This is my first post on the forum, and I want to tell a strange story of what happened to me while night hunting last night.
Let me start by saying that during firearms deer season, the gamebag on my vest had ripped and I had not gotten around to replacing it (remember that.)The last day of muzzleloader had ended and it was now 10:30. I had decided to go out into the woods. I couldn't ring up a friend to come with me, so I decided to walk into the nighttime woods to hunt for the first time with my 12 gauge in one hand and the spotlight in the other.
After walking about 100 yards through the woods, I came to a field. I was almost sure I would see a rabbit (I see them in the headlights driving back to camp on the quads), but I can't shoot rabbits after hours here. Sure enough, there is a rabbit 12 yards away...
Bla bla bla, 6 rabbits seen later, I have an opossum down. Because of my ripped gamebag, I walk back to camp, throw him in the freezer and head back out, hoping I could squeak in some foxes or coyotes who would be enticed by the possum blood. It is about 11:15. I make it to the field about 11:30 and I jump a few rabbits on my way to a "climax" in the field where it leads to a small dip for 50 yards, then dips up again and levels out. The whole field is about 200x100 yards wide. I planned on sitting at the climax, facing into a hedgerow with the wind at my back (did I do this right?).
Anyways, as I'm on sneaking up to the climax, I shine the spotlight into the "valley", and see three/four deer staring at me from upwind, one of them a buck. I thought maybe I could watch them for a while if I don't have any luck with dogs. Anyways just as I go to setup my seat, I heard something. Something very strange. It was almost like the "nittany lion growl" mixed with Gollum from LOTR.
I never heard of anything like that, and when I shined the light immediately after, the deer were perfectly spaced about 50 yards apart at the treeline. They were very skittish and started pawing the ground in a circle before bolting away from there. I had no idea what the noise was, so I maxed out the light's brightness and shined the light around the field. I know the mind can play tricks on you and show you what you want to see but I think I saw something small and black run across the field at my far end. I'm not sure though and it could just be me.
Needless to say, I got out of there pretty quick and tended to the opossum.
The next day (this morning), it was raining lightly and there was a low fog. Most of the snow melted (all of it was gone in the field itself), but I wandered the treeline looking for tracks in the snow. I saw...opossum tracks? Certainly the sound didn't come from an opossum, right?
Back at camp, somebody told me it was probably a bear, but I said there was no bear tracks. He had no response. I do know two bears were killed in that field during the past bear seaon.
My question is, what scared the deer and made that sound? If it was a bear, wouldn't A: The deer have smelled it from upwind of them B: I would have seen the bear come out of the hedgerow from downwind of them?
EDIT: BTW, I live in PA so we have coons, possums, yotes, fox, bear, bobcat, and supposed mountain lions.
Let me start by saying that during firearms deer season, the gamebag on my vest had ripped and I had not gotten around to replacing it (remember that.)The last day of muzzleloader had ended and it was now 10:30. I had decided to go out into the woods. I couldn't ring up a friend to come with me, so I decided to walk into the nighttime woods to hunt for the first time with my 12 gauge in one hand and the spotlight in the other.
After walking about 100 yards through the woods, I came to a field. I was almost sure I would see a rabbit (I see them in the headlights driving back to camp on the quads), but I can't shoot rabbits after hours here. Sure enough, there is a rabbit 12 yards away...
Bla bla bla, 6 rabbits seen later, I have an opossum down. Because of my ripped gamebag, I walk back to camp, throw him in the freezer and head back out, hoping I could squeak in some foxes or coyotes who would be enticed by the possum blood. It is about 11:15. I make it to the field about 11:30 and I jump a few rabbits on my way to a "climax" in the field where it leads to a small dip for 50 yards, then dips up again and levels out. The whole field is about 200x100 yards wide. I planned on sitting at the climax, facing into a hedgerow with the wind at my back (did I do this right?).
Anyways, as I'm on sneaking up to the climax, I shine the spotlight into the "valley", and see three/four deer staring at me from upwind, one of them a buck. I thought maybe I could watch them for a while if I don't have any luck with dogs. Anyways just as I go to setup my seat, I heard something. Something very strange. It was almost like the "nittany lion growl" mixed with Gollum from LOTR.
I never heard of anything like that, and when I shined the light immediately after, the deer were perfectly spaced about 50 yards apart at the treeline. They were very skittish and started pawing the ground in a circle before bolting away from there. I had no idea what the noise was, so I maxed out the light's brightness and shined the light around the field. I know the mind can play tricks on you and show you what you want to see but I think I saw something small and black run across the field at my far end. I'm not sure though and it could just be me.
Needless to say, I got out of there pretty quick and tended to the opossum.
The next day (this morning), it was raining lightly and there was a low fog. Most of the snow melted (all of it was gone in the field itself), but I wandered the treeline looking for tracks in the snow. I saw...opossum tracks? Certainly the sound didn't come from an opossum, right?
Back at camp, somebody told me it was probably a bear, but I said there was no bear tracks. He had no response. I do know two bears were killed in that field during the past bear seaon.
My question is, what scared the deer and made that sound? If it was a bear, wouldn't A: The deer have smelled it from upwind of them B: I would have seen the bear come out of the hedgerow from downwind of them?
EDIT: BTW, I live in PA so we have coons, possums, yotes, fox, bear, bobcat, and supposed mountain lions.