What is your "fear factor"?

I used to enjoy bow hunting the back swamps of Yazoo Wildlife reserve in MS. One morning I accidently stumbled upon a gator nest and mother gator nearby gave chase. :eek::eek::eek: My first and only thought? RUN!!! :eek: It's probably a good thing for me the thick trees kept her speed down and that I had a good head start (she was on the far side of the nest from me). I can't say how far she chased me (less than 100 yards for sure), but I didn't slow down until I had cleared the woods, the cotton field next to the woods, and the ditch that I parked beside (I'd say about 1000 yards all total). I'll bet it was a sight that morning to anyone coming in late to see a guy coming out of the woods and across the field at a full sprint then diving into his truck and hauling it down the road. :D I haven't hunted those woods since (happened about 14 years ago)

Another..

A few years later I started hunting a large patch of woods near Meridian, MS. One evening while hiking back to the truck flashlight in hand (pitch black dark), I heard a stick break behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I grabbed my handgun, shouldered my rifle, and proceeded to shine the light to my rear (expecting to see the eyes of something hunting me). I saw nothing and proceeded on my way just a little more wary and careful. Jut then I heard the loudest wooshing and comotion in my life. I instantly flopped to the ground prone with my light and .357 shining around...

A few months later, I set up a ground blind and shot that damn turkey that nearly gave me a heart attack as he roosted less than 20 feet from me that night.
 
I dont dig snakes much...

snake-check.jpg
 
Centipedes. Living in Hawaii, just moved, living on the beach, at Sunset Beach, in the front room, right on the ocean. My bed is pretty much solid wood, built from the slab up. Bathroom is also on a cement slab. I go to the bathroom late one night, lights out. Step and feel this really sharp, painful bite on the inside of my foot. See at least a 6" centipede crawling off. Guess I scared her.

Not a fun night at the hospital, and, it of course required tons of antibiotics. Foot injuries are real bad, since blood flow isn't great, and, big old girls carry lots of germs.

Couple weeks later, wake up with some minor bites on my legs. Turns out the 'bed' was a huge breeding ground for centipedes. It was REALLY creepy when they tore the front of the house up to improve it, to see hundreds of centipedes running around.

I guess I got a bit more immune to the venom after the first, really bad bite. The minor bites were about 1" long, babies, I rolled over on.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/452655/are_centipedes_poisonous_in_hawaii.html

10" centipedes??? Great.
Sharks:
Guy_petting_a_great_white_shark.ashx


Try surfing a 50 minute paddle out into the ocean, with one friend, in 20 foot waves, at a place named Great Whites... When you see a swirl, or unexplained action in the water, or fish jumping. Not to mention having something brush against your leg....

Chased out of the water at Point Sur by a Great White, with 3 of my friends. Found out later they have a bunch of
Great Whites that hunt that reef, and, none of the Carmel guys even think about it, as a surf spot. It's a deep trench, that comes out of very deep water, onto a shallow, healthy reef, with
seals and sea lions in the area. Perfect place for a low to high 30 mile an hour charge/breach. Also about the only place on the cost with perfect, offshore winds, during storms...

Skunks?
MY SO was drunk one night and petted one. He nipped at her a bit, and went on his way.

Worst for me is an unexplained noise at night, even now, in different places I've lived. Never been victim of a robbery, or home invaision, but, it does bother me.
 
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The thing that gets my heart beating fast on a regular basis is jumping turkeys off the roost while walking to my deer stand before sunrise. Happens a lot, I know almost immediately what it is, but having 3 or 4 birds at once take off right above your head can be a bit overwhelming in the dark.

Not a big fan of snakes or spiders, but not overly creeped out about them either. That big ol spider hogdogs posted a picture of would seriously creep me out of I walked nose first into his web. As it is around here I do that a good bit with smaller spiders (around an inch or two across). I brush them off and keep going.

While eerie, I do appreciate the sound of a bobcat cry at dawn/dusk. Owls too.

The four times I've been most creeped out:

1) About 5 or 6 years ago I was doing some pre-season scouting and heard a rustle in the underbrush. Where I was walking there were knee high oak and gum trees and other brush that was moving as something was coming toward me. I had a 9mm on my hip and put my hand on it. About 20 feet away a possum appears (that's what was rustling). I kinda laughed until it started coming toward me. I backed out of it's path and it kept coming. We did a little dancing zigzag tango for about 50 yds. until I got fed up with it and punted him back the way he came. He went flying through the air squealing and headed the other way once he landed. In retrospect I should have probably shot him as he wasn't acting quite right.

2) About 8 or 9 years ago my brother in law was doing a deer drive through a thicket. I was set up on the edge of that thicket at the intersection of thicket, big woods, and open field with my .30-06. I see something break the thicket about 50 yds up from me and start to raise my rifle until I realize it's a black bear cub. Where cub is so is mama...... I radioed my brother in law and told him to get his tail out of that thicket.

3) About 3 years ago I was walking out from one of my treestands at dusk. I get to the edge of the woods/field and see a coyote standing in the middle of the field just watching me. Never had one not bolt when it saw me. This one just stood there looking at me like it was thinking, "Yeah he's a little big but I think I can take him". I recapped my muzzleloader and shot him. Big sucker too.

4) About 20 years ago (I was around 15-16 IIRC). My grandfather, uncle and I were heading from one dove field to another. We were on foot on a trail through a patch of woods that connected the two fields. I was the last one in line. They were 20 or so yds in front of me because I was carrying all the gear (young pack mule :D). I started hearing this angry buzzing/rattling sound. I look down to my left about 5 feet in front of me and just off the trail and see a fat coiled up timber rattler. I eased down the buckets and shells and other crap I was carrying in my left hand and unslung my shotgun. I chewed him up with birdshot. I think my grandfather and uncle were more creeped out than me because they had walked right by it. That being said I don't see too many snakes while hunting, of course it's the ones you don't see.......

And of course aside from the creepy crawly and carnivorous creatures that are out there, there are the other dangers. Heights anyone? Yeah I'm still a little height shy and am a treestand safety fanatic now.
 
That big ol spider hogdogs posted a picture of would seriously creep me out of I walked nose first into his web. As it is around here I do that a good bit with smaller spiders (around an inch or two across). I brush them off and keep going.
Click to expand...

There must be some unwritten law that says a spider will build his web at the same height as a mounted horseman's face.

That's why I let my buddy ride point :D.
 
I should add lions, and the big cats. Even in cages, at paws length, they are both terrifying and incredibly powerful and beautiful.
The S.F. zoo has feeding cages, and, you can get about 5 feet from the cats. Well fed, yet they let you know they want to go back out, when done eating. A 600 pound male lion let go with a full roar, telling his keeper it was time for him to go back outside. Scared everybody to death. Children started crying, and, one young boy peed his pants right next to us.

I can't imagine meeting a big boy like that in the jungle, even with a high powered rifle, because chances would be real good he wasn't alone.

Also watched a female lion crouch, leap-pounce and pick a seagull out of the air. It happened so fast I literally never moved, even though I was trying to get my camera from my side, up into position, since I knew she was going to move. I can't imagine what it would feel like to turn a corner, or realize the cat was 20 feet away, and, not being able to even move before they had you...
 
SHUT UP SOCRATES!!! That centipede story is giving me a serious case of the willies. I was bitten by one as a kid and I am still afraid of them to this day. In fact I though a scorpion was one once in Arizona and freaked out in front of my men.
 
PBP:

Yes, it was REALLY creepy. I didn't realize the darn Hawaiian ones got up around a foot long. Sleeping on a nest, or feeding area didn't work real well, either.

Good news is once biten, the subsequent bites aren't all that bad. Course I never got bit by another one, in 10 years over there, or for that matter, even saw one the size of the one that bit my foot. It was HUGE.

Tiger Sharks are fun. Sitting out at Diamond Head, had one swim under my surfboard. Think watching a small, silent submarine, small being about 25 feet long, with 25% water increase in size, swim slowly by underneath you. Seems they come out of a trench, by Diamond Head, and commute through the islands.
 
What creeps me out in the woods.... Not startles me like a pheasant or snake, but actually creeps me out. There have been a few times. I was hiking with the wife last spring on Tiger Mountain (east of Seattle). We were alone when I heard a snap in the brush behind us. A young man stepped onto the trail from the woods. He had a very creepy air about him and wasn't dressed right for hiking. His eyes weren't right. I just had a sense that he wasn't there to do good. I'm glad he was a apparently city boy and didn't know how to walk quietly.

I remember feeling glad that I went with the wife that day. Eventually we came to a Y and he veered off of our backtrail.

Other than that there have been times when I've felt like I was being watched. I always figured it was a cougar or bigfoot. I saw tracks when I was in high school once. We were deer hunting around Rainier Oregon and it was probably 1980. I wear size 11 shoes and these tracks made my hunting shoes look like baby booties. There was no reason for anyone to put tracks there and I stood next to them and barely left a boot print. Something heavy with big human style feet.... Anyway, it was reported and made the newspaper.

Snakes don't bother me much nor do spiders, it's the feeling that something is out there. It knows I'm there and what I am but I can't figure out what it is. Either that or a nutcase when I'm not armed. It does happen around here. People are killed hiking by other humans. I figure I've got a chance against that threat if I'm armed, other threats may happen so fast I can't react.

Cougars are the thing that worries me most here in the woods. The old books around here indicate that the old timers were scared of them more than anything else. The woods can be dense and they can get real close before you know they're around. Try defending yourself with a concealed pistol when you just noticed a cougar in the air on his way to you.
 
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Good news is once biten, the subsequent bites aren't all that bad.
Click to expand...
Must be similar to copperhead bites. The first time I was bitten I thought I was going to die. The two subsequent times were less and less intense.

Yes, I know...a person has to be pretty careless to be bitten by copperheads more than once in their life...but my grandmother loved to make blackberry cobblers and copperheads love blackberry bushes. :D
 
I'm not ashamed to admit!

Spiders: Doesn't matter how large or small. Seeing that Banana Spider in person would cause me to never go outside at night again without a large flashlight and even then I would hesitate. Big centipides would have the same effect.

Sharks: I've been in the ocean but won't go out past waist deep. Just something about when my feet leave the sand of the ocean. I'm terrified of them.

Just one of those things. I have no problem petting a 10 foot Python and seeing one hang just 1 foot above my head didn't bother me but running into a spider web will send me into a full blown panic attack.
 
My fear factor is realising i left my bolts and magazines at home for my rifles after driving 16 hours to the middle of Australia.

Have nightmares all the time:eek:

Sharks, spiders, snakes and all the other creepy crawlies dont bother me the slightest.

Held and caught snakes.
Been swimming with sharks.
See spiders inside my home i pick them up and put them outside. (except for the white tails kill those buggers) have been bitten by white tail, took 2 months to heal an still have a little scar.
 
when i chipped my tooth today on a damn chicken bone. I hate the dentist, not the work he does, just the $$$$ it costs. So i lived out a fear for the day, just gotta see how much it will cost.

Outside fears are also feeling of being watched, my old security job was weird cause i would have to lock up next to a family's graveyard. ooo no good especially on those foggy nights at 1200 am on a full moon, this is in a Forest too.
 
Socrates, My buddy in NZ don't mention those OZ or Africa critters when we speak... Just gators, cougars, wolves and bears along with venomous snakes.
Seems those new zealanders have no predators except tax collectors.
Brent
 
The dentist.. I used to share that fear... Then I aquired a horrible intestinal disease last year. I have occasional flare ups that remind me of just how bad it can be, so far I've been hospitalized twice. Anyway, just go through that and the dentist will be a piece of cake:D.


I actually went in for a root canal in December. It was a molar and I was in the chair for four hours as there were 4 mishapen root tips. The assistant couldn't believe I wasn't complaining. It was nothing... Really.
 
Sleeping under the stars, waking up to see a giant bull moose standing over top of me. He stepped over me like i was a log and kept going.
 
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