Camping/fishing/guns/outdoors

Deepdiver said:
Our woods can get pretty wild with a lot of territorial animals that let you know by stalking and growling that they do not want you in their territory where they raise their young including Coyotes, Red Fox, Gray Fox, Lynx, Bobcats, and Black Bears especially at night. Plenty of rabies in the northeast as well with insane rabid raccoons, skunks, opossums, New Jork Jankees Fans, etc - so sidearms in the wild are a must.
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A couple summers ago I was hiking up Belknap Mountain in the beautiful Lakes Region, going up the trail in the afternoon, all of a sudden I hear a loud rustling up ahead in the bush and it's coming towards me fast. I looked around and saw no other hikers, and if it were another person at this point with the sound as close as it was I would have seen them. I drew my side arm and prepared for whatever creature was about to emerge. All of a sudden I spot the creature and it is a huuuge fisher cat, for those who don't know these are very elusive animals, known for the terrifying scream they let out that people will sometimes hear way out in the woods, very cool animal. This thing had to be 30 pounds and the size of like a small golden retriever. This guy was just barreling down the mountain in my direction, and the thing just goes right past me about 15 feet away like I'm not even there, and just continues down the mountain and out of sight. It was a wild experience. I've seen tons of wildlife over the years in NH (and Maine) but that was the most memorable.
 

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Hannibal said:
Easiest way to deal with 4 legged pests is a live trap, a can of tuna fish with a few holes punched into the top, and a long barreled 22 revolver.
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ha some animals get trap smart quick.

1 or 2 cats / coons and after that... they call out to their homies pretty quick.

Funny enough, my wonderful wife has no problem with me shooting animals, or me trapping them... but shooting them after i trap them is a problem.

So I dont waste the time with the traps anymore.... I be shoosting them.
 
aero said:
A couple summers ago I was hiking up Belknap Mountain in the beautiful Lakes Region, going up the trail in the afternoon, all of a sudden I hear a loud rustling up ahead in the bush and it's coming towards me fast. I looked around and saw no other hikers, and if it were another person at this point with the sound as close as it was I would have seen them. I drew my side arm and prepared for whatever creature was about to emerge. All of a sudden I spot the creature and it is a huuuge fisher cat, for those who don't know these are very elusive animals, known for the terrifying scream they let out that people will sometimes hear way out in the woods, very cool animal. This thing had to be 30 pounds and the size of like a small golden retriever. This guy was just barreling down the mountain in my direction, and the thing just goes right past me about 15 feet away like I'm not even there, and just continues down the mountain and out of sight. It was a wild experience. I've seen tons of wildlife over the years in NH (and Maine) but that was the most memorable.
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I used to have a fisher hanging around my yard in the winter. I remember his bounding tracks across the snow were funny because every time he landed his fat tail would leave a big mark in the snow. He liked to jump from the trees and run across my roof for some reason.
Last winter it was a pine marten that was coming around. Here he is poking around my back deck. Handsome fella

C4F9F9BE-8C6A-4D43-9C57-6F59A0A4BF00.webp
 
Get2choppaaa said:
ha some animals get trap smart quick.

1 or 2 cats / coons and after that... they call out to their homies pretty quick.

Funny enough, my wonderful wife has no problem with me shooting animals, or me trapping them... but shooting them after i trap them is a problem.

So I dont waste the time with the traps anymore.... I be shoosting them.
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True

We would cover the trap in blankets or tarps, move them around every so often. Caught a coyote once, but many raccoons and possums.

I suspect that coyotes are generally too smart for such traps and perhaps half of the raccoons.
 
aero said:
A couple summers ago I was hiking up Belknap Mountain in the beautiful Lakes Region, going up the trail in the afternoon, all of a sudden I hear a loud rustling up ahead in the bush and it's coming towards me fast. I looked around and saw no other hikers, and if it were another person at this point with the sound as close as it was I would have seen them. I drew my side arm and prepared for whatever creature was about to emerge. All of a sudden I spot the creature and it is a huuuge fisher cat, for those who don't know these are very elusive animals, known for the terrifying scream they let out that people will sometimes hear way out in the woods, very cool animal. This thing had to be 30 pounds and the size of like a small golden retriever. This guy was just barreling down the mountain in my direction, and the thing just goes right past me about 15 feet away like I'm not even there, and just continues down the mountain and out of sight. It was a wild experience. I've seen tons of wildlife over the years in NH (and Maine) but that was the most memorable.
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That's an amazing encounter.
I've had the privilege of being included in a moose-hunting group despite never having hunted before in my life. The other 3 guys (including my friend who invited me) have been hunting from a very young age and they have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with me. We've been twice so far now, and the place we were last year will be ours for as long as we want to hold it. The wildlife is rich and varied and all seems to be in great health.
All that to say, one of our group saw 2 fishers walk past, a rare sight indeed. The guy who operates the territory is a trapper and said in 30 years he's never seen one there.
 
aero said:
A couple summers ago I was hiking up Belknap Mountain in the beautiful Lakes Region, going up the trail in the afternoon, all of a sudden I hear a loud rustling up ahead in the bush and it's coming towards me fast. I looked around and saw no other hikers, and if it were another person at this point with the sound as close as it was I would have seen them. I drew my side arm and prepared for whatever creature was about to emerge. All of a sudden I spot the creature and it is a huuuge fisher cat, for those who don't know these are very elusive animals, known for the terrifying scream they let out that people will sometimes hear way out in the woods, very cool animal. This thing had to be 30 pounds and the size of like a small golden retriever. This guy was just barreling down the mountain in my direction, and the thing just goes right past me about 15 feet away like I'm not even there, and just continues down the mountain and out of sight. It was a wild experience. I've seen tons of wildlife over the years in NH (and Maine) but that was the most memorable.
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LOL Larger Fisher Cats have been known to stalk hunters and shore fisherman here in New England as they are basically dwarf wolverines all in the weasel family. Which is why I carry two compact 9MMs, a Sig P938 and Glock 43 both 9MM and a Ruger Speed Six .357 Magnum in Black Bear/Moose Country. Also bought a short 2.5" full Stainless Bond Arms .357 Magnum Roughneck (Made in Texas) a 2 barrel over under .357 American style Derringer. Bond has a feature that with a hex wrench you can interchange barrels with .45 ACP and even .410 Shotgun shells for Texas belt & boot leather rattlesnakes. Some Texans even grill snake meat - go figure.
 
Deepdiver said:
LOL Larger Fisher Cats have been known to stalk hunters and shore fisherman here in New England as they are basically dwarf wolverines all in the weasel family. Which is why I carry two compact 9MMs, a Sig P938 and Glock 43 both 9MM and a Ruger Speed Six .357 Magnum in Black Bear/Moose Country. Also bought a short 2.5" full Stainless Bond Arms .357 Magnum Roughneck (Made in Texas) a 2 barrel over under .357 American style Derringer. Bond has a feature that with a hex wrench you can interchange barrels with .45 ACP and even .410 Shotgun shells for Texas belt & boot leather rattlesnakes. Some Texans even grill snake meat - go figure.
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Snake tastes like crap. It's gross.

Have shot a couple snakes though. A judge pistol with some bird shot will take care of em.
 
starlight said:
The older bear doesn't care or need to have the females "watching." They're his after the battle. He continues to keep the harem.

Does anyone here actually have any real experience with bears? How about cougars or coyotes? I do.
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I was out looking at rural mountain land once with my wife. We pulled off the road into the rough track entering the property. The property was rough mountainous land with woods and brush, but it had a killer view.

I got out of the truck and came around to help her out, and as soon as she opened her door and stepped out she saw poop on the ground about 15' away, and yelled "That's bear poop!"

I had already known that each animal's poop has recognizable characteristics, and you can even get little guide books to tell what kind you are looking at. However, she hadn't learned it from a guide book. She learned it as a kid. It had been 40 years since she last saw it but she still recognized it instantly!

Once she pointed it out, I saw there was another pile on the other side of the truck, and we decided to leave. I'll never forget that instant recognition and the way she exclaimed "That's bear shit!".

She definitely would not have chosen the bear!
 
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Read_Lives_of_Saints said:
What happened?
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Nothing too exciting. My husband and I used to be really into hiking and backpacking so we have crossed paths several times with bears and once with a cougar/mountain lion (which was terrifying). The most exciting thing I've seen is a black bear cub steal someone's backpack right next to them and then drag it back into the forest. We've also seen cubs up in pine trees while golfing which was cute until you remember that there must be a momma bear nearby.

I think these women who choose the bears must have zero experience with wildlife encounters.
 
starlight said:
Nothing too exciting. My husband and I used to be really into hiking and backpacking so we have crossed paths several times with bears and once with a cougar/mountain lion (which was terrifying). The most exciting thing I've seen is a black bear cub steal someone's backpack right next to them and then drag it back into the forest. We've also seen cubs up in pine trees while golfing which was cute until you remember that there must be a momma bear nearby.

I think these women who choose the bears must have zero experience with wildlife encounters.
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I've come across bears a few times while hiking and river rafting in Canada. We were floating down when the same mama griz with cubs was on the bank and surprised by our approach every day we went through a certain section with light rapids.

Then a big one came close to our camp alone so I ran down to get a photo, but seemed to scare him off, although I got one decent pic.

That winter in the same spot, a woman cross country skiing alone was killed by a mountain lion, so it does happen, although the Canucks will always tell you moose are more dangerous.
 
I once had to clean up a cabin after bears had been there and trashed the garbage bins. Black bears. I had to go down about the equivalent of 5 or 6 flights of stairs on loose gravel to check on some kayaks for the cabin. Needless to say, knowing bears had just been there, I was wiped out climbing back up with a shovel in hand for psychological protection. At the top I was too exhausted to keep my senses sharp, and it made the potential encounter with a bear or bears much more nerve wracking as a possibility. Thankfully I didn't see any and wouldn't need to find out what would have happened if I had (probably nothing).
 
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