Worst personal human experience?

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Aug 21, 2012
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Everyone has bad experiences or confrontations in the mountains, right? Dealing with other hunters, hikers, etc. Well what are some of your worst?
 
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Feb 26, 2012
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Some wilderness area, somewhere
Was hog hunting pretty deep in with a friend a couple of years back when we cut some tracks. Eventually tracked down and got within range of a couple of them. Shot the first one, and it slid down the mountain a good ways, my friend then shot the next, and it did the same.

Right after he had shot some guy comes running through the woods yelling "their shooting our hogs", "their shootin their eyes out", and then started shooting at us. Obviously, we ran. Made a couple of loops to make sure no one was following us and hightailed it to the truck. Got back to the truck, still no cell service. Drove down the road a little ways and some guy is in his truck blocking the road off. He asks us if we had seen anyone hog hunting "cause someone back there is poaching my hogs, shooting their eyes out".

Eventually talked our way out of there, got down into cell service and called in the guys vehicle, plates, description, etc.

It was an eventful day.
 

Larry Bartlett

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My worst human experience is rather simple...it's what others leave behind when they've left the wilds. The hardest thing to comprehend is how much refuse folks ditch in places where otherwise are wilderness and isolated. I'm all about finding and exploring new patches of terrain without human influence, and when I encounter trash, broken discarded gear, or exposed crap and TP in wild places, it detracts from my personal experience of the landscape.

Refuse is easy to pack out, and if we truly value the experience itself, we have to dig deeper into our values pockets for that extra effort to protect that experience for others who come behind us.

Sorry, no Brokeback Mnt stories to share...

But...I do have a funny and completely disgusting experience to share about me and my best bud, Sambo.

A few years ago (mid season) my dog and I had been travelling in the wilds for a couple months, floating rivers, hiking hillcountry, fishing, chasing ground squirrels, etc. Come July we were camped on a river about 50 miles from the road system. Sambo had stopped eating for a couple of days by then, so I was a bit concerned that he'd eaten something that may have blocked his system or given him a sore belly...

This night in particular he had found a porky in camp and was really wanting outside the tent, I thought so he could chase the critter and have some fun...but it was close to midnight and he still insisted on getting out of the tent...

Well, I was tired and had taken some benadryl to help me sleep in Alaska daylight (all night long).

In my stupor, I laid on my back and was dreamin heavily when I felt rain drops on my face...

A minute may have passed when the rain got heavier. Somehow I regained my cognitive faculties long enough to realize that I may have forgotten to put the fly on my tent, so half asleep I convinced myself to open my eyes to check the rooftop of the tent.

When I opened my eyes, my tent fly was in place...it was raining inside the tent...

Meanwhile, Sambo's bunghole was given me the stink eye, and he was spraying foul fluid from his arse, aimed directly over my face, shoulder, and chest. My dog needed to shat so bad that he could hold it anymore, and couldn't escape my two-man shelter in time...he had to shat now!

I was overwhelmed by the stinch, and I had about 3-qts of squirt all in my face, hair and sleeping bag...YUCK!

Poor Sambo had swallowed a bolus of grass that blocked his bowels, and he died from complications of this and two surgeries 4 months later. He was in a bad way, and I got the brunt of his experience face first...

My worst and most memorable human to dog experience...!
 

Shrek

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Hilliard Florida
My worst hunting confrontation is not in the mountains but on a southern deer lease. Myself and three friends leased 800 acres in very rural coastal north florida about 25 years ago that was bordered by a river on the east , NWR land on the south , WMA on the west and a highway on the north with a powerline along it. A group of local dog hunters would run dogs across the property every weekend. They would stand on the powerline and release the dogs from the wma.We called the game warden repeatedly but they wouldn't come and do anything about it. We tried to talk to them and caught the dogs but they said they had always hunted this land and they didn't care if we had leased it and threatened to shoot us if we caught their dogs again. Finally , after several weeks of this and the threats we gathered a few friends and we all went down and when they released the dogs we went to shooting. Afterwards over more than a dozen dead dogs we were over rifle barrels and I thought we were going to die. It was VERY tense ! About the time I thought it was going to explode a little boy about 5 or 6 got out of his dads truck and walked over between us and the tension broke. They gathered up their dogs and left and we did the same. We never saw those guys again and I heard the local sheriff got wind of what had had happened and told them they had got what they deserved and to let it lie . Those guys were strait outlaw , half were hunting with ARs with 30 rd banana clips. I really thought I was about to die. I was young and dumb and everybody was in the wrong. We got a visit from the game warden the next weekend and he gave us a three times over check but never hinted he knew anything. If he had done his job in the first place it would never come to pointed guns.
 
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>>>---WW---->

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Feb 24, 2012
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Strangest Human Encounter During an Elk Hunt?

by >>>---WW----> » 01 14, 2013 • [Post 9]

I know many of you aren't going to believe this story but I'll swear on the Bible every bit of it is true. I used to manage a national forest campground. Kind of a jack of all trades and campground host. And believe me you see a lot of strange people. The story I'm about to tell is a meeting I had with one of the weirdest people I've ever seen in my entire life. No fooling, for a while I thought it was going to turn into a wild West shootout.

One morning during the rifle elk season I was on my way to check out the campground. Just before I got to the entrance of the campground there was a guy standing there next to one of those rhino side-by-side four wheeler things. He was walking circles round and round the rhino and flailing his arms in the air. I just thought the guy was getting ready to go hunting and had probably lost something and couldn't find it and he would not even be there when I got back. So I headed on up to the campground to make my rounds. I was at the campground for probably about an hour doing my every day chores.

After completion of my rounds I got in my truck and headed back down the mountain. As I got to the place where the guy was walking circles around his rhino, he was still there. Not only was he there, but he was still walking circles around the rhino and waving his arms in the air like a crazy person and talking to himself. So I figured the guy had some sort of the problem and I pulled over to assist him.

The guy had on an orange hat and orange vest but I didn't see a rifle anywhere. So I ask him if he had a problem and if I could help him. When he replied he started pacing one direction and then the other while waving his arms in the air and he said," Nope! Nope! I'm just here to help my brother on going up in the woods and walk around and try to chase an elk to him". This guy was beginning to act really, and I mean really really weird.

So, during our casual conversation I figured maybe I'd better check him out a little bit. So I ask him things like where are you from, what do you do, and just general conversation trying to pick up any information I could about him. I found out he was from Ogden Utah. And then he said one of the strangest things I've ever heard a guy tell anyone. Remember now all the time he's pacing back and forth waving his arms and acting like a real loony tune.

Finally, he said," You know what I do? You know those cruise missile things? I build them. If one don't work we just send them another one ha ha".

And I replied," And I'll bet your brother works for NORAD"!

He looked at me with a puzzled look and said, "How did you know that"?

By now things were getting just a little too strange. But the worst was yet to come. I thought he was going to start walking circles around is machine again but this time he stopped by the front seat reached in the glove compartment and pulled out and M-9 Beretta pistol. Then he walked around to the back of the rhino where I was standing and laid the pistol on the tailgate and put his hands on his hips. I immediately stuck my hand in my front coat pocket and grasped the 40 SW that was in there. And I kindly ask him to please step away from his gun. I was sure glad I had my gun with me but I also knew I didn't have a round in the tube. Boy! I'll never make that mistake again! I think he realized that I had my hand already on my gun even though I never actually cleared the pocket with it to where he could actually see it.

At this point, I'm not kidding you one little bit I wanted out of their real bad. I never said another word to him I just backpedaled my way to my truck, got in it, and got the heck out of there as quick as I could. So help me if I ever see that guy again it will be way too soon.
 
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Tehama County, CA
Wow!!! That's pretty sketch ^^^ least you didn't end up in a shoot out

I have two stories that have had some run in with ppl.

First is just this passed archery season I was just beginning my 3 mile round trip archery hunt ( I had only one day off :/) I was only about a thousand yards down the trailhead and I cam across a decent three point about another 700 or so yards and it was mid morning by then so I was set up watching him and waiting for the thermals to change and about 1 everything was in perfect condition so I began my stalk and I was 60 yards from the buck and he was dead asleep got within 40 and now the waiting game starts and all sudden the buck jumps up and seems really suspicious and is looking hard in the other direction like something is there I go through my draw process as soon I do I hear a voice yell saying " Hey jackass that's my grandsons deer your about ready to shoot!!!" And they were both about 200 yards from my location. I was very pissed but didn't say a word and just hiked out and away from them never did get a buck.

Second one was January 2012 in Arizona we here hunting public land and we were coming out of a road that for awhile ran along some private and we ended getting stopped by the landowner and he started roughing us up about being from Ca and we were on his land and were just a bunch of city slickers and don't know shit and all this stuff and while he's talking to us his grandson is standing behind the rhino they had with a 30-30. This was kind of sketch but too me it was more heartbreaking that most people's conceptions of California's are liberals that hate firearms and hunting when were just hunting fanatics and have are own ranch in north north Ca but he still insisted we were liberal idiots so that was more heartbreaking that he thought that of us then the actually run in
 

jmez

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Piedmont, SD
Elk hunting the Bridger Teton Wilderness area with some friends. Were camped off of the trail, horseback hunting. A guide rode off of the trail, with his hunters in tow, and stopped at our camp. Spent about 10 minutes chewing our ass for coming up into HIS area where he was trying to make a living and hunting. Guys think they can just go wherever they want, etc. None of us said much, why bother. We killed elk and had a great trip.

Next year same wilderness area when to a different spot. I shot an elk first day. We were seeing them across the river on the other mountain so we went over there and hunted, one of our party shot a really nice bull, 360ish. Took horses up and got him all packed up and found a different, closer trail on the map. Headed down the trail. Get to the bottom and ride directly into an outfitters camp. About 6 tents worth, set up right on the pack trail. We come riding in with a 6x7 rack on the horses. They didn't say anything directly but you could sense some tension, and they muttered alot of things just loud enough to hear. These guys set up on the trail, literally, only other trail into that side of the mountain was about a 6 mile ride around the back side and over the top. Of course, me being me, walked through their camp up the trail about six more times that week.
 

realunlucky

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I went to hunt a stand on my brother in laws and someone else was in it when i got there. It was tense but even though i was fighting mad the thought of what happened in ohio when a tresspasser shot all those people came to mind. Didnt help it was rifle season and i was bow hunting. I left and the called the warden who did come and ticket the guy who was crazy mad by then. It was nice to see that the neighbor when he heard about the drama talked to the lease holder and they reviewed the poperty lines togther. Another time i was hunting block management in montana and got approached by someone who claimed to be the owner of the land we were on. Anyway he was pissed and demanded to see my licence I said hell no and showed him the boundry printout we got from the sign in box which really set him off because he knew it was all wrong, He demanded again my license info to which i informed him he had better call the sherriff he wanted it. Then he reached down and touched his pistol which was holstered on his side. Im glad my brother in law was there or it could of gotten interesting quick, because that threat set me off since i had just got home from iraq and it burned me up he thought that was an option since we were bow hunting. Long story short he took our truck plate down we called the sherriff to report the threat who said nothing really happened since the gun never left the holster. About a month later i got a tresspassing ticket in the mail. Boy I was hot got a lawyer and had it thrown out but still cost me a couple hundred bucks. Last time I hunted montana but I would go back and yes I now have a gps with maps that show private and public and to this day know we were on state school trust lands but also know no animal is worth losing your life over or having to hurt someone else.
 

Shrek

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Hilliard Florida
Jmez , you sound like me , lol . I would have stopped to talk about my bull and how I did it diy and how you don't know why people hire guides. I'd just be as nice and smile and laugh the whole time. ;D
 

aggieland

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Feb 25, 2012
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N.E. Texas....
This is my worst experience in the hunting/outdoor world. About 10 years back I headed to the deer lease here in N.E. Texas to do a little bowhunting. Well I ended up taking a quartering shot on a small buck and the angle basically ended up a little far back. So the buck walks out to a distance of 45-50 yds from the stand and beds down. I waited probably an hour for him to pass but he just kept laying there with his head up, so I decided to take another shot at him. Well I hit just below his vitals and the buck jumped up and ran off. I left out and decided to give the buck time to die and so I could also get a few friends to help me trail him because their was some blood and tracks to follow.

After a few hrs I returned with a friend and his brother and tracked the deer off the lease and across a county dirt road. My friends had to leave at this time so they dropped me off at camp and they headed out. I then called a cousin of mine and another good friend of mine to help me search on this other piece of land. Now at this time I should describe the area, This is in North East Texas pretty deep back in the country. The dirt county road we are on literally has less than one car per day drive down it so it's a pretty remote area. So my cousin and friend show up and we head down to the last place we found sign. We looked around a little while and decided the the trail had played out & deer was pretty much gone so we headed back to the truck which was parked on the side of the road where we entered. We had ridden to this spot in my friends dodge single cab truck . I had my bow in hand but no other weapons. When we reached the truck we were about to load up and head out when a 4 wheeler came flying up the dirt road towards us. Then guy driving before even stopping the ATV bails off straight over the handlebars and over the front rack in a running motion draws a pistol and screams "Federal Game Warden, Get up against the ******* truck. My Cousin and I freak out and get up against the truck on the side with the guy while my friend was standing outside his truck on the driver side with the door open. The guy continues screaming curse words at us saying he will blow our ****** heads off etc etc if we move. We knew then this was no Game Warden and that we were in deep trouble. While the guy is screaming I could tell my friend was contemplating something in his head, he had a gun behind the seat and was considering drawing it "Thank God he didn't". After a few mins of standing there with my hands up against the side of the truck with a gun pointed at my head and trying desperately to tell the story of what we were doing there and that I was on the lease joining this piece of land, a red truck turns the corner on the dirt road roughly 200 yds away. Well, I thought It was an older man named Dale who was also on this deer lease with me, (same make and model truck). So I tell the guy look this guy coming here is on my deer lease and will vouch for me.. My heart sank when the guy reply's "Them boys ain't with you" As the truck got closer I see two guys in the front and Three in the back all sporting assault rifles. Then I thought out $#!% we are dead, Some of the men bail out and join in the interrogation and i keep explaining what happened. After 5-10 mins of this they talk it over and agree that my story was true, and then they tell me it's OK and want to go down in the woods with us and look for the deer again. I said that's alright we need to be getting home. We loaded up and hauled ass!!!! My dad talked it over with the law but not much could be done really, I did find out a few years later that the guy that held us at gun point was shot and almost killed my his on Father in an argument. I don't know if they had drugs growing in the area or what but it was a Scary moment for us for sure.
 

realunlucky

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Larrys story is to nasty to be funny and it had heart breaking ending. Sorry to hear sambo didnt make it
 

Whisky

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Dec 25, 2012
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Maybe I shouldn't have asked! Some of these stories are pretty brutal!

I'd say....

Pretty sure my survival rate in Texas would be about 1 hour.......Sometimes I really appreciate living in quiet, boring North Dakota.
 
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