Odd or rare things seen while hunting

I've seen and had some real rare things happen while hunting and maybe you guys can share a story too !
 
While buck hunting in Tionesta years ago on opening day I seen a buck standing about 200 yards away in the woods. Just too far for a good shot so I scoped it and seen something I never seen before or ever again. The deer stood in one spot and started jumping vertically up and down like it was on springs ! I mean this buck just kept bouncing fairly high with each jump and going nowhere....weird. After about 4-5 jumps it took off in another direction. I read years later it's a panic or high stress reaction...but rarely seen.  
 

There are snakes around, but I read from a report that sometimes when deer are in a panic and become confused as where to run they will do that springboard jumping as a nervous reaction. I admit it was crazy watching it spring up that high and not move....and no I wasn't smoking any wild weed that day !....lol
 
They say it's a rare sight to witness....just got lucky to see it...once in a lifetime.   

  Buck attacking my friend & I while sm. game hunting. Just would not leave us alone.

Cool stories....I've seen 1 albino squirrel, and a friend of mine shot a wild albino ringneck pheasant in the 60's near Pulaski. Looked like a chicken at first glance ....real rare bird !  

I was hunting at our pheasant club, albeit for deer and not birds. About 15 yards from the base of the tree stand is a plastic watering trough used to keep water in the field for the bird dogs. With the cold temperatures, it was frozen over solid.

It wasn’t long after daylight when a fox squirrel came down out of an oak tree and started foraging through the woods. It was soon joined by another fox squirrel and a few grays. At some point, one of the fox squirrels hopped up on the water trough and was hanging on the lip, leaning over trying to get a drink. Apparently, it did understand that the water was frozen.

As it was all leaned over, a gray squirrel jumped up on the other side of the trough. This was enough movement to knock the fox squirrel into the trough and onto the ice. After some chattering, it gathered itself up and glided, like it was ice skating, across the trough.

Of course, I was laughing my butt off at it. When it reached the other side of the trough, it turned around and skated back across. For some reason, the gray jumped in too and they started chasing Each other around. Two more grays joined in and they had quite the skate party. The fox squirrel must not have liked being outnumbered, so it climbed out and left the grays to skate on their own.

Not long after, a ring neck rooster crowed about 100 yards out in front. Then another crowed about the same distance behind. Over the next hour, they kept crowing at each other and advancing toward the tree stand. At one point, they were only a few yards apart, but that was as close as they wanted to get to each other.

I heard some rustling and thought it might be deer, but it was just those darn fox squirrels. One of the hopped up on the water trough to watch and the other one started running circles around the pheasants as if it were a bearding dog. Each time one of the pheasants would try to leave, the squirrel would cut it off.

The second squirrel joined in and they started running circles in counter directions to the other. The pheasants just kept backing away from the squirrels until they were jammed together, touching tail feathers.

One of them must have had enough and let out loud series if cackles which sent the squirrels scurrying up the nearest trees. As the squirrels sat on limbs swearing at the pheasants, the birds seemed quite pleased with themselves and wondered away without making a sound.

Watched a groundhog shimmy up a small tree and perch on a Y limb like a squirrel.
 
Had a porcupine almost climb on me spring Turkey hunting.
 
Hung my fluorescent orange hat vertical in a tree near me spring Turkey hunting and watched a humming bird go in and out my hat a dozen times thinking it was a huge flower ....lol    

These are some good stories!  Good thread idea Captain!  
 
My dad took a hiatus from hunting from his late 20's until the fall I turned 14 when he was 52.  He almost got shot by my mom's cousin while they were deer hunting one time, and it left him really rattled for many years.
 
To try to satisfy a little bit my growing desire to hunt, we spent a lot of time hiking and fishing for wild brook trout in the late winter and early spring in the areas he hunted as a kid and young man around Ligonier in Westmoreland County. 
 
On one of those first hikes, we were on a gas line right of way that traversed one of the ridges, and had stopped to watch some deer milling about on the right of way down below us at the bottom of a long hill.  As we stood there, a red fox came out of the thickets to our our right and ran up to within about 20 feet of us and started barking at us, just like a dog would!  And then it ran back into the thicket.  It wasn't threatening.  Almost playful and curious, just like a pet.  I've seen plenty of foxes in my time afield and have been close to many that become somewhat accustomed to human interaction, but I have never had that happen again.  I've told the story many times, and have never had another person say they ever saw a fox do that.   
 
 

Thanks, just reminiscing over the years........
 
Hunting across from the Pymy goose blind public area years ago, we sat in a makeshift blind waiting for some geese to fly over.The skies were blue and empty on our side of the road with most of the geese staying in the reserve area. All of a sudden geese and ducks started flying out and honking like crazy. Flocks were going every which way out of the reserve and guns were popping away steady. I looked out toward the reserve and spotted a big red fox chasing all the geese ! Don't know if he got any, but a bunch of waterfowl hunters were sure happy !

Nobody in the PGC or fans of Quality Deer Management will believe this, but I actually used to see big bucks prior to antler restrictions and herd reduction!

Ferry Tales begin with "Once upon a time"......
 
Trucker Tales begin with "Yinz ain't gonna believe this crap, BUT"......
 
 
Soooo "yinz ain't gonna believe this crap, BUTTTTTT......
 

 
 
 
     That there's gross
 
 
    But that there is even grosser
 
 
 
'cept this took place in Florida and for inquiring minds.....  here's the link!!!
 
http://www.foxnews.com/sc...florida-officials.html
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

BH I'm sorry those pics are gross to say the least and I would love to get out of the house but they only let me out, when an attendant is available. lol

Good news, I will be offline more in the near future. Gotta new hobby, where I can make money, when my weaving improves and I can sell baskets.

Stupid cabin fever.

Gotta git, time for MaypO. 😜