Odd or rare things seen while hunting

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CAPTAIN HOOK
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2018/02/19 18:23:16 (permalink)

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.  
 
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    mr.crappie
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/19 18:44:57 (permalink)
    Captn,  Maybe a snake, there used to be quite a few rattlers in that area of the state.  sam
    #2
    CAPTAIN HOOK
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/19 21:06:31 (permalink)
    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.   
    #3
    CAPTAIN HOOK
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/19 21:27:42 (permalink)
    We were hunting in duck area J at Pymy years ago. I made an overhead shot on a drake Mallard and at first it appeared I missed. Then it started to fly upwards in a spiral corkscrew pattern higher and higher to the point it was a dot in the sky ! Then we watched it just tumble drop the whole way down completely dead. Of course it fell so far away we never found it, but talk about strange ! We were amazed to watch that.
     
    I did some research on that strange event and found out it has happened to other outdoor bird hunters. Seems if a BB penetrates the head severely and damages the equilibrium it will cause the bird to fly in a circular pattern till it dies or looses control and crashes.
     
    Another rare occurrence while hunting.     
    #4
    crappiefisher
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/19 21:53:22 (permalink)
      Buck attacking my friend & I while sm. game hunting. Just would not leave us alone.
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    Big Tuna
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/20 06:41:17 (permalink)
    Back in the 70's I was bunny hunting in Mercer along the rattlesnake creek. We had a cold snap in mid November and a 1/2" of snow. My hounds got all stiff legged and where walking in circles. There where two very cold Massasauga rattlesnakes sitting side by side. Two shots from my 20 gauge over and under took care on any serious problems with my dogs getting struck.
    One of the scariest things that happened to me. I was archery hunting. I watched a big red tail hawk land about 30 yards from me. I really wanted to watch him so I went into a no movement mode. I had a face mask on,I only move my eyes blinking a few times. This hawk pitches off the limb and is gliding right at me. I had the bow across my lap instead of hanging on the bow hook. Good thing I barely got the bow up across my face as the hawk hit it. His wings slapped my face. I was a bite shaken up but learned a lesson,now when I hawk or owl lands close to me ,I let him know I'm there and move to spook him
    I don't know what people consider odd or rare. I seen,piebald deer,albino coon,squirrel,and almost white wild turkey. I shot two squirrels with one shot,only seeing the one I shot at,saw my grandpa shoot at a running rabbit being circled by my dogs and killing it and one sitting about 10 yards behind the one running. Two bunnies with one shot. I've seen a lot of neat things through the years. Anyone ever have flying squirrels make a nest in your cushions seat of your ladder stand? lol Been there. lol
    #6
    CAPTAIN HOOK
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/20 09:12:18 (permalink)
    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 !  
    #7
    CAPTAIN HOOK
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/20 09:27:26 (permalink)
    Hunting pheasants after school in the Wheatland swamp area , we were flushing birds out fairly steady. Then it was only legal to shoot roosters not hens. Next thing we flushed a hen up and she's flying way across the field edge and crashes right into a big road billboard sign along the road! I walked over and there she is on the ground dead, right under that big sign that advertised "Smoke Salem Cigarettes" ! Cigarettes even killed wild game too....lol
    #8
    DarDys
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/20 09:59:30 (permalink)
    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.

    The poster formally known as Duncsdad

    Everything I say can be fully substantiated by my own opinion.
    #9
    dpms
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/20 10:41:39 (permalink)
    I called in a hen turkey that was gobbling. Shot a black coyote. Seen squirrels fall 100 feet bounce off the ground and run back up the tree. Came upon a large black snake with a rabbit half way down. Seen a true albino doe.

    My rifle is a black rifle
    #10
    CAPTAIN HOOK
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/21 08:55:39 (permalink)
    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    
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    DarDys
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/21 09:51:52 (permalink)
    We shot lots of groundhogs off fence posts back when we hunted them. They are good climbers.

    Speaking of groundhogs, I was fishing a bass tournament at Sayers on a blistering hot summer day. We were targeting some sunken brush piles on the break line about 50 yards off shore. A groundhog came out of the weeds, walked around the shore for a bit, and then walked out into the lake. When it list the bottom, it started to swim. It swam out to the boat, circled us a couple of time, then swam back to shore, shook itself off, and wondered back into the weeds.

    The poster formally known as Duncsdad

    Everything I say can be fully substantiated by my own opinion.
    #12
    Guest
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/21 10:12:06 (permalink)
    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.   
     
     
    #13
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/21 12:06:24 (permalink)
    Somewhere on one of these threads I posted a picture of a Groundhog climbing a tree, barely escaping the wrath of my Shorthaired Pointer.
     
    Archery hunting, while standing on the ground, a grouse drumming right at my feet.  Sitting in my ground-blind deer hunting when I was joined by a fox squirrel.
     
    Fishing French Creek behind the Franklin Steel post shop wading just over knee deep casting crank baits.  Had a snake pass from behind, right between my legs.  Fishing with my brother at area 41 on Pymie.  We watched a snake swimming from the middle of the lake headed toward the boat.  Thinking the snake was going to pass us we continued to fish, only to have the thing come through a transom drain scupper, cross the floor, over our feet and off the bow of the boat. 
    post edited by BeenThereDoneThat. - 2018/02/21 12:13:49

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #14
    CAPTAIN HOOK
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/21 14:16:34 (permalink)
    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 !
    post edited by CAPTAIN HOOK - 2018/02/21 14:17:45
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    Big Tuna
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/21 17:11:20 (permalink)
     Back in 1988 I shot a monster buck on the first day of gun season. My buddy wanted me to take him there on the second day. I told him there where several nice bucks still alive there, so we set up about a hundred yards from my first day spot. We didn't see any deer all morning so at 10:00 I said I put a little drive on for him. I just took about 10 step from him when I heard a dog bark in the distance. I walked back to him and said I think that dog might be running a deer. We waited and the barking was definitely coming our way. Busting through the timber come a decent 16" spread 8 pts. The deer stops at 35 yards my buddy throws up the gun and bang shoots. The deer dropped instantly. We just look at each other and for some reason just stood there. Here comes our buddy a miniature dachshund.lol That little dog ran up to the deer and bite into the white rump and pulled out a big stuff on hair. Then he lifts his leg and marked his prize.lol  I always wondered what the dog was thinking. lol Did I finally run one down?  We laugh are butts off. To this day we always bring up that hunt. We still laugh about it.
    #16
    Guest
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/21 21:33:30 (permalink)
    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!
    #17
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/02/21 21:54:45 (permalink)
    C'mon now? 😉


    BT the difference between the time the plan was instituted and what we see today...... there is just more trees today.
    post edited by BeenThereDoneThat. - 2018/02/21 21:59:46

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #18
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/03/02 20:11:28 (permalink)
    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
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    post edited by BeenThereDoneThat. - 2018/03/02 20:14:54

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #19
    BloodyHand
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/03/07 12:10:07 (permalink)
    Hey BTDT, you need to get the heck outta da house man.
    Definitely not a good post to read while eating lunch........LOL
     
    BH
    #20
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: Odd or rare things seen while hunting 2018/03/07 14:09:21 (permalink)
    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. 😜
    post edited by BeenThereDoneThat. - 2018/03/07 14:10:27

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #21
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