Anybody had a close calls in the outdoors

[havgunwilltravel]

It always interesting to hear peoples adventures and hunting exploits, but i was talking to a girl at work today and she asked about the dangers of being in the field and any close calls i might have had whilst simply being in the outdoors. It got me thinking there was a couple of times things could have gone differently and i am interested to hear if any body else has stories of misadventure.

-One time that springs to mind was on a hunting trip to Southern Africa, where we always carried a sidearm everywhere we went and were especially cautious at traffic lights, petrol stations and in remote areas and i was at a location enjoying lunch. Two of the guys said they had to do a run to the rubbish tip to dump off some building materials, did i want to come, i said no thanks, i would go back out and sit on a waterhole. Turns out the guys were missing for a few hours, and eventually made it back to camp. Whilst they had been unloading rubbish, two 'locals' had walked up to them, pointed pistols at their heads, made them lie down, robbed them, took their vehicle and left them to it. Not sure how i would have gone, but it was a lucky deal that nobody was hurt and i chose to sit over water. Sometimes the little decisions can have a big impact on outcomes.

-Another time was coming back late at night from waiting in a treestand for bushpigs to turn up and we were driving back to camp. We had to go on some public roads as the bushpig area was a distance away. Passing through a small town we went past a bar that was closing down and all the locals had spilled out onto the street and were fighting, we couldn't get past them as there was a few of them and when they seen a pair of white guys in the truck they started beating on the car and trying to get in. We had already locked the doors and when my mate told me to load up, i have to admit i wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. Luckily we didn't burn powder and my mate got us out of there although i remember a couple of speedbumps we appeared to bounce over in the truck navigating our way through. It sure was interesting times on some of those earlier trips and i never did shoot a bushpig!

There are others, but that will do for now.

 

[dustinf]

It's a long story, but I built a fire that saved 3 lives.

I'll never forget the feeling of heat on my frozen fingers, from those first small flames.

 

[cjcj]

A couple close calls with Rattlers... One just missed my neck by about 2 inches... climbing out of a lake... another I stepped right on it... but it turned and struck my boot heal... they both really pissed me off... only killed the one on the ground... the other one I never saw again as I flew backward into the water..

 

[sweetnectar]

dustin, You can't just leave it at that. You've got to provide more of the story so that we can glean things from it that might save our lives or others.

 

[Mudranger1]

actual close calls..probably too many to recount ..my closest call ..fell around 20 feet out of my tree while coming down...broken shoulder, nose, cracked arm, 5 severe bone bruises...after about 15 minutes of lying there and figuring out I wasn't dead..got up and walked out and met up with my Dad.

 

[noharleyyet]

Guess I'm terrified of any situation that would prevent me from taking care of or not being able to get to my family. Tornadoes come to mind.

 

[Bulldog0156]

Sudden diarrhea

 

[thecrittergitter]

Had to make a split second decision between getting eaten by a charging grizzly bear or attempting to "dispatch" the bear.............

I'm still here typing, bear is not. Not a big fan of sleeping in my Bivy anymore in griz country.

 

[Dinkshooter]

Not a big fan of sleeping in my Bivy anymore in griz country.

Because a tent provides more safety

Bivy=bear burritos

 

[havgunwilltravel]

actual close calls..probably too many to recount ..my closest call ..fell around 20 feet out of my tree while coming down...broken shoulder, nose, cracked arm, 5 severe bone bruises...after about 15 minutes of lying there and figuring out I wasn't dead..got up and walked out and met up with my Dad.

Sounds like that was a very lucky outcome Mudranger. We don't have a lot of treestand accidents over here, but i understand it is relatively common method of attracting injury to oneself in your country.

Had to make a split second decision between getting eaten by a charging grizzly bear or attempting to "dispatch" the bear.............

Fast shooting on your behalf CG from what i am reading. Was the animal alone or was it a female with cubs nearby? Bet you were glad when the smoke cleared and the dust settled and you were the one still standing. Good effort.

 

[dustinf]

dustin, You can't just leave it at that. You've got to provide more of the story so that we can glean things from it that might save our lives or others.

Backpacking in the mountains, mid-January. A series of bad decisions, made by being over confident, dehydrated, and exhausted.

Heading into the backcountry with unprepared partners didn't help either.

 

[1_pointer]

I don't think I've had any real life-threatening situations in the field, but do have a couple that could have turned out much worse.

Growing up deer hunting in Indiana, we hunted out of treestands that my dad and I built out of lumber. We did not employ any type of fall restraint. At 12 I fell asleep in the "Fencerow Blind" and did a forward roll out of the stand, fell ~12', and landed on my back. That was one hell of a wakeup! Nothing was broken, nor hurt except my pride. I climbed back in and didn't fall asleep. Different stand, but about 4 years later I was climbing into a different stand when the 2X4 step broke loose. I was finally able to get enough purchase on the tree bark to climb down, but hanging in the air by my arms wasn't all that fun.

Helping BOY pack out his Moutain Goat in Idaho, we cliffed out on the way back to camp and had to head down the avalanche chute we'd just climbed out of. About 10pm I tripped and we both heard a loud pop come from my knee! We were still in the chute on the opposite side of the mountain from camp and the horses. Luckily nothing was serious and I was able to walk out with the whole boned goat, but that one could have been much worse.

 

[jlmatthew]

Do overseas locations with the Army count?

A few years back me and a buddy went and floated the Arkansas river for some trout, and we didn't give ourselves enough time and ended up doing a lot of it at night. It was wild and we felt like a frickin Ping-Pong ball with the rocks and thought for sure some cracked skulls were in order, but a little lost equipment and bruised ego's were luckily the only loss. Very Exciting for sure since the Arkansas has fatalities every year with folks using professional guides during the day!

 

[RUT JUNKEY]

Because a tent provides more safety

Bivy=bear burritos

Thats good stuff. . .never heard the bear burrito before.
I have some bad days in the field, but, nothing like critter or anything. Had a tree step break and fell about 15 ft onto my back. . broke the scope of my gun and knocked the wind out of me. . .but that was it. Had a run in with some "wild" dogs one afternoon on the way to my stand. . . 2 of them are no longer with us.

 

[brownbear932008]

Does this bring back memories?
My worst nightmare!

 

[RobG]

Had to make a split second decision between getting eaten by a charging grizzly bear or attempting to "dispatch" the bear.............

I'm still here typing, bear is not. Not a big fan of sleeping in my Bivy anymore in griz country.

Tell us more...

 

[fowladdict]

Tell us more...

Especially the part about how nice the officer was to you when you reported it.

 

[pa mt man]

No hunting mishaps,but lots of fishing. Dodging icebergs on the Allegheny river in a canoe,lost on lake Ontario in January steel head fishing in the fog and ice,Wahoo took a big bite out of a mates leg, falling asleep towing a boat on I 90 and many more. 99.9 percent of them were our own fault.

 

[elkdiesel]

I was a hot pocket for a grizz about 10 years ago. I was bow hunting in Wyoming and had packed back in about 5 miles. That weekend I couldn't find anyone that wanted to go with me and decided to go anyway. On the way in I ran into a grizz walking down the trail. At the time in WY you weren't allowed to carry a side arm during archery season, so I jumped up on a stump and started hollering at the big boar with my bear spray in hand. He just kept coming down the trail until he was about 30 yards away. He stopped, looked up at me, and walked a half circle around me (still at 30 yards) until he hit the trail again and kept going. He didn't show any sign of aggression just kept on his way. I wish that was the end of my bear encounters for that trip, but it wasn't.

I got into camp just in time to get my tent set up and head out for a quick evening hunt. The elk were going nuts! They were screaming their heads off, running each other around like crazy. As I went to bed that night I couldn't wait to chase them again in the morning.

My eyes shot open in an instant panic! Something had just happened but I was not conscious enough to know what it was. Then it happened again! A loud wooooof, followed by a ground shaking thud. I could hear the bear moving away from my tent out into the meadow. I scrambled for the little protection that I had which consisted of my bear spray and a hatchet. (Not that the bear spray would do anything in my tent except ad a little seasoning to this bears breakfast!) Here he comes again! I could hear him on a dead sprint coming right for me. As he slammed to a stop again right at the edge of my tent I could see the tent move as he again woofed, pounded the ground and popped his jaw. A third time this charge was repeated!!!. I didn't know what to do at this point. I decided to make as much noise as I could. My tent was a tepee tent with a metal center pole, so I started hitting it with my hatchet and barking like a dog. I heard the bear move out into the meadow again and woofed one more time and then it went
silent.

I laid there in the silence for another half hour, before it was broken again by the sound of an elk bugle. The light was just starting to filter in and the bulls were working themselves into a frenzy, but I had had all of the fun I could handle for one trip. As I walked out listening to the rut going on all around me I vowed from that time on law or no law I would protect myself with more than some seasoning salt and a hatchet when in grizz country! I'm grateful for all of the experiences that I have in the woods, but some I care never to repeat. Be careful out there!

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

There have been a lot of times I have been a little freaked out in the outdoors most were in middle eastern countries or staring down a rocky chute while skiing, but there have only been a couple while hunting.

This instance is probably common for you guys who live out west, but for a guy from Minnesota it got my heart pumping. Back in the fall of 2006 I was in the Sarvis Creek Wilderness, CO Bow hunting elk. It was only my second time hunting out west. I had built an improvised blind out of some deadfall next to a waterhole that had a lot of fresh sign around it, and where we had seen a lot of rutting activity. I was cow calling, when I noticed a tan colored rump disappear into a stand of quakies about 150 yds straight across from me, I thought it was a muley from the quick glance I got. A few minutes later I could hardly believe what I saw, a mountain lion was peaking its head up over a log looking for something; which I presume was a cow elk he heard calling a few minutes earlier. Over the course of the next 20 minutes or so, I watched as the cat worked its way around my position, until it was at my 8 o'clock, uphill, across a little clearing. It then proceeded to start to close the distance. At this point I figured this was starting to get serious. I stood up and started to wave my arms. Took off my hat that was reversible with blaze on the inside and waved that at the cat. That was my last resort before I started slinging arrows. Fortunately, the cat decided that something wasn't quite right, but instead of running away, he just slinked back into the wood line. This pretty much ended my evening hunt on the waterhole. I booked it as fast as I could up the ridge behind me and sat in the middle of a meadow the rest of the night waiting for my cousin to meet back up. At least then I would be able to see the cat coming, if he decided to make another run at me.

The other time was getting snowed in while hunting mulies in WY a couple years ago. We had crossed over a saddle that was at about 12,500ft trying to get into some area that was just above the tree line where we thought there still might be some bucks hanging as it had been really warm leading up to the opener of rifle season. We just about got to where we wanted to set up camp when the front came in and dumped a lot more snow than was expected. I had never had to shoot a hole in the ice to pump water out before. We almost got stuck on the wrong side of the mountain in some pretty serious weather. Finally, 2 days later we got about a 6 hour break in the weather and we were able to walk back out. While watching some OYOA reruns the other day, I think I put together that this was the same storm that cut BigFin off from his camp hunting elk in WY a couple seasons ago.

These kind of adventures are that keep bringing me back.