Dangers during the Hunt

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!"

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.

I was a very "green" hunter when this happened to me.....I had not been hunting this certain property for very long and was trying to figure out how the deer were moving, I had plans to walk to the very back part and set on the ground, I got up plenty early and was in the woods way before legal shooting time, no moon and you talk about dark, walking through the woods as stealthy as I could and would stop every few steps and listen, as I was standing there I heard something walking in the woods, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh........I could not see it but immediately pulled the hammer back on my 30/30 and held it in the direction of the noise, I bet it was no further than 5 yards away, I never saw it and it just walked right on past me......Don't know if it was a deer, coyote or what but really unnerved me. My bro-in-law has seen a big cat and says he has found bear tracks very close to where this happened to me. I very seldom hunt on the ground now and when I do I think about that one scary morning.cdg"??"

i see bolth sides of that piont. if it was an animal, such as a big cat you would need to be ready to rock and roll at a seconds notice. at the same time you cant be just pionting your wepon at a niose you herd without knowing what it is. it very well could have been another hunter you were pointing your locked and loaded gun at. and with the adrenalen pumping through you you never know if you might acidently pull the trigger. hear is what i would do in that situation. i would pull the hammer back so the gun is ready to point and shoot. then i would position my self quarted towasrds the noise, and stand at the Low Ready position. (for you non military gents. the low ready position is the wepon is shouldered, but aimed at a 45 degree angle down to the ground. the trigger finger sits just out side of the trigger well, but not in it.) there for you can piont and shoot in a split second, but never aim before identifying your target.

"Low Ready Position" - boy does that bring back some memories and I'm very thankful/grateful/etc. that I never had to actually "fire a shot in anger" so to speak. But that's definitely some good advice.

When hunting with my #2 son, I have taught him (and me, too) not to put the finger on the trigger until target identified and ready to shoot. The fingertip remains outside the trigger guard until the very last moment. I try to put it along side the receiver above the trigger until my heart stops racing and the adrenalin slows a bit. (Sorry, I still get quite worked up when I see a good sized doe or buck downrange from my hunting spot.)

I've headed out plenty of times in the pitch black of near dawn (it's always darkest right before dawn, right?), but I'm fortunate to know exactly the terrain I'm walking over. There's little chance that I'll run across a snake, but I still walk slow so they have plenty of time to get where they're going before I get there. (Is it true that they're just as afraid of us as we are of them?)