Sounds like Bittersweet (Celastrus). While the habit is a vine, I have seen the Asian species (C. orbiculatus) engulf shrubs and appear to replace them. Check it again to see if it is actually a shrub or a vine covering the dead remains of another plant.

lycopus, you nailed it. Amazing that you could I.D. it with the brief description I provided. Wow, after reading some info on it, this is something you don't want to introduce to your woods. Thanks for the ID.

I've been noticing it's all over the place. Too bad.

Ooooh gosh no, don't introduce 'that' lol... I just spent a whole year pulling it out of my woods and to get rid of the last stubborn bits you have to dig it up. The woods around my house is FULL of it and there are trees that are 50 feet tall that have been pulled over and killed by it. It's also up in the fir trees strangling them as well.

Barb
Southern Ontario, CANADA
Zone 5b/6a

The native species and the closely related Asian bittersweet are very hard to distinguish, and, in fact they hybridize. But some shrubs have these split seed capsules that you describe as well--several Euonymus species, including the lovely E. americana, or hearts-a-busting.