Guest Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 When I was a kid, maybe 12- 14 yrs old, I was out hiking on grandpas ranch in West Texas outside of Ozona. I came across a dry gulch that was appproximately 10' wide. At a distance of about 40', I saw a flourescent green snake on the crawl across the gulch. No big deal, right? But here's the rub. It was crossing the 10' wide gulch, on the move, and I never saw it's head nor his tail!!! I hate to admit it, but I was too scared to investigate closer. In fact, I hauled A** after realizing how big this snake had to be. Does anybody know what kind of snake this might have been, and if so, any pictures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Coonbo Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 (edited) I was on a muzzleloader deer hunt one morning in the late '70's in Lauderdale Management Area, northwest of Waterloo, Alabama. I was way back in an area where hardly anyone ever went and I started to hear loud, ragged, gurgling breathing. I thought it was probably a deer that had been wounded in the throat and started to very carefully stalk towards the sound. As I got closer, I became aware of a low growling mixed with the breathing noises. As I continued to creep forward, the growling got to the point that whenever I would make even a small move, the growling would get momentarily louder. I was really creeped out by now and just froze in my tracks as I searched every square inch of the terrain in front of me for the source of the noises. Then, under a huckleberry bush I spotted a yellow eye looking at me. Then another eye. Then a pair of ears, and a nose, then another ear. Suddenly the whole scene came into sharp focus, and I nearly crapped myself. About 30 feet in front of me was a crouching cougar, and it had a firm bite on a doe’s throat and had the deer pinned down on the ground as it slowly suffocated. And the cougar’s eyes were locked on mine! AND, it was NOT happy that I was interfering with its breakfast plans. The .54 caliber muzzleloader in my hands suddenly felt like a pathetic popgun as I realized that, even if I made a good shot on the cat, at that close range, it would probably have plenty of time to shred me before it expired. I quickly averted my eyes, as I started to slowly draw back on the rifle’s hammer, and also started to take a slow step backwards. Every small move that I made caused the cougar to growl louder, but it let me slowly retreat backwards until I was far enough away that it stopped its growling and all I could hear was the slowly diminishing gasping and gurgling of the deer. I backed away for about 50 yards then spun around and beat it out of there. I still get the willies thinking about that event. Edited to correct typos. Edited October 25, 2010 by Coonbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ChrisBFRPKY Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Great post Coonbo! Do you do some writing by chance? Those excellent descriptions in your post made me feel like I was there with you. Thanks! Chris B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greldek Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 I was deep in grizzly country solo, and the forest suddenly went quiet, as if there was something coming through. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up, and I started surveying my position. I was in a pretty bad position at the time, enclosed on all sides by tall bushes, and my visibility was less than squat. I decided to keep on moving forward as I knew I'd be getting out of the bushes in another 50 yards or so and start going uphill through the trees again. But could not shake the feeling that something was watching me. The safety strap came off my .357 and my hand was ready to draw. Taking a few steps, then stopping and listening, turning in all directions, and hollering out to make sure I didn't surprise a bear, if there was one near by. I kept on going, slowly and cautiously, a few steps, stop, and holler. The start of the uphill and much higher visibility area was in site, probably only 25 feet or so from where I was at. Wanting nothing more than to break and run for it, so I could at least see what it was that was going to kill me, which I thought was a much more comforting way to die. But I kept my slow, cautious pace, when to my right something rustled in the bush right next to me. My heart stopped, and my guts dropped, I drew my revolver, a double action, and cocked the hammer while turning bodily to the right, when I suddenly a loud beating,and a flash of brown was upon, I fired 3 shots straight forward in rapid succession, while at the sametime throwing my free hand up, trying to defend my face, where the brown blur was concentrated. Surely this would be the grizzly to kill me, wondering why I wasn't being mauled and why the shots didn't deter it, what seemed like an eternity was most likely a second. The thrashing brown creature, turned out to be a large grouse, guarding her nest. She flew straight to my face, like a bat out of hell, hit my arm a couple times and flew off a bit. But if her idea was to terrify me beyond belief, she succeeded. I quickly made my way to the wooded area, and promptly dropped my gear and sat down. My heart was racing, and my mind was still in disbelief over what had happened, and at the same time excitement, the thrill of the scare, the thrill of not being grizzly dinner. After a water break, and swearing an oath of death upon that grouse, should we ever meet again, I got back up and kept on keepin' on, the rest of my adventure uneventful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 My brother-in-all-but-blood Coonbo is here, Howdy Coonbo! Been lurking round here for awhile but I figure if my bro registered than I might as well too... Anyway... Wish I had some weird experience of my own to relate, but in all the years I have hunted and poked around in the wild places (a lot), I don't recall anything I could not explain or that would be as interesting as the stuff that others have written of. I can tell this one that happened to a friend of mine. He was on a pack-in elk hunt in Wyoming when he found a Savage 30-06 laying on the ground. Understand this was a loooong way in & up by horseback. He said it looked like it had been there quite awhile. He picked it up and when they finished the hunt & came out, took it to the local Sheriff's Dept. It was not reported stolen or lost so he was allowed to keep it. It was a little worse for wear but after cleaning it up, it proved fully functional and accurate. He still hunts with it now & then. He guessed it fell unnoticed from a scabbard or maybe the prior owner missed a shot and threw it away in a fit of disgust... I should be so lucky as to find rifles laying on the ground when I'm hunting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiefoot Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 I was living in a century old farmstead, and the house was on a rocky shelf above a creek. I put in a 2 acre garden down next to the creek which was a several hundred yard walk from the house. On one trip down to the garden to pick up tools, with just enough light left to see the trees next to the tractor path, the whole world exploded with wings and big bodies. I had walked into the midst of a half dozen or so turkeys when they decided to take off like a covey of quail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Coonbo Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Great post Coonbo! Do you do some writing by chance? Those excellent descriptions in your post made me feel like I was there with you. Thanks! Chris B. Thanks Chris. Yes, I've done a little bit of writing, but most of it has been technically oriented. NDT: Glad to see you on here Bro!! Your story about the Savage .30-06 reminded me that about two miles, as the crow flies, from where I had the encounter with the cougar, I found a Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag wedged in the fork of the trunk of a wild cherry tree. And it had been bent around one of the trunks. Somebody had gotten quite angry at that shotgun for some reason. It looked like it had been there since the previous spring's turkey season. I pried it off the tree and took it home and had a heck of a time getting it apart. It had an empty 3 1/2" Mag hull in the chamber and two more unfired shells in the magazine tube. It was bent and warped up so badly that the only usable parts I was able to salvage off of it were the choke tube, a few trigger group parts, the bolt assembly (minus the bolt carrier), the safety switch, and the magazine cap, follower and spring. All the rest was too bent and warped to be usable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Thanks Chris. Yes, I've done a little bit of writing, but most of it has been technically oriented. NDT: Glad to see you on here Bro!! Your story about the Savage .30-06 reminded me that about two miles, as the crow flies, from where I had the encounter with the cougar, I found a Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag wedged in the fork of the trunk of a wild cherry tree. And it had been bent around one of the trunks. Somebody had gotten quite angry at that shotgun for some reason. It looked like it had been there since the previous spring's turkey season. I pried it off the tree and took it home and had a heck of a time getting it apart. It had an empty 3 1/2" Mag hull in the chamber and two more unfired shells in the magazine tube. It was bent and warped up so badly that the only usable parts I was able to salvage off of it were the choke tube, a few trigger group parts, the bolt assembly (minus the bolt carrier), the safety switch, and the magazine cap, follower and spring. All the rest was too bent and warped to be usable. I can certainly understand, I had two 835s and both were lemons out of the box. The only reason I didn't wrap them around a tree is we have none in ND... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toejam Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I've now had two instances with us wood knocking or rock clacking and almost immediately a tree "falling" over nearby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tracker Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Yea night research is cool but without some kind of night equipment your left in the dark. saying did you here that or where's that sound coming from? It' can be frustrating knowing somethings near and you can't spot it or get a vid of it after all your hard work and patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fenris Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I've now had two instances with us wood knocking or rock clacking and almost immediately a tree "falling" over nearby. get out........................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tracker Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I've now had two instances with us wood knocking or rock clacking and almost immediately a tree "falling" over nearby. Yea a territory display for sure but no bluff charges or rock thrown directly at you? hold your ground, record what you can. never run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sam Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Twice now we have heard child like sing-song sounds and what sounded like a small child humming about 10 to 20 yards into some very thick brush and deep mud in spots. This is about 20 miles from town off a forest service road. Went back a year later (this is the "twice" part) with the fam and we all heard it again coming from the same spot. Looked all over, wife burried herself to the waist in mud but we kept looking but soon the sound stop then nothing. Will go up again this summer and try again. Sammy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bipedalist Posted January 7, 2011 BFF Patron Share Posted January 7, 2011 I've now had two instances with us wood knocking or rock clacking and almost immediately a tree "falling" over nearby. Listening to fenris saying "get out" fresh in my mind... which depending on your other experiences may be good advice....have you gone back a third time for additional investigation after these two incidents. If you did were you still attempting the knocking and clacking? Did you ever see or take pictures of the trees that you heard being pushed over, could you ever find them, did you look? Just curious about this because I've seen a few pics of such activity yet I've yet to be impressed with the size and amount of life present in the trees pushed over to date. I have experienced one distant and one closer push over or large limb removal in daylight hours but never could find the cause or resultant damaged trees. If there are impressive pictures of these in another thread or elsewhere on the net maybe somebody could direct me to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 he he he he he.. (Fenris) Good luck Sammy, I wanna hear more about this song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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