Strangest Thing You Have Seen in the Woods

[halfmileharry]

I found a really realistic looking fake plastic plant.....Planted.....about 3/4 of a mile into the woods in the middle of nowhere with no trails, signs of civilization, or signs of anything that even come close to that area.

The only way I identified it was because it was a plant I had seen in Georgia, and it doesn't survive up here in the cold weather. So I went and inspected it, went to pluck a leaf, and a wire was sticking out where I plucked the leaf. WTF?????

Who the heck is out there planting realistic looking fake plastic plants in the middle of the woods???

I'm betting it was a marker of some kind. Since it was a real looking plant I'm guessing something was hid in the woods and they didn't want to forget where it was and didn't want anyone else to find the "stash".

 

[sheltowee]

I found a pair of nice dress shoes sitting on a log deep in the woods. I was on a hike well over a couple of miles from the trail head.

One time I was in yellow wood state forest and there was an oil painting hanging from a tree about a half mile from a road and not on a trail.

 

[tcecil88]

Several years ago I shot a doe while bow hunting. She dropped within sight so I kept hunting as the rut was going good and it was pretty cold, so I was not worried about spoilage. After watching a coyote run a decent buck into the cedar thicket I was hunting, I figured I had better get my doe and bring her out. I gutted the doe out behind my treestand on the trail and left. When I came back the next morning to hunt, I could not immediately find the gut pile and figured I missed it in the dark. After the morning hunt, I found the gut pile. Something had buried it with sticks and leaf litter. At the time this was really spooky as I had never seen anything like this before. I found out from a good friend and mentor to my hunting that cats do that and that it was likely a Bobcat. Last spring while turkey hunting I jumped a big Bobcat off a small creek within a couple of miles from that spot. I got a really good look at it and they are very neat animals. This one was only the second one I had ever seen in my almost 38 years of hunting. The first one I called in while deer hunting in the far south end of Atterbury.

 

[awames76]

me my wife and a friend was coming home from a bar at 3 am in fort wayne on Washington center road just wast of lima road and saw a small dear in the middle of the road theres not much farm land in the area just lots of houses and business.

 

[vvet762]

One night I was laying in the mud, asleep. Sometime during the night something very heavy crawled across my legs. I was too scared to move and after a while it was gone. I believe it was a python or other large snake. Another night I was being stalked by a tiger. He let out a very loud roar and then I scared him away when I accidentally set off a claymore mine when I flinched at his roar. Another night my squad and I were making a night move and I started smelling fried potatoes. It smelled so good but I couldn't do any thing about it. I then started tripping over something. The next morning, while on patrol, another squad found the ambush site that our Rangers had initiated sometime earlier. The fried potatoes I had smelled were the dead bodies of enemy soldiers and I was tripping on them. Vietnam wasn't much fun but sometimes exciting.

 

[Frosty]

One night I was laying in the mud, asleep. Sometime during the night something very heavy crawled across my legs. I was too scared to move and after a while it was gone. I believe it was a python or other large snake. Another night I was being stalked by a tiger. He let out a very loud roar and then I scared him away when I accidentally set off a claymore mine when I flinched at his roar. Another night my squad and I were making a night move and I started smelling fried potatoes. It smelled so good but I couldn't do any thing about it. I then started tripping over something. The next morning, while on patrol, another squad found the ambush site that our Rangers had initiated sometime earlier. The fried potatoes I had smelled were the dead bodies of enemy soldiers and I was tripping on them. Vietnam wasn't much fun but sometimes exciting.

I never imagined dead bodies would smell like fried potatoes.

 

[PappyD]

View attachment 46490 As a soldier stationed at Ft Hood in central Texas I enjoyed some of the best fishing and hunting around. Back in the 80's Texas had no limit or season on squirrels. During a field exercise I noticed the pecan groves were full of mostly big grey squirrels and some fox squirrels. I had a Remington 580, bolt action, single shot .22. Went out that weekend.

Sitting in the woods I spied movement in the very top of a big pecan tree. I had iron sights on the little 22. I thought I was seeing the biggest fox squirrel ever. Aimed at the head end of the critter and fired. My target fell from the tree and landed with a loud heavy thump- louder than any other squirrel I'd ever bagged.

GEEZ- I looked at what I just shot and thought "I've shot some endangered species!" I really didn't know what it was. I kind of buried the animal and left the woods. Drove to a local library. (pre cell phone, internet, etc) Looked up Animals of Texas and found it- a ringtail cat. Turns out they are fairly common- just very stealthy and nocturnal, so seldom seen during the day.

What a surprise for Hoosier kid! Went back the next day and the carcass was gone.

Note to self- I violated one of the rules of hunting and gun safety in general- Be Sure of Your Target!

 

[BogWalker]

I gotta start putting weird stuff in my woods now. All I ever find is peoples' clothing left at a good swimming spot.

Oh, and homeless people. There's some old concrete structure next to the railroad. Not real big, but big enough to sleep in. Vagrants have come and gone over the years.

EDIT: Ah, almost forgot about this. We live near a cemetery, and the care takers live down the road from us. Down a gully from behind their house we found dozens of ceramic angels and items like that. Apparently as they get broken at the cemetery the caretakers just take them and dump them down the side of the ravine. Was a bit strange to find.

 

[bocefus78]

I was hunting state land (fairbanks landing fwa) and found a duffel bag on the side of the road. I stopped, thinking it was some hunters gear bag and snagged it. This was pre sunrise. I tossed it in the truck, and got back in and went to my spot. After the morning hunt, I went back to the truck to see what was in the bag. Imagine my face when I opened it to find a bag absolutely packed full of empty efferdrine packages and lithium battery packages! I quickly closed it, and dropped it back off where I found it. Probably should have called it in, looking back but I was super spooked and just drove my 2 hours back home.

 

[Huzrjim]

A few years ago, I was taking a walk-about in the woods during mushroom season. I had walked for some time; around the swamp, up hills and down into the valleys. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm in the clearings.

The stand of trees was old growth, tall and full, which provided a high canopy of sorts blocking direct sunlight which resulted in an eery ambient light similar to a full moon in a December woods.

As I walked, I was cognizant of a total lack of modern day noise polution; no voices or screams/yells nor machinery or ringtones of any kind. The forest floor was devoid of any bushes or briars making it refreshingly easy to traverse if not for the constant change in grade.

The hills had not a sharp incline, but long and frequent enough to be something of a workout. While climbing, I would inevitably get to that mental state were it became all about getting to the top. Once there, I would have a short reprieve of flat ground, then fall and rise, repeat... This reprieve lasted as long as it took me to walk the 50 to 100 feet while "looking" for mushrooms.

These hills formed ridges falling towards a creek bed below. As I stood above looking out, I thought how beautiful. What a blessing to witness this scenic view of nature complete with various critters working their craft of survival.

As I peaked the crest of a hill, I spied old headstones from a long forgotten burial site. They were the thin, narrow 2' tall variety. I spent the next hour reading the stones which predated the civil war to shortly thereafter. Just thinking of the events in that time period and people they would have known that had lived during significant national events and personal strife was humbling.

I noted that there were quite a few children and young adults. Obviously a very tough time...

FYI - for you guys that find lost cemeteries in the woods, check out the website: www.findagrave.com to see if they are documented. If not, consider taking photos and putting them on the site. I've been doing some searching of the hills in Perry County looking for a long lost family cemetery from a maternal great-great grandfather. The only clue was from a 1880's published book about the history of Warrick, Perry and Spencer counties that stated the individual had been buried in a family plot around 1855 and by the late 1880's that cemetery was abandoned.

 

[PapaScout]

Camping when I was a Boy Scout we found a bare footprint in the mud by the lake that was at least 18" long. Argyle Lake in Illinois :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyle_Lake_State_Park

ETA: This would have been in the mid-80's

 

[GREEN607]

In a grassy field near the edge of town
I was walking home, alone, near dark-
on a short-cut I'd taken a dozen times
from Old Station Rd, thru Deer Camp Park.
I was over a hundred yards off the road,
another hundred ahead lay Route 31-
the warm autumn light was fading fast
where the hills behind me had swallowed the sun.
Up ahead in the shadows, I detected a noise
like the moan of a baby- an eerie sound;
I thought to myself- the cry of a rabbit
some fox had taken to kill on the ground.
Then the crickets went silent; something was wrong,
and afraid to go on- I froze in my tracks.
I should never have stopped; too far I knew
was the road behind me, to turn and go back.
I stood there and listened, staring into the dark
then decided to go for the highway ahead-
But I fell over something there in the grass;
the corpse of a man- just lying there dead!
My heart began pounding and I wanted to run,
as I fought the tightening knot in my throat;
When I saw the glistening knife blade above me-
it was then, from my terrible nightmare I woke.
I'd fallen asleep on the edge of my bed;
alone in the dark, I awoke on the floor.
I turned on the lamp and lit up a smoke,
and it would be hours, 'til I slept any more.

*My poem, "The Killing".... copyright Lee McFarland
-published in 1987

 

[GREEN607]

​Don!??

 

[gunsisgood]

While canoeing/fishing the white m a n y years ago I rounded a bend, on the bank of the river I spotted to young ladies wearing long coats and high heels. I stopped probably 50yrds from them, they had not yet seen me. I thought it kind of strange that they had on long coats and high heels in the woods in the middle of summer, anyway as I continued to observe I quickly learned what was up, these young ladies were bare nekid underneath their coats and taking pictures of each other while laying on a fallen tree !
I watched in amazement for a short time and then paddled my way on by waving and grinning from ear to ear.
The End

 

[indiucky]

While canoeing/fishing the white m a n y years ago I rounded a bend, on the bank of the river I spotted to young ladies wearing long coats and high heels. I stopped probably 50yrds from them, they had not yet seen me. I thought it kind of strange that they had on long coats and high heels in the woods in the middle of summer, anyway as I continued to observe I quickly learned what was up, these young ladies were bare nekid underneath their coats and taking pictures of each other while laying on a fallen tree !
I watched in amazement for a short time and then paddled my way on by waving and grinning from ear to ear.
The End

And then you went to your bunk...