Mountain Men

[Goldfish]

My 70 year old neighbor always swears "there's things in there that I don't want to know about". Granted, it's not the Pacific Northwest or something. The Big Woods are a parcel which is part of about a 6,000 acre piece called the Asherwood Swamp. It used to be much bigger, but has been shrunk some throughout the years by farming and such. Never got logged much, because it's too wet. Anyway, I always heard him say that, and up until about 10 years ago thought it was just stories and such. Then me and the wife were out on the back deck (back field butts up to the swamp) and heard as sound that was like a single medium note on a french horn combined with the sound a semi trucks brakes make when they moan to a stop. The sound lasted about 4 seconds, and tailed off at the end. We've heard it numerous times since then. No idea what it is, but others have heard it their whole lives, and just don't bother wondering anymore. His grandson was hunting back at a stand they put up when the drought started a few years back, about 3/4 mile back in the swamp. Could never get back there, because it was too wet, but this ongoing drought has dropped the water to about knee deep if you're careful where you walk. Beautiful land, old growth water cypress and silver maples at least 4 foot in diameter, with a lot of dry "islands". Grandson was about 15 at the time, and had been hunting these woods (and everywhere) since he was 5, so he's not easily spooked. He called and asked his grandfather to come back to the stand and meet him, because he wasn't coming down. He was shook up, even with a .30-30, "babbling gibberish" was what the grandpa said. Said he wasn't hurt, but wasn't coming down. The neighbor stopped at the house and got me, and we grabbed some lights and guns and went back to get him. Kid was ghost white. Said he heard what sounded like 5 guys sloshing through the water (he knows the difference between the sound deer make wading through water and something else), making a heck of a racket, and then that french horn sound, about 50 yards behind him, then silence. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a little chill, standing back there in that swamp in the dark, with only a headlamp, gun or not. Especially when he got to the part where he didn't hear anything walk away through the water. He still hunts the woods, but nobody's been back to that stand since.

F THAT.

I live in the north woods. We worry about rogue mt lions, wolves, and bears. At least I know what the hell I'm dealing with.

Oh, and thank god for cell phones in that case. If I didn't have something to call others like that, you can be sure I'd still be in that tree till the sun is well up, and that gun would have remained ready all night.

[assateague]

Then me and the wife were out on the back deck (back field butts up to the swamp) and heard as sound that was like a single medium note on a french horn combined with the sound a semi trucks brakes make when they moan to a stop. The sound lasted about 4 seconds, and tailed off at the end. We've heard it numerous times since then.

how close are you to where the sika deer are? listen to this video

We have sika deer around, mostly down near the beach and over by the bay in the big marshes. I hunt them often, and this wasn't no sika deer. More like this:

3:06 on this video is it almost exactly, but it lasts about 3 full seconds and gets softer at the end. Doesn't change pitch, just gets softer and tails off. Sometimes it's louder than others, but usually pretty similar to this, and always tails off at the end.

[Bufflehead]

yeah, that's probably not something you want to f with

[assateague]

Actually, now that I think about it, it's probably closest to a "smoothed out" Chewbacca. Pretty damn close.

[Olly]

I love hearing about weird noises in the woods. Sometimes I can tell what it is and others I just move as fast as I can

When I first moved up here I was out at a buddies deer camp drinking and they were telling me about some weird noises pretty close to what you described Assa that they had heard over the years. Anyway it was about 2 am and we were still drinking around the fire and out of no where this long moan came out of the woods you could tell it was coming from deep in the woods (the camp is on about 300 acres backed up to a national forest) and before it was done they all were in the cabin before I could even get up from my chair! Weirdest sound I'd ever heard.

[possumfoot]

you vid no work assa...

[assateague]

I love hearing about weird noises in the woods. Sometimes I can tell what it is and others I just move as fast as I can

When I first moved up here I was out at a buddies deer camp drinking and they were telling me about some weird noises pretty close to what you described Assa that they had heard over the years. Anyway it was about 2 am and we were still drinking around the fire and out of no where this long moan came out of the woods you could tell it was coming from deep in the woods (the camp is on about 300 acres backed up to a national forest) and before it was done they all were in the cabin before I could even get up from my chair! Weirdest sound I'd ever heard.

That sounds like EXACTLY the same thing.

[capt1972]

[3legged_lab]

I love hearing about weird noises in the woods. Sometimes I can tell what it is and others I just move as fast as I can

When I first moved up here I was out at a buddies deer camp drinking and they were telling me about some weird noises pretty close to what you described Assa that they had heard over the years. Anyway it was about 2 am and we were still drinking around the fire and out of no where this long moan came out of the woods you could tell it was coming from deep in the woods (the camp is on about 300 acres backed up to a national forest) and before it was done they all were in the cabin before I could even get up from my chair! Weirdest sound I'd ever heard.

That sounds like EXACTLY the same thing.

Must be a woodbooger.

[MOhuntingGuy]

I honestly think my little cabin, or the woods around my little cabin down in the Ozarks is haunted. There have been more than one occasion where I have heard strange noises. Doesn't freak me out too bad though. The last time was when I went down by myself for spring turkey season. It was opening morning and I hunted for a few hours and had nothing. So I hiked back down to the cabin and left the back door open with the screen door shut. I was just sitting at the table eating a sandwich. Now keep in mind, there is a guy that lives on the same hill only about 50 yards away but he is gone from sunup till sundown during the week working. Anyways, I'm just sitting there eating and listening out in the woods when I hear clear as day the sound of someone clearing their throat just outside the door. I said "Hello?" and got nothing. I grabbed my pistol and stepped out the door. Nothing. I was the only person for probably 10 miles.

I've been down there other times and had my cell phone battery drain and die while I was looking at it. I've heard footsteps on the stairs on the front deck. Woke up and a light in the kitchen was on that swear up and down I turned off. And the one that did spook me was the shadow of someone walking by the backdoor late at night but zero footsteps were heard.

[FlintRiverFowler]

The main hype around here is big cat sightings. Ive only had one but it was late at night and i was really tired so it couldve been a dog but it appeared to be a big yellow cat crossing the highway just north of my familys farm. another time was while i was at college in rural south georgia we were sitting out drinking in a field and heard what we think was a panther, they say they scream just like a woman shrieking and thats what we heard. either way everybody was pullin guns out of trucks left and right and shining spot lights. it freaked us out pretty good.
My dad and other railroaders have claimed to see them in the deep woods along the tracks several times.
and then olly has the story about the scout lodge, what was it about the hogs getting mutilated???

[assateague]

My friend from MO had a bobcat sneak behind his deer stand and let out one of their screams. Said he almost wet himself. We also have screech owls and ground owls back in the woods. The screech sound exactly- EXACTLY- like a woman being killed. Unnerving until you get used to it. The ground owls make an eerie little moaning/whistling sound, sort of soft. Kind of spooky as well.

As for the ghosts, I have more stories than time.

[Westie25]

We used to have a screech owl that lived in the silo just outside of our camper at deer camp. It would consistently scare the shit out of someone once a weekend. It always seemed to do it when you'd least expect it.

There's some old heads around here that swear there's black panthers in the old old woods down near the river. I've been in and out of them all my life and never seen one.

[FlintRiverFowler]

My friend from MO had a bobcat sneak behind his deer stand and let out one of their screams. Said he almost wet himself. We also have screech owls and ground owls back in the woods. The screech sound exactly- EXACTLY- like a woman being killed. Unnerving until you get used to it. The ground owls make an eerie little moaning/whistling sound, sort of soft. Kind of spooky as well.

As for the ghosts, I have more stories than time.

Please elaboorate. I love a good ghost story.

[assateague]

Some quick ones. (I actually have work to do today, not that much will get done, but I have to at least tell myself I will )

The farm I lived on until a couple years ago was the family farm, and has been in the family since 1896. I know of at least 4 people who have died there, not that I think that necessarily is required for ghosts, but it certainly seems to help. I would always- always- have something happen when I was out working in the shop. My grandfather and great grandfather were both farmers and carpenters, so I like to think they just liked to poke around and watch what I was doing, generally when I was building furniture. They both smoked, as do I. Whenever I was out there building furniture, about half the time when I was really concentrating on getting a dovetail just right, or something technical, I'd get that hair on the back of the neck feeling, and then smell a freshly lit cigarette. If you don't smoke, a cigarette smells completely different right when it's lit than when it's burning. I'd always turn to look, but there was nobody there. Even when I lived back there alone before I met my wife (she smokes) this happened all the time. The lane is 6/10ths of a mile long, and there are no houses closer than 3/4 away, so I know damn well it wasn't a neighbor. I would usually just say out loud "pop-pop, I know you're just watching, but sometimes that scares the crap out of me. I wish you'd stop that," and it wouldn't happen for a couple days. Sometimes, after the initial shock I'd kind of get a kick out of thinking that my grandfather and great father may be there watching me work in the same shop they built stuff in.

The biggest "haunting" involved a tractor. It was about 9 years ago, and I was in the kitchen putting up deer in the fall. The house is in the middle of 38 acres of fields, with nothing around. The closest woods are 330 yards away in any direction. I looked out the window and saw an old tricycle wheel Farmall tractor with a three row plow going around where my garden was (about 50 yards from the back door), headed for the back field, with somebody on it I didn't recognize. There was an old chicken house that had not yet been pushed down and burned, and the tractor went behind that. I put my boots on quick and went outside to see who the hell had came down the lane and through my farm. When I got to where I could see down along the other side of the chicken house, there was nothing there. No tractor, no tractor sound, no tractor tire marks in the dirt lane, nothing. It had only been maybe 10 seconds since I saw it. Freaked me out six ways to Sunday. Moreso when I realized that I never heard the tractor. I tried to tell myself that I was imagining things, and that I didn't hear it because the windows were shut, but that's nonsense. I'd still hear an old tractor driving by 50 yards away. That was the only time I actually saw anything.

The house we live in now was my great grandfather's house on my mother's side, and is at the road end of the lane to the farm I used to live on (the family farm). Yep, he died here, too. The front door would constantly open, and we have no screen door. Even when it was locked. No dead bolt, but front doors don't just blow open, especially when there's no wind. Last winter I had gotten a mutt for a hunting dog (he didn't work out, but that's another story), and he was only a couple months old. I got tired of the door opening (it happened a LOT), and the dog getting out, especially since there is a road right out front. One day, I got pissed, and said "listen, I don't know if you're coming or going, but this shit has to stop- you're going to get my dog killed. Do what you want, but close the damn door." It seems silly that I was actually mad about this, and had just accepted it as fact that a ghost was opening the door, but I was honestly mad. And after that, it stopped completely. I got rid of the dog about 6 months after I got him (he was just too mean to have around the kids), and the day that dog went to a buddy's to live, the damn door started opening again. I had another talk with whoever it was, explaining that it just wasn't safe to have a front door wide open, and it stopped again. Hasn't happened since.

But now, the ghost appears to have moved to the barn with the horses. My wife would say "thanks for bringing a bale of hay into the barn for me" (the hay barn is about 25 yards from the horse barn, and I would occasionally drop a bale of hay in the barn for my wife to feed so she didn't have to tote one over from the hay barn). Only I never brought a bale over. This happens quite a bit- go out in the morning to feed, and there's a bale of hay sitting in the middle of the run in the barn. If I ever look out the bedroom window, and see a bale of hay floating over to the barn, or being carried by a shadow or some crap, I'll probably lose it. But for now, it's a pretty handy ghost to have around. I now just say "thanks" out loud whenever it happens.

[Bufflehead]

The main hype around here is big cat sightings.

big cats are real, i don't care what any of the wildlife biologist say. we hunt very remote land here in NC and i have seen a panther with my own two eyes. i wasn't alone when i saw it either.

about a year later, i started hunting/guiding with another club in the same area. a couple of members claim to have seen one about 5 miles from where i saw the one the year before. we had a paying hunter that had never heard any of the panther stories. this guy was not afraid of bears at all, he had been bear hunting with hounds for years. we put him in a bear stand one evening and when we went to get him, he wouldn't come down out of the stand. he swears up and down he seen one. this was the same stand the other members had seen it around.

[FlintRiverFowler]

Old houses freak me out.
I lived in a house built in 1880 my last year of college, it was divided into pretty decent apartments and was cheap cheap cheap. I was always expecting to see a ghost but i never did until one night i came in and passed out drunk with the lights on. Idk how long i was out but i suddenly woke up and saw a 70s lookin young guy standing at the foot of my bed,green jersey lookin shirt with 3/4 sleeves with stripes on them and jeans. he looked alive except his eyes were black. no whites just black spots, he vanished as quick as i saw him.I CAME UNGLUED. my buddy who rented the apartment above mine whos bedroom was also directly above mine said my scream woke him up and he thought i was being murdered. i didnt ever see it again. and it was near the end of my lease so i was glad to get the hell out.

[possumfoot]

Some quick ones. (I actually have work to do today, not that much will get done, but I have to at least tell myself I will )

The farm I lived on until a couple years ago was the family farm, and has been in the family since 1896. I know of at least 4 people who have died there, not that I think that necessarily is required for ghosts, but it certainly seems to help. I would always- always- have something happen when I was out working in the shop. My grandfather and great grandfather were both farmers and carpenters, so I like to think they just liked to poke around and watch what I was doing, generally when I was building furniture. They both smoked, as do I. Whenever I was out there building furniture, about half the time when I was really concentrating on getting a dovetail just right, or something technical, I'd get that hair on the back of the neck feeling, and then smell a freshly lit cigarette. If you don't smoke, a cigarette smells completely different right when it's lit than when it's burning. I'd always turn to look, but there was nobody there. Even when I lived back there alone before I met my wife (she smokes) this happened all the time. The lane is 6/10ths of a mile long, and there are no houses closer than 3/4 away, so I know damn well it wasn't a neighbor. I would usually just say out loud "pop-pop, I know you're just watching, but sometimes that scares the crap out of me. I wish you'd stop that," and it wouldn't happen for a couple days. Sometimes, after the initial shock I'd kind of get a kick out of thinking that my grandfather and great father may be there watching me work in the same shop they built stuff in.

The biggest "haunting" involved a tractor. It was about 9 years ago, and I was in the kitchen putting up deer in the fall. The house is in the middle of 38 acres of fields, with nothing around. The closest woods are 330 yards away in any direction. I looked out the window and saw an old tricycle wheel Farmall tractor with a three row plow going around where my garden was (about 50 yards from the back door), headed for the back field, with somebody on it I didn't recognize. There was an old chicken house that had not yet been pushed down and burned, and the tractor went behind that. I put my boots on quick and went outside to see who the hell had came down the lane and through my farm. When I got to where I could see down along the other side of the chicken house, there was nothing there. No tractor, no tractor sound, no tractor tire marks in the dirt lane, nothing. It had only been maybe 10 seconds since I saw it. Freaked me out six ways to Sunday. Moreso when I realized that I never heard the tractor. I tried to tell myself that I was imagining things, and that I didn't hear it because the windows were shut, but that's nonsense. I'd still hear an old tractor driving by 50 yards away. That was the only time I actually saw anything.

The house we live in now was my great grandfather's house on my mother's side, and is at the road end of the lane to the farm I used to live on (the family farm). Yep, he died here, too. The front door would constantly open, and we have no screen door. Even when it was locked. No dead bolt, but front doors don't just blow open, especially when there's no wind. Last winter I had gotten a mutt for a hunting dog (he didn't work out, but that's another story), and he was only a couple months old. I got tired of the door opening (it happened a LOT), and the dog getting out, especially since there is a road right out front. One day, I got pissed, and said "listen, I don't know if you're coming or going, but this shit has to stop- you're going to get my dog killed. Do what you want, but close the damn door." It seems silly that I was actually mad about this, and had just accepted it as fact that a ghost was opening the door, but I was honestly mad. And after that, it stopped completely. I got rid of the dog about 6 months after I got him (he was just too mean to have around the kids), and the day that dog went to a buddy's to live, the damn door started opening again. I had another talk with whoever it was, explaining that it just wasn't safe to have a front door wide open, and it stopped again. Hasn't happened since.

But now, the ghost appears to have moved to the barn with the horses. My wife would say "thanks for bringing a bale of hay into the barn for me" (the hay barn is about 25 yards from the horse barn, and I would occasionally drop a bale of hay in the barn for my wife to feed so she didn't have to tote one over from the hay barn). Only I never brought a bale over. This happens quite a bit- go out in the morning to feed, and there's a bale of hay sitting in the middle of the run in the barn. If I ever look out the bedroom window, and see a bale of hay floating over to the barn, or being carried by a shadow or some crap, I'll probably lose it. But for now, it's a pretty handy ghost to have around. I now just say "thanks" out loud whenever it happens.

great stories!!

[3legged_lab]

The house we live in now was my great grandfather's house on my mother's side, and is at the road end of the lane to the farm I used to live on (the family farm). Yep, he died here, too. The front door would constantly open, and we have no screen door. Even when it was locked. No dead bolt, but front doors don't just blow open, especially when there's no wind. Last winter I had gotten a mutt for a hunting dog (he didn't work out, but that's another story), and he was only a couple months old. I got tired of the door opening (it happened a LOT), and the dog getting out, especially since there is a road right out front. One day, I got pissed, and said "listen, I don't know if you're coming or going, but this shit has to stop- you're going to get my dog killed. Do what you want, but close the damn door." It seems silly that I was actually mad about this, and had just accepted it as fact that a ghost was opening the door, but I was honestly mad. And after that, it stopped completely. I got rid of the dog about 6 months after I got him (he was just too mean to have around the kids), and the day that dog went to a buddy's to live, the damn door started opening again. I had another talk with whoever it was, explaining that it just wasn't safe to have a front door wide open, and it stopped again. Hasn't happened since.

I find this one hilarious for some reason..... Sorry.

[B-Rad1]

Theres one bit in an episode i saw where phil talking about Si making up science fiction stories thats pretty hilarious.
I met willie once, he was a douche.

Yea met him too here in Louisiana! Kinda had the same feeling