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Sixth sense, odd coincidences

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Sixth sense, odd coincidences

Postby wawhitey » 10 26, 2019 •  [Post 1]

So i was just thinking about a blown opportunity i had 6 years ago that got my mind wandering. Ive had a couple instances that come to mind where its made me wonder if we dont have some sort of primitive awareness of things in our brains that weve largely lost due to generations of excessive safety and domestication, not living in a real survival sense day to day like primitive man. Some sort of sixth sense that just occasionally breaks the surface into conscious awareness. Or maybe wild coincidences are bound to occur now and then. Or maybe its a glitch in the matrix.

Example 1: october 2013 i was hunting whitetail, and decided to bail just before the end of shooting light, go home and get warm and dry. On my way out i just started thinking about what i would do if, on my way out in the failing light i were to run into a lion on the trail. Would i screw with my scoped rifle in the failing light, or try to use my sidearm? I had a mental picture of a lion standing broadside right in the trail looking at me, and was thinking i would use my handgun, as id killed a bear with it a month earlier. I was actually picturing this and thinking about it seriously, despite it being a highly unlikely scenario. So what happens? As im on my way out going over all this in my head, theres a lion, standing broadside in the trail staring at me at 30ish yards, just like id envisioned it. It was so crazy i didnt believe my eyes, i was sure id tricked my brain into seeing a lion, i cant shoot it, my mind is playing tricks on me in the last minutes of shooting light, its probably a doe. We stared at eachother for a minute while i tried to decide if i was crazy or not, then it started trotting off to my left. I see its absolutely a cat and i drew and fired a couple times one handed, missing. Not knowing if i missed i went to the tree it ran under, big dark sucker with thick branches to the ground, cant see under it, and it whistled right in front of me. Oh crap. I started walking backward, gun pointed towards this cat that i cant see, i turn my head and there was another full grown lion behind me, once again maybe 30ish yards, and that obe put his boogie shoes on and split.
Example 2: bear hunting this year, i was hiking up a rocky area and started thinking about what the hell i would do if i got bit by a rattler up there, no phone signal, good hike back to the truck, and im picturing rattlesnakes in the rocks, seriously contemplating what to do if i get bit. As im hiking along thinking about this i run right smack into a pair of big rattlesnakes. I would have stepped right on them if i hadnt been watching where i was stepping. I hike around in that snakey looking stuff on that mountain all the time, and ive never once worried about snakes or thought about them one bit. Its just not something im ever concerned about, but right then it was right up front occupying my thoughts. Out of all the time i spend hiking around in this country id never once ran into a rattler in the woods. I know theyre around because i see them plastered on the pavement occasionally, and a friend killed one under his porch, but as for seeing rattlers in the woods, this was a first. So what are the odds i would have been thinking about it like that, right then?
Then i think about unconfirmed sixth sense type things. I spend a lot of time in the woods, hike around in the dark a lot, and im very comfortable with it. But every once in a great while something just feels a little off. Just a little tickle in the back of my brain that i shrug off and ignore and go about my way. But I recall one night in particular coming down off the mountain after dark, just like ive done a ton of times, on a mountain i know like the back of my hand. Just a normal night doing what ive done worry free so many times before, but suddenly got really damn creeped out, hair standing up on the back of my neck, crazy strong feeling i was being watched. Hyper alert now, i know ive got company, but i dont know how i know. Feeling stayed strong for a while, i dont know why but i KNEW something was following me. I dont get spooked being in the woods in the dark, but this night i was, in a big way. Im talking looking all around me, headlamp on high beam, hand on my sidearm ready to rock, heart pounding, it was crazy. Never did see anything, but i dont see any reason why i would suddenly have a massive attack of bad nerves doing what ive done so many times before. Never before or after have i felt like that in the woods.
So if youve read all of this obnoxiously long post, what do you think? Is there sone primitive survival sense buried deep in our brains that just manages to surface every once in a blue moon, or do you chalk this stuff up to coincidence? Glitch in the matrix? Any of you have similar experiences youre willing to share at the risk of sounding like a crazy person or teller of tall tales?
This long winded post of my random wandering thoughts tells me ive been out at sea too long, i really need to get off this damn boat and spend some time in the woods.
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Re: Sixth sense, odd coincidences

Postby Swede » 10 26, 2019 •  [Post 2]

I was riding with my dad many years ago. Suddenly he hit the breaks. He never did that to go around a blind corner and certainly not that hard. The weather was warm and dry, but right there in the worst spot someone had stopped in the middle of the road. As we drove away, dad said something just told me that car was there. Occasionally things like that happened with him.
I can't say I have had those experiences quite that profound. Is it a sixth sense, coincidence or a guardian angel? I do not know.
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Re: Sixth sense, odd coincidences

Postby Lefty » 10 26, 2019 •  [Post 3]

wawhitey wrote:So i was just thinking about a blown opportunity i had 6 years ago that got my mind wandering. Ive had a couple instances that come to mind where its made me wonder if we dont have some sort of primitive awareness of things in our brains that weve largely lost due to generations of excessive safety and domestication, not living in a real survival sense day to day like primitive man. Some sort of sixth sense that just occasionally breaks the surface into conscious awareness. Or maybe wild coincidences are bound to occur now and then. Or maybe its a glitch in the matrix.,,,,,
Then i think about unconfirmed sixth sense type things. I spend a lot of time in the woods, hike around in the dark a lot, and im very comfortable with it. But every once in a great while something just feels a little off. ,,,,,,,,,
what do you think? Is there sone primitive survival sense buried deep in our brains that just manages to surface every once in a blue moon, or do you chalk this stuff up to coincidence? Glitch in the matrix? Any of you have similar experiences youre willing to share at the risk of sounding like a crazy person or teller of tall tales?
.

I do believe most of us can have an elevated awareness and is often trained into us to identify those situations, And Ive experience plenty of those. And sometimes those experiences change a life or death situation for many into a nothing experience.


A simple example. Hunting Vancouver Lake across from Portland Or. A small electrical generation plant allowed water from the Columbia river into the lake. And depending on the tide and river height can have a strong flow.
An unusually cold morning. 12 degrees at the boat launch. 3/4-1 inch of new ice. The ride out the open water hearing the ice brake as I plowed my V- Bowed boat was just like duck hunting many mornings in Minnesota. I set up on the edge of the open water,.. in the 2 inch mud flat near "the hole".
Ice formed on the decoys , I stepped to kick the ice off the furthest decoy from the blind.
A massive piece of undercut bank caved in. I went down with the behemoth slab. I opened my eyes and saw the bubbles going up iin the yellow stained water.
One of those times everything came together in my mind.

I was easily 7 feet below the surface,.. Still holding my gun, No panic,I stroked for the surface,.. Turned and stroked to the solid bank, jammed the butt of my dads A-5 into the mud . Drained the water from my Carhatts and hipboots,..stood up,... emptied my gun, then put my truck keys in my mouth. Jogged to the boat,.. With a single pull the outboard motor started for the 15 minute ride to the launch. At the launch I dropped the anchor 40 yards from shore,.. jogged to the truck,. unlocked and started the truck, then undressed.
Im in my undergarments when a deputy pulled up. I was still surprisingly comfortable. A short conversation, the deputy followed me home, then into my house. I went up and showered put on new clothes , grabbed another gun and a roll of sliced meat from the fridge, Started down the stairs, there was the deputy,..
"No"
Evidently he didn't know much about Minnesota duck hunters
four more perfectly decoying ducks and I filled my limit



Im like most people and many of my friends. But in some ways maybe not.

Im only willing to share just a piece of my belief, I dont want this to appear all funky,.. and that Im a religious nut case,..
I have a testimony of Jesus Christ, Our father in Heaven and the Holy Ghost. And that testimony was built because I know I am only currently alive on this earth because of a number of experiences that were not 6th sense or coincidences.
My purposes for surviving,.. Im not sure.

Parts of stories printed in American Trapper
Even muskrat trapping has posed risks. I had a close call. I had been trapping muskrats under the ice on a large wetland in Southern Minnesota. Swan Lake near Mankato has a big history of “rat” trapping. I was trapping nearly 3 miles from the landing. We hadn’t had much snow. The ice was smooth and slick. I would wear ice skates to pull a sled with my extra clothes, gloves, and lunch each day across the lake. I would skate back with my catch each day on a small sled. Leaving my trapping sled and most of my gear hidden in the cattails. Through out the day the temperature had gotten colder. The ice was booming and banging all day,… just making ice. It was almost dark as I put on my skates and left the end of the lake, much like I had for the previous week.

Right in front of me the ice didn’t look right and I had made a quick hockey stop. I realized my sled was still slipping forward. A lineal hole miles long had formed. Ice pressure ridges are common on big lakes. This ridge went down. The ice formed a “V” shape into the water. A few more feet and I would have been trapped in that water. I can only venture to guess the outcome.


I lived in the Pacific Northwest for seven years. A real trapline was a little tough for me to lie out living in a suburban area. Every year I did run a few traps and snares for cats and coyotes. The first year I discovered how effective log crossings were for traveling animals. While camping I found a few log crossings on a Cascade mountain stream that would make great locations for snares. Winter came, the snow was deep and the stream was a roaring torrent.

During the winter in the Cascade Mountains there are only two weather conditions. Rain or snow. Today it was raining. The plan was to set a number of log crossings where huge old growth Douglas fir trees had fallen across the roaring streams. This first log was a massive tree, six feet in diameter. This log had been lying across the stream for a good 40 years. The old growth tree had fall across the stream cavern 60 feet above the water. The first location showed lots of new furbearer sign. Tracks in the 2-day snow indicated two cats and 6 coyotes had crossed the log bridge in the past two days. What a hot spot. I grabbed 8 snares; wire staples my hatchet and a lineman’s pliers. I set 4 snares as I crossed the log. On the far side of the stream I admired the snares. With real visions of 3 or 4 snares with furbearers on the first check.

The sound was tremendous with the water rushing through the cavern.
What a neat place.
What a view, the rest of the world was missing a fantastic experience. Deep white snow, a rocky cavern in an old growth forest. For 400 yards I tromped through the snow wishing I had snowshoes. The next location was a smaller log across the wild water. Just like the previous location the rain had melted the snow on the natural bridge. This tree had fallen during the past few years a single coyote track in the snow revealed a coyote had approached this log too. The trees bark remained on the bottom 20 feet of the log. I started walking out on the natural bridge. The bark gave me good footing. I had expected to set 4 snares on this log too. I had hung the first snare. A simple set much like the previous four snares. The 4-foot snare was attached with a 2” fence staple. A double twist of # 14 tie wire was bent in a figure 7 to loop the snare around; the snare cable and wire were attached with another fence staple. Simple, quick, and effective.
I was just stepping out onto part of the log where the bark had been worn off from rubbing on another tree maybe for 100s of years. Just for safety I started reaching down to check the traction on the log. Looking down; shivers went up and down my spine.
It wasn’t the height above the rushing water.
Or the thunder of falling water or the sharp rocks below me.
If a man fell from here there was no chance of survival. . A man wouldn’t even have time to drown the power of the water would slam you against rocks. In a brief moment, death would be certain.
My day on the trap line was over. As I touched the log the surface was even slicker than ice.
A film of forest pollen on the log showed the story. A coyote had walked onto the log, it slipped. The claw marks revealed the coyote had spread its toes wide to gain traction as it fell to its death.
One more step and I would have met the same fate as the coyote. I collected all 5 snares. And drove back home.


Outdoor experiences can easily train us
I remember reading some military research ,.. farm boys were the best decision makers and a better chose for small group leaders.

I believe some people create there own crisis also.
I posted this the day this happened when Paul first started this forum.
I was out hiking with my dogs,.. I could hear a horse freaking out, As I got closer a woman was crying,..Well it ended up being a 35 year old cowboy who was lost and had panicked. I lead the horse for a ways, then told him to ride ,.. Leading the horse and rider the rest of the way back to a real trail. The weather was nice,.. but wow,..

On another forum there was a conversation about being in the dark and being afraid of the dark.
Im not either,.. but grizzlies do :o
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Re: Sixth sense, odd coincidences

Postby Lefty » 10 26, 2019 •  [Post 4]

WA what kind of boat are you on?
Talked about a way to develop a 6th sense :o You learn or die

The town I was from and my graduating class had a lot of guys head up to fish and crab,.. a few stayed One is a contractor, one cut hair until last year, another was making planes, And one at the bottom of the Bearing Sea
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Re: Sixth sense, odd coincidences

Postby Lefty » 10 26, 2019 •  [Post 5]

Swede wrote:,,, Is it a sixth sense, coincidence or a guardian angel? I do not know.

I think many eventually know when a "guardian angel" is at work, or just coincidence or awareness.

I also think there is something special when a big cat is looking at you even when you dont see it 8-)
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Re: Sixth sense, odd coincidences

Postby wawhitey » 10 26, 2019 •  [Post 6]

Lefty wrote:WA what kind of boat are you on?
Talked about a way to develop a 6th sense :o You learn or die



I work on tugs. Not nearly as much personal risk on a day to day basis as commercial fishing, but we certainly have our moments now and then. Never had the sixth sense type thing save my bacon at work, but theres been a couple times where being aware of whats going on around me, and not hesitating to drop everything and get the hell out of the way has saved my butt.
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Re: Sixth sense, odd coincidences

Postby Fridaythe13th » 10 27, 2019 •  [Post 7]

Wawhitey. Can you follow me around and think about 6x6 bull standing broadside. Lol. Oh make sure there are no twigs in the way.
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