Have you ever encountered shady people while hunting alone?

[Dutch]

I was wondering how many of you have encountered a freaky or shady character while out detecting by yourself.
I have not yet, since I just recently started, but it's always on my mind when I go away from civilization.
For this reason I will carry a gun with me outside of town, and a mace gun if I am in town. Paranoid, maybe, but you know the saying,
Better have it and not need it...
Anyway, just wanted to see if anyone has a good story here about this topic.

Sam

 

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[mamabear]

I always carry a gun. aside from the mountain lions, bears, & wild boars, we have tweekers & they are the most dangerous. Had some guys pull off the road not to far from me when I was just getting my gear together. made sure they saw me load & strap it on. didn't take long before they were leaving, but not before they made sure to empty their bladders here I could see. sometimes I think I must be crazy to go out alone, but it's better than not going out at all.

 

[barber]

I always carry, detecting or not. Too much going on nowadays. My dad alway said, you may never need it, but when you do, you"ll REALLY need it

 

[jeff of pa]

in about 40 years of detecting

No

 

[gary in idaho]

I never have had a problem, personally I hardly ever carry a gun (for detecting that is). I live in N. Idaho and although there is crime it's nothing like the big cities. Most people are just curious and want to know if you found anything. I'm 6'2" tall and my lesche digger is my only weapon, now if I'm going detecting where there may be black bear or cougar in the area that's a different story.

 

[extractor]

When I go detecting , I'm the one that looks shady. Old hat, sun bleached shirt, riped jeans, old sneekers, no one ever bothers me.

 

[Drudge]

I always carry, detecting or not.

Absolutely...

 

[olepossum]

i am 6feet 4 inches tall 285 pounds with a lesche ground shark digger 48 inch model pretty impressive but as most of you know i was in a bad wreck back in september of 07 so my right elbow and right shoulder are at 48% and going south so yes i carrie a cgloc 40 cal w/hollow points. and i belive in gun control deffinition = gun control the abbility to hit your target with xtreme accuracy

 

[Seamuss]

Gun controle=

Being able to hit your target with accuracy.

Using both hands.

And by all means, keeping it holstered until you need it, and pulling it out if you really need it.

When I wear a side arm and people asked if I ever pulled it out and pointed it at someone before? My answer," Only when I was threatened"

 

[JP]

Have I encountered shady people while hunting alone? Probably a few while hunting a night. Being that I couldn't see them well they may have thought the same of me

Have I seen some weird things while out detecting? That's a definite yes. One time over at Vero Beach 2 years ago I was out by myself on the beach near the hotel around 11 pm. There is an area that is about a half a mile of nothing. All of a sudden, with headphones on, I heard the loudest noise. I jumped maybe 5 feet. It was a small prop plane maybe 30 feet from shore, it seemed it was just barely over the water. I honestly thought it was going to crash.; no lights, no nothing. A few days later a few miles north of where I was detecting they found plastic bales of you know what that had floated up on shore. It really made me start thinking the what ifs. What if the attended receivers were on the same stretch of beach as me and no one else around. So, when we have gone back over there I don't detect that area anymore.

 

[Seamuss]

Have I encountered shady people while hunting alone? Probably a few while hunting a night. Being that I couldn't see them well they may have thought the same of me

Have I seen some weird things while out detecting? That's a definite yes. One time over at Vero Beach 2 years ago I was out by myself on the beach near the hotel around 11 pm. There is an area that is about a half a mile of nothing. All of a sudden, with headphones on, I heard the loudest noise. I jumped maybe 5 feet. It was a small prop plane maybe 30 feet from shore, it seemed it was just barely over the water. I honestly thought it was going to crash.; no lights, no nothing. A few days later a few miles north of where I was detecting they found plastic bales of you know what that had floated up on shore. It really made me start thinking the what ifs. What if the attended receivers were on the same stretch of beach as me and no one else around. So, when we have gone back over there I don't detect that area anymore.

Time to leave grasshopper.

 

[JP]

Time to leave grasshopper.

Yes, you are 100% correct Master Po . I got out of there faster then you know what a duck does when it squats

I'll never be out there alone again at night in an isolated area. It was probably one of the stupidest things I've ever done while metal detecting....live and learn. I now mostly hunt with a partner or two.

 

[Seamuss]

Time to leave grasshopper.

Yes, you are 100% correct Master Po . I got out of there faster then you know what a duck does when it squats

I'll never be out there alone again at night in an isolated area. It was probably one of the stupidest things I've ever done while metal detecting....live and learn. I now mostly hunt with a partner or two.

You have done well for a grasshopper.

 

[diggummup]

When I go detecting , I'm the one that looks shady. Old hat, sun bleached shirt, riped jeans, old sneekers, no one ever bothers me.

Exactly, just look at my avatar.

 

[Seamuss]

I can some times appear to be a little bit shady myself. Then when I'm approached by a really seedy shady person...I will act the part myself and they usually leave me the hell along.

Blue jeans and a tee shirt/sweet shirt that's a little frade around the collar and sleeves and maybe(time of the year) a dirty worn dinum jacket sure helps. With that crazed look on my face.

MAN, that sounds just like that shady person that your talking about avoiding. I need to get help before going to public places. Oh, never mind, I'm cool around you(my fellow detectorist).

 

[aladdin]

How bout a gang ! Anyone ,anyone!!!!!

 

[Monty]

I've carried a handgun most of my adult life and would feel naked without it. But I have never been so threatened that I thought I might need it while out detecting. My worse encounter was with a gang of juvies about 13 to 15 years old. They kinda' surrounded me asking really intimidating questions and started messing with my gear. I talked my way out of it by acting nuts and they left me alone. Well, I was acting nuttier than I really am I mean! I've hunted some pretty seedy parts of town where I got some hard looks but so far no one has bothered me. The gangbangers don't hit the streets until around noon and by then I am long gone. My wife and I went to a late movie and had to walk through a parkade to the car and it was quite late at night and the place was pretty much deserted. Three older gangbanger types walked real fast as if to cut us off before we could reach the car. I pulled my .45 ACP Colt out and jacked a round in where they could see and hear it. I heard them say something about one of them's mother and they veered off and went over behind an elevator shaft. That's the only time I ever had to even show it. Monty

 

[JP]

I've carried a handgun most of my adult life ..... I pulled my .45 ACP Colt out and jacked a round in where they could see and hear it. I heard them say something about one of them's mother and they veered off and went over behind an elevator shaft. That's the only time I ever had to even show it. Monty

If I told you how many times I've had to do that none of you guys would believe me. I've spent half of my time in El Salvador since 1992 and have stories that honestly I wouldn't even believe them hearing them from anyone else.

In Florida I only had to pull a handgun on someone once. I was at Green Key beach in New Port Richey, Florida back in the early 90's. This guy was watching us from the woods and as we walked towards the car the guy came out running with a knife in his hand. I got to the car first and pulled out a handgun that I had in the glove compartment. He got to within 20 feet of us when he saw it pointing at him. He stopped and started to laugh. He then just walked away. That beach is nice now because the county takes care of it. They actually have a fulltime person that is out there all day. In the past if there was ever a murder in Pasco County, 9 times out of 10 they would dump the body out there......(I believe there was a total of 2 in a twenty year period)

 

[undertaker]

I guess it depends on where you live and your surroundings. Here in Vermont carring a gun if it wasn't concealed would probably scare landowners. You don't see many shadey people unless they are under a large tree trying to get out of the sun. And the wild animals here run away when they see you. Your chances of hurting your back bending down to dig a relic are much more relistic here than shady characters.

 

[BIG61AL]

i am a firm believer in "911". i don't fear anyone.....I'll let the cops do what they love to do - giving bad people really a bad day. if push comes to shove they can tell the cops why my digger is stuck in their eye socket. luckily, the worst i had to deal with so far is a bunch of smart ass teenagers.....