Worst you've ever been scared while hunting?

[GrapeApe]

Mine was while walking to my stand, through a cemetery, in the dark with about 12-18" of ground fog. About half way through, I walked into the middle of a covey of quail and they decide to bust up all around me.
I was running ON TOP of the fog back to the road, and I didn't hunt that morning.

[CPJ 2.0]

Walking under some roosting turkeys before daylight who weren’t THAT far above my head.
Fun fact, a few turkeys flying through the tree tops sounds like a helicopter is crashing above you.

[Wambli Ska]

Can’t say I’ve ever been scared while hunting. And actually I love cemeteries! Been in some really old ones at night with ghost tours (my wife loves them) in cities like New Orleans and Charleston, famous for being haunted, and I go out of my way to walk away from the group and go walkabout on my own! Seen some cool stuff but again, nothing that I would consider scary.

Actually we rented this old farmhouse while the ranch was being built not knowing that next door there was a HUGE cemetery. My wife was a little freaked out, I thought they were the best neighbors I’ve ever had

[Diver43]

Can’t say I’ve ever been scared while hunting. And actually I love cemeteries! Been in some really old ones at night with ghost tours (my wife loves them) in cities like New Orleans and Charleston, famous for being haunted, and I go out of my way to walk away from the group and go walkabout on my own! Seen some cool stuff but again, nothing that I would consider scary.

Actually we rented this old farmhouse while the ranch was being built not knowing that next door there was a HUGE cemetery. My wife was a little freaked out, I thought they were the best neighbors I’ve ever had

If not the quietest

[sakodude]

I was hunting near Central City Colorado many years ago, before it became a casino town. Just out wandering the woods when I came upon a wounded deer track in the snow. Started following it and afer a little while it was joined by a large cat track. Mountain Lion I assume since it seemed to big for Bobcat. The prudent thing to have done was turn back but no, morbid curiosity lead me forward to an area where the trail went through some rocky outcroppings. It dawned on me just then I could see the deer track on the other side but not the cat. Talk about a cold shiver, that cat was probably up in the rocks watching me. I took that as a sign to leave and did. Rifle slung, blackhawk in hand with my thumb on the hammer.

[sakodude]

Can’t say I’ve ever been scared while hunting. And actually I love cemeteries! Been in some really old ones at night with ghost tours (my wife loves them) in cities like New Orleans and Charleston, famous for being haunted, and I go out of my way to walk away from the group and go walkabout on my own! Seen some cool stuff but again, nothing that I would consider scary.

Actually we rented this old farmhouse while the ranch was being built not knowing that next door there was a HUGE cemetery. My wife was a little freaked out, I thought they were the best neighbors I’ve ever had

When we moved from Colorado to the Midwest in 2006 the wife and I looked at a parcel of ground for sale in Wisconsin. Beautiful rolling land, some trees and a bottoms with a nice creek. It was about 10 acres as I recall and the price was right. Only problem was it bordered a very old cemetery on one side. Didn't bother me in the least. The wife, wile apprehensive was willing. The kids on the other hand were terrified to the point no deal could be reached.

[ericb622]

There is a difference between scared and spooked.
I’ve been scared twice in 50+ years of hunting. I’ve been spooked a few times.
Spooked .. sometimes there are spirits out there that shadow you.
Scared.. once I stepped onto an undercut bank while duck hunting….. went into water over my head. I actually cut my hip boots off and popped to the surface. I still almost froze on the boat ride to the ramp

[T'owd Mon]

Well, I did manage to scare someone in a cemetery once. During my policing days I sometimes made a short cut through a churchyard. I used to wear a cape in those days when walking even though they were obsolete. It was dark and I had just got to the Lytch-Gate; a sort of covered gate with a canopy over, when I saw a lad in about his early 20's or so coming through the grounds among the graves. It was obvious to me looking from the shadows that he was in a high state of funk. I was seized with an irresistible urge. Hutching my cape up to cover my head I waited until he had got to the gate and then reached out my gloved hand to the gate latch and simply said 'Allow me' in a slow and deep voice. Anyway, he didn't allow me to open the gate for him but leapt it in one bound and ran off as if the Devil was after him; which in his case he probably thought he was! I have no idea who he was but I bet to this day he thinks that place haunted. He would have left Usain Bolt standing!

[Bigslug]

Nothing major. . .

I did follow some drag marks of what I initially thought was somebody taking out their rifle-killed deer, and then was able to put enough pieces together to realize that a mountain lion had done the deed. That altered my situational awareness a little.

Navigating around in foggy darkness with my green LED headlight on, trying to get to my hide before shooting light, the headlight reflected off a set of eyes widely spaced and several feet off the ground. Most probably deer, but all the same, I didn't want to be Bigfoot's woman.

Exploding coveys of quail. . .been there, done that.

Large stuff snorting and stomping within feet of you in either total darkness or from behind cover you can't see through. Most probably a spooked deer, but you can't tell and it's clearly WAY bigger than a chipmunk. I've had two of those. The last one I was sitting in pitch black with a .30-06 and a J-frame .357, and had a pretty good idea of "mule deer". The first one, I was maybe ten and walking at dusk with a Crosman pellet rifle and a 2.5" Buck knife. Hindsight tells me "white tail", but having just read Old Yeller, my mind at the time said "BOAR!" I left the scene quickly.

[Wambli Ska]

Can’t say I’ve ever been scared while hunting. And actually I love cemeteries! Been in some really old ones at night with ghost tours (my wife loves them) in cities like New Orleans and Charleston, famous for being haunted, and I go out of my way to walk away from the group and go walkabout on my own! Seen some cool stuff but again, nothing that I would consider scary.

Actually we rented this old farmhouse while the ranch was being built not knowing that next door there was a HUGE cemetery. My wife was a little freaked out, I thought they were the best neighbors I’ve ever had

If not the quietest

But far!!!

[Wambli Ska]

Can’t say I’ve ever been scared while hunting. And actually I love cemeteries! Been in some really old ones at night with ghost tours (my wife loves them) in cities like New Orleans and Charleston, famous for being haunted, and I go out of my way to walk away from the group and go walkabout on my own! Seen some cool stuff but again, nothing that I would consider scary.

Actually we rented this old farmhouse while the ranch was being built not knowing that next door there was a HUGE cemetery. My wife was a little freaked out, I thought they were the best neighbors I’ve ever had

When we moved from Colorado to the Midwest in 2006 the wife and I looked at a parcel of ground for sale in Wisconsin. Beautiful rolling land, some trees and a bottoms with a nice creek. It was about 10 acres as I recall and the price was right. Only problem was it bordered a very old cemetery on one side. Didn't bother me in the least. The wife, wile apprehensive was willing. The kids on the other hand were terrified to the point no deal could be reached.

I get it. I don’t know that my wife would have been ok if she had known about it. This was an ooooooooold farmhouse (local maps from the late 1700 actually showed the main structure) and we rented it in a hurry. It was in over 10 acres with a huge old cow barn and a relatively wide line of old growth hardwood between us and the cemetery, which was around a bend on the road on the other direction from the one we came in on. So we never saw it……. Or the train track than ran in between us and the cemetery.

The first night we spent in the house at about 3:00 am we were violently woken up by what felt like an earthquake and then this massive, loud air horn goes off. My wife almost herself and it took me a minute to figure it out. I walked around the bend on the road and there it was, a RR crossing with gates and such.

The bad news? These rails were only active at night. The good news, you get used to it quickly and within a day or two we could sleep right to rough it.

Now again the cemetery was never scary to me BUT, a few times I walked down that track, pre-dawn, to get to a good hunting spot and several times did get the feeling I was not alone. That was… interesting.

BTW deer LOVE to eat fresh flowers so that Cemetery was like a candy shop for them every night.

[T'owd Mon]

Ah! The good old days when I used to sometimes drive along an old disused railway line in the police car with a tape recording of an express steam locomotive playing through the P.A system. Never got caught though. Ghost trains!!

[Wambli Ska]

Ah! The good old days when I used to sometimes drive along an old disused railway line in the police car with a tape recording of an express steam locomotive playing through the P.A system. Never got caught though. Ghost trains!!

[Chiro1989]

I had been calling/grunting deer in a stand in the afternoon and saw nothing, crawled out of the stand at dusk and had a pack of wolves at 50 yards max all start singing at the same time just as my foot touched the ground, could not see them in the cedar swamp, hair on my neck and head stood up involuntarily, they kept at it as I walked out 50 yds to the main trail and I started hoofing it since it was after sunset and I had about a mile to go, they were still singing as I flushed a grouse after walking 50 yds on the main trail, that really got my attention and an adrenaline dump, I pulled my J-frame loaded with bird shot at that point along with my 300 win mag and took 10 more steps and flushed another grouse, a little more adrenaline added to the bloodstream, stopped to look in the trees for any more grouse and spotted one on a branch and touched off the J-frame, singing stopped immediately, missed the grouse, not sure what no singing meant so I got the fast walk on and had my head on a swivel until about 1/2 way back until I crossed a bridge on the river and then I was able to settle it down, can't say I was panicking, but some primordial part of my brain went on red alert mode.

[minnesotashooter]

Spring bear hunt in Manitoba, 12 miles from the lodge, only way in and out was by boat. 11pm pitch black, wondering if the guides are coming back to get me. Sitting in a tree stand in the middle of a boreal forest with weird sounds all around wondering if I’m going to have to spend the night. I was nervous. 11:30 I heard the boat, what a wonderful sound. Blackest night I’ve ever experienced. The 30/30 was ready rock and roll if anything really weird would have happened

[jaywapiti]

The only time i was really scared more like terrified was deer season mid 90s, My daughter, Lex wanted to go along , she had no license and was not armed, we were hunting the Blue Hills in Wisc. I had her stand about 30' from me overlooking a game trail, she called me in a whispered voice and pointed down the trail, I saw nothing and took a few steps out and saw a good sized Black Bear coming up the trail, told lex to stay still by then Blackie was about 50 ' from her, I laid down in the snow, held the +hair on his head and prayed if i ever made a shot in my life let it be this one, blackie got about 15' feet from lex looked at her woofed 2 or 3 times and walked up the trail not 10 ' from me ,looked at me and just kept going over the top and down the other side. At the time that bear was at least 8' high and 1000 lbs, In truth he was just a nice average bear , For those interested My rifle was my M-70 FTW .358 Win loaded with 225 Sierra's .

[Freezer]

Where I hunted in the Northern California Cascade mountains, there were a lot of bear and cougar. I've had encounters with both and they make your butt hole pucker. I was on the mountain on a cool day, at 1:00 I had entered a clearing of tall grass. It was sunny, and it felt so good to be in the sun's warmth, I thought this would be a great place for a nap. I was in a deep sleep when I was rudely awakened by a cougar protesting my presence.

Another time I was near the top of the mountain, sitting on a game trail. I caught movement to my right at 50 yards, it was the ugliest 400 lb black bear I never wanted to see, and I didn't have a tag. He closed to 30 yards very quickly and had a decision to make, high path or low path? I was sitting on the low path! Now I had a decision to make, do I shoot this bear and try to explain to the GW why I had to do it while he's confiscating my license, guns and gear? Do I jump up and shout "Hey bear" and hope he chooses flight instead of fight? Or do I just sit in the ready till he makes up his mind? I choose the latte and I upholstered my favorite revolver, a Ruger SBH 5 5/8 stainless with Hogue grips chambered in 44 mag.... He chose the high path and passed ten feet above me. When I got home, I sent my Ruger to my brother in Pa. and bought a SS S&W DA revolver chambered in 44mag as my new carry piece. I just was sure I had enough composure to cock the hammer back on that SA every time I said, "OH $#!(") and wanted that gun to go bang.

We found a Cougar was living under the cabin I had been working under the week before. I was stalked by a cougar on a game trail for 10 minutes, I should have performed the three Ss. shoot shovel & shut up.

I was a still hunter on the ground and entered the woods at 4:30 am. I practiced scent control and wore full camo. One morning I was taking a nap before day break when I awoke to the sounds of rustling all around me. It was too dark to see anything, and the rustling persisted for at least an hour. I had my revolver in one hand and a knife in the other. The sky couldn't get light soon enough for me, and I was anxious to say the least as it finally started to turn gray. Forms started to take shape and I found myself surrounded by 15 doe, not a shootable buck in the bunch!

[Freezer]

Where I hunted in the Northern California Cascade mountains, there were a lot of bear and cougar. I've had encounters with both and they make your butt hole pucker. I was on the mountain on a cool day, at 1:00 I had entered a clearing of tall grass. It was sunny, and it felt so good to be in the sun's warmth, I thought this would be a great place for a nap. I was in a deep sleep when I was rudely awakened by a cougar protesting my presence.

Another time I was near the top of the mountain, sitting on a game trail. I caught movement to my right at 50 yards, it was the ugliest 400 lb black bear I never wanted to see, and I didn't have a tag. He closed to 30 yards very quickly and had a decision to make, high path or low path? I was sitting on the low path! Now I had a decision to make, do I shoot this bear and try to explain to the GW why I had to do it while he's confiscating my license, guns and gear? Do I jump up and shout "Hey bear" and hope he chooses flight instead of fight? Or do I just sit in the ready till he makes up his mind? I choose the latter and I upholstered my favorite revolver, a Ruger SBH 5 5/8 stainless with Hogue grips chambered in 44 mag.... He chose the high path and passed ten feet above me. When I got home, I sent my Ruger to my brother in Pa. and bought a SS S&W DA revolver chambered in 44mag as my new carry piece. I just was sure I had enough composure to cock the hammer back on that SA every time I said, "OH $#!(") and wanted that gun to go bang.

We found a Cougar was living under the cabin I had been working under the week before. I was stalked by a cougar on a game trail for 10 minutes, I should have performed the three Ss. shoot shovel & shut up.

I was a still hunter on the ground and entered the woods at 4:30 am. I practiced scent control and wore full camo. One morning I was taking a nap before day break when I awoke to the sounds of rustling all around me. It was too dark to see anything, and the rustling persisted for at least an hour. I had my revolver in one hand and a knife in the other. The sky couldn't get light soon enough for me, and I was anxious to say the least as it finally started to turn gray. Forms started to take shape and I found myself surrounded by 15 doe, not a shootable buck in the bunch!

[fisheadgib]

I've never been in a situation where I was scared while hunting but I have been spooked pretty seriously by turkeys taking off over my head in the dark and grouse busting out of the snow about a foot in front of me in Wisconsin.

[FJB]

One episode stands out. Roosted a turkey the evening before in a southern Illinois swamp. Got in the next morning well before light and sat against a big oak to wait for sunrise. No sounds what so ever for a long while and then a screech owl lights up in the tree I’m sitting against. Dammit those things sound like a woman screaming for her life’s last breath.

[Ernie]

There was this cow one night...

Mule deer hunting with Steve (late 80's), when we realized someone up on a ridge was on their rifle, looking at us through their rifle scope.
I went prone immediately with my XP, and loaded.
They didn't take kindly to that and disappeared.