Self Defense in the woods.

[klickitat]

I was bopping around the net today looking up things pertaining my 311 I just picked up and I had an article catch my eye.

The author was talking about survival guns for outdoors men and made mention of self defense. I instantly thought of bear and such, but after reading another sentence I realized that he he meant actual self defense against criminals.

His premise was that now days there are a lot of pot grows and meth labs out in the woods these days. I got to thinking about this and realized that it is more likely that I would come across something like this then a wild animal that wants to do me harm.

So how does this effect things? The gun I carry, the way I move through the woods, what to do if you come across something like this, how about your reaction if confronted by an operator of a drug facility, what about booby traps....... so forth and so on.

What do you guys think? Have any of you thought about this? My first reaction is to avoid, not much after that.

[Rick]

I have indeed. Some of the areas I hike in are national wilderness and it's something you could easily walk upon if off trail. I guess the main thing is to always be alert to your surroundings. Not just for this but alert in general. That way you'll pick up on any threat regardless of what it is.

Then I'm with you. Avoidance is my first line of defense. I'd do an about face and hike back the direction I came. I carry a Springfiled XD .45 in the woods for critters of all sizes. With an extra clip that gives me 27 rounds to fire backwards while I'm running.

[jrock24]

I read an article about a FS employee that stumbled onto a pot farm. The guys loaded his truck up with pounds of pot without asking any questions and before he drove off he told them who he was and arrested them.

But if you do get some hostile farmers, duck and crawl.

The movie "The Beach" is a great example of what to do in this situation.

[hunter63]

I have indeed. Some of the areas I hike in are national wilderness and it's something you could easily walk upon if off trail. I guess the main thing is to always be alert to your surroundings. Not just for this but alert in general. That way you'll pick up on any threat regardless of what it is.

Then I'm with you. Avoidance is my first line of defense. I'd do an about face and hike back the direction I came. I carry a Springfiled XD .45 in the woods for critters of all sizes. With an extra clip that gives me 27 rounds to fire backwards while I'm running.

I agree with this tactic,.........discretion is the better part of valor.
That's the best use of a 9mm as well.

[Rick]

I'm counting on a force field of fear to surround and protect me. Either that or the fertilizer I'll be leaving behind.

[roar-k]

I stumbled into a pot field up near my grandparent's about a year ago, and about the safe time I got over my bewilderment I heard people talking and saying they think they saw someone walking towards their camp. Then and there I decided to hightail it out of there.

About a week or two after this I got a call from my pappaw and he told me they had a fuss over by the house because two helicopters swooped in destroyed the field and arrested several people.

I do not know if this is true or not, but the field is gone and it's just weed now...

[Old GI]

Avoid but be prepared to defend yourself.

Another "Once upon a time ..." story. May have told this one before elsewhere.

When I was in the Uwharrie National Forest for special forces qualification training doing night land navigation training, I experienced this very thing (sort of). I was walikng my 30 KM or so one night and heard some noise ahead of me in the darkness. I then saw some flickering dim lights. A little closer. I heard voices and smelled the STILL! I gave it a wide berth and just made my rendezvous on time. I told the cadre about the still and he laughed. He said that they knew about it and the bootleggers were waiting for me to stumble on them and give me a "tetch". Blew that one, I guess; but what went though my mind - I was wearing sterile (no markings) fatigues and had a rifle slung on my back and no ammo (look like G-man?)

[BENESSE]

I've been thinking about this ever since I saw Deliverance. I'm super vigilant & use common sense at all times but $hit happens and the only thing I can hope for is that no guns are involved. (since I don't have one) I'm a good runner but I can't outrun a bullet.

[cm79]

There was a 3 acre pot feild ran by illegels busted this summer.I carry my .380 with my now.Its not a big gun, but it would be hard to walk with 8 of them stuck in you.

[Rick]

I do not know if this is true or not, but the field is gone and it's just weed now...

It was just weed then, too, wasn't it?

[crashdive123]

It's not really something I factor into my hikes, but agree with the avoidance stand. My roommate and I were four wheeling on the island of Kauai back in the 70's when we came across a large pot field. At least we think it was - all we saw were two large Samoans with M-16's pointed our way. We put the TLC in reverse and left as quickly as we could.

[Rick]

Yeah, that probably wouldn't have been a good time to flash them the Hawaiian Good Luck sign.

[kyratshooter]

The favored place for growing pot now is the national forest areas. No land confisactaion or loss of hearth and home for getting busted.

Same goes for cooking meth. That is being done mostly in the NF areas here. Pull a camper into the woods. cook for a couple of days and disappear.

The Census people lost a worker last year in Daniel Boone NF. He was found hung, mutilated, FED carved into his cheast. I guess he knocked on the wrong door.

When I was hiking the AT we had a nut job on the trail. A couple of us ratted him out to NPS and they took him off the trail. We found out latter he was wanted in Atlanta on a murder warrant. I felt much the wiser for ignoring everyone's advice and bringing a compact pistol.

The woods has always been the place to go for bandits and riff-raff on the dodge. Remember old Robbin Hood and his merry men, how about Jessie James. Simon Kenton came to KY avoiding a murder warrant, Daniel Boone was dodging a warrant for debtors' Prison when he crossed the Cumberland Gap. Of course they were dodging Indians 24/7. Don't forget about their influnce on the American need for SD weapons from day one, 2nd ammendment and all.

Nesmuck, the classic American woodsman and outdoor author, abandoned his family for the woods life. Kepart's wife got sick of his long absences and divorced him, he turned to alcahol and finally wrapped a model T around a tree on a North Carolina mountain road.

Kepart was instrumental in creating Smokey Mountain National Park, and he did not endear himself to the lumber interests and some of the local homesteaders of the mountains. His camps were like armed gurillia fortresses. He carried a S&W .38 spl in a shoulder holster and kept the most modern of SD weapons available for his day. Browning A5 shotguns and Rem auto rifles.

Yep, there was about a ten minute space somewhere between 1492 and today when it was completely safe to go to the woods without a weapon.

[Rick]

The Census people lost a worker last year in Daniel Boone NF. He was found hung, mutilated, FED carved into his cheast. I guess he knocked on the wrong door.

He committed suicide.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/artic...2_Kentuc340212

[BENESSE]

Suicide, shmuicde.
There you go ruining a perfectly terrific story with little details...um...facts.
Honestly!

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

I don't think it is a "brilliant" idea to share all of my story...let me just say there was a rifled slug barrel 12 ga. shotgun in my sleepingbag that night and I didn't sleep that night. Yes, I can confirm there are felons in the swamps of SC.

[Ole WV Coot]

I'm always armed so most of the "bad guys" who do most of the cultivating in this area know me. I keep my mouth shut and they know it. Booby traps are popular, the Vietnam type, nothing fancy and easy to spot. One spot of humor, a friend and I were riding about 20 miles from the closest road or house and stopped only to hear a motor running. We headed in that direction for a couple of miles and found a guy in the middle of nowhere cultivating his patch with a roto tiller. How he got it there I have no idea, no trail or road and on govt property.

[jc1234]

I carry my HK USPc 45, but my first line of defense is my dog, followed by my knife. Ive had training with my firearm, but Ive had much more training with knife fighting and no matter what I do, my knife will always feel like an extension of my arm with absolute control. My gun just feels like a tool that I control well, so in close quarters my knife would be my first line of defense, plus its much more devastating and likely to stop someone quicker than a bullet. All that said, I really worry about the 4 legged critters much more than the 2 legged. Im hedging my bets on that.

However, surveys say that evil doers are much more scared of a dog than a person wielding a weapon, because of the fear of being unable to reason with an animal. I never worry about my safety when I have my dog with me, but on the flip side, I grew up working in cities with lots of crime and worked in jobs that required me to be armed and deal with the people that you have mentioned. When I moved out here, I left all of that behind and I really just tend to worry about 4 legged critters not the 2 legged. There is much more of a chance Id run into a pissed off mama bear than a meth lab or pot farm and just like people who would be afraid of a dog that they cannot reason with, Im much more worried about the bear.

[klickitat]

I carry my HK USPc 45, but my first line of defense is my dog, followed by my knife. Ive had training with my firearm, but Ive had much more training with knife fighting and no matter what I do, my knife will always feel like an extension of my arm with absolute control. My gun just feels like a tool that I control well, so in close quarters my knife would be my first line of defense, plus its much more devastating and likely to stop someone quicker than a bullet. All that said, I really worry about the 4 legged critters much more than the 2 legged. Im hedging my bets on that.

However, surveys say that evil doers are much more scared of a dog than a person wielding a weapon, because of the fear of being unable to reason with an animal. I never worry about my safety when I have my dog with me, but on the flip side, I grew up working in cities with lots of crime and worked in jobs that required me to be armed and deal with the people that you have mentioned. When I moved out here, I left all of that behind and I really just tend to worry about 4 legged critters not the 2 legged. There is much more of a chance Id run into a pissed off mama bear than a meth lab or pot farm and just like people who would be afraid of a dog that they cannot reason with, Im much more worried about the bear.

Have you by chance ever worked for mall security? You seem to have some keen insight.

[jc1234]

Have you by chance ever worked for mall security? You seem to have some keen insight.

LOL no, but thanks for the vote of confidence and your willingness to jump to conclusions. I spent a few years running security for a night club in a fairly big city and dealing with the beauty of navigating through dancing on egg shells around organized crime and controlling narcotics inside the clubs enough to prove we did our due diligence should a legal issue come up. The the local PD was about as useless as can be if the issue was inside the facility. I also working armed security escorting the owners to and from the nightly deposit. and for personal safety, as I wasnt exactly popular in certain circles.

I had the privilege of getting some decent firearms training by some individuals much more knowledgeable than I was. The knife fighting training was just worked in to many years of martial arts training that I did as a pretty serious hobby / sport from ages 12 to 22. I used to shoot about 1000 rounds a month for a few years and a gun never felt even close to being as natural in my hands as a knife. When I hear something that spooks me or get that hair standing up on the back of my neck feeling, I still always reach instinctively for my knife, not my gun.