Dan: Your story about the missing hunter reminded me of a strange occurance that happened to my hunting buddy and me a few years ago. It was a strange one and on occassion we still talk about it.
My friend and I had been hunting together for almost 25 years and when it wasn't big game season we enjoyed getting out for small game during the Upstate NY winters, if the snow isn't too deep to move in.
One fairly dry winter a few years ago we were out in one of our favorite conservation areas looking to wreak havoc on the bunny, squirrel and chipmunk population, as well as bagging anything we could cook up on the spot. We were hunting the old stone walls in this one area while moving through some pretty familiar territory. It was a cold but fairly quiet day and windless day and we knew we were alone in the woods because we hadn't seen any other vehicles parked in either of the entry areas. We were taking a break and talking about the fact that we had been hunting together for almost 25 years and about all the great times we had shared and the hunts we enjoyed.
We heard something strange coming toward us from a brushy area and I though for a bit that it sounded like an old dog huffin' and puffin' his way around some chipmuck holes and sure enough, he comes this old hound, slow and low to the ground, making more noise huffin' and puffin' and talking to himself and looking around for whoever knows. He certainly didn't look dangerous and was wearing an old collar and didn't even break stride when he saw us, coming on over like he knew us. He was an old guy for sure, and friendly and got a couple of scratches and pats when he stopped to sniff my boots. My buddy isn't really a dog lover but this old guy even got a couple of friendly scratches from him too. He never gave me the chance to look closely at his collar or tag, because we heard someone whistle for him and off he trudged,huffin' and puffin' and talkin' to himself. We thought it was pretty interesting as we had not seen anyone else in the woods so we followed him to where his owner had called him over.
There we encountered two old guys, both huffin' and puffin as much as the dog was but just enjoying a beautiful day in the wood hunting together, just like me and my friend. We introduced ourselves and chatted for a while, with all of us noting that each pair of hunters was pretty similar, one taller than the other, with both sportin' similar shotguns and pistols and clothing. They told us they had been hunting together in that area for over fifty years, that they had both purchased their shotguns, and then their pistols, together so they would both be able to use the same type of guns and ammo. We remarked that we had done the same and had hoped that we too could enjoy at least another 25 years or more hunting together just as they had. We also remarked that although we hunted that area regulary we had not had the good fortune to encounter them before that day but hoped we would see them again. They said they felt the same and hoped they would see us again and maybe we could all bag some rabbits and have a sit-down and cook'em up over a nice fire and give us some tips on where we can find the fastest squirrels in the area.
When it started getting a bit more overcast and coleder and the wind picked up we mentioned we were about to head out and asked if they needed a hand getting back to their vehicle and where they had parked. They indicated they had parked in about the same area we had. We mentioned that we hadn't seen any other tire tracks when we pulled in but jsut must have missed seeing their truck, which is why we had initially though we had the area to ourselves.
We parted company, those two old guys and their old dog, and as my friend and I walked back to our truck we kept talking about all the similarities between the four of us and hoped that we too could enjoy at least another 25 years hunting together. It was almost an hour later when we got back to the truck, still light enough to hunt for at least another hour, but colder and more overcast and getting somewhat unpleasant, and we remarked that we hoped those tow old guys had gotten back to their truck safely and decided to look around and see if all was well with them.
Well Dan, there certainly had not been any other vehicles in the area we had parked in, or in another nearby area. We went to all the other known sites where you could park and access that hunting area but no other tracks. We got a bit concerned and cruised the area for a while wondering of those two old guys were alright but could not find where any other vehicle had pulled in or out of any of the known or recognized parking areas that day. We wondered if we had been to all the different parking areas and if we had missed one and were about ready to head out and contact the Troopers about our concerns before it got too late. But just about then, while we were heading down a narrow stretch of back road that exited the area we saw where a vehicle had pulled out of a brushy area, leaving only tracks its exit tracks in the snow. We stopped and looked over the scene, noting with a bit of a chill, that there were no tracks leading in, no human bootprints leading to any spot that looked like a truck or any other vehicle for that matter had been parked there.
Nothing what so ever to indicate that a vehicle had done anything except pull out -no turn around, no stopped tire marks, no human footprints, no busted brush, no road, no nothing, except one set of dog prints and one set of tire marks and me and my buddy experiencing a severe chill running down our backs.
Later on that season we reviewed some old En Con maps of the area and found that more than 25 years ago there had been an area where we had seen the tracks exit from where hunters had parked but that the area had overgrown and not been used for a quarter century. We've never seen those tow old guys, or their old dog again, but sort of feel a bit of a chill whenever we go back out there, wonderin' just who, or what it was we actually encountered that day. Somehow, I think that neither one of us would ever hunt that area alone, or without the other, again. Mikey.
