Texas Hunting Forum

Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting

Posted By: Bonner

Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/11/11 03:18 PM

I think we all have a story to tell about "surprises" you have encountered when climbing up to your blind and opening the door.

Up until last weekend, wasps and small birds were my biggest surprise. So here is my story: I go out to the lease for the first time this year since end of January. I look arounds and it appears that all windows are still in place (this was an old existing blind that was on the place when I got on it). It had wasp in it last year so I was expecting a few. So I climb up the ladder (which is about on its last leg anyway) about 10'. The way the door and latch system is on this stand requires you to lean back and swing the door open - so you dont get to crack the door open and peak in. So I ease the door open and right in my face are two buzzard chicks about the size of full grown chickens that start flapping. Scared the $%#@ out of me. They were in the half way molting stage so all this fuzz starting flying everywhere as well. They are without a doubt the ugliest creatures I have ever laid my eyes on. I cant even begin to tell you what the floor of that blind looked like. Turns out a section of the roof had blown off the stand which is what allowed the buzzard to make it a home. The landowner went and ahead and demo'ed the blind as it only had about one year left anyway). I dont know how I was able to keep my footing on the ladder when this happened (or kept my underwear clean). It certainly got my blood pressure up smile

Let us hear your story.

Posted By: Halfadozen

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/11/11 04:17 PM

Pretty much the same story with me - up a 12' tower, had to lean back a litlle to open the door, and there staring at me was an owl - talk about a mess!

Posted By: Rockinmyshoe

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/11/11 04:21 PM

Ring tailed cat...thought i had met my maker.. its funny now. rofl

Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/11/11 04:25 PM

Originally Posted By: Bonner
I think we all have a story to tell about "surprises" you have encountered when climbing up to your blind and opening the door.

Up until last weekend, wasps and small birds were my biggest surprise. So here is my story: I go out to the lease for the first time this year since end of January. I look arounds and it appears that all windows are still in place (this was an old existing blind that was on the place when I got on it). It had wasp in it last year so I was expecting a few. So I climb up the ladder (which is about on its last leg anyway) about 10'. The way the door and latch system is on this stand requires you to lean back and swing the door open - so you dont get to crack the door open and peak in. So I ease the door open and right in my face are two buzzard chicks about the size of full grown chickens that start flapping. Scared the $%#@ out of me. They were in the half way molting stage so all this fuzz starting flying everywhere as well. They are without a doubt the ugliest creatures I have ever laid my eyes on. I cant even begin to tell you what the floor of that blind looked like. Turns out a section of the roof had blown off the stand which is what allowed the buzzard to make it a home. The landowner went and ahead and demo'ed the blind as it only had about one year left anyway). I dont know how I was able to keep my footing on the ladder when this happened (or kept my underwear clean). It certainly got my blood pressure up smile

Let us hear your story.

Would be green grass under that ladder after the first rain if it was me. clap
Heard about some guys who had a lease around Cotulla and one of the guys went down to check things. He climb the ladder and when he opened the door he was attacked by bees and fell 10-12 ft to the ground. He was seriously injured in the fall and laid there till they came looking for him. I always walk around the blind and inspect it before heading up the ladder in the off season. Also heard of illegals busting out blinds before daylight when guys pull up to get in it. Empty shell casings that don't match mine or someone who I knew was last in the blind are a major suprise. bang

Posted By: SATX

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/11/11 04:44 PM

So far I've been lucky, but I think it's mainly because my lease is only 20 minutes from the house and I'm out there all the time.

Three of these are the only things I've had to deal with in my blinds.



Last June I was hog hunting at night and it was hot as all get out. The slightest bit of a breeze picked up, so I grabbed the blind window to scoot my chair closer to the opening so I could get some air on my face and something ran over the top of my hand.

Had a flashlight clipped to the brim of my hat and turned it on. It completely startled a scorpion that had just run over me, casuing to dash around back and forth about 10 inches from my face. It startled the crud out of me causing me to push myself backward, that broke the back leg on my plastic chair and I tumbled out of the blind through the door I left ajar to get some air moving around. By the time I got up, he was gone.

Fast forward a week and I'm hog hunting again. I have a problem staying up all night and will usually doze off until I hear hogs under the feeder. Didn't see any hogs that night so as I am getting ready to leave, I open the door and sitting right inside the door jamb was that darn scorpion. He wasn't 4 inches away from where I head been leaning my head back against the wall.

Went out and bought some sticky traps made just for scorpions and have napped peacefully ever since..... sleep2

Posted By: webe

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/11/11 04:52 PM

These stories will be great. I went up the crazy tallest blind ever, skinny ladder 21 feet to eye level with the floor, the only way to open the door is to hang out with one hand, just fingertips, and swing the door into your face and duck in the early morning darkness. In one heart beat the blind rattles and bangs this stinking Ring Tail is on my head and launches to the ground. Took my cap with him. Good thing, cause I had to go down and check my britches anyway.

Posted By: jim1961

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/11/11 08:12 PM

Ring tail cat in the dark, those are nasty critters

Posted By: Csddarden

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/11/11 10:56 PM

One of the first times I ever sat on stand by myself (10 or 11) - someone left the blind open and there was a turkey in there to greet me. And turkey crap everywhere.

4 or 5 years ago... one .280 brass... don't even know anyone with a .280...

Last season - got into one of my blinds one morning and proceeded to kill all the yellow-jackets (always in there no matter how much you seal it up). Daylight comes and I look down and there's 15 or so of them sleepin on my leg. Went from falling asleep to wide awake in seconds.

Posted By: t george

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/11/11 11:15 PM

baby owls... 4 of them... eye to eye and beak nose... talk about a 5:30 a.m. wake up

Posted By: HogBranch

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/12/11 05:27 PM

Sitting in a tripod blind on a ridge before dawn about half sleeping when an owl tryed to land on my head. Wide awake after that!

Posted By: murph

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/12/11 05:40 PM

Not in a blind but one morning in a tree stand about 25 ft up on the Brazos bottom I was blissfully enjoying first light on a cold still morning when a thunderous hammering noise just above me rattled out. Turned out it was a pileated woodpecker looking for his breakfast.

Posted By: TAT

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/12/11 05:41 PM

once i had made a ground blind and just had a milk crate to set on. i got in one morning and about 5 minutes after daylight i start hearing something. the sound was the oh to familier sound of a rattle snake. some how he had gotten under that milk crate. i just went back to camp after i killed him. the bad part is i had been sitting on top of that thing for over 45 minutes! that was scary!

Posted By: gogburn

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/12/11 06:08 PM

Well this wasn't in a blind but it happened while hunting...

The Toilet Monster

I was elk hunting in Montana about 25 years ago staying in an old miners cabin built in the 1920's. Well, after supper one night it was time for the daily constitutional. I grabbed the Coleman lantern and headed out into the minus ten degree temperature to the outhouse.

I got to the outhouse and set the lantern down on the bench of the one holer, and proceded to lower my coveralls, my jeans, my longjohns and my drawers. Once this was all sufficiently out of the way I opened up the lid to the sitter and out jumps this black hairy thing. It knocks over the lantern and commences to running in circles around inside the outhouse (the door is shut) so fast I can't tell what it is. I'm spinning around with all my clothes dropped below my knees trying to figure this thing out. I just knew for sure the Toilet Monster was going to get me. Mom always said "Don't spend so much time in the bathroom or the Toilet Monster will get you." I thought she was kidding.

It's spinning, I'm spinning, the lanterns on the floor... Well it didn't take long to figure that one of us has to get out of here. I got the door open and out it ran. Contrary to the popular reasoning being scared did not help with my daily constitutional but had the exact opposite effect. You might say I was scared xxxxless.

I pulled everything back up, grabbed the lantern off the floor and headed back to the cabin. They all said I looked like I had seen a ghost. I may have, I still didn't know what it was. It took two more hours before the need to go back out there overcame my lack of courage. I grabbed the lantern and my Ruger Single Six and went back to an uneventful but hurried constitutional.

The next day I discoverd a hole had been dug under the side of the outhouse allowing access. I guess when it is 10 below even a xxxxhole adds comfort. Later that day I found who the culprit was. I saw a black cat hanging around the cabin. This cabin is on 27 acres of private land surrounded by the National Forest and the city folks come out to the NF and let their cats loose when they don't know what to do with them. So it was a Feral Cat that caused all the commotion. To this day the first thing I do when I go in an outhouse is open the lid and check inside.





Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/12/11 07:36 PM

clap roflmao

Posted By: Jeff Williams Outdoors

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 12:26 AM

happy3

Posted By: pokerj2

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 12:28 AM

coons

Posted By: toolman

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 01:47 AM

Made the mistake of climbing in a blind that my BIL had on the place a few years ago before dark without checking it out. There was just enough light to see without needing a flashlight, so I got set down and opened the windows to wait. It got a little unpleasant when it got light enough to see inside the blind and I could see the 25+ Black Widows that I had for company. Them SOB's were everywhere. After a hurried cleanout of the blind and my shorts, I ended up bagging a real nice doe.

Posted By: Lotto

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 02:13 AM

Jumped in.................Heard noises..............flashlight out and one of the biggest coons I had ever seen.........deer started showing up so I enjoyed his company for the next hour.............Damm.........ever have to sit in a room with someone you can't git along with?????????

Posted By: Hill Country Hunter

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 06:54 AM

A few for me:

About 20 years ago I was hunting Gus Engeling WMA. Sitting in an open roof ground blind one morning I just happened to catch movement in the air. It was an owl coming to close for comfort. I waved it off just in time. wtf

About 15 years ago hunting Chapparal WMA I had an encounter with a "drive by" javelina as I was walking from a tower stand. At least I gave it a decent FG attempt. taz

The same year I was hunting Daughtrey WMA. Afte walking a while I decided to take a mid day snooze against a tree. Pleasant day; sunny and in the 50's. As soon as I got situated in the temporary ground blind/motel a big boar hog came out of the brush about io yards. Enough time to chamber the 6mm and say hello. He went down after about 50 yards. rifle

I was on a lease one year near Cleveland. One morning I was using a lean-to ladder stand. Before sunrise I had a squirrel run across me including my face. eek2

This time my blind was a boat. I was on my first gator hunt at Murphree WMA about 1988. I was volunteered to run the lines the morning of the hunt. I was running the first line and it was covered with all sorts of weeds. After 30+ minutes and getting careless with pulling weeds I happened to get to a weed covered head of an angry alligator. We had a hand to eyes greeting. At that moment every word that is censored is spoken in loud outbursts. It may have been almost 7 feet long but to me I had a nile croc. I had to grab it's front leg to stop it from spinning so my Dad could snare the mouth shut. Then we dragged it up to a levee/berm for a 12 gauge dose of nighty night. rifle

Sort of blind related.

Posted By: cameron00

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 12:52 PM

Last season I was already in the blind and had opened the window prior to sunrise. Heard something land on the roof - no biggie, probably just a simple bird.

Then this enormous, bright-white owl (at least his huge face sporting firey eyes and a razor sharp beak) comes halfway through one of the windows.

I shrieked like a little girl at the top of my lungs and tried to beat it back out the window. Dang thing really wanted in.

I finally convinced it to fly away, but I was certain my eyeballs were going to be a thing of the past. Once I settled down I saw that I had a dozen or so text messages from my hunting buddies asking who had been murdered. One guy that heard me yell was over half a mile away. Yeah, I was loud.

Posted By: cameron00

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 12:52 PM

I didn't see or shoot anything that morning, by the way.

Posted By: txhunter1010

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 01:46 PM

i was sitting on the groung aganist a tree one morning bow hunting. i had a squirrel chattering and running up and down the tree next to me. he finally got quiet and a few minutes later i heard him or what i thought was him rustling the leaves right behind me. I turned around and it wasnt the squirrel but a bobcat seriuosly just on the other side of a 8 inch diameter tree looking right back at me. we looked at each other for a good 5 seconds until i tried to move my foot and he took off. wasnt a good feeling for a minute.

Posted By: DiverTexas

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 02:42 PM

Have had bats, owls and a ringtail all scare the heck out of me.

Posted By: Perry Outdoors

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 03:52 PM

The usual snakes spiders and wasps. One year we had a stand and we thought it would be a good idea to seal of the craks with old corn bags. Well Our bright idea turned into a nice warm home for a rat the size of a cat. I was hunting one evening and here this huge rat came out of the side of the blind. Scared the mess out of me.

Posted By: Rob Lay

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 06:44 PM

surprised there aren't more rattlesnake stories in ground blinds.

Posted By: ctonsmitty

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 08:33 PM

this past season while hunting in Alabama on Christmas Day (afternoon hunt) I opened the door to the "shooting house" and had (4) flying squirrels as company for 2.5 hours....a lot of fun (not really) watching these little guys walk/crawl up, down and across the rafters checking me out the whole time

Posted By: CCBIRDDOGMAN

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 09:18 PM

A half of a joint. I figure the landowners kids left it behind.

Posted By: majekman

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 10:57 PM

Two citizens of Mexico in a 20ft tower blind

Posted By: TRIJI....WHAT

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 11:12 PM

Originally Posted By: majekman
Two citizens of Mexico in a 20ft tower blind



Been there done that compliments of WEBB COUNTY......SCARY!!!!

Posted By: deewayne2003

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/13/11 11:50 PM

Lets see....

1. Had a hawk fly in an open window while I was asleep in the blind, that made for some fun foot to talon combat.

2. One night I went out of the cabin and came back in to find a big barn owl flying around, that was a fun rodeo chasing it out with a pool stick.

3. Went up to a blind and found the windows open inside was a camo face mask, grunt call, sent wafers, hat and empty .243 casing....he must have heard us coming and hightailed it out of there.

Posted By: Tye

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/14/11 12:02 AM

Several blinds every year have either buzzards or barn owls with their babies. Last year, I guess an owl brought a live snake into the blind. Cleaned out the blinds about 4 weeks ago, and the owls left a lot of decapitated field rats inside. Had to pull all the carpet and office chairs out. Need to power spray them the next time I'm out there. The storms from several months ago had knocked out the plexiglass windows which allowed the arial vermin to destroy the clean blinds

Posted By: Palehorse

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/14/11 01:56 AM

I looked up on the ceiling of my blind on MY property and someone spray painted a big ole penis. Made it very difficult to concentrate on the hunt.

Posted By: TAT

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/14/11 02:07 AM

Originally Posted By: Palehorse
I looked up on the ceiling of my blind on MY property and someone spray painted a big ole penis. Made it very difficult to concentrate on the hunt.


dont fall asleep with your mouth open, thats for sure!

Posted By: Bear Charge

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/14/11 06:23 PM

An entire nest of squirrels. They were trying to run me out all morning. Squirrel season runs concurrent with deer season. Came back with a pellet gun for the evening hunt. Squirrel and gravy next morning for breakfast!

Posted By: waddy

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/17/11 09:05 PM

Wasps, rats and a big raccoon. Climbed my ladder stuck my head in and we were looking eye-to-eye. He was fat and jumped out of the broken window he used to get in. Dropped straight to the ground and took off running. Those are some tough buggers.

Posted By: passthru

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/18/11 12:27 AM

I climbed up in a 15' ladder stand to go eye to eye with a 4' rat snake on the platform. It was faster than me and made a quick get away up into the tree. I sat down and about 30 minutes after sun up it tried to sneak down past me. When I went to guide it away from the stand with my bow it just "jumped" to the ground. It bounced.

Posted By: HillbillyDeluxe

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/18/11 12:36 AM

Found some spent casings from calibers no one on our lease used. Found an owl's nest because the shooter of the above-referenced casings didn't care to close my windows. Found a Heineken bottle filled with cigarette butts. I don't drink Heineken or smoke. One of our hunters found the landowner's father-in-law in his stand with his gun and a cooler of beer. That was the beginning of the end on that place.

Posted By: East

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/18/11 04:56 AM

Built a ground blind with an old booth seat bolted to two trees bout 2-3 ft off the ground. Covered thick with brush. It was deep in the woods in the bottoms for hog hunting bout 40 yards from the feeder. Decided to climb in bout 30 min before sun up. And I imagine the boar that was in there had just bedded down. Maybe only 100 lbs. But big enough to make you drop your gear and jump straight in to a tree escpecially after you step on him. I still can't find the cord for my varmit scope light. I think he stole it. confused2

Posted By: kmon11

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/18/11 05:07 AM

We had a stand on one lease that was in need of some repair that we did not ger around to, like door and windows, but it was still a 4X4 boxblind on a 10 ft tower which was not hunted much.

Little to my knowledge one of the guys has left 100lbs of corn in that stand the week before. Plenty of cover scent in in when I went to hunt that stans sell before daylight one morning as he local racoon population had turned that 100lbs of corn into what looked and smelled like 100lbs of racoon S^&t. Needless to say I hunted elswhere that morning.

Posted By: BMD

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/18/11 05:11 AM

Owls and ring tail cat for me.

Posted By: txshntr

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/18/11 05:16 AM

Originally Posted By: BMD
Owls and ring tail cat for me.


X2 and wasp

Worse one was a screech owl that I didn't see until it screamed and flew out the window.

Posted By: passthru

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/18/11 04:36 PM

Originally Posted By: HillbillyDeluxe
Found some spent casings from calibers no one on our lease used. Found an owl's nest because the shooter of the above-referenced casings didn't care to close my windows. Found a Heineken bottle filled with cigarette butts. I don't drink Heineken or smoke. One of our hunters found the landowner's father-in-law in his stand with his gun and a cooler of beer. That was the beginning of the end on that place.


Left a nice place in Hamilton county for that reason.

Posted By: Savage388

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/18/11 09:43 PM

Opened a box blind to find a nest of baby buzzards. They actually look like goslings. It smelled horrible.

Posted By: WRIEMER

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/19/11 02:30 AM

About 3 years ago my father-in-law invited me on a turkey hunt in south Texas, outside of Falfurrias. This was only my second time to hunt turkey. I was set up in some brush, essentially wearing a ghillie suit, everything covered except for my eyes. I was alone. About an hour in a look to my right through some brush and small trees and observe a set of legs walking my way. It surprised me because I did not expect my father-in-law to come so early and from that direction. Soon 1 pair of legs turned to 2 sets and then 3 and so on. Soon I had about 10-15 illegals about 30 yards from me. They started filling water bottles up at the watering hole I was hunting. I decided to stay put. I had 3 shells in the 12 gauge pump I was hunting with and I grabbed 3 more to hold in my hand under the barrel. For awhile I just observed hoping they would move on but after 10 minutes and young man walked away from the group right towards me. I assume he was trying to relieve himself. He got to about 10 feet away from me and I finally decided I needed to stand up before he walked right over me. So I jump up with gun in hand looking like a relative of the Swamp Thing. I'm not sure what to tell him so in my best Spanish I told him and his friends to run away. He stands frozen for a bit, he probably soiled his pants. Finally I shouldered my shot gun and tell him in plain English to get the *%#! out of here. Finally his group runs and then he high tailed it after them. Needless to say I was scared and rattled a bit. I have not returned to hunt down there since and I hear they still have problems. Two years ago a small female child was left behind because she was too weak and that same year a ranch hand was killed by illegals.

Posted By: Nate C.

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/19/11 05:13 AM

I was up in an open tripod chair stand way before daylight. A big tree was right behind the stand. Sitting there minding my own business when I heard a loud "HOOT" right behind me. A big owl was sitting on a branch about two feet behind my head. Scared the crap out of me and nearly dropped my rifle.

Another time a bird flew into a box stand with me at high speed. Not sure what kind of bird it was, but things got kind of animated until he found his way out again.

Posted By: TEXAN1970

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/19/11 04:31 PM

wasp,coon,owl. I check with a flashlight shining though the window's before I climb up.

Posted By: Texasbdog

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/24/11 02:39 AM

Lots of wasps, owls and the like but one stands out. My son and I arrived late at night, got up early and went to the stand. we were in a 4X8' ground stand and my son shot a deer just after daybreak, while we were waiting for the deer to pass, my son says, Dad look at that, and in the corner was a turd about 6-8" long with some paper right next to it. The weather had been cold so I thought a wetback had left us a present. We got out of the blind pretty quick after that and went back to camp to get a truck, mentioning to my brother in law what we found in the stand, he and his buddy had to see this, so off we went. When we got there his buddy goes into the stand to take a look, picks it up and throwes it at my son. He almost did a back flip and they were dying laughing. As it turns out it was a piece of sausage that had fallen onto the coals and they set us up. We got him back but not near as good.

Posted By: Hunt Texas

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/24/11 11:06 AM

I actually laughed out loud at the post above this morning! Thanks for starting my Friday off on the right foot! Sounds like the kind of stuff we did on our lease. Fun times!

Posted By: kyotee1

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/24/11 02:33 PM

Not near as the ones above -

Before I had the new blind, one late afternoon one fall, I was putting carpet over my window openings for something soft to lay my gun barrel on and not make any noise when getting ready for the shot. My blind was 4' off the ground with straight steps and the door was opened. I was busy cutting and attaching the carpet then all of a sudden I started smelling a skunk. I looked out the front and side windows to see if one was walking around the blind and couldn't see anything. I heard a noise that was repetitious and really couldn't make it out but also the smell got stronger. Still I looked out again and nothing. Smell and noise was louder and I closed the door to the blind.

Still putting the carpet on the windows, the smell and noise increase 100x and the last screw down on the carpet, I was finished. I reached down on the floor to put some exta screws in the container, grabbed the cordless drill and opened the door and began getting out of the blind. I turned around the face the inside of the blind and dang if there wasn't a Pomerarian dog looking at me square in the face smelling like a skunk panting up a storm! Took me by surprise and then I knew what the sound was (panting) and where the skunk smell was coming from. Followed me back to the house across the pasture, gave it some water and went in. It was gone when I came back out a couple hours later.

Posted By: spudmonkey

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/26/11 06:13 AM

I was out one night calling for foxes so I'm all snuggled in a bush calling when after about 5 minutes something smacks my arm. I jump like a little girl and turn to see what it was and there running away from me was a fox. If only I had a clean pair of shorts and a shotgun I would have gotten him.

Posted By: KennyLee

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/26/11 12:10 PM

Originally Posted By: HogBranch
Sitting in a tripod blind on a ridge before dawn about half sleeping when an owl tryed to land on my head. Wide awake after that!


I've had the same thing happen, but he actually touched down before I was aware. Scratched my head pretty good.

How I kept from falling out of the tripod was beyond me.

Posted By: highlonesome1

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/26/11 02:07 PM



Posted By: Salter4175

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/26/11 05:13 PM

These are some funny stories. I guess i will say i am lucky, i have only had some wasps and one field mouce. We always make sure to lock up the windows and doors and we have spent alot of time sealing up our box blinds to prevent having stories like you guys do. Thank for making me laugh.

Posted By: Bonner

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/26/11 07:11 PM

Is that a ringed tail cat? I have read the stories on here but have never seen them before. Pretty cool looking in a pic but yeah - that would scare the crap out of me at about 5:00 in the morning.

Originally Posted By: highlonesome1


Posted By: Bonner

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/26/11 07:13 PM

These have been some great stories and dont know that I have ever gotten such a kick out of one thread - when I made this original post I thought it would be good but these posts have exceeded my expectations. Great reading.

Posted By: highlonesome1

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/28/11 05:40 PM

Yes those are ringtails. I have evicted the male two years in a row and he came back with his sweetheart. I had to roll her up in the carpet to get her out. He was livid.

Posted By: Cody Malone

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/29/11 05:40 AM

1. Illegals making refuge in a 20ft tower stand

2. Popped up a pop blind, cleared some obsticles, rolled it over and into place, crawled in and started moving the leaves n stuff out if the way so i could be quiet during adjustments, start to hear a faint noise, i think wth is that? I continue to brush all the leaves away, kinda like a dig digging. All if a sudden my head lamp catches movement between my legs and back just a little. I jit bright on my headlamp and WHAM a dang Rattler.. I didnt have the door unzipped and want going to take the time to, i dove right out the window! It could have bit my butt or worse!!

Posted By: Mfloski

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/29/11 04:24 PM

Cody you take first place with the rattler story...holy crap!

Posted By: MELackey

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/29/11 06:04 PM

I've had all manner of creatures, but the funniest was the ring tail. Those suckers are mean. He kept running around the outside walls of the stand poking in a different window each time. I finally nudged him with the barrel of my rifle, and he attacked the barrel before taking off. Still have scratches from his teeth on it.

About 2 years ago my bro-in-law and I were heading out to the stand. I had to go right passed the stand where he was hunting to get to mine. I left a little before him and hauled butt over to his stand and put my stuffed skunk in the stand and then prepared to watch the show. Luckily he was fully awake and had his wits about him. He did jump back after opening the door. Luckily he realized what it was before he jumped off the platform.

Next time I'm going to tie twine to the skunk and the other end to the door so he jumps out when the door is opened. Should be fun for my father-in-law's ground blind.

Posted By: WTHunter75

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/29/11 08:06 PM

Birds flying in the window gets me every time!!! The worst ever was the year I left the windows open since I was hunting hogs at least once a week and figured the activity would keep out critters. Boy was I wrong. It takes a lot of work to get buzzard crap out of a blind.
One time I opened the door to a tower and had the ring tail surprise. Had to take down the feeder and use a leg to coax the cat out.
The casing from rifles that don't match the hunters on the lease is always eye-opening. We left that lease that season.

Posted By: Ern3st

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/29/11 09:04 PM

Originally Posted By: MELackey


Next time I'm going to tie twine to the skunk and the other end to the door so he jumps out when the door is opened. Should be fun for my father-in-law's ground blind.


I'll be disappointed if we don't see video of this next season.

I dont have any good stories about finding unwelcome visitors in my blinds, But this thread is hilarious. Keep them coming fellas

Posted By: ellgrubb

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 06/30/11 12:07 AM

Crystal City early 90s I am going up 20 ft tower ladder about halfway up hear a door open look up and 3 illegals looking down.I was scared and nervy sent them on there way got in stand. started thinking I had gun they had one milk jug full of pond water why was I so nervous.

Along same lines filling feeders took lid off dumped first bag sounded funny go on tip toes on 4 wheeler rack and looked over in feeder a very fat squirrel jumped up at me fell back off 4 wheeler and sure I had to change pants as well.

Posted By: huntwest

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 07/01/11 03:59 PM

A small turtle was in my 15ft box blind on morning. I left the window open the weekend before but there weren't any big bird droppings. Very strange site but the turtle was in good shape. I hunted the morning put him in my pack and dropped him off at the nearest stock pond.
Only ladder climbing turtle in the world, I should of kept him I would have been rich!

Posted By: ETX284

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 07/01/11 05:48 PM

Back in the early 80's I opened the door to my 4x4 box stand before daylight, and was pounced on by a 6ft tall INFLATABLE T.REX. Needless to say I promptly DEFLATED him. The T.REX balloon made the rounds at our lease that season. We put him in campers, deerstands, and even tied him up in food plots just for giggles. It was amazing to see just how fast people can run when scared. By the end of that season he also had ALOT of duct tape covering up his various wounds. It was great fun.

Posted By: WTHunter75

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 07/01/11 07:45 PM

That's some good stuff right there. I might try that with a rubber snake this year.

Posted By: Old Texas Hunter

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 07/03/11 01:45 PM

1. In the early 90's I was on a deer lease and as I got in my box blind one morning (which I had to crawl into) I found a rattlesnake curled up in the middle of the blind. I saw him before I got to far in and I left in a real hurry.

2. On the same lease a few years earlier I climbed into a tower blind one morning and found about 8 field mice that were all lined up side by side, some of which had beed decapitated. Apparently this was the result of the hunting efforts of a large owl that had taken up residence in the blind (one of the side windows was open).

Posted By: Brownwood

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 07/04/11 10:53 PM

My 1st real deer hunt as an 18 year old longhair back in the 70s. It was at Ft Hood. Retired military took you to a stand and you ahd to stay until they came vack for you. I got crappy stands casue this was just after Nam and I looked like a hippy war protester. The guy shines a flashlight about 20 feet up in a tree to a little platform and says, theres your stand. I manage to get up with my rifle and lay it on the platform. As I peak over over the edge I am greeted by a bobcat, with my rifle between his legs. I scramble down leaving my rifle behind. Bobcat left about 15 minuets before they came back to pick me up....

Posted By: wfontjr

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 07/05/11 11:11 PM

i would be careful with the pranks, someone jumps/falls out of a stand. bad things can happen, remember the person two years ago fell on a tee post and died

Posted By: jaymz

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 07/05/11 11:47 PM

Ah yes, nothin better than finding a skunk in your blind at 5:00 am. Got sprayed and hunted anyhow.

(as bad as I was hungover, you probably couldn't tell i smelled any different...)

Posted By: Kory

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 07/06/11 02:55 PM

We have this fake rattlesnake that makes his way around from bedroom to bathroom at our lease. After one night of drinking some delicious brewed beverages, i climb into bed and stuff my arm under my pillow to find this rubber snake. My sheets wouldn't come clean, and if it were not for my wife and kids, my dad would be questioning my preference in a mate due to the horrific girly scream that woke everyone up at 2:30 in the morning. I know it wasn't in a blind, but it was still at deer camp.

Posted By: Armalite260

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 07/06/11 08:08 PM

Originally Posted By: jaymz
Ah yes, nothin better than finding a skunk in your blind at 5:00 am. Got sprayed and hunted anyhow.

(as bad as I was hungover, you probably couldn't tell i smelled any different...)


I don't care what you say.... That's hilarious!!!! LMFAO
rofl

Posted By: RedTrail

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 07/07/11 11:04 AM

A bobcat jumped over my head while climbing into my tree stand. I heard there were numerous reports of a young female heard screaming in the woods on that same morning from the area I was hunting. It was also at about the same time I was getting into my stand. I never heard her.

Posted By: Seadog

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 07/08/11 03:08 PM

I was hunting in a brush blind at 5am one morning and kept hearing noises on my left side so I shined my flashlight in that direction and not 2 foot away, was a javelina!!! All I saw was the tusks and I ran out of one side and it ran out the other!!! I don't who was more scared!!!

Posted By: Bonner

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/09/11 04:48 PM

Bump for entertaining reading in these terrible weather conditions

Posted By: THawk_4

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/09/11 08:12 PM

Originally Posted By: wfontjr
i would be careful with the pranks, someone jumps/falls out of a stand. bad things can happen, remember the person two years ago fell on a tee post and died


Yes, he was on my lease. His son and I are still good friends.



But to add to the thread:

One morning hunting mulies, I set up a popup on one of our wheat fields, kinda backed up to the brush. I left the door halfway unzipped to get a breeze and so I was able to see behind me. I dozed off and was surprised to find a small mulie buck poking his head in the door when I woke up. I don't know who was scared worse.

One evening I was turkey hunting and sat down in some brush. After sitting there about 20 minutes, a lizard crawled up on one of my legs and decided to sit there and sun himself.

Another morning, hunting a ground blind, I kept hearing a faint rustling noise. Every time I'd hear it, I'd use the light on my phone to try and figure out what it was. Finally, I saw it. A little mole was keeping me company. Kept me entertained when nothing was coming in to the feeder.

Posted By: _Lee

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/11/11 01:16 AM

so what are you guys doing with the illegals you find ?

Posted By: BearkatHunter2011

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/11/11 02:08 AM

Haha. Great stuff. Last fall on the lease, I left my stand after dark and was on my way to meet my FIL at the truck. He thought it would be funny to stand by a cedar tree near the truck and hollar at me when I walked up. Needless to say, I screamed like a 10 year old watching a Freddie Kruger movie. He didnt stop laughing for 5 minutes. I have been thinking of payback since then. I think Im headed to Walmart to invest in a rubber snake and some fishing line.

Posted By: joedav31

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/11/11 03:59 PM

Craziest thing I've found at one of my hunting leases was one of our members and his naked girlfriend in the blind....... They didn't sign into that blind and parked much further away than where people normally park when they hunt that stand.... How they didn't hear me climbing the ladder I don't know but I caught them in a rather compromising situation... She still turns a lil red when I ask her.. "So, you been hunting lately"....... And by the way she was the by far the best looking doe I saw on that lease the whole year.

Posted By: Stump_jumper

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/11/11 05:50 PM

This is not in a stand but on top of one. This lady I know who is extremely softspoken and real quiet was hunting a box stand. She heard something land on the roof and the next thing she knows she see this big tail swishing back and forth. Not really thiking about the fact that based on the distance between the windows and the roof and the size of the tail this cannot be just a house cat. She grabbed the tail and pulled. The cat (cougar) jumped off the roof and disappeared before she even thought about her gun.

Posted By: CRAnderson52

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/13/11 05:42 AM

We were hunting one morning in West Texas (Coleman Co.) and it was my first time going on a solo hunt. I got to my stand way before day light and was sitting there nervous as all get out and heard something growling. I didn't think anything aout it and went on. I heard it again. Looked behind me and there was a set of eyes about a foot apart staring me down. Thinking I was seeing stuff I turned around, blinked, and looked back and they were gone. I wouldn't have been worried exccept for the fact that we have had tons of huge black cats seen on the land that year and I was sitting in a pop-up blind on a 4 foot stand. It was NO match for his dang claws!!!

Posted By: Inky Doc

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/17/11 01:12 AM

Good reading, thank you gentlemen.

Posted By: DeerSmokeScreen.com

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/17/11 07:20 PM

When I was a kid, duck hunting with my big brother in South Louisiana, we had a stinky surprise that I will never forget. Our blind was on a floating island in the swamp and the the floor was a pallet with cut reeds all around us.

It was freezing cold that morning and we had a good hunt until it got bright enought to see what was lying in the pallet below our boots.

We kept smelling a musky odor all morning that smelled really bad. Cotton mouths(water moccasins)put out a fowl odor when they are threatened and that's what we were smelling. Once it got light enough to see down there, we could see them between the pallet just below our feet. My big brother got us out of that blind in a hurry and shot those snakes to pieces, through the pallet!!! There must have been 5 or 6 in there.

Moral to the story... Never duck hunt on a pallet.

Posted By: 56txoval

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/17/11 08:19 PM

Not a blind story but close enough:

Last year we went out to fill our feeders. We get to one of the feeders that had a large protein feeder with it that had been knocked over by some cows during the off season. We went to lift the protein feeder and all of sudden skunk odor began to waft out from under the feeder. We had a shotgun with us so we fired a few shells into the open area under the feeder. All of a sudden a bunch of baby skunks started piling out. When it was over, we had slaughtered 7 skunks.

The story does not end there. We decided that we could not stand the smell so we thought it would be best to come back the next day and lift the feeder back to the upright position. We get back there the next day and go to lift the feeder and another baby skunk comes running out. Scared the living daylight out of us. We eliminate that skunk and head back over to lift the feeder again. We hear something inside the feeder this time....yes another baby skunk. By the time it was all over, the count was 9 skunks removed from the local population. We did not get the protein feeder lifted back upright until the next work weekend.

BTW: Those were the fattest little creatures we had ever seen..LOL

Posted By: Jordanp252

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/17/11 08:25 PM

I keep hearing ring tail cat. Does anyone know what their feces looks like? I have this weird looking poop in my stand every time I go. It looks like cat crap kind of. I am not from TX and not to familiar with ring tiails. Did a google search and found pics of them but that was about it. My stand is 10 feet in the air and only one way in it via ladder.

Posted By: MarkG

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/17/11 10:50 PM

Originally Posted By: KennyLee
Originally Posted By: HogBranch
Sitting in a tripod blind on a ridge before dawn about half sleeping when an owl tryed to land on my head. Wide awake after that!


I've had the same thing happen, but he actually touched down before I was aware. Scratched my head pretty good.

How I kept from falling out of the tripod was beyond me.


Those talons on the head hurt. Happened to me in a tree stand in AR.

I hunted with a guy once that had guided for awhile in AK and wore a rabbit fur hat and a bald eagle nearly tore his head off trying to get the hat.

Posted By: Stump_jumper

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/18/11 05:49 PM

Originally Posted By: CRAnderson52
We were hunting one morning in West Texas (Coleman Co.) and it was my first time going on a solo hunt. I got to my stand way before day light and was sitting there nervous as all get out and heard something growling. I didn't think anything aout it and went on. I heard it again. Looked behind me and there was a set of eyes about a foot apart staring me down. Thinking I was seeing stuff I turned around, blinked, and looked back and they were gone. I wouldn't have been worried exccept for the fact that we have had tons of huge black cats seen on the land that year and I was sitting in a pop-up blind on a 4 foot stand. It was NO match for his dang claws!!!


With that many black cats running around surely someone got a picture of one.

Posted By: CRAnderson52

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/18/11 06:10 PM

You would think so! I'm sure a couple of guys from the lease have some and I know the landowner does I just never asked them for any! I tried to get some but it was usually dark when we saw it and he blends in pretty well!

Posted By: TxHunter18

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/18/11 06:48 PM

I got in the blind early in the morning last year and it was still obviously dark. When it lightened up i noticed about 100 wasps and about 5 different big nest. I freaked out and jumped out of the blind but then figured out that they could barely even move because it was so cold outside. over reacted big time haha. Also have been scared by a huge rat when we unfolded the chair in our blind.

Posted By: txbowhunter2006

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/19/11 06:10 PM

booked a pig hunt in victoria, went to a 8ft blind and had a hawk and two babies in it. bad mess

Posted By: FoxTrot

Re: Share Surprises You Have Found In Your Blinds - This should be interesting - 08/19/11 06:34 PM

Originally Posted By: CRAnderson52
You would think so! I'm sure a couple of guys from the lease have some and I know the landowner does I just never asked them for any! I tried to get some but it was usually dark when we saw it and he blends in pretty well!


I assume that they hit the indian corn feeders at your place?

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