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

[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.

@hft, jcarlin,
I always wondered the same things. This was back in the 80s, so there was plenty of time for the story to change, and too long ago for me to find any news story or police report about it. I never knew any of these people, so the only account of the story I ever heard was from my grandpa and father. I know it was 100% fact that the landowner found the woman in the tree, but I have no idea about how true the meeting with the man in the woods was, but from what I was told the landowner struggled for years because of it, so I believe it. I guess some people are different, but I don't see why someone would make that part up, so I've always believed the entire story.

[6phunter]

Country people don't always live just in cities,its best to be prepared whenever you venture out

[6phunter]

Damn ,Iam getting old .homeless people in the country live in the woods also

[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.

I wasn't doubting the story, JM. And if it upset the owner so, I'm guessing he felt the woman was still alive when he encountered the guy. That's a tough one to live with. Still not his fault.

[charlie elk]

Only when I encounter a mirror hanging on a tree...

[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.

Yeah. He would have passed my long joked about litmus test for "Can I share a site with you?". That being "Do you have a musical instrument?"

[jcarlin]

Only when I encounter a mirror hanging on a tree...

LOL.. that would definitely freak me out.

[Okwaho]

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

My therapist says I shouldn't talk about it, but here goes. Few years back, I was sleeping out alone in a patch of state forest that has a big marshy pond and a little trout stream. The place gets a lot of use in the summer, since there's an old roadway that makes it easy to access, and the fishing's pretty good, but this was about mid-May and I hadn't seen anyone else in the two days I'd been there. My camp was down in the creekbottom; the pond was up above, over a low ridge.

Middle of the night, I hear voices up on the trail from the road to the pond. No big deal; I figured it was either high-school kids coming to party (this place gets a lot of that) or maybe some bullhead fishermen. Then I realize that it's a fairly large group of people, all men. There are several open spots near the pond that everyone uses for camping and for parties, and it sounded like they stopped at one of those. I could hear them breaking branches, and then I could hear the snap-crackle of their fire -- definitely more of a bonfire than a campfire. Still no big deal. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

All of a sudden, the whole group (I'm sure there were at least a dozen of them) bust out at the top of their lungs with this weird chanting song. It was not in English or any other language I've ever heard. I wish I could describe it -- all I can think of is Robert DeNiro at the end of CAPE FEAR, speaking in tongues as he sinks underwater. This went on for about five minutes. It would have been creepy enough anywhere, but out in the woods, especially being alone, I was pretty much shitting the bed.

When they stopped the chanting, I could hear one guy talking for probably the next ten minutes, but I couldn't make out any words. And now comes the really creepy part: After the guy stopped talking, I could hear some of them moving through the woods, collecting more firewood. A couple of them were coming down the slope behind my tent. I heard one of them say quietly to the other, "There's that guy's tent." Okay, no big deal, they saw my tent, and they'd surely seen my car back at the trailhead, so they'd known someone was out there somewhere. But still ... somehow they'd known that it was just one person, even though that tent was a good-sized 4-man dome tent. And like I said, I hadn't seen anyone else out there ... but obviously someone had seen me without my knowing. Also -- and I admit that with my nerves already cranking like they were, my perceptions might have been swayed a certain way -- the way the guy said it sounded like, "Oh, shit, there's that guy's tent," as if my being there presented a problem for them.

At that point, I wasn't going to just lay there anymore. I unzipped my tent, making sure it was nice and loud, and got out. Soon as they heard me, they turned back up the hillside. I thought of saying something but it just didn't seem like a good idea. I took my axe and walking stick (I hadn't taken a gun on that trip) and went across the crick. The bank there was kind of a steep rocky wall and I sat down with my back against that. I didn't hear a single thing after that, no more talking or chanting, and I couldn't see any glow of a fire. When it started to get light, I walked up there. Nobody was around at the spot where I thought they'd been, just a lot of matted down grass and the dead bonfire. I definitely got the sense that they left as soon as they knew I was so nearby; there was still a lot of unburned wood near their fire-ring.

Weird.

[jcarlin]

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

That is weird. And I'm with you on the decision making. I'd have gotten off the X and sat up for the night as well, if not just drive off in my truck and recover my gear later. No way I'd have just rolled over and gone to sleep.

[pineywoods]

Only when I encounter a mirror hanging on a tree...

A few years ago, I put up several "Blair Witch" constructs around my place but nobody ever said anything about them. Most of my hunting friends think I'm strange, anyhow. I am.

[pineywoods]

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

That certainly was spooky. You were facing a pack of the most dangerous animals on the planet---humans.

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...!!

It's a long story, but I'll try to shorten it...!!

One Summer, when I was working by myself on a project in AK's Arctic, I was taking a lunch breather when I saw in the distance a lone person walking towards me...!! There were NO people living anywhere near for MANY miles around...!!

In time he made it to where I was and started chatting...And before I could get out many words, he opened his pack, took out a bible, and started PREACHING to me...!!

Well, I don't have much use for Bible thumpers like that, and soon sent him on his way...!!