Stinger-Hunter Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 I have to admit, when hunting alone - I don't like walking into the woods in the dark. Seems silly - but there are way too many things that can go wrong. I like those full moon nights or freshly snowed-over winter nights. Less so with a gun, but still it creeps me out. Maybe to many horror flicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sluggunner Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 You are right and not alone I'm sure. I sometimes get spooked walking into the dark woods and really like it better well lit up by a full moon. It is just so creepy at times. I don't even hunt in an area where there are bears or mountain lions or wolves, that would add a whole other element to the fear factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camoman1 Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 It normally doesnt bother me....but every now and then I get the chills while walking to my stand in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 Lol... I have to admit that I have on occasion had the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end for no reason whatsoever (that I am aware of). And then we had a pretty serious outbreak of rabies a bunch of years ago. That didn't help any. Now we have bears in the area. I had a garbage can destroyed and trash strewn up through the woods and a birdfeeder bent over to the ground........ with big ol' muddy bear tracks all over.....lol. That didn't boost my confidence any. Now we also have a proliferation of coyotes with the occasional newspaper article floating around of coyote attacks on humans, that doesn't exactly make that occasional snapped twig in the dark sound real reassuring. We have had the occasional very unfriendly stray dog wandering through the woods, and I once spotted a group of 4 german shepards heading my way, and me with just a puny bow and arrow in my hand. Another time a hunter came off the hill talking about a st. bernard that was acting quite aggressively toward him. Maybe he had just watched a bit too much of Cujo, but I can see where if you were only carrying a bow, that situation might leave you a bit un-nerved. So, if wandering around the woods in the dark makes you feel a bit uneasy, you are not alone. I simply tough it out until I get to my stand and even though I hunt from the ground, I seem to relax a bit once I get stationary and in my stand. Actually the odds of any of those things actually causing a problem are most likely astronomical, but that's not always an easy thing to convince yourself of, especially if you have a real good imagination. It can really work on you. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hungry hunter Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 You ain't the first or the last that gets the creeps while walking to your tree stand. Me I got the attitude when its your time, its your time! Too much pressure from the world to ruin one of the only things left that the idiots don't control. Enjoy the peace and solitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sskybnd Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 we dont have many critters around here to worry about while going to your stand in the dark, but early bow season when its still hot, im always watching the ground for snakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 Walking through standing corn in the dark can be a little unnerving for me. Worse if it's a farm I'm not real familiar with. My biggest fear is walking through the woods on public ground during the shotgun season. I'll whistle, humm, talk to myself, and cough hoping there isn't a brush shooting idiot out there with a loaded gun pointed at me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 It normally doesnt bother me....but every now and then I get the chills while walking to my stand in the morning. Few spots here that have gotten chills. Not really scared, just weird feeling. we dont have many critters around here to worry about while going to your stand in the dark, but early bow season when its still hot, im always watching the ground for snakes Snakes here are always an issue during bowseason. Wear snake boots, so they really don't scare me so much. Coyotes are not usually something to worry about, however we do have a good number of wild dogs here and have seen dogs running with yotes and even had an encounter a couple springs ago where a dog and yote were together and they charged at me. Fortunately that was during daylight during turkey season and they got peppered in the face real good with a winchester #5 turkey load, but certainly raised reason for concerns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemodeerhuntersneighbor Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 We have a farm with an old abandon farmhouse just inside the woods that gives me the freaking creeps everytime I walk by it in the dark. I usually pick up the pace when I get close to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimT Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 I get the willies once in a while. I had some coytoes yipping on the trail I was on one day. That did not work for me much. Buddy of mine tried to be funny guy once. Hid behind a tree and jumped out at me when I got to him. It was dark dark that evening. He almost got punched.... lol.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 Walking into the woods in the morning doesnt seem to bother me...but walking out after dark on evening hunts does seem to get to me sometimes. I dont know what the difference between morning dark and evening dark is, but there is a difference to me. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m gardner Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 I'm not afraid of the dark or anything in the dark. Spent lots of time walking around at night with no light or orienteering with a red light. Spent lots of time spike camping with no light to alert the animals. It's about the only way to find elk sometimes. High quality glass works wonders with a little moon too. Until one day I noticed holes in the ground in one spot I hunted that has old mines in it and realized I'd been walking past the old air vents that were unmarked and some were big enough to fall into. Good way to become an unsolved mystery. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom2008 Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 I'm with ya all the way bud. Especially with bears and some sigthings of mountain lions in the area we hunt. It gets a little scary. It doesn't bother me as much anymore though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowhuntMN Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 i totally agree with you. i'm just to embarrased to admit it sometimes but i've always thought i'll turn the corner one day and flash my light right into the eyes of bigfoot himself! haha. the thought of that and, like you said earlier, horror movies make my heart pump faster whenever i'm walking alone in the woods. mainly the thought of being helpless and on the ground eye-to-eye with a wolfman or something is what gets me lol its the same way getting out of the stand at night. i dont like going down to the ground level at dusk when its tough to see lol i guess its cuz you don't know what could be around you at that time. i always get anxious to get out of the stand when it starts getting dark but try to tell myself "this is the primetime for deer" which helps me stick it out till dark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
struttinhoyt Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 What a bunch of sissy's..... JK I have a thing about snakes..... I wear snake boots and still am freaked out about gettin on top of one! I am constantly watchin for em.... I haven't been affraid of the dark really..... I try and keep a small flashlight in my pack..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 Fear is a natural survival instinct. Without it most of us would most likely be dead. Take a survival course. Your confidence will most likely soar and those little things that go bump in the night wont seem so scary to ya when you know how to handle them. Sure a few of our military backgrounded members could re-enforce that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowhuntMN Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 Fear is a natural survival instinct. Without it most of us would most likely be dead. Take a survival course. Your confidence will most likely soar and those little things that go bump in the night wont seem so scary to ya when you know how to handle them. Sure a few of our military backgrounded members could re-enforce that. As part of my firefighter course i can take wilderness survival as an elective and now i think i better! thanks for the tip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HUNTINGMAN Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 I still get a little freaked out every now and then.Mostly all the rattle snakes and copperheads where I hunt,I wear snake boots just for that reason.I am a little more nervous going into the woods in the mornings than I am the afternoon because all of the nocternal creatures are still out and hunting and you never know what you will run into.In the afternoon you have been sitting silen and have been watching the woods so you know what is out there.As for the vampires and werewolves,I think my 40cal with hornady tap amo would run them off,it is all the meth heads and pot growers that I worry about,you never know when someone whou is out of there mind will be running around in the woods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikewink Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 It's not so much the animals or the woods that make me nervous. It's the 2 legged type that scare me. Never know who is sneaking around shooting at anything that moves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyperflow Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 i got the worst case of "Scared of the dark". I look like a disco light going around in the woods, because im allways looking all around me. I walk with a 1 million spotlight to my treestand for freak sakes. I had a beaver take off beside me the other night while walking back to the truck after bear hunting. I was pretty sure i was gonna have some brown marks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrow32 Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 I get a little nervous while walking in the woods at dark but I get use to it most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike13candace Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Walking in 1-hour before sunrise can be uneasy. I've been archery hunting for years. My state doesn't allow us to pack a firearm. One time I had the crap scared out of me by a moose.. large crashing sounds branches breaking. You could see the branches broke off 6-9' high. Yes.. hair does stand up on your back side. LOL Another time a pack of coyotes started to scream around me..of coarse they say attacts on humans are rare. But I didnt want to be a statistic. I picked up the pace to my stand. I feel so much better elevated off the ground. Once I get there.. everthing is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunt or be Hunted Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 yes i get scared. no tellin whats out there lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorden Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 That is the one thing I hate about hunting but hey, if you wanna kill the bigs ones you gotta do it. I have never been a big fan of the dark and as I walk I am constantly looking around and behind me at any little noise, especially on quiet mornings. Normally I feel a lot better when I get to my stand and am 20 feet above the ground:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Nothing in Ohio that can eat'cha, but I do get a little spooky walking in in the mornings sometimes. The one thing that is always in the back of my mind is some idiot that will shoot at noise, that's why I always wear a headlamp in and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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