

got airborne and veered to the right,i went past then heard a

thump,looked

in the mirror to feathers flying.He did a kamikaze and committed suicide by

trailer.

Next stop i knew the receiver of the store was a hunter,so i asked him if

he ever turkey hunted,yea but they're really smart.Not that smart as i

opened the back of my trailer up.He said it was delicious.

[SavageSniper]

A few years ago i was in my treestand at the edge of a scrub oak thicket overlooking some planted pines. It was early morning when I heard something large in the thicket behind me coming my way. Of course I'm thinking this is a BIG deer. It finally comes out under me and its a white jackass. Thought "well thats something you don't see out here every day" Later I started laughing hard thinking of me on the cover of Field and Stream holding up the head of this white jackass.

[andrew66]

I have a few. We were ice fishing a couple years ago and were setting up in the morning. (we never get bites for the first hour) and the old man had a rod set up and just resting on one of the benches. I walk in to grab a tip-up, and see the rod get pulled down the hole. The next day, they were at the shack, and the last fish caught (in the same hole from the day before) had the hook still in it, and the rod not far behind. we couldnt believe it.
Another thing was in town. I had a foam deer target for archery practice that i left out. that evening, a little buck was checking it out and decided to try and mount it. it came crashing down, with the buck on top of it. It was a pretty funny sight!
A year ago, my buddy and I were hunting at his place on a ridge that looks over the valley. I noticed some white feathers on the ground below a tree. I looked up and saw a snow goose propped up in the tree with the breasts eaten out of it. It obviously was an eagle, but it looked really creepy.

[Huntergirl]

Elk sex right in front of me. It looked highly consentual...

[treg]

Walking along an overgrown trail in the grass and I hear a russle then "whop!" something hits my leg. I jumped and spun around, pistol drawn, expecting a rabid dog or cat. It took a second to see it being as I was looking for movement, but there lay a dead cottontail rabbit. Must have broke his neck on my leg when I startled him.

[Maromero]

The bulletproof Pintail. This lone bird flew across a lagoon filled with about 10/12 seasoned hunters. I believe everyone took turns firing their 3 shots and the bird didn't even flintch, leaving everyone scratching their heads. Not our best moment.

[Tuzo]

This is my third posting of my personal strange hunting story.

About 1964, when I was young and living in New Jersey, I passed a hunter saftey course, bought a 12-gauge Mossberg from Montgomery Wards, and went deer hunting for the first time. It was mid-December, very early morning, and very cold with snow on the ground. I sat in a depression for about one-hour scanning the thick woods around me until my feet became numb. Did not spot a single animal. I gave up, stood up to leave, and a two point buck and a doe appeared about ten yards in front of me. I pointed the Mossberg but had no clear shot and, after a quick moment of hesitation, the deer ran off. I was not too happy. Then I heard a clatter in their direction and ran to the noise. This is what I saw: a narrow gravel pathway, a 6-foot chain link fence surrounding Lakehurst Naval Air Station (USN was still flying lighter-than-air airships from Lakehurst), and a buck with antlers stuck in the chain link. From the hoof marks I determined that the doe made a successful turn at the fence but the buck lost his footing and skidded into the fence antlers first. Was it humane to either hop the fence and untangle the buck or walk away? Not at all. From about 2-yards I blasted the stuck buck.

I felt a bit embarassed about shooting a sitting duck (or buck) and, for many years, I could not tell the story of my first deer without saying that I heroically tracked and stalked a New Jersey whitetail through the oaks and swamps of Manchester Township.

[Double Naught Spy]

While doing survey work on Prince of Wales Island in SE Alaska, we were headed to our survey area in an inflatable motorboat. As we approached the beach, we saw a mustelid (probably a marten) coming down the beach toward us. To our surprise, it came up to within 15 feet of us when we landed, stopped and looked, and then made an arc around us and continued along the beach in no haste.

On another area of the island, we found a Victor trap, snapped, rusted, and containing 3 or 4 toe bones still in the trap. That was my big souvenir from the trip.

As our work was to document archaeological sites and cultural features, we looked at a lot of trees for evidence of bark being removed. Bark was removed for making various sorts of items by Native Americans. Bark was only removed from one side of the tree as to not kill it. We would examine the cut marks to determine if a stone tool or metal tool was used. Anyway, we looked at a lot of trees. Standing up inside the hollow of a tree, I found the blade of a 5 foot long 2 person cross cut saw, wood handles rotted away, and with a patina of rust over the whole blade...apparently where some lumberjack left it for safe keeping.

[Pahoo]

OKAY, one more; (No way can I top the reply about that 45LB. Rabbit)
This did not happen to me but rather, one of my hunting partners.
He was standing in brush, on the bank, hunting some ducks. As soon as he started calling, he felt a scratching on his pant leg. He looked down and there stood a fox. The moment he stopped calling, the fox ran off. This happened a second time and at the third time, he was looking out of the corner of his eye for the fox and sure enough, there he was again. The whole thing seemed strange enough that my buddy just moved on.



Be Safe !!!

[troy_mclure]

I prefer to hunt from ground blinds. Ive either been used as a perch or run over/across by tons of squirrels.

Was also followed by a noisy bluejay for hours while trying to hunt. I finally gave up and went home.

[Uncle Buck]

Heard the geese going nuts last night and went out with the spotlight to see what was going on. There was a red fox with it's head stuck in a pail running back and forth hitting the fence trying to get away and the geese were hot on his tail! They were chasing that poor fellow back and forth, to and fro, all over the inside of the fence.
Only thing I can figure is he crawled in through the fence and was nosing around inside the bucket when the handle slipped over his head. I finally got my boots on and gimped over to the pond, grabbed the bucket and gave a shout. He pulled free, looked at me in a very indignant way and just walked off. Never seen a fox walk away like he did. Poor guy, his dinner made a mockery of him and I could not help but laugh.

I was laughing so hard I could not shoot him.

[Art Eatman]

About the oddest deer behavior I ever saw was a bunch of years back when I was making a several-mile hunting circle. I spotted a hunt camp, and figured I'd wander over and mooch a cup of coffee if anybody was home.

About 150 yards from the tent, a doe stood up maybe fifteen yards in front of me, trotted off ten or so steps and stopped and looked back at me. I did my usual, "Aw go on and go back to bed, Bitchysue; I don't shoot women and children."

She trotted off to the side maybe ten steps and went to browsing. I then happened to look off to my right and there were two more does, maybe fifteen yards off. So, back to conversation: "Y'all go lay down."

One went maybe ten steps and began browsing. The other went about the same distance and lay down under a mesquite bush and began chewing her cud.

Discouraging. I'd used up maybe a thousand acres worth of deer, and had to step on them to find them. Bummer.

There wasn't anybody at the tent, so no coffee. And I do love coffee.

[ZeroJunk]

I was deer hunting on Anticosti Island, if you can call it that. They don't have any predators and the deer really don't know what a man is.
I was on a logging trail and saw a 15 inch or so eight point coming toward me about 200 yards away. I decided I didn't want him and he just kept coming. He got about 10 feet away with me squatted in the midlle of the road with a full orange vest, veered around me about 10 feet, got back on the road and kept going.

If that is not bad enough the deer sleep in the peoples yards in the little port town. A very nice buck was walking down the side of the road and we pulled up rolled the window down and started feeding him potato chips. He rolled his eyes back in his head and stuck his head in the window. We rolled the window up in fear of getting poked in the eye.

I finally assassinated a little buck for one of the hunters who had filled his tags and wanted the meat thinking it was better than US deer. Other than that my hunting partner and I never fired a shot. Not our cup of tea. But the accomadations were wonderful. George Bush and Bill Gates had both stayed at our lodge fishing.