Ever been attacked by something when hunting?

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Many years ago, I was bow hunting in Mississippi along a wooded creek. I sat in the tree perfectly camoflauged, to include a face net. The only part of my body showing was an oval shape in the face mask where my eyes were. I'm quite serious about movement when hunting, and I was just about motionless all afternoon. Around an hour before sunset, I watched a hawk silently glide through the forest over the edge of the creek. The shadows were growing long and we were both hunting; it was cool to see. That hawk pulled up on a branch around 15 yards in front of me and stared right at me for what seemed several minutes. Then, without a noise, he launched, and drove straight for my face! I couldn't believe my eyes. When he was maybe 20 feet away I raised my arms and waved him off at the last second. He banked hard left and took a perch roughly 15 yards behind and to the right of me. Then he stared at me again. I couldn't concentrate on deer hunting until he left. :D I never thought I'd have to worry about establishing and maintaining air superiority while bow hunting. I'm guessing the shape of my facemask, or the movement of my eyes made me look like something worth attacking.
 
4 pages of stories and all we got was a couple possible Bigfoot stories?!

Come on, no one else has seen the big guy or something that they couldn't explain?
 
It was a lovely almost full moon night on Sleepy Cat Mountain NE of Meeker, CO. I left the camper to make a #2 deposit before bed, finding a nice and smooth fallen aspen trunk to serve as a toilet seat. As I was in mid-accomplishment, I caught some movement out of the far left corner of vision...

Mountain Lion? Bear? Bobcat? Coyote? NOPE!

A huge PORCUPINE! ... and he was waddling down the tree trunk right towards me, complete with my pants and sidearm (Colt 1917) around my ankles.

Fortunately for all concerned, he broke of the attack soon after and I was able to finish my business.
 
A friend of mine got in his treestand about 45 min. before first light. About 30 min. later something whacked him in the face. He couldn't see anything but at daybreak he noticed blood on his hand where he wiped his face. Then he realized he couldn't see well out of his left eye. He got down, went to his truck and looked in a mirror. The eye was bloodshot and had a bit of fluid around it.
When he got to the eye doctor, he was told an owl (probably) had scratched his eye with its talon. The eye cleared up after a couple of weeks with eye drops.
 
It was a lovely almost full moon night on Sleepy Cat Mountain NE of Meeker, CO. I left the camper to make a #2 deposit before bed, finding a nice and smooth fallen aspen trunk to serve as a toilet seat. As I was in mid-accomplishment, I caught some movement out of the far left corner of vision...

Mountain Lion? Bear? Bobcat? Coyote? NOPE!

A huge PORCUPINE! ... and he was waddling down the tree trunk right towards me, complete with my pants and sidearm (Colt 1917) around my ankles.

Fortunately for all concerned, he broke of the attack soon after and I was able to finish my business.
A prickly predicament, indeed!

A friend of mine got in his treestand about 45 min. before first light. About 30 min. later something whacked him in the face. He couldn't see anything but at daybreak he noticed blood on his hand where he wiped his face. Then he realized he couldn't see well out of his left eye. He got down, went to his truck and looked in a mirror. The eye was bloodshot and had a bit of fluid around it.
When he got to the eye doctor, he was told an owl (probably) had scratched his eye with its talon. The eye cleared up after a couple of weeks with eye drops.

Owls go for the eyes, and what's worse, they fly completely silently.
 
Here's a "bigfoot story" for you.

My dad and I were camped on the bank of the Ogeechee River in Georgia some years ago. It was a two day float fishing trip. It got to be about nine in the evening and we had just settled down to go to sleep when from down the river we heard a loud "kaploosh!" Honestly I didn't think that much of it until it happened again about thirty seconds later. It happened a dozen more times steadily growing closer then stopped for a bit then started again slowly moving further down river. If someone had been throwing concrete blocks off a bridge into the water that is the sort of sound it would have made. I had a 45 under the boat cushion I was using for a pillow, but never pulled it out as we never actually saw whatever was making the noise.

It was a couple of years later that I learned there were sturgeon in the river and they sometimes leap out of the water. Sturgeon are big fish so when they come all the way out of the water and hit broadsided coming down they can make quite a splash - especially in the dark when you can't see them! We were never in danger from them, but it certainly had us puzzled. There was a woman killed in the mouth of the Suwanee River several years ago when she was on a jet ski and one leaped out of the water and hit her so they can be pretty big.

On a more mundane note I've been chased out of fields by bulls, once by a particularly aggressive horse, and once while dove hunting in a corn field had a rather large sow pig waddle up (the field owner had turned them in to clean up after the corn had been harvested) who was determined to eat the box of shells I had open on the ground next to me. Had to hit her in the head several times with the gun butt before she finally gave up. My dad and grandad were in other parts of the field and ribbed me about it for the rest of the day.
 
Not a hunting story, but still funny. About 16 years ago I was working graveyard shift security while in college. It was about 2:30 or so as I was eating my lunch sandwich when "Osama Bin Raccoona" came up begging for food, and started getting aggressive. I shooed him off with my boot only for him to not get the point. I then threw a small rock at him, and received a snarl as an answer. My final response was to hose him down with OC spray, and laugh as he haulled tail dragging his snout in the grass and dirt trying to make the fire go out. I never did have another issue with the wildlife after that.

My boss found it funny when I told him the next morning over our shift turnover briefing/coffee session. He told me that raccoon was a problem for everyone and they were about to "trap him and be done with him." I didn't ask questions I didn't need to know the answer to about what that meant. Lol.
 
Many years ago my Dad was out turkey hunting and was leaning against some thick brush as he was making calls. A novice hunter thought he was an actual turkey and fired into the brush hitting my dad. Luckily the guy didn't take off and helped my Dad get to the hospital. Though once my Dad was there he took off. This was back before cell phones and cameras everywhere. Some of the shot was too close to his spine so they left it there. Luckily he survived, but he never hunted again.
 
A bull. He wasn't suppose to be in the pasture as we crossed over going back to the car from pheasant hunting. He did a false charge at us halfway across the pasture. When we got to a hot wire fence, the bull watched us but back away as we crawled underneath.
 
A Skunk. I was Squirrel hunting with my Labrador and out of the brush a big old Skunk headed right for me. I yelled but he kept coming. I couldn't shoot because my Dog was all over him, God the smell! It was like tear gas! My Dog was down on her back trying to rub her eyes on the ground, I was trying to wipe my eyes to shoot that miserable SOB of a Skunk. I finally got off all ten rounds from the little 10/22 and settled the Skunk who HAD NEVER ATTEMPTED to leave. We made our way home eye's still running and my Wife outside saying she smelled Skunk from inside the house about ten minutes ago and don't you come a step closer. I took off my clothes and used the outside hose on me and the Dog but we were still not fit company. It took day's of scrubbing and I got clean, but the Dog after shampoo, special Skunk shampoo, and Vet's shampoo still smelled Skunky every time she got wet. The Vet said the Skunk was almost certainly Rabid.
 
My horse fell on me, does that count?

Really, she was a clumsy horse. Knowing that I got off her to walk down a bad spot and she lost her footing and landed on me. We both slide down a way, but I had a horse on me.
 
. . used the outside hose on me and the Dog but we were still not fit company. It took day's of scrubbing and I got clean, but the Dog after shampoo, special Skunk shampoo, and Vet's shampoo still smelled Skunky every time she got wet.
Two consecutive nights, my dog got skunked. Same place, same skunk, stupid dog.

Tomato paste, with just enough water to get it massaged thoroughly into the fur, is hard to beat. Then your dog will smell like a very Italian skunk.
 
Not attacked (except maybe my heart), but then I wasn't hunting.
It was at work.
My job has me in the boondocks most of the time. Our crew of four was working on repairing a low water bridge
in the middle of nowhere.
Chain saws, double jacks, and 30 penny spikes. A fair amount of noise.
Felt the need coming on, so I grabbed a roll from the rig to wander around the next bend (50 yards or so away).

It was raining very lightly with no breeze, so I figure that dampened my sound on the gravel/dirt road.
As I rounded the sharp corner I looked up through the drizzle to see three cats side by side crouched down on their haunches
lapping water from a large puddle in the road.
20 -25 yds.

I sorta froze and I'll never forget how all three slowly raised their eyes (and their heads ever so slightly) in perfect unison to stare at me with those golden eyes.
All of our guns were back in the work trucks, so I just sucked it up.
Kept eye contact and started to slowly back away until I was well around the corner.
The cougars never moved a muscle the entire time. They were like three statues.
I had never seen three together that were all the same size like that, but it had to have been a mom with her grown kids.
Glad she didn't feel like making the encounter a learning experience for them.

They didn't mess with me, so I just left it alone.
Did not feel the need to go the rest of the day however.

JT
 
Many years ago my Dad was out turkey hunting and was leaning against some thick brush as he was making calls. A novice hunter thought he was an actual turkey and fired into the brush hitting my dad. Luckily the guy didn't take off and helped my Dad get to the hospital. Though once my Dad was there he took off. This was back before cell phones and cameras everywhere. Some of the shot was too close to his spine so they left it there. Luckily he survived, but he never hunted again.

I worked with this woman and I remember one night at work when she got a emergency phone call . Her brother was turkey hunting with his grown son and his son shot and killed him by mistake .
 
I had a racoon charge me in broad daylight, unfortunately I was at work and my pistol was in the truck. He ran straight at me for about 20 yards and when he got about 10 feet from me I said What are you doing? He trotted to a stop about 3' from me and look up at me like a small child. Then he looked around and ran back down over the hill and back across the road.
Coons don't normally come out during the day and do much of anything, so I'm thinking he had was probably rabid.
Some other people saw the incident so I thought I better report it to upper management in case it came back and one of our employees tried to feed it.

The closest thing to being attacked was a squirrel dropping pecans on my because he didn't like me sitting under his tree. My slingshot I carried and a 'OO shot ball took care of that problem.
I have been stalked by a couger when I lived in PA, There was a local white tailed deer farm in the area and the owner would bring his fawns out for a walk, he would put poodle hardnasses on them and walk them on a leash.
He was down in my area along the Clarion River and here he comes running with both fawns, one under each arm.

He said a couger winded the fawns and was stalking him, he saw it's rear end and long tail going through the brush about 30 yards from him.
I opened the door and left him and the fawns in my house, where he called someone to come get them in a van while I played with the fawns.

I escorted him and his fawns to the van with my Model 28.

About a week later I was over in that area and I saw the Couger again. Funny thing was PA Game Commission said there were no Cougers around except the ones you find in the grocery stores.
I begged to differ on that.
 
I was attacked without mercy by my hunting buddies one time

I shot a deer late in the evening and the sun had gone down by the time I got to where I though he should be. I never could find a blood trail and went back to camp to get help to look for him. When we got back to the spot one of the guys immediately found it 20 yards from where I shot it, but didn't tell me. I walked in circles around it for 45 min and never saw it. Hell, I almost stepped on it once.

I still laugh about it
 
When I was in LE in the '60s I was driving my cruiser down a main street in our fairly large city, around 150,000 souls at the time. It was around 5 AM and standing in the middle of the road was a bull elk so tall I had to stick my head out of the cruiser's window to see the top of his antlers. He wandered up a driveway between two houses and I in a moment of brain death pulled into the driveway. I saw two things pretty much at the same time; The yard had a 7 or 8 foot tall chain link fence enclosing the back yard and the elk was turning around and heading back down the driveway toward me. I slammed the cruiser into reverse and got to the street about the same time the elk came out of the driveway at a trot.

When I called it in the dispatcher wanted to know 2 things; was I drinking and didn't I know the difference between an elk and a deer. Fortunately the Accident Car was nearby and he got some great photos of the Elk, one of which was on the front page of the local afternoon paper the next day.

I've had doe deer walk right up to me during deer season. Once, while sitting on a stump, had a fawn sniffing my boot while mama stood a few feet away. Once while sitting in my deer blind under a big pine tree, a fairly large partridge landed on a limb about 5 feet away. I spent 10 minutes quietly watching the bird and then made little movement and even tho I'd been watching the dang thing, it startled the daylights out of me when it took off.
 
I was sitting in a tree stand deer hunting one afternoon and was nearly attacked by an owl. I could actually hear his wings as he flew through the stand of woods I was sitting in. I think he could just see my elbow around the side of the tree and had surmised it was a squirrel. On hearing the sound, I looked around the side of the tree and saw him coming directly at me. Mr. Owl realized his mistake and peeled off at the last fraction of a second. I could have reached out and grabbed a wing as he flew by.
 
Got charged by a big 10 point whitetail buck once after I shot him....... Sort of. He was travelling from my left to right about 80 yards below me on a hill. Walking briskly and I only had a small clearing down there to get a clear shot. When he crossed the clearing I got off 2 shots with my smoothbore, ( this was 1989), 870 slug gun with 2.5x Leupold scope. One shot missed and the other just caught the very hind end of him. He apparently must have thought I was behind him because he felt pain back there. Made a hard 90 degree right turn and came up the hill at full leaping speed.... Right at me. Fired my third round at his chest as he neared but he had just begun another huge leap and my shot went low, missing the body but breaking his left rear leg. Then I wound up chasing him through the woods as he dragged his rear end along. He finally tired and I was able to finish things up. But the picture of him sailing through the air towards me when I fired that third shot is etched in my memory forever.
 
I have hunted in Bigfoot, TX if that counts for anything. Not much there but a cattle feedlot.

More on topic, yesterday on the dove field I wasn’t attacked but had a good scare from a swarm of honeybees crossing the field about 20 feet over my blind. I heard a hum and looked up to a huge swarm. My first thought for some reason was a bunch of mosquitoes, but then realized they were bigger.

Even though I saw they were bees and I’ve seen them swarm around a new queen before, it still left me a bit rattled for a few minutes. Growing up hearing about killer bees makes you think.

The worst part was there weren’t many doves out there.
 
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