Dangers during the Hunt

[BruceBruce1959]

I'm interested in hearing about what the Dangers are in the areas you hunt.
For some it might be poisonous snakes, spiders, wolves, Boar, alligator, bear maybe even just ticks.

What are the dangers you look out for and what precautions do you take during hunts to help with those dangers?

I'll start by saying Vermont has no real dangers at all other than the possibility of encountering rabid wild animals
or the common dangers like coming between a Momma Bear and her cubs or a Moose in heat or a Buck in rut etc.
All of these dangers are extremely rare here in Vermont.
How about your areas?

[onehorse]

There are few things (possible dangers) that I think about in this part of the country. In eastern Montana, where I spend time crawling through the sage brush when stalking pronghorns, there's always the possibility of finding yourself staring into the face of a rattler. This has not happened to me, but I know I'm in prime snake country while chasing the speed goats. What really worries me about this is my bad hearing. These snakes don't look for trouble, and usually try to warn intruders by shaking their rattles. Well, in my case, I can't hear the rattling very well.
Every year, one or more hunters have bad experiences with grizzlies here. A friend who went back to pack the last part of his elk out had to leave it (including the tenderloins!) because he found a momma grizzly munching away at it. I think he said he backed out all the way to his camp!
Of course, we also have the potential for running into a crabby moose - a guy did get killed here a few years ago by a bull.
In spite of what you might think, wolves are NOT a problem for hunters, except they do kill a lot of elk.
I've seen plenty of mountain lion tracks, but never the cats, themselves. Of course, though, like with the rattlers, I'm more worried about the ones I DON'T see than the ones I do see!
Mostly though, I worry about the weather. Not only in terms of getting stranded, but more for how it effects driving conditions. There's more chance of that giving hunters here trouble than anything else. Having to drive over some of these mountains passes, there have been several times when I had to pull out of a hunt early in the day because I didn't like the looks of the sky, and there have been a few times when I didn't do that when I had "real difficulty" (that's short for "just about peed my pants") just making it back home in one piece.
And where ever we hunt, we always need to remember the old driving adage that also applies to hunting, "Watch out for the other guy!"

[WisconsinDeer]

Not much to worry about around here. Maybe getting between a momma black bear and her cubs. Coyotes don't worry me to much. There are sightings of wolves around here. There are also sightings of mountain lions around here, and I have seen one myself. It was trying to get at a neighbors calf but a bull chased it off luckily. But the only danger I have had to face is having to go to the bathroom when sitting in the stand...not fun.

i got to say the thing i'm most afraid of is a moose. i had one during a bow season come with in 20 yards and wouldn't leave so i did. this 2 year bull followed me at 20 yards. I'd stop and run at him nope wouldn't leave me alone. i'd turn to walk away and he would follow again. picked up sticks and threw at him, hitting him, nope kept following. finally i figured i would just beat feet out of the woods. the second thing that i'm a little nervous about are the flatlanders, no offence intended to any flatlanders but if i don't know the guys in the woods i'm in i get nervous. of course we have bear, bob cats, more and more, and coyotes. if you've never heard the coyotes yipping and carrying on around you in the dark you're missing something. it'll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. but those, the bob cats, and the bear don't really bother me.

[hunt NH]

things that scare me most are the cats, and flatlanders.

[huntr-]

To me its not the out of staters as much as inexperienced hunters or trigger happy youth (16-20) . Ronn was right about the moose as I too have had to chase off a bull years ago as it was lip curling and ears back. Also having the coyotes all around you yipping and carring on in the dark is interesting . But the thing that worries me the most is people posting land.

[hunt NH]

i can understand the whole moose thing. never hapened to me, but it did hapen to a guy in my squad in Alaska wile he was doing a land navigation corce. he was visably shaken when he got back, and he was a toughf dude. and as far as the coyote go. ya it can be realy errie when its dark and you can hear them only about 30 yards out. but bar none the scairyest encounter i ever had in my life was with a big cat wile bow hunting in webster NH.

[onehorse]

"the second thing that i'm a little nervous about are the flatlanders, no offence intended to any flatlanders but if i don't know the guys in the woods i'm in i get nervous."

"Flatlanders?" "Flatlanders!" Hell, it's all you poaching local yokle woodchucks that spoil the hunting for everyone else. Oh, yea, no offence intended. LOL
After all the kidding, Ron, just what is a "flatlander" anyway? Is it someone like me who was born in a city, or just "guys in the woods" that you don't know?

[hunt NH]

flatlander. a term used in NH to call people from Mass.

[kemster99]

well, down here we have to many dangers to look out for. cottonmouths, rattlers, coral snakes, many different spiders, hornets, and lets not forget the occasional angry feral hog. just some good snake boots, watching where you step. as far as the hogs go----victory through superior firepower. lol