Moments While Hunting

[j.krug]

That's an awesome encounter out in the woods for sure!!
i do have to ask though...what sound does a turnip make??

[ninepointer]

Many years ago while I was still-hunting along the edge of a partly frozen northwoods lake in mid-November, I had the pleasure of watching several otters sliding on their bellies down the snowy bank, across a few feet of ice and into the water. They kept doing this over and over again, going round and round, like kids waiting their turn on a slide. Priceless

[VixChix]

Years ago out in Alberta I was pushing a large rectangle of woods for deer along with 2 others.

It was a grey day. Daylight without shadows. Hoar frost the night before left crystals an inch thick on every twig and branch.

I was in the middle of the line of 3. The other two stayed out where they could see the field where it met the sides of the woods. There were no shadows so to keep from getting turned around in the grey I often checked my compass. With bushwhacking through knee-deep snow and stopping to check direction I fell a bit behind the others creating a "V" in our line.

I was down in a little dip when the muffled silence was broken by a crashing like nothing I'd ever heard before. It sounded like a freight train coming through. I froze and waited.

Then just a few yards away from me 3 enormous shapes materialized from the hoarfrost. The crashing stopped, but the moose kept approaching. They were so graceful as they filed down into the dip and back up the other side. The deep snow didn't affect them at all. They appeared just for a few seconds before vanishing again into the grey.

I've seen many moose, but that was the most magical close encounter I've ever had. What amazed me most was the incredible noise they made and then the sudden silence as they passed me. It was as if they were giant black ghosts. Beautiful.

[Raymond]

Wow that would have been interesting to see.
Thanks,
Raymond

[killshot]

Every year I go back to Quebec to hunt with Dad and 2 close friends of ours.

It was day 5 of the hunt about 6 years ago and I had been seeing 20 to 30 does, skippers and small bucks every time I went out to sit. Something was different this morning as 7:30 am came and the usual Doe and 2 skippers did not show up. I could of set my watch to them the 4 days before. As time passed it was now 9:00 am and nothing at all came by. About 9:30 or so I started to hear some rustling in the woods just out of sight. I thought maybe it was 2 bucks fighting but I couldn’t hear the rattling of the antlers. After about 30 minutes Curiosity got the better of me so I climbed down and started to walk very slowly towards the noise. I had walked about 150 yards and the noise (what I paced out later to be 12 yards) was just in front of me on the other side of a fallen tree. By this time I knew it wasn’t deer but had no clue what the noise could be. I am now bobbing my head around trying not to move to much or make too much noise to get a glimpse of it. As I am stretching around this tree that is in front of me, there it is, this huge head of a mother black bear. My heart stopped then raced like it hasn’t in a long time. Then I see 2 cubs. Well that’s when I decided it was time for me to high tail it out of there. I walked backwards for about 50 yards and then turned around and headed to my father’s stand to tell him what I had just seen. I saw them later that day in my night hunt walking through the corn field about 300 to 400 yards away and let me tell you she was huge. Now I buy a bear tag with my deer tag every year when I go just in case. But we never saw them again.

I know I had a rifle in my hands but Bears are the one thing that make me very nervous.

[Galgo]

Last year I had a horrible week of the flu and stomach flu during my week of shotgun deer hunt. I skipped the Saturday and we agreed that we would hunt till 8am on the sunday then call it a week and skin and prepare the six deer we had hanging. I had not even seen a deer yet and could not even make the walk to the stand without stopping and heaving the bagel I forced myself to eat for breakfast. I settled in the stand and felt sick but then noticed and took pictures of the most gorgeous sunrise and realised that even if I didn't see a deer I was very lucky just to out there. All of a sudden something huge was flying right in front of my face.I thought I was being attacked. A huge bird about a four to five foot wing span landed in the tree an arms length above me without making a sound. I looked at it silouette and realized it was a great horned owl. I moved my hand to get my camera and it rotated its head 180 degrees and looked down at me. I looked att those yellow pearcing eyes and suddenly wondered if I was the hunter or the prey. In an instatant it turned and flew away without making a sound.. I whispered "happy hunting buddy" and again felt grateful for the experience that I may never have again. 30 minutes later a doe walked to within 12rds of my stand and I was able to take her and
Fill my tag. An incredible morning and it wasn't yet 730