Charging animals.

Hello Daryl,,,

A trainer here in Okieland made a set-up that will drop a basketball sized toy ball towards you,,,
A Lady I know can hit it at least one shot most every time,,,
I have yet to hit it once.

At my outdoor range we have no moving targets,,,
But this one member rigs one that rolls a target towards the shooter.

it's quite an elaborate set-up with two wires and some self standing poles,,,
People who shoot very small rapid-fire groups at 25 yards,,,
Have trouble hitting a target coming towards them,,,
The target is advancing at a quick walking pace.

He let me try it a couple of times,,,
My performance was only slightly better than dismal,,,
Were it a charging bear I would have been bear-chow very quickly.

Aarond
 
Another critter misadventure of my father's...

... ok, I was only a toddler for this one, but as I've heard the story from both my parents, I tend to believe it's true.

My father had just been RIF'ed from the Navy, and we were driving from Long Beach to New England in the old Ford pickup my father had converted into a camper. I was around 18 months old at this time.... I believe this was the same trip where, during the Las Vegas stop, I nearly got my father slapped by a waitress, because I apparently had a thing for patting women's behinds. The waitress thought my dad had goosed her, and was apparently quite irate, especially when he tried to blame the sweet, innocent toddler.

Luckily for my dad, just as the waitress was about to let him have it, I goosed her again. At that point, she thought it was just adorable, and my parents received a discount on their bill. Go figure...

But shortly after that, my parents opted to drive through Yellowstone. Here's where the critter part comes into play.

Instead of telling the whole story, I'll just hit the salient points.

You know those signs that say, "Don't Feed the Bears,"? There's a reason for those.

But, if you decide to feed the bears, it's best not to get out of the truck to do it, thinking you'll get better pictures on your Nikon that way.

Of course, if you do decide to get out of the truck, with food and camera, it's probably best to check the type of food you bring.

For example, if the bears are uphill from your truck, it might not be the best idea to throw them foods such as apples and oranges.

Those foods being round, they might just roll right back to your feet, with the bears in pursuit....

In which case, it's probably best if the truck door was left open, since one would hate to have to drop the Nikon to make a getaway....

Cheers,

M
 
Great storie MLeake!

Gave me a few snorts & at least one laugh out loud. That's no good cause I'll get in major trouble if I wake up the kids & boss lady;).

Arctic Terns are mean little @!#&***! when nesting. They don't charge... they dive bomb. It's amazing how a bird that doesn't even weigh 2 lbs can make a grown man run, hide, duck for cover and maybe (not me) even shudder at the thought of them.

I just started working at a new facility that is located on a wildlife refuge. Lots of birds nesting. I wasn't really in the know about these vicious little critters so I thought it strange when the guy I was working with pulled up to the wellhouse and parked strategically near the door. I thought it was even weirder when he jumped out of the truck and ran into the wellhouse. Hmm (I thought as I casually strolled along) that there is a real go getter, yes sir he really wants to get some stuff do... BAP my hardhad nearly flies off and I have now been introduced to Mr. Arctic Tern. Those guys should be allowed to carry shotguns for self defense.

I've also been charged by a wild cow while hunting the Savage Run wilderness in Wyoming. I was hunting during the archery season and came upon some cows. Me thinkin' they'd just moove on over kept walking directly at them. Miss boss cow was really staring me down so I press on thinking she'll spook into the woods... she stomps her foot and I brandish the bow once more. Yadduh yadduh I had to hide behind a tree.

Disclaimer:
Encounters with wild and dangerous creature like the man crushing cow and man eating Tern can render a persons senses to fuzz. You can imagine what this does to the memory.
 
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Dad used to tease me about the killer pheasant. We were hunting an open area moving towards their hidey place. As we got closer a rooster pheasant busted out wings back beak open and aimed right at me. He charged me as if he was going to kill me and eat me. I had those same intentions but was laffing so hard Icouldnt get a shot off. He got as close as my feet so I booted him and watched him run off. Dad didnt get any shots that day, he couldnt stop laffing and crowing at me :)
 
An old woman charged me once at the local beer-barn, I stuck my leg out, she hit her face on the counter, I told her I sure was sorry,,,,,that she had to TRY me:cool::p No really, at the age of ten, I was stomped into the mud by a Crazy Sow that had three piglets that I was trying to capture and give shots to. My Pappy's old collie dog saved me from getting killed:) That's the only animal that ever TRIED me...;)
 
Got charged by a boar that I shot at a preserve. Snarling, snapping, growling, nastiest, meanest thing in the whole wide world.

Started from 60 yards, and he made it to 30 yards before I could finally drop him, using a 30-30 lever action. Blew off his right bottom tusk in the process, which stopped him and turned him sideways, and then I spined him.

Walked up to him to finish him off and man oh man was he an ornery one, trying to get up and get to me still...snarlng & snapping and growling continued till I put one in his heart.

It was my last round that dropped him, too, and there were no trees to climb for protection, so I don't know WHAT I would have done if he had gotten to me. Rifle had a soft butt pad, so no use there. I tell you, a bayonet mount would have been most severely appreciated at that moment. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you don't NEED a bayonet on a lever action, because I guarantee you that you may indeed need one one day.

Next time I went back there, I was certain to have a .45 at my side as a backup!
 
I've had bears "faint" a charge, or critters run to me thinking they are running away from danger instead of toward it. I've had dogs chase me.

But

Without a doubt, I think the most dangerous animal in North America is a Cow Moose. They will attack, they will kill and when they kill the kill. We found a lady in her back yard one time that looked like she had been beaten' to death with a base ball bat. She was un-recognizable. We started the whole crime seen procedure until we were called by the pathologist informing us the suspect was a moose.

I've had a cow moose kick the crap out of my pickup when I slowed down to let it and its calf cross the road.

I've been around bears, Black, Brown, and Polar, they are nothing like a cow moose.

The problem is cow moose hang around town. Many times I've had to go to school bus stops to protect kids because there was a cow moose in the area. They also get uppity if in a back yard with a barking dog. They can do some damage.

And they are quick. Don't care how fast you are I don't see one having the ability to draw fire and stop one of those suckers.

Range Cows w/Calves are just about as bad, but they aren't as fast or agile as moose. Besides you use horses to work range cows. They are afraid of horses. Buffalo are bad also, but again, I don't think they are as fast or agile as a cow moose.
 
"the fainting tends to mess up their charges." Happens when bills aren't paid.

Yeah, "Tennessee Wooden Legs", the guy down the road from us called his critters. Dangdest thing I've ever seen. Just yell, and the silly things would fall over. Weird.
 
Slo-mo Moose charge

I was elk hunting with some buddies and we had taken up positions along a game trail before night fall just to see if something would move. As I was sitting there next to the game trail, I hear this "hwump, huwhomp" call and I hear the sound of something very big dragging a very very large rack through the underbrush. I hadn't SEEN a moose in the wild before, but I vaguely remembered someone saying that the moose bulls made some sort of "huffing" noises.
But this was day 2 of muzzle season and I had elk fever going, so I lined my muzzle loader on a shooting lane between trees and waited for my money shot as the critter came out of the trees 30 yards away.
Of course, it was a moose. It was as big as one of those Budweiser Clydesdale horses, but it wasn't bringing me a present...
And of course the "shooting lane" was the game trail. The moose turned right toward me and began ambling down the trail, Hrumphing and not caring about man nor beast.
So I'm racking my brain for any bit of info retained from every camp fire story or Discovery program about moose behavior that I'd heard.

I couldn't remember if it was better to "get big" and be seen since (I vaguely remembered) I had heard that their eye sight was bad and spooking them was asking for a trampling.

I couldn't remember if getting big was tantamount to challenging them which was also asking for moose whooping.

I don't remember if I "got big" or "got small", but I got out. I faded back into the woods and got between three closely growing trees that were at least a foot thick. The moose stopped at my previous post. He snorted a little over my pack and water that I'd left behind; he stomped at the orange tape I used to make my back pack more visible. He looked left and right a bit, then he started humphing and wandered on down the game trail after asserting his authority.

I don't need the real thing; I was scared enough.
 
Kraigwy,
I could not agree more!
A cow moose is without a doubt the most dangerous animal in N. America. They are fearless and they NEVER bluff.

They are as big or bigger a big bull elk, at least as strong, and much meaner.

If there is anything like them in temperament, it's probably a Pit Bull with a C-Clamp on it's testicles ------ but Pit Bulls don't weigh 1,100-1,300 pounds.
 
wasn't really a charge but . . .

I was bowhunting a good friends farm which is located in fox hunting territory in Northern Maryland.

His property had several horse paths cut throughout the woods for the "tally-ho'ers" and they were quite useful for humans as well; wide and easy going, really manicured.

I was coming out of the woods in the early evening. It was totally dark but because of the wide trail and good moonlight, I used no flashlight.

Under one arm was my good ole Baker climber and in my other hand my compound bow. I was walking uphill on this horse trail, when ahead of me from the right several deer bolted across the trail to the left into the woods.

I stopped for a moment to let them distance themselves from me and then I continued.

When I reached the spot where they crossed I looked into the woods to the left of the trail and there was a big doe, ears back, stomping the ground and snorting at me.

Before I could do anything, I heard commotion in the woods to the right, and a tiny yearling bolted across the trail maybe 10 yards from me entering the woods and rejoining what surely must have been it's Mom.

I froze, while they, together, bounded away.

It was cool, and I am sure it could have been very dangerous.

Rmocarsky
 
Sure are lots of good stories in this thread but none of you has ever lived unless you've hunted deer in the SC lowcountry swamps in August. Our's is I believe the only state where taking a buck in velvet is a possibility. However to do it takes courage and a hard core attitude. You'll have to be able to contain the nerves dealing with various poisonous snakes, alligators and bugs. All that is the easy part. The real fun begins when you get into a stand, you can watch it coming but you can't do a thing about it other than get down and go home. It starts as one or two but quickly grows in number until its all consuming. These hard chargers aren't big but they pack a wholap. They're black with small white stripes and I shudder thinking about them. Mosquitos or as I refer to them, the demons of hell are ruthless. They laugh at deet and drink it like booze, therma-cell? PFFFFFFFtttt, had them landing on a lit one with fresh pad at one time this past season. It takes a combination sometimes and you're still getting bit even with the Thermacell, Spray and a Bug Tamer.
 
No Photoshop... honest...

got this pic one night trying to get a pic of the muzzle flash of this custom revolver ( with a new style compensator on it )

they say they are MN's state bird... you can see we grow them big up here...

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Pfffffffffffffttttttttttttt, those big ones are fat and slow and not nearly as ruthless as those little black and white striped ones. Those things go stealth on you or attack in clouds so thick you can't breath. One day I had to get out to open the gate and got 40 bites before I got back in the truck, put on the Bug Tamer in the truck, then realized I had to pee, you can see where this is going. Let me tell you, its pure T hell not being able to scratch your nads and root, especially sitting on a hard wood pew in church. I honestly be lieve that half of the deer and hogs we killed were suicide cases trying to get away from the blood sucking bastards.
 
not going to get in a "peeing match with you" sorry about the pun ;)

but these big ones get into "clouds" just like the small ones... I live on a farm, & when out in the full hot sun, you are "usually" safe, but walking anywheres close to the tree lines, & you can hear them just buzzing in the shadows... waiting for anything with blood to wander close...

we have 2 nice sized patios, but I've got to fnd a way to screen at least one of them, as we don't even grill out at supper time... after 5-6:00 pm during the summer, the yard is no longer safe... even standing in the smoke of the grill will not protect you
 
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You think this might increase the pucker factor, if he decided to turn around and make a run at you?

BIGmoose2.jpg


BIGmoose1.jpg


I'm not sure where these pictures were taken, but it wasn't in Texas.
 
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