Weirdest Thing You Saw While Elk Hunting

[Swede]

I think for me it was what I consider the first flush toilet in Oregon. A platform cabled to a tree was hung out over a creek. At the end of a 10-12 foot walkway was an outdoor privy. The hole was situated right over the stream below. It was interesting that the toilet was located above most all of the settlement that was spread out down stream. I was a kid when I saw it, and it has been gone many years. I wish I had a camera at that time.

[WapitiTalk1]

Seems like I bump into a Mylar balloons almost every year in WA, seems right about the 5000-6000 foot level. They vary from happy birthday to (ack) a Pittsburgh Steelers baloon (sorry Steeler fans). I did walk up on what seemed like a Clairol commercial on the Pacific Crest Trail in the late 80s. Came up over a bit of a rise in the trail and there was a blonde lady, kneeling off to one side of the trail, flicking her hair backwards repeatedly. It seems she was washing her hair with a canteen of water I walked by, waved in all my camo and archery equipment glory, and she backed up slowly towards her tent where I assume her husband, boyfriend, hiking partner was still sleeping

[Sneaky]

Two guys sitting at the bottom of a VERY productive ridge, in NM's unit 15, on 4 wheelers, talking loud enough I could hear them a few hundred yards away.

That was the only day I've never seen elk come down off that ridge. I'll never understand behavior like that.

[Indian Summer]

Back when I was thinner and my hair was lighter I was washing my face along the Pacific Crest Trail when this guy from Washington came over the hill all in camo calling me honey. I think he saw a mirage or something. Weirdest thing I ever saw. I backed up toward the tent to grab my gun but he kept going. Maybe he was from San Fran I'm not sure.

[welka]

Sitting over a funnel to an ag field when a guy on an atv drives in, gets off the atv, and starts rolling around on the ground for about 3 minutes. Goofy.

[Wyo67]

Walking back to our ATV's on afternoon, we took a shortcut across a very large wide open sage pasture. Came across what appeared to be two prairie dogs rolling around. Got up to about 20 yards of them and they split up, one very bloodied prairie dog went to the right and down a hole and the other went about 10' to the left and looked right at us... Except it wasn't a prairie dog, but a Black-footed ferret. Never expected to see one in the wild.

[WapitiTalk1]

Back when I was thinner and my hair was lighter I was washing my face along the Pacific Crest Trail when this guy from Washington came over the hill all in camo calling me honey. I think he saw a mirage or something. Weirdest thing I ever saw. I backed up toward the tent to grab my gun but he kept going. Maybe he was from San Fran I'm not sure.

Now that I think about it, that 'person' I saw had pretty wide shoulders and a beer belly. Things that make you go 'hmmm'.

[Olydog09]

I did something to a couple guys one year that I am sure has them thinkng WTF was that? I was bow hunting the Colockum in Wa. and I was in a tree stand on top of a ridge. I was about 10 yards in the timber from an open spot on the top of the ridge. Two guys came along in regular clothes jeans and shirts and they stopped there and bugled. They were not armed so I guess they were scouting for an upcoming season. One guy broke away and walked to the edge of the opening about 10 yards from me. He was looking down the drainage and I very lightly whispered "whatzup". He jumped to attention and intently peered into the trees towards the bottom of the tree I was sitting in. He looked for about 15 seconds and then kinda shook his head and went to turn around. I gave him another "whatzup" and he jumped and looked again then went and got his partner. When they both came back looking I stayed silent while they looked all around. His partner was doubting his buddy and they left. When they got about 75 yards out right before I was going to lose sight of them I let out a deep wolf howl.

[Fridaythe13th]

My arrow sailing over the top of a bull elk 6 months for revenge

[Lefty]

Ive posted about these in the past
2 AM I could see lights coming in on the road I was camped on. with no firearm I started gathering some gear then saw taillights and they drove off.The next day there was a refrigerator dumped along the trail with the doors strapped shut. It had a terrible smell. all I could think of was a dead guy. I thought I better look before getting contacting of authorities. I flipped the fridge over, nasty juice running out the bottom. cut the strap and rope, dead ducks and other birds about 2 weeks ripe

This one still cracks me up. A hot afternoon a few years back on my hunt. Im tired. I worked my way to a water tank and realized there was a great glassing location just out of shooting range of the waterhole. I crawled up so I wouldn't be sky lined. I glassed for a while, then napped in the shadow of the rock I was leaning against. I awoke and started glassing before I moved. Off in the distance some fellow was running, dodging and ducking, pointing his scoped rifle here and there, Advancing, sneaking along, shoulder his gun, then run some more. Reminded me how we use to play "Army men" when I was a kid. Im watching as he moving closer still a few hundred yards away, Im sort of chuckling it was so comical watching through my binos.
One quick moment he shoulders the gun right at me, all I can think is I ( the rock) was a target. just that quick he got this look of panic on his face, He turned and ran to his purple colored box car and sped off, driving 40 mph on a trail he shouldn't be driving more than walking speed.
Im not sure what kind of scope he had but it puzzled me enough last year with me camoed, some brush in front how he could see me I took my pack ,shirt, and hat and set it against the rock where I was in the shade glassing from a few years ago. I t still puzzles me how he saw " the camo rock guy ".
But the look on his face was something

I find some odds and ends that are weird , old gas cans, endless supply of mylar balloons, car parts, snowmobile. Buddy picked up a cowbell( for sheep) that had to be 70-80 years old.

Yesterday my wife and I took a ride on the ATV not that finding a thrown shoe is weird. but 50 yards away was a penny, minutes later my wife thought it was weird we saw an elk

(800 yards from the pic below)

I do have a question
The desert in this area has rock walls near the man-made water holes and tanks. But it seems a crazy thing to provide a wind break and certainly not part of fencing Some are 5 feet thick 5 feet high and 200 yards long. Yesterday one wall was 12-14 feet high 5-6 feet at the base and 50 yards long. a real marvel of a lot of work. I was thinking maybe a wind break? Way too much effort
I took a picture of one of the rock piles Im guessing only a start of a "wall".

IMG_5092 (Small).JPG (109.76 KiB) Viewed 6775 times

[elk-n-walleye]

Sitting over a funnel to an ag field when a guy on an atv drives in, gets off the atv, and starts rolling around on the ground for about 3 minutes. Goofy.

Sounds like the type of thing an anti-hunter would do. Spread scent to change elk travel patterns.

[husky390]

I was sitting a ridge glassing canyons when I heard a low rumble off to my right. I looked over and there were two C130's flying low, roaring through the canyon. Pretty cool to see that. I've found the mylar balloons before, old camps with tin cans in the fire pit. We were hiking in the Superstition Mountains once and I found jumped off the trail to answer the call of nature behind a big boulder. I looked at the boulder and someone had scratched in some kind of map that had to do with the sun shining at a certain time. Wish I had a camera with me. It was pretty cool. We also found a cave with the old green glass jars filled with flour.

[ishy]

Might be just an old passed on tail, but my dad and uncles say hunting in umpteen thousand years ago in Southern Idaho one of them went to use an outhouse and found someone had skinned a bear and left it squatting with a cowbow hat on sitting on the throne! Pretty sure he didn't have to go after opening the door to that.

[jmez]

Not elk hunting but was hunting the Pine Ridge in Ne for turkey while in college. Was walking up a ridge and a shadow hits me, and then a Stealth Bomber flies over my head, at what seemed like about 20 feet. Thing was going so fast it was almost out of sight before I ever heard it. Was really an amazing experience rather thane weird.


Was on a training hike in the Black Hills about a month ago. I was about a mile from any trail or road. I was down in a deep ravine and I found the entire running board off of a pickup under a pile of deadfall. I have absolutely no clue how it got there. The ravine did not lead back or even close to any road or trail.

[mrganser]

Saw a guy walking on a trail in sandals, cargo shorts, tie-dyed t shirt, and top hat with a house cat sitting on his shoulders.

[WapitiTalk1]

Saw a guy walking on a trail in sandals, cargo shorts, tie-dyed t shirt, and top hat with a house cat sitting on his shoulders.

Whaaaaaat?

[Washington Wapiti]

I did something to a couple guys one year that I am sure has them thinkng WTF was that? I was bow hunting the Colockum in Wa. and I was in a tree stand on top of a ridge. I was about 10 yards in the timber from an open spot on the top of the ridge. Two guys came along in regular clothes jeans and shirts and they stopped there and bugled. They were not armed so I guess they were scouting for an upcoming season. One guy broke away and walked to the edge of the opening about 10 yards from me. He was looking down the drainage and I very lightly whispered "whatzup". He jumped to attention and intently peered into the trees towards the bottom of the tree I was sitting in. He looked for about 15 seconds and then kinda shook his head and went to turn around. I gave him another "whatzup" and he jumped and looked again then went and got his partner. When they both came back looking I stayed silent while they looked all around. His partner was doubting his buddy and they left. When they got about 75 yards out right before I was going to lose sight of them I let out a deep wolf howl.

A sure sign your set-up is working.

[Washington Wapiti]

I got nothin'.
Wasn't hunting, but I was working on the Vail Weyerhaeuser Tree Farm out of Yelm one year. I was about a half-mile from the gate when I saw a car completely engulfed in flames, shooting like 15 or 20 feet in the air. It was sitting there torching right off the road in a little turn-out. A disconcerting thing to see 10 at night.

[Sneaky]

Saw a guy walking on a trail in sandals, cargo shorts, tie-dyed t shirt, and top hat with a house cat sitting on his shoulders.

That wasn't near Dunton, CO, was it?

[Csrbowhunter]

We just happened to go back to camp this day because the weather was terrible, plus we needed a nap! While asleep I heard all these weird noises, which in turn was making me have some weird dreams. When I finally came too this is what I saw. I went out and talked to the guys with the sheep and they had started in may taking these sheep across Montana. They hadn't came out of the national forest since they started in May and it was late September!