in the dark
11-28-2004, 08:01 PM
#21
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Gore, VA
Posts: 54
RE: in the dark
I used to be the same way when I was a teen. I eventually overcame that fear as you will too...
There is nothing out there that can hurt you. Look at statistics of people who are hurt while deer hunting...most are from falling out of the deer stand or not being safety conscience when it comes to firearms. None that I can tell who were abducted by aliens, attacked by bigfoot, or ravaged by some animal. When I look at that and realize the number of hunters that go out in the woods everyday and never get hurt from anything other than not being safe, my problem went away.
It's all in your mind...there's nothing out there that will hurt you. You are probably safer walking in the woods at night than you are driving home in your car.
- T
There is nothing out there that can hurt you. Look at statistics of people who are hurt while deer hunting...most are from falling out of the deer stand or not being safety conscience when it comes to firearms. None that I can tell who were abducted by aliens, attacked by bigfoot, or ravaged by some animal. When I look at that and realize the number of hunters that go out in the woods everyday and never get hurt from anything other than not being safe, my problem went away.
It's all in your mind...there's nothing out there that will hurt you. You are probably safer walking in the woods at night than you are driving home in your car.
- T
11-28-2004, 10:05 PM
#24
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 19
RE: in the dark
cardeer, i'll try to remember that next time...lol i love that.
turkey- i heard that shining your light into the woods spooks the deer. Spooking deer is prolly the one thing that gets me the most. earlier this season i had a deer jump what seemed like only a few yards off to my left and the big thud it made freaked me out...i've prolly seen jeepers creepers and JC2 too many times.
motown- charles ray is a name i got from one of my First Responder team-mates...Charles is my first name, and he didnt know my middle, so he said ray
turkey- i heard that shining your light into the woods spooks the deer. Spooking deer is prolly the one thing that gets me the most. earlier this season i had a deer jump what seemed like only a few yards off to my left and the big thud it made freaked me out...i've prolly seen jeepers creepers and JC2 too many times.
motown- charles ray is a name i got from one of my First Responder team-mates...Charles is my first name, and he didnt know my middle, so he said ray
11-29-2004, 12:03 AM
#25
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Kountze, Texas
Posts: 5,400
RE: in the dark
Charles Ray,
Deer hunting, especially opening morning is such a special and anticipated thing for me, I really don't think too much about the dark. But, this happened to me 4 season's ago.
My goal that year was to be the first person in the woods. I had figured out where everyone else would be hunting, and I wanted them to move the deer in my direction. I had every little detail planned out for the next morning, and I was having problems getting to sleep. The alarm went off at 3:00 in the morning, and I was out of bed and on my way to to woods.
I planned to be in the tree at 4:30 A.M, and sure enough there I was at my reflective markers about to make my trek to my stand. When I got to my tree, I walked out in front of the stand to hang my scent bombs, and when I was through, I turned to head back to the tree. All of a sudden everything looked foreign to me. Even very familiar woods look different in the dark. I had obviously ventured off of my shooting lane because I was tripping over heavy brush, and I actually fell once to my knees. I had left my gun at the base of the tree where my stand was.
I was shining my light at the height in the trees where my stand should be, and as I turned I shown the light into what appeared to be the face of an old man sitting in a tree just a few feet away from me. After the immediate rush, and the skipping of the beat of my heart, I realized it was just a big owl who was sitting there watching me stumble all over myself in the dark.
To make a long story short, I sat down and finally got my bearings, and somehow I had circled around to the rear of my stand, and I was probably no further than 15 yards away from my stand the whole time, just on the opposite side of the tree.
That morning at about 7:00, I awoke to a big doe staring right at me about 10 or so yards to my right. I had only dozed off for what I thought was a minute or so, and I think that deer was attracted to my snoring. She and another deer I heard but did not see bounded away as I clumsily came to. I don't care how cool you think you are, if you wake up and have a deer staring straight at you, it is impossable to get off a shot.
So what is the moral of this story?
An owl can only kill you if you have a bad heart, and 4:30 is probably a little too early especially if you don't get good sleep the night before.
C. Davis
Deer hunting, especially opening morning is such a special and anticipated thing for me, I really don't think too much about the dark. But, this happened to me 4 season's ago.
My goal that year was to be the first person in the woods. I had figured out where everyone else would be hunting, and I wanted them to move the deer in my direction. I had every little detail planned out for the next morning, and I was having problems getting to sleep. The alarm went off at 3:00 in the morning, and I was out of bed and on my way to to woods.
I planned to be in the tree at 4:30 A.M, and sure enough there I was at my reflective markers about to make my trek to my stand. When I got to my tree, I walked out in front of the stand to hang my scent bombs, and when I was through, I turned to head back to the tree. All of a sudden everything looked foreign to me. Even very familiar woods look different in the dark. I had obviously ventured off of my shooting lane because I was tripping over heavy brush, and I actually fell once to my knees. I had left my gun at the base of the tree where my stand was.
I was shining my light at the height in the trees where my stand should be, and as I turned I shown the light into what appeared to be the face of an old man sitting in a tree just a few feet away from me. After the immediate rush, and the skipping of the beat of my heart, I realized it was just a big owl who was sitting there watching me stumble all over myself in the dark.
To make a long story short, I sat down and finally got my bearings, and somehow I had circled around to the rear of my stand, and I was probably no further than 15 yards away from my stand the whole time, just on the opposite side of the tree.
That morning at about 7:00, I awoke to a big doe staring right at me about 10 or so yards to my right. I had only dozed off for what I thought was a minute or so, and I think that deer was attracted to my snoring. She and another deer I heard but did not see bounded away as I clumsily came to. I don't care how cool you think you are, if you wake up and have a deer staring straight at you, it is impossable to get off a shot.
So what is the moral of this story?
An owl can only kill you if you have a bad heart, and 4:30 is probably a little too early especially if you don't get good sleep the night before.
C. Davis
11-29-2004, 01:11 AM
#26
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: newaygo mi USA
Posts: 595
RE: in the dark
charles ray from what i have seen the last 3 years with my 15 yr old daughter whom went thru the same thing as most of us have just some like me are to old to remember lol. anyway my daughter was the same but after i realized she was scared to be out there in the dark for any amount of time i decided that this was in fact hindering her ability to stay on stand and enjoy her time in the woods, my first attempt at making her more at ease was i set up my stand
close enought to her that she knew i was there i told her when she felt scared or threatened to shine her light at me. now mind you it wasnt anything that a deer would see i took 2 of those tiny mag lights that use a single double a battery and then made red lens for them and at first she was shining that thing at me every 5 minutes and i would then shine mine to let her know i was there well after a few weeks she tended to use it less and less and then one morning i believe it was the 4th or 5th week of bow season she told me on the way out 1 morning dad i think today you can hunt your stand across the road which is about 300 yrds from her stand, well after a few weeks of this years bow season i asked her how she was dealing with the being in the dark,, her reply was every time i get scared i just turn on my
red light and i see yours glowing right after ,, so i guess it just got to be a mind over matter thing with her,, so what im tryin to tell you is once you convince your self that all is ok you will get over your fear but remember it is a natural thing for us as human beings we werent born to see in the dark and most of our lives are lived in light and with others around you will
overcome your fears and look back at this time of your life as a phase you went through and passed with flying colors,, GOOD LUCK BUD IN ALL YOUR HUNTING ADVENTURES you have a long and wonderful adventure ahead of you
close enought to her that she knew i was there i told her when she felt scared or threatened to shine her light at me. now mind you it wasnt anything that a deer would see i took 2 of those tiny mag lights that use a single double a battery and then made red lens for them and at first she was shining that thing at me every 5 minutes and i would then shine mine to let her know i was there well after a few weeks she tended to use it less and less and then one morning i believe it was the 4th or 5th week of bow season she told me on the way out 1 morning dad i think today you can hunt your stand across the road which is about 300 yrds from her stand, well after a few weeks of this years bow season i asked her how she was dealing with the being in the dark,, her reply was every time i get scared i just turn on my
red light and i see yours glowing right after ,, so i guess it just got to be a mind over matter thing with her,, so what im tryin to tell you is once you convince your self that all is ok you will get over your fear but remember it is a natural thing for us as human beings we werent born to see in the dark and most of our lives are lived in light and with others around you will
overcome your fears and look back at this time of your life as a phase you went through and passed with flying colors,, GOOD LUCK BUD IN ALL YOUR HUNTING ADVENTURES you have a long and wonderful adventure ahead of you
11-29-2004, 07:41 AM
#27
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 6,357
RE: in the dark
I'm 48 years old and scary thoughts come to my mind as I walk through the dark to my deer hunting spots. Where I hunt, however, there are not real threats: I don't expect to be attacked by coyotes, bobcats, livestock, owls, hawks, or deer. Thus, I just quiet my mind by reflecting that I'm foolishly spooking myself and instead pay attention to the beauty around me -- the moon, the stars, the quiet, the various sounds such as owls solemnly calling. It works for me. If there WERE real threats where I hunt I would take precautions to respond adequately to those real threats and just be ready.
11-29-2004, 08:39 AM
#28
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location:
Posts: 135
RE: in the dark
Charles just remember a man and his shotgun is the Apex predator in the woods. You are the most dangerous thing in the woods. Take a good flash light though it definately sucks tripping over some rock or fallen tree in the dark and arrive early as to allow the deer to calm back down. One of my friends tapes a flash light to the end of his shotgun barrel and carries it about with the barrel pointing down at the ground. His feeling is if he ever does run into something like a bear just point the light on it and shoot. Kinda like a poor mans laser sight. Just make sure your not breaking any game laws in your state. A red filter on a flash light works well to. Just remember it natural and normal to be scared, if you weren't you be normal.
Good luck
Robert
Good luck
Robert
11-29-2004, 11:36 AM
#30
Spike
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Tulsa, OK
Posts: 74
RE: in the dark
For some wierd reason I have always been more bothered by the dark morning than the dark night. The morning woods seem more spooky, but when the sun goes down not one scary thought enters my head. I can trek through the woods in pitch dark with no problem. I know...It's totally backwards!
The more you do it, the easier it gets.
The more you do it, the easier it gets.