Since its slow.....

[Boar]

Since it's slow, i thought I'd see if we can trigger some fun.

All right it's time to nut up, step forward an admit,

1. Who gets spooked?

2. What spooks you?

Yes a two part question. Yes i'll start. nope i dont get spooked an nothing spooks me. There i said it whew! if feel better.

Whos next.

[vister]

i myself dont get spooked. however, two things do get the heart in my throat!

number 1, that morning walk to the deer stand, all is calm, no breeze, all of a sudden the crashing of branches from deer that you swear you stepped on, hoping the entire walk that you wouldnt startle or spook any deer on your way out in total darkness. you know those mornings, so quiet you can hear a moth fart from 100 yards away

number 2, that evening walk from the deer stand, all is calm.........see where i am goin with this?

actually, im going to add number 3. chick flicks!!!

like boar mentioned, whew, i feel so alive to have gotten that off of my chest

[jay83196]

Walking in the dark alone to or from bear stand its a 75yd hoof in thick swamp land to the wheeler and 2 mile wheeler ride to the truck....makes hair on my neck stand up when hear a branch snap...love it, makes you feel alive...

Walking to bait pile hands full of bait and its getting hit regularly (so not this year) and I see on the camera a big one that was just there 15min before and I wonder how far away he went and if he's watching me....spooky

[surewood]

Grouse get me walking to my stand sometimes. Walking slowly, quietly, and focused on all my sorroundings. Then five feet away a grouse blows out of the grass, makes me jump, and thankful I have a good heart.

[Boar]

Cool, yes I have to admit that i get spooked too. When ya know that a big bear is there, he's coming in on string around the same time every evening. He's there watching you an you know it. You just dont know where he is. He's been tossing around 12" diameter logs like tooth picks. You keep an eye for him as you dump a bucket of greassy bait on your boots an completely miss the crib. I spray down with bug dope at the site for learned association, one time i was so spooked that wen i pulled out my spray, I shot myself right in the eye. Dont do that. Talk about a facial of the worst kind. the walk out is a true rush to behold. This yea i'm baiting before work on a site north of me, so i'm walking into the site just as the sun come up, Im sorry but thats nerve racking. the only realy time i watch my back trail going out. Spooky!

[nubbin]

Walking out to the deer stand in the morning darkness and having timberwolves start howling all around me. Man that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Walking back to camp and cutting through the standing corn and having a coon hiss and snap its jaws at me.

Walking in the dark with no flashlight and kicking a porcupine. Man that hurts.

[nonteepical]

I second the grouse, turkeys to.

[echotrail]

X2 on the howling wolves. Two of them between me and my truck at dusk, felt like I was being hunted.

[paceman]

Ha! Ha! Grouse exploding at your feet. Dang that wakes a guy up in a hurry. One time a big owl came zooming through the woods right at me. I almost jumped out of the stand. It flew by my head at about 5 feet. About 15 years ago I watched "The Blair Witch Project" the night before gun opener. I was pretty spooked walking in the woods in the dark. Of course the woods is full of branches that look like crosses. And I swore I heard a rock click onto another. I was freaked and praying for the sun to rise........Stupid Movie.........

[mainbutter]

Walking to the riverbank anywhere in Alaska, hearing branches snap and not knowing the cause. It especially makes the walk BACK extra tense. Bear? Moose? Both are much bigger than I am, but somehow are as sneaky as cats.

Walking ALONG the riverbank in SE Texas or Louisiana, and (using peripheral vision) seeing movement near your feet. Gets the heart racing FAST.. "Oh [PoorWordUsage] did I miss a water moccasin and step right over it?!"

I get spooked in the wilderness, but not here in MN, something about being face to face with dangerous animals too many times just puts me at ease when I'm out of their territory.

[mrklean]

i dont get as spooked as i use to, if i am in a new area walking though the dark and i have no idea where im going then yeah ill get a bit spooked.

[reinhard1]

partridge always startle me regardless if i anticipate them flying off any minute. a bull moose and i came close together one time years ago during firearms season and stood there looking at me with steam comming out of its nostrils, head weaving at one point. pointed my rifle at him while slowly walking away, eyes peeled on him and what was ahead of me so i dont stumble. in the end he went his way and i mine. they can be very unpredictable, and wonderful creatures at the same time.

the early morning walk to the deer stand is always filled with anticipation and one of the greatest feeling ever. the howl of the wolves dont bother me at all. i love to hear them and have no fear of them. i have seen some over the years but only from my stand and once while ice fishing on wolf lake near brimson [no pun intended]. a whole pac came running on us and when we yelled and slapped our gloves together they stopped and turned and ran away. it was snowing hard at the time and to this day i wonder if they thought we were deer from a distance. great memories up north. good luck.

[HooknHorns]

I tell ya ever since I fell from the stand, heights spook me a little now. With a harness on and looking down it feels like my body start to sway and thats when the treehuggin starts. Hopefully I can shake that feeling when a deer comes by.

[reinhard1]

fortunatly i hunt in a party of 4 and we always know where everyone is at any one time. safety is a big factor, especialy if you hunt alone and have poor cell phone reception in a particular area. my two son in laws i hunt with last year used texting each other to communicate of deer shot by one of them. while we had poor cellphone reception where we hunt, texting was not a problem. something i dont do but should start doing in case of a medical emergency. good luck.

[bigbucks]

Not much, sure I get surprised by grouse, pheasant or even a rabbit that's super close & you don't see it & flushes on you. The walk in to a stand in the dark in the morning I've always loved. I have such good night vision & I'm a slow mover in the morning it's rarely so dark I can't see anyway.

[Bear55]

Wolves no - bears not so much - boogie man nope - little tiny harmless grouse, yep they get me every time.

[Boar]

Bigfoot get me everytime, wen that sucker pokes his head out from behind a tree, just about pi ss myself. Or wen i turn around an hes just standing there about 75 yrds away, freaks me out something bad. Boar

[Double D]

A few years back on opening day of gun season, I hiked through the brush as usual and started climbing the 4 steps into my stand. 1 step from the top I hear the most god awful scream right behind me. I about fill the Fruit of the Looms right there and look for the woman being violated in the woods. I look up and I see the silhouette of a huge owl right in the next tree. Then my heart started again and the thing takes off flying right over my head. I just about called it a day, but got a nice 8 point buck an hour later. My brother is about a half mile away and he heard the scream plain as day.

Yes I am now afraid of owls in the dark and ALWAYS look up!!

DD

[goblueM]

grouse and turkeys exploding unexpectedly... a couple years ago had a Pileated land on my tree and give a shriek, almost wet my pants.

There's always that uneasiness walking into the stand or blind in the dark, I always have a voice in the back of my head telling me I'm taking a wrong turn or am getting lost. But i just silence it with good old logic.

[Fishinguy40]

Wolves and coyotes don't bother me but it sure is spooky listening to the packs run around at night, especially when you are camping out in the woods alone.

Couple years ago I went to the UP, Michigan to hunt with a buddy. It was kind of the half way point for both of us. I got there late in the afternoon. Found a spot and setup camp. He didn't show up until the next morning. I couldn't sleep that night just because of the excitment/anticipation of deeer hunting the next day and seeing my friend, who I hadn't seen in several years. I spent half the night trying to sleep and the other half sitting by the fire with a rifle on my shoulder as the wolf packs ran all through the area howling and making all kinds of noise. Pretty cool but also pretty eerie. Also, had a similar situation with coyotes one year when I went camping/hunting by myself for muzzle loader one year.

[Bear55]

I forgot to mention I had an owl attack me several years back, no damage done but it scared the [PoorWordUsage] out of me. Now any bird in the corner of my eye is an owl and I automatically flinch.