I like the dark because it provides so much cover. It's nearly impossible to hunt in the dark, but I remember quite a few Halloweens past in which I played it to my advantage. [>:]

Seriously though, hammerman has an excellent point about vulnerability on public land. That's really the only thing I'd worry about after dusk.

I do have one darkness story to tell. I spent a lot of time in the woods as a kid, playing army and then later using maps to explore the farmland around my parents' house. One time when I was around 11 or 12, I was back just inside the treeline (this was somewhere around two-thirds of a mile from my house, down a grassy incline and around a pond) with a friend after dark. Our flashlights were dead, so we tried making a crude torch with a large tree branch (didn't work).

We were sitting on a log, about to head back to the house, and we heard this rough, steady breathing behind us. I swear it sounded human, and we didn't hear anything approach us. There were dry leaves and branches all around. I turned slowly to my friend and asked, "Did you hear that?"

He said, "Yes."

So I replied, "Let's get the hell out of here," and we ran the whole way back to the house. Scared the bejeezus out of both of us. For a long while afterwards I couldn't help but think about that moment whenever I go into the woods after dark.

Hey Aught Six,

Those are the worst kind.....you just keep running faster, faster, and faster....but you just know IT is gaining on you[]!

P.S. You have to be careful about Park rules etc.....but if you live in a CCW approved state...you do not need to worry about "human" problems. As long as you stay aware and prepared! (Of course if you live in Illinois your only hope....is to move! Or hope Richard "The Turd" ...moves along quickly!) Of course with Chicago..and its politics...I don't even think his passing will help! Oh h**l......just move!

From the time I was big enough to wander around by myself I was in the woods, fishing or playing, the when older early teens I was hunting by myself and with friends. We never were afraid of getting lost or of being out after dark. Then one day it happened to me, I was 16 or so and I got lost, bad lost. At least in my mind I was bad lost, looking back I know I now that I wasnt lost bad at all, just pointed in a different direction. Ever since that day though I have a little trouble when I am in the woods alone and when I am in the woods at night alone. I know it is all in my head and I do everythig I can to fight it and get over it, but the mind is strong and it is difficult to beat. I want to beat it and someday I will because I want that feeling of freedom and excitement that I had as a kid back again. Dark in general does not scare me, not afraid to walk alone at night on country roads or city streets, shoot not even afraid to be in the woods at night, all night as long as someone is with me. It may seem funny to some, but that one time getting lost scared me of being alone.

i agree....spend more time out there...when i was 7 or 8 i started coon hunting with dad......at night....and we barely used the lights.....dad said it might scare the coons or mess up the dog so we barely used them....and there were times we were near houses he didnt want them to see us.....now i can care less if its dark out....i walk in 2 miles to my spot every morning to deer and turkey hunt in the dark....and sit on my stand for about an hour before it gets light......i know whats out there...bears..bobcats..foxes..yotes..coons...porc ipines..oppsums ect ect....all have teeth and claws....but wont just plain out attack you 99% of the time atleast.....i dont see a reason to be scared...just dont think about it and just think about hunting....heck....you have a rifle or bow or something if you would have an encounter where youd need it......

If I am near my cabin-yes. We know of 3 cougars that live there and a year ago the property owner next to us got attacked. I think I have some reasons seeing that they were never allowed to go after the cougar.
animal rights activists and liberals all need to meet my 12 gauge...

i remember my first turkey hunt alone, my sister was 40 yards away but i was alone and i couldnt even see my hand infront of me, i was praying for daylight to come so hard, it took 2 hours.....i'm a lil nervous walking through the marsh in the dark only because of the gators and hogs, if i have my bow i'm more scared, lol...if i have a gun , i'm fearless and i dont ever , ever , EVER look behind me...

heck yeah i'm afraid of the dark...my imagination is too wild for me not to be...this past deer season, on opening day, i got to my spot to park the fourwheeler and i sat on it the 30 minutes til i could see. I had a flashlight, but i couldn't see well enough to know it was my imagination making that fallen branch move like...something. I donno, i can't stand it. i had to have dad walk me to my stand one morning, and one evening i stayed in the woods too late and i didn't wanna make the walk out so i stayed out til bout 7:00 then my parents came and got me...they was more scared than i was, but they had the right to be.

Only thing I ever think about is Bears...I have had 3 encounters with them.
1st one was 5 of us hiking in to were we had palned to hunt and the 5 of us stummbled on a sow on the ground and a cub up a tree..could have gotten ugly but didn't
2nd time I was still hunting for deer hunting in Maine and had a bear pass on my left in very thick cover..wind was right and that bear walked right by me..first thing I heard was it's breathing..Talk about your butt getting tight!
Last time & I hope it is the last >> I lived in VA and went out in the dark to put the garbage out..(cause my better half told me)..I reached for the lid and realized it was not on the plastic can? Thats weird I thought...then I realized as my eyes adjusted there was a black bear sitting on it's butt looking at me...it was sitting on the other side of the plastic can! We both scared the crap out each other..I could'nt get to the door fast enough..A couple of weeks later they trapped that bear and relocated it ...it was in the neighborhood everyday.

Getting out of the tent and hiking up the trail in the dark in grizzly country will cure ya, or maybe kill ya. You don't know if the noise in the bush is a rodent or something a little bigger.

I use to be scared but I overcame my fear by forcing myself to sit out later till it was pitch black and carrying a flashlight. The more you do it your fear will disapear. i now love to sit till dark. I'll just sit their and listen to all the night creatures. listening to the owls and the howloing of the wolves. and the yipping of the coyotes.The only time that I ever jumped out of my pants was when I heard a bunch of coons fighting it sounded like a shrieking of ghosts. I had the goose bumps that latsed forever

(KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE)