Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Like the title says... lets hear some spooky things that happened to you while hiking hunting fishing etc...

Ill start..

This was about 8 years ago when I was 15ish. My dad was teaching a hunter education course at on of the local IWLA chapters (brentsvill maybe) and I tagged along. They had this really cool 3d archery target range trail with all kinds of shooting scenarios and different critters. While talking to one of the volounteers there he said they had 'removed' a handful of copperheads the day before. WOO! this got my fire lit. I love snakes and to add a hot snake to my seen/capture list would be great!(it wasnt until last year that I actually got to catch my first copperhead but ill post that later) So I tell dad Im gonna walk the trail and see if I can kick anything up, I grab my snake tongs and hit the dirt.

After about 20 min of flipping logs and junk I am empty handed. I round the corner and spot the rock face they had found the copperheads. I make a bee line for the semi cave and get to work.... nothin... defeated I turn around to get back on the trail and my heart stops... Across the trail from me on a small hill was a small firewood stack about 3' high and 4' long. Peeking from the right side of this stack is the last thing I thought I would ever see and would ever want to see... a cougar... ears folded back and staring a hole through me. you know the look they have on their face just before they demolish some critter? Thats the look he was givin me. In about .00345 seconds every bad thought raced through my head... im dead, i cant out run this thing, no knife, no gun, no one near for about 200yrds... my goose is surely cooked... after we stare at eachother for about 2.5 seconds reality starts to sink in and my heart starts to catch up... I was on a archery trail... 3d targets... simulated scenarios...

I almost crapped my pants because if a well placed archery target. sooo yeah... what you guys got?

Awesome story Jacob

I got that very same feeling in Shenandoah Nat Park about 2 months ago when a mama black bear stood up on her hind legs and checked us out from behind a bush. We were backpacking and backed right out of there. It was a neat thing to see looking back on it, but scared that bejeebers out of me at the time.

This one's not scary but it was pretty eerie. I was sitting in a stand about 10 feet into the treeline one evening about an hour before dark. I was about 18 feet above the ground and watching a couple of deer pick their way through brush when I caught a black flash swoop across the ground. I looked up and right in front of me not 5 feet away the biggest hawk I've ever seen was sitting on a big vine staring at me. We were at eye level and he just sat there for several minutes watching me. He finally got tired and flew off. Very weird especially since the field was once a graveyard. It was an awesome experience to study him up close and personal. Wish I'd had my camera with me.

I was about 13 and....I went on a haunted hayride in ashland..they dropped me and a couple of friends off at a bonfire and we had to walk through 3 haunted maze type thing..and the only way back is to finish goin through all 3..and between the 1st and 2nd(about a 100ft gap or so)there was a broken down, beat up car.. It was just sitting there.. we walked about 10ft passed it then it started out of the blue.. We looked and said whatever and kept walkin..next thing you know it revved up(not a reg nuetral rev)and we hauled a$$..then we heard the tires and the leave..with the sound fx it was like it was right behind us with everystep..none of us looked backed..we was so scared and ran so fast we ended up at the end of the 2nd maze w/out knowing it..lmao.we got fustrated cuz we wanted to leave but had one more maze..haha..so we tried to play tough and walk through it like it was nothing..finally we got through it and wasfinally happy to see the end..talking smack about how weak the maze was besides the car..then all of a sudden we hear the freakin chainsaw...ahhhhh!!!!!...man we evacuated and boogied to the hayride for the way back..that was the scariest thing that night and the scariest experience in the woods for me....I don't go in the woods at nigt anymore..ahahahaha..freakin horror movies

5 years ago,I took a buddies Son,and his 2 Cousins Trout fishing on a small stocked creek,called Peters Mill Run.
It's a "steep gradient" mountain stream,and It parallels the road up to the Woodstock Firetower.
The creek was fished out,so the boys got bored and decided to swim in one of the bigger holes.
The water stays cold,so I went to start a fire for them,and cook some chicken for lunch.

I always carry fishing and survival gear in a backpack.I had set the backpack down and gathered some wood,and made an area.
Now there's a "wash" of nothing but Limestone rocks and boulders very close.

So I'm preparing my fire,and want to get my big survival knife from my backpack,which is 3 feet away.

I reach for the backpack,and something catches my eye...I freeze in fear...I see 2 little beady eyes...there is just 3 feet away from me a Timber Rattler!!!

http://www.alandamy.com/EM_Timber_Rattler-1.jpg

This thing was as green as the surrounding vegetation,totally blended in, and camo-ed perfectly.
I can't believe I haven't been hit yet.
Craziest thing is,he's not coiled up aggressively,nor even has he "rattled" once?

I slowly grab my pack,and he goes up and coils.
Effin' great,but I need my knife.
I drag the pack and me to a safe distance,and get my knife.It's got a 12 inch blade but there's no way I'm gettin' close to that creature again!

About this time here come the boys.
Snake = 0,Me = +1.
De-composing Rattlesnake smells BAD.

And just 3 weeks ago I went smallmouth fishing on a lake near Passage Creek.
Was cutting some trees and undergrowth out of the way so I could cast.
Just got ready to fell a Sumac,and looked down at a brushpile at my feet...FREEKIN' COPPERHEAD!!!
Just watching me...
Not leaving my Beretta at home or in the truck again.! That is a lucky snake.

I don't know about anyone else, but when I fish or hunt, no matter what the weather, I wear boots that run a good ways up past my ankle and heavy pants. Been surprised a few times by snakes and most times a good stomp to the head with a boot heel or stepping on the head with the heel and then taking your knife to him works well. Only thing better would be having a gun. Then again these things might not matter if you got a gun......or you're 'fraid of snakes. >.>


Sorry bout highjacking the thread, proceed