Tell about something neat you saw?
 

I have been hunting long enough to have seen several neat things in the woods but one in paticular stands out.
I was hunting the edge of a corn field and noticed a squirrell picking acorns from the woods floor and taking them into the corn field right in front of me and burrying them. He/she did this 6 or 8 times and then while burrying one of them it just stopped, frozen stiff. I thought maybe it saw me the way it was acting and then out of knowhere a hawk flew in and picked it up off the ground and landed in a tree about 30 yards from me. The hawk ate some of it and then just dropped it. Nature is awesome. I wish PETA would have seen it so they could spend some time getting hawks to leave the squirrels alone.

I also saw a squirrell fall out of a tree and land on a rock in a spring and knock itself out for about 30 seconds. I seemed to be OK after it came to it's sences... That was pretty funny too.

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I sawa half grown bob cat chase a squirrel up a small tree once......Bout 10 feet off the ground, the cat fell out of the tree.......Yes, it landed on it's feet.....

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I got to see a squirrel attack a deer for the corn!!

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It's the little things like that I'm sure I'll be thinking about when I'm on my death bead. There is just no way a human can have too many cool memories like these in one lifetime.

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I saw a full grown groundhog 20 ft up in the crotch of a tree. It was directly across from my stand at eye level about 30 yds away. I know groundhogs don't climb trees, so the only other explanation would be that a hawk or another bird of prey grabbed him and took him up there. It still was wierd because he was a big boy, full grown, and completely alive and aware of his surroundings(not wounded or hurt from what I could see). He just sat there for the duration of my evening sit, stuck in a very small crotch in a very thin tree(the trunk was about 4-5" in diameter). When darkness fell I just left the woods. I returned the next morning to see if he was still there, but somehow he was gone...........maybe he just fell to the ground, or a hawk or an owl grabbed him.......Whatever got him had their hands full,.......he was a good 10-12 lbs.

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2 Years ago I was Bow hunting in a older homemade deer stand early in the morning when I heard something running through the woods about 100 yards down the hill and to my right side,I saw a Bobcat chasing a Doe through the thick woods.The Doe ran up towards me and the Bobcat stopped down the hill side in the thick cover,there was a small Lake just 40 yards in front of my stand and the Doe run up the back side of the dam,stood there for a few secondsand walked down into the water and swam across the Lake,she walked out of the water and on the bank and ran off through the woods on the other side while blowing as she ran.While I was shook up watching all this take place I tried a Fawn call to try and get the Doe to walk towards me on the dam but she was trying to get as far away from the Bobcat as possible and the Bobcat dissapeared in the thick cover.I was hoping the Bobcat would respond to the Fawn call even though the Doe had ran but he never did so I didn't get a shot at him either....but it was awesome to see a sight like that in the woods.

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I had 2 big owl's flying after each other threw the wood's.And on about there 3rd pass one hit my bow hanging on my bow hook.Lucky for me it stayed hooked.

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I thought groundhog's could climb, I've seen them on fence posts before. Not to take anything away from your story, that is really cool. I have seen a coyote try to stalk a full grown deer before, I have a video of it but you can barely make out the coyote in the grass. He finally got close enough to the deer and realized he didn't want any part in that fight.

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I watched/recorded these three young bucks spar one evening several Septembers ago. Some of the members who have been here awhile may remember these photos.

It was one of the cooler things I've seen.

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Wash:

I watched 6 young bucks involved in 4 separate sparring bouts one afternoon. I made a post right after that......calling it my greatest day afield. That was a good one....

But.....I saw a bunch of guys meander through here one day......and saw one of my favorite members ask them if they wore square hunting hats.

THAT was the best.;)

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:Dlol

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Credit where credit is due, Moho....;)

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Last year early in the season I had a doe and two button fawns come right below my stand. I decided not to shoot the doe because I thought she was too good a mother to shoot, so I just watched. In a little while one of the fawns (they had lost their spots) went around to one side and the other went to the other and they nursed right there. They went at it about 5 seconds and then she started walking and kicked them off.

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I've seen them on fence rails before(2feet up), but never on top of a fence post......furthermore this was 20 ft. in a skinny-whip of a tree.

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I got to watch a buck mount a doe and do their business. I have also seen an owl chasing another owl and knock it to the ground...

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i had a couple of does milling around in front of me and all of a sudden they froze and took off...i knew i didnt scare them and about ten fifteen seconds later four cyotes ran infront of me chasing them

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Last years muzzleloading season i saw a piebald 4 pt. I decided not to shoot it and watch it and havent seen him again. Maybe just maybe he will show up this year and be a little bit bigger.

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My first season hunting (2 yrs. ago), I saw two gobblers fight. That's two more than I saw this turkey season.

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My GOOD friends dared me to see if it shocked you to pee on a cattle fence, and ofcoarse i did it, It knocked me to the ground, and i got up and pushed my one friend who thought it was hilarous into the fence i felt a little better but it still hurt like all getout.
Ryan.

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I was ridin around looking at deer on the parkway last week and saw a momma doe and 2 fawns with her, so i stopped and was watching them but they never looked at me they were looking straight ahead and coming right towards them was a coyote, needless to say i turned around and went back and they were all gone.

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Last year I videotaped a young 6 pointer walk right under me. As soon as I stopped filming, a fawn jumped out of some brush, ran up to him and started jabbing under him trying to get some milk. The buck jumped up about 5 feet, landed and just looked at her like, "what the hell are you doing"!
It was classic.

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I watched an owl attack the same duck decoy 2 times in a river.

My buddy and I watched a huge buck mule deer watch a hunter. The deer knew the hunter was there and moved around while keeping an eye on him. The hunter never knew the deer was there. Finally the hunter started walking towards the deer and the deer just went over the top of the mountain and disappeared. Later we met up with the hunter and he asked us if we saw anything and we almost died laughing!

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My dad had a pet flying squirrel when he was a kid and has told me stories about it growing up. I've never seen one in the wild until last year when one landed on the bill of my hat while on the stand just at daybreak. It was cool yet startling all at the same time.

In Kansas I've seen several bobcats, which I never see in KY. They are always a treat.

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Sorry about the long post...I'm ready for bow season! When talking about 'neat' things I've seen, last season was probably the best..but overall it was a bust (for me).

1) I was up about 25 ft. and there were 2 squirrels about 15-20 ft. above me in a tree about 15 yds in front of me. I started a grunt sequence and they start chattering. All of a sudden, one of the squirrels starts chattering like crazy and the next thing I see issomething falling. I see it hit the ground (and at the same time I realize it was a squirrel), but it laid there about 30 sec. and climbed right back up the tree! Couldn't quit laughing the rest of the hunt...I've never seen that before.

2) With all the hype of the deer growl last year, I actually witnessed/heard one within plain sight. Honestly I had never heard of a deer growl before but have probably heard one in the past without knowing what it was. It was the best hunt I had last year (didn't harvest a deer) but had 9 different bucks within 60 yds (not good for bow). Anyways, I was watching a beautiful 9 pt. work his way back and forth...started coming towards me then stopped when a younger buck appreared. He (the 9pt. was about 50 yds out) and he turned to the other buck, hair bristled, and he started into the growl. Pretty friggin' amazing....one hunt that I'll always remember...damn near got sprayed by a skunk too when I was leaving!

3) Had a weird colored looking spike come in close to dark, chasing does like crazy. Thought he looked sick so I used a can type call to try and get him back in (planned on shooting him if he was indeed sick). A few minutes later he came right in...but about 30 yds out. Put the binos on him (it was getting dark fast) and lo and behold he was piebald! About 10 min. passed and he was right under me. I had plenty of shot ops. at him but the light wasn't great. I had partially pulled back a few times but just couldn't do it. I let him walk...don't know exacly why (I guess I do...the low light conditions and the 'specialness' of seeing him). I somewhat regret it but in the back of my I really don't...I'd like to see him a few more times.

pigiron, yes groundhogs can climb trees. A few years ago, my dad was runnin hisblack GSP and he tree'd a young groundhog. It climbed about 10' up toa fork in a small tree. I was dumbfounded b/c I never they could climb...had to take a pic.

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when it comes to animals I have had my share of rare moments, I worked in a breeding facility for zoo animals, so I have lots of stories there.
In the wild I have had great encounters on my trips to Costa Rica and the bests pictures taken tare are the ones with your mind.
On the last day in Corcovado Park my girlfriend had found the rum particulary sweet at the bar, later that night she needed to go to the bathroom which was located some 100 yards away from the beach.
I had to go along, she didn't want to stumble alone in dark.
She did her thing and on the way back she suddenly grabbed my arm and froze. About 10 feet away we saw the canopy of a great palmtree starting to swing back and forth, when we got closer we saw a puma standing up against the tree shaking it with it's paws. We just stood and watch as agreat iguana fell out of the tree into the mouth of the puma. The puma grabbed it, bit its neck and started chewing away. I tried to convince my girlfriend to stay put so I could get my camera but she wouldn't have it, she just jumped in my neck and I had to carry her back to the tent, where she grabbed my knife and kept watch the whole night.

F.

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On my first trip to Costa Rica I was on a hike with an american Guide in the reserve of Santa Helena in Monte Verde, we were a small group and there was this american couple who kept dragging behind, so they missed several useful tips when spotting capucin monkeys. Philip the guide told us never to point and laugh at capucins, because showing your teeth is a sign of anger. After a while we found ourselves surrounded by a group of capucin monkeys chasing some kinkajou. They got really aggitated and were making lots of noises, the american couple just looked up in amazement, started pointing and laughing, next thing you know the big alpha monkey jumps down on a lower branch, breaks off a good chunck of bromelia and throws it at them, which makes the couple laugh even more.
This makes the monkey even angrier and he just breaks off a branch the size of my leg and chuncks it at the couple, resulting in a bloody nose and a big bump on the husband's head.
This all happened in a matter of seconds, before the guide could do or say anything to the couple..... they kept close to the guide and were quiet the rest of the trip.

If some of you went to my flickr account, there are some pics of Costa Rica as well.

F.

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Shucks,I thought I was having a National Geographic moment.

I'd a never thunk it......he looked so out of place.:D

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Well this doesn't involve critters but still pretty cool.

One year I was in stand and witnessed something awesome. It was a warm humid morning with overcast skies and no wind. After 2 hours on stand I started hearing what I thought were raindrops hitting the forest floor. Upon more careful inspection the droplets weren't falling from the sky but rather the trees. This puzzled me because it wasn't raining the previous 2 hours so where could this moisture be coming from?

Upon even more careful observation, I realized that there was so much moisture in the air that droplets were transfering from the air onto branches and droplets were accumulating til they were falling off the branches. It was sooo cool because you could watch as droplets clung onto the underside of branches andget bigger and bigger right before your very eyes then fall to the forest floor. It was as if the forest was singing to me. Unforgettable.

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Yea i dont want to take away from your story either, but i got some cool ones i guess. The groundhogs in my area climb trees all the time if you cut them off from thier holes, or if you hunt with a dog. I love it when they hustle up the tree like a khawala (sp?), makes them a whole lot easier to shoot. Other stories, ive seen deer fight, squirells fight, turkeys fight. Ive had peackocks come in to my turkey calling. This morning i had a flying squirrell almost take my head off. Ive been stalked by yotes, i seen yotes chase deer. If i think of any more ill be back!

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Bobcat with several kittens that apparently had a home near where I was sitting for an all day sit. Saw them come out and play several times that day. The kittens were already the size of normal house cats.....

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In mid bow season I was sitting in my stand and a bird came a landed on my bow while I was holding it. It just sat and stared but I guess it didnt know I was there. Then it flew to a branch and I noticed it had something in its mouth. It dropped it, and as the piece was falling the bird flew down and caught it in mid-air.

Once while I was squirrel hunting I was sitting on a hill under a hedge apple tree and a walnut tree. I heard this noise like something was rolling down the hill so I didnt really pay attention to it. About 2 seconds later a deer jumped over my head and ran down the hill. It was really cool.

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I watched 5 rabbits run back and forth from the corn field to the woods for about 10 min. They would then run the other way from my tree.

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I have had to 2 screech owls land 5 ft. away from me in the same tree. I have had a red tail hawk land right above my head ( big bird). I also had a fox which I bleated at run up to the base of my tree, put its paws up on the trunk and looked up at me trying to figure out what was going on. Then he took off when he figured it out :D

Shane

RE: Tell about something neat you saw?
 

I sat watching rabbits roughly 20yds away through my bino's , when a fox jumped frow cover 10yds away and grabbed a young bunny . Realtree hardwoods green really did work that day , its great just to watch the wildlife sometimes .

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Last yearI saw alot of neat things.In PaI saw 6 bucks in one day (a first), ironicly, not one doe. I killed one of those bucks and have a trail cam pic of him as well.In Alberta last season I saw my biggest buck ever at 19yrds, a thick 10ptbut no clear shot. Rattled in my first bucks, no shot opps![:@]And I watcheda decent8ptcoming my way, stop and paw out a bed in the snow. He layed there for only 10mins or so, then walked into the path of my Muzzy at 20yrds, ran 60yrds and saw himdrop. It was awesome!;)

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This just happened a week ago last saturday to some friends of mine......I went out with themto do some target practicing with our rifles.After we finished lining up our guns we did some ATV riding and I left to go back home.They went out fishing in a small boat on the large Lakethere and suddenly they heard something crashing through the woods towards them and the Lake,suddenly a big Buck runs into the Lake and starts swimming across it and about 6 feet pass them while they were in the boat,it's mouth was open and panting heavy from running,it was a nice big 8-Point Buck in full velvet.When it reached the bank it tripped a few times then ran through the edge of the woods along the Lake and dissapeared in the taller timber.Their Wife's were fishing on the bank the same time when the Buck came running through and said it looked like a Coyote or Bobcat was chasing the Deer and stopped in the tall brush and retreated back into the woods after the Buck ran into the water.



Oh yeah,Ground Hogs can climb tree's.....we used to go hunting in the woods behindour house when we were kids and hunt ground hogs in the sink holes and 1 day there was a small tree that leaned outward from one of the sink holes and a ground hog climbed up it about 6 feet and was resting in between the forks,I shot at it but missed and he ran down inside his burrow on the side of the sink hole. [:@]

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We shot a rabbit out of a tree last fall. The tree was hollow so he climbed up through the inside of the trunk.

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For a couple months toward the end of 2003, when back in Kuwait, my unit was tasked with pulling security for an ammo dump. During the overnight shift, you could always count on these little ghostly white desert foxes, maybe a little bigger than a Chiuawwa (SP?) coming out looking for scraps. They would come is some quite and ghostly and pick up scrap. It was fun trying to feed them from a guard tower without them getting spooked.
Other interesting critter stuff was watching soldiers in Germany, 1990-1991, during gunnery in Graffenwere and manuevere training in Hoffenfeles run from momma borehogs when babies were around and the solider just could not wait to crap and had to get on ground. ;) Trust me, these mommas were mean adn quick, and about 2 bills or so! ;):D

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are you sure that wasn't a groundhog?[8D]

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Where to start :D

By far the coolest thing I have ever seen in the woods was when I was archery hunting several years ago. I was set up on the edge of a wood line with a golden rod field to my right and a pond in front of me. I was watching ducks in the pond when I saw two fox come out and work the edge of the pond looking for food. This went on for awhile when all heck broke out and the fox both took off, thats when a large coyote ran out of the woods chassing them. They ran into some brush and after a few minutes and sound skin crawling screams the coyote came out of the brush with his prize fox in his mouth. I slowly stood up and tried drawing my bow back on him at about 20 yards but he instantly picked me off and high tailed it out of there with his diner.

I have seen squirrels fall out of trees and that always provides for some good laughs.

Another priceless moment was when I just started archery hunting, I was probablly 14 years old and my best friend and I were set-up about 80 yards apart from each other in a major funnel. As it just got light enough that I could make him out in his tree a screech owl let out near him, well apparently it had landed just feet from him and he had fallen asleep. He almost fell out of the tree when that owl screamed just a few feet from him.

I've seen lots of bucks fighting and I've seen a buck breed a doe. One of the coolest things was watching the 12 point I shot come in to me after my grunt snort wheeze. Too say he was ticked off would be an understatement. The whole time he is comming in to me he was violently smashing his antlers into every piece of brush while grunting and snort wheezing. His ears were laid back and his hair was standing straight up.

And then there was this time that I saw a 20 point buck with double 12" drops get chased around by a black panther :D