Hiking out at night.

[pilebuck]

powder lol

[tgomez]

I'm out a lot at night.  I've got some serious stories.  Lol.  It's when the hair on the back of your neck goes up and you have no idea why.

Lol, he's not joking. Part of the reason I pack a pistol now and a headlamp!

[ridgefire]

Headlight a backup headlight a gps and bear spray if your worried about critters.

[passing-thru]

I used them tacks to mark my way in and out that glow when light hits them,caution don't put them side by side with a 3 inch gap,holy moly batman,I about freaked when them two beady eyes were staring at me,,lol when not using them keep the light from messing with your eyes and use the gps

I also use the tacks if I'm not real familiar with area. cheap , about $2 for 40 at Bi-Mart. Those LED lights are great, but I find them almost to bright. I lose my night vision with them. A good head lamp attached at waist , and flashlight work well for me.

[huntnnw]

I was one of those guys who walked most of the time without a light on..well that changed when I almost stepped on 3 porcupines in one night...saw 7 that hike and walking up on skunks...light is always on now 

[jdb]

If this makes you feel any better, if a cat is going to eat you, they will do just fine during daylight hours.   They really don't need it to be dark.   It is unnerving when you know they are there but can't see them, or you do see the demon eyes.  That's always fun.   I cut up a bear one night in firelight while 50 yards away, a bear ate huckleberries in the moonlight, completely carefree of my presence.   He then followed me all the way to my truck with a backpack full of meat on.  He hung back about 75 yards or so the whole way.   I even fired a shot.  He didn't budge.

he probably didn't hear that  long bow go off!!

[coachcw]

I hike out more off ten than not in the dark . I typically just wear my led headlamp . if im in a unfamiliar area i get my bearings of a peak or feature before it gets dark and us it as a bearing . I have had a few sets of beedie eyes peering back at me . the worst thing is your own minds.

[Bofire]

 :)It depends, but I will say on the Olympic Penn. under the timber, overcast, you cannot have a big enough flash light. Head lamps and mini lights are a joke. I carry at least one 4-5 Dcell mag light minimum, prefer two. In Fruitland I can walk under the moon easy.
Camper lanterns work well too.
Carl

[Jonathan_S]

In Fruitland I can walk under the moon easy.

Especially when it's on fire

[Jarhead Chase]

I was walking out with a doe on my back in the Idaho panhandle. It was about 50 degrees when I started the hunt, but about 35 and heavy rain on my way back to the cabin. Between the cloud cover and the thick tree cover my GPS would give me a distance to the camp, but not an accurate direction. My hunting partner both had head lamps, and they worked great. He ended up spotting some wolves that were following us. I assume they were interested in the doe that had successfully covered my in more blood than I thought she had in her. A couple of shots from my sidearm backed them off until we made it back, but we were both near hypothermia, and the 1.2 miles from where I shot her took a lot longer than anticipated through darkness and Idaho back country.

A couple of things could have helped:

It was an impromptu hunt, so neither of us had maps or compasses.

I left a lot of my cold weather gear and rain gear at camp in order to decrease my pack load.

I had extra batteries, but these were also left at camp in order to save weight.

We each only had one light on is.


We got lucky. We were cocky, and it could have really cost us.


It was the best venison, and with some more details, it is still my best hunting story to date.

[Bean Counter]

^ "Have and not need" vs. "Need and not have"

[Jarhead Chase]

Yup. Lesson learned.

[outdooraddict]

my buddy had shot a bear in the evening, by the time we started hiking out, it was dark, we had no flashlight, no water, oh but we made sure we remembered our cell phones   one person had to keep hitting a button on the phone while the other person had a bear across their shoulders walking out.  the bushes and woods seem to make different noises in the dark.  luckily we didn't have to far to go and it was all downhill. but still frustrating and embarrassing to admit how foolish and unprepared we were, it was intended to be an afternoon walkabout carrying a gun, it ended up being a hunt lol

[Pete112288]

I swear I can never work up my nerves to go out too early or stay too late when alone. Even when I get somewhere super early I still get jumpy when sitting in my truck alone on some dead end log road. There have been a couple times that I patterned some animals but just couldn't get myself moving before it started to get light. I had a herd pinned, they pushed through a choke point in the timber half mile from the truck about the same time every day, 10 min or so after daylight in the timber. Several days I tried getting myself there in the dark. It was not an issue with navigation (a skid road lead right to the spot) it was my nerves. I get so freaked out too easily. I had no one at the time to tag along either. Most of the time I would only make it 200 yards till I hit the edge of the timber, then I would start hearing and/or seeing things. It is something I have tried working on over the years and have pushed myself to try and make it work but I always freak out too much. I am not afraid to admit it I turn into a gigantic chicken shi* in the dark alone in the woods. Even with a full moon and clear skies.

[Jarhead Chase]

I swear I can never work up my nerves to go out too early or stay too late when alone. Even when I get somewhere super early I still get jumpy when sitting in my truck alone on some dead end log road. There have been a couple times that I patterned some animals but just couldn't get myself moving before it started to get light. I had a herd pinned, they pushed through a choke point in the timber half mile from the truck about the same time every day, 10 min or so after daylight in the timber. Several days I tried getting myself there in the dark. It was not an issue with navigation (a skid road lead right to the spot) it was my nerves. I get so freaked out too easily. I had no one at the time to tag along either. Most of the time I would only make it 200 yards till I hit the edge of the timber, then I would start hearing and/or seeing things. It is something I have tried working on over the years and have pushed myself to try and make it work but I always freak out too much. I am not afraid to admit it I turn into a gigantic chicken shi* in the dark alone in the woods. Even with a full moon and clear skies.

If you have a good lead on a herd, I, and I am sure plenty of others on here, are more than willing to hike in with you.

We would just need to coordinate shots.