Yes All I can think about are that the aliens are going to get me! Thanks to the x files all the think about are that aliens are going to get me and that movie "signs" has NOT helped matters!

I'm more nervous at night than I am in the early morning. I think it's because I know that in the morning it'll be light soon. In the afternoon I know that it's just going to get darker, hehe.

Last year I was walking back to my truck after seeing some coyote run under my stand. My pace was a bit quicker and my nerves were on edge. All of a sudden there were fast footsteps coming right at me from behind. My heart jumped up into my throat. I spun around and yelled in an aggressive manner to scare it away but that yell turned into a scream of fright as I was face to face with a deer. Nearly filled my britches!! I don't know who was more frightened, the deer or me!

-Mike

I'm not afraid of the dark at all. But I am afraid of all the aliens, monsters, critters and lunatics that follow me to and from my stand in the dark. I bet a magic necklace from Cardeer would keep them at bay.

Hunting is a right, treat it like a priviledge - respect nature

Quail flushing right at your feet always gets my heart racing.I don't fear the dark but my nerves are really wired.

Hunting is not a sport,it's a lifestyle.

Am I afraid in the woods at dark? Well, I'm not terribly comfortable. Several years ago I was on public land in a very mountainous region. I had hunted all day in the rain with no luck. There was no moon and I was still in the mountains at pitch black nightfall. It was still raining.

No problem. I clicked on my flashlight and began the long hike back to my vehicle. After a few minutes, my flashlight up and died. I replaced the batteries - will not work. I replaced the bulb - nothing. Threw the thing away in frustration and took out my auxillary flashlight - a little thing, but good enough to do the job. Ten minutes longer and that light died. I'm out in the wilderness, very many miles away, in pitch black darkness, with no light. I'm talking some serious darkness!

I slowly start feeling my way back across the ground, no trails, with just a general idea of where a mountain creek ran. I'm headed in that direction, to follow that creek line back. After what seemed several hours, I just barely hear the creek over the noise of the rain - but I also smell cigarette smoke, just as if a smoker was only a few yards away. I mentally calculate I'm still about a half hour's walk from anything approaching something like civilization. And I'm getting really worried that I've walked up on some guy sitting out in the woods in pitch black darkness smoking a cigarette in the rain!

Just as the thought came to me I hear kind of a grunting grin - "hm! hm! hm!" no more than five yards away from me. At this point I'm so danged scared I get a sudden tangy flavor in my mouth and it actually feels as if I am about to lose control of my bladder. I've NEVER been that scared in my life. But I just kept walking as if I heard nothing. About half an hour later, I arrived safely.

Now, I carry a piece on my side whenever I enter the woods, even if its on my own property. Ain't scared of pigs, bears, yotes, wolves, dogs, spiders and snakes or none of that. But people scare me to death.

I wouldn't say that I was afraid of the dark, I just think that all of my other senses are more tuned in to whats going on. It's kinda like when you just watched a scary movie and you're trying to go to bed. Every little creak, crack, and bump in the night sounds like it's right next to you and you swear you've never heard a sound like that before in your entire life.

Also, I remember the first time I walked to my stand alone in the morning. All I could think about was the Blair Witch Project. I know it sounds silly, but I walked pretty quickly going into my stand that morning.

Thanks,
Mike

I always carry my Smith,we see several bears and an occasional coyote while bowhunting,I saw 5 different bears in the mountains where we hunt in west virginia last season..

2nd Morning of my first season hunting.

In the treestand before dawn. Glassing the edge of the woods across a meadow. See something moving. Continue to watch. It turns and starts comming right at me. Facing me it looks like a skull or head with very big and dark eyes.

I lower the binocs and I can kind of see that it is still getting closer and coming in very fast across the field. At this time I still have not heard anything. I lose sight of it....

I hear something at my level in the tree...I freeze. It shreeks, I scream and when I finally stop myself from leaping out of the tree, I see one of the biggest owls I'd ever seen no more than 15 ft from me.

I thought for sure that I have a heart attack. My yell/scream must have jumped every deer for miles. I then laughed so hard I had tears running dowm my face.

I did not get a deer last year, but things like that experience have me hooked.

God I love this sport.



&quot;It's not the kill, it's the adventure and challenge! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>&quot;

When I lived in Missouri, I used to hunt right next to an old cemetary. Always kinda creeped me out in the morning when I would walk through it. Didn't seem to bother the deer though!

I don't think that I'm afraid of the dark, just the things that go bump in the dark. I just hope that the bear is more afraid of me than I am of him..

I hunt therefore I am...