Post by: WapitiTalk1 on April 05, 2017, 01:02:06 PM
What kind of uninvited forest guests have you had at your camps?
Post by: jrebel on April 05, 2017, 01:09:22 PM
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on April 05, 2017, 01:12:16 PM
Post by: kentrek on April 05, 2017, 01:48:57 PM
Elk
Deer
Bear
Coyotes
Wolves, very cool experience...
Cougar, the worst thing you can ever hear while spiked out
Mice, the wildernesses live soup opera
Frogs,the funniest intruder
Ants.....always a losing battle....just gotta get used to them
Post by: Curly on April 05, 2017, 01:54:30 PM
Post by: Mfowl on April 05, 2017, 02:02:45 PM
Post by: denali on April 05, 2017, 02:03:46 PM
Post by: Timberstalker on April 05, 2017, 02:17:16 PM
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on April 05, 2017, 02:30:03 PM
Once in elk camp we realized that the ground was crawling with Daddy Longlegs all around our campfire. I don't know if it was the heat or light but they were converging on the fire pit. It was unsettling.
No kidding! I think that it's year dependent. I remember one year on a WA hunt (using a wall tent with a wood stove that year) if you got up at night and turned on your headlamp, there was hundred and hundreds of them nasty little creatures crawling everywhere inside the tent! I guess they're attracted to the warmth?
Post by: Woodchuck on April 05, 2017, 02:40:00 PM
Post by: kentrek on April 05, 2017, 02:47:28 PM
Once in elk camp we realized that the ground was crawling with Daddy Longlegs all around our campfire. I don't know if it was the heat or light but they were converging on the fire pit. It was unsettling.
No kidding! I think that it's year dependent. I remember one year on a WA hunt (using a wall tent with a wood stove that year) if you got up at night and turned on your headlamp, there was hundred and hundreds of them nasty little creatures crawling everywhere inside the tent! I guess they're attracted to the warmth?
Seems like all bugs are attracted to the warmth.....crickets are by far worse then daddy long legs !! Nothing like a Symphony inside your tent
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on April 05, 2017, 02:52:16 PM
Let's see....
Elk
Deer
Bear
Coyotes
Wolves, very cool experience...
Cougar, the worst thing you can ever hear while spiked out
Mice, the wildernesses live soup opera
Frogs,the funniest intruder
Ants.....always a losing battle....just gotta get used to them
That's because you spend about half the days out of the year sleeping in the backcountry :chuckle:
Post by: pianoman9701 on April 05, 2017, 03:02:46 PM
Post by: kentrek on April 05, 2017, 03:55:30 PM
Let's see....
Elk
Deer
Bear
Coyotes
Wolves, very cool experience...
Cougar, the worst thing you can ever hear while spiked out
Mice, the wildernesses live soup opera
Frogs,the funniest intruder
Ants.....always a losing battle....just gotta get used to them
That's because you spend about half the days out of the year sleeping in the backcountry :chuckle:
"Used" to spend half the year....I'm stuck in town now :bash:
I had a bob cat one morning come streaking through camp, full throttle in and even more gas on the way out.....figured he lost a bet with his buddies :chuckle:
Post by: kselkhunter on April 05, 2017, 04:15:47 PM
1) Two young forked horn bucks practice fighting in the meadow next to our camp site. Made their way into our camp while we watched, tripping over tie out cords for the tent almost bringing it down. The doe's with them just wandered right past. Happened multiple evenings. Was amusing, but got annoying by the third night.
2) Bear decided to sniff my head through the tent wall one night....then walked away, and I hear the tent next to me unzip the zipper and yell to my cousin: "what are you doing, that was a bear?". His reply: "I know, but I've never seen a bear up close before". http://hunting-washington.com/smf/Smileys/default/badidea.gif
Post by: trophyhunt on April 05, 2017, 04:29:27 PM
Post by: RB on April 05, 2017, 04:34:38 PM
Post by: Alchase on April 05, 2017, 04:39:33 PM
I'll take the fury ones over the 8 legged variety. Once in elk camp we realized that the ground was crawling with Daddy Longlegs all around our campfire. I don't know if it was the heat or light but they were converging on the fire pit. It was unsettling.
My son and I were camping at Brown Creek Campground during bear and Grouse season. After a hard rain all day, we were sitting around the fire after dinner, when I felt something on my hand I shook it off. A minute later I felt it again. looked down and saw hundreds and hundreds of Daddy-long-legs all over the ground and us. We both jumped up and did the spider dance to get them off. Then we noticed they were running at extreme high speed, and literally jumping into the fire with a POP! committing Harakiri!
this went on for about an 15 minutes, then they were all gone!
:dunno:
Post by: Remnar on April 05, 2017, 06:11:22 PM
Post by: ctwiggs1 on April 05, 2017, 06:59:23 PM
Range cows .:yeah: man they've gotten me before. Packed it all up and slept in the truck. No way I was going back to sleep that night outside.
Post by: Gobble Gobble on April 05, 2017, 07:17:39 PM
Quote
wallowa Lake, Daughters stern mommy voice was little help
I too have the Lake Wallowa deer pics. I have one somewhere of me trying to pack the cooler and a young 2x2 has his nose in my cooler wanting my "Little Debbie" Swilss Rolls.
Quote
Range cows .
I grew up fishing the Tucannon River and can remember many a summer nights/mornings waking to cows walking through the camp tripping over the rain fly ropes. Had a tent almost come down one morning from cows kicking the stakes out of the ground.
Took the Boy Scout troop on a 70 mile canoe trip down the Columbia River. We camped near Ring Gold for the night and had several coyotes walk around our camp yipping. It was a long night for a couple young boys.
Post by: gaddy on April 19, 2017, 10:39:52 AM
One year at m.an camp with my boys and their buds we had a couple loafs of bread that the boys left out taken. One was across the creak and the other scattered on the creek bank by the tent. The only tracks found were small cat tracks in the mud.
The most memorable was at elk camp with two of my younger brothers. In the middle of the night i heard some weird noises out side. Looked to my brother that was awake and he was about freaked. There was lots of little whistles all around, huffs and sounds of rustling around. Then some thing pissed on the side of the tent right next to my head. It happens that on this trip the tent door zipper was broke and the door was wide open with just a tarp draped over to keep the rain out. Me being me, I grabbed my shotgun and light, whispered to my brother (who had his pistol aimed at the door) to come with me to investigate. He said in a fairly loud voice HELL NO! then all went quiet. Never did find tracks in the morning after the rain. We assumed coyotes but i have never heard anything like it.
Have also had deer hang around, bear tracks, dug up fire pits, and a heard of elk move through camp in the night during deer season. You could see them in the star light. That was cool.
Post by: KB88 on April 19, 2017, 11:02:20 AM
Post by: bigdave on April 19, 2017, 11:38:08 AM
Post by: quadrafire on April 19, 2017, 11:44:23 AM
Post by: quadrafire on April 19, 2017, 11:47:00 AM
Post by: sumpnz on April 19, 2017, 12:12:23 PM
Had a moose wake me up at 2am....
Did it bite your sister?
Post by: 7mag. on May 22, 2017, 12:23:01 AM
Post by: Duckslayer89 on May 22, 2017, 01:05:13 AM
Chipmunks, camp robbers (grey jays), mule deer are the most common for me. The chipmunks really get bold especially if you've fed them a handful of crumbs and the camp robbers can be brutal (landing on your head begging for snacks, and on occasion, they can get into tents and crap all over everything trying to fly out). The mule deer like to come around camp after dark and ruin my beauty rest and I've even had a couple of cow elk swing in to sniff and rustle around a tarp covered quad trailer (thought we had a bear in camp that night). I haven't really had any issues (knock on wood) with bears in camp for some reason.
What kind of uninvited forest guests have you had at your camps?
We woke up today to here footsteps in my wall tent, sure enough giant squirrel running around the bottom of my tent!! Shoed him out
Post by: lokidog on May 22, 2017, 07:31:08 AM
Post by: T-Dozzer on September 26, 2017, 02:41:45 PM
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on September 26, 2017, 03:06:35 PM
Post by: croix on September 26, 2017, 03:15:42 PM
Another year by buddy showed up late and brought his camp chairs (the green director chairs with the foam arms) into the cook tent. They had been in his shed since summer and as they warmed up the bees that were hibernating in the arms decided it must be spring and started to fill the tent. They are a lot tougher to shoot than pack-rats.
-croix
Post by: pianoman9701 on September 26, 2017, 03:48:05 PM
Post by: 300rum on September 26, 2017, 03:53:59 PM
Post by: vandeman17 on September 26, 2017, 04:20:31 PM
Post by: Bronson on September 26, 2017, 04:27:12 PM
Couple years ago we had something coming in to camp making the strangest noises. Kept hanging outside our tent making these mid pitched humming sounds. Looked it up when we got back to town and we think it was a porcupine in heat. So strange.
Post by: baker5150 on September 26, 2017, 05:13:47 PM
Seams to be more of an issue when it rains.
A couple years back the little buggers were getting into my travel trailer under the bathroom sink. Traps did the trick. I think we nailed 8 total for the season.
Only thing hanging on the meat pole that year.
Post by: boneaddict on September 26, 2017, 05:36:22 PM
Post by: Gearhead1940 on October 26, 2017, 01:45:56 PM
Post by: wafisherman on October 26, 2017, 02:59:13 PM
Once in elk camp we realized that the ground was crawling with Daddy Longlegs all around our campfire. I don't know if it was the heat or light but they were converging on the fire pit. It was unsettling.
No kidding! I think that it's year dependent. I remember one year on a WA hunt (using a wall tent with a wood stove that year) if you got up at night and turned on your headlamp, there was hundred and hundreds of them nasty little creatures crawling everywhere inside the tent! I guess they're attracted to the warmth?
Saw that in texas once. Walked into a campground restroom and there was a huge clump of them all pulsating in unison. Very weird. Random video I found similar:
Post by: bhawley76 on October 26, 2017, 03:09:30 PM
Post by: MikeWalking on October 26, 2017, 03:46:40 PM
Post by: MonstroMuley on November 03, 2017, 03:42:55 PM
Suddenly, repeated loud huffing and puffing from thick brush next to us ... something large and aggressive ... multiple bluff charges from different directions (more than one?) ... couldn't get light on them immediately in pitch dark ... hearts pounding & adrenaline flowing ... Bear(s)? ... What? ... No... Big Doe!
Next Morning ... Doe & Fawn browsing peacefully next to camp ... Ohhh (she didn't want us there) ... Fawn must've been bedded nearby when Mama Doe returned that night.
Young Cougar romping outside tent @ night chasing mice ...and the small mouse herd scampering across tarp floor of sidewall tent to escape near South Navarre Lake Chelan. Tracks in fresh St Helens eruption ash fall next morning told story ... so cool to see kitty footprint detail down to hair follicle in fresh flour like volcanic ash fall from evening before.
Post by: Bhunter253 on December 22, 2017, 10:09:46 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 23, 2017, 02:33:00 AM
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. :chuckle:
Post by: JKEEN33 on December 23, 2017, 06:00:04 AM
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.
Post by: JKEEN33 on December 23, 2017, 06:14:27 AM
Post by: wags on February 12, 2018, 11:26:14 PM
Post by: Duckslayer89 on February 13, 2018, 12:07:07 AM
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
Post by: banishd on March 05, 2018, 10:42:42 PM
Post by: scotsman on March 17, 2018, 07:05:01 PM
Post by: Axle on March 17, 2018, 07:23:09 PM
Post by: bowhunterforever on March 17, 2018, 08:41:53 PM
Elk are always welcome in my camp! :tup::yeah:
Post by: gaddy on March 22, 2018, 10:43:09 AM
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 !
Post by: Skyvalhunter on March 22, 2018, 12:12:39 PM
Post by: gaddy on March 22, 2018, 12:58:16 PM
Post by: Gobble Gobble on April 21, 2018, 09:21:28 PM