ryansheehan
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Must have been Frank Clark in the woods.....
salmonoid
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I've had a few times that I've been spooked (mostly me spooking myself), but none of these involve bad vibes from two-legged animals.
The earliest I can remember was when I was a teen, backpacking with friends on the Black Forest Trail. It was summer and we stayed at a nice campsite a few miles off the road. I didn't take a tent and just laid my sleeping bag down by the fire. I woke up in the middle of the night and heard what sounded like large paw prints padding around the leaves behind me. I was absolutely sure it was a bear but kept trying to ignore it. It kept padding around. I finally worked up the nerve to get my flashlight and turn it on in the direction of the bear, fully expecting to have it slobbering with blood-stained teeth and pounce on me. It turned out to be a woods mouse scampering around the leaves. I remember distinctly trying to brew a cup of tea by the fire, to calm my nerves and after waiting what seemed like ample time to have the water boil, I took an exploratory sip. It wasn't even lukewarm.
Probably the most real and imminent danger was a number of years ago at my parents cabin, which is on Bald Eagle Ridge. it was after dark and my wife was going over to our car to get out a jug of water. She called me over and said the leaves were rustling and we figured something like a raccoon was probably scampering around. Grabbed a flashlight and shone around and realized it wasn't a raccoon, but a black phase rattlesnake that probably had been under the car but moved into the leaves beside the car when my wife approached. She had never heard a rattlesnake before and after dark is a heck of a time to get trained on that sound.
A number of years ago, I was nightfishing on a small stream. I had parked my car and was probably planning to sleep in it for the night and was working my way downstream a few hundred yards to a nice hole. I stopped for a moment, and there was a loud snort sound from right on the bank. I about caught a brown trout in my waders that time, but it was only a deer detecting my presence.
One that is still in my head is a backpacking trip I took with my daughter in 2019. We had made a campfire and my daughter eventually crawled into her hammock to sleep. I stayed awake, by the fire, because I was doing some nightfishing. About 11 o'clock, I heard noises downstream from where I was at, that I could not attribute to anything I had ever heard before. It was kind of a combination of a growl and scream, as if an animal was unhappy with some other animal and maybe they were fighting over a food scrap they had found. I eventually did some Googling of animal noises after I was home for a bit, and got the heebie jeebies when I watched a Youtube video of a cougar screaming. It was an almost exact match of the sound and my mind could imagine a cat downstream of me, smelling me and the smoke from the campfire, and doing some growling.
The reason this is still in my head is I was in the same area in late March this year. The snow was not completely melted off the ground yet, in spots. I was fishing up through the area that the original sound would have come from, just downstream from the campsite I stayed at in 2019 and was planning to stay at this year. It was the middle of the afternoon. I ducked underneath a tree that is across the stream and when I stood up and looked back downstream, along the bank, I saw an entire upright rib cage sitting about 30 yards off the bank on the floodplain. It was relatively fresh, because the tissue was still there between the ribs. Since the bank was too high to climb out at that point, at least with a fully laden pack, I figured I would just snap a picture of it on my way out the next day. I hiked out the next morning and the rib cage had completely disappeared. The snow had melted a good deal in that 24 hours, so there wasn't much left for tracking. I circled around a bit, looking to see if it had been drug away but couldn't find it. And then my mind got the better of me and I decided that if something big enough to drag away the rib cage of a large deer or small elk was around, it could just as easily be sitting up on the hillside watching me.
Last week, I was at the same spot and observed and heard nothing. But I sure did think about the noise and the rib cage when I fished through that little stretch.
Every bear I have ever seen in the woods has quickly run away once it knew I was there. Similar with snakes - they don't want anything to do with you (except for one small garter snake that actually started chasing me along a stream in ANF). I do usually have trouble sleeping soundly in the woods, so my mind will often race and each sound is heightened when I lay there half awake all night. When I hear coyotes howling in the distance and I'm sleeping in my hammock, I'll imagine them silently and stealthily sneaking into my campsite and tearing my hammock open to get at me. But the reality is, healthy animals won't do that. A sick animal might act in a way that isn't normal, but as others have noted, the most dangerous part of a fishing trip or hike is the drive to and from the location. In Pennsylvania, the woods is still a relatively safe place to be.
The earliest I can remember was when I was a teen, backpacking with friends on the Black Forest Trail. It was summer and we stayed at a nice campsite a few miles off the road. I didn't take a tent and just laid my sleeping bag down by the fire. I woke up in the middle of the night and heard what sounded like large paw prints padding around the leaves behind me. I was absolutely sure it was a bear but kept trying to ignore it. It kept padding around. I finally worked up the nerve to get my flashlight and turn it on in the direction of the bear, fully expecting to have it slobbering with blood-stained teeth and pounce on me. It turned out to be a woods mouse scampering around the leaves. I remember distinctly trying to brew a cup of tea by the fire, to calm my nerves and after waiting what seemed like ample time to have the water boil, I took an exploratory sip. It wasn't even lukewarm.
Probably the most real and imminent danger was a number of years ago at my parents cabin, which is on Bald Eagle Ridge. it was after dark and my wife was going over to our car to get out a jug of water. She called me over and said the leaves were rustling and we figured something like a raccoon was probably scampering around. Grabbed a flashlight and shone around and realized it wasn't a raccoon, but a black phase rattlesnake that probably had been under the car but moved into the leaves beside the car when my wife approached. She had never heard a rattlesnake before and after dark is a heck of a time to get trained on that sound.
A number of years ago, I was nightfishing on a small stream. I had parked my car and was probably planning to sleep in it for the night and was working my way downstream a few hundred yards to a nice hole. I stopped for a moment, and there was a loud snort sound from right on the bank. I about caught a brown trout in my waders that time, but it was only a deer detecting my presence.
One that is still in my head is a backpacking trip I took with my daughter in 2019. We had made a campfire and my daughter eventually crawled into her hammock to sleep. I stayed awake, by the fire, because I was doing some nightfishing. About 11 o'clock, I heard noises downstream from where I was at, that I could not attribute to anything I had ever heard before. It was kind of a combination of a growl and scream, as if an animal was unhappy with some other animal and maybe they were fighting over a food scrap they had found. I eventually did some Googling of animal noises after I was home for a bit, and got the heebie jeebies when I watched a Youtube video of a cougar screaming. It was an almost exact match of the sound and my mind could imagine a cat downstream of me, smelling me and the smoke from the campfire, and doing some growling.
The reason this is still in my head is I was in the same area in late March this year. The snow was not completely melted off the ground yet, in spots. I was fishing up through the area that the original sound would have come from, just downstream from the campsite I stayed at in 2019 and was planning to stay at this year. It was the middle of the afternoon. I ducked underneath a tree that is across the stream and when I stood up and looked back downstream, along the bank, I saw an entire upright rib cage sitting about 30 yards off the bank on the floodplain. It was relatively fresh, because the tissue was still there between the ribs. Since the bank was too high to climb out at that point, at least with a fully laden pack, I figured I would just snap a picture of it on my way out the next day. I hiked out the next morning and the rib cage had completely disappeared. The snow had melted a good deal in that 24 hours, so there wasn't much left for tracking. I circled around a bit, looking to see if it had been drug away but couldn't find it. And then my mind got the better of me and I decided that if something big enough to drag away the rib cage of a large deer or small elk was around, it could just as easily be sitting up on the hillside watching me.
Last week, I was at the same spot and observed and heard nothing. But I sure did think about the noise and the rib cage when I fished through that little stretch.
Every bear I have ever seen in the woods has quickly run away once it knew I was there. Similar with snakes - they don't want anything to do with you (except for one small garter snake that actually started chasing me along a stream in ANF). I do usually have trouble sleeping soundly in the woods, so my mind will often race and each sound is heightened when I lay there half awake all night. When I hear coyotes howling in the distance and I'm sleeping in my hammock, I'll imagine them silently and stealthily sneaking into my campsite and tearing my hammock open to get at me. But the reality is, healthy animals won't do that. A sick animal might act in a way that isn't normal, but as others have noted, the most dangerous part of a fishing trip or hike is the drive to and from the location. In Pennsylvania, the woods is still a relatively safe place to be.
UncleShorty
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This happened to me in TX, not in PA...
A buddy of mine booked us a hog hunt in South TX. We were planning to hunt at night. As long as you tell the game warden where you'll be shootin' it's legal for hogs. They are not game animals in TX.
We were supposed to "hunt" from blinds over bait. (It's really not huntin', it's just harvesting...) But the rancher only had one blind out. My buddy got it and I got an old rusty kitchen chair behind an up turned pallet.
Any way, about 0300 hrs a sounder of hogs surrounded my set up. I could hear them grunting, rooting and fighting about 25 yards away but I couldn't see them in the dark, in the brush.
The hair on my neck, arms and head was standing straight up. I began to get worried they'd prefer to eat a nice stout Texan rather than hog bait, which they had ignored to that point.
I listened nervously for about 20 minutes. Then I heard them move off in my buddy's direction.
As soon as I couldn't hear them anymore I hied for the truck. After a while I walked back to my buddy's blind. I found him up on the roof of the thing. He said he'd been surrounded by a bunch of hogs, couldn't see 'em and got so scared he climbed to safety.
I haven't hunted hogs at night since...
A buddy of mine booked us a hog hunt in South TX. We were planning to hunt at night. As long as you tell the game warden where you'll be shootin' it's legal for hogs. They are not game animals in TX.
We were supposed to "hunt" from blinds over bait. (It's really not huntin', it's just harvesting...) But the rancher only had one blind out. My buddy got it and I got an old rusty kitchen chair behind an up turned pallet.
Any way, about 0300 hrs a sounder of hogs surrounded my set up. I could hear them grunting, rooting and fighting about 25 yards away but I couldn't see them in the dark, in the brush.
The hair on my neck, arms and head was standing straight up. I began to get worried they'd prefer to eat a nice stout Texan rather than hog bait, which they had ignored to that point.
I listened nervously for about 20 minutes. Then I heard them move off in my buddy's direction.
As soon as I couldn't hear them anymore I hied for the truck. After a while I walked back to my buddy's blind. I found him up on the roof of the thing. He said he'd been surrounded by a bunch of hogs, couldn't see 'em and got so scared he climbed to safety.
I haven't hunted hogs at night since...
T
troutbert
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Since this is PA, that was probably a bobcat. They make loud and horrifying noises at night. I heard that while walking out in the dark and it's spooky. My blood was curdled.
The_Sasquatch
Well-known member
Hogs make me more nervous than just about anything else in the woods. A few counties I fish in for smallies have a population of Wild Boar (Logan and Boone County), and many areas have feral swine. I haven't seen any yet, but I'm pretty edgy about them.
barrybarry
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- Feb 23, 2009
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I like this thread. Everyone seems to be spilling the beans.
Thought I'd post the SGL 211 story that I still think about to this day.
Scouting for deer in mid-November. Left my house at 6 and arrived at the Cold Springs lot around 7:15. For years I'd hike 211 on Sundays. Decided at the parking lot to head to the top of the mountain and west. I've done it many times before.
Stopped to eat a packed lunch around 11 or so. As I was getting ready to eat my lunch, I noticed it was getting dark. Checked my watch and it was 4:30. I still think about this.
Thought I'd post the SGL 211 story that I still think about to this day.
Scouting for deer in mid-November. Left my house at 6 and arrived at the Cold Springs lot around 7:15. For years I'd hike 211 on Sundays. Decided at the parking lot to head to the top of the mountain and west. I've done it many times before.
Stopped to eat a packed lunch around 11 or so. As I was getting ready to eat my lunch, I noticed it was getting dark. Checked my watch and it was 4:30. I still think about this.
Susquehanna
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- Feb 10, 2017
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Could have been deer also.
Deer actually do a raspy scream when startled by something at night.
Freaked me out many mornings when leaving for work before I figured out what it was. I could see them run for the fields when my headlights hit them.
FarmerDave
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I like this thread too, but as they say, memory is the second thing to go.
I once had a very close encounter with a muskrat. When living in Connecticut back in the early 80s, I lived in a grist mill that had been converted into apartments, This was right on a trout stream where it dumped into brackish water. Behind the building was a large pool. One hot summer day, I decided I was going to cool off in the water, so I laid on a folding lounge in the water with just my head out of the water, facing upstream. I wrapped my legs around the lounge to keep from floating off the lounge. Soon I saw a muskrat swimming towards me from upstream. I decided to slide even further into the water and lay there motionless to see how close it would get.
It kept coming closer and closer. When it got within arms length of my head, I decided to shoo it away. In hind sight, it was right over my midsection with my legs spread wide, so I was probably lucky to get out of there with my oozy still intact.
Since I had brown hair, it must have thought I was another muskrat?
I once had a very close encounter with a muskrat. When living in Connecticut back in the early 80s, I lived in a grist mill that had been converted into apartments, This was right on a trout stream where it dumped into brackish water. Behind the building was a large pool. One hot summer day, I decided I was going to cool off in the water, so I laid on a folding lounge in the water with just my head out of the water, facing upstream. I wrapped my legs around the lounge to keep from floating off the lounge. Soon I saw a muskrat swimming towards me from upstream. I decided to slide even further into the water and lay there motionless to see how close it would get.
It kept coming closer and closer. When it got within arms length of my head, I decided to shoo it away. In hind sight, it was right over my midsection with my legs spread wide, so I was probably lucky to get out of there with my oozy still intact.
Since I had brown hair, it must have thought I was another muskrat?
pcray1231
Well-known member
It happens every year in deer season. 1-2 hrs before daybreak, you just got to your stand, turned off your light, things settle down. And coyotes come by yipping. You can't see a dang thing. Hair on neck will stand up.
When I lived in Coudersport I had a close encounter of the bear kind. At my house. I had the whole battle with raccoons getting into garbage. Got better garbage cans, better lids, you know how that goes. It went away for a week or two, I had em beat. 3 a.m. one night I wake up to banging. Dang coons are back. Half asleep I wonder to the door, open the door, press my face against the glass of the storm door. Its black. Well no crap Pat, its night time! Face still pressed, reach over, flip on outside light. It's still black. What the heck? No, its fur! My face was a thin pane of glass from its back.. We noticed each other simultaneously and ran in opposite directions, door still between us. lol. I didn't make it back to sleep that night.
When I lived in Coudersport I had a close encounter of the bear kind. At my house. I had the whole battle with raccoons getting into garbage. Got better garbage cans, better lids, you know how that goes. It went away for a week or two, I had em beat. 3 a.m. one night I wake up to banging. Dang coons are back. Half asleep I wonder to the door, open the door, press my face against the glass of the storm door. Its black. Well no crap Pat, its night time! Face still pressed, reach over, flip on outside light. It's still black. What the heck? No, its fur! My face was a thin pane of glass from its back.. We noticed each other simultaneously and ran in opposite directions, door still between us. lol. I didn't make it back to sleep that night.
glamcaster
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Love where everyone went with this, thanks all the advice & stories. The general consensus seems that A) psychology and B) other people are the the main dangers in our beautiful wilds.
I didn't know the magnitude of drug use/manufacture in the nooks and crannies of our mountains and valleys. Sad stuff all around. While I'm personally not one to pack a burner, pepper gel is the new favorite Spring/Summer 21 accessory :-D
Last matter of business, I hope my OP didn't come off as hickphobic or anti-Appalachia. The people & lands that way are as resilient as they come. Everyone in this region, Native American to White, are victims of exploitation and neglect. I'm honored to fish and explore a Pennsylvania that my own municipality paved and sold to death. To rural Pa, with love x
tight, safe lines all
I didn't know the magnitude of drug use/manufacture in the nooks and crannies of our mountains and valleys. Sad stuff all around. While I'm personally not one to pack a burner, pepper gel is the new favorite Spring/Summer 21 accessory :-D
Last matter of business, I hope my OP didn't come off as hickphobic or anti-Appalachia. The people & lands that way are as resilient as they come. Everyone in this region, Native American to White, are victims of exploitation and neglect. I'm honored to fish and explore a Pennsylvania that my own municipality paved and sold to death. To rural Pa, with love x
tight, safe lines all
FarmerDave
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Maybe a little, but us hillbillies tend to have thicker skin than you city slickers. ;-)
Joking^
skybay
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Glamcaster,let say: it’s your imagination or psychic playing with you? Try produce something creative (epic...
); writings, drawings or notes from your experiences.
); writings, drawings or notes from your experiences.
Z
Zak
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- Jun 5, 2013
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Go fish the upper section FFO portion of Dunbar Creek in Westmoreland County but first go and read the story of Betty Knox. You'll love the hike up that ravine in the early morning or late evening hours haha.
Swattie87
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- May 3, 2011
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Also read about “The Blue Eyed Six” and “The Lost Children of the Alleghenies.” I’ve been on one of those streams before, gearing up at the car predawn on a foggy morning after a Summer thunderstorm the night before. Spooky, figures in the mist…
afishinado
Moderator
Staff member
:-o
I may have start packing on the stream, like some of you guys, or call in the ghostbusters before I fish!
http://hauntsandhistory.blogspot.com/2010/04/legend-of-betty-knox.html
https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/blue-eyed-six
https://www.thirdstopontheright.com/lost-children-alleghenies/
Good stuff....
D
dryflyguy
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- Sep 21, 2006
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First time I've heard the story about Betty Knox. Interesting
A few years ago, I was fishing there.
And a young lady came walking down the road, from the dead end
part of the stream.
She called out to me, and told me that she had been walking in the woods and became lost.
And asked if I could drive her back to her car - wherever that was.
Being well aware of the shady goings on there, I politely told her no.
And she kept on walking out toward the intersection with the main road.
I kept on fishing for awhile, somewhat nervously.
And then left.
On a little different note:
I fished Bobs creek for the first time, just a few weeks ago.
And saw the sign and story about the lost children of the alleghenies.
A short while later, I was casting some cicada patterns into a large deep hole.
When 2 young ladies came walking down the road, and politely asked if I they could fish in the same spot.
I said be my guest.
They started rigging up some spinning rods, and then pulled out a cereal box.
And I was wondering if they were gonna use cereal for bait.
Turns out it was an empty box, that was just stuffed with cicadas they had gathered up from the surrounding area.
And were gonna use them for bait.
I wished them well, and moved on downstream.
A few years ago, I was fishing there.
And a young lady came walking down the road, from the dead end
part of the stream.
She called out to me, and told me that she had been walking in the woods and became lost.
And asked if I could drive her back to her car - wherever that was.
Being well aware of the shady goings on there, I politely told her no.
And she kept on walking out toward the intersection with the main road.
I kept on fishing for awhile, somewhat nervously.
And then left.
On a little different note:
I fished Bobs creek for the first time, just a few weeks ago.
And saw the sign and story about the lost children of the alleghenies.
A short while later, I was casting some cicada patterns into a large deep hole.
When 2 young ladies came walking down the road, and politely asked if I they could fish in the same spot.
I said be my guest.
They started rigging up some spinning rods, and then pulled out a cereal box.
And I was wondering if they were gonna use cereal for bait.
Turns out it was an empty box, that was just stuffed with cicadas they had gathered up from the surrounding area.
And were gonna use them for bait.
I wished them well, and moved on downstream.
birdog
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- Sep 20, 2015
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- 85
I've had my dogs pick up on things while grouse hunting over the years. Spending many days training and hunting you get to know your dogs well, you can tell when something is amiss.
I first notice a break in their normal hunting pattern or they come back to me when they shouldn't. It often involves refusing to work through or even approach a certain area. That's when I take notice. There will usually be a cellar hole, rock wall, spring, high knob or depressions, all signs of prior human habitation I believe.
My dogs have much better senses than I, so if they get the heebie jeebies from a place, I am inclined to trust them. I have never felt scared, just that something in those places was, "different." Out of respect, I always head off in another direction.
I first notice a break in their normal hunting pattern or they come back to me when they shouldn't. It often involves refusing to work through or even approach a certain area. That's when I take notice. There will usually be a cellar hole, rock wall, spring, high knob or depressions, all signs of prior human habitation I believe.
My dogs have much better senses than I, so if they get the heebie jeebies from a place, I am inclined to trust them. I have never felt scared, just that something in those places was, "different." Out of respect, I always head off in another direction.
Skeet6
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- Aug 25, 2013
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- 186
I prefer a shoulder holster under a loose short-sleeve button down, worn open.
Mike B
wildtrout2
Well-known member
I imagine that would deter most trouble making types. :lol:
wbranch
Well-known member
I'm never comfortable if I'm fishing a new place and am unfamiliar with the environs. Maybe I see too many TV shows where guys out alone get waylayed, robbed, and/or murdered by some druggie looking for a few dollars to get a fix.
I used to walk in to the mouth of the Codorus where it empties into the Susquehanna. A couple of times I've heard people carrying on and I've made it a point to avoid being seen while walking back to my car. I would never go in there again unless I was carrying.
I am convinced aging has a lot to do with it. When I was in my early to late 20's I used to drive to Montana, sleep along the road, and wind up fishing totally off the grid waters for days at a time. Once in Virginia City, MT I met a lovely blond Swedish hippie, but that's a story for another time.
I used to walk in to the mouth of the Codorus where it empties into the Susquehanna. A couple of times I've heard people carrying on and I've made it a point to avoid being seen while walking back to my car. I would never go in there again unless I was carrying.
I am convinced aging has a lot to do with it. When I was in my early to late 20's I used to drive to Montana, sleep along the road, and wind up fishing totally off the grid waters for days at a time. Once in Virginia City, MT I met a lovely blond Swedish hippie, but that's a story for another time.
