Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

The Coolest Thing

Fullbore

Senior Member
6,439
126
South Eastern Ohio
We all have had a neat or cool encounter in the freelance. What is some of yours? I had a black capped chickadee land on my arrow, as it was placed on my bow. It worked its way up the shaft, until it perch its self on my Trophy Taker. My arrow didn't move at all! It was really cool. I am sure you guys have some cool stories TOO!
 

1hornwilly

*Supporting Member III*
About 2 years ago I had an owl land on a branch so close to my face I could reach out and touch it. He had no idea I was there until I moved just ever so slightly...he turned his head sideways and starred at me for what seemed like forever. I finally moved my hand toward him and he took off. It was awesome. Oh, and I can't count the number of times I have had a squirrel on my head or shoulder over the years...that always makes me laugh.
 

buckbuster217

*Supporting Member*
3,136
85
Byesville, Ohio
had a squirrel come down the tree acouple years ago while I was in my climber, he made his way onto my shooting rail, perched himself up there for acouple of minutes checking things out and then made his way back to the tree and down he went none the wiser. I had a treestand on the bank of a small creek one year where the deer would cross to go into a field and probably half a dozen times that year I watched a mink work his way up and down the creek bank searching for creek chubs and crawdads, it was really neat to see it work its way in and out of the water and into the exposed tree roots looking for some grub.
 

Beentown

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,740
154
Sunbury, OH
About 2 years ago I had an owl land on a branch so close to my face I could reach out and touch it. He had no idea I was there until I moved just ever so slightly...he turned his head sideways and starred at me for what seemed like forever. I finally moved my hand toward him and he took off. It was awesome. Oh, and I can't count the number of times I have had a squirrel on my head or shoulder over the years...that always makes me laugh.

Me too with the owl. Couldn't stop looking at the claws! Huge! He was on my rifle rest and did the whole Exorcist head turn for me....cool!
 

rgecko23

*Supporting Member*
7,466
0
Massillon, Ohio
Had a button buck sniffin my boot one year when i was ground hunting. Had 5 turkeys roosted above me one time i climbed up a tree and didnt know it. They flew down at day break and i about crapped my pants!
 

BuckeyeBuck

Junior Member
I was in the tree stand one day and the poop cramps hit. I climbed down real quick and while i had my pants dropped bent over i herd a frikin growling from behind, i turned around and their was a damn dog 10 yards showing his teeth. I stood up and he ran off. I wiped with my glove and off i went. So the Coolest thing about this was that it wasn't BIG FOOT growling.
 

jeremy44230

Senior Member
2,370
76
Medina County
I was in the tree stand one day and the poop cramps hit. I climbed down real quick and while i had my pants dropped bent over i herd a frikin growling from behind, i turned around and their was a damn dog 10 yards showing his teeth. I stood up and he ran off. I wiped with my glove and off i went. So the Coolest thing about this was that it wasn't BIG FOOT growling.

Scared the shit out of ya huh!
 

Hoytmania

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
11,518
167
Gods Country
I was in the tree stand one day and the poop cramps hit. I climbed down real quick and while i had my pants dropped bent over i herd a frikin growling from behind, i turned around and their was a damn dog 10 yards showing his teeth. I stood up and he ran off. I wiped with my glove and off i went. So the Coolest thing about this was that it wasn't BIG FOOT growling.

If it was big foot he night not have been growling because he was mad. He might of been growling cause he was finally going to get some. :D

I would say the coolest I had was an owl also. It was the night that Austin got his first archery deer and it landed about five foot right above us.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
One of my most memorable experiences happened several years back, while heading out to go duck hunting on Sandusky Bay one early fall morning. It was so calm... absolutely zero wind... That bay was like glass. It was about 4:30 in the a.m., so we were one of the few out on the water. As our boat got out away from the launch site, the coolest thing ever happened... A METEOR SHOWER! It was pitch black but the sky was clear as a bell, and the water around us was so calm it was like one gigantic mirror. We'd look up and see meteors flying all through the sky. We'd look down and see the reflection of flying meteors all around us. It was one of most magnificant things I've ever witnessed. I'll probably never get to go into outer space, but I bet that morning was about as close to it as it gets.
 

buckbuster217

*Supporting Member*
3,136
85
Byesville, Ohio
I was in the tree stand one day and the poop cramps hit. I climbed down real quick and while i had my pants dropped bent over i herd a frikin growling from behind, i turned around and their was a damn dog 10 yards showing his teeth. I stood up and he ran off. I wiped with my glove and off i went. So the Coolest thing about this was that it wasn't BIG FOOT growling.

He didnt tell ya it was a chihuahua and it wasnt growling it was whining because it was lost!!! I will never forget that day, Buckeye Buck was hunting with me and I seen three dogs heading up the hill towards the stand he was in, ( and they were australian sheep dogs), when he got back to the truck he had one hell of a story to tell and we had a good laugh about it on the way home
 

DJK Frank 16

Senior Member
Supporting Member
9,358
133
Hardin County
My best to date was a bow hunt where I had some sweet corn liquid on my boot on the walk in. Had a doe follow my trail in about an hour before dark, putting her nose down in every boot print. All the way up to my ladder stand and licked the 3rd rung up. It was amazing having one that close. She just looked up and was on her way.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
Had a redtail hawk pick a squirrel off the side of a tree a short distance from me. You see so many cool things while youre in a tree it's really hard to pick one out, but that one stands out in my mind. Neither the squirrel or I heard that sucker coming.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
3 come to mind. Second season hunting I had a group of 6-8 does/fawns come in under me. One of them stopped and licked the screw in steps on my tree. Pretty cool. So cool, I didn't even think about getting a shot off. Not sure why. Must have been close to the rut or something. lmao

In 2010 I had a wood pecker come in and land within a foot of my head. I just froze. I could see it peripherally. Could hear it vividly. It pecked away for a minute or so and flew off.

Also in 2010 I had 2 major high lights. Outside of the buck I killed, was another high I rank equally as rewarding. We see some red fox around here and I have seen several in 4 different woods I hunt (or previously hunted). I had never seen a grey fox in the wild though. My buddy and I were setup on opposite corners of a CRP field bow hunting. We were able to witness 2 grey fox come in and play around frolicking and mousing in the field for about an hour. That was one of the coolest things I have witnessed. My buddy has been hunting over 20 years and he said he had never seen a grey in the wild.

Guess there is one more. Almost forgot about the groundhog in the tree. I not only witnessed my first groundhog in a tree, but I was able to film it and shoot it out of the tree with an arrow on film! Might have to look that one up on youtube and post it up.
 

bigten05

*Supporting Member*
3,675
151
knox county ohio
two come to mind for me i had a hawk pic up a chipmunk about 5 yards away wish he woulda got the rest of those damn things. and the other one was a little 6 point that rubbed his rack on my ladder he did it two different days that i was there coulda had something to do with having doe pee on my boots or it was just a dumbass deer.
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,856
260
SW Ohio
I had a fawn come up to me during squirrel season back in the late 70's and smell my foot. The cute lil feller jumped out of his hide when I wiggled my toes. He jumped away from me too about 10 feet, looked back as if to say WTH, and ran back down off the point to his mother.
Watched several redtailed hawk attacks on squirrels over the years, along with hawks and owls taking flight right towards me ready to land or attack just before I made an aggressive movement with my free arm.
Squirrels give me the most entertainment during my all day sits over the years. Had many within arms length from me.
Hunted out of an old Baker climbing treestand back in the early 80's once and was shimming up a tree making enough noise to arouse the curiosity of a small 8 pt that was in a small grove of pine trees on a point less than 100 yards away. I'm struggling to keep the bottom portion of the stand from becoming separated from me and falling to the base of my tree. I'm 15 ft up but on a rather steep hillside and this buck walks to the uphill side of the tree to my position and stands there looking at me in the darkness prolly wondering WTH are you!!! I could barely see the rack on him and he was less than 14 feet away. I just hung there till I got tired of it and started snorting at him trying to shoo him away. Took awhile but he finally left.
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,856
260
SW Ohio
One of my most memorable experiences happened several years back, while heading out to go duck hunting on Sandusky Bay one early fall morning. It was so calm... absolutely zero wind... That bay was like glass. It was about 4:30 in the a.m., so we were one of the few out on the water. As our boat got out away from the launch site, the coolest thing ever happened... A METEOR SHOWER! It was pitch black but the sky was clear as a bell, and the water around us was so calm it was like one gigantic mirror. We'd look up and see meteors flying all through the sky. We'd look down and see the reflection of flying meteors all around us. It was one of most magnificant things I've ever witnessed. I'll probably never get to go into outer space, but I bet that morning was about as close to it as it gets.

Jim, that would have been AWESOME!!!
 

RedCloud

Super Moderator
Super Mod
17,381
193
North Central Ohio
Any of the hunts with my father. Will remember those for the rest of my life.

The other cool thing was watching an eagle fly down the river looking for a snack while I was sitting in my stand one day last year.
 

Gern186

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,171
201
NW Ohio Tundra
While bowhunting in the UP, had a gray wolf come trotting into a field and circled a couple of big does. The does left the field, then I mouse squeaked and he came within 50 yards of my stand. That was cool.