jglass
LSB Member
I always thought I was relatively fearless about most things until I started wild hog hunting in Florida at night. I hunted ducks and geese on the Mississippi River for 40 years and we needed to be in our blinds one hour before sunrise so this means launching the jon boat two hours before sunrise. Then it was a boat ride over several miles of backwaters littered with stumps and logs to the blind often in total darkness. Heck, I rescued hunters from the river water on two separate occasions, one was near death.
The first time I go wild hog hunting in Florida before sunrise I step out of the car and I'm afraid of my surroundings. By this time I'm 65 years old. I looked into the jungle a few footsteps away and I may as well have been staring into a lions cage. I couldn't force myself to step into the jungle. So, I decide to drive to town and buy a cup of coffee and a donut. I drive real slow then when I'm back I drink the coffee and eat the donut in the car. By this time the sky is turning daylight and within a few minutes the jungle is no longer dark. I uncase my gun and walk to the blind not understanding what just happened.
Next, I'm on an evening hunt and I'm in a tree stand. The sun goes down while I swat mosquitoes but I think this is really great. A doe and fawn wander into my bait pile then scamper off. It gets darker and darker and finally I can no longer see the ground, everything is black except some light in the sky. There are knocks and thud sounds in the jungle, then I hear a good size tree branch snap in half. I think I can hear footsteps. I think about "Big Foot" and figure there are at least 2 of them in the jungle. I decide it is time to go! This scenario repeats itself then I begin to tell myself, "you are a wimp, you have one of the most feared weapons in America, AR-15 across your lap and you are afraid of the dark". So I force myself to remain in the tree stand later and later in the evening. My night vision monocular was a great help because I could see into the jungle. Finally, time would fly by at night in the jungle as I watched the raccoons, hogs and other wildlife wander into the bait pile. One night I was out until 11:00 PM and didn't want to go home. It dawned on me my fear of the jungle at night was over.
The first time I go wild hog hunting in Florida before sunrise I step out of the car and I'm afraid of my surroundings. By this time I'm 65 years old. I looked into the jungle a few footsteps away and I may as well have been staring into a lions cage. I couldn't force myself to step into the jungle. So, I decide to drive to town and buy a cup of coffee and a donut. I drive real slow then when I'm back I drink the coffee and eat the donut in the car. By this time the sky is turning daylight and within a few minutes the jungle is no longer dark. I uncase my gun and walk to the blind not understanding what just happened.
Next, I'm on an evening hunt and I'm in a tree stand. The sun goes down while I swat mosquitoes but I think this is really great. A doe and fawn wander into my bait pile then scamper off. It gets darker and darker and finally I can no longer see the ground, everything is black except some light in the sky. There are knocks and thud sounds in the jungle, then I hear a good size tree branch snap in half. I think I can hear footsteps. I think about "Big Foot" and figure there are at least 2 of them in the jungle. I decide it is time to go! This scenario repeats itself then I begin to tell myself, "you are a wimp, you have one of the most feared weapons in America, AR-15 across your lap and you are afraid of the dark". So I force myself to remain in the tree stand later and later in the evening. My night vision monocular was a great help because I could see into the jungle. Finally, time would fly by at night in the jungle as I watched the raccoons, hogs and other wildlife wander into the bait pile. One night I was out until 11:00 PM and didn't want to go home. It dawned on me my fear of the jungle at night was over.