Scariest thing you ever saw in the woods

My wife was just looking at Facebook and this question came up.

Some years ago I was running my dogs and one of them went on point. When I got there she was pointing a child's blanket with a body wrapped up tight in it. She would get close, take a big smell and back off about 6 feet. The hair on her back and neck was standing up and she acted like she wanted to fight. I stood there for what seamed like forever (a few seconds) trying figure out what to do. I clipped a lead on her and headed to the road and back the half mile to my truck, while trying to decide how to tell the authorities what I found and how to get to where I was. I went about 50 yards and realized that I didn't know what it was for sure. While I thought about it I decided that I had to know so I tied my dogs lead to a tree and walked back. I stood there for a few minutes contemplating what I was about to do. Finally I pulled out my pocket knife and made a small slit in the blanket on the end that looked like the head. To my relief I found my self looking at a big old Black lab. Boy was I relived. Although I'm not sure why I piled some brush and logs on it to cover it more and moved on.

My reflection in the creek.

I've been paced out of the woods by... something . You could tell after you got to a certain part of the property you weren't welcome. Was finding random stuff like old pillows and toys dead int the backwoods at least two miles or so from anywhere that this stuff coulda come from. Something had me on high alert if you know what I'm talking about you know. Just...... stomach turned into knot just now thinking about it.happy I broke up with her and ain't gotta go in them woods again just NO

A ghost. no foolin.

I nearly puffed my trousers once walking along a river in S.E. Alaska........I glanced across the shallow riffle I was skirting and there was a medium sized Brown Bear about 15 yards away. It was just sitting there on it's butt like a dog, watching me plod past. My partner, 8-10 yrds ahead of me, had walked right by it without seeing it. The bruin basically just sat there a short bit, then slowly wandered deeper into the alders and out of sight. Another time a few years before that I saw a rifle bullet dig a furrow in the ground about 4 feet from me when two ninnies I was hunting with opened fire at two deer that the pushers had run between us. That was way more deadly than a Grizz at 15 yards. I quit hunting in large groups making drives.

When I was 12 I was in the mountains in Idaho cutting fire wood and my uncle shot a big boar black bear and it charged down toward us at high speed. They finally put it down pretty close to the truck. Hate to say it but I was in the truck quick like with the windows rolled up.

Found a man with powder burn marks and a bullet hole behind his left ear, and his face blown off !

While still-hunting for squirrels upstream along a river, I found three large pits with ashes. They were about 4-5’ across and about3 feet deep. On the return I smelled smoke. Very cautiously snuck over and saw all three fire pits contained a large bonfire. About 50 KKK guys in full garb having a rally, party, or something. I had snuck in to about 40 yards so I successfully snuck out.

When I was in Maryland a friend asked me if I wanted to go hunt axis deer. Heck yah! He said he had scouted an area we could go. When we got there and parked behind another vehicle. As we walked to the entrance to the hunting area, I kid you not, I counted 53 vehicles and that didn't count the vehicles that parked beyond the entrance. You could tell where the deer were running boom, boom, bam, bam, bam, bing, bing, bing, bing. Terrifying. I went and sat back in the vehicle until my friend showed up.

I don’t know what the scariest thing I’ve seen is but a couple years ago I was out setting Marten traps and I was coming down a narrow trail on the snowmobile. It was my first time down there that year and the snow was really deep. The trail was pretty rough with huge snow covered mud holes and uneven ground, the sled kept tipping on its side, so it was real slow going. At least the mud was frozen.
The cedar swamps always give me the creeps, but this time something felt different and I felt very vulnerable to an attack by any animal that wanted to get me.
I came to a dead end, like smack dab in my face end. That’s when I could see something black on the ground through the trees straight in front of me. Roughly 20 yards away.

My brain said bear, so I pretty much died. But I didn’t! Now how do I turn around!?!? I was also pulling a sleigh and had that thing jackknifed in one second lol trying to back outta there. PANIC!!
Realized I had to get off the sled, unhook the sleigh and push it into the bush to get it out of the way. I’m hurrying as fast as I can in this deep snow and kinda peeking up at that black thing.
I inched back and forth about 15 times till I got the sled turned around, reattached the sleigh and got out of there!

Turned out I went down a short side trail that I never knew existed and found the proper trail just a little ways down.

I don’t know for sure if it was a bear or what! Definitely had that depth to it like it was fur and a round blob. Haven’t been back there since.

I walked up to a bear in the marsh last year. 23 yards and we were on a beaver dam together. A sow grizzly and her cub. But I was safe, I had a compact 9mm on my hip. Lol. I don’t know how many rounds it would have taken, or if they’d worked, but she would have gotten 7 of the 8 to the face. She and the cub ran into the reeds when they saw me. There’s really nothing you can do at that distance from a grizzly except hope they go the other way.

The most upsetting thing I ever found was the bones of a child stuffed into an old culvert down on the river. the culvert had been tossed there as junk.

for myself it was when i was about 10 , small game hunting we always tie what we shot on our side with an old shoestring. I had a bird and a squirrel on my side just before dark headed home and I could tell [feel] something was watching me I stop and was looking around and all of a sudden, I hear something I turned just in time and a owl was there a big owl, to this day I don't know if the owl knot off my hat or just the wind from his wings

a buddy of mine was walking from there family camp to his dads house on a trail, after dark to come to work on midnight shift , in his flash light beam he saw a shoe sticking out of the leaves , he said he thought what the heck was a shoe doing there so he gave it a kick, well out of the leaves comes shoe foot and leg bones , the guy had been missing for 17 years , he [buddy] said they had been up and down that trail hundreds of times

Do tropical jungles count?

found a make shift stone altar and a bunch of satanic literature, candles etc. along a drainage from a pond. it made me look around with my hackle hairs up! creeped me out & i dont creep out easily.

A screaming bear Cub only a few feet away from me one spring in MI, not worried about the little guy but did not know where Mama was was my concern. Still remember how plain it was pure black with no defining marks. It was tiny fresh size from that winter it looked like you could pick it up and take it home but I knew better.

Headed away from the river bottom quickly into the open hilly area so I could see around me then a short time later 2 bears yearling size were heading away from the area also it looked like. 3 bears close by one a screaming cub I got the heck out of there. LOL

15 ft king cobra 4 ft from me raised up to strike.!!!

A city

Not really scary, just different.
2 buddies, nephew, and myself were walking out duck hunting on public land years ago.
It's about a 1/2 mile back and 04:30 I heard something that sounds like arc welding.
I look up and see what looks like a comet, but really close, like a jet liner.
This thing was moving really slow, and had a contrail that went across the horizon
We continued on, set up ,and got ready for shooting time.
I asked everyone if they saw it and my 2 buddies looked at me like I had 3 heads .
They thought I was joking until my nephew said yeah, I saw that also.
How 2 people can see and hear something, and the other 2 couldn't is beyond me.
There was nothing about it on any news and no reported meteor showers.

Dang Wolfie was you dating Marie LaVoe ?

Late night coon hunting .
Dogs treed and I walked down the edge of the cornfield as close as possible.
Turned to walk into the fence row.
Reached down and turned on my headlamp, looked up and there was this giant hairy spider all in my face.
Probably as close to heart failure as I have ever been.
LOL

I was hooking my dog up one night after coon hunting and heard the scariest scream about 40 yds. up in the woods. My Dad was with me and I asked him if he had any idea what it was. Sounded like someone was killing a little kid. We both thought we knew every sound there was in the woods until this. I took off running as fast as I could to where the sound was coming from and didn't find anything. This was around 1988 and at the time bobcats were very rare in the area that I lived. It bothered me for several days and I had talked to a lot of people about it. I was reading later in a hunting magazine about the sounds a bobcat can make. Pretty sure that's what it was. Bobcats are fairly common now, but I've only heard it 2-3 times since then.

Another buddy was coon hunting one night and found a bunch of mannequins that were painted up like devils. Lots of other Satanic literature scattered about. It scared the crap out of me just hearing the story. I had hunted with him in this spot several times. I asked him what he did, he told me that he put it all in a pile and lit it on fire. I told him he was my hero ! He was a Vietnam Vet. and there were not to many things that scared him. I was glad I wasn't with him that particular night.

You guys need to see "Missing 411: The Hunted". Don't watch it before deer season, you might not go out. Very spooky.....seriosly

My son and I were moose hunting up a river and it was in the 1970’s. We were walking back from a clearing and in thick woods. All of a sudden there was a sucking sound in the distance, it got louder and louder, heart pounding and wondering what the heck is that? It turned out to be 2-F4 phantoms jets at tree top level. Ruined it for a while!

Someone later on told me that when in Viet Nam the Phamtons would fly over the Viet Cong like that they would instantly release themselves because they knew it was all over!

F-4 Phantoms were beautiful. An eerie sound coming in for a landing also.

I was trapping beaver one spring,walking across an opening toward the creek where my sets were.The going was rough,I had my head down watching where I put my feet.At one point I looked up to see 2 cubs up a tree,another scrambling to join his siblings,and their mother standing on her back legs watching me walk right at her.I froze,dropped what I had in my hand turned and tried getting back to my truck as fast as I could,which wasn't very fast because the ground was broken up.I didn't look back to see if she was chasing me,I couldn't have outrun her anyway!It was big time relief when I made it back to the truck in one piece!I went back a couple days later to pull the sets carrying a rifle.I had 2 beaver,so I had to carry 2 beaver in conibears,the rifle,and the equipment I'd dropped,I wasn't about to make two trips.Never saw the bears again,but my head was on a swivel the whole time!

Hahaha

I was breaking trail exploring a new area on my 1983 SkiDoo Alpine. There was a creek that I wanted to cross and as I pulled up to it the single ski of the Alpine dropped and the water was flowing over it the spring and under the tub. I backed out and cut a pole and checked the depth and it was over 4 ft. deep flowing. I was 18 miles off the road and alone. It would have been a long day if I had just charged out into that water.

In my late teens, I was parked on a South GA logging road with a pretty young thing. A cat near us screamed the most blood-curdling deathly attack sound I have ever heard. It was July and the windows were down, but we quickly put them up.

One fall I got a call from a lady whose father owned a woods about a mile from my house. She hadn't heard from him for several days. She had a neighbor check his house, it was locked and completely dark.
She knew he had been wood cutting in the woods. She asked me if I could check the woods? This was 10:30PM.

I drove up to the woods with my best flashlight and found the gate locked. I had been to the woods many times having trapped there in the creek. I walked in and spotted his truck parked about 100 yards in from the road. I knew it had been there a while as the windshield was covered with leaves. Not a good sign. I called his name and got no answer. I walked around his truck and my flashlight found him laying on the ground with a shotgun laying alongside of him. I called 911 and got the local sheriff's office. They sent out a deputy. A note was found inside his truck explaining that he had terminal lung cancer and decided to take his own life. He had lost his wife several years earlier.

The worst part was having to notify his daughter.

Long ago while bowhunting about 1/2 hour before dark the screaming and wailing began. It lasted about 10 minutes. Thought it was a woman being killed. It was very alarming because I could not think of the source. It happened once more a few days later. Long before the internet, so I went to the library and did some reading and determined it was a bobcat.

Walking up on a rattler that starts to buzz close by has a way of getting a guys attention real quick!

Funny thing you mention that, she would tell me her grandma believe she was the reincarnation of her. Yeah and apparently she tried putting some vodoo on me first time I was over......yeah when he cousins pulled me to the side and asked if I was ok first time I met them that shoulda been a red flag

Lightning.

Not much in the woods scares me as bad as some things in the citys. Have had something huffing and puffing and pushing on the tent that woke me. Had a big bore handgun under my pillow so yeah just HEY!! GET OUTA HERE!!! and a swift kick to the place on the tent where the pushing was. Whatever it was ran off.
One time had a wind storm blow through while I was elk hunting in the mountains here in Wyoming. It was snapping 10”~12” green lodge pole pine about 8-10 feet above the ground,trees crashing down a lot. Not much you can do but hunker down and wait till it blows over. We get 100+mph wind in the mountains here occasionally so that was probably the worst thing for me.

Stalking a cat walking on the edge of the woods and setting into a set/trap circle with tom in it. About it.

does and Anti walking her dogs around screaming obstinacies at me count , they only get madder when you show the dog your not a threat and start petting them there mad at you and the dog for not barking at you.

Then what happened?

I would be in a beaver swamp on a nice quiet day enjoying what I was doing when all of a sudden an ear piercing loud noise would make me crap my pants. It would be two f-15s screaming at a very fast speed just above the tree top. The noise was there the same time they were. There was never advance sounds of them approaching.

Had a few. We had a boat accident once where I was trotling with one dead and he sank. He had to cross all my lines. We dragged for him but couldn’t find him. I went out and pulled up lines in the dark. First line had a pair of rain pants on it. Made me jerk when they popped up out of the water under my face. I had him but he came out of his pants. We dragged some more and don’t hook him.
During the next daytime search I seen flesh up under a brush pile in the water. Go to investigate and it’s a large naked doll. Thought for sure I found a kid. Nervous two days. The next day he surfaced next to a crappie brush pile. Guys fished it for a while before they noticed him. Not pretty.
Was frog gigging one night and we heard a shot on the bank. Teen age boy broke up with his girlfriend. Walked down to the water and took his own life.
Mink trapping under a bridge once and found a pile of dead pit bulls. Like 9 of them. Came back a month later and there was a pile of foxes and skunks under the same bridge. ?

Scary and strange both. My friend and I were deer hunting in late November. The weather was eastern Montana cold(which was way below zero). Everything was frozen solid. My friend and I stopped on a bridge to take a break. We walked over to the bridge edge. Looked down on a creek/river that was maybe 20 foot wide and frozen solid. There was a (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) pheasant walking out in the middle on the ice. All of a sudden the ice cracked and the pheasant disappeared. We both looked again in disbelief and I think the feeling was we would NEVER go swimming in that place in the summer.

In February 1980 I was snowshoeing across the river...breaking new trail. I am never comfortable when venturing out on new areas of ice.

Those who aren't used to breaking trail in deep snow may be unaware that your footsteps can cause large areas ( like a few acres) of snow to settle all at once. You can feel a slight drop and hear a disconcerting WHUMP......not loud but just enough to make you aware of it.

Also, when it is cold you may think you hear something behind you. You stop and look back but there is nothing. Eventually you figure out it is only the tails of your snowshoes flicking ice crystals across the surface of the snow.

Well there I was........crossing untested ice with all sorts of noises emanating from underfoot. (Actually the loudest noise was probably my heart hammering in my chest.)

Well I thought I heard something behind me and looked around.........nothing !

I kept going. Just about midstream I hear a sort of swooshing noise that I THINK must be water under the ice. But NO !!!! All of a sudden two F4 Phantoms are about 50 feet over my head and they pull up into a vertical climb and hit the afterburners.

Now I'd like to tell you that I stood there in awe as those afterburners melted the entirety of North America with their heat........but in fact it scared me so badly that I fell down into that deep snow. I could hear my heart pounding over the roar of those engines.

I pretended to be making snow angels to cover my fearful thrashings in the snow.

They had sneaked in on me from downwind. They happened to be a couple of Air Guard guys from Anchorage that had hunted moose with me the previous September. They never hunted with me again !

You articulate that event well , Sir Ken. I could hear and see it in my mind.

Amazing stories from so many.

Years ago, I was riding snow machines on a high ridge line in the Montana mountains . On a full moon night with two other riders on theirs.

I love the full moon on the snow. A million diamonds sparkled where the moonlight lit up the landscape as daytime. It was late , just after midnight. The group of us friends planned on staying up and riding all night along that high ridge, lined with Alpine fir, Highland Hemlock and Doug Fir. All coated with snow, very deep , mid-winter , after a big storm that dumped several more feet high up.

The high peaks loomed bright against the sky as we tooled along for several hours.

At the end of the ridge, we turned around and went back where we drove earlier. Midway back, we came to human made tracks that crossed ours , walking on snowshoes , over our fresh machine tracks , to the drop-off ridge top, then turning and walking back into the deep treeline woods.

In the middle of nowhere. No cabins , no town nearby. Miles up from any valley into that rugged ridge top.

We stopped and stared in silence, and of course gazed intently into the deep shadows of the woods where the tracks arrived and retreated .

Without a word, we took off and powered away, hands on our guns, looking back frequently.

I would have rather seen any other tracks but those, in the middle of the night, only a couple hours old , crossing ours.

Not the weirdest of these here, but surely making my hair stand on my neck , seeing them.

What a great thread to read. But not at night .

Two friends and I were out catching bull frogs one night out of a boat up on a long slow moving part of a creek. I was running the oars, and one in the front and one in the back. In Ks, you can use a net or catch them by hand, but no frog gigs. So the guy in the back, Randy is deathly scared of snakes. The one in the front, Jim is telling me witch way to go, and holding the light, getting ready to grab a frog. That was the minute that one of those stupid asian grass carp jumped right into the boat and started flopping on the floor of the boat. Jim missed the frog, and Randy knocked an oar out of the oar lock as he ran past me, then knocked Jim out of the boat, and he dropped the light. Absolutely the darkest night, and Randy is yelling at us from up on the bank. Jim is wet and muddy, but gets back in the boat. He retrieves the light, and shines it on the carp, then we start laughing. Neither of us could understand how you could be that scared of a snake, that you would about kill yourself getting away from the sound and about drown Jim while doing it! All because of an asian carp!

Was there a bloody hook hanging on your handlebars when you got back home ?

Grizzlies too close.

My brother and I got charged by a young bull moose once. I couldnt believe how fast he could move. He had been sparring with another young bull. He gave up pretty easy because if he really wanted us, he would have had us. When I suggested that to my brother, he said there was no way he'd of got me, cuz when he turned around to run, I was already topping the hill. Lol

Another time I was bugling for elk, and two bull moose, (again), came thundering into the meadow, kind of prancing around with their hair standing up. The little meadow was a little wet and had tall grass and I just sank to my stomache and listened to them trotting around. I had never, and haven't since, had moose react to an elk bugle. But they sure acted like they wanted to whoop my butt.

I think the scariest was a naked old man in the woods when I was checking coon traps. His hearing must have been off because he was looking away from me. I walked within 30 yards of him before I spotted him. I just quietly sliped back the way I had come. I sure didn't want to see the front of him.

Meth heads and weirdos. Man, I could write a book on some of those experiences. I ran into a guy once that I thought must be hiding from authorities. I texted his vehicle info to my wife because I was a long way from my truck. He was asking me questions that didnt make any sense. I thought he was just scoping me out. I saw where he got his vehicle out of sight of the road for the night. I should have called law enforcement that time. He had a woman with him that was wearing a dress. I thought it was a really strange place to spend the night and it was cold. One time I came out of the woods to my truck about dark and could hear voices. When I got to the truck, there was nobody there, but a dog growled from across the road in the woods. They were hiding on me. I didn't like that at all. I made sure they could see my handgun. I started down the road a short ways and saw a man walking through the woods toward the road and he dropped flat on his belly when he saw my truck. I spoke to a Forest Service detective the next day and he made contact with them. He told me they'd be moving on. I don't know what it is, but I've had a lot more experiences with weirdos. I had two guys try to come into my camp once, about 2:00 in the morning. I let their flashlight come close enough for them to hear me rack my 12 gauge and their light went out immediately. They were sneaking. There's just no mistaking that sweet sound. Then a couple minutes later I heard their peice of crap car start up and rumble down the road. I was camped close to a road and they had stopped by in the day and one was asking my wife stupid questions while I stood on the other side of the truck with a shotgun. Sure enough, at 2:00 in the morning I got woke up by their peice of crap car and here comes their light. Like I said, I could write a book.

25 or so years ago. A black bear momma and her two cubs ten feet away while I was archery hunting on the ground. Thank God the wind was blowing the right direction. I pressed my back into the tree so hard, I still have marks.

Yes sir, just about ! Along with a heck of a blood trail from my 1911 !

I still think of that every time I am outside late on winter moonlit nights....

I second that motion

I cannot think of anything in the woods that has ever scared me EXCEPT: When I was six years old and new to Minnesota, I always had visions of it being a wilderness with wolves and bears behind every tree. Well one evening I was visiting the neighbor boy at his house and I stayed pretty late so had to walk the path through the woods in the dark in order to get home.
Well, with the fear of being attacked in my mind I cautiously proceeded in the dark to pick my way along slowly expecting to be eaten by a bear at any moment. Just as I got alongside a big Oak tree, my evil troll of a big sister leaped out from behind it with a loud roar. She had been sent by my parents to get me and saw me coming. I believe I must have broken the all time standing high jump record when this dark screaming figure leaped out at me from behind that tree. Since then nothing has ever compared to that episode so I have no fear in the woods at night, alone, and unarmed any more since my sister is no longer with us, rest her soul. I doubt she has ever laughed so hard the rest of her life either. This happened 69 years ago and it is still as viivid in my mind as the day it happened.

I have told this story before. I reckon I'll tell it again. I was scouting a woodlot for deer in late September near an industrial complex on the edge of civilization when I stumble upon an empty box. Upon closer inspection, said box showed that it once contained a marital aid device of the strap on variety, and a right sizable one at that.
I immediately went on full alert, rifle in ready position, carefully scanning in all directions. I proceeded cautiously forward through the bush, and arrived at the site of the contents of the box. It was strapped to a tree at a height conducive to its intended use.
Now what scared me most was the fact that it was attached to the tree at a height which indicated that the previous user must have been a tall fella.
Out of the woods I did scamper, tail tucked.
I have had better times in the woods stepping on venomous snakes.
I didn't know what bejeebers meant before then, but I can tell this with authority, they all got scared out of me that day. All I could think of was "squeal like a pig" and "purdy mouth." Or as they call it in East Texas, Thursday...

Lol! There's a ditch I keep cleared of beaver in the Toadsuck community. Well one day while starting to set a different part of this ditch, I came upon a sight that was rather frightening. I'll never forget the look of that two headed beast.

THE MONSTER

(Authors note: This story is exactly as it happened; there was no need to enhance it, as it is pretty unbelievable as it is. People have accused us of lying about it, or making it up. Well what purpose would that serve? I freely admit I was scared “spitless” and Arnold , well he was mighty concerned.)

The headlights of the truck slanted through the trees illuminating them in a ghostly fashion as we pulled up Walls’ driveway,. It was Thanksgiving Day 1992, around 3:30 AM., and as dark as midnight in a mineshaft, as there was no moon and heavy cloud cover. Arnold’s Truck rattled to a stop and we stepped out in to the chill night air. We gathered the buckets of trapping gear, and slipped our pistols into their holsters. We got ready to do the loop as we called it, down the hill, up the valley, around the field, and back across the valley to the truck. Arnold and I walked along, checking our coon sets, talking softly back and forth to each other as we usually did. This part of the valley is thick enough to stall a Tiger tank. The multi-flora rose and honeysuckle creating almost impenetrable walls of vegetation, so dense that even in the daylight you can only see about 20 feet. The only way through is a single deer path. Strangely the woods seemed to deathly quiet, I mean no owl hoots, no deer or rabbits breaking cover, not even a breath of wind. It was a very eerie sensation, and suddenly I felt the hair on the nape of my neck stand up….

The Darlington Valley of Delaware County Pennsylvania has a long history of strange incidents and occurrences. Many people have reported seeing strange things lurking in the seemingly ever-present mist of early morning and evening. Far more people have reported hearing horrible cries, screams and roars coming from the dark woods. So horrific were the sounds some people vowed never to again return to the valley.

My Dads close friend Melvin and his girlfriend had an experience neither of them ever forgot. Melvin and his girlfriend (I can't recall her name) were um, ah parking down in the valley late one night. As usually happens they were rather involved in what they were doing, when suddenly behind their car "The Monster" let loose with its audio assortment of mayhem. Even before the cries faded away, Melvin had the car started and was laying a smoky trail of rubber out of the valley. He told his friends that this was no animal he'd ever heard. Melvin was a good ole boy, born and raised as a hunter and trapper, so he knew the sounds of the woods. However his friends being young punks, of course teased him unmercifully, calling it Melvin's Monster. Well it frightened him so badly whenever he and his friends hunted the valley he would not get out of the car till it was light and would always be back at the car long before dark. No one believed poor Melvin or his girlfriend. Yet stories of "The Monster" continued for years afterward even up till this very day.

I had heard the stories of the "Darlington Monster" as a child from both my Father (who didn't believe a word of it) and my Mother (who always said, “There is something evil in that valley.”) I personally decided that it was probably just different animals making noises and citified people couldn't explain them and therefore were scared of what they heard. Foxes screaming, coons barking and growling, and numerous owl cries can unnerve the unknowing. Little did I know that I would get a first person interview with the legend itself.

We were walking along guided by our trusty $1.24 flashlight, its dim sickly yellow light barely illuminating our chosen path. Suddenly it front of us this thing, beast, monster lets out this sound. (No I can’t tell you exactly how it sounded, since I have never before or since heard such a sound.) It started with a rumble like distant thunder, rose up to a howling shriek like banshee with a toothache and tapered off to a mad dog howl. It was so loud it reverberated in our chest and we could feel it strike our faces. Arnold and I both looked at each other and said, "WHAT THE (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) WAS THAT??????"

If you think this was inappropriate language, all I can say is brother you weren't there! We drew our pistols and loaded them so fast, we could have beaten Butch, Sundance, or The Kid. This is all the more amazing considering the pistols were in snap down holsters and the bullets were in our pockets. We tried shining the light around but that did nothing constructive for our heart rates. All the more disturbing was there was now no sound, so whatever made that noise was still right there in front of us just beyond the light. (The floor of the valley was cover with dry leaves so even a slight movement would be heard.) I will be perfectly honest with you; if I had been alone I would have turned tail and run till I hit asphalt (the nearest road is over a mile and a half from where I was.) I had a million thoughts going through my mind, “What the (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) was that?, Why am I in this valley?” and “Why in the world do I have “Now I lay me down to sleep” running over and over in my mind?” Arnold suggested we should slowly move off to the right to our other sets out in the field. You can believe me when I say this was met with less enthusiasm than "The Charge of the Light Brigade" they were only riding into the Valley of Death, I was already there.

I informed Arnold I liked the tree I was backed up against and daylight was only 1 1/2hrs away so why not wait around for it. Arnold coerced me into following him by starting off toward the field with the flashlight in one hand and a fully loaded and cocked pistol in the other. I sure as (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) wasn't going to sit there in the dark by myself. I quickly covered his back trail, with my pistol fully loaded and cocked as well. To say we covered the 200 yards from where we met the monster to the edge of the field where our sets were at carefully is a masterpiece of understatement. We were so slow and cautious you'd thought we were tiptoeing through a minefield. Thank God no deer broke through the brush or rabbit scampered through the dry leaves, otherwise there would have been a hail of lead laid down. We finally made it to the field edge without any more loud scary surprises.

After checking our sets we had to re-enter the valley to get back to the truck. It was just light enough to see when we marched back into the valley. On the far side we heard the noise again. We continued back to the truck and got the (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) out of there. Did this experience change us? Well yes and no, we were back checking traps the next day in the same valley, but now we had fully loaded pistols in unsnapped holsters.

Arnold and I have talked about this incident many times since then. We know what we heard. Arnold and I between us have over 60 years of experience in the woods, from southern Virginia swamps to New York mountaintops to Midwest plains; we have been to them all. We firmly agree it was no animal that walks the woods (to many sound variations in a short time), or human (no way a person could make those noises).

So you may ask what it was then. Well we believe it was a demon or other restless spirit, the whole valley is known to be an Indian burial ground. It is rumored to be the Lenni-Lenape royal burial area, but I’m not sure of that. I am sure what I hear and what happened though, and all I can say is if I never hear it again it'll be too soon.

As kid growing up running around in the part of WI I did. We didn't have only an occasional bear, no wolves, no big cats. Didn't really even see a coyote to often and so moving around in the woods at night our biggest fear was startling a skunk and getting sprayed.
Anyway my dad made up for the lack of things that might actually eat us. He was great at tell ghost stories, alien encounter stories swamp monster. Great at sneaking up and terrifying us kids. I once threw cup hot coffee on him made me jump so hard.
I eventually got to a point where I became some what numb to things going bump in dark. Infact I'm probably little to comfortable to the woods in dark in general. Grabbed to many times in dark by the old man. As kid I learned people where really only thing to fear in dark. Now of course we do have loins and tigers and bears.. oh-my !

Fast forward 30 some odd years I'm going turkey hunting, walking out a farm lane two track in predawn darkness. I was familiar enough with that feild road to know there shouldn't be even a tripper stick. Track is on ridge top with hayfield on left and fresh seed corn field to my right. I'm just strolling along in dark no light of any kind turn on. I don't know if I walked up on a coyote or we walked into each other. But dang coyote let's out one them screamig kinda dealing like they do probably 10ft to my left. I probably looked like a bottle rock launching. I jumped so hard would thought I was 10 years old and my old man had got me again. I didn't scream like little girl though it sure would been the time to. In stead I actually yelled "You-Son-Of-A-Mother-Dog!"...lol it actually started with B not M
I guess I don't consider that really being scared didn't mess . myself. I always think of it as startled. Definitely got my blood moving though. Bugger must went maybe 20yd towards woods screams again. Did that maybe two more time before was probably in woods. I never turned my head light on so never actually seen the coyote.
I have always wondered who jumped higher that coyote or me.

Mac

Trapstickman once claimed that he saw a ghost beaver coming for him. I have my doubts since he has been known to exaggerate once in a while.

Looks like a blanket beaver to me LOL!

Mac

Nah! I believe Him!

Back few years ago I trapping in the public land. About 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile away a small gas fired plant did heat treating.

So as I'm setting some traps at about 10 am, a large explosion went off. Ringing the woods and me. Past experience has told me, "hit the ground"!

I came out of the woods later to find everything is in tact. The ovens had not enough air to fuel mixture earlier to light. A little late by the operator.

This why for a lot of years returning to civilian life I wouldn't go to Forth of July fireworks. Those aerial BOOMERS are not nice.

The Darlington Valley in Delaware County, is watched over by Jim Murphy's spirit. He and Patrick Kreigh piled up record coon catches in the late 70's and 80's. Murphy just wont leave the valley. RIP

Muzzle flashes knowing they were meant for me

A game warden

My wife and myself where back in the mountains blue grouse hunting came about a suburban in a meadow
And walk up closer and yep we could smell she was tired of living.

We thought she was just sitting in driver's seat, well she was but Dead.

She had been missing for a few weeks.

Found a dead guy in a car one July, day temps were in the 90's, luckily found him first thing in the morning, cops thanked me for finding him before things got nasty, then set up a crime scene perimeter and had breakfast delivered....

Pizza

I was coon hunting... my old redbone had something caught out in the middle of a pasture near a junk pile........ i was walkin along with flashlight on.... on of them nights so dark the light hardly worked...
a coyote came up from behind and let loose YIPYIPYIP........ the hair stood up on the back of my neck.... i nearly crawled outta my skin!!!... lol then i laughed ... boy he was close.... shined the light but never did see him !!

I have seen plenty of scary things in towns, but never in the woods or on the ocean.

Got a call from a rancher years ago that I was trapping on to come look at a dead cow he found. It's udder and vagina were cut off no blood and a very smooth cut line on both. Just cut through the hide and no mark on the meat. 2 weeks later I found one the same way a couple miles from the first one

I was coming out of the woods one hot October day when a friend who was only a few feet in front of me fired his rifle. We were in a rather thick area with lots of vines. I shouted to him and he replied snakes. I looked at my feet and I was standing in a bed of snakes. Everything in the south that is not jet black is automatically a copperhead. I jumped but my feet went one way and the rest of me another way and I fell squarely on my butt among all those young snakes. Didn't get bit but sure was frightened almost to death.

Was out checking beaver dams last fall, and stopped to pick some blueberries, just turned on my camera to take a picture and this old boy, stepped out of the patch. Lucky the wind was in his face, and the beaver pond was behind me. Need less to say I went swimming.

Found what I thought was a demonic ritual place. Iron pot with solid mummified chicken heads, with a small sword impaled in the middle. The pot was resting on a silk blanket w hand stitched pentagrams and goat-like creatures. REAL creepy stuff! Had me looking over my back and neck hairs standing straight. Actually called to cops to report it and they seemed to think it was related to a Jamaican satanic group that ran around north of Wilmington DE and Philly suburbs.

I wouldn't characterize this as "scary", but was certainly discomforting.

My cousin and I were coming off a north Idaho elk hunt. This was nearly 50 years ago. It was late at night, darker than the inside of a cow. Driving down the St. Joe River on a dirt road. In the headlights, the dirt all over the road was scuffed and rutted. Cousin Bob slowed the truck and we both noticed pretty good puddles of dark in the road. Among the dirt and the puddles (which turned out to be blood), there was a ghostly white item, almost looked like a plastic grocery bag. We stopped, and it was immediately apparent the almost-white item was a human hand. Very ragged skin at the wrist, with noticeable tendons stringing out. We picked it up and bagged it (pretty much ambient temperature; no body heat remaining) and headed on down the Joe. Few miles further on, we see flashing cop lights coming at warp speed up the river. We stopped, and flagged down the County Sheriff. Turns out, he was racing back up the road looking for the hand. He spun his truck around and raced down river ahead of us. Found out later that it was some hunters that were trying to load a balky horse. One of the guys apparently wrapped the horse's lead around his wrist and was trying to load the horse, when it severely balked and the rope pulled off the hand. We also found out that the doc's in town were unable to save the hand, as it had cooled too much to be viable.

Not too scary, but certainly a bit weird.

Jack

That's Crazy

Not so scary but very eerie. I was hiking the Ice Trail in WI the 3rd week of April West of the Wolf River and east of the Bogus Swamp in 1998. It was mid-day and I was hiking in Langlade CO. I was alone and used my bike to ride back to my truck usually doing 8-12 miles in sections depending upon roads and terrain. As I was hiking I came upon a fresh wolf scat, still steaming and full of hair. I walked a few yards and looked off to my left and about 50-70 yards were two wolves just walking along keeping that distance. I kept walking and just doing side glances and they kept walking but not getting closer. How eerie, how long had they been watching? Made the hair stand up on the back of one's neck. I have spooked bears while hiking and you get a woof and hear them crashing away but not these two wolves. Never looked to see if there were more.

Bryce

Not too much scares me these days except my own imagination, but every once in a while I have to fight off the heebie jeebies when the hair on my neck stands up for whatever reason, usually when I'm out at night.

I hunted on a military base and the a10 warthogs coming in for target practice would get me by surprise

BRRRRRRRRRRTTTTT!

How many of you have found dead bodies?

I found a burned out car pushed way back on a logging road. but no discernible body inside. We called it in and got out quick.

Walking around the edge of a bridge wall and coming face to face with a black bear.

I seen Wolfdog91 one night fishing

Sure that wasn't ol skunk ape? Lol

I lived in Northern Wisconsin for 30 years in the late 1900s and hunted and trapped the area North of US 2 extensively. During the time I lived there, timber wolves became re -established and I saw tracks become more and more common on the sand roads of the Chequamegon National Forest, saw an odd wolf cross a road from time to time, heard them howl several nights and held one wolf in a coyote trap. Mostly just considered them a curiosity. After I moved to South Dakota I returned to WI each fall to hunt ruffed grouse in the northern part of the Chequamegon National Forest, just south of Lake Superior. One fall in the early 2000s, we had just purchased a young trained female lab that was a bit of a head case. She had been sold twice and returned both times. My wife basically rescued her from the owner/trainer at a reduced price with condition that she could not be returned. She was very abused and fearful but exhibited great skills at hunting and retrieving. To get her into the back seat of my pickup I had to lift her in.

This trip we had hunted several days with some success. My normal technique was to quietly walk isolated sand roads that wind through the forest amid mixed poplar and jack pine stands and follow old overgrown logging roads that loop to former cuttings and back to the more main roads. The area south of Lake Superior has no dwellings and gets very little traffic. On this day, my wife visited friends and the dog and I drove to an area I was very familiar with that once had contained farms and the remains of those farms included some clearings with ancient apple trees which often produced a grouse or two. I parked the truck, took my double, opened the rear door and let the dog out. She had performed well the previous days except she proved to be shy of gun shots. She listened well and generally followed commands. As we walked the sand road that day the popple leaves were raining down and the sun was golden shining through the leaves that remained. The odor of wet leaves on the ground was amazing. Just a few hundred yards down that road we encountered two sets of large canid tracks that had come onto the road from the forest. The edges of the tracks were still crumbling and they had obviously just been made. The dog was curious and smelled the tracks. The two sets of tracks proceeded down the road in the direction we were walking for 50 yards of so and then left the road on the opposite side from which they had entered. I explained to the young lab that several of her ancestors were about and she had better be on the lookout. I thought that I was making a joke. As we walked further along the road the lab began to act nervous and would glance into the woods from time to time. Then she began to stop cold on the road, turn and face into the woods and edge closer to me, she even growled faintly a time or two. I explained to the woods at large that I had two loads in my double and more in my jacket but that did not seem to impress any thing at all. After a couple hundred yards like that, the dog was so glued to my side that she was almost tripping me and she had made me so nervous that I was no longer enjoying the hunt. It was certain by now that we were being tracked as we walked and that the trackers were of great concern to the dog, I decided to retrace our tracks back to the truck. As we walked back the dog would increasingly halt, turn around and growl into the woods. When we got to the truck, I opened her door and she, for the first time, eagerly leaped in. By then I was just about as happy to climb in the front and get the door closed.

In retrospect, I find the experience enjoyable and memorable. By myself, I almost certainly would have just hunted and gone on my way, perhaps with a bird or perhaps not but I would likely not have been aware that the wolves were there also. Or perhaps, without the dog they may just have gone on their way and not tracked us. I explained to her as we drove to a different location that she had managed to convince me that I was not as brave as I had previously thought. It was rather like several children frightening each other in the dark by conjuring up monsters. As a side note, she learned we would not hurt her, that guns were good and that when we had them she would get to hunt and work with us. She became a great friend and she and my wife had many memorable hunts together where she made some outstanding retrieves on pheasants and ducks before she finally passed.

My and my buddy Mike and 2 other guys he knew went hog hunting down in south GA on some farmer’s land he had hunted for years. Me and Mike went to one spot and the other 2 guys went to another. We dropped the tailgate and turned the dogs loose. The field we were hunting was oval shaped and way back in the woods. As we were walking the edge across from the truck on the other side I tapped Mike and pointed back to the truck. We could clearly see a figure standing by the truck with the door open looking inside with a headlamp on his head. He shined in the truck then backed up and scanned the tree tops and poof. Gone! Mike got on the walkie and asked the other 2 guys if either of them were at our truck. They were still a 1/2 mile away hunting a different field. The hair stood up on our necks and we took off running for the truck. When we got there the door was still open and interior light was still on. No person, no new tracks in the sand. The nearest house was miles away. Highly doubt anyone was walking around out there with a headlamp just for kicks. We never could explain it.

Another time that was kinda hairy was me and my buddy Josh were working at my ol man’s house. We drove up the hill to dads house and while we were there I said I was curious if those buzzards were still nesting up in the cluster of boulders like they had been. I was in front of Josh and I walked in between a small boulder and a hickory tree. I heard Josh yell out. I froze! Had no idea what he yelled about. I looked down to my right and literally a foot and a half away from my leg were actual hornets not yellow jackets pouring out of the base of the hickory tree. I yelled to Josh dont move!!! It was too late he got stung 3 times on his forearm and he took off running. I stayed there as still as I could but the more hornets poured out the more nervous I got. I looked off to my left and saw a straight path towards Josh’s truck. I made a mad dash for that truck and made it without one single sting. One of the few times I felt really lucky in my life. What are the chances a guy standing right next to an active hornets nest doesn’t get stung but the guy 10ft back does!! We came back with a can of gas an eliminated the hornets in a rain of fire.

This thread is too good. Hoping this isn’t too quick of a resurrection. It’s been a great late night read.

Danny clifton...that was disturbing to read.


I've found all kinds of odd things in my flashlight beam while checking traps. Underwear way out in woods where it probably shouldn't be, shoes, stuff like that. Found what I think was an old meth lab once, that was disturbing. Called that in.

Also came up on one of my dirthole sets for for coon one very early AM check, and had a really big boar in it. But, it looked like this below. Now, a big boar coon isn't exactly a pushover softy creature to take out. And with trap on only one back foot they can still put up a decent fight with the other three fee plus teeth, right? Was a little unnerving to walk up on in the flashlight beam.

I was a young man, in college and running mink traps any chance I could in the late 1970's to make "real money."
I had a pocket set under a bridge abutment in a creek about 10 foot across that had a very large culvert under a county road about 5 miles outside a town of just a few hundred people.

I slid down the bank, with my hat nite light casting a pretty low beam, but I was used to it, and as I approached where my mink set was, I noticed a big ol steak knife - handle up - sticking outta the water.
Well, I thought, in that low light 5:00 am time frame situation.... "what the Jimmy Dickens? What's this knife sticking up above the water line for and where'd it come from?"

So I grabbed the knife, pulled it up, and CRAPPPPPPP, it's stuck in a body.
And about that time, a bit of a body, (I think it was a younger guy) bobs up a bit in the couple feet of water.
He had been submerged or I just didn't see him.

CRAP! I just grabbed a knife stuck in a dead body and rational thinking took over in a nano second.
Drop the knife.
Yep, I have my gauntlets on. No finger prints on the knife.
Geez. Pull the set (no mink).

Ok, call the authorities!
No wait, do I call?
No cell phones back then of course.

So I drove to town and in the days of phone booths made an anonymous call that there was a dead body at _______ road culvert.

I never ever set that spot again and read in the papers later ( I watched for the news article) that it was a drug dealer who'd been killed by another druggie buddy and his body dumped.

I got a bigger headlamp after that.

Blessings,
Mark

My ex-wife with a rifle

Wow, that would get the heart rate up.

Bed of small copperhead snakes between my feet.

I would call this more strange than scary. I used to own some land in northern MN that we used for deer hunting. One of the guys had built a deer stand that bordered state land. It was about 3/4 of a mile from any road. He set up a camera several weeks before opening of deer season to see if any deer were moving through by his stand. When he checked the camera several days later there was a photo of a man walking through at 3:00AM. That was weird! What was he doing that far off any road at that time?

African Lion Next door neighbor had two and they were loose the small one was declawed and fangs removed but the mother was fully equipped .

I was bowhunting in Colorado at about 13,000 ft in September.
I saw a cloud moving in so headed towards the trees for protection.
It started hailing and then the lightning came.
It felt like it was right over my head. I ditched my metal bow and laid on the ground.
Went on for about 20 minutes. Not fun.

That reminded me of hiking in New Mexico with Boy Scouts. We were at the top of a mountain when a storm developed very quickly all around us. We were among the clouds and the thunder was level with us. We were on our way down and really hurried up. 12,500', no trees.

The Mark June story would be tough to top.

I once ran into 2 Californians walking around looking for land to buy and relocate to.

Heard a noise behind my deer stand one afternoon, and turned just in time to see my mother- in- law "backlit" by the sun, "relieving herself" in a small woods opening...Still carry the mental scars, Lol.

Me and a buddy where out gigging frogs, his girlfriends younger brother was on the bank. We seen quite a few little gators, my buddy thought it would be a good idea to grab a couple “to relocate”. So we had a cooler between us with a bunch of gigged frogs and 3 baby gators just a squawking. Tell the boy to shine the light behind us. Sure as crap 4 sets of eyes behind us and one coming in hot!! We were about mid thigh deep, no running from that. I saw my buddy jump out of the water and walk like Jesus. I stuck out the gig and let mommy hit it full speed in the snout. Gave me enough time to make it to the bank. 20 years later my buddy still swears that he had to save my life lol. I’ve saved him twice from gator attacks, including on jumping on a 6fter. God bless him, in his head he always thinks he’s the one saving me. But he always gives me credit for saving his life when I talked him out of his first engagement lol.

Nothing really scary, but got startled a few times...

Pretty sure I was still trapping out of a car at the time. Had to park on a two track that ran alongside the creek I had set along... It got too rough to drive all the way in. Carrying all my gear in a pack basket with my .22 rifle in the crooks of both elbows across my chest. Traps were checked and I'm walking back to the car... Trudging is more accurate... Don't remember if I had caught anything. All of a sudden to my left a coyote busts out of the brush along a fence line. He is hauling too... He sees me and tries to stop. He starts skidding. He gets stopped, looks at me, and takes off in the direction of my car. This all happened in the space of 2, maybe 3, seconds. He skidded quite a ways before he got stopped... I could have reached out and tapped him on the head with my rifle barrel. I cursed myself for not taking a shot at him. But it happened so fast I was just stunned by it. Not scary, just startled me... Also a "what the heck just occurred?" type of thing.

Another time I was making a set along a treeline. I had dug the bed and was trying to get the trap settled in. There was a high spot somewhere and the trap was rocking... So I just balled up my fist and gave the dirt a few punches. It made a decent thumping sound. As I went to grab the trap I got a few "reply" thumps to the ones I had just made.

I was like, "What the heck was that?" And jumped up...

A buck busts out of the treeline a short distance away and takes off across the field. Guess he thought he was having a showdown with another buck until I jumped up. Pretty comical after I realized what had happened... But the reply thumps creeped me out for a second there. The strangest part is my buddy Jake was with me. He was leaning against a tree and we were talking while I made the set... And that buck still came that close.

Mike

Someone dump dog in woods? That bad thing, 2 summers ago the wind was blowing from east, hot humid summer weather, I rember go along hiway an smell something dead, far worse smell then anything, I can rember it because so bad, I thought someone dump meat or dead cattle, I turn climate control fan pickup to 0, for a cpl miles down road as if go near where skunk got hit, I do same an smell gone when turn fan bacon, also rember sheriff deputy spotlight on gravel road close hiway an around stench area, cruise slow, so like 8 months later I see news, where I let it at an rember , a murder scene an body was dump in kinda old quarry or pond, some guys fishing found it , was there months undiscover, have heard stench body human far worse, I won't forget smell, possibly long ago rember same thing an see Le, found someone murder an dump back his truck in box
, I know one crimes was solved, the first in old quarry was

X2 had melted candles and satanic symbols made with salt.... about 15 feet away was a noose at the end of about 50 feet of rope hanging off about a 75 foot bluff i never went down there and I never went back! I was 17 no gun I hightailed it out of those woods! It was deep in there too...

I still remember everything about that morning. The misty foggy darkness of the early am. The fact I was so focused on "do I have a mink" that I was entirely focused on that operation. Oh, and the fact that in those times, I was HUSTLING to thwart any thieves from stealing any mink I had. And how the ma and pop gas station with the phone booth wasn't open in the early am and no one was around when I called the police in my town (I had no idea who to call in that area about 30 miles from Fenton).

And I think back to the fact of how I never again set that spot.
It wasn't a honey hole anyway.
And I didn't need to find anything else at that spot ever again.

As I recall, I was about 20 at the time and so was the person murdered by his druggie pal.

Blessings,
Mark

Mark, it is a good thing I never found anything like that at the age of 20, it might have cured me from not only ever trapping that spot, but maybe cured me from ever trapping period.

You live next door to “ Prince “ ..?

Bow hunting elk and had a sow grizzly charge me. .357 did the job this was in 2012

One huge whizzed off chaorlais bull

Was bow hunting whitetails one time and was walking out at end of sit, near dark. A bull moose appeared from the woods and made a beeline for me for me in the wide open. He was rutted right up and came real hard to about 20 yards, grunting.

I thought he was going to demolish me and an arrow at his face wasn’t going to do a whole bunch. Luckily the wind swirled because me shouting at him didn’t seem to be working.

So not overly scary but pretty intense.

Noises that sound like u tube of bobcats an cougar noises they make when communicate exactly deep in big woods, mean dog run up on loose

The guys last.name was Allen Tac 20's dad killed one that same day ,I believe with a police revolver

I've had a couple encounters with moose that were not fun at all. About as bad as treeing a coon in a pasture with a Holstien bull.