A few years ago I was sitting in a blind, 7 AM or so, and partly cloudy. Just as sun was rising I heard a strange mechanical sound - not a jet engine sound, but definitely mechanical. We are in the Brownwood MOA, so do hear lots of fighters and military ops around, but this was different. I couldn't explain the sound other than to say it was a high pitched growl that started and stopped a few times over a few minutes.

Well, I may have figured it out...today I was watching a youtube video of the F-35 and in some high angle turns the F-35 makes the noise I heard. Mystery solved...I think.

Anyone else have any similar experiences?

Something catching and killing a rabbit when I was about 12 in the deer stand before daylight. Scared the crap out of me.

I have seen and heard the same. At night it is nuts as you see afterburners making crazy movements in the air. Thought it was UFOs a few times. Seen this in north, central and south Texas.

Scream of a big cat in east Texas echoing through the woods before sunup. Wished I wasn’t up in a tree sitting on a 2x6.

Bow hunting you get very a tuned to noise. The sound of a rabbit, deer walking, armadillo, pig etc. One very still evening setting in a tree stand I heard what sounded like leaves slowly parting. Looking at the noise I finally spotted a 6' sidewinder. I usually let snakes go but this one was headed toward the tree I was in. Jumped down grabbed a big stick and wore his azz out.

SnakeWrangler would like to have a word with you out back.

Brother and I were hiking over a mountain before daylight during Arkansas deer season many moons ago. I was 13-14 and brother was 17-18. Something sneezed very close to us. Scared the ever lovin' crap out of both of us. Loaded rifles and sat down butt-to-butt until it was light enough to see. Never did figure out what it was...

15 years old - scouted out a turkey roost on public land not too far off the main road. Got there early and laid in a dried up riverbed 20 yards from where they crossed each morning. Before light some guys came with spotlights and started raining pellets all around me. Kept my head down until they had all their turkey and were gone. They got busted with something like 36 turkeys in the freezer at $500 each if I remember right (about 1980). It was no mystery but very strange for sure!

2 kids stalking me while bow hunting for javelina.

One afternoon in late deer season I was sitting on a tank dam that was a very large buzzard roost. They would come back and ride the thermals till dark then sit in the trees on top of the tank dam(was middle tank dam of 3 tanks in a row). While one buzzard was flying in the thermals a couple of Caracara's began to harass him by diving at him. Finally he went to the ground and they did also. He took off and started to ride the thermals again and another Caracara came from above and knocked the buzzard, then pinned him to the ground. The other 3-4 jumped on the buzzard then ate him alive. One those things I will probably never see again in my lifetime.
Same ranch I was bowhunting from a tripod set on a little rocky knoll south of a big stock tank. I heard what I thought was a vehicle slowly approaching from the west and it was getting closer/louder. It seemed like it was right on top of me when I looked down to see a 5"'+ rattlesnake crawling across a couple of dead catcus plants that were on the ground under the tripod. It went right under my tripod and towards where I had parked my 4 wheeler down the road about 100 yards. Made a tense trip to the 4 wheeler after dark and no flashlight .

We are under the MOA, too. The best one was watching an F-35 doing scissors with an F-18 through binoculars.

The first time I saw them drop flares was mesmerizing. Watching those flares fire off at dusk with no engine noise, it takes on a completely different feel.

Had an interesting situation hunting a buddies place this year that i hunt every year. They have started to have hog problems so I brought one of my hog traps from Louisiana to try and help. Stupidly I let them set it up when i wasn't there, they have never worked with traps before, and they set it up probably about 50 yards from one of our deer hot spots that we have baited. Well when I get there to hunt, I choose to hunt this stand without realizing and while walking out to the blind in the complete darkness I hear that cage loudly being banged around. It takes me a few seconds to realize what this is and the mistakes my friends have made baiting a trap so close to a deer hot spot. I turn on my red head lamp, as i do two hogs scatter a little in front of me, and I proceed, with little light to the trap. As i approach I see a four point with probably the sharpest head equipment i could've imagined. As I see him in the trap i immediately turn off my light to try and get as close as possible without him breaking his neck beforehand. This trap is rigged with a trip wire so I physically have to put my hand in the cage to pull the door open. At this point this deer is raising hell; physically lifting the cage up and trying to bolt. As soon as I put my hand in the cage carefully he starts ramming into the opposite end trying to escape. I grab the trip wire and quickly pull it open, but the deer just has his head pinned into one of the corners and does not move. At this point the deer starts yelling as loud as it could, kind of sounds like an angry cow. At this point i'm freaked out, given up not trying to ruin the hunt, I start yelling at this thing, even pick up a stick to try and scare him the other way back to the open door. Finally i realize that he got his head rack lodged in the trap wire. So while this deer is yelling back at me, while I am holding the door open, I start to kick at his head rack to set him free. Finally I kick him free and he bolts for the entrance however as soon as he exits the cage he turns around and looks at me crazy and wide eyed. My heart was pounding out my chest. I yell and he bolts. Long story short, ruined the hunt and I sat in the blind for hours steaming on how I was going to tear into my buddies for making a bone head decision like that.

Here are a few items:
1) Glassed up a mountain lion and cubs right before dark. Way too much imagination at play walking out in the dark.
2) Glassed up a woman giving the full treatment to a guy. She literally did every "job" with gusto.
3) Was predator hunting and got to my spot well before sunrise. Heard what sounded like an African lion roaring. Kept getting closer and louder. Wound up be a free-range bull who I call Mr. Ankle Banger. He's always in a nasty mood; I would too if my boys had cholla in them.

I woke myself snoring several times.....

Commas are so important. (Note them in red.) Otherwise, it reads like something was catching and killing a rabbit IN the deer stand with you, which, especially if you were only 12, would be exceptionally terrifying. And, the bowel movement inside the deer stand would have been completely understandable.

Funny this should come up....

I am sure my eyes were playing tricks on me, but just yesterday I saw something that puzzled me. Pulling into our land, it looked like a shaggy haired deer running away from me. Dark brown. Low set of antlers. From the back I swear it was musk ox like.

My sensible side thinks it must have been the rain and mud making a buck look odd.

One tripod stand I frequent has a hog trap about 10 yards away. It's always set but never catches anything.
I sneak in an hour before light, get comfortable half asleep waiting for light. Still pitch black out there is a terrible crash of the door closing, the hog bashing into a he cage and squealing.
Heck of a wake up call.
He calmed down, it got light enough to see he had no friends waiting and shot from the stand.

Muddy Angora billy?

First...sidewinder are relatively short...usually less than 3'

Second....they don't climb trees

and third....you most likely got really exercised over a harmless rat snake...

...but it did make for an interesting story.....where exactly did this snake attack take place.....

One time, I was watching this girl at Band camp....

I called it a sidewinder. It was a diamond back rattle snake. I'm a land surveyor trust me I've encountered plenty. This was in the evening and I'll be damned if I'm gonna spend the night in a metal tractor seat. I let all poisonous go except cotton mouths. Like I said this one was headed right to the base of my tree. All took place 5 miles south of Llano.

Wood knocks, and howling!

Maybe. The antlers/horns seemed a bit higher, but I’m not sure.

Cows walked up to the deer I shot last weekend and started licking the blood off his body. The following day the same cows walked back to where the deer was laying and started licking the ground. These cows went bat S crazy mooing, head butting each other and digging the ground with their hooves. I’ve seen them lick a hog i’ve shot before, but I’ve never seen them act this way.