Surprising and funny things that happened while hunting

[Savage30L]

A remark someone made in another thread sparked a memory in me of a somewhat similar event during a hunt, so I decided to open a thread about weird, surprising, or funny things that have happened on a hunt. I'll start:

One day back when I was in high school, one of my neighbors and I decided to take our guns and try to jump-shoot some ducks off of nearby ponds. We snuck up onto the dam of one pond, hoping to flush some ducks, but didn't see any. This pond was small, but it had several weeping willows growing along the edge, and sometimes mallards would hide underneath the drooping willow fronds. I looked around for something to throw across the pond into the nearest willow, and saw a piece of a stump near my friend's feet. I said, "John, pick up that piece of wood and throw it into the willow". He did, and a rabbit jumped way up into the air, turned a complete flip, and landed dead on the ground! That rabbit was hiding in the willow, and we didn't see it. John hit the thing squarely on the head with his throw! That rabbit was the only game we got that afternoon.

A few years later, that same friend and I decided to go up the hill behind our houses to a cornfield, which had been harvested and was in stubble, to hunt rabbits. It was usually good for a rabbit or two. As we set off, his brother's golden retriever, Goldie, insisted upon accompanying us, despite our forceful efforts to get her to stay home. Well, we got to the end of the pasture, and were starting to cross the fence into the cornfield, when a rabbit popped out from the weeds along the fence, and took off across the cornfield. Goldie--who was just about as wide as she was tall, a very overfed dog--somewhow squeezed through the mesh in the fence, chased down the rabbit, caught it, and retrieved it to us still alive. If I hadn't seen the event with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it possible. It was like the proverbial camel passing through the eye of a needle. Suddenly we were saying "good dog!" after having cursed and yelled at her for the last 5 minutes.

When I lived in Maryland, a buddy named Bob took me to his duck blind several times a year. On more than one occasion I shot a duck or goose that fell right into our blind. One time, Bob had his head turned and didn't see the duck flying in. I shot it, and it came down on his head!

 

[jmr40]

I could write a book.

Several times I've caught bobcats or coyote stalking me when I was calling either waterfowl or turkey. The ones I've seen stalked to within 10-15 yards before they figured out, I wasn't a duck or turkey before slipping away. Got to wonder about the ones I didn't see.

Early one morning while walking into a beaver pond to duck hunt I nearly stepped on a bobcat. My right boot was literall only 6" from it. It was a full moon and my brother and I didn't need a light to see the trail we were walking on. I'm guessing the cat heard us and thought we were a deer since we weren't using lights and set up an ambush.

I didn't get a good look at it, only a flash from the corner of my eye, but my brother who was walking about 5' behind me got a good look at it and positively identified it.

Two springs ago I found 2 turkey eggs laying in the middle of a logging road. One wasn't fully formed, but the other was in good shape. I took it to a friend who does wildlife rescues. He put it in an incubator with 6 mallard eggs that had been abandoned. The turkey hatched about a week after the ducks and lived with the ducks for 2-3 months on his farm. It never did learn how to swim in his pond though. Eventually a flock of turkey showed up and it left with them.

 

[JmacD]

I recall a time when my dad(who always mixes his ammo together) accidentally loaded a 9 pellet 00 buck in the middle of the birdshot we were hunting cottontail with…. We only found two ears…
My uncle once shot a deer with a bow. Arrow went through and stuck a woodchuck next to him to the ground.

 

[Patocazador]

A friend and I were in flooded water oaks hunting for wood ducks in the afternoon. Deer hung out there too so he asked me to "lend" him a slug in case a deer came by. An hour later some mallards dropped in and he scored a triple, 2 drakes and a hen. We looked at the ducks afterwards and the hen had a big hole in her chest. He had put the slug in his gun by mistake and shot that hen with it while she was clawing for altitude.

 

[Wolfshead]

A group of us were going to muzzle loader hunt an area about 45 minutes away from where I live early one morning.
We had two vehicles and about six of us and all our gear.
On the way there my Brother In-law had to stop a a convenience store to get something to eat. He settled on a “breakfast calzone”.
Back in the vehicle we finally reach our destination and split into groups to do some drives. It is the late season and we are muzzle loader hunting and everyone is set for their duties.
My Brother In-law (BIL) is sitting this first round.
As he tells it, he is moving into position and there comes “a big rumbling in my stomach!” “I knew right there I was in trouble!” With little time to spare he drops his trousers and is releasing all that pressure from the connivence store calzone and he can hear something approaching. He looks to see a Doe come from where the drivers are pushing.
With his pants down around his ankles, he waddles over to grab his muzzle loader and fires at the Doe Killing her. Going back to finish his business, he once again hears commotion, and has to waddle over to his pack to get his quick loader and reload his firearm. Just as he finishes reloading another Doe appears and he gets her too!
Two Doe while suffering from the convince store squirts with his pants around his ankles.

 

[red rick]

Once deer hunting with my dad , my brother and one of my dad’s friends at our hunting club we run deer with hounds and usually come out of the woods at lunchtime and regroup . I was an older teenager at the time and my brother was 15 . I was still sitting on my stand and I could hear my dad and his friend back at the trucks talking . I heard one of them say there ain’t a deer within a 100 miles of here and about the same time I heard 3 rapid shots . Then I heard my dad yelling at my brother , boy what are you shooting at . He said a deer . He was standing at the truck with his shotgun still loaded waiting for me to come out of the woods when a buck came sneaking by them while my dad and his friend were talking . My brother got that buck and scared the heck out of my dad and his friend . No one could believe a buck would walk by so close while they were talking .

 

[FL-NC]

A few years back me and a friend went to do some night hunting for wild hogs (legal in Fl). We moved quietly to the wood box blind that was about 100 yards from the corn feeder, right when it had become dark. I took a small flashlight and did a quick check on the inside of the blind before we went in to make sure no wildlife had moved in since the last time we were there, and since I didn't see anything, we went inside and quietly got set up and sat down. As soon as that happened, we got attacked by a swarm of paper wasps. and they were stinging us like crazy. We quickly exited the blind (not nearly as quietly as we had gotten inside of it). the door was pretty narrow, and we both tried to get through it at the same time (remember it was dark). It turned out that the wasps had made their nest on the underside of one of the chairs, so I didn't see it when I had done the white light check when we arrived, but they got woke up and were pissed off when we went inside.

 

[slicksleeve]

When I was a teenager I sat on a little folding stool right in trail between two big briar patches. A doe came running toward me on the trail and right as I thought she would clobber me, I saw her eyes get huge, she then sidestepped and kept going. I waited all afternoon for a buck that might have been chasing her but it never came.
One night I was sitting in a stand over a pile of soured corn hoping for a hog. A raccoon was eating it. A large beaver came from out of the nearby swamp to the corn. The raccoon hissed menacingly at it, but it wasn’t phased. Before long they were both eating corn from the same pile. And no hogs reported in that night.

 

[red rick]

Two years ago a guy in our hunting club was spring gobbler hunting . He set his decoys a little before daylight . When it got light enough to see he started calling . A coyote came to the decoys . He raised his gun up to shoot it and another coyote had come in behind him and as he raised his gun it bit him in his bicep . He had to leave and go to the hospital and get rabies shots .

 

[35 Whelen]

30 or so years ago a buddy and went deer hunting on a new lease. That evening I got the urge to do the Big Job and set off into the woods, looking for the perfect spot. I found a nice hollow oak stump that for whatever reason had a nice smooth edge that would be kind to the backs of my legs. I sat down on the edge of the stump did my business inside the hollow of the stump, then turned around to take a look at my handy work and it was only then I noticed the poison ivy growing in and around the stump!
Needless to say, the next few days were quite miserable!
35W

 

[crestoncowboy]

First time I ever saw starlink was pretty odd. Me and my dad standing looking at the stars after hunting and then one goes over. Then another in the same path, same speed, then another.... about 30 or so in a row. Neither of us being into the whole ufo scene we were genuinely thinking (and saying) "***". Lol.

My cousin was hunting on my land with his brother, both in their 60s at the time and both saw a big white faced red fox squirrel.. something we didn't have until the past 6 or 8 years. We only had Boomer and greys and both are 1/3 the size of the fox we have. We were standing talking and one brother asked the other if he seen anything. Both said no. Then one brother admitted he was pretty sure he saw a white face monkey. The other brother laughed and said he did too but he was ashamed to say anything about it. Lol

 

[Patocazador]

My Boykin spaniel was a hunter like no other. One day I shot and wounded a doe. The bullet broke a front leg and entered one lung. The doe went into a cypress hole that had been logged. I sent my dog after it to flush it out but she caught it and jumped on its back. I tried to make a kill shot by neck shooting it but only the trachea (windpipe) was severed. The dog got up to the doe's neck and her weight held the severed windpipe under the water until the deer drowned. My poor shots were the problem but we got the deer.

 

[Meeks36]

Squirrel hunting had a red fox creep up to within 10 feet of while I sat at the base of a tree. Also saw a zebra while squirrel hunting. I know what I saw but everyone told me to lay off the dope. I was like 12 when it happened.

 

[Savage30L]

Squirrel hunting had a red fox creep up to within 10 feet of while I sat at the base of a tree. Also saw a zebra while squirrel hunting. I know what I saw but everyone told me to lay off the dope. I was like 12 when it happened.

I found Rhinoceros tracks around a soybean field in Montgomery County, KY, back in about 2014. I doubt anyone would believe me either. I wish I'd had a camera to photograph them, they were very clear and distinct, and pushed much further into the ground than the deer and cow tracks.

 

[jmr40]

I was 14. Left home before sun-up one Saturday with grand dads 20 ga to squirrel hunt. I was walking/hunting on an old logging road that ran parallel to a dirt road about 50 yards away. The logging road eventually ran into the dirt road after about a mile.

It was just beginning to get daylight and I could hear some sounds that I couldn't identify ahead on the logging road. suddenly about 25-30 yards ahead of me there was an explosion and flames went up 15-20'. The flames provided just enough light for me to see a car on fire just ahead on the logging road.

If I'd been timed, I'd have set a new Olympic record for the 2-mile run while wearing hunting boots and carrying a shotgun while running home. Mom called the police and later that afternoon when dad got home from work, we walked back up there.

Some guys had stolen a Mustang and drove it down the logging road far enough to get it out of sight from the dirt road. They were in the process of stripping the car and that was the sounds I heard. They doused it with gas and set it on fire just as I got close. I never saw anyone, and I doubt they knew I was there. But had I arrived just a few minutes earlier things may have gotten touchy.

A few years later I found a Moonshine still. It had RECENTLY been raided and destroyed.

Back in the 70's pulpwood companies owned a lot of land in our area. They didn't mind hunters using their land. They still allow hunting on their land, but you have to pay to play there now.

 

[.308 Norma]

Then one brother admitted he was pretty sure he saw a white face monkey. The other brother laughed and said he did too but he was ashamed to say anything about it. Lol

Also saw a zebra while squirrel hunting. I know what I saw but everyone told me to lay off the dope. I was like 12 when it happened.

I found Rhinoceros tracks around a soybean field in Montgomery County, KY, back in about 2014.

Introduction to "Ligertown" | Idaho Experience - YouTube

Just before folks in Lava Hot Springs (10 - 12 miles east of here) started reporting tigers and African lions in their back yards, several deer hunters around here claimed they’d seen tigers and African lions in the hills. In fact, my wife and son-in-law saw a couple of wolves one morning while we were deer hunting up behind Lava Hot Springs, and that was before wolves were officially reintroduced to Idaho.
We went to the Idaho Department of Fish & Game and reported seeing the wolves, but they kind of just poo-pooed us. They said my wife and son-in-law probably saw a couple of “large coyotes.” I wonder if any of them thought back on my wife’s and son-in-law’s report a few months later when the Ligertown fiasco was uncovered. Because as it turned out, not only did Ligertown have tigers and African Lions going in and out of their cages at will, they had a couple of dozen wolves that could have easily been doing the same thing.

 

[WestKentucky]

Anybody ever accidentally go hunting? It happens.

I was working nights in a factory. Fresh out of college just trying to make ends meet. Extrusion mill, kind of a neat place but the work was overly hot on the titanium stretchers… but we made a lot of stainless gun barrel in 40 ft lengths. We had a long night. One of those nights where you end up kinda time traveling home after 12 hours of hard, hot, and hurried. Early spring, I’m home alone and in the shower when I distinctly heard a gobble. Then it was louder. When I could hear drumming I couldn’t bear it any longer. I hopped out of the shower and started peaking through windows looking for the Tom. Found him squaring off against a turkey bow target I had named Leonard. Suffice it to say that a 12 ga requires 2 hands which leaves 0 hands to hold a towel. I picked him up out of the front yard after my shower, cleaned him and went to bed. 9 hours later my parents got home. My grandpa had come up while I was asleep but got nervous and left because whatever had fought, killed, and ate a whole turkey might be more than he could handle on his own.

 

[Armored farmer]

I was hunting deer in the edge of some timber beside a cornfield one cold but sunny December day. It was one of those still, bluebird sky days when the sun can still warm you up despite the temperature.
I was sitting in the snow leaning against a stump that had dead sprout about 4 feet tall that had grown up out of the edge of the stump. It made a comfortable backrest and the odd shaped sprout made a good headrest.
A great-horned owl said in and landed on a cornstalk about 50yds out from my spot. I admired the big bird and watched him through my binos for a while. The owl sat quietly and scanned his surroundings. I was careful not to spook him and enjoyed watching him do his thing, while I did mine.
Soon the warm sun began to infect me with its warmth and joy. Soon I was resting my eyes.
I few minutes later I peered out of bleary eyelids to check for deer and what-not.... noticed my owl was gone.....not surprised. I scarcely moved and rested my eyes a bit more.
After a few minutes more rest, I decided to move to another spot on the property. I began gathering my gear and heard a subtle but distinct boingggggggg right above my head! I immediately snapped my head up to see the large owl had just left the dead snag ...RIGHT ABOVE MY HEAD! He had been there the whole time after he left the cornstalk.! I had removed my blaze orange watch cap to soak up the sun on my head. That owl probably thought my hairy noggin was something that he could have for lunch.

 

[WestKentucky]

I was once hunting the edge of a CRP field that was mismanaged in the right way. Cutting the same strips every year and then clear cutting it about every 5th year when saplings were wrist thick… this year in my recollection was one of the HEAVY brush years and there were a ton of rabbits, plenty other critters but bumper crop of cottontails. I was wearing a furry cap as there was snow and ice about for the late KY muzzleloader season. It was orange but had faux fur inner liner that looked like rabbit hair. Hawk knocked it off my head 4 times.

 

[jmr40]

I have read accounts of Raptors attacking hunters thinking they were prey. Wearing a fur cap has been mentioned more than once. IIRC I read of an eagle that killed a hunter when his talons pierced his skull attacking the cap. Another account of an owl going after a hunter's finger. He was wearing gloves, but with a hole for his trigger finger. The owl apparently thought the finger, against full camo was a mouse.

 

[Jeff62]

When I was about 8 years old I learned an indelible lesson about securing the back and straps of one’s overalls when doing number 2 in the woods.
Pooping on your Carharts makes for a long day.

 

[JmacD]

30 or so years ago a buddy and went deer hunting on a new lease. That evening I got the urge to do the Big Job and set off into the woods, looking for the perfect spot. I found a nice hollow oak stump that for whatever reason had a nice smooth edge that would be kind to the backs of my legs. I sat down on the edge of the stump did my business inside the hollow of the stump, then turned around to take a look at my handy work and it was only then I noticed the poison ivy growing in and around the stump!
Needless to say, the next few days were quite miserable!
35W

Knew a “city slicker” that had nature call(can’t really hang up either) and discovered he had no paper etc with him, so he then desided to use some handy leaves for the purpose… ya… poison ivy where the sun don’t shine has gotta be…. Awful at best.

 

[jmr40]

There is actually a book on how to poop in the woods.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/...*-in-the-woods-4th-edition-by-kathleen-meyer/

Like I said earlier I could write a book on funny or odd things that have happened while hunting. Pooping in the woods would get a whole chapter. I've used a lot of things to clean myself with. Cutting my underwear off with a knife is always a good way. I don't know if I've gotten smarter or softer, but I now carry a small pack of baby wipes. Works great.

 

[Hugger-4641]

I could write a book on each: surprising and funny.

Took my 14yr old nephew squirrel hunting one day, I was in my 20's. I shot one hauling arse in top of a large tree with my Savage bolt action .410.
It landed nearly on top of nephew still doing the three legged circle dance. Before I could stop him, he lowered his 20ga and blasted. The muzzle was probably only a foot away. Nothing left but tail and ears.

Went deer hunting one bluebird morning and decided to take a folding camp chair and sit on ground in a new spot instead of getting in a stand. I planted myself in a wooded bottom in a point where two creeks joined. Set the gun against a tree and my chair backed up against it. Sometime shortly after sunrise I got warm and fell asleep. Woke up to a dozen deer all around me, could have touched one of them with my rifle if it wasn't leaned against the tree. I know I had to have been snoring but I guess they didn't care. I just set there and watched them mosey on browsing acorns, didn’t even try to shoot one.

 

[35 Whelen]

There is actually a book on how to poop in the woods.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/...*-in-the-woods-4th-edition-by-kathleen-meyer/

Like I said earlier I could write a book on funny or odd things that have happened while hunting. Pooping in the woods would get a whole chapter. I've used a lot of things to clean myself with. Cutting my underwear off with a knife is always a good way. I don't know if I've gotten smarter or softer, but I now carry a small pack of baby wipes. Works great.

Oh yeah, we've all heard the joke about the hunter who was told by his hunting buddy if he needed to poop in the woods, to just use a dollar to wipe. What said hunter, with poop all over his hands, DIDN'T understand was that DIDN'T mean to use 3 quarters, 2 dimes, and a nickel!

When my wife and I first married, she asked why some of my shirts were missing one tail. I now wear undershirts and they come in handy some times!

35W