I dont like heights.

But love walking through the woods at night hog hunting. I have had a few scares and what not, but I really enjoy it. Until you walk face first into a spiders web. Now that s^&% is not cool.

I will gladly trade you your irrational fear of the dark woods for my irrational fear of snakes.

At least the woods cannot fall out of a tree, into my lap while sitting in a kayak and be face to face with my own snake. This has happened more than once. Can't really move. Can't shoot it. Just be reaaaal still and hope he heads back into the water instead of up my shorts.

Did I mention I hate snakes?

George,i have heard noises in the woods at night that scared me.I was a kid but none the less scared me(Im 44 Now) .I stepped on a cottonmouth this year.I dont make fun of people anymore when i hear them complaining of being scared of snakes.Its natural to be concearned when you cant see anything in the woods.You will get over it someday,either that or get raped by a female sasquatch.

It is our primodial fear of the dark before man first learned to make fire and hunt/defend ourselves with spears. You big tough hunters are going to tell me that a mountain lion scream behind your hunting blind wont give you the willies. It did me at o-dark thirty. Most of the time what sounds like footsteps is acorns falling, of course unless sasquatch is sneaking up on you. Perseveer brother and one day it will be gone.

Like the other guy said I believe its probably the fear of the unknown. We grew up with a lake house on Taylor Island in Uncertain TX on Caddo. Almost all summer we would hang out down there swimmimg tubing whatever. All the time swimming in the lily pads, swimming through the duck mill all of that. When a water moccasin would come out all that was said was get out and move over a little. A WHOLE lot of people wouldn't swim in there for fear of gators or whatever but the whole time we did all of that we only saw 5 or 6 gators. It was the fear of the unknown or a fear they perceived as happening all the time that kept most people from swimming and having fun in the lake. I think like Orn said if you start out slow and go with a friend thats not an idiot who'll try and scare you then slowly wean off of that crutch and just be there by your self for while. The get to where you can walk in sit an hour and walk out. If all you are afraid of is the unknown take the unknown away and find out whats out there, it aint nothing thats gonna get you.

1. Carry a sidearm, in a calibre that will handle a hog or largest predator in your area. Be prepared to, and know how to get to a ready to fire stance in a hurry without shooting yourself. Be able to get follow up shots on target. Large magazines are useless if you can't hit the broad side of a barn.

2. Carry a [censored] bright flashlight where you can easily get to it, that uses LED technology and have EXTRA BATTERIES. If you "hear something" you can get a light on it and either dispel your paranoia or light "it" up in case you need to blow it away.

This is coming from someone who was scared to death of the dark in general as a kid, still am to a degree but those two things ease my mind.

If it's really bad, and assuming you hunt with other guys, consider building a two man blind.

Someone take one for the team so this man can regain some of his dignity.

phobia
— n
psychiatry an abnormal intense and irrational fear of a given situation, organism, or object

George, the vast majority of people do not have phobias and can't relate to them. So you end up getting a lot of advice on dealing with normal, non-intense, and possibly rational fears, which isn't much help for you.

I don't have any phobias either but I have read a bit about them. If I were in your place the strategy I would try would be the following. I would figure out at what point the onset of anxiety occurs after sunset. I would set a timer or alarm for a small amount of time beyond that and stay in the woods until the alarm went off. I would keep repeating this process while slowly incrementing the amount of time past sunset that the alarm was set for.

I would do it in the evenings because it's inaction vs action that the morning would require. Ideally, you would have access to some woods close to your house so you could frequently do this and slowly increase the interval. I don't know if it would work or not but that's what I would try first.

Ok a lot of good advice & good stories & jokes. I don't think this was mentioned though.
Do you have lights on in your house @ night? If so turn them off. Turn off the TV & or anything else ppl these days leave on all night. This could help you get ready to go to the woods.
If you don't know him yet you need to meet the good Lord Jesus. Then learn exactly who you are through Christ.

if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

stop being a hatchet wound and get in the woods.

A good hangover will cure that, because all you want to do is get in your blind and sit down.