Get in my new spot and like normal no birds gobbled at sunrise. I never made a sound and just listened. About 630 I walk down a gas line with some small pine trees about chest high growing along the edge and thick enough to provide some cover. I place a couple of hen decoys out on a small rise thinking if a gobbler crosses above or below me he will be able to see them from both directions. I start with soft purrs soft clicks and soft yelps and wait. The area had several trails zig zagging through it with black berry bushes blooming here and there somewhat thick for me to walk through but not so thick for other critters. About an hour later I get a little louder with my yelps on a box call and SERIOUSLY no more than a few yards from where I had sat down in those chest high pines something big and really close took off off running. I jump up like WHAT THE ??? was that. It ran opposite of the gas line down hill behind me in the thick stuff. I jump up and run toward the sound to get a shot at what I thought might be a gobbler. It wasn't! I saw a huge puffed out tail thought it was a fox. It stopped on a little rise and turned its head back toward me looking at me and then bolted off. It was a coyote! There were several stumps where trees had been cut and I jumped up on one of those for a better view, as I step off the stump about two feet from my foot was a very long black snake. Immediately jumped back and tripped over the stump. Get up and notice its head isn't triangular shaped and relax knowing now it's not poisonous. It started vibrating its tail but it didn't have any rattles on it but the dry leaves around it made a chchchchc sound. Didn't take me about 30 seconds to grab my decoys and vacate that area. Usually I get this feeling like a gut feeling when I'm being watched or something isn't quite right about a situation. I never knew that coyote was there or that snake. I never heard it coming through and never felt uneasy until I actually got back to the truck and realized how bad that could have been. I think I may start hunting with a partner the rest of the season. For safety sake.

Glad that vicious coyote didn't rip you to shreds,

I wear a clown mask backwards so that they think I'm always watching. Knock on wood I haven't been attacked yet but I fear it's just a matter of time

I laughed out loud

Ever seen a snake jump? Saturday, I got to go for the first time since opening weekend. I fell asleep mid-afternoon and woke up to a sound of very slight leave rustling, headed my way. I opened my eyes enough to see the head of a Black Racer about 3' from my left boot and closing fast. I jerked and it looked like the front half of his body came a foot off the ground. He took a hard right and was gone. Scared us both. Every little rustle for the rest of the day was a rattlehead coppermoccasin.

Dont hunt around 257 or you may be shot.

I got bit by a racer on Sunday. First time I have ever been bitten by a snake that I wasn't aggravating the piss out of. He was PISSED off! Come to find out, he was caught in some kind of trash, small mesh net, kinda like a cast net. His only defense was to bite because he was trapped. After I cleaned the chit out of my britches, I caught him and used my pruning snips to cut him loose from the net and let him go. Cool experience!

lol

I'm still scratching my head wondering wtf you took off running towards the sound to "shoot at the sound"???? That unnerves me.

And we wonder how people get shot turkey hunting.

Which is exactly why my gun was never taken off safety until I identified the target. Which is exactly what I was taught by my family and my hunters education course. I don't shoot at sounds! I identify my target, what's beyond and make a decision to shoot or not. Without a doubt before I ever squeeze a trigger or release an arrow. I ran toward the sound simply to identify what made it especially when it's that close.

With 8 years prior police and military training under my belt. I'm very certain I practice gun safety especially when hunting. I have no problem calling someone out for not practicing proper gun safety especially in my presence. I have a huge issue with people who don't. Especially clubs and even public land hunters who drink alcohol before heading out to hunt. It amazes me how many beer cans / bottles I find on WMA's and I only just started hunting them.

Folks get bit messn with snakes.

The way it ran all sissy like prancing around I'm thinking it was a gay coyote, I'm guessing
It was looking for you asstoler.

Shots fired!!! Shots fired!!!!

So you were chitting your pants about a sissy, prancing, queer coyote?? My girlfriend gets scared in the woods sometimes too, but she doesn't call me names when I poke fun at her.

Can't we all just ... get ... along?

I would ask for my money back. No way am I hunting the big pen with flesh eating critters.