Scared to go hunting again.

Where were you and what kind of tracks did you find?

How far off the trailhead were you also? Not trying to sound rude, but I'd give it a try again but not SOLO next time. :)

Glad you made it out okay though.

Need more details, what did the tracks look like? what general area were you in? What do you think it was? and why were you so scared?----SS

When Your out in the back country camping there are ALWAYS sounds in the night often very close by.
Been there dozens of times. I love it, makes for a better adventure. :thumb

Why was I so scared? Because the whole situation was freaking me out. I don't know what all is is those mountains that would make those sounds and I can't shoot to kill if I can't stay awake all night! If you had been there the hair would have stood up on the back of your neck too. Only total exhaustion caused me to sleep some. The tracks bigger than any black bear I've seen and different than a bear. They were almost like a raccoon shape track but enormous! At least as long as my boot. I'm never going back there again. Even with a spotlight and a machine gun. I don;'t know what it was, but I'm not going back there. It was at least 5 miles from help and I was all alone. This creature could have killed me and no one would have found my remains. I'm just going to hunt from the road from now on. So I guess this is a warning to other guys who backpack in alone to be careful, and maybe bring several other hunters with you.

Please let us know exactly where this was at. Provo Canyon?

"ridgetop" wrote:Please let us know exactly where this was at. Provo Canyon?

:-k :thumb

No idea where that is, this was in Colorado. Over 9,000 feet in elevation.

Too bad you couldn't have got some video footage. You could have become very rich. I've seen and heard some really weird things out in the mountains too. Nothing would stop me from hunting . I do aviod going out alone a lot more now days. I had a mountain lion kill a deer right next to me last year in the dark. That kind of freaked me out.

i'd say suck it up, just based on pure odds, you had a bear around your camp, and had you confronted him he would have ran off. Obviously easier said than done, but there is no such thing as big foot so that leaves one "realistic" option.

Don't quit hunting solo- maybe consider packing a side arm?

well i dont know if their is a bigfoot or not but most likely it was a large bear. ive seen black bear track the size of my size 13 boot! haha i wouldnt quit huntn based on one experience. maybe if it happend again yea that be weird but chances are it was just an over sized black bear

I was sittin on the couch in the cabin one night and heard what sounded like a women being beat to death out front. Awful screaming and generaly a horrible ruckes. As I grabbed my pistol and headed for the front porch the sounds seemed to rise up into the air and the violence continued up on the metal roof of the cabin. My imagantion went into overdrive and I hesitaded for moment as the sounds seemed to be rolling down the roof toward me. Alot of crazy things went threw my head in the few split seconds it took to swing the light and the gun up to deal with what ever it was. The light hit two sets of giant yellow eyes that blinked on and off and a small stream of blood running down from what looked like a small racoon carcuss pinned between to Great Horned owls. Never knew that they would hunt as a team. Anyway the trick is when your are in the great lonesome by youself just remmember that mankind has dominated this earth for thousands of years and can kill or cripple anything that walks craws or swims. Like my first sargent keep telling us back in the day, if ya know your going under be it man or beast take with ya. Besides how do ya know your living if your heart don't skip a beat once in a while?

Dont be scared to get back into the woods again. I had one crazy experience while camping with my wife about 7 years ago. We were camping near a lake called Tamarack Lake here in Lake Tahoe and at about 11pm we started hearing some very loud and angry growling and howling. I have been around a ton of bears while living in Tahoe and this was not a bear or a mountain lion. It was the scariest growling I have ever heard in my life and it freaked us out so bad that we ended up abandoning our tent and sleeping in our car with our dogs. Luckily we were car camping at a remote lake but honestly, if we hiked into an area and heard those kind of noises, it would of been a different outcome. Im not sure if we would of just packed up and left or started a big fire or what. I hear odd things in our forest here from time to time. About once a year I hear something hitting logs against trees while out scouting or hunting. The last time it happened I was about 4 miles from any trail in a very, very remote canyon. The knocking sounded like somebody hitting a tree with a baseball bat about 30 - 40 yards away, but the thing is there are no homes in that area (about 20 miles to the nearest home) and no trails. The forest is so thick that you cannot get an ATV into the area either. I don't know what it was but I really doubt it was another hunter. It really gets you thinking!!!!!

Been a solo hunter most of my life, and have seen/heard some strange stuff. Been scared a couple of times :) but continue to hunt solo when I can, though age has slowed me down some. Posted this little "occurrence" I had in Cali a while back on another forum. Yeah, the hair does stand up in some situations! I would agree with the other posters, don't quit going solo, just keep yer eyes and ears wide open!

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I have had a few strange/scary/unsettling things happen to me while enjoying the great outdoors. Once had a badger up above Kamas on the Provo chase me while fishing (think he wanted my stringer of fish but I wanted them more); been charged by a Black bear (all turned out well except for my underwear); been stalked on more than a few occasions by cougars; and the following experience which still leaves me with the chills.

I was hunting the Marble Mountain Wilderness area in Northern California in 1995 the final week of the season. It had been a very hot hunt, the mid 90’s every day. My second to last day I decided to hunt a canyon I had been eyeing on the topo for a couple of days but hesitated to do so before because of it’s remote location from camp, some 3 miles away. It was a bit farther than I wanted to pack out a deer but heck, I was getting down to near desperation time.

I watched several doe and a couple of small blacktail bucks feed in a bowl near the top of the canyon for a while, and as the day grew hotter, I decided to swing over the ridge and still hunt the north side of the next canyon. I dropped down into the thick pines a few yards and stopped to let my eyes adjust to the much darker view. It was a lot cooler and I was hoping a nice buck would be bedded down just below. It was around noon, so I pulled some jerky from my fanny pack and settled down to watch and listen. It wasn’t long before the dead quiet of the woods overwhelmed me. Not a chirp, not a rustle of leaves, no breeze, nothing but still, unrelenting silence. Even my chewing seemed magnified. I slowly made my way down a few more yards, one or two steps at a time.

Then it hit me. A pungent, rank smell began to fill the air. I stood silent and still, eliminating the critters in my mind that might be causing the smell. Definitely not skunk. Much too musky for bear or deer, and I was pretty sure there were no elk in this area. The hair on the back of my neck pricked and I began to get a very, very uneasy feeling. I could just make out the other side of the small canyon, about a hundred yards across. It had a fair amount of tall Manzanita and Chamise, with a scattering of Pines and Quakies.

The strong odor was becoming noxious, as I scanned the far side. I coughed suddenly and loudly, quickly putting my hand over my mouth to stifle the sound. Then I heard it: the crashing of brush, hard and fast . I could clearly see the thick brush on the far side swishing and moving, like a plow was pushing it aside. I could hear branches snapping loudly. My senses were filled to a fever pitch and my heart was racing like mad. I needed no further excuse to turn and beat tracks up hill to the other canyon I hunted earlier.

I didn't stop until I reached the far side of that same canyon. I was out of breath and my leg muscles burned like heck! I couldn't fathom what had just happened. To this day I still don’t know what kinda critter would have that effect on me. The sound of antlers on limbs is pretty distinct, and I sure didn't hear that. Who knows, maybe it was a big old bear who winded me in no wind...

Sasquatch?

Good Lord........suck it up, get hard, and don't let the mountain over rule your brain and win! I've done MANY solo trips, never been scared......but lonely a few times.

Where in Colorado? A lot of the western part of the state is over 9k feet. I would have snapped some pictures of those tracks. Maybe a Chubacabra?
When I am solo, my senses seems to be enhanced 10X, I've heard and seen strange things that rattle me, but after thinking things over, most of the time, it is just my imagination, and I am able to make sense of things.

It's reassuring to hear that I'm not the only hunter who's had a frightening experience in the wild. Its a conflict in that I love to hunt, but was thinking about not ever hunting agai. I am not a believer in bigfoot or sasquatch or whatever people call 'it' now. But I know what I heard and saw and it made me pee myself a little as ashamed as I am to admit it. I've enrolled in some self defense classes this last week or so and I am already learning some takedown moves if it ever gets physical with some unknown creature in the wilderness. This isn't even in Alaska where there are grizzly bears and brown bears. I know those bear have been documented as actually hunting humans, and even begin eating them while they sleep! So if I go to a different spot and know more about how to defend myself my chances of survival go way up. Not to mention I may actually shoot a buck this time!!

Here's something also to think about. Be on the lookout for marijuana growers. Marijuana when just cut down and drying, can smell very strong and musky. There's a chance when startled, the grower may run. But there's a chance they may hold their ground and fight to the death. I once wandered into one of their camps and to this day, that's the closest I've felt to dying in my life. After that, I got my controlled firearm permit and will carry when out alone. So be aware of your surroundings.

Here's another thought.........just my opinion, but personally, I would rather be killed by some strange creature or freak accident than to live my life in fear. I believe that when the good Lord wants me home, He'll be bringing me one way or the other. Until then, I will rely on my strength, experience, and intellect to keep me at the top of the food chain!-----------SS

"BOHNTR" wrote:Good Lord........suck it up, get hard, and don't let the mountain over rule your brain and win! I've done MANY solo trips, never been scared......but lonely a few times.

My thoughts exactly Bohntr. Face your fear don't become a slave to it.

I'll go there give me the coordinates.

I was with a buddy once and we had a similar experience. We were bedded down behind a log on a tarp and there was a stomp and a grunt sound like right over the log!

We jumped up and put lights all around but saw nothing. We bedded back down and it happened again! this freaked us out so we slept in the Burb with our rifles. Next morning we searched all over and didnt see a track, turd, dead body, space ship skid marks, nothin!

Second thing-
In 2010 while elk hunting I twisted my knee tearing it up big time. My buddies had to carry me down the mountain. Surgery and a long recuperation followed. I have no idea where I would have been had they not been there.

food for thought. one more thing, its alot more fun with other guys around. whats up you got no firends? :))

The mind is a magical place that can turn a chipmunk or a mouse into a monstorous man-eating beast just outside our tent at night. Get familiar with what's outside. What animals call your hunting territory home? What sound does each of them make? What does the wind sound like as it moves tree limbs or howls through the trees and rocks? The fact that you don't know where you were or what tracks we're around your camp tells me you didn't educate yourself. Education is your friend and your lifesaver! Just my two cents.

Not everyone is made to do solo hunts, some time what goes bump in the dark can be disturbing. Yes there are bears in the woods, you may not be at the top of the food chain.

If you give up hunting because of this, that will be choice, just remember it is better to face you fears than to run from them, once you start running it is VERY HARD to stop running

After reading this later I realize I must have sounded like a baby to you guys. Who knows what it was but I going to try to go back and kick ass and take names. I purchased a used 30/30 lever action rifle that I can put 3 bullets into a paper plate at 50 yards in 5 seconds. Practice pays off big time! The gentlemen at the local range was impressed with my shooting. The plan is to bring plenty of lights to be able to see all night and wait up for it if its still in the area. If I can see I can shoot it to doll rags. A couple guys at work want to go with me and see for themselves. I hope they will all be armed, then there's nothing to fear. But I'm not sure if its wise to bring relative noobs into the wilderness into this kind of a situation.