Craziest things while in the stand

Ok guys couple buddies and i started sharing stories last weekend about some of the crazy things that have happened to us or we saw while sitting in the deer stand. Lets hear some stories.
First for me would be having a squirrel jump in my box stand, and sit on my foot. Kinda got interesting when i wiggled my foot and he wanted to get out of there. I think he did two laps to build up speed and then jumped over the side. Second would be when one of the guys we hunt with caught a grouse with his hands and brought it back to my grandpa still alive and handed it to him without telling him. There were some cuss words directed at him fairly quickly. Third would be the standard chickadee on the hat, and finally two weeks ago i was in the stand and looked out over the field and saw a dark dark “deer” Pulling the binocs up my deer turned into a big big bear between me and my truck. Lets just say i detoured way to the south when i walked back.
Anyways lets hear the funny, scary, and great times from the stand.

Two weeks ago I had a big grey fox come out of nowhere and pounce on two sandhill cranes I had been watching for about an hour. Both birds got away, the fox wouldn’t have been so lucky if I wasn’t busy cleaning my shorts. One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, looked like a scene right out of Wild America.

I was still hunting in Colorado for elk a few years back.. I had my head against the tree and was staring at the sky (maybe makes sense why i didnt get an elk!),,, anyhoo. A BlueJay decided to make a dive bomb on me and hit the top of my head as it tried to move away. I think it was eyeing up my eyeballs as lunch!

I have had a few crazy things happen to me. First of all I was in my stand one night and it was right at dark when sticks started falling out of the tree above me and i didnt think anything of it. A few minutes later. I looked up and five coons were right above me and I almost fell out of my stand. I have also had squirrels right by my face and one time a little bird landed on my shoulder.

Last year while sitting in my ladder stand the same night I shot my buck the wind was blowing so hard that at one point a small dead tree above the hill from my stand started to give way and started falling in my direction, luckily it was off to my left just a bit and fell and landed on a long branch from my tree. You can bet that I was saying a thank you prayer to the man upstairs that the tree did not land on me. I won’t tell you what I said as the tree was falling.

Craziest: A barn owl landed near my stand and sat watching me. I stuck my tongue out and wiggled it at the owl – just to see what it would do. Big mistake! It immediately dived my head and almost grabbed my face. ….Last time I’m trying that one.

Coolest thing I’ve seen: A badger came crawling by under my stand scratching and searching for food. Those things are way cool. It remined me of Aladan’s flying carpet – the way it flew/slithered over the ground – as if it was flying. Those things are big too! (…I let him walk. Skunks, cats, coyotes, and coons would’ve been stuck to the ground via a Carbon Express. Sorry. )

Two years ago I had some goofy grouse all over my hunting area. They would fly up into a branch 20′ up and dive bomb a brush pile! They did it about 10 times. I thought they were trying to commit suicide with all the racket they were making.

Same year I had a mink (I think) chase a squirrel up a tree
and make all sorts of scary sounds. The squirrel jumped into another tree and got away.

Also have owls just before light swooping towards you almost every year.

Ferny

ive got 2 stories 1st i was checking stands earlier this year climbed up unfolded the seat and had a family of flying squirrels shoot out 2nd a buddy and i were in wyoming hunting mule deer he climbed into a pile of logs to sit for an evening right at dark a coon pokes its head outa a hole in the log and right between his legs

There are so many weird things that have happened… Last year: I had just shot a doe from a ground blind. I was walking from the blind to the deer to tag her, when I heard some rustling from behind me. I turned around just in time to see a pair of coyotes run straight past the blind, past me, and over the deer. I raised my gun and whistled. Bang. One yote down.

A couple years ago, my dad was hunting a fenceline between two fields. He had his back up against a big hackberry tree. He says he didn’t really hear it, but the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He slowly turned his head and saw a doe standing about a yard away, on the other side of the tree. Had to wait for a few minutes for it to get far enough away to shoot.

Not really in the stand, but walking to it, I run into a tresspasser, who thought he could hunt where he didn’t have rights.

So, here is this tresspasser and I decide to kinda sneak up on the guy to kick him out. As I get closer, I see he keeps looking down and is doing something funny.

I get about 20 feet from the guy, he whips around, and has the deer in the headlights look at me.

Low and behold, he thought he was pheasant hunting or something, because he was “choking the chicken”.

He left rather quickly!

Wow! I’m stayin’ away from Gary’s woods! YEESH!

Once, as a kid ….. I got tired enough to doze off and this “pallet stand” was big enough to lay down on so when I awoke, I looked straight down and to my amazement, bambi was parked directly below me and mom was feeding nearby! Gun season without a doe tag…..no easy shot.

Also, walking out of the woods, I once had a grouse fight with my face! It was totally dark and we just “found each other”. But before tangling with the grouse, I had walked past a small pine thicket when a porcupine walked out of the other side and we almost collided! In the tree I’ve had the classic Chickadee on the gun barrel, scope, or boot and I’ve had red squirrels come up or down a neighboring tree trunk and just go nuts trying to figure out what that orange thing in the tree is!

My first and only Spring turkey hunt a few years ago was spent down in Wabasha. I was talking back and forth with some toms down a hill when it started to rain. I pulled a poncho over my legs and shotgun to keep it dry, and continued to cluck up a storm. All of a sudden this ball of fur jumps over my legs! I about swallowed my diaphram call!! Here, feet away from me stands a coyote who was just as scared and confused as I was!

Last year, I was sitting in my new enclosed deer stand, I had the window open letting the sun shine in when I had a chickadee fly into the window and cause havok in my box. I had to fight to get the door open and finally got the bird out.

then a few days later, I had a red squirrel climb up my stand wall and perch itself on the window sill. looking out towards the woods. I reached up and pushed him off of the sill and he hit the ground and made a heck of a noise.
ran up the tree next to me and continued to make a raquet until a bird showed up and knocked it out of the tree again. 2 times in 10 minuets, he was pretty ticked off as he ran away.

then this year, I saw a female turkey pecking around and made my heart skip a few beats thinking it was a deer. if you wanted to see a photo of it, go to my post, she was only 20 yards away.

shane

last year after i talked to a guy that was telling me all about how well the can from primos is. so i decided to go out and buy one a give it a shot. I crawled up in my tree early in the morning and was there for about 30 min and i decided to put the can to work. I flip it up side down a couple of times and then all of the sudden the woods erupt. I had cows all around me. I never once saw a deer when i used that can, and every time i used it all the cows on the farm would get as close to me as possible and make a heck of a racket. I swear that the can is the worlds best cow call.

A couple years ago I was in my stand in the morning, it was a nice quiet morning and I had a doe walking by at about 50 yards, she stopped and suddenly ripped a big fart! It was a loud one, I was impressed. I did every thing I could not to laugh outloud.

I was turkey hunting on a ridge laying next to a fallen log hoping to intercept a tom before he roosted. It was getting really dark and I heard some turkeys walking my way in the leaves. I continued to putt hoping to draw them towards me. I had already given up shooting because it was really dark but I wanted to see how close they would come. The sounds of rustling leaves are getting closer and closer and now I’m not so sure it’s a turkey. All of a sudden the sound runs right at me and I come face to face with a grey fox! He finally realizes that I’m not a turkey and takes off. Thinking this was the end of it, I then hear something right above me and look up and see another grey fox coming in! That time I screamed like a little girl and got the heck out of there!

Another time I was bow hunting and saw a mink coming my way through the woods. He made is way over to a hallow tree right next to mine and went inside. Then the tree exploded and at first I thought birds were flying out. Then I realized they were flying squirrels! About 10 seconds later out came the mink with a little flying squirrel in it’s mouth. The very next night, my dad saw the same mink do it again.