Ever bumped into a chill critter in the woods?

I was once fishing off the point of a small island and a beaver sat on that point, up on his haunches, watching me. So, I stopped casting to watch him watch me and the wind blew me slowly to the island. I thought when my canoe bumped into rocks, he'd bolt, but he didn't. He just kept watching. I was ten feet or so away. When I did push off, he waited a few seconds and then entered the water to swim under my canoe. So cool.

Another time, I was picking blueberries with my dad when we saw a bear at the far end of the patch. The bear looked at us. We looked at him. Then we all went back to berry picking. He was about 60 yards away.

I was sitting on the bank of the Mississippi down south when scores of butterflies landed on me. I was frosted with wings. I loved it. Never happened again. Sigh.

Yep, You quiet down a bit and they come right close... (somehow easier if your brain is not in hunting mode...). Had a weasel right at my feet, when I was sitting near a lake, once. S/he was looking for shellfish, and I was journaling.

Actually, not sure a weasel is ever a chill critter; just didn't notice me as long as I was still.

Ah heck, I meant mink, not weasel.

on the water paddling out of a small bay in SAK , these 2 loons we're right next to us and dived underneath our canoe and popped up on the otherside , about 3 feet from us and preceded to do this 3 more times , than moved to the very front of the canoe and lead us out of this bay , very cool to be this close and see them swimming in gin clear waters.

Was solo canoeing in Algonquin.. Pulled up about 50 feet from a bear family. The mama was teaching her cubs (3!) to play and jump in the water. She led them down the 30 foot long log and then jumped in. Each cub followed. This was repeated twice before the troop of Girl Scouts emerged on the river in aluminum canoes.. The bear family calmly swam across the river and left..

Here at the farm our resident deer come into the yard and don't get too skittish. I've had a gobbler with about a 6-8" beard that's been coming into the yard the last few weeks. As long as I don't try to get up and go get a camera, he's good with me watching him.

In the woods I always thought it interesting when I'm deer hunting and the chipmunks and squirrels will play around me knowing I'm no threat to them. On the river it seems if you move quietly and make no sudden movements they will let you get close too?

There's this old mink on the Current between Pulltite and Roundspring that I call "Grandma" because she's got to be OLD. I hope she survived the record floods. She doesn't pay attention to you but maybe she's getting deaf and blind? I've gotten good pics of her posing for me, "Chilled," at my presence.

Once when camping near home I had an encounter like that with a raccoon. We were sitting around the campfire a little while after dark. I looked to my right during a lull in the conversation to see a raccoon sitting on it's haunches and looking me right in the eye. We both slowly turned back to watching the fire. It hung out for another minute or so, knew there was no food around, and moved along to the next site.

In 2012 I was solo doing a loop north from Little Indian Sioux at my camp on Loon Lake. As it site near the waters edge at dusk a beaver family of three waded in the shallows in front of me chewing on leaves of thin alders laying in the water.

They were probably within 20 feet of me and I could hear these "cooing noises" they made. It was really cool and they definitely knew I was there.

Another time on Birch Lake in Quetico I was sitting high off the water with my dog just watching the sun set when three beavers swam single file past me. The last one was HUGE, and he stopped to float and look up at us before cruising on by.

It was also memorable because my dog just looked down on them and didn't make a sound. She had no idea what these creatures were. Good things happen at dusk.

On our trip in the summer 2015 a cow moose and calf swam around the peninsula we were camped on for about 45 minutes. They got pretty close to us and it didn't seem to phase them. My friend took this picture.

We were paddling on Pillsbery Lake in the middle of a sunny afternoon just going along and never expecting to see a moose at all (not a "moosey looking environment, not the right time of day, and we were not being particularly quiet either) when we looked ahead and saw this cow having her lunch. We kept paddling closer and closer as I snapped photos, until finally Spartan 1 said, "You do realize that this is a wild animal, don't you?" I was urging him to see how close we could get.






After she was done feeding and thoroughly tired of us, she turned and leisurely ambled into the underbrush. It was one of our closest moose encounters.

I have had any number of close encounters with critters while I've been in a canoe. It is almost as if they can't imagine a predator coming from the water and don't feel the need to flee.

I think most people who spend a considerable amount of time in the outdoor experience close encounters with wildlife that defies their normal 'flight from humans' behavior.

Nevertheless, it is always a welcome, special moment when it happens.

Oz, I love that mink shot!

I once had a squirrel climb one arm, shoot across my shoulders, and descend the other. If only Grandma had been in hot pursuit, my story would be turbocharged!

I got to watch a pine marten ripping and romping back and forth through our camp site early one morning. He was pretty entertaining to watch. I'm not really sure what he was doing but he appeared to be having great fun.

quote missmolly: "Oz, I love that mink shot!


I once had a squirrel climb one arm, shoot across my shoulders, and descend the other. If only Grandma had been in hot pursuit, my story would be turbocharged! "

you talk'n about me ?

quote missmolly: "Oz, I love that mink shot!


I once had a squirrel climb one arm, shoot across my shoulders, and descend the other. If only Grandma had been in hot pursuit, my story would be turbocharged! "

I love taking pictures of her when I see her. Like I said, maybe she's just old and deaf, but she's always "Chilled."

I once saw a loon that took chill to the next level. Down to the Eastern end of Caribou there is a small site with a tiny island just offshore. I paddled over looking for firewood and when I climbed up into a thicket of trees and bushes I could hear the hellish buzzing of a thousand flies. Maybe a dead animal I thought but as I walked closer, there sat a nesting loon, still and chill and looking right at me. The poor bird was covered from head to neck in a nasty frenzy of wings and legs, blinking the bastards away only to keep one eye on me. Never let 'em see you sweat.

Once my wife and I were sharing a lake with a loon pair and loon chick. The parents were teaching it to fish and then one day they decided to fly to the next lake, giving the chick some time on its own. The chick was not sure about this and swam over to our campsite and hung out just offshore for a couple,of hours until its parents came back. We definitely felt like we were babysitting.

Not sure that was chill behavior, maybe more like fear but not of us.

I had a squirrel sit 5 feet away and stare me down while I was sitting in a tree.
I had a button buck spot me in the tree. He just stood below my stand and watched me. He came back 4 more times that day. I have video of him hanging out.
We came off a portage by Nina Moose and a moose was standing in the river eating. We just floated and watched in awe. She was close to the middle of the river. When she moved a couple steps towards shore we slowly and quietly went around her.
Another time my hubby and I had a buck come into our Lake Alton camp on his way to the lake for a drink. We were all surprised by each other. He just stared us down. He came back through the next night as well.

Thank you for giving me the chance to share!

~

BSW, your button buck story is quite a tale.

andym, I hope I get to babysit a loon some day!

fadersup, that's one devoted mama.

I remember passing under four bald eagles and one golden eagle on the Mississippi River in October. Of course, eagles are common there and then, but they usually take flight when you paddle under them, so when I saw five in one tree downriver, I lay my paddle on the deck and sat very still to see if they'd maintain their perches. They did. I was awed and grateful.

I've had a few encounters.

Last summer I was fishing early one morning and had an otter swim circles around my canoe for over a half hour. I varied its distance from me on each lap but it maintained a slow steady pace the entire time while checking me out. Each time I casted I had to make not of where it was so that I could cast on the opposite sit so it didn't get tangled in my line.

I've also had a lot of encounters while deer hunting. Its amazing what you see when you sit still in the woods long enough. I've had woodpeckers drilling on the tree 2 feet above my head. 2 yearling deer played peek-a-boo with me for over an hour one afternoon. They'd look at me, duck behind a tree, and then pop out sort of jumping around playfully.

One Thanksgiving, my daughter was home from university and decided it had been a while since she had seen deer. I took her to the backyard where there was a group of bucks and does assembled (It was rutting season). I had her sit on a boulder and I took another boulder for myself closer to the deer.
The deer were about 50 feet away and were milling around as bucks pestered does. Far beyond the group, I noticed another deer come into view and begin moving, with purpose, towards us.
As the newcomer got closer, I saw that it was a buck. Closer yet, it had an unusual appearance. Its large body was incongruous with its small set of forked-horn antlers.

As the newcomer reached the group, 10 or 12 in number, the does parted to let him pass and the bucks moved much farther to either side. A couple of those bucks had impressive racks but they got out of the way.
The newcomer never slowed. He continued straight ahead and I suddenly became glad that I had positioned my daughter well to the rear. He came right up to me and stared at me. He was an old warrior with both ears badly chewed and prominent scars all over his body.
I was scared but I tried to not let it show as he brought his nose down to within a quarter inch of my knee and smelled me. I could tell that he wasn't in the least bit nervous about me but I was scared stiff.
With his curiosity satisfied, he calmly turned around and went to examine the does.

I had never seen that buck before and never saw him again but he left a lasting impression.

Several over the years.

As a young boy I was out squirrel hunting. A gray squirrel took offense to my presence and started attacking my foot. As I pointed my 410 at him, I realized my foot was in the way. I kicked, he left, I didn't shoot. Lasting memory of what could have been.

I was deer hunting about 15 years ago. Morning sit was over and our group collected near one stand and began to discuss that morning's successes. I was watching over the wetlands nearby and saw two spike bucks walking our way. I watched them meander our way for about 15 minutes and they both came through a clearing right toward us. One of them literally came within inches from the end the barrel of my 12 ga. He stared at me and sniffed the gun. Simply amazing! Too cool of a scene to shoot.

In the BWCA, I was on Wood Lake one year, far north end just relaxing in the sun. A doe came down about mid day to have a drink. She was about 20 feet from our canoe that had drifted to shore. Fun just watching her go about her day.

A couple of other times in BWCA, once on Wood (same time as the deer above) and once on Shell, I have been fortunate enough to drift by snapping turtles in shallow waters. They don't seem to mind my presence nor the inquisitive touch on their shells. Those dinosaurs are neat to see up close.