From simple acts of irony, to "clever girls" who outsmarted their foes.
Join me as we discover 12 times the hunter became the hunted!
12.
What Remains...
So imagine this.
You're a park ranger in South Africa, and during one of your tours of the area you find
traces of human remains.
Specifically, you find items left by humans, including an axe, some guns and ammunition,
and other things.
You might think, "were these hunters?"
But then, you find wire cutters, and you realize the truth, these weren't hunters, they were
poachers!
Poachers are illegal hunters who kill game for sport or profit.
And it's illegal to poach animals out of season, or in conservation areas.
But, despite the warnings and the penalties, the hunters still come out to "play".
Focusing back on the park rangers.
When they were examining these items, they noticed that there were no humans in sight,
and that the items were more or less strewn across the ground.
So, what happened to the poachers?
After some investigation, it was discovered that they were actually in a lion enclosure,
but were supposed to be hunting rhinoceros.
During their "trek", they unintentionally came upon a pride of lions.
And I bet you can guess what happened next.
Needless to say, the poachers got what was coming to them.
11.
Oh Deer...
There's a common misconception about certain animals that are allowed to be hunted.
And that is simply that many of these animals are able to be hunted because they're not
predators.
Thus, they won't attack humans for the most part, and any deaths are accidental.
Sadly, for Paul J. Smith of Indiana, he found out the hard way that this not only wasn't
the case, but that it was something that was downright wrong.
You see, he was (legally), hunting for deer at a local state park.
And during his trip, he indeed saw a deer and shot it form within his deer stand upon
a tree.
So, he went to observe his kill.
But it was then that the mistake was made, because the deer wasn't dead!
Instead, the deer got back up, and seeing Smith as a threat, the deer attacked, willing
to go out swinging.
Unfortunately for the deer, Smith was able to deal a final blow.
However, in the scuffle the deer caused serious damage to Smith.
And when his son came to find him to help with his kill, the park rangers found his
father passed away.
10.
Outfoxed The story I'm about to tell you is entirely
true, and that makes it all the more hilarious in my mind.
You see, in Belarus, a hunter found himself looking at a fox.
And decided that it would make a good trophy.
Or a meal.
Either or.
Anyway, he lined up the shot, and took it.
And indeed, he did hit the fox.
But not fatally.
So, to do a "mercy killing", he went up to the fox and prepared to finish it off with
the butt of his gun.
But that's where the irony came in.
Because the fox leaped forward and scrapped with the hunter.
And in the process of doing so, the foxes paw went onto the gun, and actually was able
to pull the trigger of the gun.
Wounding the hunter, and allowing the fox to get away.
As for the man, he didn't die, but he was most certainly humiliated after this incident,
and that's why he chooses to remain anonymous.
Frankly, after an encounter like that...wouldn't you?
9.
Grin And Bear It While it's true that sometimes the hunter
gets what they deserve when they're attacked by the creatures they're hunting (legally
or not), there are also times when life finds a way...to just screw with you.
For example, Chase Dellwo was a 26-year-old bow hunter who was minding his own business
and going after a group of elk with his weapon.
It was legal, it was fair, and very likely the elk wouldn't have attacked him even if
he struck.
But, the same couldn't be said for the bear.
"What bear?", you ask?
Well, you see...while tracking down the elk group, he found himself looking at a sleeping
bear.
One that woke up when he tried to escape.
Unfortunately for Chase, he did get pretty banged up by the bar.
However, he was also able to get the bear to run away using an old trick his grandmother
taught him.
So the lesson here is, be sure to be mindful of your surroundings, and be VERY quite when
it comes to leaving the area of a bigger predator.
8.
Hungry Hungry Hippos It's very easy to think of Hippos as lazy
creatures, mainly because as long as you don't disturb them, they actually are quite peaceful.
As well as very intelligent, as they have saved human lives in the past.
But, don't mistake a somewhat lazy nature for inability to defend themselves.
There have been many times in the past where a hippy has gone on to do serious damage to
people, and even taking their lives.
One hunter was actually trying to get one for his trophy case, and didn't notice that
one was actually right under his canoe.
Before he could do anything, the hippo flipped his boat, got him into the water, and did
what came naturally.
And hippos are known to be so unpredictable, that they'll actually attack loyal friends.
Like one South African man who had a hippo as a pet, and then it turned on him.
The point here is, Hippos are dangerous, and that should be noted before even thinking
of approaching them.
7.
Big Game Hunter...Hunted Despite what people believe, there are places
where "big game hunting" is allowed, and it's allowed for a reason.
Mainly, it's allowed to help fund preservation of other animals.
It's a complicated subject, and that's why no matter what, most of the world views big
game hunters as evil.
Which is why when Ian Gibson got his "just desserts", no one was really sad about it.
He was in Zimbabwe hunting a Bull Elephant for a client.
And after tracking him to a certain spot, he decided to get in closer to try and measure
the ivory tusks on the elephant.
But, unbeknownst to Mr. Gibson, the elephant was in a state of increased testosterone,
which meant it was more aggressive.
So when it noticed the hunter, it charged him, and eventually took his life.
The other irony of this situation is that the "client" that the Bull Elephant was supposed
to go to?
He saw the whole thing.
I bet that got him to back off the whole "kill the elephant" thing, don't you think?
6.
Cat Scratch Fever Now, unlike Mr. Gibson, one Bud Griffith was
doing nothing wrong when he started hunting animals.
In fact, he was actually on his farm when he started go after some local wildlife.
What kind?
Turkeys!
So nothing illegal or immoral there.
But after starting his hunt for these turkeys, he found himself in an encounter that he never
expected.
While focusing on what was ahead of him a Bobcat of all things jumped him from behind,
and started to scratch him.
Needless to say, this caught him off guard.
And the Bobcat was 25 pounds, so that's a big cat to be dealing with unsuspectingly.
Thankfully for Griffith, he was able to get the cat off of him and take it out before
doing more harm to him.
And while he was the victor, he's definitely going to be remembering to watch his back
from now on.
5.
Quick Strike While it's true that sometimes you can get
hunted by the biggest or quickest or most vicious of animals, it's also true that sometimes
it's the ones you can't see that are the most deadly.
And for one Dick Rupert back in 2009, he found himself to be the victim of a Rattlesnake
strike.
Rattlesnakes are a legendary breed of snake, and they contain venom in their fangs that
can be fatal if not treated properly and quickly.
But most importantly, they can be easy to miss when you're walking around in the woods
like Rupert was with his grandson.
He was actually getting out of a deer stand when he was attacked by the snake.
And even though the grandson did everything right to try and get him treatment, he couldn't
save his grandfather.
So let that be another lesson for you.
Always make sure to mind the ground you walk on when you don't know the turf.
You never know what you might step on, or what might be waiting to strike.
4.
A Wounded Bear Walks Into The Woods You know what's worse than a sleeping bear
that thinks you're lunch?
How about a wounded bear that ain't going down without a fight?
In 2014, in Minnesota, a group of (legal) hunters were trying to take down a bear.
But they didn't have guns, they instead used a bow and arrow.
Sure enough, they got a hit on the bear, and forced it to flee into the woods to try and
get away from them.
The hunters tracked the trail of blood after a waiting period (to try and give the bear
time to die), and walked deep into the woods.
Unfortunately, the bear was still alive, and this 500+ pound behemoth rushed at them.
One got caught by the bear, but was able to fight it off.
The man lived, the bear died, and the party will be much more careful when it comes to
tracking their prey no doubt.
3.
Fear The Anteater What's that?
You don't think it's possible for an anteater to kill someone?
Then you shouldn't tell that to the two Brazilian families who lost someone from anteaters.
They may not look vicious when they're just trying to eat ants and have a good meal, but
like any animal, if you corner them?
They're going to strike.
Sure enough, two different anteaters were cornered by hunters in Brazil in two separate
years, and they used their rather impressive bodies to do what needed to be done.
One was brutal, the other was efficient, but either way you look at it, the Anteater won.
2.
Everybody's Got A Buffalo...
Heading back to Zimbabwe, a professional hunter named Owain Lewis was tasked of taking down
a buffalo.
And for a bit, everything seemed to be going well.
The hunter and his client tracked the buffalo, and they got a shot off.
But, it wasn't fatal, and so the buffalo actually ran away into the nearby desert.
Not willing to give up on it, Lewis and his client spent three days tracking it, and they
finally found it.
But, it was still alive, Lewis took a couple of more shots to try and finish it off, but
the buffalo refused to go down, and charged Lewis, who didn't have time to react before
getting hit full on by the buffalo.
Taking his life in the process.
The only "bright spot" of this endeavor was that afterwards, a fund was set up to help
Lewis' family because he was viewed as an honorable man by the community.
1.
Wanted: Dr. Walter Palmer Oh yeah, this is a hilarious one for sure.
Because this dentist from Minnesota thought it would be a good idea to pay poachers to
take a Lion's life and send the body back to him in the States.
Except, that the lion they killed was a local celebrity named Cecil.
Oops.
Of course, Dr. Palmer claimed he didn't know that...
“I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and
part of a study, until the end of the hunt.
I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt.”
Right...except you had poachers kill the lion so that kind of ruins your credibility doc.
Anyway, when he got home with his "prize" he became a very infamous celebrity.
So much so that people stalked him on the internet, outside his home, and at his place
of work to try and get justice for Cecil the Lion.
He went into hiding, and technically hasn't been seen since...
There you have it, a vast lineup of cases where hunters found the tables turned on them
and became the prey!
What did you think of these events?
Which of these attacks do you find the most shocking?
Or the most ironic?
Did you sympathize with any of these hunters?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time.