Was this all my head?

[1ST DRAW]

     Since I wasn't able to make to Unicoi this past Saturday I went on a trip to look at some new public areas I had been map scouting. I needed to go in person to see if they were what I was looking for and get the lay of land. It was the first day of the two week VA winter season so I thought some armed scouting would be ideal.
     After the three-hour trip I arrived at the first spot a little late at about 8 am. I passed a couple of local ladies and their dog who was wearing a pink sweater on the gravel road leading to the trail head. I waved and said hi but they didn't seem very friendly. Oh well, probably see strangers through there all the time I thought. While I was at the trail head getting my gear ready they caught up to me. I was changing my boots and noticed one of the ladies on her cell phone. Nothing too abnormal about that. They turned around to go the way came and gave me a big "hello and have a nice day". I responded in kind thinking that was kind of odd considering the stink eye they gave me when I drove past them on the way in. I took a cell phone picture of the WMA map on the sign board in the parking lot and texted it to my wife giving her my location before I went in the woods. When I turned around to go another car pulled in the lot and stopped between me and the gate. This is a pretty big lot so I thought no problem. Sharing the spot with someone else wont be a big deal, there was a lot of ground there in that WMA.
     This is where is got weird. The guy never got out of his car. Just sat in it between me at my car and the trail head, for a long time, like he was waiting for me to walk by. It sure seemed to me like this guy didn't want me to go in those woods. I started to wonder if this was all in my head (and it might be) but just in case I went into self defense mode: shot gun slowly off shoulder and handy, slowly clear the sidearm holster, positioned my car between me and the other vehicle. Still wasn't sure what the heck is going on here. I kept looking at ONX on my phone and looking around the landscape pretending to get my bearings and waiting for this guy to do something while I was thinking about the situation. A normal interaction with another guy at the gate is usually somewhat genial as we discuss our plans so we can avoid one another in the field. Guy never got out of the car or attempted to make contact. After about a half hour of this I decided there were likely two possible outcomes. There will be an altercation on my way around the other car to get to the trail, which could very well lead to a terrible event. Or I will find property damage to my vehicle when I get back. I finally decided neither possibility was worth scouting some new turkey ground and got in my car and left for another spot.
Have you guys ever experienced something like this? 

[the Ward]

 

[Zobo]

I think it could have been all in your head a bit. But what's in your head matters and can ruin a hunt.  I ran into early morning anti hunters once while waterfowling on a wildlife refuge and to be honest even though I stuck in out and shot a few ducks and geese, they kind of ruined the hunt for me. In a way they succeeded because I was worried the whole time about vandalism to my truck.

[Greg Massey]

Great post and i'm sure this happens quite often. I'm sure others will comment about Public land experience .. I agree it could go either way .. positive or negative encounters on public ground.

[GobbleNut]

Not knowing anything at all about your circumstances there, the first thing that comes to my mind about this situation is whether you were absolutely certain that particular property was open for hunting?  The fact that there were no other hunters at the parking area, and in combination with actions of those folks you encountered would make me look closely at the regulations to be sure I could legally hunt there. 

Your situation reminds me of an "incident" that happened decades ago while I was in college.  I was talking to a couple of guys I knew (we were all in the wildlife management degree field) and they were telling me about how they had gone to a particular area to hunt deer.  Three of them killed three bucks in a day of hunting, saw no other hunters there, and lots of deer.  They were all excited about it,...until I pointed out to them that they were hunting in a closed area! 

Now, I'm not saying that this might have been the case in your situation, but again, all the extenuating circumstances with the ladies, their phone call, the watchful guy in the vehicle, and nobody else hunting would make me take a closer look at the regulations,...and especially for an area that I was not familiar with.

[FLGobstopper]

Possibly in your head, possibly not. Had an altercation last year similar except no little old ladies but a younger couple who lived among 5 or 6 small parcels that we're surrounded by a pretty large WMA. A great creek that always holds gobblers runs right behind those properties. I usually park and come in from an area on the other side of the creek, but some years when we get a big rain the bottom is flooded and the only way to get into that bottom is by coming in from their side. I've met a few of the property owners before and had pleasant experiences with them and they also turkey hunt on their little parcels and we've shared some info, courtesy to not mess one another up and wished one another good luck.

Well, one afternoon after a good storm had passed I sat out the morning and decided to hit that creek bottom. On the way in I saw this couple walking down the public road that the private properties share with the WMA. Drove past all the parcels and parked at the end of the road. Took my time getting out of the truck while formulating a plan and then headed in across a pretty open field that I could be seen from as well as see across to my truck as I entered the creek bottom. No sooner I inside the creek bottom I'm looking at my phone looking for a high ground area I've marked and I bust a gobbler. DANG IT! Thinking I'm just going to sit tight for a while let things calm down and move as slowly and cautiously as I can because the higher than normal water obviously has at least 1 turkey pushed up out of the bottom some and there's possibly more.

I'm standing there looking and listening when all the sudden BAM, BAM... BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM... BAM, BAM, BAM... and it's CLOSE!!! I'm thinking it sounds like someone is target practicing, but it sounds like someone is target practicing right by my truck. Shooting stops and I slowly creep behind tree closer to the woods line where I can see to the field and my truck. There standing by my truck is the guy I had passed by on the way in. I see him raise the pistol and start shooting again really close to my truck into the dirt.

So, I'm thinking this guy is just target shooting, but 1. I'm a bit pissed because he's shooting right by my truck and 2. he's on public which is illegal to target practice for obvious safety and I just walked back into the woods pretty close by and he obviously knows it because he's standing right by my truck. I get to the woodline after he stops shooting again and yell hey, I'm over here. He looks right at me then I see his girlfriend or whatever she is start walking away towards the closet private property line fence a few hundred yards away. He then starts following her because I came out of the woods and started walking towards my trucks. Our paths are going to meet because he pretty much has to walk past me to get to the property boundary. Well he then picks up his pace and crosses the fence and then stands of the other side.

I get a bit closer probably 30- 40 yds or so and as calmly and kindly as I can under the circumstances ask, "Sir are you going to continue target practicing this afternoon or are you done? Also, at this point I'm videoing this whole interaction on my phone that I have in my left had down by my side. To make this long story much shorter, the guy threatened my with his pistol telling me to leave and that I couldn't be there. Well I didn't take the threat too well but I didn't react, but rather responded by backing out and away. I immediately called the Sheriff's office and then the game warden and within about 10 minutes I had 5 deputies at my location. A lot happened after that I'm not going to go into too anymore detail on other than I hunted that creek bottom again the next day and that person was taken care of by the sheriff's office.

I'm just saying all this to say nothing would surprise me on public land anymore and none of us should be surprised, but don't be paranoid, but be very, very aware of what's happening around you at all times. I've me a lot of great people hunting in and around public over the past 30+ years, in and out of state and I do not plan on letting a few people with horrible attitudes that think they bully or can keep others away from stopping me.

[wyetterp]

Yeah you got to pay attention everywhere. You never know what type of people are around.

We had severe flooding here a few years back. I was hunting a NF that the main road going in was impassable for most vehicles. I have a lifted rubicon & had no problem. This NF has a few dozen residential houses in the middle. On my way out that night it was pouring rain again & there was a little honda with water above the wheels stuck in the middle of the road with no one in it. I had to wiggle around it. After I got a couple hundred yards past I saw a guy, in regular clothes, wading through, heading out the NF. I stopped & asked if he was okay. He said he lived back there & was just trying to get out, but couldn't make it. I asked where he was going & if he needed a ride. He said if I could just drive him to the closest gas station, he's get someone to come pick him up. So, I told him to hop in.

I tried striking up a conversation about the flooding & if everything was okay with him. He didn't want any part of any questions & came across rather rude & short tempered. Started making me kinda uneasy. The guy had a medium size camo bag with him & started kinda opening it & checking the inside & would quickly close it back shut. After a few miles he did this several times & I really started to go on high alert. Finally I had to ask him again, is everything okay. I got a harsh, yeah it's f'ing fine followed by him checking his stupid bag again. Now I had enough, & I asked, dude what's in the bag? You keep checking that thing every couple seconds & making me uneasy giving you a ride. He blurted out, IT'S NONE OF YOUR F"ING BUSINESS & I JUST NEED A RIDE TO THE F"ING GAS STATION!!!!. That was it for me. I stopped & told him I've taken him as far as I feel comfortable with & it's time he get out. He clinched his bag with his feet & hand & said again, just give me a ride to the f'ing gas station. I said hell no & he better get out right now. He flat out said NO! As soon as he did I reached across him & shoved his door open & said get out now. He started to yell something & resisted getting out so I shoved him as hard as I could with both hands. As he was falling out I began to drive forward. As soon as he was all the way out I sped up which closed the door on its own. I could see him starting to chase toward my jeep & yelling as I sped away. I was shaking like a leaf & no way I was stopping.

After I got a good bit down the road I realized he didn't manage to grab his bag while I was shoving him out. Again, no way was I going back. Just way too many red flags for me.

You just never know what you'll run into. Crazy stuff can happen at any time & you never know what might happen or what you might find.

[Redlegz]

So what was in the bag?!

[crow]

So what was in the bag?!

Look in the bag and see if it's as full of poop as this story 

[Neill_Prater]

I grew up in another time, in a perfect example of small town America, so that tends to make me less suspicious of others. I look back at my younger life, and can think of several situations where my interactions with strangers could have gone very badly for me, but fortunately, never did.

That said, wisdom comes with age, and I no longer assume that all is copacetic when it comes to my fellow man. So far, a big grin and a friendly wave have been all I needed to defuse any potential touchy situations. I normally carry a pistol, but I believe turkey rounds would likely be a more effective defense.

In your situation, I would have probably loaded my shotgun (if legal to do so in the parking area in your state) and sauntered over to the guys car with that big grin on my face and tried to engage him in conversation asking if he was getting ready to go hunting and if so, which direction was he heading so I could go in another direction so as to not interfere with his hunt. Depending on his demeanor, I would have then made a decision as to whether to stay or go.

Time was, I didn't think twice about there actually being a problem with anyone I happened across in the woods, but with the current less than friendly attitude and general disdain for anyone not from their own zip code exhibited by many so called sportsmen, something I even detect a hint of in the occasional post on this board, I no longer assume anything.

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

[wyetterp]

So what was in the bag?!

In the friendliest way.....it's really none of your business. But if you ever wanna give me a ride we could talk more about it. 

Look in the bag and see if it's as full of poop as this story