Things that go Bump in The night

[Geardo]

Alrighty, insipired by the "creepy things in the woods" and the three other forum tangents I went on, I want to start a similar thread, but things in the home/business.

Has this thread been made already? I couldn't find it.

Anyway, story 1, Stupid story first.

I wake up to the sound of my dog barking, and also can hear someone doing something downstairs. Couldn't tell what, maybe someone out front messing with the door handle? SO I grab the AR and rush down the stairs, buck naked, and see this pretty dissevled looking dude outside kinda squatting in from of my door facing away from the window. I light him up with a 600 lumen light and he doesn't even notice. So I back up, put shorts on, and go downstairs, and he is now laying down on my porch and I can see he has 1 shoe.

I called the sheriff, and they picked him up. Turns out he was drunk as a skunk. Thought it was his buddies house! Sheriff gave him a ride home.

2nd story, dumb but scary.

Had just moved into the new house. New places always put me on edge for a while. The windows in this place are crap and the screen are barely staying in. We had the windows open a lot for the heat.

My wife was upstairs showering. I was lounging down stairs. I started to smell this horrible smell. I though the dog bubblegum in the house, but didn't see anything. Started imaging some big nasty diseased creature had crawled into the crawlspace and died or was dieing. Was stalking around the house confused and upset. Pulled the access panel and looked under the house, didn't see anything. A second later the wife lets out a cry of pain and the dog lets out a blood curlding scream like a gut shot coyote! All sorts of thoughts were running through my head. I figured a stinky possum had crawled upstairs and was attacking the dog.

I sprint up stairs, and it was nothing. My wife had tripped over the dog crate and scared the bubblegum out of the dog.

Went back down stairs and discovered the main line had plugged, and the downstairs toilet was backing up with rotten sewage, which was causing the smell. (Would rather have wrestled with a rabid possum!)

Story 3, actually creepy.

Worked in a grocery store in high school. Not remote, but off the beaten path. Worked closing shift until 10:00pm usually.

Duties involved stocking the milk room and sodas, which were stored adjacent to each other in the back, which was pretty dark and in the back of the store.

One day we smelled something, off... We looked around all over the place, abd eventually looked in this attic/crawlspace above where the sodas were stored. Their was a big pile of human feces, like multiple deposits.

Their was rotten food and other trash. We then went and looked above the milk box, and their was more signs of occupation, along with old half eaten packages of raw steak.

Someone had been basically living right above me, in the dark, when I was working alone in the back of the store. Really wierded me out!

We figured they were coming in during the normal hours, and hanging out, then scavenging food and taking bubblegums during the night. I think they avoided the real bathrooms because they thought there were cameras in that area.

Grosss.


OK. I shared, show me what you got!

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[RVTECH]

Not MY experience but told to me by a friend of mine MANY years ago - Ok he is elk hunting alone in the woods outside of Starkey and sleeping in the back of his canopy covered pickup.
He hears a noise in the middle of the night that wakes him up.
He hears 'thumping' foot steps and a 'heavy' breathing sound - then 'it' passes between the moonlight and his pickup creating a shadow.
He admitted to being nearly crazed with fear and thinking he was going to see a bigfoot and no one is going to believe him.
He then hears his ice chest being pushed around as he heard 'something' pushing on the plastic of it.
He retrieves his Mod 28 Smith .357, gathers his courage (as he admitted he was shaking like a leaf) opens the the rear latch, grips the gun with a two handed grip and kicks the hatch door open to see........





A HORSE! Stupid thing was staring at him! He figured it must have broken out of a fenced area and went for a walk and seeing a vehicle figured people and food were nearby.
He said he fell back into his sleeping bag and didn't get back to sleep that night!

 

[Geardo]

Not MY experience but told to me by a friend of mine MANY years ago - Ok he is elk hunting alone in the woods outside of Starkey and sleeping in the back of his canopy covered pickup.
He hears a noise in the middle of the night that wakes him up.
he hears 'thumping' foot steps and a 'heavy' breathing sound - then 'it' passes between the moonlight and his pickup creating a shadow.
He admitted to being nearly crazed with fear and thinking he was going to see a bigfoot an no one is going to believe him.
He then hears his ice chest being pushed around as he heard 'something' pushing on the plastic of it.
He retrieves his Mod 28 Smith .357, gathers his courage (as he admitted he was shaking like a leaf) opens the the rear latch, grips the gun with a two handed grip and kicks the hatch door open to see........





A HORSE! Stupid thing was staring at him! He figured it must have broken out of a fenced area and went for a walk and seeing a vehicle figured people and food were nearby.
He said he fell back into his sleeping bag and didn't get back to sleep that night!

I had a similar experience, in that a free range cow scared the crap out of me while bird hunting. Felt so silly!

 

[Caveman Jim]

25 years ago buddy I used to hunt with and I were back up in the woods behind closed gates huntin blacktails.
We crossed some fresh tracks right off the road about 3 miles in that went into 15 to 20 year old reprod. As we followed in a couple of hundred yards we came to this little clearing, probably a quarter acre in size. It was kind of odd and looked like it was probably cleared out by pot growers years ago.
As soon as we got into the middle of the clearing the hair on the back of our necks stood up in tandem, we looked at each other wide eyed as we started hearing noises. It sounded like sticks being hit together, then we caught scent and immediately knew that it was a cat. The noise they made were their jaws snapping.
We saw movement on both sides of the clearing so we got into a back to back formation with our lever guns loaded and at the ready as we circled with the sounds & occasional movement in the reprod.
Fear was racing through us both as neither had ever been in a situation like that, being hunted while we were hunting.
We knew there was two animals stalking us and were contemplating how long this was going to play out. Out of nowhere one of the cats came charging towards my friend and he fired his 35 Rem hitting the animal and killed it. The other cat ran around the opening inside the reprod and was very aggressive but it finally left.
We were both scared bubblegumless since we didn't know if the other cat was really gone or just waiting in the shadows to pounce.
To say that we UNASSED the area ASAP was and understatement.
To this day I still get unnerved a bit when I get out in the woods.

 

[Geardo]

25 years ago buddy I used to hunt with and I were back up in the woods behind closed gates huntin blacktails.
We crossed some fresh tracks right off the road about 3 miles in that went into 15 to 20 year old reprod. As we followed in a couple of hundred yards we came to this little clearing, probably a quarter acre in size. It was kind of odd and looked like it was probably cleared out by pot growers years ago.
As soon as we got into the middle of the clearing the hair on the back of our necks stood up in tandem, we looked at each other wide eyed as we started hearing noises. It sounded like sticks being hit together, then we caught scent and immediately knew that it was a cat. The noise they made were their jaws snapping.
We saw movement on both sides of the clearing so we got into a back to back formation with our lever guns loaded and at the ready as we circled with the sounds & occasional movement in the reprod.
Fear was racing through us both as neither had ever been in a situation like that, being hunted while we were hunting.
We knew there was two animals stalking us and were contemplating how long this was going to play out. Out of nowhere one of the cats came charging towards my friend and he fired his 35 Rem hitting the animal and killed it. The other cat ran around the opening inside the reprod and was very aggressive but it finally left.
We were both scared bubblegumless since we didn't know if the other cat was really gone or just waiting in the shadows to pounce.
To say that we UNASSED the area ASAP was and understatement.
To this day I still get unnerved a bit when I get out in the woods.

Stories like this tempt me into building a .45 raptor ar10. Just can't afford the ammo.

 

[Tarawa86]

I foolishly read 'Pet Cemetery' during any downtime while out in the field when I was in the Marines. I was not happy when it was my turn on watch. NVG's just seemed to make it worse...

 

[Decoy]

Happen the other day.

Had a buddy come over and wanted to check out the trails on the farm. My son wanted to go and it was getting a little dark but at least it was cooling down. One of my atvs is down so I let his take my big Polaris and my son took the small one cause he didn't want to ride his motorcycle (Honda 80) since I make him wear a helmet and it was too hot for him.

Anyway we are weaving back in the hills and I was leading going down a good size hill, sliding sideways in the dust dirt. All of the sudden the bull blows through the brush sideways and almost takes me out, runs about 10 yards down the trail and looks back to see me and slides into the brush.

I realized I scare him since he is not used to the motorcycle and it is so quiet at idle running the hill with the clutch in. They are wild and all have horns but are used to me on the atv. Went out tonight and made lots of noise as I came through

 

[Stomper]

The following events occurred during my Army days, so technically this counts as business.... no names, or points in (historical) time will be mentioned other than it was a long, long time ago... and that it all happened "south of the border"



My platoon was on a 2 week "snoop & poop" mission in a Central American jungle (that shall remain nameless), and we had been going 24/7 for 3 days straight with no sleep (seriously).

We finally set up position in a bunch of two-man fighting positions for the night with hourly rotations of one man on watch while the other sleeps, under TOTAL noise & light discipline. On my watch I'm sitting there looking out into the darkness and listening, and I swear to gawd I see this dark hairy hand and forearm reaching over the front of our shallow-dug fighting position feeling around for something to grab.... and I'm sitting there bugg-eyed looking straight at it just a mere 12" away from me!

I'm almost crapping my pants, so I strip my knife off my LBE and STAB that mo-fo right on through the hand.... then the 3-day sleep deprivation induced hallucination switched off. I stabbed a dirt-clod. We were all literally able to sleep sanding up... at times.





Antother time (in theater) we were tasked with a two-week rotation of guarding a mountaintop TACAN (pronounced "Tac Ann") site (a tactical Antenna navigation repeater for Air Force aircraft). This place was just like something out of a John Wayne war movie.... sandbag bunkers, trenches, MG towers, concertina wire with tin cans laced in it to make noise, the only way in was either by helicopter or one knarly goat path up the switchbacks... and there was a very real insurgency targeting said sight.

We had a 4th squad attached to our platoon from another platoon and an Air Force K9 (a Bull Mastiff with handler) for this one, two squads pulled 12-hour duty 0600-1800, the other two squads 1800-0600... I was on the night-shift.

One night I'm in a bunker by a perimeter access-point sitting behind a (loaded) M60 (bored sheitless), it's FOGGY AS HELL, and then suddenly we hear a bunch of movement out beyond the concertina-wire... WTF?! Then we can see shadows moving in the foggy brush.... WTF?!!

So our attached Air Force "Zoomie" takes his dog off the leash and let's him through our perimeter access point.... the dog tears on out into the brush, and you can hear he starts tearing into some a$$!! Then we heard this dull "thud" and the dog yelps, and it's quiet... except for the continued movement in the bushes.... that was a MEAN Bull Mastiff (we all stayed at LEAST 6' away from it), and it got it's arse just handed to it.... WTF?!!!!

Then we hear the tin cans rattle among the concertina wire... WTF?!!!! OK, sheite just got REALLY REAL!!

It's on!! One M60 with tracers and a dozen M16's let loose for a about 30 seconds (that's actually a long time with that many bullets going all at once). Then it's all quiet. We wait another 20 minutes, nothing. Then our NCOIC sends me and another grunt (I won't divulge names) out to see what's what.... WHAT?!!!

Then the fooker takes up behind MY M60.... just great, if I don't get killed by some native "MO" (short for Moron) insurgent, I'll get a M60 up my arse from Sgt "Richard-Licker" over there. So we go out, NVG's weren't much use in the fog, well-well.... here comes the Zoomie's Bull Mastiff, tail between his legs and goes past us back to the wire. We keep doing the bounding over-watch thing through the bushes..... right up to the first dead cow of about eight. Scrawny Brahma lookin' things.... some "MO" farmers apparently let their cattle go on free-range. We figured one of them must've kicked the dog, hence the "thud & yelp", we later found that the dog was bruised a bit.

Our CO was NOT a happy man, but we followed the ROE... so tuff sheite. We didn't even get a nice steak out of the deal..... WTH?!




Fast forward to today... the wife often gets irked at me because I never "freak out" (I'll get pissed, but never panic) even in extreme situations.... that's 'cuz everything's a "cake-walk" after some of that sheite!!

 

[Geardo]

. We keep doing the bounding over-watch thing through the bushes..... right up to the first dead cow of about eight.

Did you guys at least have steak!

Glad I am not the only one who got scared by cows in the bush. They just sound Wierd!

 

[OldBroad44]

Corvallis, Oregon. About 1986. A big old house on Western Avenue, a block away from the OSU campus. I'm about 40, changing careers, and trying to get established as a freelance plant breeder and writer. I've leased the house, subleased the upstairs apartment, rented the two bedrooms to two room mates, and am using the living room as my writing room and the dining room as my bedroom. This allows me to live almost rent free. I always sleep with a gun and flashlight within reach. In this era, the gun is a Ruger Security 6 revolver with a 6 inch barrel and the flashlight is a heavy club-like 5-cell Mag-Lite.

It's night. I'm fast asleep. I'm awakened by a horrific crash. There must have been a car crash on the street right outside my door. The street is heavily traveled and is only about 20 feet from my front porch. I grab the flashlight and run to the door and rush out on the porch. I'm expecting to see two mangled cars, to call 911, then rush to provide emergency first aid if necessary. I shine the light on the street. There is nothing there. Meanwhile, the small dog I have runs out into the front yard.

Then there's another loud crash, more crashes. I raise the flashlight a bit. Beyond the street and sidewalk on the opposite side of the street is a cluster of eight metal garbage cans set out for pickup the next day. A huge giant of a man is kicking these cans, and they make loud crashes when they bang together.

When the beam of the flashlight hits the man he gives a roar of rage and charges across the street toward me. I run inside leaving the door open, grab my gun from it's position on the top of the nightstand, and position myself directly in front of but as far from the front door as possible. I point the gun with my right hand and hold the flash in my left out to the left and above my head so it illuminates my gun, but would misdirect the attacker as to my position if he is armed. The man stops at the door, appears to nearly take a step inside, but stops. He's football player size and build. His face and eyes look crazy.

I had left the light off as I fled inside because my rooms were darker than the streetlight-lit street outside, my eyes were better dark adapted than the man's, my rooms were familiar turf to me, and I had the flashlight. So darkness gave me the advantage. And I instinctively felt that the attacker would be less likely to charge into darkness. But now I realize that the attacker, blinded by my flashlight, can undoubtedly not see the gun.

In a calm, low, matter-of-fact, somewhat regretful voice I say, "If you come in here, fella, you're going to get yourself shot." Information rather than threat or challenge. Not the more aggressive active voice "I'll shoot..." Basically its all up to him, I'm trying to convey. Out of my hands.

I'm watching his hands. Any motion forward through that door, or any sudden motion with his hands as if going for a weapon, and I'll start shooting, first head shot, the rest center mass. I'm in a place beyond anger or fear or any emotion, a place I go in such crises. It's like a different state of conciousness. Everything seems to slow down. Actually, I speed up. I think and if need be move faster than ordinarily. And probably am much stronger than normal too. I don't know quite what this is, but this isn't my first such incident, and I've been here before.

The guy says 'Go ahead and shoot me. I don't care if I die." But he is backing up onto the porch. Now he starts kicking the sh!t out of the sides of the porch. He's raving. About half of it is repeating over and over "Go ahead, shoot me, I don't care if I die." And about half is about some woman who has apparently just dumped him. He focuses on my bicycle and starts kicking that. I have moved a few feet sideways so I can see what he's doing but stay well inside my living room and in darkness. I'm worried about his attacking my dog, who is in the yard only about ten feet away, not barking, acting merely interested and clueless. And I'm also not keen to have my bike, my sole means of transportation in that era, destroyed.

From inside, I say, "That's not even my bike." The guy keeps kicking it. Then I say, very matter-of-factly, conversationaly, "You know, I've already called the cops. (I hadn't.) They'll be here any minute. If it was me, I think I'd be wanting to get out of here before they got here." The guy quits kicking the bike and turns toward me. And it was as if he suddenly becomes cold sober. His face transforms. It had looked crazy, and like an animal almost. Now the face looks like one of an ordinary young man, one who is serious and worried. He jumps off the porch and runs around the house and in a flash is gone. He might not have cared if he died, but he clearly did care about being arrested.

I get the dog inside, lock the front door, turn on the lights, and call 911. There had been no opportunity to do so before, but I'd figured the attacker was too crazed to realize it. It was no longer an emergency for me, but I figured the guy would be dangerous to anyone he came across. And it was possible others had reported the crashing noises the guy had made.

The LEO who came to take the report was friendly and approving. At one point he said "Yeah, if you have to shoot someone, it's much better if the body is inside." (I knew that and it was part of my strategy, but I hadn't mentioned it. I had simply said, with reference to the guy on the porch, that my gun is to defend my life, not property.) As the LEO left he said he wished more people like me had guns.

A few details and afterthoughts. My serious watch dog had died a few weeks before. The current dog, her pup, had always backed up her mother. But it turned out she had simply been following the lead of her mom. Without Mom, she didn't even have enough sense to put herself between me and someone charging me. In fact, her existence put me in greater danger. Because after the guy withdrew to the porch, I could have closed and locked the door except for the need to protect the dog. So this experience taught me that this dog was useless even as a watch dog, and when it came to self defense was actually a liability.

If I had stopped to try to close and lock the door when the man was charging, I would have failed. If the gun hadn't been just a couple feet from the door I would not have got it in time. The man covered the distance from across the street to my yard incredibly fast. Ideally I would have had the gun with me, concealed, when I responded to the crashing noise. But it sounded so much like a car crash, that I never doubted that's what it was. A take-home lesson. Arm yourself before responding to anything strange, even if you're sure it's not a situation that requires a gun.

Guy was white, about 6' 3", heavy powerful build, maybe 300 lbs. College age. He moved gracefully and fast, much more like a football player than a weight lifter. He might have been an OSU football player; I don't follow spectator sports and wouldn't know. His build and speed suggested he was in some sort of serious physical training.

I have experienced one other home invasion situation, but in it, the assaillant was breaking into the one occupied home in the area, one he certainly knew was occupied by a young woman. There was clearly premeditated and evil intent. In the case I've just described, no invasion or attack on me was planned. It was more a matter of the guy being temporarily crazy, out of control, and dangerous to me only because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. PCP and PCP-induced rages were in the news then. So were steroid-associated rages. I think something like that was involved. I didn't take this guy to be evil or even a bad guy. He might just be a football player out of control, who would realize after this night the drugs were a bad idea and never endanger anyone again. Or he might continue using them and endangering people. No way to know. But that moment, if he took a single step inside my door, I was going to kill him. When he withdrew to the porch and was raving and trashing stuff, his pain was clearly real. I think he genuinely felt exactly what he said--that he didn't care if he died, and was willing to try to provoke me enough so as to risk it. Actually no risk as long as he stayed out of the house, but he didn't know that. He didn't say he wanted to die, though, and didn't come in the house, making it a sure thing.

My norm in this sort of situation would be to say nothing. I had thought about various scenarios involving a home invasion and had decided before hand that if it was necessary to say anything, I would say "Get out!" An order. Why did I say what I did instead? Actually, the guy seemed to me like a wild animal out of control. I used my words and voice to try to gentle him, just like I would with a strange dog that was crazed with pain, fear, or drugs, and trying to bite anyone in reach.

I was glad I had practiced that two-hand maneuver of deploying gun in one hand and flashlight in the other. Was also glad I had practiced shooting DA fast, and knew how fast and accurately I could shoot that way.

It would have been nice to have a real watch dog instead of the one I had. Given that the current dog was useless for defense, it would have been nice if I had known that, in which case I could have kept her indoors. However, the mom, the real watch dog, had died just two weeks earlier. And this was the incident that showed me what the current dog was worth as a watchdog or protection dog by herself. Which turned out to be nothing. The Mom would have been between me and the charging guy instantly. He doubtless would never have made it to the porch.

 

[Geardo]

That is a freaking crazy story!

 

[OldBroad44]

That is a freaking crazy story!

Yeah. What was strangest about it to me was seeing the guy transform from completely crazy to apparently completely sane in an instant. And the fact that the prospect of being shot and possibly killed didnt jolt him to sanity but the prospect of merely being arrested did. I suspect the idea of getting shot while in a frenzy of grief over losing his girlfriend seemed romantic, and something that would possibly make the girl friend sorry. It would sort of prove his love, so fed into his story and might impress the girl. But getting arrested was utterly unromantic and would just make him look like a loser. And would probably convince the girl she was right to dump him and better off without him. So he was both scared but attracted to the idea of being shot. But being arrested was totally unappealing. Just guessing.

 

[Geardo]

was strangest about it to me was seeing the guy transform from completely crazy to apparently completely sane in an instant.

He was still crazy, he just put his normal face back on....

 

[No_Regerts]

I went bump in the night once. My first week of my freshman year in college and my roomie and I were walking across campus in the dark on our way back to our dorm. The campus was really well lit. Ahead of us, heading in the same direction, I see a gorgeous brunette wearing a red cocktail dress, walking all by herself.

My roomie says, "Doesn't she know its dangerous to walk by yourself?" I nodded. He says, "Should we offer to walk her home?" I give him a strange look at say, "I think we should teach her a lesson instead."

So, from about 15 yards behind her, I start to sing in my best deliverance type voice...

Little red riding hood, you sure is looking good...you'se everythang a big bad wolf could want...ahhh-wooo!

And little red riding hood, you know that good girls should, not be walking in the big bad woods alone...

Never seen a girl run that fast in heels.

 

[The Heretic]

Guy was white, about 6' 3", heavy powerful build, maybe 300 lbs. College age. He moved gracefully and fast, much more like a football player than a weight lifter. He might have been an OSU football player; I don't follow spectator sports and wouldn't know. His build and speed suggested he was in some sort of serious physical training.

Decades ago when I stayed a week with my brother and his wife in Corvallis, we watched a rugby practice on campus. Those guys are built and used to rough play!

 

[Geardo]

I went bump in the night once. My first week of my freshman year in college and my roomie and I were walking across campus in the dark on our way back to our dorm. The campus was really well lit. Ahead of us, heading in the same direction, I see a gorgeous brunette wearing a red cocktail dress, walking all by herself.

My roomie says, "Doesn't she know its dangerous to walk by yourself?" I nodded. He says, "Should we offer to walk her home?" I give him a strange look at say, "I think we should teach her a lesson instead."

So, from about 15 yards behind her, I start to sing in my best deliverance type voice...

Little red riding hood, you sure is looking good...you'se everythang a big bad wolf could want...ahhh-wooo!

And little red riding hood, you know that good girls should, not be walking in the big bad woods alone...

Never seen a girl run that fast in heels.

 

[OldBroad44]

I went bump in the night once. My first week of my freshman year in college and my roomie and I were walking across campus in the dark on our way back to our dorm. The campus was really well lit. Ahead of us, heading in the same direction, I see a gorgeous brunette wearing a red cocktail dress, walking all by herself.

My roomie says, "Doesn't she know its dangerous to walk by yourself?" I nodded. He says, "Should we offer to walk her home?" I give him a strange look at say, "I think we should teach her a lesson instead."

So, from about 15 yards behind her, I start to sing in my best deliverance type voice...

Little red riding hood, you sure is looking good...you'se everythang a big bad wolf could want...ahhh-wooo!

And little red riding hood, you know that good girls should, not be walking in the big bad woods alone...

Never seen a girl run that fast in heels.

You threatened to rape a young woman because you thought she should be terrorized into never going out alone at night. And she was so terrorized that she fled in panic, in spite of her high heels. And this was on a college campus in America, not somewhere like Saudi Arabia. The poetry was skillful, especially spur of the moment, but forgive me if I don't find the incident amusing.

 

[No_Regerts]

You threatened to rape a young woman because you thought she should be terrorized into never going out alone at night. And she was so terrorized that she fled in panic, in spite of her high heels. And this was on a college campus in America, not somewhere like Saudi Arabia. The poetry was skillful, especially spur of the moment, but forgive me if I don't find the incident amusing.

Just sang a song.

PS, when everything is analogous with rape, it loses its true severity.

Just like how everyone is beautiful now. Why even have the word?

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Back when I was in the Army...we were the things that went bump in the night....
Usually 'cause :
The night vision goggles at that time weren't the greatest...
That lovely plastic ammo drum , that was first issued to the M249 SAW gunners...
Someone gave the new 2nd LT. a map and compass...
Every tree root , rock , hole and "wait a minute" vine / thorn bush , in the AO tended to be in your way...
Your ruck seemed to "feed" off your blood and sweat...and grow heavier and more bulky as the night wore on...
It was yet another in a series of seemingly endless "movements until dawn"....

And here I bet you thought that I would post just how bad azz and scary we were ...which is true of some of the units I was in or worked with...but that is a story or two for a different time and place.
Andy

 

[The Heretic]

Back when I was in the Army...we were the things that went bump in the night....
Usually 'cause :
The night vision goggles at that time weren't the greatest...
That lovely plastic ammo drum , that was first issued to the M249 SAW gunners...
Someone gave the new 2nd LT. a map and compass...
Every tree root , rock and "wait a minute" vine / thorn bush , in the AO tended to be in your way...
Your ruck seemed to "feed" off your blood and sweat...and grow heavier and more bulky as the night wore on...
It was yet another in a series of seemingly endless "movements until dawn"....

And here I bet you thought that I would post just how bad azz and scary we were ...which is true of some of the units I was in or worked with...but that is a story or two for a different time and place.
Andy

Reminds me of the time I was the bump in the night too - not bad-azz, but I scared some deer.

When I was about 20 - out at a tree farm in the Kings Valley/Pee Dee I had permission from the tree farm owners to hunt there. The deer liked the apple trees on the edge of the trees, so I got one there. Another place was where they congregated in the open for some reason, but there was a ditch in some brush really close by that I hid in. Unfortunately it was too dark to legally shoot when they got there, so I had to leave - I made some noise and they stomped, and then I stood up and they snorted and and scattered.