Ever encountered any strange characters in the outdoors? I once witnessed what I believed to be some kind of backwoods cult meeting. Another time, I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow named Ed, who was building a brush-shelter near the pond I was

[Okwaho]

Ever encountered any strange characters in the outdoors? I once witnessed what I believed to be some kind of backwoods cult meeting. Another time, I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow named Ed, who was building a brush-shelter near the pond I was fishing. Ed told me that he needed to get the shelter built because he was 55 years old and his folks wanted him to "get the hell out of their house." I didn't offer to help. Anyway, what sort of weirdos have you met up with while hunting or fishing?

[huntfishtrap]

I don't have any stories as good as the one about Ed, but I've seen a few odd people. I spend quite a bit of time on the Mississippi River, and you encounter all sorts of folks out there. One time we were just launching our boat for a night of bowfishing when a big speedboat pulled up to the launch. The people had obviously been having quite a party, judging from the beer cans littering the boat, and one attractive young woman climbed out onto the pier and staggered over to me. I've never seen anyone more drunk, she was literally swaying as she stood there. She started asking all sorts of questions about what we were doing, and what kind of boat we had (the bowfishing boat has an elevated deck, so it looks a little unusual). I politely answered, although I doubt she really understood what I was saying. Finally after a long couple of minutes, she went weaving back down the pier and joined her friends in the parking lot. She didn't strike me as the kind of person who would be the slightest bit interested in bowfishing when sober, either.
No other incidents really stand out at the moment. I'll post again if something comes to mind.

[pineywoods]

The only strange person I ever met was "The Beaver Man" whom I already knew about before I met him. He made his living getting rid of beavers for landowners. He not only trapped them, he would wriggle up into beaver houses and dens and drag them out. As you would expect, he was small and wiry and looked a little like a beaver with a receding chin and buck teeth. Smelled a little like a beaver, too. He was muddy from top to toe and didn't look like much, but had a good sense of humor. He was deadly on beavers. I moved out of that area and lost track of him years ago.

[JM]

-By far I think I have the creepiest story, albeit not a personal one. When my dad was around my age he had a friend who's dad owned a large tract of property. The dad was farming a field one day and saw a man walking in the woods. He went over to the talk to him. All he said he remembered that the man seemed very distraught and was carrying a bed sheet and some rope. The man claimed his dog ran off and he was trying to find him. The man even left a phone number in case the dad ever saw the dog. A few days later the dad was actually walking in the woods nearby and came across a lady that had been hanged in a tree and was told the time of death would've matched with when he saw the man. Obviously the phone number was fake. Never heard if they ever found out who the man was.
-I was hunting one time where I heard human voices and footsteps. Private property, so I knew were trespassing. Eventually I got to a point where I could see them....and realized it was a young girl and her even younger brother(If I had to guess both were around 10 years old). They were adamant that they were not lost, but I knew for a fact that the closest border of our property was nearly a mile away. Needless to say it was a very sketchy situation, but eventually I got them to follow me to a high elevation field I knew I could make a phone call from. Luckily they knew their parents number and I was able to call them and have them meet me and their children back are house. I also once had a trespasser that was extremely belligerent and yelling at me at the top of his lungs for trespassing on his hunting spot. I got out of their quick. Again, this was on property that we own, so I to this day have no idea what his problem was but he was never seen again.

[jcarlin]

You meet all kinds in the woods (some poor people run into me) and the people who go the most of the way to engage with you are sometimes the most eccentric.

The one real standout to me was a guy along the AT a couple of miles north of Sunfish Pond along the Delaware Water Gap.
Dude was probably in his mid 30's if I recall correctly. Wearing nothing but a pair of cut off shorts, a ka-bar, and a tan. It stood out because I saw no sign of a camp, a pack, or anything, it was several miles to the nearest road crossing and it was good and late.
I honestly don't remember if he had shoes. Just standing off the side of the trail and waited for us to approach. "You two staying out here tonight?" We're wearing frame packs and it was getting late. "Nah, trying to push on to the car before dark." "Well, sleep tight."

Right.

We still spent the night out there, but we pushed on farther than we had intended and slept well off trail. Amusingly, my wife asked me why I lied to him.

To this day, I still think he was just messing with us.

[jcarlin]

-By far I think I have the creepiest story, albeit not a personal one. When my dad was around my age he had a friend who's dad owned a large tract of property. The dad was farming a field one day and saw a man walking in the woods. He went over to the talk to him. All he said he remembered that the man seemed very distraught and was carrying a bed sheet and some rope. The man claimed his dog ran off and he was trying to find him. The man even left a phone number in case the dad ever saw the dog. A few days later the dad was actually walking in the woods nearby and came across a lady that had been hanged in a tree and was told the time of death would've matched with when he saw the man. Obviously the phone number was fake. Never heard if they ever found out who the man was.
-I was hunting one time where I heard human voices and footsteps. Private property, so I knew were trespassing. Eventually I got to a point where I could see them....and realized it was a young girl and her even younger brother(If I had to guess both were around 10 years old). They were adamant that they were not lost, but I knew for a fact that the closest border of our property was nearly a mile away. Needless to say it was a very sketchy situation, but eventually I got them to follow me to a high elevation field I knew I could make a phone call from. Luckily they knew their parents number and I was able to call them and have them meet me and their children back are house. I also once had a trespasser that was extremely belligerent and yelling at me at the top of his lungs for trespassing on his hunting spot. I got out of their quick. Again, this was on property that we own, so I to this day have no idea what his problem was but he was never seen again.

That first is just messed up right there.. so he had extra rope.. or the guy was on his way to do it and she was just sitting in the woods waiting?
I'm sure you have no way of knowing, I'm just puzzled.

[jcarlin]

I don't have any stories as good as the one about Ed, but I've seen a few odd people. I spend quite a bit of time on the Mississippi River, and you encounter all sorts of folks out there. One time we were just launching our boat for a night of bowfishing when a big speedboat pulled up to the launch. The people had obviously been having quite a party, judging from the beer cans littering the boat, and one attractive young woman climbed out onto the pier and staggered over to me. I've never seen anyone more drunk, she was literally swaying as she stood there. She started asking all sorts of questions about what we were doing, and what kind of boat we had (the bowfishing boat has an elevated deck, so it looks a little unusual). I politely answered, although I doubt she really understood what I was saying. Finally after a long couple of minutes, she went weaving back down the pier and joined her friends in the parking lot. She didn't strike me as the kind of person who would be the slightest bit interested in bowfishing when sober, either.
No other incidents really stand out at the moment. I'll post again if something comes to mind.

Sounds like a missed opportunity.

[huntfishtrap]

I don't have any stories as good as the one about Ed, but I've seen a few odd people. I spend quite a bit of time on the Mississippi River, and you encounter all sorts of folks out there. One time we were just launching our boat for a night of bowfishing when a big speedboat pulled up to the launch. The people had obviously been having quite a party, judging from the beer cans littering the boat, and one attractive young woman climbed out onto the pier and staggered over to me. I've never seen anyone more drunk, she was literally swaying as she stood there. She started asking all sorts of questions about what we were doing, and what kind of boat we had (the bowfishing boat has an elevated deck, so it looks a little unusual). I politely answered, although I doubt she really understood what I was saying. Finally after a long couple of minutes, she went weaving back down the pier and joined her friends in the parking lot. She didn't strike me as the kind of person who would be the slightest bit interested in bowfishing when sober, either.
No other incidents really stand out at the moment. I'll post again if something comes to mind.

I knew somebody was going to say that, lol.

[jcarlin]

I don't have any stories as good as the one about Ed, but I've seen a few odd people. I spend quite a bit of time on the Mississippi River, and you encounter all sorts of folks out there. One time we were just launching our boat for a night of bowfishing when a big speedboat pulled up to the launch. The people had obviously been having quite a party, judging from the beer cans littering the boat, and one attractive young woman climbed out onto the pier and staggered over to me. I've never seen anyone more drunk, she was literally swaying as she stood there. She started asking all sorts of questions about what we were doing, and what kind of boat we had (the bowfishing boat has an elevated deck, so it looks a little unusual). I politely answered, although I doubt she really understood what I was saying. Finally after a long couple of minutes, she went weaving back down the pier and joined her friends in the parking lot. She didn't strike me as the kind of person who would be the slightest bit interested in bowfishing when sober, either.
No other incidents really stand out at the moment. I'll post again if something comes to mind.

You're most welcome. Though it would violate my general practices in life, it had to be said.

[huntfishtrap]

Just thought of another strange one. A couple of years ago I saw 2 people fishing from a bridge over a river. This river is decent-sized, about 50-60 yards wide at that point, and the bridge is pretty high. The water is a good 20 to 30 feet down at the point where they were fishing, so I'm not sure how they expected to land any fish bigger than a minnow. But the most bizarre part was that they had set up lawn chairs in the lane of traffic! This is technically a 2-lane bridge, but it's a tight fit if you meet a semi or dump truck, and it gets a fair amount of traffic. And yet there they were, nonchalantly blocking part of one lane as the vehicles swerved around them. I don't know if those people were actually insane, but what they were doing was crazy.

[jcarlin]

Tioughnioga, I've been waiting ever so patiently for a description of the cult meeting.

[huntfishtrap]

I don't have any stories as good as the one about Ed, but I've seen a few odd people. I spend quite a bit of time on the Mississippi River, and you encounter all sorts of folks out there. One time we were just launching our boat for a night of bowfishing when a big speedboat pulled up to the launch. The people had obviously been having quite a party, judging from the beer cans littering the boat, and one attractive young woman climbed out onto the pier and staggered over to me. I've never seen anyone more drunk, she was literally swaying as she stood there. She started asking all sorts of questions about what we were doing, and what kind of boat we had (the bowfishing boat has an elevated deck, so it looks a little unusual). I politely answered, although I doubt she really understood what I was saying. Finally after a long couple of minutes, she went weaving back down the pier and joined her friends in the parking lot. She didn't strike me as the kind of person who would be the slightest bit interested in bowfishing when sober, either.
No other incidents really stand out at the moment. I'll post again if something comes to mind.

Yeah, it would go against my principles as well. Besides, who likes getting puked on while...you know....

[huntfishtrap]

-By far I think I have the creepiest story, albeit not a personal one. When my dad was around my age he had a friend who's dad owned a large tract of property. The dad was farming a field one day and saw a man walking in the woods. He went over to the talk to him. All he said he remembered that the man seemed very distraught and was carrying a bed sheet and some rope. The man claimed his dog ran off and he was trying to find him. The man even left a phone number in case the dad ever saw the dog. A few days later the dad was actually walking in the woods nearby and came across a lady that had been hanged in a tree and was told the time of death would've matched with when he saw the man. Obviously the phone number was fake. Never heard if they ever found out who the man was.
-I was hunting one time where I heard human voices and footsteps. Private property, so I knew were trespassing. Eventually I got to a point where I could see them....and realized it was a young girl and her even younger brother(If I had to guess both were around 10 years old). They were adamant that they were not lost, but I knew for a fact that the closest border of our property was nearly a mile away. Needless to say it was a very sketchy situation, but eventually I got them to follow me to a high elevation field I knew I could make a phone call from. Luckily they knew their parents number and I was able to call them and have them meet me and their children back are house. I also once had a trespasser that was extremely belligerent and yelling at me at the top of his lungs for trespassing on his hunting spot. I got out of their quick. Again, this was on property that we own, so I to this day have no idea what his problem was but he was never seen again.

That is weird, no doubt about it. Would love to know how much is true (not that I'm doubting what your dad told you, but you know how tales can change after a few different people tell them)

[huntfishtrap]

You meet all kinds in the woods (some poor people run into me) and the people who go the most of the way to engage with you are sometimes the most eccentric.

The one real standout to me was a guy along the AT a couple of miles north of Sunfish Pond along the Delaware Water Gap.
Dude was probably in his mid 30's if I recall correctly. Wearing nothing but a pair of cut off shorts, a ka-bar, and a tan. It stood out because I saw no sign of a camp, a pack, or anything, it was several miles to the nearest road crossing and it was good and late.
I honestly don't remember if he had shoes. Just standing off the side of the trail and waited for us to approach. "You two staying out here tonight?" We're wearing frame packs and it was getting late. "Nah, trying to push on to the car before dark." "Well, sleep tight."

Right.

We still spent the night out there, but we pushed on farther than we had intended and slept well off trail. Amusingly, my wife asked me why I lied to him.

To this day, I still think he was just messing with us.

Hey, why didn't you offer to let him camp with you? He was probably just looking for company. Lol

[JM]

Just thought of another strange one. A couple of years ago I saw 2 people fishing from a bridge over a river. This river is decent-sized, about 50-60 yards wide at that point, and the bridge is pretty high. The water is a good 20 to 30 feet down at the point where they were fishing, so I'm not sure how they expected to land any fish bigger than a minnow. But the most bizarre part was that they had set up lawn chairs in the lane of traffic! This is technically a 2-lane bridge, but it's a tight fit if you meet a semi or dump truck, and it gets a fair amount of traffic. And yet there they were, nonchalantly blocking part of one lane as the vehicles swerved around them. I don't know if those people were actually insane, but what they were doing was crazy.

@hft,
The height isn't a big deal...I've gone pier fishing quite a few times and people haul up some giant fish. As for the rest of the story...well yeah they seemed pretty crazy. I've seen a few people almost get hit by cars while mowing their yard. I guess some people don't realize that the edges of the lane is still part of the street.