Strangest non-hunting thing you came across while hunting.

[josephmrtn]

crazy, but i bet you'd only run into teens and not the mexican drug cartel up here. you guys calling the cops is just mean

craziest I guess for me is an old farming dump site. Big pile of rock and just tons of glass bottles, metal and porcelain stuff all in a pile. Leftover from the days it was farmed. Coolest thing I found in there was an old 6 shooter in real rough shape. I was maybe 9 or 10 and when I picked it up, a bunch of ants had made a nest inside, so it skeaved me out and i let it lie.

I also got permission to hunt some land in Alden and during scouting found a dump pile with about 20 out of season deer carcases. I assumed nuisance permits and only ever turkey hunted it.

MAN you shoulda took it!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd rather find fishing gear.

ME TOO!!!

[Rev Ev]

Down in Tennessee I would often come up on a shine still. Most of them where old and obviously not been used in some time. One I found was operational, but nothing was brewing at the time. I just backed off it and went the other way. I also found an old cemetery that most of the names and dates had warn off. The latest date I could find was 1812. The graves where all sunk in, a good foot or more. That was kind of creepy, I didn't know where to step. There were also like three markers for babies all within a year of each other. Several times I have found old foundations. But what I have found most creepy are daffodils. They aren't native to North America which means someone had to put them there. It always seems "Blair Witch" esque to find them in the middle of the woods by themselves. Still, I'll stop and pick one for my wife. Her favorite flower. I have yet to find anything that's really cool.

[fishuntrapper]

I have been to that same exact spot a bunch of years ago. It's along a hiking trail that we took. However I can't tell you what that thing is. It seems to me there were some other parts of these kinds of constructions located there also.

its about 200 yards up the hill from the hiking trail, (Finger Lakes i think), above Coon Run.

this is about 20 yards away.

this is about ten feet away. i have an uncle named Rick that used to hunt ASP a lot. he lives in franklinville now. need to show him the pic and see if he did this.

not odd but, found this about 80 yards away.

[Doc]

its about 200 yards up the hill from the hiking trail, (Finger Lakes i think), above Coon Run.

this is about 20 yards away.

this is about ten feet away. i have an uncle named Rick that used to hunt ASP a lot. he lives in franklinville now. need to show him the pic and see if he did this.

not odd but, found this about 80 yards away.

So what's your best guess as to what these things are. I can't even imagine what the purpose could be.

[TPhunter]

Back in the late 70's I was hunting Grouse (I was a toddler with great skills) on our family's property I came across an Elcomino parked on one of our farm roads...I walked up and saw a Guy and his wife goin at it with their 2 year old son playing on the floorboard under the dash...I reached up (remember I was a toddler) and tapped on the window (not right away mind you) and asked them why they were there...Seems Baby Daddy and Baby Momma were still living with Baby Daddy's Momma and this looked like a good place for some shaggin...I explained to them it was not a good place for shaggin cause I got caught there myself, so they got their clothes on and left...Danged City People!

[noahmstone]

Back in the late 70's I was hunting Grouse (I was a toddler with great skills) on our family's property I came across an Elcomino parked on one of our farm roads...I walked up and saw a Guy and his wife goin at it with their 2 year old son playing on the floorboard under the dash...I reached up (remember I was a toddler) and tapped on the window (not right away mind you) and asked them why they were there...Seems Baby Daddy and Baby Momma were still living with Baby Daddy's Momma and this looked like a good place for some shaggin...I explained to them it was not a good place for shaggin cause I got caught there myself, so they got their clothes on and left...Danged City People!

That's pretty good getting caught there yourself as a toddler!!!

[TPhunter]

What happens in the stroller stays in the stroller...

[noahmstone]

I have found old stone foundations,old cars, old railroad spikes, and the weirdest thing I have found was a small old grave yard with 2 headstones one read Macbeth and I can't remember what the other one said on it. I asked around and it was 2 horses that someone had barried and made headstones for.

Edited March 1, 2013 by noahmstone

[ants]

Must have been damn good horses.

[noahmstone]

Must have been damn good horses.

Idk about that but it was on private property owned by the Rockefellers my father worked their when I was younger.

[Five Seasons]

Down in Tennessee I would often come up on a shine still. Most of them where old and obviously not been used in some time. One I found was operational, but nothing was brewing at the time. I just backed off it and went the other way. I also found an old cemetery that most of the names and dates had warn off. The latest date I could find was 1812. The graves where all sunk in, a good foot or more. That was kind of creepy, I didn't know where to step. There were also like three markers for babies all within a year of each other. Several times I have found old foundations. But what I have found most creepy are daffodils. They aren't native to North America which means someone had to put them there. It always seems "Blair Witch" esque to find them in the middle of the woods by themselves. Still, I'll stop and pick one for my wife. Her favorite flower. I have yet to find anything that's really cool.

old graveyards fascinate me. I'd love to know the story behind the babies. Was it sickness or a bad drought? Just to be taken back to that time and imagine how the small town or family was coping with it.

[crappyice]

I find rock walls in the woods both amazing and curious. Someon had to stake them there.

[Daveboone]

On a canoe trip in the Adirondacks (on the Bog River Flow, if I remember right) , one portage had a former great camp along side. On the point at the canoe landing was a terraced area with memorials for race or show horses. The memorial plaques were there in the early eighties, but the last time I went throug in the mid 90s, they had all been pryed off .

[robw]

Have found many things in Allegany State park over the years

The old school bus at the edge of the posted land in red house was a great landmark when we'd come out of the woods. My grandfather shot his last deer from it.

A pair of camo gloves and a hat that someone dropped. I picked up after seeing them 3 weeks in a row

A marker plaque on a tree placed by guys friend that had his name, date of birth and death ( 1971 ) and the quote "get the hell out of my spot"

After a manhunt in ASP / salamanca for a convict that escaped, early 90s, I think, came across a leanto with canned food, gallon of water and a blanket. No one there, and I left pretty quick. He had been caught by then, but still....

Have also come across some squared in fenced areas, 50 feet wide, old chain link, can see across the pen, with no signs or anything telling what it was

quite a few old cabin foundations, and a couple larger ones from where the logging camp was

several old train tracks, and you can still see the shape of the ties, and a few old spikes

[tuckersdaddy]

So what's your best guess as to what these things are. I can't even imagine what the purpose could be.

doc, those are dug well or springs. the building over this one is long gone they used to call them spring shacks. they were dug out where ever water was needed, barn, house, irragation. theres one in five streams that has part of a windmill and pump laying next to it. a friend of mines house used this type of water source until the early '90s untill the surrounding propertys were sold off, developed, and caused the spring to dry up when the new houses started drilling wells. most of the state land (at least in central ny, and the southern tier) were former farms bought up by the state in the late 1800s through the great depression. so whenever hunting these land near old foundations, stone walls (used as fences) and in general watch where your walking, that water is cold and deep!

[jr.deerslayer]

doc, those are dug well or springs. the building over this one is long gone they used to call them spring shacks. they were dug out where ever water was needed, barn, house, irragation. theres one in five streams that has part of a windmill and pump laying next to it. a friend of mines house used this type of water source until the early '90s untill the surrounding propertys were sold off, developed, and caused the spring to dry up when the new houses started drilling wells. most of the state land (at least in central ny, and the southern tier) were former farms bought up by the state in the late 1800s through the great depression. so whenever hunting these land near old foundations, stone walls (used as fences) and in general watch where your walking, that water is cold and deep!

We have one on the property boundary. Its very, very deep and wide it seems to get wider past the opening. Water doesn't start until like 6 feet down. Its located on a little dirt mound. Its very hard to see until your on top of it.

[PooperScooper]

I've also come across and old school bus in the woods, resting on its side and looking all spooky.

Much earlier in this thread someone asked who could forget thier gun in the woods? That would be me. I set it in my ground blind after getting my second deer in as many hours. Field dressed him, dragged him back to the barn, got them both cut up and in the freezer and was just starting to doze off...remembering the excitement of the day...playing it all back in my mind...and suddenly, "shit! I left the gun in the woods!"

[Ford]

Have found many things in Allegany State park over the years

The old school bus at the edge of the posted land in red house was a great landmark when we'd come out of the woods. My grandfather shot his last deer from it.

A pair of camo gloves and a hat that someone dropped. I picked up after seeing them 3 weeks in a row

A marker plaque on a tree placed by guys friend that had his name, date of birth and death ( 1971 ) and the quote "get the hell out of my spot"

After a manhunt in ASP / salamanca for a convict that escaped, early 90s, I think, came across a leanto with canned food, gallon of water and a blanket. No one there, and I left pretty quick. He had been caught by then, but still....

Have also come across some squared in fenced areas, 50 feet wide, old chain link, can see across the pen, with no signs or anything telling what it was

quite a few old cabin foundations, and a couple larger ones from where the logging camp was

several old train tracks, and you can still see the shape of the ties, and a few old spikes

"A marker plaque on a tree placed by guys friend that had his name, date of birth and death ( 1971 ) and the quote "get the hell out of my spot"

That is awsome.

[Doc]

doc, those are dug well or springs. the building over this one is long gone they used to call them spring shacks. they were dug out where ever water was needed, barn, house, irragation. theres one in five streams that has part of a windmill and pump laying next to it. a friend of mines house used this type of water source until the early '90s untill the surrounding propertys were sold off, developed, and caused the spring to dry up when the new houses started drilling wells. most of the state land (at least in central ny, and the southern tier) were former farms bought up by the state in the late 1800s through the great depression. so whenever hunting these land near old foundations, stone walls (used as fences) and in general watch where your walking, that water is cold and deep!

That's amazing. The fantastic stone-work and the time and effort put into these structures is unbelievable. I do seem to remember an out-flow of water on one of them.

Isn't it something how you can run onto so many things that are long-forgotten, but were so important to the individuals that put them there. It's a rare gift of historical minutia when you stop to contemplate the lives of the people that actually used the land, you can concoct some amazing mental images of these people who were born, lived out their lives, and passed without leaving a trace except for these random item scattered through the woods.

One thing it always does for me is to put in perspective all those things that seem so damned important and earth shattering during our lives, and the fact that they too will all eventually fade into nothingness and of concern to absolutely no one.

[Doc]

Many years ago (58 to be exact), I climbed the hill behind the house with a hammer and chisel and carved my initials and the date into a huge old granite boulder that some farmer from long ago had dragged over to the edge of the field. I'm thinking that some day somebody will run across that and see perhaps the only thing that is left from me ..... ha-ha. I picture them looking at this carving and trying to picture how that came to be there.

It is kind of like an old beech tree about a 1/4 mile from my house that I call the initial tree. It is a huge twisted old thing that is about 4 to 5 feet in diameter and is covered with old initials. One of the initials is R.C.A. with a 1913 date. It is Ruby Allen from a family that owned our old homestead years ago. She carved her name all over the place in our old barn and apparently this tree got in her way too ..... lol. The lines of the letters had grown to about 1-1/2 inches wide, but the whole carving was still very readable. The entire surface of the tree was covered with the initials of a whole bunch of people (probably all neighbor kids) that left their sign of passing there for people of the future to read. Of course mine is there also from back when I was a kid. Today, the tree is dying and probably will be down soon.

[Paula]

I was not hunting but when i lived in GA my brother showed me some old head stones. I believe 1852 was the earliest that could be read and there were a couple letters that were backwards. Like the P in September, can't remember other one. It was very spooky since it was late at night in mountains.

[mtbuck]

I was scouting with my uncle when i was 12 { my first year hunting } and walked right up underneath a guy who had hung himself . had nightmares about that for a few years and it almost made me quit hunting and to this day i could describe exactly what the guy looked like { that was 35 years ago }

[Paula]

I was scouting with my uncle when i was 12 { my first year hunting } and walked right up underneath a guy who had hung himself . had nightmares about that for a few years and it almost made me quit hunting and to this day i could describe exactly what the guy looked like { that was 35 years ago }

That is terrible! Sorry

[Jeremy K]

My favorite thing to come across in the woods are old foundations , my mind starts racing about who was here and what where they doing and did they ever imagine someday the area would be taken over by the forest and become a hunting spot someday.

[josephmrtn]

some of the more interesting things ive found....

Edited March 2, 2013 by josephmrtn