I was replying to another post when I remembered an incident from 06 that I wrote a big post on back then so I thought it would be interesting to see what your most stressfull moments were. I've had two that are tied for making the hair on the back of my neck stand up even today because I was as close to death as I ever care to be again until my time is up.

First one didn't involve a handgun but it was my first year hunting, we had just moved from the city in CA to Oregon and I was about 14. I had gone deer (blacktail) hunting with my uncles and they put me on a stand which was a bench overlooking a meadow and an oak grove. I was packing what else but a Model 94 Winchester and hadn't at that point spent much time in the woods alone on stands. I sat down and immediately started hearing thrashing in the oak grove and I noticed a strong musty odor and it immediately registered that my uncles had told me you could smell a bear before you saw it. Well sure enough out comes a bear walking and I got buck or bear fever bad since this was my first shot at a big game animal. I shot and couldn't tell if I hit or not but he was hauling the mail so I threw out a follow shot that was a clean miss. I turned my back and started yelling for my uncles when I heard a growling and popping noise behind me. It was momma, I apparently had shot at the previous years cub which hadn't been kicked loose yet and she was mad. We were about three or four feet apart and she was every bit as tall as me on her back legs and with her paws in the air I about lost it. I was so petrified I pulled the trigger on the gun which was pointed at the ground. I didn't get the bear but fortunately the shot spooked her although since she didn't attack when she had the chance I think it was a bluff but at the time I was as scared as I'd ever been.

The second one was also kind of humorous. I was driving by a farm and saw what I thought was a coyote but it seemed out of place laying in the middle of the pasture so I stopped and glassed it. I couldn't believe it when I realized it was mature cat. I immediately went and received permission from the landowner to shoot it. The only problem is I guess the range at 200yds and all I had was my 6" iron sighted 475 and with it being in the middle of a hay field in the spring there was no cover. I told the guy I was going to try and get as close as I could and see what I could do with the revolver but he offered me the use of one of his rifles. When it comes to cats I'll use the best weapon I can get my hands on so I agreed but I'd probably been better off making a hale mary shot with the 475. The gun was an old Remington 760 in 06 which was fine excepet the ammo was green and the magazine so rusted I had to beat it into the gun. I had serious doubts but the round chambered. I took a sitting rest on the barbwire fence and t post. The scope was a 50 yr old bushnell I believe and it was one of those you have to look through just right or you can't see a thing. I finally got the cat in my sights and shot. I saw dirt fly behind the cat but couldn't tell if I shot through or over the cat which was still laying down. It ran toward the river which has a steep deep embankment covered in blackberries and alders. I decided to parralel the bank looking for sign going in to the black berries. As I passed one trail in particular the hair on my neck stood up and I immediately saw movement to my left and behind me. I swung the 475 across my body and fired but I shot wide since I didn't have time to turn and face the cat which had planned on landing on my back. The cat dissapeared and being only 3 feet from the muzzle I'm sure it was deaf for a while.

So what kind of run ins have you guys had?

No cats here, yet. Have had many encounters with big gov't dogs tho. Once had a blondie camped out within 10 yards of a treestand that I walked within 5 yards of on my way to the tree prior to dawn. It layed in the grass the whole time I sat in the tree, and I never saw a hair of it. I doubt I ever would have known it was there but I had an urge that could not be ignored and while looking for a spot to expend the previous nights dinner I saw the grasses part and dang near s!*t my drawers. A few seconds later it sat on a ditch dump and gave me a look like....it was my lucky day....and leapt off, the biggest Timber I have ever seen.

Have had many other encounters, but not quite like that one. That dog had me if it had wanted me.

My wife.....4AM......first deer sesason we were married.....getting ready to go hunting and turned on a light in the bedroom while she was sound asleep. The light woke her.....she's not a morning person......it was not a pretty sight. Still wet myself a little each time I think of that terrifying day.

Oh those cats don't want to hurt you, they just want to part your hair for you.
I was within easy reach of a lion that was in a tree once. The good thing was that there was also a dog in the tree with him. Made for some great pictures though.
Had a coyote come in really close once. 6 steps to where he fell.

Nothing stressful yet though.

Not that's some funny stuff right there,I almost hurt myself.

Had a few run ins with blackies over the years,and found for me it's not the stressful encounters but afterwards that usually bothers me.It usually causes a sick pukee feeling.We got cats even though wildlife refuses to acknowledge it but not in enough numbers they cause problems yet.Rod you know that cat just wanted to play!Maybe even use you for a scratching post.

Man you guys are gonna make me think twice while walking into stand in the pitch dark!

Mine was about 7 years ago. I was walking into a stand in southcentral PA where I had spotted a really nice buck a few days earlier. I try to make as little commotion as possible so I wear a headlamp and pretty much keep it pointed right at the ground in front of me. I heard something and looked to the left only to see a set of eyes about 40 yards from me. Within seconds the telltale challenge bark gave it away as a coyote.
It was my first encounter with a song dog...I had only a bow and a shot was out of the question in the thick brush. I figured I would continue on my way to the stand thinking the yote would move on. Instead he followed me paralleling me the entire way to my tree stand, barking the entire time. As I began to set up my stand he went silent...having my back to that direction just left an awful, eerie feeling. I quickly got in and climbed up. Once I sat down the yote continued to bark until first light, exiting just before I had an opportunity to shoot.

I had a couple of run in's with grizzlys.

I was sitting on a bear bait when a grizzly came in. I was up and tree and decided I'd to try to run him off before he got to the bait. I was carrying a 15 inch encore in 30-06. I shot in the air and hollered at him. That bear bristled up and started looking for me. He looked like a bristled up cat when a dog was coming at him. That really nerved me up. I shot and hollered again, and he still was looking for me. He finally wandered up into the timber behind the bait. It was about 45 min before dark so I decided to call it a day. As I was getting out of the tree I could see him moving around in the timber. I hollered at him several times and started for the truck hollering at the bear telling how bad a guy I was and that I'd blow him away if he came after me. The truck was a bit over a quarter of a mile, what spooky walk. That is the only grizzly I've seen that I believe would have taken me if I was on the ground with him.

Another grizzly on a bait that scared me was my son and I we on the ground watching a bait. All the sudden I look of the the left and there's a BIG grizzly walking to the bait. He was only about 75 yards away and angling toward the bait. When he was about 50 yards I said "grizzly lefts get out of here". My son bailed off over the bank we were up on and I walked a few steps to pick up on contender. The bear caught my movement and stared at me. I had my Ruger 44 in my hand and hollered at him to let him know what I was. He just stood there, so I shot in the air. He never moved so I shot again. He finally just walked to the bait like he didn't have a care in the world. Then I baled off over the edge. My son was scared (he was about 15) He said he heard my yell and then shoot. He didn't know whether to come back up bank to help or just head for the truck. The scary part about that one was if he would have come up the bank right behind up he would have been about 5 yards from us.........scary thought

I'm going to my son for the game but I tell about a moose run in when I get back

In 1976 I was 18 and deer hunting in Michigan with some relatives. One morning I became sleepy and fell asleep sitting at the base of a tree. Something awakened me. A doe was nosing my cheek. I do not know which of us jumped the highest.

I pulled into the chicken house area that I park to hunt the guys hill above said houses. This land back up right against the national forest of Amiclola falls. That is the feeder trail to the southern start of the Appliachin trail. Anyway, My friend has a nice little farm with some donkey, sheep, llama and a few horses. I pull in and a 'dog' barks on the far side of the vally. On my side 5-6 yotes reply. I then walked into those woods knowing they knew the land better, saw better, heard better, and smelled (me) better. It was still full dark. I had a big ol' single shot and a .44mag, but I was sure glad I had that high cap 9 on my hip. After I got settled, I heard them kinda flow thru the woods around me as they retreated into the forest. Kinda scary, kinda fun.

Dogsbreath

12 yards, full charge, his eyes locked on mine, 10 of 10 on the pucker meter

That trumps all ;-)

I think we have a winner!

Yes, winner winner chicken dinner. There would be no salvage to the under garments on that deal !

They can some of the most dangerous game a man can encounter.

My strangest encounter was more than fifteen years ago while scouting out some private land in Connecticut for deer season. It was the rut and a windy day. I had my Dan Wesson 22 and a 10" TC Contender with the 410 barrel for grouse. While walking through a pine grove I saw a buck. It wasn't big, a four pointer. But it was acting weird. It was walking in a zig zag pattern with it's eyes bugged out to where I could see the whites and he was cocking his head back and forth like a chicken. Then he turned on me. I pulled the Contender and shot over it's head. He skidded to a stop and ran off. I walked out of that grove very quickly and fired three shots with the DW over it's head. The deer was running around in a circle like a dog.

I went home and calmed down after that. Later that season I was in the woods with my Contender Carbine in 45-70 and plugged him with a 300 grain hollow point. That deer never tasted better.

You've got that right!

When I was a boy, we (family) were in Yosemite, camping. We went on a horseback ride on some of the trails. While aproaching a stand of trees, our guide (who was up front), rode back down the line to warn us of a bear in the stand of tress, and that we should keep our horses moving quickly through the stand. There was a big sow standing at the base of a tree, with two cubs up that tree. She was all bristled up, with ears laid back,and we rode past her within mere feet. She was not happy. High pucker factor.

I also remember being in Africa as a young Marine, on a night maneuver, and getting close to something in the brush that had a very guteral growl. We got out of there in a hurry. There are many nasty things that go bump in the night in Africa.....

Really high pucker factor.

I've had a number of unhappy hogs come for me in Florida and in North Carolina.....

Lots of bear encounters here in NM over the years, but my scariest moment happened after the fact. Did not even know I should have been scared at the time.

On a spring turkey hunt up at the ranch a number of years ago. Still snow on the ground. I cut a set a moutain lion tracks in a gulley, and that really got my attention. I immediately added a couple of slugs to the shotgun, and carefully finished my hunt. Back at the cabin, one of my buddies mentioned finding my tracks and the lions tracks, and we sorted out the timeline and where we all intersected, and we determined that the cat had cut my tracks, followed me for quite a while, then circled around ahead of me. It is one thing to enter the woods, pondering an encounter. Knowing for certain that I was being tracked and would have been lunch completely at the cat's descretion, that one still rattle's me to this day. I am very happy he was not too hungry at the time ;^)

Craig

Craig, that would have rattled me too!

Whit,

What really rattled me (and why I chuckle a bit to myself about cat woods defense guns/caliber threads) is that it hit me hard in the face. If you are really concerned with cat woods defense, you would probably be better served to buy a football helmet. This might buy you the time to even draw a gun. And I do spend a bit more time watching my backtrail on the ranch these days. I think the only cat defense we really have is statisically low attack numbers. That's about it, imho.

Craig

Peter Capstick wrote that he would don a leather jacket and a football helmet when he went after wounded leopard. Whatever buys you enough time to dispatch the cat (or whatever!)!

good thread, very entertaining (although not at the time for you guys).

I haven't had a "run-in" but I was kinda spooked out while grouse hunting in the snow, turned around after a fairly long hike down the trail, and saw fresh wolf tracks following mine. a little eerie, but nothing like a grizzly encounter or a bull elephant charge! lol

Well my most interesting encounter was in 30 feet of water wrestling a 10foot, arm tip to arm tip, octapus on Okinawa. It proved to be a bit of an enconter but we ended up with a fine dinner.

I wouldn't want to get attacked by a 50-lb dog, let alone a wolf. Finding tracks following yours would be very unsettling.

I think out of all these its the cats whether a cougar or leopard that still bother me the most although I still go in after them and I've been fortunate to see over a dozen in the wild. I've had one other cat circle back on me but I was able to back out of the woods as I could hear him on the dry oak leaves but I couldn't see him. With bears and the the biggest of the big five the danger is serious and you have little chance of survival if things go bad but in the majority of cases you know they are there but with cats you generally don't know they are around unless they want you too or until it's too late.

Whit,

See how you are. I was trying to be humorous, and you interject that ;^) Given the time period, that would have been the leather "bomber" style helmet? We like to call the current version the Elmer Fudd hat. Maybe a leather one, with a leather "lettermans" school jacket, from a team with the cougar as a mascot ;^) Maybe the outdoor gear makers have totally missed a market segment here.

Rod, I understand that moutain bikes make a great shield. Perhaps strap one on your back? For me, I agree, it is pretty much not your call. I hate house cats by and large, but go easy on them, for good Cat Karma. That, and I typically choose not to wear my beaver Fudd/bomber hat while hunting. With my luck, I would have a lion biting down on my neck, and a owl or hawk trying to remove my scalp. Thank God we do not have wolfs around here. It's hard enough to hunt, much less be hunted.

Craig

Haha! No, it was the '70s and '80s, so the helmet was plastic!

I'm not a cat person myself, but watch your neighborhood cats skulk around, hunt birds, etc. and they are pretty impressive. Now scale them up to 150-lbs + -- nothing I want to tangle with.

Back in '88 I was "lost" for a while in the MT timber during an elk hunt, so I sat under a pine tree to stay out of the falling snow. Just as I got comfortable, a rabbit shot out from under a nearby, low-hanging pine limb, with a coyote or wolf right behind it. Likely a coyote, but you couldn't tell me any different as I was high-tailing it in the opposite direction.

In '05 I was deer hunting in WY with a fellow HH member. He had previously mentioned to us that we could see a griz, though that warning went in one ear and out the other. I had forgotten all about it once we commenced the hunt.

A buddy sat on one side of the creek bank and I headed for the other bank approx. 100 yds away. As I was darting about over the water, I heard a twig snap and I looked down the creek, as I got down on one knee. A very short while later a small muley buck appeared and walked on without noticing me.

So I continued on my way for the creek bank, found a spot to sit down, and began to take off my fanny pack and settle in for the morning hunt. Not long after I'd barely gotten comfortable I heard another twig snap and immediately thought it might be another deer. Something moved behind a bush less than 20 yds away to my right, so I readied my shootin iron for when it came out on the other side.

'Whoops!! Grizzly's aren't in season,' I thought! Now what do I do? Luckily for me, the bear had winded me where I just crossed the creek and took off in a gallop up the stream. I considered sitting there anyway and continuing my deer hunt, but the notion of this bear sneaking around and getting above me prevailed, so I headed for the truck. He was 13 steps from me when I saw him. The rest of my group saw the bear as well and I'd say we were all very lucky that day.

Bearbait, funny you should say that about the hat and owls... I was out during late muzzleloader season in extreme NE MN, and sat down for a bit. A huge great grey owl came swooping in and landed on a branch maybe 20-30ft. away from me, and was looking right at me. I sat quietly in awe at the awesome beast, considering it a lucky encounter. Then I thought, I wonder what he is looking at? and it hit me that I was wearing a blaze orange "mad bomber" hat with rabbit fur on it cause it was real cold out. Once that sank in, I was glad he hadn't landed on my head!

BB,

I got divebombed by a very large owl in Colorado years ago. No fuzzy hat, but I watched him take off from the far side a meadow up at 12,000 feet elevation in a wilderness area. I was glassing on a rock outcrop on the far side of the meadow, and when he lifted off it was cool. He was huge. Then I watched him fly towards me, very cool. Then I realized he was coming right at me. The owl only cleared me by a couple of feet, probably as I finally made a large amount of movement, while I ducked and almost fell of the back of the rock ;^) I didn't think almost getting killed by an owl would make the list here, but he almost did me in. That would have been an embarassing way to bite the bullet, or fall on a broadhead.

Craig

A few years ago I was Bow hunting after work.Getting off late there was no way I could get to my stand in time . I decided to still hunt an old logging rd.500 yds in coming over a knoll I heard a loud snap of a branch in the bottom .Still being 75 yds off I hustled as fast as I could to close the distance to the bottom.At 50 yds there came aloud crack and rustle of brush so I froze.Kneeling I knocked an arrow ande attached my release . I was confused as to what would make so much noise.. after a few seconds I got my answer as a large black bear stepped into the logging road . Looking down the hill first and then turning up the hill as he stepped fully into the roadway facing me head on.... no shot. The bear and I had a staring contest that lasted a week , or so it seemed to .I thought to myself ... be the woods ... blend in ... hold your breath... dont blink ... dear god thats a big bear...after a few hours the bear started walking to me ... shuffling a few feet then stare a few feet more then stare..At 30 yds I could see the wetness of his nose and a white blaze on his chest wind was blowing in my face I could smell him now .... peeking through one eye I was thinking he would turn and I would draw the bow for a shot ...He obviously didnt get the memo .. he started coming again.... at 20 yards i could hear him sniffing the wind and him licking his nose .... oh dear god he is a giant of a bear.... still no shot .... oh dear god wtf am i doing here with a bow and no gun . An eternity goes by and I open an eye hoping maybe he had vanished... he didnt... nope ... now he is standing on his hind legs whoofing at me ... I panicked through my hands in the air over my head bow in hand yelling , YAA BEAR GET OUT OF HERE.. YAAA GO GET!!!He spun and ran off into the brush...Too wich I turned back up the road and hustled double time back up the hill.Stopping to catch my breath and check my shorts...I had this funny feeling I was Being watched.Started sneaking my way back out and I heard the brush russling off to my left about 50yds ... hit a thin spot and the damn bear was standing on his hind legs still trying to figure out what I was ..The bear was stalking me. Now just short of full panic I start backing up the road trying to keep an eye on the bear and not fall .... Now its getting to dark to see ... walk listen walk listen. All but sprint to my truck fishing for the keys in my pocket unlocking the auto locks turning the headlights on...whew i made it ball a sweat little panic yet. Trying to catch my breath and get out og my hunting clothes i drop the tail gate of my truck only to hear a low menacing growl behind me ... hair on my neck stood up bitter taste in my mouth I spin around and there is a guy walking his dog up the dirt road...Oh my god ..... i had to laugh guy thought i had lost my mind ... till i told him the whole story ... then he laughed his ass off

Great story!

Just wait, I've seen the wolf expansion predictions and NM is in the range. We are getting hit from two sides, the wolf packs didn't exist here up until a couple years ago and now they range half way down the the state going N to S and two thirds across going E to W. That is just from the rapidly expanding Yellowstone packs and now we are expecting animals from the Canadian packs which are moving through WA to start meeting up with those. We have a law here that says you can't use lethal force to stop a wolf attack on livestock and you can't use lethal force to protect yourself until the wolf has physically touched you in an attack. In other words if your being charged by a wolf you can't shoot until he bites you, yeah right I don't think I'll play that game. It's kind of like the old saying "better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6".

One of the other stories reminded me of something I actually found humerous at the time as I had lost my fear of black bears although I have an extreme amount of respect for them.

I was hunting a large boar that had been getting into garbage and such around a friends house up in the woods. I would walk up the same washed out logging road every day and watch a drainage where I figured out the bear was staying. One day I only had about an hour to hunt so I booked it up the road not being very quiet and watched until I had to leave about a half hour before dark. When I started back down there were paw prints in the soft dirt on top of my boot tracks. He had followed me all the way from my buddies place about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile up the mountain and bailed off about a hundred yard or less from where I stopped to watch. he was shielded by a bend in the road. I never did get him but one day I came close, the wind was blowing probably 20mph or so down the draw and between the noise and my scent going away from him I jumped him as I came around the same bend he had used to shield himself. I couldn't get a shot as I was hunting with my recurve but to this day he is the biggest bear I've seen myself in the wild. The landowners had guessed him around 500-600lbs and I'd guess they were right. I know of several bears that large that have been taken within that general part of the unit. It may sound funny but after hunting him for two months and there being repeats of the account of his tracks on mine I didn't mind not getting him. He had to be old and very smart and I almost felt like we were playing a game of tag. He was obviously just following out of curiousity as he never showed himself to be aggressive to me or any of the local landowners. He just liked raiding there garbage and did hear of a bear in the area getting into a kitchen but I'm not sure it was him or not but it wouldn't surprise me.

I was bowhunting in Zimbabwe in '95 and had just killed a kudu. We loaded it on the truck and were headed back to the skinning shed driving along a 2 track along the river. Really thick brush. We rounded a corner and there were 2 bull elephant standing in the middle of the road. The PH slammed the brakes on and immediately started backing up at a fast pace. One of the bulls threw his head back and came after us. One one side of us was probably a 50' drop to the river full of crocs and hippos and in front of us gaining ground was the bull. All I could do was watch the elephant get closer and closer to the truck. Finally, after what seemed forever, probably 50 yards or so, the elephant decided he had enough fun with us and stopped. We took the long way back to camp. Later that day, the PH took me to the area where they keep the safari trucks. One of them had a 4" hole straight through the passenger side door. A couple weeks before, the same bull caught the truck and put his tusk completely through the door. Luckily, nobody else was in the truck that time. I heard that a gun hunter killed the bull later in the season.

Rod,

I suspect the wolves are indeed making their way to NM. Just heard another wild hogs in NM report the other night. I wish the hogs would just make it already ;^) And I hope if the wolves do (besides the trainwreck of the Mexican Grey that is still going), the states have full control from the Feds.

Tom, you ought to see what an American Bison can do to a ranch truck, or someone who knows what they are doing scrambling to the underside of said truck. So, did you tip your PH for the good work getting your critters, or for his good work keeping you alive ;^)

Craig

Craig, I bet a bison could do alot of damage to anything it wanted to. :>) Oh yes, the PH was definately well paid for his efforts. That was one of the best hunts I have ever been on and he definately earned every cent.

These are great stories guys, thanks for the entertainment :-)

Tom,

I suspected as much. Pretty fine line, enough excitement to make for a great time at the campfire afterwards, but not so much that you do not make the campfire. I have never been out of this country on a any kind of hunt, and will not likely, but I have learned one thing that I would take with me. When someone with experience in the task at hand gives me directions, I follow them ;^)

Bison will lull you. They look docile, spend most of their time standing around, looking tame. Then when the switch gets thrown to the on position, their speed and power are truely amazing.

Craig

I don't trust any bovines. A bison is equipped to do untold damage.

An encounter with a herd bull on the farm can turn bad quickly.
I was trying to catch a calf to treat for pinkeye' when the bull decided to take a hand in the procedings. HE WON!!!!!!!!!
They are all wild animals and an encounter can turn ugly and deadly very quickly.He was bottle fed and hand raised. Thank God
he did not have horns.
There are a couple of pictures on bragging board but I do not know how to get them to here.