Catfish369
Senior Member
Headed into the woods this morning, it was a beautiful day......until it happened.
As soon as I closed the truck door I could hear turkeys in the distance, and it brought a smile to my face.
I was heading into the woods with my bow, I decided to take a little detour to a flatter entrance just a few steps further that I would normally enter from....this due to the heavy rain we recetly had and the small creek bed where I normally enter from having standing water in it.
As I stopped to clear a thorn vine from my legs I felt a sudden burning sensation on my right hand. I looded down at it and saw something there...."a bug" I thought. I shook my hand and it was gone. I reached for the vine again and felt another burning sensation on my right hand again. I looked more closly this time...it was a Yellow Jacket...it had stung me and curled into a ball and was hanging on for dear life. I again shook my hand but it wouldn't let go...the burning was worsening. I stood there and as I was reaching my other hand over I felt the same burning there as well.......Another Yellow Jacket. I slowly began to look at my arms and the front of my body and I was COVERED in them. Probably 50 on my arms from the elbows down alone. Apparently, I had "disturbed" a nest. I took off running for about 40 yards and called out to my brother, who was only a few yards ahead of me. He came towards me and all I could say was "Get 'em off of me!"....as the stinging continued. At this point I felt a sting inside on my pant-leg...way up on my upper thigh in front, then another in the back of my thigh. My brother started swatting the bees off of me with his hat when we both saw more coming from the area where I had disturbed them at....and we were about 40 yards or so away already. We BOTH ran this time, about another 30 or so yards this time and he began helping get the balled-up, stinging bees off of me. He got stung 3 times in the process of helping me....twice on his right hand and once right on the end of his nose. Me, I received 5 stings on my right hand, 4 on my left hand, 2 on my neck, 1 on my right forearm, 1 on my upper left thigh in the front, and 1 more on the back of the same thigh. This was NOT my best morning hunt.
We continued on into the woods, although I will admit I was getting a little concerned over getting stung so many times. As the morning progressed, my hands began to swell and felt "tight".
At about 9:30 I spotted 2 small does cpming from my right so I twisted and was getting ready for a possible shot. As I was attenpting to get my release aid ready, my fingers would not do what I wanted then to do...from the swelling. Now I was getting really worried but forced myself to calm down. The does walked by without ever knowing I was there and I then got down the tree, and packed up my climber. I headed back to the main trail and my brother was already there waiting on me. His nose was swollen and he said it was making his eyes water so he was ready to leave also.
Just driving back to his house was a pain, simply holding on to the steering wheel. My right hand was swollen to the point that my skin was becoming stretched and dry, flakey looking. I took 50mg's of Bynadryl and it helped a little. I got home and soaked in a hot baking soda bath for about an hour and had some lunch, seriously considering if I was going into that area again this season....maybe when the cooler weather gets here.
What struck me as weird about all of this is the following....
1) I have never had such a sever reaction to a bee sting before. Now I'll be worried every time I'm outside for awhile.
2) These bees were not like normal Yellow Jackets. The didn't lose their stingers. They stung more than one time in each little area. Also, they were very dark colored bees. The yellow bands on them were almost muted by the dark ones, and they were small bees as well......young ones perhaps??
and
3) I have never had normal Yellow Jackets chase me over that distance before. Maybe they were just really sensitive and/or mad due to the recent rain we've had, I don't know.
I took a little nap and am feeling some better now. My hands are still pretty swollen and ache like fire, but the worst is over and now I need to concentrate on more important matters....a new place to hunt next weekend.
Just wanted to share. Watch out for those Yellow Jackets!!!!
As soon as I closed the truck door I could hear turkeys in the distance, and it brought a smile to my face.
I was heading into the woods with my bow, I decided to take a little detour to a flatter entrance just a few steps further that I would normally enter from....this due to the heavy rain we recetly had and the small creek bed where I normally enter from having standing water in it.
As I stopped to clear a thorn vine from my legs I felt a sudden burning sensation on my right hand. I looded down at it and saw something there...."a bug" I thought. I shook my hand and it was gone. I reached for the vine again and felt another burning sensation on my right hand again. I looked more closly this time...it was a Yellow Jacket...it had stung me and curled into a ball and was hanging on for dear life. I again shook my hand but it wouldn't let go...the burning was worsening. I stood there and as I was reaching my other hand over I felt the same burning there as well.......Another Yellow Jacket. I slowly began to look at my arms and the front of my body and I was COVERED in them. Probably 50 on my arms from the elbows down alone. Apparently, I had "disturbed" a nest. I took off running for about 40 yards and called out to my brother, who was only a few yards ahead of me. He came towards me and all I could say was "Get 'em off of me!"....as the stinging continued. At this point I felt a sting inside on my pant-leg...way up on my upper thigh in front, then another in the back of my thigh. My brother started swatting the bees off of me with his hat when we both saw more coming from the area where I had disturbed them at....and we were about 40 yards or so away already. We BOTH ran this time, about another 30 or so yards this time and he began helping get the balled-up, stinging bees off of me. He got stung 3 times in the process of helping me....twice on his right hand and once right on the end of his nose. Me, I received 5 stings on my right hand, 4 on my left hand, 2 on my neck, 1 on my right forearm, 1 on my upper left thigh in the front, and 1 more on the back of the same thigh. This was NOT my best morning hunt.
We continued on into the woods, although I will admit I was getting a little concerned over getting stung so many times. As the morning progressed, my hands began to swell and felt "tight".
At about 9:30 I spotted 2 small does cpming from my right so I twisted and was getting ready for a possible shot. As I was attenpting to get my release aid ready, my fingers would not do what I wanted then to do...from the swelling. Now I was getting really worried but forced myself to calm down. The does walked by without ever knowing I was there and I then got down the tree, and packed up my climber. I headed back to the main trail and my brother was already there waiting on me. His nose was swollen and he said it was making his eyes water so he was ready to leave also.
Just driving back to his house was a pain, simply holding on to the steering wheel. My right hand was swollen to the point that my skin was becoming stretched and dry, flakey looking. I took 50mg's of Bynadryl and it helped a little. I got home and soaked in a hot baking soda bath for about an hour and had some lunch, seriously considering if I was going into that area again this season....maybe when the cooler weather gets here.
What struck me as weird about all of this is the following....
1) I have never had such a sever reaction to a bee sting before. Now I'll be worried every time I'm outside for awhile.
2) These bees were not like normal Yellow Jackets. The didn't lose their stingers. They stung more than one time in each little area. Also, they were very dark colored bees. The yellow bands on them were almost muted by the dark ones, and they were small bees as well......young ones perhaps??
and
3) I have never had normal Yellow Jackets chase me over that distance before. Maybe they were just really sensitive and/or mad due to the recent rain we've had, I don't know.
I took a little nap and am feeling some better now. My hands are still pretty swollen and ache like fire, but the worst is over and now I need to concentrate on more important matters....a new place to hunt next weekend.
Just wanted to share. Watch out for those Yellow Jackets!!!!
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