Looking wild animals in the eyes

Ebbtide

Ebbtide

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 20, 1999
Messages
7,954
I have heard more than one hunter say never to look a deer in the eyes while waiting for a shot. Your eyes reflect & move alot, but what about that 'connection'? Like when you know when you're being watched? That happened to me, hiking in the woods, when that feeling overcame me. It took about 10 minutes of looking till I found a doe, on a bed watching me!
Do you think it works the other way around?
More so with dangerous game (bears, big cats, etc.)?
Opinions?

------------------
In the long run, luck is given only to the effecient.
-Helmut Von Moltke
 
Ebbtide, I had that happen to me while on a black bear tree stand. He came in like a ghost, looked around then sat down and started eating the dog food...My breathing was slow and i started sweating...Then the bear got up and walked right up to the tree . He looked me right in the eyes for about 5 minutes, then went back and started eating again. After that I didn't have the heart to kill him. I guess you could say we made a connection.
 
I know it happens, even watchin ga deer intently can cause it to get skittish, even if they do ot see your eyes sometimes, I think they can get "that feeling". But letting them see your eyes is a deadly sin. I wear a camo facenet when I hunt that covers my eyes, and that has seemed to work well for me.

------------------
Lee

LIfe is too important to be taken seriously. Oscar Wilde
 
Last time an wild animal looked me in the eyes and I did the same was 30 years ago while hunting with my father one early morning I was 12 years old then.
We had been "roaming" over our hunting terrain looking to shoot some wildered cats and clean up on some rabbits that were eating young trees planted by a "tree grower".
Whe went into some thick scrubs/woods and sudenly my father and I came into direct eye contact with a mother wild pig with some nice striped piglets.
She charged without hesitation and I still remember the whole secence vividly, it felt like being shocked by 220 Volts (I have had that happen a couple of times since then) my father carried a Merkel Superpose 16 gauge double barrel, with two triggers loaded with bird shot I had a Stevens semi auto 5 shot .22.
He pushed me in one swipe backward half behind a big tree, stepped back himself so his left side almost touched that same tree and stuck the barrels forward.
The pig reached for the barrels and he pulled both barrels at the same time. I never forget those eyes and the big boom when the pigs head almost exploded.

Afterward we had to shoot the young pigs I used my .22 for that. They were to young to survive on their own. This was absolutely not legal in Holland but the attack justified it so did one of the young piggies in the freezer of the police officer.

They sure tasted well after my mother stuffed them and grilled them in the oven.

Cheers, Bagheera



------------------
 
Trying a simple test like staring at your cat will show how you can make it nervous.
Here we are talking about instinctive response and agression. I wouldn't take this too far, most animals are individuals.

I had one interesting event many years ago when I was walking through a swamp and suddenly go the idea I was being watched. I turned around slowly and found another hunter watching me. Sixth sense - I don't think so. I believe that what really happened was that I was really paying attention to my environment and something changed. There are lots of animals and birds in the bush and they signal things. I noticed what they had to tell me.

I do best in observing animals when I regularly go to the same spot and just sit. Everything gets used to me being a non threatening part of the environment. As large animals pass through they don't get warned about me.

Having said all that, there is a small lake up in the mountains where I have felt that I have been watched. It's happened lots of times over more than twenty years, and at different times of year. I'll be sitting around watching critturs and suddenly I'll be sure something is watching me. I've never had any luck in finding what. I brought this up to one of my native friends who is now dead and was told that the place was considered a bad place to be in the old days. I believe that this has more to do with some people going missing up there (a long time ago) than everyone getting the feeling of being watched.
Nope no sasquatches or such - I've checked for tracks after snow! The bears and such have lots to do beside watch me, as their tracks show too.
Great stuff for someone trained in science - stops me from getting too "uppity". I keep going back to see if I can find an answer. We need a few challenges like that!
 
Great subject...

I recall several occasions where I was camo'd up and while evading capture when I had direct contact with animals. Usually in the woods for many days... smelling ripe... Here are two:

1. while hiding under a tree with duff over me... a squirell ate its lunch on my chest. It kept looking at me like I was a freak but kept eating... I should have eaten him but am sure the commotion wasn't something I wanted to create
smile.gif


2. Same scenario... different spot. A grazing deer (doe) stopped five feet away from me to start its lunch. It kept appraoching my location. Every minute or so it would stop and look directly at me (not moving and intent on figuring out what was wrong with its eyes) waiting for a movement or something. By the time it finished.. I could have touched it with my hand (it it would let me) had I so desired.

------------------
Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
Jimbo, I have staring contests with my cairn terrier "Ozark" Sometimes he wins!
It is interesting when I stare at him while he's lying around (not facing me) and after a while he'll turn and look at me as if saying "what?"
While fishin' I'll often see chipmunks and squirrels. They will come close if when I watch them, as a whole. But if I stare intently into their eyes they usually split.
Thanz for the replies!

------------------
In the long run, luck is given only to the effecient.
-Helmut Von Moltke
 
Hi Ebbtide:

Yeah that happens! Scientists who don't want to consider stuff like extra sensory perception will say that you signal by sitting differently or by smell. I used to have a dog though who would signal when I was coming home from work 10 mins before I arrived home. We never did explain that one!

Animals are strange. I have a friend who has a cat that was raised by a dog. Stare at it and it will leap on your lap to be stroked or bring you a toy. It's totally startling!

We had a case in Kitimat which fortunately went well. A woman was watching a grizzly on the other side of the river. When she turned to head out she found a wet grizzly next to her. Luckily she fainted and wasn't mauled. My experience with bears is that if you are watching them - soon you can expect to find them close watching you, so this didn't surprise me. We have people up in Hyder watching feeding bears from observation platforms, which the bears could easily leap on. So far no casualties. Aggression isn't always triggered.

Jimbo
 
Staring into the eyes will definitly alert animals. Two eyes looking forward equal predator.Dont know if animals have ESP or are smarter than we give them creedit for.In forty years of raising all types of animals Ive come to believe that a lot more than instinct is at work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top