I was 12 years old and I had just gotten my hunting license the previous summer. I come from a long line of seasoned hunters, my dad especially. Even before I could hunt I’d been going to deer camp with my family my whole life. I was hyped though, I’d been waiting for this forever and I knew my dad was excited to share the experience with me as well.
It was the first day of opening weekend and me and my dad got up
probably around 3:30ish. We ate breakfast, got geared up, and set out
for the stand. It was pitch black, windy, and bite ass cold that
morning. We pushed on anyway, my dad leading the trek and me desperately
trying to keep up.
The stand was probably a mile or two away from
camp and I was exhausted. The stand was well up in the air and we had to
climb a ladder to get to it. It was pretty nice though, at least for a
hunting stand. It was a little box, just big enough for two people,
waist high walls on the three sides the entrance wasn't on, and it had a
roof so we were living lavishly by hunting standards.
We got set up and then we sat, and waited, and waited, and waited, and then we heard it. It had to have been far away still at that point but just hearing it made me shit my twelve year old pants. It sounded like a distorted woman screaming in agonizing pain far off in the distance, elongated as it echoed through the forest. I was tweakn for sure but I wanted to look tough for my dad so I tried not to show it. He saw straight through me though and put his arm around my shoulder and told me, “It’s alright buddy, it’s just a bobcat. They sound just like a woman screaming when they get feisty. Creepy as all hell but won’t bother us.” I nodded and started to relax, after all he’s a seasoned hunter, he’d seen it all.
A couple minutes went by and everything seemed normal, just the
sounds of the birds waking up. The sky was less of a black at this point
and more of a dark purple as the sun was just beginning to rise. Right
as I finally started to chill out we both heard it again, closer this
time. Not right on us but making ground towards us for sure. This time
even my dad jumped. It sounded like a woman screaming still but as it
got closer it sounded more and more unnatural. I looked over at my dad
and he looked at me, “It's probably hunting something, just like us
right.” he said, still trying to make me believe it was a bobcat. He
went as far as to try and laugh it off but even at 12 years old I knew
he was bullshitting me.
We both went back to sitting and waited but
the silence was tense. Looking back now he was definitely as freaked out
as I was at that point. Maybe another half hour went by and the sun was
up enough to provide enough light to see figures and shapes but not
quite details. I sat there totally on edge, every sound was unnerving,
sending shivers down my spine. That’s when shit really hit the fan. We
heard the scream again but now it was all around us. It was loud,
shrill, and ear piercing. There was still a resemblance of a fans scream
but it was much more beastly and unnatural. Whatever it was, it was
right next to us somewhere.
I tried to hide and bury my face in my dads side as tears of fear were welling in my eyes but at the sound of the scream he stood up and shouldered his rifle. He put the scope to his eye and began surveying the trees surrounding us. He slowly started scanning the area from left to right. I kept whispering to him that I wanted to leave, begging him, but he ignored me and kept looking. He kept pivoting his body away from me until he stopped, rather froze. I heard a sharp exhale leave his mouth and it was the first time I ever saw my dad genuinely terrified. I wanted to ask what he saw but I didn’t want whatever was out there to hear me. I watched him flick the safety off his gun, his hand was shaking while he did it. I watched his finger move to the trigger as he took a shaky breath.
Right before he pulled the trigger branches snapped in the direction he was aiming and he quickly stumbled and fell backwards. “Dad what is it, what’s out there!” I whispered through my tears. He ignored me, quickly shouldering his gun again and looking back where he had been before. He searched the area for a bit, mumbling curse words under his shaky breath. He lowered his gun and hung it over his shoulder with the strap. He looked at me trying to be calm so as to not scare me more but I could see right through him. He put his hands on my shoulders. “I’m gonna climb down first, then you follow, and we’re gonna go back to camp.” He tried to be reassuring but the terror was piercing through.
“Dad, I don't wanna go down there.” I cried softly.
“Hey, it’s gonna be ok I promise.” He smiled, “Just follow after me and we’ll get back.”
“Ok.” I responded sniffling
He nodded and began climbing down the ladder. Once he got to the bottom he shouldered his gun and scanned the tree line again, pausing where he had been aiming before. He lowered his gun and waved me down. I climbed down as fast as I could. Once I got to the bottom he picked me up and ran. He ran two ish miles all the way back to camp carrying me and never stopping. When we got back he put me down in the cabin and locked the door behind us.
He turned around from the door and we stood face to face and I asked him through tears “Dad what was out there?” He looked at me, he was still colorless in his face. He didn’t answer me though, instead he took a step towards me, dropped to his knees, and hugged me. He hugged me for a long time.
Nine years later he still hasn’t told me. For a little bit people used to crack jokes and make fun of him and say he was hallucinating or that the darkness was playing tricks on him but soon after people found it best to just not bring it up. My mom worries about him and told me about all the medication he needs just to sleep and that he says he’s “afraid he’ll see it in his dreams.”
Regardless of what it was, that was the last time either of us ever went hunting.
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