Most memorable wildlife encounter?

[Questor]

My vote for most memorable wildlife encounter is from a time near a mangrove swamp in south Florida. I stopped to look into a canal for fish and got so swarmed with mosquitoes I had to run to get back on my motorcycle and get out of there. I was so bitten up that my skin burned and I felt sick. I was a solid mass of welts from the wait up.

Then there was the time I was out hunting and a rattlesnake coiled up like it was going to strike. Just as I noticed it, I also realized my shotgun was pointed right at it and I fired, killing the snake.

[mechanic]

Mine was playing golf.  My partner in the scramble had lost all his balls except one as we were playing in.  He hit it down a steep embankment onto the spillway of a pond.  I told him he ought to go find it, as it was him momento of his first round of golf.  As he peered over the bridge, he said "there is an alligaotor there!" 

Old blind Ben took a look, and sure enough, a little gator about 18" inches long was just in front of his very visible ball.  I thought "what a wuss" as I went down the bank.   I picked up his ball, popped junior on the nose and stood up just in time for mama to run toward me hissing from about 8' away.

It's my understanding they still have erosion problem where I came up the bank...

[Questor]

That reminds me of a time on the Peace river in Florida. I was wading in a little pool off the side of the river and noticed that I was in the company of a bunch of newly hatched alligators. They were cute little things, still with the orange markings on them. Then I remembered that mother alligators don't get too far from their newborn offspring and I got out of there like a scalded dog.

[FourBee]

My bluetick coonhound was being chased by two coyotes as she nearly knocked me down sliding into me bawling like she'd seen a ghost.  When I looked up they were charging in at a full gate.  My little pump .22 let off a volley of (9) rounds as fast as it could.  I killed one large male (which my brother still has its hide on his den wall).  I'm sure I hit the other, but it ran right past me and my hound turned brave and put it to chase. I think I gained a few years in those fleeting seconds.

4B

[Sourdough]

When I got stomped on by a Grizzly, left a lasting impression on me.  Along with 4 herniated disk.  But the most memorable had to be when a Cow Moose used us to get rid of a Grizzly.

My partner and I were fishing along this little river in the back country.  I was building a fire to cook something for lunch.  Suddenly a lathered up Cow Moose with calf in tow came running into the clearing.  I froze waiting for her to pass by.  She came up and laid down within 20 yards of my fire.  Calf laid down beside her.  She just laid there looking at me, and I'm scared to death thinking I'm about to get stomped.  Occasionally she would look back at the area where she had came out of the woods.  After about 20 minutes a Grizzly came out of the woods at that point.  When the Bear saw the fire and me, it stopped and sat down.  The cow just laid her ears back and watched the bear.  Occasionally she would look at me and my partner, who had quietly walked over to join me.  My partner and I moved to face the bear, getting our guns ready.  The bear moved back into the woods, then circles around to the river.  The bear crossed the river then ame down even with us and sat watching the cow and calf.  The cow just calmly laid there licking the calf and dozing off.  My partner and I ate lunch then just sat there.  After about two hours the bear left.  It got up and wandered off into the woods.  The cow watched this happen.  Once the Bear was out of site she got up and slowly walked back the way she had came, leading her calf off into the woods.

[gstewart44]

On land - during spring turkey season about 3 yrs ago.....I was riding my 4 wheeler down beside the railroad tracks running along our property line looking for poachers.    Up ahead was a figure that looked like a big black dog sitting on his haunches.    The "dog" looked up at me when I was about 175  yds away.   He looked kind of funny so I put my scope on him and discovered it was a juvenile black bear sitting down enjoying a patch of berries.    I had seen grown blackies before but never an adolescent.   

On water - got to see two huge marlin feeding on a large school of small dophin fish.   The marlins kept circling the school bunching them tighter and tighter, then they would take turns jumping out of the water about halfway and thrashing the school with their bills.   This went on for about 4 minutes then they just disappeared.   

[beerbelly]

A bunch of years ago , I was coon hunting in some very hilly woods. I was using a carbide lamp had it turned way down to just a flame not bigger than the head of a large kitchen match. This is to save water and carbide.
     The dogs were a long way off and down in a hallow, so I was standing very still and lessening very hard. I was standing in a pipeline right of way about three feet from the woods and brush.
      A bob cat attracted to the small flame , I guess. Let loose a scream not more than three or four feet from me , in the brush! Scared the living day-lights out of me! With out thinking I pulled my .357 ruger security six and blasted away. The muzzle blast blew out my lamp, Now in the dark with my gun under my arm pit , trying to relight my lamp. These lamps had a little wheel lighter like a cigarette lighter. But you had to hold you hand over the reflector to allow it to build up gas so the spark will light it off. This I was not doing! But I was making a fair light with that little wheel an flint!!
        After calming down and lighting my lamp I got a good laugh out of it, but he scared the hell out of me!
                               Beerbelly

[greg916]

It was either walking back to the truck after a night of coon hunting and stepping right in the middle of a covey of quail, or reaching into my rabbit gum, and having a squirrel run up my arm. Both were totally unexpected.

[Swampman]

I had a doe stick her nose to my foot while I sat at the base of a small tree.  I had a 4' moccasin crawl across my bare feet while night fishing.

[Elijah Gunn]

I was deer hunting when it started to snow, big fluffy snowflakes. As I still hunted along the edge of a stand of pine trees I heard a hawk land in a maple tree about 10 feet or so away from me. We just stood there and looked at each other for awhile,and then he flew off. Beautiful,majestic looking bird.

[nw_hunter]

Driving home from work back in the 70's, about 10 miles from home on a country road,I dodged about a half dozen deer at a crossing , but couldn't miss the last one. I was driving a Chev. suburban with the back seat removed to haul plywood in. I hit the doe hard, and she was down and I thought .......dead! I didn't want to see the meat go to waste, so I decided to load her up and take her home. "BAD MOVE" She woke up about a mile up the road, and The fight was on. Being almost dark, I had the headlights on, and she was heading for the lights. She kept coming over the seat and pawing me in the process. Every time I thought about stopping to let her out, I would meet a car, and in my mind, everyone I met was a game warden.

After about several more miles of shear torture (to me) she finally died from blood loss.

My wife would have never believed me about the deer fight, if not for the bloody ear and shoulder. (mine) not the deer. We did get some good steaks for the trouble.

[1marty]

I was shooting at an outdoor pistol range last year. I had my muffs on at the time and couldn't hear anything. While reloading my Browning hi-power I glanced to my left and I noticed the other four shooters were running to their cars. When I finished loading I looked to my right and there was a huge mama black bear with 2 cubs standing about 10 feet away. I said "feet get moving" and took off and jumped in the closes car to me. The bear walked around awhile and wandered into the woods. All us brave guys went back shooting.

[gstewart44]

About 30 yrs ago I was visiting some friends in Vermont and wanted to do some hunting.   They told me of some good areas where the deer were crossing from food to bed,  but they all told me to stay away from the "haunted" mountain.    It was really  more of a rocky hill but nonetheles the locals said it had bad spirits, karma or luck and to stay away.   

I was following some fresh tracks in the snow and wouldn't you know the tracks led around to the haunted mountain.  I followed.   When I climbed up the back side of the mountain I could see a large buck in a clearing about 200 yds away down in a hollow nibbling on the twigs of a wild apple tree.   

I noticed the sunny morning disappeared, clouds covered the sky, wind picked up and it started snowing heavily.   I worked my way down the mountain to within 120 yds of the buck and steadied myself in between two trees, trying to get a decent shot.    Right when I was about to pull the trigger, the snow between my  legs exploded, I fell over into one of the trees and the 3006 went into the bark.   For a split second I thought the Haunted Mountain was going to swallow me up and drag me into Hades.   

It was only the fluttering of the wings that let me know I had walked up on a Spruce Grouse buried in the new fallen snow and he held tight  until I was right on top of him.  I didnt get the buck and when I made it back to the cabin my friends told me I should not have messed with Haunted Mountain.   They still laugh about it to this day.

[magooch]

Last winter I was kayaking on the Columbia River and when I came to a jetty I had to go around, I could see a couple of sea lions were messing around near the outboard end of the jetty.  Not wanting to get too close to them, I decided to give them at least a hundred yards, so I headed out further into the river.  When I thought I was far enough away, I turned downstream to round the jetty.  At that point, the water all around me erupted with sea lions.  I didn't have time to count them, but it seemed like there were at least a hundred of them and they were being pretty clear that I was either an object of intense curiosity for them, or I was not welcome in that particular area.  I allowed that the latter seemed most plausible by their actions.  Kayaks don't generally get on a plane, except when surfing, but I believe mine was close to a plane on my way back to shallower water where the lions don't usually go.

Anyone who thinks that sea lions are nice cuddly and harmless, probably hasn't had a close encounter with these massive (up to 3000 lbs.) creatures.

[Questor]

Magooch:

I watched something interesting related to seals in Monterey California. I was SCUBA diving in a kelp bed within sight of another diver. One of the big harbor seals zipped past me silently, but very close by and went straight to the other diver, swam up behind him, and looked right into his mask from a distance of just inches. You should have seen the alarm and the cloud of bubbles from that diver. It would have scared me stiff, but he handled it well. That was a huge surprise for the poor guy.

These animals are large, but they are silent and you can't sense them when they go by. It was a complete surprise to the diver. They are used to having divers around regularly, so I guess they make a game of them.

[GameHauler]

Many years ago I hike into a remote area by myself to do some Mountain Lion
hunting.
I was looking down into a nice little canyon that looked good and could easily make a shot across the canyon if I was able to call one in.
Got set up with my back up to a small rock outcropping, rifle across my lap
as I sat there and started mouth calling for lion.
After about a half hour of calling a lion lets out a roar not 3 feet directly above my head.
Scared the crap out of me and had to donate a shirt tail.
To this day the thought of that roar still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

On the way back to the truck a ran across a black rattler which are very aggressive, then another and another and another.
This was making walking very slow and each step deliberate.
Then I hear a Buzz that sounds like a swarm of hornets.
I look into a small little depression and it was full of hundreds of blacks.
Needless to say my hunt was over.

[guzzijohn]

Flying a sailplane circling in a thermal when a red tail hawk joined up with me a few feet from the canopy keeping eye contact with me. He stayed there for several turns.
GuzziJohn