Post by bsutravis on Oct 13, 2006 13:38:48 GMT -5
No....not the TV show.... my encounter with a 'coon this morning!
When I walked into my spot before daylight I saw two glowing eyes in a tree about 15 yards from my tree when my light crossed over them. I could see it was a coon, and shrugged it off as I always see plenty of coons when I hunt these woods. Anyway, the darkness turns to daylight.....I spend my time watching for deer, trying to stay warm, and watching the squirrels cut nuts and play around. I hear movement above me and figure it to be a big squirrel.....so I look up......and see this masked face crawling down the tree headed right into my lap! The tree my stand is attached too is joined at the base with 2 other trees......forming a triangle of sorts......so at stand height, I have 2 other trees in arms reach which is great for hanging my bow and fanny pack to. Anyway, this coon is coming right down the closest tree.....and gets all the way down to my bow! I'm petrified....not sure what to do....figuring when this coon realizes that I am not part of the tree, we're gonna tangle BIG TIME. Indeed when he gets to the top of my bow, not 3 feet from my face he looks right into my eyes and lets out a loud "HISSSSSSS!!!!!!" and shows his teeth. I'm back as tight against my tree as I can get to get away from this critter. Does he go to the backside of the tree he's in??? Oh no, he makes a stand......hissing and making God awful noises to intimidate me. Let me tell ya.......IT WORKED! This went on for about 90 seconds....which seemed like 20 minutes when you are looking into the masked eyes of a KILLER! I didn't want to make any moves that would make him leap onto my face....but I had to do something! I slowly moved my arms up toward it....and that is all it took to make him scramble back up the tree. After the coon started back up the tree is when I took the first picture.......the others are when He was trying to find a way to another tree from the small branches. He never did.....staying put where he was at until I came down around 11am. During the fun I called 911 and Kyle to see if coons were in season.....and we had discussions about killing it under the "self defense" limitations......or even as a nuisance animal. In the end I figured that he and I came to an unspoken agreement......I wouldn't kill him with an arrow (and it would have been VERY easy to), and in return he wouldn't sink his fangs into my jugular.....leading to me bleeding to death or at the least a round of rabies shots to my stomach!
Who needs a 12-pointer for a good adrenaline rush? It's run-ins like this that somehow.......make it all worth it even on days where the deer never make an appearance.
When I walked into my spot before daylight I saw two glowing eyes in a tree about 15 yards from my tree when my light crossed over them. I could see it was a coon, and shrugged it off as I always see plenty of coons when I hunt these woods. Anyway, the darkness turns to daylight.....I spend my time watching for deer, trying to stay warm, and watching the squirrels cut nuts and play around. I hear movement above me and figure it to be a big squirrel.....so I look up......and see this masked face crawling down the tree headed right into my lap! The tree my stand is attached too is joined at the base with 2 other trees......forming a triangle of sorts......so at stand height, I have 2 other trees in arms reach which is great for hanging my bow and fanny pack to. Anyway, this coon is coming right down the closest tree.....and gets all the way down to my bow! I'm petrified....not sure what to do....figuring when this coon realizes that I am not part of the tree, we're gonna tangle BIG TIME. Indeed when he gets to the top of my bow, not 3 feet from my face he looks right into my eyes and lets out a loud "HISSSSSSS!!!!!!" and shows his teeth. I'm back as tight against my tree as I can get to get away from this critter. Does he go to the backside of the tree he's in??? Oh no, he makes a stand......hissing and making God awful noises to intimidate me. Let me tell ya.......IT WORKED! This went on for about 90 seconds....which seemed like 20 minutes when you are looking into the masked eyes of a KILLER! I didn't want to make any moves that would make him leap onto my face....but I had to do something! I slowly moved my arms up toward it....and that is all it took to make him scramble back up the tree. After the coon started back up the tree is when I took the first picture.......the others are when He was trying to find a way to another tree from the small branches. He never did.....staying put where he was at until I came down around 11am. During the fun I called 911 and Kyle to see if coons were in season.....and we had discussions about killing it under the "self defense" limitations......or even as a nuisance animal. In the end I figured that he and I came to an unspoken agreement......I wouldn't kill him with an arrow (and it would have been VERY easy to), and in return he wouldn't sink his fangs into my jugular.....leading to me bleeding to death or at the least a round of rabies shots to my stomach!
Who needs a 12-pointer for a good adrenaline rush? It's run-ins like this that somehow.......make it all worth it even on days where the deer never make an appearance.
? Dead Coon!!!!
