Uninvited Guests in Camp......

[bearpaw]

For about 10 years I would camp from the first part of Sept till the end of January. On numerous occasions we've had various critters in camp, one year we had a bold skunk in camp. The cook was sleeping in the cook tent and had a visitor one night so the next night I gave him a two way radio and told him to call me if the skunk came back. Sure enough after the camp was all in bed and all was quiet I hear him on the radio,"Dale, Dale, can you hear me? He's back I hear him scratching around trying to get in." I replied back and told him to let me know if the skunk got in. Pretty quick he replies back "He's IN, I'm covering up in my sleeping bag!"

I didn't want to spook the skunk and make him spray in the cook tent so we had to wait him out. Finally after a good while the skunk left the tent and I sort of herded him from a distance away from the tent. When he got about as far as he could without losing sight of him I shot him. Yes, he sprayed and that hung around for a long time but at least he wasn't coming in the tent anymore and terrorizing the cook. 

[JKEEN33]

My dad had moved to CA from WA and hated it there. After he graduated college he told my mom “we are moving to Alaska”! My mom says “let’s take a trip to Alaska”. It was somewhere around 1972. My dad loads 3 kids, Mom and 2 dogs in the car and hooks up a tent trailer and heads North. We spent, what I seem to remember as a couple months,driving and camping.

We saw all kinds of critters in camp, but will never forget Mom making breakfast and Dad coming back up a trail from the creek saying “get in the car, get in the car”! Both dogs belly crawled under the car and would not come out. Then a huge grizzly came up the trail. I was only around 6, so can’t remember much after that. I think it was the park ranger that came around and borrowed my dad’s rifle to shoot the bear. He never saw it and told my dad to shoot it if it came back. It never did. Turns out the camp next to us had thrown all their fish guts in the garbage can.

Have a lot more memories like that. Great trip for a 6 year old kid.

[JKEEN33]

In college, I met a friend that wanted to take a road trip up to Alaska. I said OK, I’ll leave my summer job early and we can make this a fly fishing trip through Canada on our way up. I think it was the first night in Canada that we stopped in Kamloops and camped in a packed campground. I woke up in the middle of the night to, what I thought was someone rummaging through our stuff on the table. I shoot out of the bag, unzip the tent and charge out to stop the thief only to see two skunks on the table both tails up. I backed in the tent and somehow avoided getting sprayed. I yell a “Art”  to the tent next to me and he replies “what”! I said “ there’s two skunks rummaging through our box of cooking gear”! He says “what the hell do you want me to do about it”! I said “good point” and went back to sleep. Had a good laugh about it in the morning.

[wags]

Uninvited guests? How about a game warden who wants to start playing the 100 and one question game. I refuse to play.

[Duckslayer89]

Uninvited guests? How about a game warden who wants to start playing the 100 and one question game. I refuse to play.

This one is my favorite

[banishd]

I've been harassed by mountain goats in the enchantments, black bears in camp by Republic, and mice under my sleeping bag on high buck hunt. Most startling to me was when I was on a solo high buck hunt in Alpine Lakes and had a bull elk sneak up on me as I was trying to get to sleep under my tarp. He unleashed the loudest, most intimidating lip bawl bugle I've ever heard, maybe 10 yards from me in my sleeping bag. It was so raspy and loud I thought bigfoot was about to come in the tent and get me.

[scotsman]

This.

[Axle]

Elk are always welcome in my camp! 

[bowhunterforever]

Elk are always welcome in my camp! 

[gaddy]

Last year at man camp, one of the boys and I went up a day early to set up camp. During the night the kid heard something rustling out side his tent, Then it bumped into a support pole, shook the tent and scared the crap out of him (his story). I came out of my tent early morning, opened the canopy to get into the cooler to find him at the front of the bed sleeping. Every thing but the coolers was stuffed in the cab. I looked around and only found 1 older elk track near by. The next night there were 6 boys in the tent. Next morning I found two of them sleeping in their truck, (more rustling by the tent). My son found several real small cat like tracks around their tent. That night I was woken to the sounds of something rooting around in the can bag. One of the kids had left it on the ground not wanting to be out side when the tent light went out. Well I grab my light and 45 and step out to see what was about. nothing at first. I go over to put up the can bag only to see it moving. Then out pops a skunk. As I am backing away this skunk starts to chase me around the camp.
 Well I escaped and the skunk wandered off. I had actually been chased around camp, in the middle of the night, in nothing but my shorts, by a Skunk !

[Skyvalhunter]

I don't think I would be telling that to many people they might question you manliness.

[gaddy]

Especially since I was armed The boys did ask why I didn't just shoot it. But, as an excuse, I once shot a skunk at close range when I was young, stupid and the wind was wrong. Not good, not good at all. I sure didn't want myself or the camp ruined for the rest of the trip.

[Gobble Gobble]

I have an old non digital pic of a young buck in velvet with his nose in my cooler as I'm trying to fill it. The deer that hang around the campground at the South end of Wallowa Lake in Oregon are far to tame.