Had the SH*T scared out of me on Sunday.

[Tone deaf]

I was up on my land by the new pond on Sunday, setting up a few targets to shoot my new shotgun. I hear "Hello Sir".
Immediately I was shocked. (I live at the end of a dead-end road, chained gate with a No Trespassing sign right on the gate)

There was a guy standing just off my driveway about 50 yards from me, maybe 35 years old. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but he was there. I ask “What are you doing up here?” He replied “I hunt all this land up here. My family owns it”.

As I am telling him that I am the owner of this property, I get a little worried and make my way to the passenger side of the truck where my trusty .45 is loaded and ready to go. I don’t get it, but stand at the back of my truck and tried to logic this out with him. I guess my body language told him that I was ready to pull out the firearms, because he did not make a move towards me.

I calmly and politely told him that I was the owner of this land and that he was trespassing and needed to leave the exact way he came in. This is where my heart started pumping a bit…. He started in on how he was raised on this land and saved the life of so-and so over there by those rocks and he had just as much right to be here as I did. Told me “That truck right there belongs to my grandfather”.

That’s when I knew I was dealing with someone with their head screwed on not so straight. I cut him off quickly and explained once more that he was trespassing and that he needed to leave, now. (I got a bit firm in my voice and body language… ok so I may have used some foul language as well, but I wanted to get my point across).

He said, that there was no need for me to get upset and that he wanted to shake my hand. I told him that I was a nice guy and would shake if he hadn’t come thru a locked gate that is clearly marked No Trespassing and that makes him a threat to me. Once again I told him in a not-so-polite manner to get the F outta here. Which finally, he did.

On his way out to the drive way, he pointed down the driveway that would go to my house and asked, “Can I go down this way to get out?” I told him if he walked down that road any further he would be shot and not by me. (my wife won’t ask the “why are you here” questions).

As he headed down the hill to the gate, I walked up across the ridge and watched him go thru the gate and back up the road. The closest neighbors have a son that lives in a trailer off the road a bit. I figured he was one of their meth-head buddies that was out to check out the area.

When all this was going on, I kept repeating to myself “I really don’t want shoot this guy”. Sure glad I didn’t have to.

That type of behavior is really disconcerting. I think I would have called the cops to make a record of the event and, more importantly, find out who the guy is and what kind of a threat he poses.

The closest neighbors have a son that lives in a trailer off the road a bit. I figured he was one of their meth-head buddies that was out to check out the area.

I'd keep a shovel in the truck...

 

[Tone deaf]

I've spent a great deal of the last 40 years in the woods, hunting and fishing. We don't hunt, or trespass for that matter, on land that we are not supposed to be on, end of story. If I want to hunt an area that looks like good cover, I do my home work, find out who owns the property and I ask for permission to hunt the area. If I do it on the phone, I make sure to go to the owner's house (announced) at some point on the first day that I hunt the property, introduce myself, chit chat and be neighborly. If I come across anything "out of order" while on his/her land, I let him/her know. Almost always, they give me blanket permission to hunt their property whenever I want. If someone doesn't want me to hunt their land, that is their prerogative and I have no issue whatsoever with it.

I am suspicious of people who don't share the same respect for the property of others.

 

[Spurholder]

I mentioned dogs earlier. If I lived away from it all, I'd consider getting one of these - a Caucasian Ovcharka:

This one's a pup - adults get up to 180 pounds or so.

 

[six-string]

three S policy: shoot, shovel, shut-up.

 

[Tone deaf]

three S policy: shoot, shovel, shut-up.

Now, my daily routine has six "S'es"

 

[QBob]

Creepy!

I liked the way you handled it, good job.

 

[martin H]

That happened to me once.. it was a bit dark, came around a corner.. was wearing a hoody.. saw my reflection in some tinted plate glass... had to pull a gun on myself. It was a tense stand off for a good 25 min.

Which of you blinked first ?

 

[Caleb]

My inner city shit hole neighborhood strangely comforts me after this read.

 

[Bigfoot410]

Its not like we're a bunch of cowboys whooping and shooting up the town. I have a few weapons for home defense. They have never been fired at anything but a target. I don't have any intentions of ever firing at anything but a target. But in this day and age, I'll be damned if I will be a victim.

I'm not a hunter and don't find any satisfaction from killing an animal, but sometimes you may have to protect yourself. In fact, the majority of my life, I have never even owned a gun. That didn't come along until I had a home and a family.

The original motto of the US was "give us your tired, you're hungry, you're poor". I'm not quite sure when it changed to "give us every degenerate in the world that just can't make it anywhere else, but where they can take advantage of prosperity, generosity and hospitality".

Just want to add to this. In Ohio, you can open carry with no license and conceal carry with a license. I'm Canadian and had no trouble loading up on firearms legally. It can be just as easy illegally.
Everybody here knows that everybody else is packin'. In the country, it's even more prevalent for reasons already mentioned.
My point is, if you are back on your own property and some person walks up and acts weird, something is wrong. He's up to something. If the landowner says to leave, around here, you just leave or get shot.
We've had a lot of robberies and home invasions lately and they know in most cases, that the home owner probably has guns. Yet they still try and don't care.
Most people here are friendly and watch each other's backs, so when anyone who doesn't belong comes around, it gets your heart racing because you know that he knows that we are all packin' kinda thing and things can ugly quickly.
They either come on my property with a marked vehicle or if on foot (which is rare) announce their presence and produce I.D.

Everybody knows this around here and if the accepted protocol is not followed, then we have a problem.

It wasn't like this in Canada, but it is here. More population=more crazy people.

I truly hope to never have to draw my weapon, but I ALWAYS have a loaded pistol and knife or two on me. So does my wife. We are trained and practice regularly. We go over scenarios and hope that we make the right choice should the unthinkable happen.

 

[CopperMoon]

Trusting weirdos too much is a good way to get your face eaten off.

That is going in my sig.

 

[CopperMoon]

It's official.

 

[Tone deaf]

My point is, if you are back on your own property and some person walks up and acts weird, something is wrong. He's up to something. If the landowner says to leave, around here, you just leave or get shot.

In the parts of OK where I have been, I get a distinct "Don't f*ck with me" private property vibe which, I respect.

We've had a lot of robberies and home invasions lately and they know in most cases, that the home owner probably has guns. Yet they still try and don't care.

That tells you quite a bit about the perpetrators. Most criminals will readily admit that they avoid occupied dwellings in large part due to the fear of meeting an armed homeowner.

I truly hope to never have to draw my weapon, but I ALWAYS have a loaded pistol and knife or two on me. So does my wife. We are trained and practice regularly. We go over scenarios and hope that we make the right choice should the unthinkable happen.

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca

.263 ounces (115gr) is worth a pound of cure...

 

[Paracelsian]

Yeah I'd definitely be informing the the sheriff/deputies. In case this chucklehead comes back and the worst happens. And I'd be looking for a cook somewhere on my property.
Sounds like standard tweaker-on-a-creep type activity.

 

[Bobby Mahogany]

I also think that you should file a report.
If he comes back, you already have a reason to doubt his intentions.
There might have been others telling the cops about him.
That will get their attention.
Also, ask about your "rights" and how to go about before shooting!
Cops will tell you what you have to do, number of warnings, distance from which you can start shooting, etc.
If something happens, you can apply these measures and if worse comes to worst, you can testify that you applied the correct self-defense procedure as taught to you by the cops. You will not be in trouble.

 

[Roberteaux]

Sounds like ya done it right, Hack... you were able to avoid sounding unnecessarily belligerent, but at the same time gave the guy Fair Warning by letting him know what might happen to his ass should he decide to continue fvcking around on your property. Best of all, you did it without sounding as though you were making some sort of false threat. This is important, because if there's one thing that seems to energize the psyche of the average asshole criminal, it's the defensive, verbal histrionics of the frightened, would-be victim as he tries to bluff the interloper into leaving him alone.

Well done!

Because it's germane to the thread and I felt it might amuse you, here's a photo I took of a No Trespassing sign I spotted up the road a while ago. As you can see, it's composed in a distinctly Southern Rural style that is quaint in its grammatical incorrectness, unconcerned with state statute numbers or legal citations, fairly short-- and unmistakeably to the point.

--R

 

[Spurholder]

And I'd be looking for a cook somewhere on my property. Sounds like standard tweaker-on-a-creep type activity.

Spot on. Good observation, great post.

 

[Tone deaf]

I seem to recall, growing up, that if a property was not properly marked with no trespassing signs (every 50 feet), you could technically hunt on it and not be trespassing. I never did and still wouldn't but, I always thought that was a bit cocked up.

Rob, I love that sign!

 

[Bluesky]

Imagine if he was not of your ethnicity and had a hoodie on.

And then he grabbed him and started to bang his head on the ground..........

 

[Tone deaf]

And I'd be looking for a cook somewhere on my property. Sounds like standard tweaker-on-a-creep type activity.

Be on the look out for a 20-something, white guy with a beard and a bunch of cuts and scrapes on his face. He might be with two companions that go by the names of Skinny Pete and Badger.

 

[Tone deaf]

Originally Posted by Chinese Knockoff Imagine if he was not of your ethnicity and had a hoodie on.

Dude! There's no way I'd just start blasting away just because I might think he is Swedish, Finnish or even Australian. That's warped.