Self defense on a hunt

[Dogshooter]

 Just wondered how many of you guys have had trouble with the two legged kind of predator while out enjoying an outdoors excursion? I had two idiots approach me on BLM land here in Wyoming and demand that I give them my backpack and gun. I was hunting elk and was carrying a BAR chambered in .338 and it was fully loaded. I leveled the rifle in the direction of the bigger of the two and made sure he heard the safety going off. I told him "sure, brace yourself while I deliver the ammo first".
They both changed their minds (and I assume, shortly afterward, their pants) and hopefully, their occupations but recalling the incident , I wondered just how often outdoors types are accosted while armed. If you have an experience please share it so we can all learn from the tactics used by dolts everywhere. 

[Bigeasy]

Only once, a long time ago while hunting out of state in the Catskills.  Shot a small buck, a little far back, trailed it, and when I got to it about 10 minutes later, two hunters were standing over it.  One was starting to gut it.  I thanked him for gutting it for me, and the other, older hunter said it was his (the guy gutting it) first deer, and that I should just get moving.  He then kind of swung his rifle around, pointing in the direction of my mid-section.  My rifle was slung, and I thought to myself, "calm down, its not worth killing someone over a dead deer", so I walked away.  The guy was lucky, because  I was not thinking about some lousy dead deer, I was thinking about his threatening me with a rifle, and how I could best take him out, that is before I calmed down....   What a piss poor way to get your first deer, by the way..

Larry

[IOWA DON]

In Iowa we can hunt the roadsides and tresspass on private land to retreive dead or wounded game. However, one cannot tresspass with a firearm. This has been the law for a long time and every farmer should know it's the law whether they agree with it or not. About once a year I run into a farmer who don't like me hunting the roadside. They usually try to scare any game away, or tell you they own the roadside. I am generally real polite to them because I figure if the disagreement would escalate the local law enforcement would side with the farmer even if he was the problem. One time more than twenty years ago a farmer really went crazy with a lot of sceaming and theatening (while sitting in his car). Like always I was polite and said that although it was legal for me to hunt the roadside, I would leave if he preferred. My buddy who he did not see walked upbehind the farmer and saw that he had an uncased shotgun accross his lap. I did not see the shotgun because I was in front of the car. He left cursing and sceaming and saying he was going to call the game warden but he never saw my (armed) buddy behind him. I wonder if the farmer would have tried to start shooting if I had not been so polite. Of course my buddy would have had the edge on him.

[Graybeard]

Once yeah. To make a really long story short I was hunting a WMA with way too many hunters around that morning. One killed a doe in the hollow below me then finally dragged it out right passed me and suggested I go down to that hollow as he had seen several deer that morning. I did and within ten minutes of sitting down shot a decent but not impressive 7 point buck.

I dragged it to the same spot on the logging road above as he did and called for my hunting companions to bring my Bronco around to help me load it up. While waiting for them the hunter who shot the doe, his father, his sister and some other guy with them were all standing around making a big deal of the buck which was nothing to be impressed over really. The other guy kept trying to talk the other three into all jumping me and whipping by butt and taking the buck. Had they asked nicely I'd have willingly gave it to them but no one is gonna whip my butt and take anything easily.

I kinda explained that while the four of them MIGHT be able to do what he was suggesting that the .357 Mag in a holster on my hip was likely to take out at least a couple of them and asked which wanted to feel it first. The father calmed them down and about that time my hunting partners drove up in my Bronco.

It could have gotten interesting I suspect had the father of the pair not had a more level head than the rest. All over a silly little deer that they could have had merely for the asking rather than a forced taking.

These days I'm too danged old to fight and too feeble to run but dang it I can still shoot and am not without a handgun at ready if someone tries to "whip my butt".

[Land_Owner]

Way back, someone had ripped out the front gate early in my new ownership.  Before I got it reinstalled, I went hunting.  Sitting next to a tree at O'Dark-30 in the morning, a PU truck breeches the now open road, parks, and someone with a flashlight starts winding their way through my land and walks right up on me.  I hit them with my light and "Who are you and what are you doing here?" 

The boy says, "I'm going to hunt this land today." 

"No you are not.  I am the Owner.  Turn around and leave."

The boy says, "I know the owner.  I have permission to hunt this land and I intend to hunt here today."

"I am the Owner.  I don't know you.  You do not have my permission.  Turn around and leave NOW!"

The boy persisted with "I have permission from the owner and I AM going to hunt here today.

That was strike two.  I told him, "Put your gun down by this tree.  Turn around.  Go back to your truck.  I will give you your gun back there."

He then got belligerent with, "You can't talk to me like that.  We'll have a SHOOT OUT RIGHT HERE."

I nearly covered him with my gun barrel, close enough, but not quite, and could have justifiably killed that boy right there and right then, but it didn't go that way.  He started stammering and backing down.  He apologized, gave me his business card, I walked him to his truck, and he left.  I was shaken and called the sheriff.  I then did the first WRONG THING in land ownership and have regretted it since.

The deputy sheriff wanted to arrest the boy, a 16 year old from another county, for armed trespass and other charges if I would prosecute.  I asked them not to.  That was the mistake.  From that time forward, the sheriff has been slow to respond and anything that could be called "protective service" has been lacking.

[Ron 1]

my experience is close to bigeasys
i shot a small buck, my fault lil far back so i waited about 1 hr and followed the blood.
3-400 yrds latter i hear 2 shots just ahead of me. i walked up and seen the small buck the two guys were dragging. i asked if the deer had been hit before they had shot it and the reply was no. but there was 3 holes in it, i only herd 2 shots. to me i did not care to fight over a dead deer. we all had guns it just duz not seem to smart to me to argue over a dead deer or get shot over it.
i just wanted to know so i would not be leaving a wounded deer to go to waste or suffer. i followed there blood trail to were they had shot and the blood was very light but connected to my blood trail so in my mind it was the 1 i had just shot. so first blood  dose not apply to deer hunting in mi.to some. to me if a deer is bleeding when i shoot it i wait to see if the hunter who shot it shows up. then i tell them it would have died sooner or later i stopped it from running any farther.  its yours, and if they do not want it i will tag it.
             rw

[drdougrx]

Had this stuff happen when I used to hunt with Ruffs Sporting Camps in Plaster Rock NB.  The berma road was a 100mile logging road that went through Victoria County as I remember.  Seems there were quite a few folks from the eastern shores of NB that used to come down the road and set up huge deer camps with 30-40 guys, walkies and ATVs and...hunt at night mostly.  A few times our guys would shoot a deer and have to track it only to find a 2 or 3 of the eastern shore guys standing over it.  They were quite menacing though could have been friendly cept they refused to speak english. A few years later Frazier logging put up gates and charged a $10 daily trespass fee and this crap ended.  As an aside...nothing like passing one of these big trailer camps at night as you leave and see all kinds of vehicles and no deer and then back into the area before the sun comes up and see 20-30 deer hanging.  Wonder how that happened??

[charles p]

I was going to a lock-on stand one morning before daylight and arrived to discover that stand had been stollen.  I had a climber around the base of a tree about 200 yards away and when I got there it was gone too.  If somebody had walked through the woods with a portable stand about then, I might have shot them.  I have never been so mad.  I was on private land and nobody else was suppose to be on this property.  A week later I entered from another road and the owner of a very narrow strip of land I needed to cross, threatened me.  I knew he had taken my stands and that he had been poaching on the property I was hunting.  He had poached on that land for 20 years before anyone else hunted it and he felt it was all his.  What a jerk he was.  He is a very fortunate person because I was so mad I just might have shot him in the woods if he had walked in with my portable stand.

[Dave in WV]

I've been lucky not having any kind of problems like already posted. My son lives in NC and had a guy shoot very close to him and it seemed intentional. My son was hunting public land and the guy was with a dog hunting group. The guy shot two or three times with a semi-auto shotgun and my son hit the dirt and was yelling stop shooting! The guy said a doe ran through and he didn't see my son and asked if he was ok in a non caring manner. My son was wearing a blaze vest and cap and the jackass was in camo head to toe (illegal in NC). The guy then reached ion his bibs and took out a beer, opened it, and took a big pull off of it. My son had a great desire to kick his azz but knew he wasn't alone and my son was a not near his truck so he left and called the game warden which did nothing.

Are all dog hunters bad? No, but the ones that get kicked out of clubs because of bad behavior and or lose their hunting lease because of bad behavior seem to bad together and start clubs that bring nothing but problems for the good guys. Slob hunters are just that no matter what hunting method is used.

[Spirithawk]

Years ago my wife and I, our three young children, and a friend and his wife were camping along the Meremac River here in Missouri. We'd just set up camp and my friend and I were out gathering up firewood. When we got back into camp my wife informed me that someone was shooting right through camp. It was the 4th of July so I thought she was just hearing fireworks. I'd heard the shots but from where I'd been they sounded like firecrackers. My mind quickly changed when I heard not only the bangs more clearly but the bullets went ripping through the leaves on trees all around us. There were about 5 families camping along the river and we were at the far end of the camping area which was on an elderly ladies farm. When I realised it was really shots I started walking slowly up the river to see where they were coming from. I drew the .44 I had holstered as I walked.All the while I kept hearing more shots. My buddy also had a .44 revolver but his was still packed and he was back at camp digging it out. I got all the way to the first campsite just in time to see a scruffy looking guy lean a .22 rifle against a tree next to the chair he was sitting in. I asked if it was him doing the shooting? He had 3 buddies and a teenaged kid with him, all with beers in their hands.  One of his buddies spoke up and said yeah, we're shooting at that tree and pointed at a tree dead center in line with all the campsites down river. I asked them if they had any functioning brain cells and pointed out the 4 campsites all with children. it seemed like only then that they noticed the .44 in my hand. The guy sitting asked if that was why I was carrying that hand cannon? I just gave him a cold stare and said I was hunting snakes. He asked if there were many around and I told him yeah, I'm looking at one! He then told the teenager to get his hand cannon out of their truck. I guess the rifle was empty. I told that boy if he took one step towards that truck it would be his last. His eyes got about the size of saucers! About that time my buddy showed up with his .44 in hand. I then told them that the owner of the property, who was a family friend, did not allow firearms and that they were darn lucky they hadn't killed someone! I then told them they had better case that rifle and lock it in their truck and if I heard one more shot I'd be back and not quite so friendly! My friend and I then backed out of their camp and headed back to ours. Just as we got there we heard one more shot but then heard the truck start and them high tailing it out of there! They were banned from ever coming back. On the same river, my brother-in-law and myself were on a 3 day float trip and had camped for the night on a gravel bar. It was a pretty dark night with just enough light to see shapes when we crawled into our sleeping bags. As I lay there listening to the night sounds a John Boat silently drifted up to the gravel bar and a man got out and imediately started quietly rumaging through our gear. I couldn't believe the audacity of this guy. I didn't have a clue if he was armed so I just watched to see what he'd do. Aftyer going through every bit of our gear, but taking nothing, he got back in his boat, pushed off and paddled down stream. I quietly asked my brother-in-law if he was awake. He answered yes, can you believe that guy? What our night visitor didn't know, or he'd have been way more polite, was that he had two, Ruger .44 magnum carbines pointed at him the whole time! Lessons learned? I never go anywhere unarmed!

[jpred1]

Damn, thats some restraint right there. Id had to take a leg shot or at least an warning scare the heck outta him shot in the camp.Dont like thieves.

[mechanic]

Over 25 years ago I was hunting gov. land with a muzzle loader I had built from a kit.  I carried two charge tubes, so I had one in the gun, one in my pocket.

From a hilltop, I watched a small buck swim an inlet, then shake himself like a dog.  My ball from about 125  yds. caught him in the lung area, and he ran up  the hill above me.  I was in no hurry, so I reloaded and made my way slowly down to the beach, to give him time to lay down and bleed.

As I approached an old washed up stump, a bullet struck it, and I looked up to see 3 orange vests in the woods above me.  They were claiming my little deer.

I was more than a little POed, but I'm not stupid enough to attack a woods full of fella's with one shot, so I backed out and went back to my truck. 

This land has one road in that dead ends at the water.  As I got to my park, I noticed one set of tracks that passed mine.  There was no one else there that day except me and the deer thieves.  I quickly stuck my pistol in my pocket and hot footed it down to the end of the road to see what was what.

There sat a nice new pickup with Fulton Co. tags, and the window down, and the key in.


It's always been a mystery to those guys I'm sure how that truck started itself up and drove into the lake.


Since that time I carry my side arm concealed when I'm in the woods.

[351 power]

drdougrx, i used to live quite close to that area. you are right about those "camps" but thankfully now they are gone from that area. deer are basically extinct along that northeastern shore area. no suprise

[SHOOTALL]

I had permission to hunt about 400  acs. for over 20 years . A couple other people also had permission , one having a club involved . The club did not have permission . Well it went smooth until the club guy died and his brother got permission . He appointed himself incharge . This started a couple years of friction which included him calling the game warden every time i hunted there . This went on long enough for the game warden to rise from warden to captian . Well one day i was resting on a stump when this guy sees me , he had been drinking a wee bit and yells for me to come to his truck about 100 yards away . I did not comply , so with alot of cussing me he gets out his truck with an axe and starts my way when he gets about 20 yards away i swing around so the 12 ga. is in his general direction which stops him . I tell him to leave as he is interfearing with the legal hunting which is aginst a new law in Va. he takes a step toward me and i knock off the safety . He gets really upset at this point and starts shaking . About then the guy I'm hunting with steps out the woods as does my son . The guy looks at me and says what are they going to do . I said you figure it out you just charged across a field with a deadly weapon cussing me . I told him they were going to witness a self defense shooting if he did not leave. He went home and about half hour later the GW shows up and ask what happened . He leaves and we watch him go to the guys house which is in sight . He looks at the axe in the bed of the truck , talks to the guy and comes back , gives me his card and tells me if the guy ever gets near me again call him .

[drdougrx]

Hey 351..it was a shame.  The local folks worked so hard logg'n and guide'n and then the inavasion would come.....

[jamaldog87]

man people don't play when it comes to deer i am a varmint and hog hunter so i don't have that problem but i have run into people trying to steal or rob you when in the woods or fishing. The swords and other long blades i carry when fishing make people think leave him alone.  Most of the places i hunt i am the only one there.  I Carry OC for animals and people, Large balde for bush cutting and other  and i knife for skinning and other work.