Hunters From Around The World Share Spooky Things They Saw In The Forest


Hunters From Around The World Share Spooky Things They Saw In The Forest


All sorts of things can go wrong when you're exploring the woods with nothing but a gun and your hunter's instinct. Encounters with other hunters, wild predators, or the unknown are scary enough, but even spookier when you're in the middle of the forest... on your own... with no one around to help you. These hunters were brave enough to share their creepiest hunting stories with us.

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25. Run, Goldilocks!

I was being watched in the woods. It was the strangest feeling. I got paranoid enough that I began walking all the way to where I knew a park warden was parked. After about 100 meters, I turned around to make sure I wasn't being followed, and I see three bears smacking my stuff around. One bear was standing up in the middle of the access road staring right at me.

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24. An unexpected rescue.

This happened to my dad and his hunting buddy. They were in a remote section of southeastern Wyoming hunting for elk. Like any good elk hunter, they were up at 3:30 a.m. to stake out their spot and watch the herd patterns before daylight. As they were driving up to the spot, a figure appeared in their headlights, and by their silhouette, it wasn’t a hunter. What was a person doing walking down the road in complete darkness with no hunting gear?

My dad was driving, so he slowed to a crawl in his truck, and his buddy prepared his sidearm, as this had foul play written all over it. When they could distinguish the figure in the headlights, they saw it was a girl in a tank top and underwear, with no shoes on. They stopped and verbally checked her status out the window, as there could have easily been somebody staked out in the sagebrush, ready to ambush. When it was clear she was severely hypothermic and bleeding from her feet, they got out and let her in the truck cab.

From there, it had to have been a terrifying experience for that girl. I sure wouldn’t want two middle-aged rednecks picking me up 40 miles from any town. They cranked up the heat full blast and drove her to a nearby country gas station, where they were regular customers and friends with the owner and his wife, who was a retired nurse.

When the girl could finally articulate her words, she told them that she and her boyfriend drove out there to make out. When she started having a seizure (she was epileptic), he lost his temper, grabbed her shoes, and threw them into the sage. When she got out of the car to find them, he peeled off, leaving her in near-freezing temperatures in her skivvies. She estimated she walked about 4 miles on a dirt road before my dad found her. It’s a good thing hunters start early because she easily could have died.

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23. A friendly warning.

Camping alone in the middle of Missouri the night before turkey hunting. The place I found was a fairly well-used campsite but no one was there. About to go to sleep when I hear a truck come up. I find a reason to come out (use the restroom) so I can get a look and maybe even ask for some good places to spot turkey. It’s a dude and his girlfriend drinking beers and going for a ride. They are super nice but they mentioned after our chat and before leaving, “Watch yourself out here. Lots of hillbillies out here looking for campsites to ransack and they won’t stop for bird shot. Want a slug? I probably have a few in my tool kit.” I did not sleep at all that night.

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22. Don't shoot old Bessie.

Thought it would be cool when I was 12 to got out with my dad's gun all by myself. I was looking for fish to shoot in a creek on a dense forested hillside. Hear heavy footsteps behind me. They're slow and sound heavier than a human or even a buck. I almost get paralyzed when I turn around and see 2 holes on a rough leathery bump. A few seconds and a heart attack later, I realized it was just the neighbor's cow that got out and its nose was a few inches from my face.

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21. Hunting the wild rhyme.

I spend a lot of time in the backcountry in the winter time. Usually it’s just me and a friend, most trails we do are popular in the summer, and totally dead once it starts to snow.

One winter, we’ve hiked about two miles in and see this small black backpack in the middle of the trail. We hadn’t seen any other cars at the trailhead or any people around, but this backpack hadn’t been there long because there wasn’t any snow on it (it had snowed the night before). It was a very odd sight, we figured if it was still on the trail when we looped around we’d pick it up.

About 4 miles in and my friend and I are chatting away when I notice a large figure flailing in some trees up ahead. We go quiet and can hear this man rambling while he’s pacing. At this point we’re pretty freaked out and decide to turn around when we hear “Oh, HI THERE!” This guy starts walking towards us... and then out pops another guy with a very pricey looking video camera.

It turned out this flailing guy was actually a rapper and they were filming a music video for one of his new songs out in the forest. They had parked before the trailhead so we didn’t notice their car. They ended up being super friendly and gave us a card, and we figured out it was their backpack we had seen on the trail the few miles before. We said our goodbyes and walked out. But for a hot minute I was sure we were about to be killed in the woods.

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20. Those feisty critters.

Went on a hunting trip maybe 10 years ago and in the middle of the night we heard this incredibly loud "SMACK" way out on the water. Water carries sound really well, so it woke us all up. My first thought was some deranged jerk with a gun was shooting out over the lake and the sound was a bullet skimming off the surface.

Turns out it was a beaver smacking the water with its tail before diving under. It happened again in the early morning and we laughed it off, but the notion of being out in the middle of nowhere with some homicidal gun-toting dude taking potshots at you creeped me out pretty good.

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19. Don't get mistaken for a deer.

When I was a kid, a poacher must have thought I was a deer or something and shot a round at me. It impacted on a tree above my head. I immediately fired three shots as fast as I could, not at the shooter but in the air. In my hunting group, immediate three shots means "HELP" basically. My dad and our hunting club immediately came out to find out what happened by honking the horns of their trucks letting me know they were coming. I basically laid on the ground until I could tell they were near the dirt road. Told them what happened and guessed it was probably a road poacher trying to get a deer as it came from the same road. They didn't see him. It was private property and we were always very aware of who was at what location and who was hunting where. Nobody was suppose to be in the part I was at. Reason why I don't like hunting on public property is cause of that and I don't know the people out there.

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18. Even the rocks are out to get you.

I was about 20 miles out in the back country on a week long hunting trip. By myself. Woke up in the middle of the night to a bear sticking it’s snout into the fabric of my tent. I immediately started meditating to slow my breath and just weather the situation. Because I knew if I moved or made a run for my car I’d be dead. The next morning I found some paw prints and they were the biggest bear prints I’ve ever seen.

But here's the part that's even creepier. When I woke up there was a ring of big rocks around my camping area. They weren’t there when I got there and set up camp. I’m also a stout dude and I couldn’t move any of the rocks. I was raised in the woods and now I refuse to go out there without a large caliber gun and I refuse to sleep out in the woods anymore.

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17. Had him in his sights.

I had been hunting for a couple hours, and I decided to sit under a tree for a while, just see what would happen. As I was relaxing, I noticed this light that kept flashing past my eyes. I looked over to where it was coming from, but I couldn't see what was there. Then I looked down and there was a red dot on my chest. Some crazy jerk was using a laser sight and aiming at me. I yelled at him and started walking towards him, but he ran off. I went back to camp for the rest of the day. I don't know if they wanted to shoot me, or if they were just being careless with their guns; either way, it's never a safe place to be - at the end of the sight of a rifle.

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16. A creeptacular collection.

Not a hunter, but a herper. I was looking for amphibians and reptiles with a few classmates at a local park during a herpetology class last summer, when we came across 2 little wooden 'teepees' and a card table covered in animal bones. It looked like we walked right into the Blair Witch Project. Each of the structures had little alters that contained more bones in jars, plants, and other weird little trinkets. We got out of there fast and told the volunteer coordinator we were working with. We found out a while later that apparently, some homeschooled kids nearby liked to 'play' in the woods and they had most likely collected the things we saw. I understand making forts in the woods but the structures these kids made were truly freaky.

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15. A whole city hidden in the tress.

Couple of years ago I was in northern British Columbia on a fishing trip with my dad, uncle and cousins. The lake and river was a two hour drive from the nearest city. We were drifting down the river when I needed to go to the bathroom, so I got out of the boat.

As I’m doing my business, I look over and see what seems to be the top of a building. I turned to the people in the boat and told them what I saw. Walked towards the building, and realized it wasn’t alone. Multiple homes, buildings in the middle of the forest. It was a very small and isolated Native American tribe, and we backed away. Not super creepy but didn’t want to cause any trouble. We continued on without any contact.

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14. There's always at least one UFO sighting.

I was hunting Antelope out near the Red Desert in Wyoming. I had just shot my Antelope and was walking about 150 yards out to where he dropped so I could tag and begin field dressing the animal. I should mention I'm about 40 miles from the main road and I had not seen another human or vehicle since I got off the main road. This area is so extremely remote its hard to even describe.

So as I'm walking out to the Antelope I look up and about 1 to 2 miles off in the distance I see this extremely bright light zooming over the landscape and headed my way. I thought it was probably a game warden on a side by side coming to check my paperwork and all. No big deal, I keep walking out and find the animal and look up and this light dives down into the sage brush and I can no longer see it, it was about half a mile from me when it disappeared, I also notice I don't hear any engine if it is in fact someone on a motorized vehicle.

I'm mostly confused at this point, not sure what this light is or where it went but I continue on and tag the Antelope, it takes me all of 10-15 seconds to put the tag on, then I look up and I see the light traveling away from me now and its about 3 to 5 miles away from me and going at least 100 mph, it was really zooming way faster than any vehicle could travel over that type of terrain. Also there are no roads or anything where the light is traveling so I don't know how it was going so fast. I'm pretty spooked at this point.

I field dressed the animal as fast as I could and dragged it back to my truck, I just had a very uneasy feeling at this point. I have no idea what that light was although some others have speculated it was a drone but if it was a drone operated by the game warden why didn't he come check me out once I got back to my truck?

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13. An unsolved mystery.

My dad's childhood friend was killed in a hunting accident. He was shot right out of his tree stand on state land. This was back in the late 1980s, when I was young. Nobody ever turned themselves in and I doubt from the angle/caliber that they ever even found the bullet. To this day, his case is unsolved.

After that, my mom forbade my dad to go hunting, and by extension, me too. I hear too many stories of people  doing stupid things with guns in the woods anyway. I'm lucky enough now to own 10 acres of property where I can take a deer just about every year with a shotgun, but I don't think I will ever hunt on state land.

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12. A terrifying display.

There is a place near where I come from that has all the hallmarks of an excellent hunting area. Nobody goes there because there is a stand of giant Douglas fir trees that are at least 300 years old, and there are boots hanging by their laces, dozens of pairs, all hung in the very top branches of the trees. It's practically impossible for a human being to have done this and nobody has a reasonable explanation for it. Even the most seasoned hunters will tell you to stay the hell away from there.

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11. The creatures are hungry.

After helping my dad and brother quarter a big bull elk in the middle of nowhere, I went up the hill first because I had the lightest load. I figured I'd get my quarters to the top and then go back down and help my dad with the chest cavity.

It had just stopped snowing and when I was resting at the top of the hill, I glanced down and saw paw prints in the snow that had no snow in them. I knew based on the size it was either a wolf or mountain lion, but after looking closer I realized I just saw pads on the foot and not nails/claws making a mark in the front of the print. This meant I was definitely looking at the tracks of a big mountain lion who had been 50 yards from us as we worked on the elk.

My dad was at the bottom of the hill, I had a front quarter on my back, and a hind quarter on the sled I was pulling behind me, and no gun. I knew it was just three of us and I'd be around my dad the whole time who was armed, so I didn't bring an additional firearm. I was a walking buffet standing right where the cat had been a few minutes before, there's no question he was looking at me.

I calmly set the quarters down and made my way down to my dad. He agreed that I should have done what I did and even joked about it saying "at least our load won't be as heavy when we get back up there, I bet he took the front quarter."

We got back up the hill and my quarters had been untouched, with no additional cat tracks around it. All three of us were paranoid as anything walking back the 2 miles to the truck, not knowing if at any moment the cat might decide he was hungry. We made it back home just fine and laughed about the whole thing as we were cleaning and butchering the elk.

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10. They were hunting something other than deer.

My father and I were following a trail for a while so we decided to take a break and catch our breaths, I sat on a log off the trail and my dad stood on the edge of the trail waiting for me to get up. I hear some movement and scan around and I see a man, dressed casually, walking quickly down the trail with a Glock in his hand. He is not really following the trail, he is just walking toward my dad with haste. Before he comes up to my dad, he asks if he's seen anything (pretty normal). I keep an eye on him because I don't believe he was there to hunt, I think he was there to make sure my dad hadn't seen anything he wasn't supposed to. He wasn't dressed like a hunter, he didn't walk like a hunter, and it was deer season and he decided he would take his Glock out to get a deer? I wasn't buying, so I put a round in the chamber and watched them talk. He seemed to be confident until my dad mentioned that he was here with me and gestured in my direction. I nodded and made a half-assed wave. And he seemed to lose interest in us and ended the conversation shortly after and turned around and walked back the way he came, just about as fast as he walked up to us. It worried us a bit but we continued on. We haven't been back to that area in a while. My dad told me that there have been police busts near that area in the past. That was enough to make me not want to go back to that area.

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9. The pit of horror.

I'm Navajo and I was on my horse hunting in a really deserted area of New Mexico. I came to this circular depression in the sandstone and sand, like someone made it a long time ago. There was no sound from animals around it no lizards on the rocks no bugs. It was scaring the crap out of my horse. He was screaming, jumping, kicking, and I couldn't get him to calm down. So I got him away from there and tied him up to a pinion tree in sight. I went to check it out - with a weapon of course. It was just a big circle about a foot deep and it looked like something was built there but very very long ago.

I came back with friends and there horses and dogs. The horses did the same thing and the dogs just stayed on top of the hill whining. No one had any idea what it was but when we told our parents we were told to stay away from it. The only thing I could find out was that the Navajos and other Indians would put people and children who could not contribute to the tribe in a pit like circle to die from the elements. A long time ago if you were crippled or mentally challenged and couldn't hunt or farm no one was going to support you or take care of you. Creepy to think of all those helpless people dying in that pit.

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8. Deathly quiet and still.

Was hunting and camping on a reservation and walked up to the lake from the campground. It was a 20 minute walk to the lake, to the left there was a destroyed and decaying elevated wooden path through a dead swamp and to the right the pipe from the water station at the lake.

When we got to the lake all the animal noises had stopped. The lake was pitch black. The trees were all burned or dead and the dock was floating not attached to anything. We went on the dock and looked out into the water. Whole time absolute silence and my gut screaming danger.

After a while my whole crew was so creeped out we hightailed it out of there. Once we were halfway back we left the silence and immediately heard birds. I took a few steps back and it was basically silence. Few steps forward and birds.

Not exactly an encounter, but creepy nonetheless. There are big foot sightings and reports around the time I was there though, so who knows!

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7. Freaky cabin in the woods.

I used to do a lot of camping and hunting with my Dad. We lived in Michigan and going 'up north' was a common activity for us. I think the main difference between us and other people who did the same thing was that my Dad liked to go way off the beaten path, really deep into the woods. Often he would end up parking his truck somewhere once we couldn't go any further, and would hike for several miles carrying all of our gear.

The last time we went camping was definitely the weirdest one. My Dad was excited because he got a new full wheel drive, and he really wanted to see how far he could push it. After a lot of driving and some scary I thought I was going to die experience, we ended up in a small clearing. It was nearly dark at this time, so we quickly made up a tent, had some food, and went to bed.

When we woke up the next morning we got a better idea of the clearing. It seemed to have had been a common camp site, or that was the evidence. There was an area someone had a fire, fire wood, and the grass was compressed in other areas like someone has walked there for a while. I think there may have had also been some trash.

Further exploring around the area, I found what I called a 'swamp', it was a bed of water where trees and branches had fallen into or were growing out of. It had an eerie quality, but I was more afraid of snakes. After checking that out my Dad decided we were going to walk further into the forest where the trees were thick and a truck couldn't get through. We were walking for maybe an hour when we came onto another clearing.

Before we even got there we could hear something, and as we approached we found the source. We went immediately from very dense forest into an open area with low grass. Directly in front of us was a wooden cabin, in front of it were rusted out cars that seemed to be impossibly placed (due to how dense the trees were). To the left of us was a cliff that just seemed to shoot straight down.

Coming from the cabin was a lot of noise, and as we approached further we could tell it was a woman screaming. What she was screaming I wasn't sure, I couldn't make it out, but she was obviously mad about something. I remember wanting to check out the cliff more, but my Dad stopped me suddenly, stared like he was trying to figure out something, and told me to turn back immediately.

We were practically running back to the camp site, and when we got there he immediately had us pack up everything, get back into the truck, and leave.

Not sure what he saw or heard, but it was enough to scare him which I had never seen before. We were both armed as well, and my Dad had earned various medals in the army for rifle use and sharp shooting - he was an amazing shot, and when he had his hunting rifle his bravery seemed to be endless. I think that's what creeps me out the most - whatever it was he knew he couldn't protect me or himself from it.

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6. There's probably a cult to blame.

I hunt and work in the woods for a living and I’ve seen a fair amount of odd things. Carvings in trees, old beat up cars, random weird trash scattered through the woods, and a fair amount of animal carcasses. I’ve had instances where I’ve gotten spooked, stuff like jumping big critters is always quite jolting, but I can recall one rather butt-puckering experience. I was working with a few other people at the time, spaced out of sight but not out of ear shot. I crossed over a little ridge at least 2 miles from the closest road, in the middle of the woods, and I saw what looked like a full skeleton of a cow tied together with twigs and a little bit of twine. Who ever made it had fashioned it to be sitting on a log. They left a very neat pile of bones in front of the thing, and nothing anywhere else. I saw it and about fainted. Definitely really odd considering how far we were off the road, and how thick and steep it was. I ended up getting the folks I was with to come check it out, really just for kicks. I took note of it and we moved on to the next plots. It's still there, waiting to scare the crap out of the next person who spots it.

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5. The hunter gets hunted.

I'm a fly fisherman who spends every weekend out hiking remote rivers and streams in search of brown trout. I live in Montreal, my normal routine is to drive down to a river that starts in upstate NY, fish a couple kilometers of the river where no one really lives or goes. Then head cross the border and head back down to the river on the Canadian side.

So I'm out there on morning by myself, I had been out there over a hundred times so it wasn't new territory by any means. That said, I was getting close to the area where other anglers had warned me about angry land owners and threats from dudes with shotguns so I was pretty alert.

I come down to the section of river there it splits around a little island before it reconnects and the river veers off to the left. Most days I stay left of the island. This day I went right, so my view up the river was obscured until I came around the corner of the island. I get to the point look up and about 250 feet in front of me I'm standing there looking at a beige golden animal that's crossing the river.

First thought, someones dog. Hmm, no homes... Too remote of an area. I'm standing there looking at this thing crossing the river, and the things are just racing through my head because what I'm looking at doesn't make sense for where I'm standing. This thing still hasn't seen me, it's just gingerly making its way through about 1-2' of water trying to cross across at a determined walk. That's when I notice the tail... I know alot of dogs, but I've never seen a tail like - the hair on the back of my neck goes up as I realize I'm looking at a mountain lion, in upstate NY about a kilometer from the Canadian border. I take a step back behind the tree... I stood there for another few seconds watching this thing cross, when it got to the other side it bound up a wash out bank up about 20' in a couple bounds there was no doubt about what I saw.

I decide I've gone far enough for the day, start making my way back to the truck which - with the way the river bends is pretty much in the same direction that cat was headed. Get back in the truck, make my way home and contact NY fish and game. I provided some data, they say "sure we'll look into it". Most buddies who I fish with out there think I'm nuts - obviously. But here's the kicker. About a month later my parents send me a local news clip about a lone fisherman found mauled to death in that exact area. The scratches looked just like the claw marks of a big, wild cat.

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4. You never know who's watching.

One thing that happens when you're alone in the woods is an unshakeable feeling like you're being watched. I got this feeling like crazy on a hunt a few years back. Snowstorm incoming but still a number of hours away so everything was deathly still, and at dusk, so I had my headlamp knowing I was coming back after dark. Gorgeous evening for a walk in a forest I am extremely familiar with.

I got a kilometer in and that feeling just careened into me, going from "hey, kinda uneasy" to "paralyzed" in about ten seconds. Sudden urge to pee. Completely unwilling to move, every leaf crunch was like thunder.

Thing is my brain filled it in with a vision of what was up. My brain gave me this mental image of an indistinct predator on the other side of the small hill ahead of me, it knew I was here, it was looking for a snack just before the snow came in, and it was just waiting. I felt like prey and now I know what deer feel like when they get caught in headlights. It was the freakiest thing, it felt like predator/prey mind meld. I tried for a second to be like "Oh, I'm just paranoid" and tried to take a couple steps forward and it felt like a physical brick wall in front of me. Couldn't do it, not a chance.

I got out there after standing dead still for like two minutes. No birds, no squirrels, no small creatures bumbling in the leaves. Ended up walking back down the trail feeling lie my neck and back were on fire. Sprinted the last hundred yards to my car. Felt way better in my car but the feeling didn't fully dissipate until I was about a mile away.

I've never gotten that sensation on that segment of trail (or in those woods, really) since. My brain may have just run away with my imagination there but I'm okay with that. I'd rather listen on the off chance I'm right.

hands-984032_1920-300x200.jpgImage by Simon Wijers from Pixabay

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3. Unfamiliar territory looms.

When I was younger, I used to go hunting and horse-packing around Northern California for weeks at a time during the late 70's, early 80's. I rarely used a compass, but I always had a map of my area. I'm pretty good at dead reckoning via landmarks, and I've never been lost in my life. Except once.

I was in the Six Rivers national forest, heading south towards Trinity county. This is very rough terrain, lots of high ridges, steep hills, rocks everywhere, and nasty brush to tangle you. I was riding the ridges, heading generally south, and trying to find easy places to cross to the next ridge when it became convenient.

I found a reasonable spot to cross over to the next ridge south of me and started down. When I got into the ravine, it turned out that what looked easy from above was actually a rocky nightmare. I started walking up the ravine to find an easier place to get out of there. A wind picked up, and it started drizzling.

I walked for a mile or so, couldn't find anything that I wanted to risk my neck on (and more importantly, my horse's hooves), and decided to start up the side I had come down originally. I got to the top, took a look around to orient myself, and froze in shock.

The landscape was completely different.

I don't mean that it was lower or easier or less rocky. I mean that all of my landmarks were gone -- some of them were peaks that were 30-40 miles away, others were a lot closer. It was completely different. I had no idea where I was, and I was completely disoriented. I dug out my map, and started to review where I was, the angles on the hills I had been navigating by earlier, etc. I couldn't find anything that matched. The only thing that I could positively identify was the route up from the ravine that I had just come up. Since it was cloudy, I couldn't navigate by the sun; all I had were the landmarks that I used for dead reckoning, and those were gone.

The wind was picking up, and it was getting very, very cold... I almost expected snow. I had no idea where I was, so I decided to backtrack to my last known position and see if I could pick up where I left off. I started down the hill, got to the bottom of the ravine, and started the opposite direction up the ravine. This time I was very careful, watching for signs of my passage before, and the hill I came down in the first place. It stopped raining, the wind died down, and the day started to warm up. I found my original trail down the hill, started back up, and got to the top.

All the landmarks were there now. I was totally confused.

I kept going on the ridge, watching carefully to find where I had come up before. When I got to the spot where I thought it should be, there was no sign of it. I cast back and forth for awhile, trying to find my trail with no success. All of my landmarks were there to see. Eventually, I gave up and continued on the ridge. A bit later, I found an easy trail down, and an easy trail back up the other side, and continued on my way.

To this day, I have no idea what happened. Even though it was drizzling, I should have been able to see the closer landmarks, and honestly, the further landmarks were big enough to see. To that point, thinking back on it, there was no sign that it was drizzling when I continued on to where I had ascended the first time. And the temperature swings were wild that day... easily 30-40F. Not uncommon in the mountains, but really odd for that time of year in that place.

Another thing... originally, I had chosen to descend that at that point because there was nothing to prevent me from going up the other side. I could see easily from the ridge-top. But when I arrived, there were tons of boulders blocking me that I should have been able to see from top.

Eerie and creepy. At the time, sure, but I was more focused on trying to orient myself. But thinking back on it, even more so now.

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2. A narrow escape.

I think the creepiest thing I've experienced was one time while walking home from an afternoon hunting in the woods. I heard people talking in the distance, and I couldn't hear what they were saying but they seemed to be arguing. They were quiet for a minute, and then I heard them again, really close now. The forest was really dense here so although they sounded maybe 15-20 feet away I couldn't see them or pinpoint exactly where they were. Then I got close enough I could hear what they said, but I guess they heard me too;

"Shh! Someone's coming!"

"Hurry! Hide!"

There were some rustling sounds and I came around a corner and expected to see them, but I couldn't see anyone. I kept walking, cautious and trying to be aware of my surroundings. About ten feet past the corner I saw something to the left of the trail (close to where the voices we're coming from) that caught my eye. It was a bunch of stuff wrapped up in a big tarp. It wasn't completely wrapped up and you could kind of see into it. All I could see was something dark and I wanted to see what it was. I scanned the forest behind the tarp to make sure nobody was watching, and then stepped towards it.

Suddenly, a booming voice echoes out of the woods. "Keep walking." It was calm, but very menacing.

I looked back into the forest but still couldn't see anyone. I looked for another second, still unable to see a soul, but then I heard another rustle, like maybe someone was coming toward me, so I turned and kept walking. I don't know what was going on but the whole thing gave me the creepiest vibe I've ever gotten. Wish I knew what was in that tarp - but maybe it's better I don't.

forest-2048742_1920-300x200.jpgImage by Florian Kurz from Pixabay

1. Something wicked this way comes.

One of my experiences happened on family-owned land in North Carolina where I used to live.

We called it "the noise," and to this day if you ask people who live or lived adjacent to the land about it they know exactly what you are talking about. Whatever it is was very loud and very fast. It was like a very loud primal scream. First time I heard it I was hunting with my dad and brother. We were stalk hunting and very slowly and methodically moving through the forest.

I noticed everything had gotten oddly quiet. Only thing you heard was the water running over the rocks in the creek. My Dad stopped us and said to hold still and not to move. As soon as we stopped, it screamed behind us. It was so loud it made my ears ring. My dad, who never showed fear and was always rational, looked very nervous. I'm ready to pee my pants, my brother has his gun shouldered looking around trying to spot it just to see what it is and make sure it isn't close.

Then it screams again now it seems closer and in front of us. My dad puts his hand on my shoulder and just tells me to run. I jump up like a scared rabbit and run as fast as my legs will carry me. We are all running and we can hear this thing screaming as we run like it's keeping pace easily. I can see the gravel road ahead and know the car is close. It lets out another scream that sounds like it's to my left now and very close I bolt right and we all come sliding out onto the road about 100 yards above the car. That's when I hear this weird whistle from the woods and then everything just goes back to normal.

Birds chirpping away, squirrels calling, crows cawing, we stopped to catch our breath and uneasily walked to the car ready for anything. 100 yards never seemed so far away. That wasn't the last time I heard it. In fact i have more stories that involve the noise if anyone wants to hear about them I will gladly share. My family tried to find it for years to figure it out, but when we thought we were close it would be somewhere else. Even trained hunting dogs ran away from this thing. Weird stuff but I still love to hunt. I figure if something gets me while I'm hunting at least I'm doing something I love and being close to nature.

dark-1936954_1920-300x200.jpgImage by Jordan Stimpson from Pixabay