BFRO #26948: Daylight sighting by hunter near rural homes in the Wellsville Mountains

📍 Location

📝 Description

I was 21 and had just returned about 6 months before from living in japan for 2 years. The general season mule deer hunt had just opened and i decided to go hunting one day after my college classes had ended, i remember thinking how stupid it was that i had to go to class during the hunt and didn't want to while i driving/sliding my car up a snowy road. i turned off the paved road onto a farm road and went past a house that was under construction and parked in the small trailhead lot. instead of going up the mountain i walked a short distance around a field and sat down on a steep slope overlooking a valley, a few hills and some trees. i sat looking through my binoculars at the deer bedded down in the trees wondering why they wouldn't get up and forage in the trees for nuts or grasses. as i sat watching i heard a loud crashing sound coming from the trees nearer to the house/ barn that was being built, it may have even been watching them as it was very close to the house. i looked through my binoculars and could see a large black shape moving through heavy cover and at first thought it was a black bear but as i watched it didn't have the bouncing motion that bears have when they run because their front legs are shorter than the rear legs. it was moving very gracefully. i watched as it plowed through thick brush like a bull until it made it to more open ground in the trees and noticed how strange it really was. it was moving on two legs and moving fast. i looked and saw all the deer running. unfortunately it was in the other direction and turned back to the animal. i watched in amazement was it went straight into a massive stand of buck brush that i couldn't have gotten through with a machete.it kept moving at a phenomenal pace and was gone over a ridge in just a few seconds.i've hunted and hiked alone for years and come toe to toe with both black bears and mountain lions and never, ever been that afraid before. i imnedeiatly put a bullet into my rifle and backed away from the spot, never turning my back. i got in my car and left. my dad and brother and brother in law keep wanting to go back there because we've seen deer there but i have never gone back. even when i hunt the other end of the wellsville mountains i stay with someone because of the experience.z

🔍 Circumstances

none

🌤️ Weather Conditions

it was mid afternoon, about 1500. the weather was cold, fresh snow, overcast but still very bright light.

ℹ️ Additional Details

it was mid afternoon, about 1500. the weather was cold, fresh snow, overcast but still very bright light.

🔗 Sources (1)

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