I have 2 stories. The first I was probably 10 or 11 and my grandpa had took me deer hunting. I wasn't old enough to hunt, but he let me sit with him when he did, which may or may not have been legal then and honestly I don't care. We were in a homemade "ladder stand" of wood, and being this was in the days before under armor and -40 degree rated coats I was wearing a pair of jeans, sweatshirt, and whatever coat Kmart marked down to 5 dollars the previous spring... it was probably pink, lol. I was cold, as we'd been setting there for HOURS (maybe an hour) and hadn't seen anything.

We both has started watching 2 squirrels playing on a maze of smaller fallen trees in front of us and whispering about their acrobatics. We were in the dead center of a strip of woods probably 150 yards wide. When out of nowhere a redtail hawk came swooping in all the way from as far left as we could see and maneuvering through those trees as if they weren't even there. He hit one of those squirrels before any of us even knew what was happening and was gone in a blink of an eye. We watched the other squirrel run for cover once it was all over, lol.

The second time was probably 12 or so years ago and I was trying to catch an otter at a place where I had to walk most of the line. It was along a creek where I'd seen otter sign. It was cold that day, single digits. I'd checked my first sets which were empty and had to cross the creek at the ripple to check the next sets. So I crossed the ice at the ripple, crunching ice as I did, and walked up the bank to the top where there was a cut soybean field. It was a narrow field, maybe 150 yard across but long. Across the field was a woods, and when I got to the top of the bank I saw movement in that woods. It was a lone coyote trying to kill a lone doe deer.

Around and around they went. The coyote would charge, the doe would feint. Around and around as I stood mesmerized. But as I said, it was cold, and I could see the deers breaths coming out in great plumes. Without much though I started walking across the field. I didn't even have a gun. Coyote charge..... deer feint.... deer stand gasping until coyote charged again. I was less than 40 yards from them when the coyote noticed me and split. The deer was much slower to go, but eventually went in the opposite direction of the coyote. When I got over there, I saw a few speckles of blood in the snow, but nothing big. Guess this big, evil trapper saved that deer's life, lol.

6 feet from my blind in NW Ontario deer hunting

Tuesday catch, first cat. 332#

Funny encounter was in WI when I was turkey hunting I caught a flash in the thick cover to my right heading towards my decoy. Out pops a badger that walks right up to the decoy so he gives it the up and down head Bob look over a couple quick times. Then realized it was fake he looked around then went back the way it came.

That quick head bob is etched in my memory forever it was a hoot.

I once saw a gray fox carrying a baby ground hog in its mouth It was amazing in that where I saw it does not have many gray fox And it was about 10 or 11 AM Gray fox are an animal that stays in the heavy cover so walking down a rail road track i mid morning is very out of character And another once in a life time event was the time I was deef hunting along a very small steam It was about 3 foot across in most areas and 6 to maybe 20 inches deep There where areas along this stream that had cattails and also blackberry briars ,tall wetland type grasses etc Even though the cover was spotty at places it was pretty heavy. Just not very wide But the deer would bed down because it as not a place many people bothered to hunt . So one day I was just getting start at the lower end o where I would hunt .I saw movement on this little stream I saw brown fur and thought it was a muskrat swimming towards me But by that time I noticed two types of fur It was a floating small cottontail rabbit And behind it was a small mink floating this rabbit down stream with it in it.s mouth It was moving it like a rudder as it went Not to far downstream from where the rabbit/mnk combo where there was several muskrat holes in the bank And years before I had a mink eat a muskrat I trapped from one of those holes It felt like some blessing or mircle to be able to be a the right place to se what I never would have expected to see

Spotted here in west central MN last week. Confirmed it wasn't an escaped elk for any local elk farms.

Haha, one of these stories reminded me of when I first started turkey hunting. I had an old Feather Flex decoy I was using while hunting a local WMA. I had birds gobbling across the property line and had set the decoy on the WMA side on a road in the powerlines opening.

I noticed movement and thought here we go. Instead of a turkey it was a bobcat. This cat pulled a sneak on this decoy straight in front of it. I mean belly on the deck, inching along until it got to within a couple of feet then launched itself in the air and actually landed on the other side of the decoy. The only thing I can think of is it expected the “turkey” to fly up and when it didn’t that’s why he landed on the other side.

Now you’d think he would’ve wised up, but that wasn’t the case. This joker started sneaking in again and got right in front of the decoy and just reached up with its paw and slapped it so hard the decoy just spun round and round. It apparently was really confused now because it just sat on its haunches watching this decoy spin and occasionally giving it another slap. He finally wondered off towards the gobbling birds.

I sat there bewildered wishing I had a camcorder or something because I’d never see anything like that and thought I never would again, so I thought. Within 10 minutes he showed back up and this time pulled another sneak in and when he got in front of it just sat up again and gave it a light tap, lol. Since that day I had a fox run in and snatch that decoy by the head and run about 50yds before dropping it. I had coyotes sneak in on it. That decoy finally lost its head when early one morning an owl swooped in and took it right off, not that it took much, that decoy had seen its better days, lol. Guess those are just a few of the reasons I no longer use decoys.

One evening I was checking my trail cam came down the hill into the bottom did the deed an headed back up the same trail I noticed what I thought was a deer laying down right off the trail I came down thought it was kinda weird I didn't notice it on the way down in as I got closer I realized it wasn't a deer was a bobcat was tearing a squirrel in half an it realized I was there there it took off with the top half of the squirrel bottom half was still laying on the ground ....figured he had to have been sitting there the whole time I wasn't more than 5 minutes swapping out SD cards .....I was turkey hunting one evening I had a Tom on a string coming up this hill there was a mound of dirt across the edge of the field at the top I was on the backside kinda in the woods I peeked over the little mound an could see him strutting back an fourth so I kneeld back down clicked the safety off calmed my self down a bit an came back up for the shot but he wasn't there nowhere as I'm thinking to myself where did this bird go was just standing there less than 1 minute ago I hear a noise to my left an from around this big oak I was against here comes this Tom couple steps from me we both were a little startled he jumped up on the mound a flew down the hill he came up as a threw out a pop shot ha whiffed it great hunt though

In the 70's I ran a survey crew in the UP. I had sent the junior crew member back to pick up all the flagging and markers we had used. Intent on not missing anything he didn't notice the black bear that came out behind him. I can only imagine that the bear was curious about what the strange looking creature was doing as it followed behind him. Where we were it may have never seen a human before. I let it go till they were maybe 30 feet from the truck. Upon pointing out to him that he had company, he literally dropped everything and lept into the bed of the truck. Bear took off in the opposite direction at about the same speed. If I remember correctly he cursed me out for about a week over that

On a muzzleloader elk hunt in CO I was sitting against an aspen tree mid afternoon and saw elk running to me. A calf followed by mom, I only had a bull tag so was concentrating behind the cow elk, the calf jumped over my out stretched legs, the cow stopped in front of me about 5 feet away smelling me. She took the calf down the ridge line away from me, no bulls that day. I shot probably the smallest legal bull in CO 200 yards behind our tent camp the following afternoon, a 2x4.

And the winner is crowheart I will trade him places anytime every time His sighting for mine I still think mine are pretty cool But I am guessing his where pretty . pretty cool and pretty pretty hot all at the same time And most likely time stood still at least when his miind processed what he was seeing He surely had a smile on ihis face for quite a while that evening I almost never get jealous I do not think I I should have what others do. I look at life in a way that I am able to be happy with what I have and how to make the best of it But just for the few fleeting minutes during their conversation I am at least a little jealous Thanks for the story It really must have been really pretty pretty cool THANKS FOR MAKING ME SMLE TODAY

2006 I was rat trapping a northern WI flowage. As I was paddling along the shore I noticed a decent sized 8 point buck come near the shore and then entered the flowage and swam across the flowage about 60 yards in front of me. The flowage was about 80-100 yards wide at this spot. The buck swam slowly but steadily across with his head fully out of the water and about every 5-6 stroke he would turn to look to see me. Everything was quiet and calm and serene. After that I paddled about 100 yards down the flowage along the shore nearing one of my sets when I heard a splat in the canoe. I looked up and a bald eagle was right above me as a costed under the dead snag! He swooped out of the snag and I could hear the the sound of his flight even without his/her wings moving. Things like that make $3 rats more enjoyable.

In 1994 on the 4th of July I had my wife drop me off with my canoe at a bridge. The river I was going to paddle was about 3-4 miles from where we were staying but about 8-9 miles winding through mostly national forest and then another 4 to the end of the flowage. I started at 10 AM and told my wife I should be back about 3-4 PM. little did I know how many log jams, beaver dams, ponds etc. I needed to portage. I got back about 8 PM!
What did I see, lots of wilderness where there are almost no roads. Beaver dams that blocked the river so much one could not see water ahead, only parted grass that indicated a trickle that became a river again 200 yards down stream. A doe and a fawn were sleeping on the shore and I was half past them when they all sprang straight in the air and the doe snorted really loudly. About a half mile down the river there was a female otter with 2 pups sleeping on the bank. I got right up to them and they hit the water so close to me that the last pup banged into my canoe. Tired, muddy, wet and late but filled with the awe of nature.

Bryce

Walking a bean field in the to check coyote sets here in SE Nebraska a few years ago. Came across a single set of elk tracks heading across the field. Tracks were like deer tracks on steroids, nearly size of my hip boot foot length and the stride length was surprisingly far apart each track. Big animal!
They are rare indeed around here but several have been observed passing through.

My wife and I were driving along the river one day when we noticed a big commotion going on in a shallow backwater. A bald eagle had caught a tench so big he couldn't fly with it. He was swimming to shore dragging that fish, what amazed me was how fast he could swim.

Great photo

I've seen a lot of cool stuff over the years. Here's a few.

Hawk and eagle flying together. Hawks killing doves and pigeons. Recently posted about a Mexican Great Wolf howling near us while gutting my elk.
Being literally surrounded by 100 + - deer all within 50 yards(furthest. Closest was about 5yds)while checking traps.
One of the coolest ones I was making breakfast at camp (deer) a few years back I noticed a pair of eyes, flashlight revealed a Kit Fox next thing I know I was having breakfast and coffee with about a dozen Kit Foxes. They would come about 10' away take potato skins and dash off.
At camp for elk we were hanging out having coffee after dinner heard a thud near us. A herd of a dz or so elk were at camp.
Found a bobcat kitten with a punctured skull.
Scariest, while tracking 3 bucks had a bear less than 5-7 yards behind a scrub oak while bow hunting and no sidearm (didn't have ccw) huff at me

Two otters on the ice with a open springhole between them they played hockey for 30 minutes batting a turtle back and forth and sometimes into the hole .One would go down in the water and bring to the top and set it on the ice like it was a sandwich the other would get it and the game continued . That turtle would be skated as much as 30 to 40 feet as the ice had almost no snow .

I wonder if the smaller tracks were the tracks of a jaguar cub? The track looks nearly perfectly scaled down from the jaguar track.

Keith

Took the dog out for a walk today she’s constipated a group of 8 eagles juveniles and adults flew out of the tree belt next to the house. Most likely a group that follows the goose migration every year. In the past we counted 13 in one group.