The closest encounter!

E

elkwhisperer

Guest
I was hoping to hear about some of your close encounters with wildlife, Elk,Deer,Bear etc.. Mine was with a small bull elk, I was chasing down some bugles making my way up a mountain, cow calling occasionally and I was almost to the top when a small bull peaked over at me about ten yards away! I have some pix but I am unable to post pix on this site, sorry! So lets hear about some close calls!!
 
My 2nd year hunting elk in Co. No snow so we were up high at about 10,000 ft. I was sneaking through dark timber along the side of a ridge. From the top of the ridge I heard several shots and a short time later I heard crashing trees coming down the side of the ridge toward me. I just knew this was my elk coming down the hill. I knelt down in the grass of a little meadow and waited, listening to the animal come down the hill toward me. Finally out he pops into the meadow but it wasn't an elk. It was the biggest black bear I have ever seen.

He was only about 20 yards from me when he came out and quickly realized the orange bush in the middle of the meadow might not be something he wanted to get to close to, but he wasn't sure what I was. So he did the classic bear move of standing up on his hind legs and tried to get a wiff of me. We looked at each other like that for a few seconds and he bailed.

Calif_Mike
 
Bout 5 years ago I was deer hunting at the top of red creek in a drainage called sand creek. Over the radio there was a guy talking about a 6 point bull elk, one of his buddies told him to shoot it and sure enough we heard the gun shot, about an hour later I was still hunting threw some thick timber, out of nowhere I jumped a 6 point bull 10 yards. Yeah that scared the hell out of me. Best part is I didn't even see the lion 20 yards behind him, noticed it staring at me as I was collecting my heartbeat back. After about the stare off for what seemed like an hour, more like 10 seconds, it took after the elk just keeping pace behind it all the way up the other side and into the cwmu property. Only lion I've ever seen in the wild to this day.
 
I got in between a momma moose and her calf while fishing a small stream (actually they surrounded me)......when I turned to run she was about 10 yards away and closing but she got to about 5 feet before she stopped her charge.....that one was fun

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http://andymansavage.blogspot.com/
 
I have had wild hogs within 10-15 feet with them unknowing I was there.(they did not last long) I had two yearling Mt lions boil out of some brush 10-15 feet at me and a dog,(they did not last long either) and I have had quite a few whitetail within 10-15 feet. When you are "statue" still and they have no clue you are there is a neat feeling. I had a little 8 pt whitey a few weeks ago come cruising by my half-assed juniper branch ground blind and he did not know I was there until I smiled and almost laughed because he was acting so screwy raking branches, bucking and feeling good. Close encounters are another reason I hunt. Cool feeling!! There has been some amazing footage of close encounters of elk and moose I have seen over the past weeks and years that was awesome!
 
I called in a 6 by 9 bull pretty close once. He had to twist his antlers to get around me. My arrow which was 29 inches long did not completly clear the rest before it hit him.
Shot a few bears inside of 10 feet as well. One bear was in a tent with me in the middle of the night. The other thought I was a cow elk, (I was trying to call in a bull).
 
Just as it was getting light enough to see I was walking up an open hillside. I started to hear a loud huffing sound coming right at me. I put my rifle at the ready and started backing away. A small black bear with his head down appeared from nowhere. He only stopped when I yelled Whoa Whoa!!. He stopped at 5 feet, stood on his hind feet and looked right at me. Our eyes were at the same level. He cocked his head, did a couple sniffs then dropped and ran bak the way he was coming from.

Funny, I wasn't nervous. Seemed like he was in a hurry to get somewhere and I just happened to be in his way. If he put out his paw when standing we could have shook hands.
 
Up currant creek there is a hole we have dubly named bearhole, we've seen a sow black bear in there several years in a row. Were cautious when going threw it because once she charged us as we were doing a drive threw the trees, this was the only time she ever did but that year she had 2 cubs. I can go on and on about moose stories, they're stubborn as hell.
 
Out calling coyotes once and had a coyote get within just a few feet of me before he smelled me. I've also had a herd of elk within 10 yards. That is a little nerve racking knowing they could stampede at any moment and trample me.
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-22-09 AT 05:40PM (MST)[p]...was out turkey hunting with BIGBULL48; I was just behind and down hill a few feet from him when we stumbled into a herd of about eight bedded cow elk and a spike bull. The lead cow walked a few steps towards the now motionless 6'1" BIGBULL48 (still on the uphillside of him) and had a nose to nose (talking inches) stare down with him for about a minute before she finally turned an led the others slowly away. No stampeding at all. It should be noted that BIGBULL48 was completely decked out in turkey hunting clothes. He looked like a tall bush with a shotgun slung over its branch.

Last October, I was attached about 15' up an aspen via a tree-saddle, watching my favorite waterhole for bears. Through the pines I saw a large animal coming up the trail towards the water. At 30 yards, it stepped into a clearing: MOUNTAIN LION! At 15 yards, it veered off the trail and made a straight line to my aspen, stopped, and reached its front paw into and sniffed at some cut pine boughs that I'd used to cover my fanny pack on the ground below. The tip of my gun barrel was between my legs, pointed directly down at its head, my finger on the trigger. It turned away from my fanny pack an then sniffed the base of my aspen. Had it looked up and gave any indication of coming up my tree, I would have pulled the trigger. As it was, after about 10 or 15 seconds of sniffing, it continued walking in the direction it had been going, head still down, sniffing the ground. From my perch, I was only able to watch go about 10 yards before it disappeared into some thick brush. I will be kicking myself forever more for not having the foresight to buy an over-the-counter tag. I bought one the next day, and this year as well, but have not since been able to get my sights on one.
 
A few years ago, two of my brothers were doing a drive on a river bottom in Eastern Montana for me, since I only had a couple of days to hunt. I stood in the middle of a deer trail going over a small rise, overlooking a sage brush flat between me and the river and a little creek bottom choke with brush. My brothers started pushing from a 1/2 mile away. Within minutes whitetail buck was charging through the creek bottom. I followed him with the crosshairs on him waiting for a clear shot. The chance came when he turned up the trail straight at me at only 12-15 yards. His chest filled the scope and I pulled the trigger. The deer kept coming until I worked the bolt to chamber another round then it skidded to a halt only feet from me and did a 180 on its hind legs and was back into the creek bottom. He was dead 100 yards from the incident.

It was an adrenaline pumping moment thinking I might get run over by that deer!!
 
Had this kitty at 10 yds just long enough to get a picture.
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I walked down toward a meadow on the edge of the timber, knelt down and tweeted on a cow call. Two small bulls and a cow came tearing down the trail at me. I didn't even have an arrow knocked. They ran right up to me and I had to look up at them. They stopped, stared down at me, one snorted and the three of them spun around and ran back the way they came.

I had a doe muley teach me that motionlessness is THE ultimate camo. I was bow hunting in the Big Horns. Fresh out of school, I was still dirt poor and didn't own any camos. I wore an old pair of dark slacks and a plaid jacket. I saw some deer moving in my general direction in the trees. I was standing in the middle of a small clearing. Most of them veered off, but one doe kept coming directly toward me. I wasn't going to shoot her, but was curious how close she would come. She walked within about 10 feet of me and stopped. She stood there for a few seconds and stared at me. After a few moments I could see the recognition in her eyes. It was like a cartoon scene. Her eyes actually got wide, she snorted and blew out of there. It was just funny to see that expression in a deer.
 
I was lion hunting a few years back I think '03 ish we had a lion run into an old mine instead of up a tree I was talked into going in to shoot it,"ok ya I know" and climbed about 100' into the mine and encountered the lion at about 15' I unloaded my 22 pistol,"again ok I know" Instead of dropping him he ran at me I hugged the wall but the mine was only about 2.5 ft wide he brushed against me as he went buy. When he ran out he saw or heard the dogs and turned around and came back in now I was at the back of the mine with him at the entrance. Luckily of those first 10 shots 6 had hit him in the face 1 in his eye I think he may have been blinded. He was facing out so I shot another 10 rounds into him this did it he layed down. After about 5 minutes I finally had the nerve to climb over him and get out of the mine. That had to be the biggest adrenaline rush I have ever had.

So I guess I've touched a live mt. lion

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Last year I was pig hunting in Texas and I made a ground blind out of tumbleweeds and other brush. I had my bow with me and my .40 Glock on my hip. After a couple hours of waiting a HUGE boar stepped out at 5 yards just as it was getting dark. I let him have it with my bow and I watched the arrow bury fletch deep just behind the shoulder. He ran about 10 yards away and started spinning in circles. I stood up to see better over the brush and he saw me, stopped spinning and came right at me with not so nice intentions. I dropped my bow and started running out the back of my make shift blind and he crashed right through it after me. I made it about 15 yards with the pig right behind me (a few feet at most) before I was able to get my pistol out. I spun around and emptied the clip in that pigs face as I was still back pedaling. It still gives me the heebies just writing this right now.
 
I once tackled a mule deer. I was probably 14 and had already shot my deer so I was breaking thick timber for others in our party. Someone spooked a herd of deer below me and they started busting through the timber toward me. I stood behind a tree and one doe came right at me. Having spent a fair amount of time bulldogging and branding calves, I instinctively thought it a good idea to try it on this doe. Needless to say, mule deer are a bit quicker and meaner than calves - she pretty well kicked the crap out of me before it was over.
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-23-09 AT 08:43AM (MST)[p]Sorry, misread the title. I thought it said CLOSET encounter. :)
 
A few years ago, I chest-tackled a wild horse!!:) In my duties as a Park Ranger, I was posted to a State Park that had about 700 acres of fenced grass meadows. One morning, my maintenance person came in and said he had cut a wild horse loose as it had become badly tangled in one of our fences, but it was so weak, it had just run a few yards up a hill and laid down.I went to investigate, and found a not-so-very-old FOAL that had become separated from its mother! A BLM team showed up, and requested help capturing the foal and loading it into a trailer. As we approached the weakened animal, it made a beeline straight for me with a sudden burst of energy. Even though it was only a foal, it had some pretty long-looking legs, and I definitely wanted to avoid those! The only thing I could think of to do is meet the horse head-on and wrap it up! With the rest of the crew running to my aid, we were able to marshall the critter down the hill to the trailer and load it without injury to it or any of us, despite its constant protests (the cutest little whinnying and squealing I've ever heard!)It was a neat experience to have such a close encounter.
 
Another story: About 12 yrs.ago, I was hunting deer in some really thick pinon-juniper, when I came upon some really fresh track and began to follow. As I peered around a large, thick juniper, at almost the exact moment as a big forkie on the other side did the same(kinda like looking at your image in a mirror!), we both were so surprised...I can still see the look in that deers eyes, and I can't explain my reaction...I yelled "Yow!"...and proceeded to load the chamber of my already loaded gun...which I botched with a hung round, as the forkie escaped!I can still hear him crashing through the thick timber, as I took about 10 minutes to regain my composure and move on!:)
 
A buddy of mine shot a forked horn blacktail one year, many moons ago, and we ran down into the clearcut each grabbed a horn and began dragging it up to the nearest logging road. We were highschool age at the time, not the smartest bulbs in the bunch, and were going to drag it out whole up to where we could load it onto our 4wheeler. Well after about 30 yards of dragging it seemed the pulling wasn't as difficult and I turned around to see the buck standing up, my buddy and I still holding one of his horns each. He had head shot this deer with a small caliber gun and apparently just knocked it out. Long story short we ended up killing the deer but I ended up with a 4 inch cut right above my eyebrow that I still have the scar from to this day.

LBR
 
One more.... was bowhunting with a buddy one year, both of us in the same draw but having not seen eachother for better than an hour. As I'm still hunting through some thick timber I hear a BUNCH of noise, crashing, brush breaking, etc. I nock an arrow and get ready to shoot whatever is coming my way (hopefully), all the sudden it goes quiet so I'm sitting there adrenaline pumping trying to figure out WTH is going on...a minute or so later I catch wind of the worst smelling crap that's ever passed my nostrils. Turns out my hunting parter had an "UH OH" moment and had to drop a duece in a hurry and we were closer to eachother than we thought. I still give him 'crap' about that til this day....

LBR
 
well i have a few to share. first was charged by a 3 1/2 yr old bull moose when i bugled to some elk above his pond. didnt stop until he was at 12 ft when i jumped yelled like a litle girl waiving my arms like a fool. second was the very next day. i was sitting in some pines above a very steep rocky canyon. i was digging threw my pack for snacks when i saw something out of the corner of my eye cdomming realy fast at me. as i looked up i had to cover my face with my arm. a hawk tried to eat my face. both his tallons sank into my arm and puntched threw my sleaves right into my forarm. he let go and bailed out as fast as he came in. that hurt!!! close as it gets for me.
 
i had 2 in 2 days. first i was charged by a 3 1/2 yr old bull moose he didnt like it when i bugled to some elk calling above his pond. he came a running full steam i jumped up screaming like a girl and waiving my arms he hit the binders at 3 or 4 yrds. second was the next day. sitting in some pines above a steep canyon digging threw my pack for a snack. i saw movement out of my left eye. looked up just intime to caver my face with my arm as a hawk dug all his tallons into it. he broke the skin with all 8 of his claws. hurt like hell.
 
i have two both dumb moments first in younger years i was hunting deer with brothers and dad my older brother shot a young 4 point and i was closest so i headed over to it well it was a steep hill and instead of going up and around from above i went in from below when i got about a foot away it reared up and came down after me luckily i was able to move just enough that the 20 in buck did not hit me in the chest it almost skimmed me as it went by. needless to say i have never !!!! came from the bottom side of a animal unless i know it is dead. the other time i had been moose hunting and had seen a bull in the velvet medium sized bull and got pictures of him from behind a pine at just over 10 yards well after i shot my bull i went back up on my bike and seen the same bull with a cow and calf (the rut was in swing) and he was in a meadow type area well i got within about 9 or 10 yards of him and the bulls hair started to stand up on his back so i thought i had better start moving away and at the second he charged me i have never run so fast in my life i got about 50 or 60 yards away and turned to look back and he had finally slowed down i guess he figured that i was far enough away at that point dont think ill do that one either (or get that close to a rutting bull with nothing bull some grass between me and him)
 
I had invited my little brother to come along on a deer hunt that a bunch of us guys had been doing for years. My Bro tries hard but he's flubbed up a bunch of times on decent bucks and up to this point hadn't yet taken but a couple smaller bucks. We got to the rim at daylight where i put him on stand to watch a brushy draw below him and i moved another couple hundred yard up the canyon to another vantage. I no sooner got to my spot when i spotted a very nice 4 pointer and a three point standing no more that 30-40 yds away from me but before i could get my gun up, a shot rang out over my head.

There was like 5 shots in rapid succession, all whizzing in the general direction right over my head so i tucked in and ducked down behind this rock ledge. Then, still not knowing exactly what's going on, i could hear the brush snapping, cracking, and crashing, as it was obvious that something large was headed my way on off the above brushy draw and the shots kept coming. I looked up just in time to see, almost point blank above me, a decent buck leaping over that ledge that i had been ducking underneath, i reached out and shot him midair without bring my gun to the shoulder and happened to hit him behind the ear so when he landed, he landed stone dead not more than a foot or two away from my hide.

My brother heard my shot and started hollering that it was his deer, "i hit em first!". He had gut shot it with his 30-30, i was happy to have him claim it, i finished it for him more in self defense than anything but the bad thing was the bucks i had spotted before all the shooting were really great bucks for the area, never to be seen again.

Joey
 
Last year out deer hunting I was sitting in my stand and had a hawk come crashing threw the trees and try to pick off a squirle. Not really a close encounter though I would share that and thsi story.

I was out scouting where We want to hunt next year in wyoming. I had lost cell phone service about 20 miles back and my reletives that live in wyoming had little idea of where I was. I had driven down into a valley on a logging road. I had gotten out of my vehicle and hiked a mile or two from the vehicle. I was carring my 9mm, buck knife, binocs, spotter and camera. I found a clearing where I could set up and scope the majority of the valley. As I was about to start setting up here comes a bear walking up the ridge. It stood up on its hind legs and looked at me. I didn't know if I should grab the 9mm and shoot it up in the air to scare it off or to grab the camera and take a picture of it. After the half second of thinking I went for the camera, but I was that half second to late. As he had took off back down the ridge and into the trees. Darn would have been a sweet picture.
 
You guys are stirring up some memories...

NVpete's story reminded me of a time I was bowhunting. It was later in the morning and I was still hunting the timber. It was pretty thick and I came through some thick stuff just as three spikes (elk) were coming through on the trail from the other direction. They couldn't have been more than 5 yards off when we met. I think all four of us got a good adrenaline rush from that one.

Not a hunting experience, but I was walking an old logging road in the Uintas one early, summer morning. I saw a cow moose just a little ways off looking at me. I stopped and looked at her for a moment. I remember thinking how cool it was to see her so close. Just as I thought that, two calves stood up right between her and I. No hesitation, she laid her ears back and came a runnin'. I was pretty proud after that that I could still sprint that fast. I did a good 80 yards before glancing over my shoulder. She hadn't come much further than my side of the calves. I gave them a wiiiiide birth and continued the walk.

I was taking a break one early afternoon, sitting in the sun on a log. I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye and caught a martin moving in my general direction. I realized after a moment that he was intent on me. He came up within a few feet and I realized he was focused on the feather I had hung on the upper limb as a wind indicator. He apparently caught my gaze, made eye contact, and nonchalantly wandered off. I'd read of others having that experience with martins, but it was my first and only one.
 
Another one for me. Was out with my wife hunting Eastern Montana Muleys and we spotted a decent buck about 3/4 of a mile out. My wife decided to stay at the scope and watch me put on the stalk. I followed the deer up and over a finger into a draw full of cedar. When I was coming over the top, I heard movement behind a cedar just a few yards in front of me. I slowly moved sideways to get a look and scared the crap out of a cow that I didn't know was even out there. It ran off toward where the buck went scaring him off to the next county. Bewildered, I slung my rifle, and headed back the way I came. After travelling about 40 yards or so, something felt wrong. I looked up and there was a mountain lion just 20 yards away coming up the trail I had followed. We saw each other at the same time it seemed as he skiddadled into the brush. Needless to say, my rifle went to the ready and stayed there until I got back to my wife. Don't know who he was following but I assume the buck.
 
Outdoor life cover story Jan. 1975 I was the kid with the .270 and the grizzly. Enuff excitement for one hunting career.
 
I had a bear charge me in moose camp! I was bow hunting moose alone near the Gospel Hump in central Idaho at the time...2005. I heard a noise outside my wall tent and when I went to investigate he charged me. I had a loaded .357 in my right hand and a lantern in the other. Needless to say the gun went off in my hand and the round hit the dirt between us when he lunged at me. He stopped about 20 feet from me popping his teeth and the 2nd round didnt miss!!!! I never found him but he bawled, flipped and ran! I didn't get much sleep that night!
 
My fisrt trip out west was to WY and it was the first of october. We were right around Encampment in Medicine Bow NF. I was walking up a ridge in really dark timber and noticed a pretty well used trail about ten yards below my trail. That is when nature called and you guys know when its cold and tons of layers its hard to handle your business. I laid my gun down and my pants were around my ankles, when I heard something coming down the trail that was just below me. It finally got closer and it was a huge mature bull moose(Biggest Moose I've ever seen anywhere) and he was after his friend. He got directly in front of me and turned and took two or three steps in my direction. My gun was still 5 yards away so I was scared. I had heard how mean a moose can be during the rut. I moved and he wheeled around and headed where he came from.
 
Coyote jumped across my legs when I was turkey hunting. Total distance was measured in inches. I was set up against a cedar tree and he came from behind me and jumped across my lap but didn't actually touch me. I knocked some hair out of him the a load of #6's but didn't kill him. That would have been a great trophy.
flyingbrass
cold dead hands
NRA Life Member
 
last year during the general spike hunt here in northern utah, my buddy and i had killed this spike at about 300 yards across a little valley. the elk went down hard, so we headed over to it. taking more than 45 minutes to get there i thought it wouldve expired by then. i walked up to it and poked it with a stick and then grabbed it by the horn and said its dead. and put his head back down, turned and looked at my buddy and then looked back and it was on its front two legs,looking right at me only a foot away!!! i laughed in a way of oh sh@@ and got the H away and told my buddy to shoot it in the neck.lots of times been on the ground bow hunting and had deer and elk within feet of me!! what an awesome experience to be so close to Gods great creatures!!



"Shoot Strait"
 
I had been blacktail hunting and was driving out an old skidder road above PeEll, Washington. I saw a nice Bobcat walking down the road in front of me. I grabbed an old remington bolt action .22 with a peep site out of the extra cab in my truck and started walking toward it. It jumps in the reprod and I figure it's long gone but, I go over and look where it went in the brush. I hear something in the tree in front of me and there it is at eye level with me 10 feet away. Sweet, I look through the peep site and can't see anything, the woods are to dark. So I line up the barrel with it's head and pull the trigger. He drops and I walk over to pick him up. He jumps up and hits my hand and pretty much scares me to death. I don't know who jumped higher me or him.
 
OK i'll bit but start a new post. look for this close encounters 2. i wasn't going to put it up due to antis
 
My closest encounter was with a cape buffalo cow. She charged from less than 15 yards, and I dove out of her way as she proceeded directly to my PH, trying to gore him. She passed me at about 3 feet and I shot from the hip as she went by.....and I missed her!
 

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