Any dangerous natural features you encounter while hunting?

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benelli-banger

Well-known member
About 10 years ago a buddy discovered a hole in the ground while we were Sharptail hunting in some hilly country…he dropped a rock, couldn’t discern it hitting ground. About the size of a hoola -hoop. I pounded rebar near it and forced a blaze orange hat onto the rebar a season or two later. There are abandoned coal mines in this area. I get a bit nervous hunting near there, fearing for my dogs.
I notified a CO once of this, no idea if the hole was covered or not…doubt it…I give it a wide berth if I hunt that spot. Not too far away from that spot there are road signs warning of quick sand…that would suck! Literally! Nothing else of this nature have I ever encountered, hope it stays that way!
 
I worry about my dogs more than myself. They move pretty fast and (obviously) stand a little shorter than I do. A few years ago a hunter lost a dog in an uncapped well on a Kansas WIHA. I'm always a little leery of abandoned farmsteads for that reason and also because of junk metal, broken glass, etc. Some of the cut banks on the outside bend of a draw can be a dog hazard too. I seem to see those more when I'm chicken hunting.
 
Speaking of badger holes, or any other source of instability, how often do you fall? Some guys seem to fall a lot, some not so much. I’m in the latter group for whatever reason…thankfully. I suspect I look down a lot…I quit running after birdy dogs several years ago as well.
 
I have had very athletic hunting pals that cross creeks, rivers, fences with great aplomb…they almost seek out tougher crossings! I’m not that guy…🤬
 
Cattail ice has send me in knee to waist deep more than once. So now I just wait until it freezes like concrete in December to venture in there.

I've never felt that it was life-threatening when I stepped through, but it ruined my day pretty quick.
 
A friend had a young dog that while running and hunting stepped in a critter hole and shattered the femur. The vet's diagnosis and recommendation was heart breaking. That is a risk we all face. I step in at least 2 or 3 critter holes covered with grass every season. I learned to walk slow always glancing at the ground.
 
Had a house dog drown in front of me after breaking through the ice and I couldn't get to him. Still haunts me to this day. So ice is my worst fear. Keep your dogs off the ice at all costs. To this day the worst thing I've seen or heard in my life.
 
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benelli-banger said:
About 10 years ago a buddy discovered a hole in the ground while we were Sharptail hunting in some hilly country…he dropped a rock, couldn’t discern it hitting ground. About the size of a hoola -hoop. I pounded rebar near it and forced a blaze orange hat onto the rebar a season or two later. There are abandoned coal mines in this area. I get a bit nervous hunting near there, fearing for my dogs.
I notified a CO once of this, no idea if the hole was covered or not…doubt it…I give it a wide berth if I hunt that spot. Not too far away from that spot there are road signs warning of quick sand…that would suck! Literally! Nothing else of this nature have I ever encountered, hope it stays that way!
Click to expand...
All kinds of hazards out there...
Ice
Cougars..heehee, I mean mt.lions
Wolves
Open wells
Mineshafts
Vertical country
Cattle guards
Snares or conibears
Plenty more to consider
Means we need to try and keep a high level of situational awareness going for both ourselves and our companions.
I hunt almost exclusively by myself and work hard to think about the what ifs...and be prepared
Open wells, covered up by brush flat make my hair stand on end.....open mineshafts not far behind.
I have both a personal located beacon(plb) as well as inreach. Lots of places I go have no cell service.
Even with cell, plb,inreach....things can go south in a heart beat....so I'm not of the mind that having concern about these hazards is misplaced
 
Haretrigger said:
All kinds of hazards out there...
Ice
Cougars..heehee, I mean mt.lions
Wolves
Open wells
Mineshafts
Vertical country
Cattle guards
Snares or conibears
Plenty more to consider
Means we need to try and keep a high level of situational awareness going for both ourselves and our companions.
I hunt almost exclusively by myself and work hard to think about the what ifs...and be prepared
Open wells, covered up by brush flat make my hair stand on end.....open mineshafts not far behind.
I have both a personal located beacon(plb) as well as inreach. Lots of places I go have no cell service.
Even with cell, plb,inreach....things can go south in a heart beat....so I'm not of the mind that having concern about these hazards is misplaced
Click to expand...
Forgot to mention the gun toting illegals on the border.....been there, seen that. Gave up camping on the border 15 years ago because it got too stressful to get a nights sleep.
Somewhat better now....hope it stays that way
 
I've found a couple of open wells, scared the hell out of me!

I found a rat trap suspended between two trees at eye level with a 12 ga shotgun shell in a hole drilled trough the wood. It was tripped but didn't fire. I got the hell out of there and I contacted law enforcement. They told me later the bad guys would glue a bb to the primer and the tripping of the trap would detonate the shell in your face. They suspected the bad guys had used a water soluble glue and the bb had fallen off during a rain storm. They found multiple other booby traps around a cultivated marijuana patch!

I stepped into a badger hole with my R leg and my foot went down about 18". I tweaked my knee and had a difficult time getting my foot back out as my toe was pointed upwards. I finally got out but had a long painful 1 1/2 mile back to my truck over really rough ground. That was the genesis for me buying a PLB since there was no cell phone service there or at my truck. It could have been a life ending experience if I had broken my leg and because no one knew when I was!
 
benelli-banger said:
About 10 years ago a buddy discovered a hole in the ground while we were Sharptail hunting in some hilly country…he dropped a rock, couldn’t discern it hitting ground. About the size of a hoola -hoop. I pounded rebar near it and forced a blaze orange hat onto the rebar a season or two later. There are abandoned coal mines in this area. I get a bit nervous hunting near there, fearing for my dogs.
I notified a CO once of this, no idea if the hole was covered or not…doubt it…I give it a wide berth if I hunt that spot. Not too far away from that spot there are road signs warning of quick sand…that would suck! Literally! Nothing else of this nature have I ever encountered, hope it stays that way!
Click to expand...
The older I get the more things have become hazards. Hell, I have become my own worst enemy. A couple of years ago, I got my feet tangled in some buried barbed wire and fell on my gun and broke my finger. Even crossing a barbed wire fence isn't a guarantee anymore. Rocks, cliffs, slick rocks in creeks, ice, my own feet, my own dog, other peoples dogs, beaver runs.........the list is so much longer than when I was 21 or 30 or even 40 or 50.
 
airmedic1 said:
I've found a couple of open wells, scared the hell out of me!

I found a rat trap suspended between two trees at eye level with a 12 ga shotgun shell in a hole drilled trough the wood. It was tripped but didn't fire. I got the hell out of there and I contacted law enforcement. They told me later the bad guys would glue a bb to the primer and the tripping of the trap would detonate the shell in your face. They suspected the bad guys had used a water soluble glue and the bb had fallen off during a rain storm. They found multiple other booby traps around a cultivated marijuana patch!

I stepped into a badger hole with my R leg and my foot went down about 18". I tweaked my knee and had a difficult time getting my foot back out as my toe was pointed upwards. I finally got out but had a long painful 1 1/2 mile back to my truck over really rough ground. That was the genesis for me buying a PLB since there was no cell phone service there or at my truck. It could have been a life ending experience if I had broken my leg and because no one knew when I was!
Click to expand...
Scary!
 
Drew said:
The older I get the more things have become hazards. Hell, I have become my own worst enemy. A couple of years ago, I got my feet tangled in some buried barbed wire and fell on my gun and broke my finger. Even crossing a barbed wire fence isn't a guarantee anymore. Rocks, cliffs, slick rocks in creeks, ice, my own feet, my own dog, other peoples dogs, beaver runs.........the list is so much longer than when I was 21 or 30 or even 40 or 50.
Click to expand...
Well put....I think quite a few of us that visit this forum can relate
 
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