Most Dangerous Moment Afield

[cadman59501]

Worst for me was while tracking a wounded elk. Paying full attention to the blood trail, we started to notice some rather large cat tracks about 2-3 feet off to the side of the elk tracks. As the blood trail was just starting to get heavy and easy to follow it almost instantly stopped. So we all spread out trying to find where it picked up again, and about 20 feet away from the last bit of blood we started to hear something up in the trees. We didnt pay much attention to it until it started growling at us. About then was our 1st and only sighting of the very large tom that had apparently been the rustle in the trees. Bummer to lose the elk, but I'm guessing that there wasnt a whole lot left of it anyway

 

[fishing4sanity]

Not as exciting as the bear accounts, but once when I was trout fishing with a friend I was hurrying through thick willows on a small island to get to the honey hole on the other side before my buddy. I tripped on some of the willow stubs where beavers had been feeding and had one of those falls where you don't just fall, but you get slammed forward and didn't get my hands out to catch myself. One of the other stubs from a willow the beavers chewed off was about a foot long and had slid down the side of my neck just cutting my neck along the side. As I lay there trying to catch my breath I realized if the stem had been 2 to 3 inches to the side I'd of gotten a nice shish kabob through the neck. Moral of the story? Either don't be a hole-hog when fishing with friends or learn to be more coordinated than me.

 

[WBouldin]

No storys from me but this thread gets my vote for best thread of late. No politics or old threads gettin brought back from the dead. Good stuff

 

[elkdiesel]

Wake up Call

A couple years ago I was hunting elk in archery season alone. I had seen a couple of griz the day before on my way into camp. The elk were just going crazy in the rut. I had been in the thick of a couple of bulls bugling and running cows like crazy. That night I went to bed to the sound of bulls singing me to sleep. In the morning it was a different story. I woke up and realized that something was going on but I wasn't sure what it was at first. Then I recognized that something was breathing really hard just outside my small tent. It was quiet for a minute then I can hear something running towards me. The griz ran right up to the tent and let out a huge woofing sound, and was pounding on the ground and popping it jaw. The bear did that several more times before it finally left. In Wyoming at the time you couldn't pack a firearm while bow hunting. I'm sure glad I didn't have to find out how effective my bear spray would have been through the side of my tent as I was being chewed on! The elk were still screaming when the sun finally came up, but I'd had enough and headed for home!

 

[1_pointer]

Probably my scariest was in helping BOY pack out his moutain goat. He tried to go up a different route than we had used going down to the goat, but we cliffed out. So, we headed back down the avalanche chute the goat had died in. About 2/3 of the way down, I trip and hear my knee go POP!! It hurt pretty bad, so we sat there trying to think a bit before proceeding. We were on the opposite side of the moutain from camp/truck/horses. Worse case scenario was that I would have to wait there while BOY went back to camp and brought one of the horses around to the side of the mountain I was on. There was no way to get a horse to where I was, so I would have had to make it to where he could get to. Mind you this was a couple of hours after dark, at pretty high elevation, and in November with snow falling... Luckily, nothing was too badly hurt and I was able to finish the pack out (I had all the boned meat from the goat in my pack), but sitting there trying to think the situation through was a bit spooky.

 

[mdunc8]

Then I recognized that something was breathing really hard just outside my small tent.

I'll never forget the sound of a bear breathing. I think about it every night I'm camping now.

 

[thecrittergitter]

Had one walking around breathing by our heads in CO this past fall. Just sleeping in the bivy's. It is an eerie feeling even when you know its prolly just a black bear.

 

[WBouldin]

Had one walking around breathing by our heads in CO this past fall. Just sleeping in the bivy's. It is an eerie feeling even when you know its prolly just a black bear.

I have heard from several people that blackies are actually more dangerous than grizz. Fewer attacks but I guess there is a higher percentage of fatalities in those attacks because even if you play dead they keep going. They compare them to a cat. Rarely get attacked but when you do you get messed up. Anybody else hear something similar??

 

[blue devil]

Easily would've been 1 1/2 yrs. ago, getting on my treestand 24' up and I have to unhook my harness to climb over the tree branch to get to the stand and when I stepped on the stand, it collapsed hurling me down the ground headfirst and cracking my skull and breaking my face against the stand, which had stuck in the ground upright. Unconcious for an hour and bleeding like a stuck pig, I had to walk 1/2 mile to the nearest road to flag someone down. $70,000 later, I'm all fixed, but not ready to go back in a tree quite yet. A close second would be salmon fishing in Alaska on the Kenai River and slipping and my waders filling up with water really cold water and started to get pulled under. Luckily a well placed log under water stopped me long enough to pull myself out.

 

[Dinkshooter]

I was almost stranded on a antelope hunt in the Red Desert, with only a 6 pack of beer for a 3 day weekend.

 

[thecrittergitter]

Easily would've been 1 1/2 yrs. ago, getting on my treestand 24' up and I have to unhook my harness to climb over the tree branch to get to the stand and when I stepped on the stand, it collapsed hurling me down the ground headfirst and cracking my skull and breaking my face against the stand, which had stuck in the ground upright. Unconcious for an hour and bleeding like a stuck pig, I had to walk 1/2 mile to the nearest road to flag someone down. $70,000 later, I'm all fixed, but not ready to go back in a tree quite yet. A close second would be salmon fishing in Alaska on the Kenai River and slipping and my waders filling up with water really cold water and started to get pulled under. Luckily a well placed log under water stopped me long enough to pull myself out.

Holy crap that treestand thing made my face hurt just reading it

 

[thecrittergitter]

I was almost stranded on a antelope hunt in the Red Desert, with only a 6 pack of beer for a 3 day weekend.

Was wondering when this was coming LMAO

 

[thecrittergitter]

I have heard from several people that blackies are actually more dangerous than grizz. Fewer attacks but I guess there is a higher percentage of fatalities in those attacks because even if you play dead they keep going. They compare them to a cat. Rarely get attacked but when you do you get messed up. Anybody else hear something similar??

From all i have read, there are definately more black bear attacks than griz but simply due to the fact there are so many more blacks than griz therefore making numbers higher. As far as my take, I'd rather not wrestle with either, i'm pretty sure its gonna leave a mark

 

[Dinkshooter]

i'm pretty sure its gonna leave a mark

Chicks dig scars.

 

[noharleyyet]

Crazy weather 3 years ago during a solo 1st rifle elk hunt in Colorado...wind, lightening, snow, and dust all in the same day. The quakies sounded like thunder when they slammed into each other.

Hunt accident ifo; http://www3.sympatico.ca/d.rosen/accidentstats.htm

 

[Spitz]

Hey Crittergitter, have a link to your grizzly story? I'd like to read through that again.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

My brother did his thesis on black bears, specifically "urban" bears that live in the foothills and come down into the suburbs at night. Trapping, collaring, tracking, etc. He's now a Sr biologist with US F&W in WA state. He says that black bears are more likely to be predatory towards hunmans than grizzly bears. Grizzly bears are more likely to attack due to being surprised, defending a kill (or taking yours) or cubs. Black bears are more likely to see you as food. So he says...

 

[smarandr]

A couple of years back my best friend, his dad, and his brother-in-law did a black powder cow elk hunt the week after Thanksgiving. On the second day my buddy’s dad dropped us off in some new country and told us to hunt our way back to the truck. We separated so that we could each hunt a different finger ridge/draw, and it wasn’t long before the weather came in and made for some interesting navigating.

I always follow the rule that if I walk downhill I’ll find my way out, but I guess my buddy and his brother in law have never heard that rule because they humped a lot of hills that night trying to figure out where they were. It was a long night, but eventually both guys walked out not much worse for wear. Fortunately everybody was dressed for the conditions otherwise it could have been a whole lot worse.

 

[Gunner46]

After the divorce I moved to Tampa, or face the fact the my 7yr son might grow without a mother ! Deer hunting was pi$$ poor but the pigs were pretty thick. I'd fly him down every couple of month to spend some time with Dad. We had taken a couple stand hunts, and seen pigs, but he hadn't got a descent shot yet. On this trip the stand sit had a 10' commerrcial stand, but there was no way the two of us could fit in it, so it was ground hunt, or nothing.

The wind was just wrong for about three hrs, and a 10 yr old gets bored quick. Then around 10 AM it shifted 90 degree's and in no time we had a dozen pigs under the feeder. Nothing size wise, so we waited a few minutes to see if something better showed. After about 10 minutes and 200# Red saunters in. Perfect !

Take Him Mac ! He's lined up on Big Red.....and Nothing ! (in whispers) Shoot ! I'm afraid. Of what?
The recoiil. ( a 44mag carbine) Just aim and squeeze ! I'm afraid ..

In the mean time, Big Red gets curious and has cut the distance to about 15 yds.

Shhhhhhh ! DON"T MOVE, DONT even BLINK Mac !!

Mac is standing directly in front of me, which let's me get my 12GA up and shouldered without the pig taking notice. It keeps closing in....at about 10 feet it stops, nose up and snorting. He's trying to scrent us but the wind is from him, to us and we've doused with scent killer.

We're in a Not Good situation. If Big Red jumps, he's on us ! End of story.

I've got the bead right between his eyes and a 3" load of #1 Buckshot. One more step, one flinch, & he's
getting his sinuses cleaned !

That stand off porbably only lasted about a minute, but sure as Hell seemed like an hour ! To Mac's credit he never paniced, never moved, just stood there doing his best to be a palmetto bush! Big Red loses intrest after a bit, turns and go back to the feeder for a second, and then gone for good.

I let him get waaaayy to close to my son, but I thought for sure Mac was going to fire. He told me after he was going to but, couldn't find the pig in the 4X scope. My Bad !

 

[Bigjack]

My most dangerous out door experience was not hunting, but white water kayaking, I took a rapid really hard on the upper Kern River in California. I broke 3 ribs on one side and 2 on the other, knocked myself out through a shattered helmet and tore my dry suit open which by the time someone pulled me out I was in hypothermic Shock, The doctors in Kernville said that I was really lucky not to have punctured my right lung and didn't do any more damage.