Close Encounter
- Thread starter henchy3rd
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Got invited wild Boar hunting in Central France once, that is not fun when on the ground....the cartridges we were using were 12 gage slugs, and I put 4 in one before it dropped, less than 10m from me.
The first two hit, both kill shots, but didn't faulter the pace of the Boar, the last two where to slow the pace heading towards me. Afterwards I was told that normally they shoot from platforms, and thought it funny to shoot from the ground while I was there!
To put this into perspective, the 12 gage cartridges were a single solid lump of lead, each one of those would have knocked a man off his feet, and still would have gone through a solid oak door, and as an experanced shooter, my shoulder was brused black.
Another time was when I accidentally cornered a hurt fox, and it went for me, luckily I was quick and kicked it away, and then got out of the way of the exit.
The first two hit, both kill shots, but didn't faulter the pace of the Boar, the last two where to slow the pace heading towards me. Afterwards I was told that normally they shoot from platforms, and thought it funny to shoot from the ground while I was there!
To put this into perspective, the 12 gage cartridges were a single solid lump of lead, each one of those would have knocked a man off his feet, and still would have gone through a solid oak door, and as an experanced shooter, my shoulder was brused black.
Another time was when I accidentally cornered a hurt fox, and it went for me, luckily I was quick and kicked it away, and then got out of the way of the exit.
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Frightening stuff that..how did it make you feel?
I did mention on a earlier post on here that I was charged by a feral pig in Western Australia, It happened so fast, I was a quivering wreck & on my own?
Legs like jelly, mouth like I just did the cinnamon challenge & my heart felt like it had 10 strong coffees.
But being a true man I bigged it up when I got back?
Mine's not so scary. Last Wednesday night, just after eleven, I went out to switch off the outside Christmas lights in the back garden.
I walked behind the pond to get to the string that was trailed through the ivy, and a fox darted out from the bench not two feet in front of me. I nearly ended up in the pond !
I don't know which of us got the bigger start
I walked behind the pond to get to the string that was trailed through the ivy, and a fox darted out from the bench not two feet in front of me. I nearly ended up in the pond !
I don't know which of us got the bigger start
Le Loup
Settler
Many times henchy, but not whilst I lived in the UK. Wild boar, wild cattle, Buffalo, wild dogs & humans. The wild boar I shot after it managed to slash one of my riding boots. The wild cattle I managed to avoid after throwing a coiled rope in it's face & diving behind a tree. The wild dogs I shot, but it was a close call. The buffalo came close to trampling me but I managed to reach my 4WD & jump over the bull bar into the bonnet & empty my revolver into its head. This didn't stop it however, so I had to get my felling axe out of the back of the vehicle & kill it with the axe before it wrecked my 4WD. The humans got away after the skirmish in our camp, but again it was a close call.
Keith.
An ex West Sussex lad now living in Australia.
Yeah it makes you jump like mad.Mine's not so scary. Last Wednesday night, just after eleven, I went out to switch off the outside Christmas lights in the back garden.
I walked behind the pond to get to the string that was trailed through the ivy, and a fox darted out from the bench not two feet in front of me. I nearly ended up in the pond !
I don't know which of us got the bigger start
In mid September a white stag of all things bounced out of the bracken with a doe.. that scared me, but I was in ore how handsome it was.
First thought was to hit my host, then I realised the situation, and it started to hit more. I am an experanced hunter, well I was, it has been a while....
When you hunt you never know what you may come across, and this focus sets in, so things seem to go slower. Plus you are armed, trust your skills and reactions. The big advantage in this example was that I knew I would likely come across a wild Boar, so I was at an advantage there mentally.
The most frightening times my life has been at risk, and real risk of being killed, was at the hands of humans. I have been stabbed, shot at, hit with cars, set on fire, and beaten badly over an extended period of time....wild animals do not frighten me as much
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Nothing as scary as the stories above but I confess my heart rate was a little higher when lions came through our camp at night in Namibia. We were up in the roof tents so, theoretically, perfectly safe but the deep throat 'purring' they make as the walk along is quite chilling.
More scary was the night the elephants came through; they wouldn't care if you were on top of the truck or under it
The noise they make doesn't seem to come through the air; it's a primeval rumble from deep in their throat that feels like it travels through the ground.
More scary was the night the elephants came through; they wouldn't care if you were on top of the truck or under it
The noise they make doesn't seem to come through the air; it's a primeval rumble from deep in their throat that feels like it travels through the ground.Wonderful stuff, similar in Zimbabwe.
Whilst camping at Mana pools I didn’t hear a thing when the elephants came at night, only when I woke up & found huge piles of dung outside the tent had I noticed how close they were.. must of crept in, crapped & crept out again.
I also went for an evening stroll once, walking up a hill with the sun in my eyes minding my own business, I came to close to a pack of lions under a tree( about 900 feet away & to close for comfort)They were just lying there. I only noticed when they popped their heads up,I don’t no why,put I puffed myself up to look bigger then walked backwards acting like I wasn’t afraid.
Obviously it worked because I’m still here to tell the story.. lol.
Whilst camping at Mana pools I didn’t hear a thing when the elephants came at night, only when I woke up & found huge piles of dung outside the tent had I noticed how close they were.. must of crept in, crapped & crept out again.
I also went for an evening stroll once, walking up a hill with the sun in my eyes minding my own business, I came to close to a pack of lions under a tree( about 900 feet away & to close for comfort)They were just lying there. I only noticed when they popped their heads up,I don’t no why,put I puffed myself up to look bigger then walked backwards acting like I wasn’t afraid.
Obviously it worked because I’m still here to tell the story.. lol.
Not personally but witness to, whilst in the army in Belize, in the bush so to speak, a guy who had only been in country about a week was been shown around. Everyone gets the trots, getting caught short, need to go quick. so headed off the track and trousers down. We all hear this scream, out comes this guy trousers around his ankles, all he kept say was f**king snake, over and over. We went to look and this Boa about ten feet long was hanging down from the tree! He had squatted down to to the business and this had dropped down beside him. Now being squaddies, sympathy for this traumatic event, NAH, we could stop laughing.
Coping strategy in realation to fearful experiences.
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i always found humans more dangerous (whilst growing up i had some adolescents (in central europe...) trying to run me deliberately over by car because they didn't like my outdoor lifestyle... amongst too many other encounters...)
my semi-nomadic lifestyle has brought me close to wildlife in many places, not as spectacular as some of the other posts but here are a few examples...: climbing over a 5ft high earth wall in central europe i almost walked into a wild pig with piglets
2007 i walked around a boulder on the coast on Restoration Island and almost into "boxhead", the local problem crocodile..., noticed a croc stalking me fishing on the Ord River near Kununurra 2006, several other cases of being too close for my liking to crocodylus porosus...
my already-mentioned encounters with snakes
steamy fresh poo of ursus tibetanicus (Asian black bear) on the path in Japan and fresh water buffalo chips on a path through 8ft tall grass in the "top end" of oz (a neighbour who farmed water buffalos had issues with a feral bull wandering in from Arnhem Land -- he finally managed to shoot it but it escaped wounded...)
Not dangerous but still posting: a hedgehog baby sniffing on my shoes while mom almost got a heart attack 5ft away
a badger family raiding the garbage container on the campground i worked in Japan -- we finally discovered the entrance to their burrow in an old shed 10m from the workers accommodation...
walking around the main building on a farm in fjordland (NZ) one morning 11.00 I found myself face to face with a wapiti stag the size of a horse during mating season ---WHERE is my camera when i need it?!
my semi-nomadic lifestyle has brought me close to wildlife in many places, not as spectacular as some of the other posts but here are a few examples...: climbing over a 5ft high earth wall in central europe i almost walked into a wild pig with piglets
2007 i walked around a boulder on the coast on Restoration Island and almost into "boxhead", the local problem crocodile..., noticed a croc stalking me fishing on the Ord River near Kununurra 2006, several other cases of being too close for my liking to crocodylus porosus...
my already-mentioned encounters with snakes
steamy fresh poo of ursus tibetanicus (Asian black bear) on the path in Japan and fresh water buffalo chips on a path through 8ft tall grass in the "top end" of oz (a neighbour who farmed water buffalos had issues with a feral bull wandering in from Arnhem Land -- he finally managed to shoot it but it escaped wounded...)
Not dangerous but still posting: a hedgehog baby sniffing on my shoes while mom almost got a heart attack 5ft away
a badger family raiding the garbage container on the campground i worked in Japan -- we finally discovered the entrance to their burrow in an old shed 10m from the workers accommodation...
walking around the main building on a farm in fjordland (NZ) one morning 11.00 I found myself face to face with a wapiti stag the size of a horse during mating season ---WHERE is my camera when i need it?!
If find it amazing what us normal every day folk have encountered, yet it gets little mention.
Saying that.. define normal?
I could cite the encounter we had in the Rockies with a bear but Madame saw it off while I stayed warm in snug in the tent or the time I went to pick up a "dead" scorpion that wasn't or swimming with barracudas. But the weirdest was an encounter with a mole above ground. For sheer evil minded aggression it was in a class of its own. What a blessing moles are no bigger than they are!
recently someone called me "normal" -- i rarely felt that offended
i hope it didn't sound like i was showing off with my previous post -- by far most of my wildlife encounters are wwaayy less spectacular... (recently i saw a bunch of tourists staring at something beside the road: it turned out to be "only" a sloth... i guess "" exotic" depends on where you live )
one of my most memorable wildlife encounters was of a "common" earth worm: it crawled several meters over fresh snow, no idea why... (snow was maybe 4" which and temperature just below zero)
i hope it didn't sound like i was showing off with my previous post -- by far most of my wildlife encounters are wwaayy less spectacular... (recently i saw a bunch of tourists staring at something beside the road: it turned out to be "only" a sloth... i guess "" exotic" depends on where you live
)one of my most memorable wildlife encounters was of a "common" earth worm: it crawled several meters over fresh snow, no idea why... (snow was maybe 4" which and temperature just below zero)
