Ok, I know all you IDA’ers are big tough hunters, so let’s here some personal experiences from the woods! 
Who’s afraid of the dark? Who walks as fast as they can to their stand in the morning? I don’t like spooks, ghosts or whatever else you want to call em!! 
Don’t be bashful. 
I HAD a bud back in high school/college that was deathly afraid of “big foot”. If we went in the woods he was always looking over his shoulder! He was one of the guys that ran through the woods trying to escape the darkness. I remember deer hunting with him, I was trying to keep up with him as he was run walking through the darkness. When he stopped to check his compass I finally caught up with him, as we were BSing A deer snorted and busted loose from the thicket right next to us, he about
his pants and bolted. I didn’t see him again till I got back to camp. He was spooked! 
BIRDDOG
I HAD a bud back in high school/college that was deathly afraid of “big foot”. If we went in the woods he was always looking over his shoulder! He was one of the guys that ran through the woods trying to escape the darkness. I remember deer hunting with him, I was trying to keep up with him as he was run walking through the darkness. When he stopped to check his compass I finally caught up with him, as we were BSing A deer snorted and busted loose from the thicket right next to us, he about his pants and bolted. I didn’t see him again till I got back to camp. He was spooked!
BIRDDOG
You can add me to the “afraid of the dark” group 
There is nothing I hate more than the dark. When I bowhunted, I was always the first back to the truck after an evening hunt. Mornings didn’t seem to bother me as much 
I can remember one hunt a few years back. I was walking to the stand in the early morning way before daylight. As I approached my stand, I could hear yipping and growling, and the closer I got to my stand, the closer the sounds became. By the time I got to my stand, it sounded like a group of coyotes were tearing each other up. I don’t think I have ever climbed a tree so fast in my life I quickly got on the platform and shined my flashlight toward the sounds. There were a bunch of eyes glowing about 40-50 yards away. They were coyotes and must have been on a kill. The snarling, growling, and hurt yips made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. I thought for sure they were going to get me before I climbed the tree
You can add me to the “afraid of the dark” group There is nothing I hate more than the dark. When I bowhunted, I was always the first back to the truck after an evening hunt. Mornings didn’t seem to bother me as much I can remember one hunt a few years back. I was walking to the stand in the early morning way before daylight. As I approached my stand, I could hear yipping and growling, and the closer I got to my stand, the closer the sounds became. By the time I got to my stand, it sounded like a group of coyotes were tearing each other up. I don’t think I have ever climbed a tree so fast in my life I quickly got on the platform and shined my flashlight toward the sounds. There were a bunch of eyes glowing about 40-50 yards away. They were coyotes and must have been on a kill. The snarling, growling, and hurt yips made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. I thought for sure they were going to get me before I climbed the tree
Grouse taking off get me everytime, even when hunting them my heart drops for a second. 
I just realized what a [censored] I am!
Grouse taking off get me everytime, even when hunting them my heart drops for a second.
I just realized what a [censored] I am!
Here’s a little story copied and pasted from another thread a while back regarding an evening my buddy and I experienced:
About 5 years ago we were on our way to go fish a couple of lakes in the BWCA. We left Minneapolis around 5 pee M and got up to the North shore around 9 pee M. Bait shops and gas stations were closed so we decided to camp up on an old abandoned logging camp called Oxbow on the Temperence river for the night and pick up bait for our journey in the morning. We lit a fire, had a couple of beers ( 2 or 3 each), and proceeded to shoot the [censored]. Around 12:00 we decided to call it a night so we could get up early to get our asses out in the woods at first light. Instead of taking the time to pitch a tent we decided to sleep in the back of his Jeep, about a half hour later I was startled by a light coming through the woods. At first I thought it was a flashlight from someone else maybe camping, but soon realized nobody knows about this particular spot besides a few locals. The light proceeded to move around in circles, get really bright, then fade into the trees in the distance. this kept going on for about five minutes till I realized what I was seeing and procceded to wake my snoring buddy up. Once he awoke another light appeared up higher above the trees….. then another….and five minutes later another…and another…and then one more. All in all after about 15 minutes of us enduring this incident there were five of these things circling and hopping around in the night sky; moving forward, sideways, and backward, Lighting up the entire river valley as if it were a highschool football field on a friday night. Eventually the light grew gradually closer and closer until we heard a noise. Faint at first and then increasing in volume until it was unbearable for either of us. WHEWWWWW-WHEWWWWWW- WHEWWWWWW! Finally it got so bad we decided to hightail it out of there. All of our gear was outside the Jeep to make room for sleeping…. Our adrenaline was flowing so hard we loaded the entire Jeep up in about 5 seconds… fishing rods.. a 30 gallon cooler full of beer ( which I grabbed with one hand effortlessly), food, ice, and rations for a full four days.. a tent, and all of our camping gear).!>!>!>!>!>!>!>!> Ended up spending the rest of the night at a wayside rest down on highway 61 in Tofte. Needless to say we were very paranoid for the next four days of sitting out in the woods near Brule with no option for escape if it happened again.
Here’s a little story copied and pasted from another thread a while back regarding an evening my buddy and I experienced:
About 5 years ago we were on our way to go fish a couple of lakes in the BWCA. We left Minneapolis around 5 pee M and got up to the North shore around 9 pee M. Bait shops and gas stations were closed so we decided to camp up on an old abandoned logging camp called Oxbow on the Temperence river for the night and pick up bait for our journey in the morning. We lit a fire, had a couple of beers ( 2 or 3 each), and proceeded to shoot the [censored]. Around 12:00 we decided to call it a night so we could get up early to get our asses out in the woods at first light. Instead of taking the time to pitch a tent we decided to sleep in the back of his Jeep, about a half hour later I was startled by a light coming through the woods. At first I thought it was a flashlight from someone else maybe camping, but soon realized nobody knows about this particular spot besides a few locals. The light proceeded to move around in circles, get really bright, then fade into the trees in the distance. this kept going on for about five minutes till I realized what I was seeing and procceded to wake my snoring buddy up. Once he awoke another light appeared up higher above the trees….. then another….and five minutes later another…and another…and then one more. All in all after about 15 minutes of us enduring this incident there were five of these things circling and hopping around in the night sky; moving forward, sideways, and backward, Lighting up the entire river valley as if it were a highschool football field on a friday night. Eventually the light grew gradually closer and closer until we heard a noise. Faint at first and then increasing in volume until it was unbearable for either of us. WHEWWWWW-WHEWWWWWW- WHEWWWWWW! Finally it got so bad we decided to hightail it out of there. All of our gear was outside the Jeep to make room for sleeping…. Our adrenaline was flowing so hard we loaded the entire Jeep up in about 5 seconds… fishing rods.. a 30 gallon cooler full of beer ( which I grabbed with one hand effortlessly), food, ice, and rations for a full four days.. a tent, and all of our camping gear).!>!>!>!>!>!>!>!> Ended up spending the rest of the night at a wayside rest down on highway 61 in Tofte. Needless to say we were very paranoid for the next four days of sitting out in the woods near Brule with no option for escape if it happened again.
I would have emptied that cooler!! 
I would have emptied that cooler!!
never had anything real freaky happen, but all i can say it don’t ever watch the Blair Witch Project if you are in the woods a lot. That movie messed me up.
I still freak out when theres a big garbage bag balled up somewhere, poke it with a stick and it turns out to be a bag of cans of something like that. I am with everyone else though, i don’t do woods in the dark. I got freaked out the other night trying to night fish. Every noise made me flip out and i finally packed up the gear and got out of there.
never had anything real freaky happen, but all i can say it don’t ever watch the Blair Witch Project if you are in the woods a lot. That movie messed me up.
I still freak out when theres a big garbage bag balled up somewhere, poke it with a stick and it turns out to be a bag of cans of something like that. I am with everyone else though, i don’t do woods in the dark. I got freaked out the other night trying to night fish. Every noise made me flip out and i finally packed up the gear and got out of there.
Thats great Wats. I can remember when Wats and I hunted together he was always back to the truck befor me. I think it would make him mad.He would alway ask me if I got lost, I would say nope 
.I never leave my stand untill dark,and always in it a half hour befor daylight.Except for the rut then sometimes I will go on stand at 9:oo am or so and sit all day.Im not trying to sound cool but the darkness dose not bother me.You can ask anyone that has hunted with me.
Thats great Wats. I can remember when Wats and I hunted together he was always back to the truck befor me. I think it would make him mad.He would alway ask me if I got lost, I would say nope .I never leave my stand untill dark,and always in it a half hour befor daylight.Except for the rut then sometimes I will go on stand at 9:oo am or so and sit all day.Im not trying to sound cool but the darkness dose not bother me.You can ask anyone that has hunted with me.
funny stuff, keep em coming!!
funny stuff, keep em coming!!
What the heck is this??
What the heck is this??
I told this story a couple years ago here on the site. My cousin Gary wasen’t afraid of the dark and had gone hunting many times befor dark for ducks and geese with his buddies. This is what he told me and i rolled with laughter. He got up one morning to meet his buddies to go goose hunting around here on a local farm where the field had just been picked a few days befor. This was a good field and the geese always seemed to rest there when going south and after his buddies scouted they decided to go. He got all his equipment to the car except his 1000 auto 12 and went back in the house to get it. His car was parked outside the garage and when he went outside the last time to finish loading up he heard a voice and it was just befor dawn, he was supposed to be in church as it was sunday but he and his buddies decided to go goose hunting. He thought for sure he heard a voice but kept loading his equipment, then he heard it again hey buddy can you help me out. He started questioning this more being religious and this was when it was still dark, this time he knew he heard a voice and started getting really scared. He thought boy im supposed to be in church and he thought it was the lord talking to him. He got so scared he took his shotgun and walked to the side of the garage just in case it wasen’t and it was someone else. He then heard the voice a third time saying the same thing and he said he was just about ready to loose it and walked out in the middle of the driveway and looked up at the lord to ask for forgivness and thats when he seen a hotair ballon. He said he couldn’t believe what he was seeing and the guy seen him look up and thats when the guy said hey if i throw you down a rope will you help me land this ballon. Gary said ya throw it down and he helped the guy land it in his front yard in the country. He started laughing and said hes never been so scared in his life and thought this was his day of judgment and he was going goose hunting instead to church. He said he was so scared his legs were shaking and he was almost ready to run back in the house. I laughed for 1/2 an hour. He said the guy evidently flew off course and this was the first time he was able to flag anyone down to give him help, its a funny world sometimes.
I told this story a couple years ago here on the site. My cousin Gary wasen’t afraid of the dark and had gone hunting many times befor dark for ducks and geese with his buddies. This is what he told me and i rolled with laughter. He got up one morning to meet his buddies to go goose hunting around here on a local farm where the field had just been picked a few days befor. This was a good field and the geese always seemed to rest there when going south and after his buddies scouted they decided to go. He got all his equipment to the car except his 1000 auto 12 and went back in the house to get it. His car was parked outside the garage and when he went outside the last time to finish loading up he heard a voice and it was just befor dawn, he was supposed to be in church as it was sunday but he and his buddies decided to go goose hunting. He thought for sure he heard a voice but kept loading his equipment, then he heard it again hey buddy can you help me out. He started questioning this more being religious and this was when it was still dark, this time he knew he heard a voice and started getting really scared. He thought boy im supposed to be in church and he thought it was the lord talking to him. He got so scared he took his shotgun and walked to the side of the garage just in case it wasen’t and it was someone else. He then heard the voice a third time saying the same thing and he said he was just about ready to loose it and walked out in the middle of the driveway and looked up at the lord to ask for forgivness and thats when he seen a hotair ballon. He said he couldn’t believe what he was seeing and the guy seen him look up and thats when the guy said hey if i throw you down a rope will you help me land this ballon. Gary said ya throw it down and he helped the guy land it in his front yard in the country. He started laughing and said hes never been so scared in his life and thought this was his day of judgment and he was going goose hunting instead to church. He said he was so scared his legs were shaking and he was almost ready to run back in the house. I laughed for 1/2 an hour. He said the guy evidently flew off course and this was the first time he was able to flag anyone down to give him help, its a funny world sometimes.
When I was younger and used to hunt, I had troubles sitting still and in one spot. One morning as my dad was telling me where to go, I was paying as much attention as usual. After he dropped me off, I decided to just wander into the woods and find a good place to take a nap (it was still early and I was lazy). I walked maybe 100 yards into the woods, might have been less(remember lazy part). I never was one that liked dark, always thought I could see stuff that wasnt there. So I found a nice spot under a tree and sat down. As it began to just get light I thought I heard something in the tree above me, all the hair stood up on my neck. I decided to look up to see and when I did, the guy in his stand about 10 feet up said Boo. Well let me tell you….I laid tracks, in my shorts and on the ground.
When I was younger and used to hunt, I had troubles sitting still and in one spot. One morning as my dad was telling me where to go, I was paying as much attention as usual. After he dropped me off, I decided to just wander into the woods and find a good place to take a nap (it was still early and I was lazy). I walked maybe 100 yards into the woods, might have been less(remember lazy part). I never was one that liked dark, always thought I could see stuff that wasnt there. So I found a nice spot under a tree and sat down. As it began to just get light I thought I heard something in the tree above me, all the hair stood up on my neck. I decided to look up to see and when I did, the guy in his stand about 10 feet up said Boo. Well let me tell you….I laid tracks, in my shorts and on the ground.
My brother and his buddy were bow hunting for bear in northern MN and my bro buddy was in his evening stand and had a big sow come in with two cubs. Well the sow got his wind and let out a warning call and the two cubs ran up a tree on either side of his stand. After about an hour he heard one of the cubs climb down and he could still here the sow huffing around. then it got dark and he thought he heard the other cub leave also. So after another hour or so he finally decided to drop his bow down and make a break for it. When he hit the ground he grabbed his bow and took off running. He was running as fast as he could but could here somthing crashing through the brush right behind him. No matter where he went whatever was chasing him was right on him. when he finally made it back to camp nearly scared to death he realized that when he grabbed his bow he did not grab the rope that he used to lower it down with still tied to his bow dragging half the north wood with it.
I can see how that would get your old heart pumping.
My brother and his buddy were bow hunting for bear in northern MN and my bro buddy was in his evening stand and had a big sow come in with two cubs. Well the sow got his wind and let out a warning call and the two cubs ran up a tree on either side of his stand. After about an hour he heard one of the cubs climb down and he could still here the sow huffing around. then it got dark and he thought he heard the other cub leave also. So after another hour or so he finally decided to drop his bow down and make a break for it. When he hit the ground he grabbed his bow and took off running. He was running as fast as he could but could here somthing crashing through the brush right behind him. No matter where he went whatever was chasing him was right on him. when he finally made it back to camp nearly scared to death he realized that when he grabbed his bow he did not grab the rope that he used to lower it down with still tied to his bow dragging half the north wood with it.
I can see how that would get your old heart pumping.
Dont have any good stories from the woods, but every morning I walk through the cattails toward a slough I think a raptor from jurassic park is going to pounce on me. Not to mention all the noises that come from god knows what. I just get out there and pray for the sun to come up
Dont have any good stories from the woods, but every morning I walk through the cattails toward a slough I think a raptor from jurassic park is going to pounce on me. Not to mention all the noises that come from god knows what. I just get out there and pray for the sun to come up
I’m not scared of the critters, it’s the spooks. You can’t kill whats already dead!
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