Apr 14

I Do Not Hunt Anymore

A listener writes “it was November 2013. I had just had knee surgery but still wanted to give hunting a go, so I went to deer camp with my dad. We are in mid-Missouri, near the current river.

The only way I could hunt, because I was still on crutches and in a big boot, was to ride on a side by side and pull off to look down into hollers. My dad and I woke up well before daylight and drove out to the furthest part of my family’s property, they own 5,000 acres of wooded area. We got to our spot 25-30 minutes before daylight, shut the sxs off and sat. Almost immediately we started hearing what sounded like deer blowing at us, but if the deer were HUGE. I have been hunting most of my life and knew almost immediately that wasn’t deer and told my dad I had an uneasy feeling. My dad, being a tough guy, said to be quiet, that they were just upset we drove into their bedding area. The snorting/blowing continued, but kept getting closer, and seemed like more were coming as time passed.

It was getting near daylight when a rock hit the front of the sxs, but it was a pebble in size and my dad brushed it off saying it was an acorn out of the tree. I continued to feel uneasy. About two minutes later I hear a growl off to my right and a rock between a golf ball and baseball came flying into the side of the sxs. At that point I could tell my dad was nervous. He turned the sxs on and started flying back towards the cabin. As we were driving, I can’t be sure, but I swore I heard things to both sides of us keeping pace. We got back unscathed and chalked it up to a weird morning.

We ate breakfast and went back out that evening. We sat in a different area, and during the afternoon nothing eventful happened. There were other hunters on the property and it was always common for all of us to meet at a designated area before we went back to the cabin. So they are all drinking and talking, and I’m sitting there still thinking about that morning, and it’s pitch black other than their cigarettes and my phone light. Well, as they are talking and reminiscing, I start hearing something quietly working it’s way up the hill to our right. At first it was one then I heard two sets of steps. They were methodical, they would wait till someone started talking or someone was laughing and they would move closer.

They got so close that I could hear them breathing at the crest of the hill. I didn’t tell any of the others but I hobbled over about 20 feet from where I think they were, with my gun, and fired a shot in the air. It was a 30.06, and I knew if it was poachers they would get the hint and run. The next thing that happened was probably the scariest thing that I have had happen in my life. As soon as the percussion of the gun faded, I swore I heard something with the most guttural voice I’ve ever heard say what sounded like saw us, and then I heard two bipedal sets of feet take off down the hill. Everyone with me heard it too, they admitted as much at the time, but won’t now. I, as quickly as I could, ran/hobbled without my crutches to grab a light and shine it down the hill, and even though I didn’t see anything, I could see fresh breaks in the trees about 8.5-9 feet up not 10 feet from where I fired off the shot. I don’t hunt anymore.

I don’t really like the woods after dark honestly. The way it said saw us I can still here in my head. It wasn’t like someone with a deep voice saying saw us. It was like someone that was deaf, and English was their second language, plus having the deepest, most gravely voice said it. The next day I asked my uncle if he had ever seen anything and he said no, but I think he knew something he didn’t want to share. There have been a lot of sightings in the area. Oh, I forgot to add that there is a game ranch where you can go and shoot trophy deer and elk not 15 miles from this farm and they’re all fenced in with a 12 or 13 foot fence and my families farm butts up next to the university of Missouri’s test farm where they try and engineer different forms of vegetables to withstand harsh climates. Tons of big bucks and doe come off that farm because it’s easy food for them.”

7 Responses to “I Do Not Hunt Anymore”

  1. Linda B

    Wow. Really good story. Thank you for sharing it with us. Isnt it crazy when friends and family back off pronto and don’t admit the truth about what they experienced. Always makes me feel like those of us who can face the truth and talk about it have a lot more courage.

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