Very Bizzare cache hunt today

[SlvrBack]

This is what I posted after finding the cache:

 

"I visited the site today with my wife, Ginger, and another GeoCacher FordMS.

As stated at the bottom of the caches page the entrance to the area is currently barricaded, as sides of it have washed away from the heavy rains. This wasn't a problem; we parked the car and walked the .4-mile to the cache.

 

To put it bluntly, I'm very insecure with the safety of this site.

This story is a little bizarre, so please excuse the lengthy text.

 

There were actually five of us visiting the area.

Ginger, our daughters India and Elise, FordMS and myself.

While walking the gravel rode towards the cache site, we saw tracks in abundance everywhere. It's apparently a home for a large number of deer.

As we moved closer to the cache the three adults were all carrying GPS units with similar readings. I was 1st to enter the brush with a reading of 90 feet to the cache. We entered below the intended path to the cache. There is a ravine below the cache site; this is where we initially went into the woods.

We hadn't gone in more than 40 feet when I found the first set of bones. There at my feet were several deer bones strewn in the brush.

Both FordMS and myself thought this was odd, but proceeded anyway. After only a few more feet we came across another set. There was a larger number here including leg, rib and an entire spine. This was not the same carcass.

To tell you the truth it unnerved me and I asked my wife and India to go back out the way we came in. FordMS and myself (Elise is strapped to my back in an aluminum carrier) proceeded in and found yet another kill. We are now 30 feet from the cache, which is showing at the top of the ravine from us.

I yelled at Ginger to take India to the top of the ravine and we climbed up. FordMS found the cache ( well done by the way ).

I dropped the baby off with Ginger and the others on the top of the ravine and went back down to finish looking. I could count at least 5 different kills and a multitude of other bones across the entire area. One was fairly recent as hair from the killed deer was still readily available

Ginger said it best when she stated that she felt like she had walked into a Steven King novel.

There were K9 footprints in the area, both different size and shape.

I have no idea if these dogs had anything to do with it. You do have to wonder though what the bones were doing there. If a dog pack did bring the deer down, why multiples in the area? Why a congregation of bones with in feet of each other?

 

This was a bizarre experience that I'm sure my wife and I won't forget for a while."

 

Cache in Indiana

[ride_bent]

I read that cache and almost went down there today but decided to do ones closer to home instead. Very interesting to say the least.

 

The best things in life are not things...

 

Now Open... http://www.geoindiana.com <-Click It! You know you want to!

[+Rye_and_Leigh]

Originally posted by SlvrBack:

[...]To put it bluntly, I'm very insecure with the safety of this site. This story is a little bizarre, so please excuse the lengthy text.

[...]We hadn't gone in more than 40 feet when I found the first set of bones. There at my feet were several deer bones strewn in the brush.

Both FordMS and myself thought this was odd, but proceeded anyway. After only a few more feet we came across another set. There was a larger number here including leg, rib and an entire spine. This was not the same carcass.[...]FordMS and myself (Elise is strapped to my back in an aluminum carrier) proceeded in and found yet another kill. We are now 30 feet from the cache, which is showing at the top of the ravine from us.[...] I could count at least 5 different kills and a multitude of other bones across the entire area. One was fairly recent as hair from the killed deer was still readily available

Ginger said it best when she stated that she felt like she had walked into a Steven King novel.

-----------------

Around Western Montana, where we CeoCache, this isn't uncommon or odd. I've hunted two caches in the past two weeks that were near 3-6 old deer carcasses each. Both of these sites I chalk up to hunters dumping their butchered kill. It's illegal, but many people do it anyway. Of course, once there's a pile of old bloody bones, the wolves and coyotes get them and spread them out a bit. If it were here, I wouldn't be at all concerned.

[+Gloom]

Around here it's not uncommon either. In addition to hunters dumping carcasses, lots of places near roads are deposits for road killed deer. Like Rye_and_Leigh said, once the bodys are there other animals get into it and spread the bones and other parts around.

 

One cache in particular around here is right next to a dumping spot. When we went to go get it (first one's there) we spotted about 5 fresh kills (whole bodys) and plenty of skeletons.

 

I wouldn't be too concerned about it if the only things you found were bones. If however you find freshly dead things that look like they're in the process of being eaten, I wouldn't stick around too long, especially with small children.

 

-Gloom

[+pater47]

With several different deer skeletons around, it's highly unlikely that it would be the results of stray dogs or the like. They tend to prey on individual sick or injured deer and wouldn't stand a snowball's chance against a herd. Most likely, there's a deer processor in the general area that has picked that area to dump the carcasses. Incidentally, if it were his own land or land he had permission to do it on, this would be the preferred way of disposal of carcasses. Mother Nature with her scavengers take care of it very well. However, me thinks that it's highly doubtful they had permission to use this land for disposal. By the way, any chance the Stephen King novel would be "Dreamcatcher"?

 

Ever notice everybody is willing to give THEIR 2 cents worth but only offer a penny for YOUR thoughts?

[SlvrBack]

Here in Indiana it is rather a strange occurrence.

The thought of walking into the woods with children in an area you think is harmless and finding a dog pack is a formula for trouble.

I talked to a local on the way out that inferred that there had been reports of wild dogs in the area.

 

From the distance to the site of each resting place of "bones”, I don't believe that a hunter(s) was/were dumping that far in. He/they would have had to carry over obstacles to get there.

[SlvrBack]

Gloom,

I have to agree with you there.

[Bad Monkey Crew]

Living here in Southern Maine we he a fury little critter called the coyote. I have deer on my land and when the coyotes make a kill they like to drag the tasty bits to and area that they feel safe enough to eat in. In my case it is the wood lot behind my barn. Bones bones lots of bones. Now the good news there are only a few documented cases of coyotes attacking humans, and they hunt and feed mainly at night. That said wild dogs are bad news, because many were once pets they tend not to fear humans. As my grandfather always siad when in the woods walk softly and carry a big stick.Oops almost forgot, deer that are butchered by humans for food alway display saw marks on leg bones and pelvis and some times the ribs.

[+weezer]

It is not uncommon to come across animal carcasses. As for the number that was encountered it does seem a little high.

It is very uncommon for dogs or coyote to take down a deer(other than a fawn). One explination could be: What do you think happens to road kill deer? Some are picked up by people and consumed. Others are able to get some distance into the woods where they lay down and die. For the ones that end up in the roadway....a road crew comes along and well removes it to a not so inconvienent spot.

 

Weezer

[Travisty]

Another possibility is Lightning. Lightning claims thousands of deer, elk, caribou, and cattle each year. There was a study done that was documented in Bugle magazine that they had found nearly a hundred elk carcasses on a ridge in Montana killed by lighting. Another incident claimed about 25 mule deer in Colorado and yet another incident claimed almost 150 caribou in Canada. Lightning can easily kill these animals by striking in the vicinity of a herd. There are also thousands of cattle killed in the United States due to lightning strikes.

 

The only way to know for sure is to report the incident to local authorities and let them take it from there. They will be able to deterimine if these animals were poached, illegally dumped, killed by local predators, or by lightning strikes.

 

On a personal note we were at the sand dunes in Colorado a couple years back and I experienced this first hand as I watched out over the distance a herd of cattle was grazing in the not too distant fields when a storm front moved in and we seen about 5 cattle light up after lightning struck a couple yards away. We didn't hang around to see if it killed them, because we were in a pretty vulnerable place being on the dunes during a lightning storm. This is also one of those places that have record numbers of lightning strikes per year.

[GeoStars]

but we get a similar thing every hunting season right on our own property which happens to be in Indiana. We have 56 acres, about 15 of which are pine woods heavily frequented by deer. Hunting season and corn harvesting happen about the same time so our pines are a pretty safe haven. Every spring we find a number of deer carcasses in various states of decay. We figure most result from hunters that managed a killing shot but weren't able to track the deer. I'm guessing from the cache description that the cache area is a *safe* area but perhaps there is nearby hunting pressure? The wounded deer are likely to retreat to an area that they feel less threatened.

 

One other possibility, I'm guessing from the log description that the bones were at the bottom of the ravine? With all the rain and flooding lately, it's possible that multiple kills could have washed into the same general area.

 

Considering some other logs I've read (bears, rattlesnakes and big spiders, oh my!) I think most Indiana caches should be fairly tame!

 

GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

[GeoStars]

but we get a similar thing every hunting season right on our own property which happens to be in Indiana. We have 56 acres, about 15 of which are pine woods heavily frequented by deer. Hunting season and corn harvesting happen about the same time so our pines are a pretty safe haven. Every spring we find a number of deer carcasses in various states of decay. We figure most result from hunters that managed a killing shot but weren't able to track the deer. I'm guessing from the cache description that the cache area is a *safe* area but perhaps there is nearby hunting pressure? The wounded deer are likely to retreat to an area that they feel less threatened.

 

One other possibility, I'm guessing from the log description that the bones were at the bottom of the ravine? With all the rain and flooding lately, it's possible that multiple kills could have washed into the same general area.

 

Considering some other logs I've read (bears, rattlesnakes and big spiders, oh my!) I think most Indiana caches should be fairly tame!

 

GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars