Weird outdoor stories with Beardmaster

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BEARDMASTER

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Dec 4, 2017
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Estonia
www.nahakamber.ee
I grew up near a forested area and have been going and staying in the wilderness since my childhood.
It was my playing ground as well as my hiding place and learning experience.
In my teenager years all my friends went to the clubs, pubs and parties, while I went to the forest - that has not changed to this day. My heart, soul and body belong to the wilderness until the day I cross over to the other side.

Over the years, I have had many strange and humorous experiences.
It is time to talk about some of these and I hope you shall share some of yours!


Story of how I nearly got shot (first experience)

I was in my early 20's and my family just had gotten back my grand-grand-grand-grand uncles farm.
Not much had survived, aside of a root cellar and collapsed buildings. Everything was overgrown in a thick bush. It had been abandoned for over 50 years.

It was late october and the leaves had all fallen on the muddy ground. Nights had became long and cold. To find things to do in those long nights, I had taken my camera and tripod with me. One clear night, I decided to go on a wheat field to photograph the night sky.
I chose a spot, set up my camera. Allowed myself a long time to frame the picture, calculate my shutter speed etc. I was shooting on 35mm B/W film and figured, it would take about 5 minute exposure to get the result I was after.

After about a minute or two I heard a movement on the treeline. "A deer!" I tought and was dissapointed I did not bring any light source with me.
At that time I heard another sound - it was a sound of a car engine coming down the village road, right next to the field I was standing on.
I started to see the headlights and then - a bright and huge light-beam! That came from the back of the truck and it started to scan the field. The light-beam passed over me several times but because I happened to wear all black clothes and stood on a muddy black field with leafless trees as a background, they must have not seen me.

However, they did see the creature that was making a noise at the treeline. It was a deer indeed!
The light-beam stopped at the deer. The car stopped, and I heard a faint muffled speach.
"What are they doing? Should I let them know I am her.."
BOOM! A gunshot was fired.
I was standing almost exactly between the car and the deer. I head the bullet fly past me and hit the deer.
I was totally frozen, my hand still holding down the shutter button of the camera.
Two flashlights were turned on and those started to move towards me. They came closer, but must have not seen me. They walked up to the deer and carried it back to the truck. I was no more than 20 meter away form them.
The bright light-beam was turned off and the car went back to where it came from, disappearing over a hill.

I stood there, still in shock, and thinking to myself, "So these must have been poachers. I wonder if the exposure is done."

That was my first time when I nearly got shot in that village.

EDIT: The image was underexposed. It must have had happened faster than I thought or my calculations were off.
 
Jul 24, 2017
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somerset
As a youth I was out camping in the summer, had a small fire and just a sleeping bag, come the morn I did not feel alone in my bag, so I unzipped to find every know insect and wiggling thing of England had set up for the night with me, I leaped from the bag and was near naked in six steps stripping cloth and a plethora of insects as fast as I could, I like natures little things but not as bed fellows!
 
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BEARDMASTER

Member
Dec 4, 2017
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Estonia
www.nahakamber.ee
It is said that England is the most hunted country in the world. So maybe the following story does not sound as strange as it is.
Maybe you even have something similar to share?


Meeting a ghost on an ancient hill fort

Some years ago, I decided to take my lovely partner to a bicycle camping trip. We both have an interest in history and so we decided to choose our destination and camping spot to be a ancient hill fort in North-eastern Estonia, called Agelinde.

We packed our things and off we went for 3 days into the back-roads and forests. Many hours we cycled on the forest roads- breaking down, repairing our rides, losing and finding our way. In the evening we finally found the hill fort.
It was the night of summer solstice and all of the local people were off to the big village celebrations or being with their family.
The camping site is right at the top of the hill fort, in the middle section of it. While not a popular or a very known camping site (not even listed in most websites), it was well maintained- it had a firepit and a wooden lavvu.

Being eaten by mosquitoes, burned by the hot summer sun and showered by the thunderstorm all in one day, we both were tired and ready to have a hot meal before going to bed.
It was rather late but it was the midsummer. The sun goes down only for a little bit and there is no real dark time at this time of the year. Despite the late hour, setting up camp, gathering firewood and doing other tasks does not require headlamps at all.
Having our bellies full of good meat and mead, we finally went to bed.

I have always had trouble falling a sleep and that night was no exception. I am not sure how long I had been waiting to fall asleep but at one point I heard footsteps, right beside our tent.
"Am I dreaming or is it the mead or is someone actually there?", I thought to myself.
I looked at my partner to see if she is asleep. Her eyes were wide open and her face started to go pale. I pointed towards the stepping sounds with a question mark on my face. She nodded, she also hears it. Now I knew I was not drunk nor was I sleeping.

I listened to determine if it might be an animal. The steps were heavy and sounded like a person would sound, walking slowly in a grass.
If it is a person, what on earth do they want? Do they intend to see if there are anything valuable?
I slowly reached for my puukko and decided to shout but before I did that I noticed something strange - the footsteps went around the tent, many, many circles in a steady rythm.
I unzipped my sleeping bag while shouting loudly, "Kes sa oled?! Mida sa tahad!? (Who are you? What do you seek?)"

The steps stopped and immediately I opened the tent while charging out like a madman.

It was a clear night and the moon light up the ground. I could see clearly around the camp-site.
There was nobody there. No wild boar, no foxes or raccoon dogs and no humans.
Being pumped full of adrenaline, I was out of the tent fast as ever and by no means would a creature with that heavy steps be able to escape without making any sounds or movement in the bush. I would have seen a movement, heard the sounds.

We went back to sleep and in the morning I looked around and checked for any tracks but nothing i could find other than our own tracks.

Second night we slept in the wooden lavvu. The spruce poles seemed to give more protection than the nylon tent. Just in case.
But nothing came to visit us that night. We left with many questions about what happened.

After coming back home, I started to search the internet anything for that old hill fort. It turned out to have a rich history.
It was built sometime in the early iron age and was an important center for the area for many centuries. It had been taken, rebuilt and used for many war parties during the viking age and medieval times until it was abandoned.
The locals have many stories about the fort. There supposed to be many treasures hidden in it. The bog surrounding it supposedly has a small army drowned in it. Some even call the hill fort a "devils mound".
And then there is a legend from the 16th century.


A legend of a brokenhearted knight

After it was abandoned, local people used to go the the old hill fort to celebrate summer solstice. A big fire is the center of the event and is kept going all night into the early morning. People from the area gather around to celebrate and have a good time.
At around midnight a stranger came to the celebration. He was tall, well built and had a smile in his face. He looked around like looking for someone. Not finding the person he was looking for, hes eyes became sad and the man started to walk away.
A local man stopped him and asked who he was and who was he looking for?
The man replied, "I fell in the battle long time ago. The bog lake became my grave. I search for my darling who I left behind when going to the war, to see her one last time".

Today, some local villagers and campers say that they too sometimes hear footsteps or see a tall shadow in the fort. It is said to be a haunted place.


So, what ever we heard that night certainly made an impression on us. We were not scared, just confused.
Whatever it was- a ghost of a fallen soldier, an animal or just a local drunk hoping to steal something -it made a lively memory of the trip.

I plan to visit that place once more this winter.


I will finish this story with a Estonian folk song about going to the war
 
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Mowmow

Forager
Jul 6, 2016
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130
Nottinghamshire
Haha very interesting thankyou!

I once set up my hammock nice and low just a foot or so off the ground, just so the wind would roll over the top of the tarp and not blow underneath. I pinned some blankets and a canvas bivvy around the outside of the hammock, to make space inside it and prevent compressed insulation. Anyway I awoke to find the hammock rocking slightly and as i stirred, it all of a sudden started swinging wildly and there was a tremendous banging against my bottom. It was an extremely panicked wild animal most likely a rabbit stuck in this blanket coccoon i'd made around me trying to turn around inside and escape! Haha I just laughed at my self for setting up so low i didnt realise the entrance to my coccoon was swinging on the floor. I played some music out of my phone quietly after that just so to warn anything creeping around in the dark that the lovely tunnel of warmth is indeed a sleeping man.

Another time, doing a one nighter in the same location, as i was just nodding off, I was alerted to the sound of the gate opening in the field next door and the footsteps of someone walking along the field edge closest to me. I just thought late night dog walker right? Wrong, They were certainly all alone. I had no fire that night and was in bed early just as it got dark, I was well concealed by the forest edge. But they seemed to follow the fields edge until they were directly across the fence to me. Then a light flicked on directly at my shelter. I laid completely still, pretending to be asleep and was already facing away from them. It shone for a brief couple of seconds then flicked off again. Then on and off again like the off button bounced a bit. They then stood there for what must have been 15-20 minutes or so. Then, more slowly this time, skulked off down the field the way they came. I never heard the gate again though (its on a spring and shuts itself). I slept with my skrama for the remainder of the night. Weird. I still go to the same place pretty frequently though n not been bothered since. There was just something strange about whoever it was.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 

BEARDMASTER

Member
Dec 4, 2017
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Estonia
www.nahakamber.ee
Mowmow, that had to be an intense night to spend out there! Worst creatures to meet in the woods are the two legged ones. Then again, they must have been pretty surprised to meet you too!


Playing hide and seek with thieves

This story took place just a week ago when I received 3 deer hides as payment for a knife sheath. As my small fridge has not got too much room for storing hides, there was no time to lose. I was off to the forest.

I chose a place not far from my home, in a clear-cut area. There is a good road leading to it and I can park my car so it was not visible from the "big" road (That is important as my car doors does not lock, southern-made cars and northern winters does not mix well.) . It is not a picturesque place by any means, but there is wildlife there and not many people visit this place. Huge amount of untouched blueberry bushes in the autumn are a clear sign of no two legged visitors.
There is very little daylight at this time of the year. There is about 5 hours of usable daylight under the thick carpet of pines and spruces. So, one day turned into another and before i knew it, I was day 3 on the "Deer-camp".

I slept in in the morning of 3rd day but that was no problem as there was little work to be done on the hide that day. I arrived at my parking spot as usual and noticed an animal track on the fresh snow.
"Is it a wolf, a coyote? Or maybe someones dog from a nearby village?" I tracked it a little bit but decided to head for the camp after taking a picture for later viewing.
At the same exact time I heard music from the entrance of the road. Before I could even think about who might come here I heard someone opening my car doors.
No time to lose, I rushed in to the forest so I could come back to my car from the other side. There are young spruce trees, that would give me good cover. So I did and stopped at the cover of spruce trees.
There was a white mini-van parked on the road. I looked at my car - it was still there, empty. I stayed silent for a minute to listen to any movement. And there it was- footsteps following my own path.
The van suddenly drove off. Did the driver saw me? I was not exactly wearing snow camo and in the heat of the moment might not considered to blend in the environment.
Anyway, I rushed to my car and saw someones footsteps. The driving wheel was locked, someone had definitely been in the car.
I took off my backpack and slammed the door. I then heard a movement in the forest.
I breath in deeply, light a cigarette and just in case rested my hand on my puukko. I was ready to face a revengeful hunter who though I must have been a poacher (my deer camp would certainly have convinced him of that).
Minutes ticked away in the silence. I then decided to track the stranger to see where did he follow me or of he is still in there, be it angry hunter or not.

The footsteps had been following mine to the point that he must have heard me made a U turn in the forest. He then headed back to my car but stopped before he could be seen from the car. I must have reached the car just before him. The tracks then headed over the clear-cut area to the blueberry forest.

I decided to take down the camp and finish the hide in my apartments bathroom.
I must say, despite the strange encounter, the hide turned out great! Truly great winter parka material!


Safe travels people!
 

BEARDMASTER

Member
Dec 4, 2017
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43
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Estonia
www.nahakamber.ee
Interesting stuff, you infer there're other times you nearly got shot in that village...

Indeed there was another situation!

Raging boars and poachers

It took place in early summer in the same year. My family had bought back the farming land of our forebears.
At some point it had been abandoned and sold to a forest company and for many decades it stood empty. There were some remains of old buildings and a root cellar and a well that was in very good situation. But the whole farm had been overgrown in nettles and willow brush that needed to be cut down.

So, there I was, a young chap with a chainsaw and a dream of living on the countryside. I could almost hear the sound of horses coming from the remains of the stable. My grand-grand uncle, who last lived there, was a village blacksmith and I too dreamed about re-building his old smithy and maybe even find some of his old tools to restore and work with.
As the day turned into evening, I sat beside the fire and and dreamed about those things until I dozed off to sleep.

I dragged myself to my tent and just as I closed my eyes I heard someone or something moving against my nylon tent. The shape and sound of him left little room for imagination- it was undoubtedly the belly of a wild boar.
I had left my food basket in the tent vestibule and figured the piggy must have been hungry. I sat upright to scare him off and take the basket inside. At the same moment I saw a faint flash to my left and a loud bang. That took care of scaring the boar and me as well. I laid back down and yelled "Do not shoot!"
However, the boar had gotten stuck on the tent and was now going berserk. Screaming and trying to ran off- with or without the tent and all of its contents and inhabitants.
A second flash and a gunshot, this time brighter and closer. Most locals did not know that I was there and they all have been used to it being abandoned.
I yelled again not to shoot but at that point the adrenaline was going hard and my voice sounded almost identical to the boars. I too was feeling of going berserk and thought about getting my knife and either free the beast or trying to find shelter in the root cellar. It was clear that all the epic battle cries were drawing the trigger-happy rifleman closer.
I grabbed my puukko and opened the door zipper. But instead of a wet snout I saw a hairy fat backside. The boar was indeed stuck on the cordage with his hind leg. I cut the cordage and watched him go with a majestic roaring and screaming.
I laid there for some time, eating peanuts from my food basket and listening the distant roaring. After some time of silence and calming myself down I put the food basket in the well, stoked up the embers and made a fire and slept out in the open. Needless to say, the tent was a mess and I felt a that I rather battle the mosquitoes than boars and poachers.

Later that week I learned that there were some poachers living in a nearby village and given that the event took place at night time (although, summer night are still rather bright) I figured it must have been them. Were they the same dudes I met the second time? I never found out.
 

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