Weird Things found
in the Woods!
in the Woods!
The following is a collection of stories about things found while wondering
through the woods. Although no effort has been made to verify the authenticity
of the stories, I have found them to be noteworthy nonetheless. I hope you
enjoy them!
through the woods. Although no effort has been made to verify the authenticity
of the stories, I have found them to be noteworthy nonetheless. I hope you
enjoy them!
.. . . . .In 1992 I first went to central Maine for a week of camping and to scout a new area for deer
hunting. All of central Maine is paper-company land, with vast lonely tracts and no settlements. Early
in the morning on the second day I was making my way along the north shore of a Lake and came
across an old clearing about 200 yards up from a protected bay off the lake. I found good deer sign
so I sat down on the trail to see if a deer might come by. As I sat there I began to hear something that
sounded like a very faint drumbeat and with it a high, wail-like chanting & singing. It sounded like it
was far far off. I heard it for a ½ hour. It was calm where I was at, but windy outside the clearing. I got
up and moved down the trail and I lost the noise. I went back to where I was at and sat down again and
after a minute the sound came back. I wrote it off as nothing significant and kept hunting. But that night
my curiosity was aroused. So I went back up there a couple of days later at sunset for my evening
stand. This time it was dead calm, and again, when I was outside the area there was no noise. But when
I moved to the clearing, after a few minutes, I could hear chanting again. There’s always snow on the
ground for the Maine deer season and there were no other human tracks other than mine for miles.
The next 3 years I brought others with me to hunt in that area. Each year I’d go back to that place, and
each year my experience was the same. I’have never seen lights in the sky, I don’t hear voices in my
head, I am not given to religious ecstasy, and I have never been scared of werewolves, vampires,
witches, or the dark. I’m a man of letters, and I’d like to think there’s a logical explanation for
everything! Life is pretty cut-and-dried, concrete-and-steel. There’s no mystery to the ways of fish
and game – just skill and luck. I never took anyone else to that spot for fear I’d stick my foot in my
mouth and have to explain something to fellow professionals that only I experienced. And besides, I’d
like to think that some day I would come up with a logical explanation for it. It’s been 12 years, and I
still think back to that place. And it haunts me. I just can’t explain it away. This is the first I’have talked
about it other than to my wife and a couple of close friends…but the older I get, well, I just couldn't’t
take a story like that with me to my grave, now could I?!
hunting. All of central Maine is paper-company land, with vast lonely tracts and no settlements. Early
in the morning on the second day I was making my way along the north shore of a Lake and came
across an old clearing about 200 yards up from a protected bay off the lake. I found good deer sign
so I sat down on the trail to see if a deer might come by. As I sat there I began to hear something that
sounded like a very faint drumbeat and with it a high, wail-like chanting & singing. It sounded like it
was far far off. I heard it for a ½ hour. It was calm where I was at, but windy outside the clearing. I got
up and moved down the trail and I lost the noise. I went back to where I was at and sat down again and
after a minute the sound came back. I wrote it off as nothing significant and kept hunting. But that night
my curiosity was aroused. So I went back up there a couple of days later at sunset for my evening
stand. This time it was dead calm, and again, when I was outside the area there was no noise. But when
I moved to the clearing, after a few minutes, I could hear chanting again. There’s always snow on the
ground for the Maine deer season and there were no other human tracks other than mine for miles.
The next 3 years I brought others with me to hunt in that area. Each year I’d go back to that place, and
each year my experience was the same. I’have never seen lights in the sky, I don’t hear voices in my
head, I am not given to religious ecstasy, and I have never been scared of werewolves, vampires,
witches, or the dark. I’m a man of letters, and I’d like to think there’s a logical explanation for
everything! Life is pretty cut-and-dried, concrete-and-steel. There’s no mystery to the ways of fish
and game – just skill and luck. I never took anyone else to that spot for fear I’d stick my foot in my
mouth and have to explain something to fellow professionals that only I experienced. And besides, I’d
like to think that some day I would come up with a logical explanation for it. It’s been 12 years, and I
still think back to that place. And it haunts me. I just can’t explain it away. This is the first I’have talked
about it other than to my wife and a couple of close friends…but the older I get, well, I just couldn't’t
take a story like that with me to my grave, now could I?!
. . . In the mid-1960’s on my first real solo trip with my first gun – Winchester model 320 bolt .22 – I
stumbled on a massive grass area (100 yards x 100 yards) trampled flat up in the rugged hills of Upper
Michigan that run along the south shore of Lake Superior. The further I went across it the more bear scat I
came across until at last I couldn't’t step anywhere and avoid it. I could smell bear everywhere – it totally
scared me. Later I talked to a bear biologist who said it was a napping area where fattened black bears
lounge in later summer. Too close for comfort for a 12 year old!
stumbled on a massive grass area (100 yards x 100 yards) trampled flat up in the rugged hills of Upper
Michigan that run along the south shore of Lake Superior. The further I went across it the more bear scat I
came across until at last I couldn't’t step anywhere and avoid it. I could smell bear everywhere – it totally
scared me. Later I talked to a bear biologist who said it was a napping area where fattened black bears
lounge in later summer. Too close for comfort for a 12 year old!
. . . One time I was hunting on a ranch that was just below the National Forest Boundary. It was just after
first light and we were the only ones that we knew about in the area. It was very cold and had snowed
some a few days previously but it seemed the grass was still pretty tall and dry. There wasn't any snow
still on the ground where I was hunting. I came around a corner of some trees on the edge of a small draw
and there before me was a section of a large dead tree lying on the ground and it was totally ON FIRE! I
mean this thing was probably 30 feet long and about 3 feet in diameter. It was large enough that if it
weren't totally engulfed in flames you could walk up and sit on. There was no sign of how it had been
ignited. It was burning full length and burning like crazy. What was so strange was that here, in this big
expanse of dried grass, only the grass about 18" all around it had been burned and blackened to the soil.
How and why the entire meadow wasn't on fire was beyond me! It was so strange that I went and found
one of my nearby buddies and took him over and showed it to him. It was so unusual that still to this day I
remember seeing that and it's just as much a mystery to me now as it was then. There are some things you
see sometimes that'll stay with you forever. That was one I won't forget.
first light and we were the only ones that we knew about in the area. It was very cold and had snowed
some a few days previously but it seemed the grass was still pretty tall and dry. There wasn't any snow
still on the ground where I was hunting. I came around a corner of some trees on the edge of a small draw
and there before me was a section of a large dead tree lying on the ground and it was totally ON FIRE! I
mean this thing was probably 30 feet long and about 3 feet in diameter. It was large enough that if it
weren't totally engulfed in flames you could walk up and sit on. There was no sign of how it had been
ignited. It was burning full length and burning like crazy. What was so strange was that here, in this big
expanse of dried grass, only the grass about 18" all around it had been burned and blackened to the soil.
How and why the entire meadow wasn't on fire was beyond me! It was so strange that I went and found
one of my nearby buddies and took him over and showed it to him. It was so unusual that still to this day I
remember seeing that and it's just as much a mystery to me now as it was then. There are some things you
see sometimes that'll stay with you forever. That was one I won't forget.
. . . . .This happened about 20 years ago while on an elk hunt. About a mile from the road, I found a circle of
fresh cornmeal on the ground. It was about 8' in diameter and had symbols inside that I did not understand.
½ a mile further along, I was stepping out of a thicket and came face to face with a very hairy tattooed
man that was shirtless. At his feet where two army duffel bags, both stuffed full, one had a machete
attached to it.
Of course you know what I was thinking, however, after talking to him for about an hour, I believed his
story. He was a Viet Nam war vet that could not take living in the city and now lived somewhere up in the
hills. He would not tell me where, however, told me to go to a certain spot, give a yell and he would come
out and visit. He admitted to making the cornmeal circles. Something about making a spiritual connection
with the Elk??
Once a month he made the hike out to the road to meet a family member that would re-supply him. He
was hiking back in from one such meeting, (hence full duffel bags). We became comfortable with each
other, probably because of our common Viet Nam war service connection. I asked his permission to hike
further into his canyon. He agreed, since he was heading that way I offered to carry one of his duffel bags.
When he let me pick up the bag with the machete, I knew all was well. I made several hikes into this
canyon and found places where he would leave clothing. Even ran into a family member on the road one day
leaving him supplies, however, I never did see him again.
fresh cornmeal on the ground. It was about 8' in diameter and had symbols inside that I did not understand.
½ a mile further along, I was stepping out of a thicket and came face to face with a very hairy tattooed
man that was shirtless. At his feet where two army duffel bags, both stuffed full, one had a machete
attached to it.
Of course you know what I was thinking, however, after talking to him for about an hour, I believed his
story. He was a Viet Nam war vet that could not take living in the city and now lived somewhere up in the
hills. He would not tell me where, however, told me to go to a certain spot, give a yell and he would come
out and visit. He admitted to making the cornmeal circles. Something about making a spiritual connection
with the Elk??
Once a month he made the hike out to the road to meet a family member that would re-supply him. He
was hiking back in from one such meeting, (hence full duffel bags). We became comfortable with each
other, probably because of our common Viet Nam war service connection. I asked his permission to hike
further into his canyon. He agreed, since he was heading that way I offered to carry one of his duffel bags.
When he let me pick up the bag with the machete, I knew all was well. I made several hikes into this
canyon and found places where he would leave clothing. Even ran into a family member on the road one day
leaving him supplies, however, I never did see him again.
. . . . A friend of mine lost a handmade knife given to him by his late grandfather. He had bumped up against
something and must have popped the sheath open. When my friend found he had lost the knife he spent a
couple days looking for it before giving up. About 5 seasons later my dad walks into to camp carrying a
knife with no sheath. He said he found it laying next to a tree. He set it on a camp table and didn't think any
more about it. My friend comes back to camp and sees the knife sitting on the table and just about breaks
into tears. We all wonder what the heck is going on until he tells us about the knife he lost years ago. It
turns out my dad was in the right place at the right time and found his lost knife
something and must have popped the sheath open. When my friend found he had lost the knife he spent a
couple days looking for it before giving up. About 5 seasons later my dad walks into to camp carrying a
knife with no sheath. He said he found it laying next to a tree. He set it on a camp table and didn't think any
more about it. My friend comes back to camp and sees the knife sitting on the table and just about breaks
into tears. We all wonder what the heck is going on until he tells us about the knife he lost years ago. It
turns out my dad was in the right place at the right time and found his lost knife
. . . . My stepfather was given a Seko watch, by my mother on their wedding day. He had a small, sport,
crab pot line off the mouth of Sandlake. After a long period of stormy weather he went to check the pots
and one was sanded-in. He fought with it to no avail and popped a pin on the band of his watch and to Davey
Jones locker it went. Several days later he called a friend who was a scuba diver and took him to the pot to
try to dig it out for him. As the diver was digging in the sand he FOUND the watch...NOT running but it had
run for several days by the calendar. Talk about a needle in a haystack.
crab pot line off the mouth of Sandlake. After a long period of stormy weather he went to check the pots
and one was sanded-in. He fought with it to no avail and popped a pin on the band of his watch and to Davey
Jones locker it went. Several days later he called a friend who was a scuba diver and took him to the pot to
try to dig it out for him. As the diver was digging in the sand he FOUND the watch...NOT running but it had
run for several days by the calendar. Talk about a needle in a haystack.
. . . . It was about 15 years ago, and my girlfriend and I wanted to go camping for the weekend. We headed
up the River. Well it got late and we were tired so we decided to find an out of the way place and just
sleep in the back of the truck. I found an old skid road and headed up it to find that the road dead-ended.
We thought it looked safe and parked. I got out of the truck and smelled the most awful smell that I had
every experienced. I grabbed a flash light and found that I had parked right in the middle of a poachers
slaughter. There were several deer, elk and even a couple cows. I didn't want any part of the situation. So
we got out of there. On the way out ,there was a younger girl standing the middle of the road waving me
down. I stopped and she was acting very weird. I saw some other people just inside the timber. I reached
over for the pistol that was suppose to be on the seat next to me and could not find it. I just told the girl I
needed to go and started driving as she was still hanging on to the truck as I took off. As I was driving off,
my girlfriend asked me how to get this thing down I looked over and she had the gun cocked and ready. I
am sure I would have gotten shot before anybody else, since she had never shot a gun. We drove straight
back to town and called the police. The police took me back up there to the scene, and that was the last
time I have ever been up that way. Weird things and people are not my cup of tea.
. . . . A couple years ago I was goose hunting by my lake. I decided that I needed to move the decoys a bit.
While moving them I was looking at the ground and my eyes picked out some letters. The object that the
letters were on blended perfectly with the ground, I picked it up and it said US on the front and had a
picture of an eagle. On the back it said United States. It was a US Calvary brass button. There used to be a
sign on a road within sight of my house that said a skirmish between the Calvary and the Indians took place
in the area.
While moving them I was looking at the ground and my eyes picked out some letters. The object that the
letters were on blended perfectly with the ground, I picked it up and it said US on the front and had a
picture of an eagle. On the back it said United States. It was a US Calvary brass button. There used to be a
sign on a road within sight of my house that said a skirmish between the Calvary and the Indians took place
in the area.
. . . . My dad has a mastodon tusk that I think he got in trade for some whiskey. Also an old nickel-plated
Model 94 Winchester that was acquired in the same way. Incredible things that you have the potential to
find, if you only look in the right place
Model 94 Winchester that was acquired in the same way. Incredible things that you have the potential to
find, if you only look in the right place