Hikers of reddit, what is the scariest thing you have encountered in the woods?

I love to fish and hike. When I was younger, I liked to combine the two hobbies and decided to hike into a training area of Fort Bragg, NC one nice Saturday. Upon arrival, I broke out my kit and enjoyed some nice bank fishing.

BOOOOM!!!! BOOOOOM!!!! BOOOOOM!!!!

Field artillery shells were exploding all around me. They weren't close enough to immediately maim me but I knew from experience that I was in a very bad place. I dropped everything and hauled ass towards the main road to get back to my vehicle.

Thankful to be alive, I started to head back to the main post area when I was stopped by a few soldiers at a road block. They told me that I couldn't pass through in the direction I was headed since they were firing into that area. WHAT?!? I calmly told them that they were in fact firing into the FUCKING AREA I JUST CAME FROM!!!

Long story short---the dumbass National Guard fire control center had plotted their fire missions incorrectly and they were shooting nearly 180-degrees in the OPPOSITE direction of the artillery range.

/r/AskReddit Thread