Creeps in the Woods

Im glad you guys got out ok.. things could have been way worse. When i'm in the mountains (I dont climb, but I hike a lot of well-traveled trails) I carry my Ontario MKIII or my CRKT SOTFB Tanto on my hip, my BM 551 in my pocket my machete on my pack and my CRKT STIFF KISS in my boot. I like to feel safe when the worst can happen. I've never met someone in the mountains that tried to pull that type of stuff with me thankfully (I have a short fuse for BS like that.) All in all i'm happy you guys got out okay.
 
OK Rick..one time I ran into this girl and she had a flute.....I wasn't at band camp, so it was weird.
Actually...seriously...I was at a great climbing spot here in MA 2 years ago, and this guy was following people around at the top (Crow hill). I had run into him while out in the woods earlier, taking some pics of a new knife...he snuk up on me, I left the area, and then later I saw him following some younger girls around the top of the cliff.
Up on the top, there is a trail, and thats about it, a few clearings, but basically, it feels cramped for being the "woods". After a while, he set up not far from me, I was sitting about 10 feet from the edge, making a cup of tea, and eating a granola bar, enjoying the view. After a bit, I looked at him and asked what , if anything, he wanted...he left without saying a word.
Honestly, later while in the car going home, I felt bad. I made him leave. I looked at him, gave him the stink eye or mad dog look, whatever...I made him leave.
Sure, he creeped me out, but it wasn't my "view" , its everyone's view.
I don't know if this really applies, but, I know that sometimes I want to have the woods all to myself, but I don't own them.
Also, he didn't destroy my property, like the OP, or endanger my loved ones...that's some messed up stuff.
 
There are lots of great people in the woods, and alot of creeps.
Great story, way to think ahead.
Buy a glock.
 
GKN, I understand you are saying "you" in general terms. I don't want my response to come across the wrong way so I will wait til I am home and not on my phone in my patrol car.
 
yikes! this story hit a nerve with me as I am often in the woods with my GF. please tell us where you were in new england?? I am from central Ma so I am curious.

J ps I think you handled yourself very well considering ALL factors involved!!
 
Taking the knives and guns out of the equation for a moment... I have found myself in situations where i didnt have a good feeling about someone but let my ego or pride prevent me from making a smart assesment of the situation. By this i mean i stuck my ground to make sure they didnt think i was intimidated. This would especially be the case if my girlfriend/wife was present... "cant let this fool make me look bad..etc". But over the years ive learned that not walking away when you should can make you a lot worse off.

I think that was a proper way to handle the situation... get out of there. Youll never know if the story could have been the next bizarre national news tragedy had you stayed.

I particularly like the idea of having a code word with your partner to discretely say "im not comfortable...bear with me and lets leave.". Think most wives/gf's would respect that far more than tempting fate with movie machismo.
 
CanDo,

Your post gave me the willies.. I don't tend to post anymore--but your post drew my attention. Long-story short--I've been in similar situations, I know what you mean by 'vibes'... As a victim of molestation, abuse, & several beatings (as a kid), I know all too well how shi!!y people can be.. A good path to take is self-defense, I've trained since I was maybe ten-or-eleven, currently I practice at a professional level--it's worth the time--it can save your life. A person doesn't have to go all out & then some like me, a couple classes paired with good, common sense & a cool-head are all that anyone really needs. I'm sorry to hear your good time was spoiled like that, not to mention that your lines were cut (which could have caused a much worse time..) Your course of action was a fine one--flight, you got the two of you the HELL out of dodge & to safety. :) I'm glad it turned out okay for you two.

B2D..
Willified.. :eek:
 
Excellent, and I think the one thing that's being overlooked here is that OP wasn't alone and his GF wasn't alone.

I've been around the world and I can tell you it's far better to have at least one other person with you at all times, it's better to keep your cool and AVOID than rush into a rash decision.

What I do constantly is look for entrance, basic plan for the day/event and keep your eyes on the exits, physical or otherwise.

You went to climb (entrance) to rappel (event) and had a plan to leave in your vehicle, which you made the right decision about. No part of your plan for that day included that (expletive) and his sidekick, they presented themselves, you attempted to continue with your plan until you felt that it was time to exit, you expedited your exit and it worked out.

In short, you did an amazing job, doing mental run-throughs can help you become more decisive, I know my internet opinion isn't worth much but for what it's worth, do not second guess any decision you made. When you know something is wrong it means that something is wrong and you need to expedite your exit.

As far as the mace/knives/gun mini debate, guns are tools, just like knives, they give you options that you are incapable of without them.

The one thing that creeped me out recently in the woods.... a deer tick tried to bite my youngest daughter.... Lymes disease sends chills down my spine, there was an instant tick hunt for everyone.
 
Back when I lived in Montana I would sometimes fish this small river that ran through my town. One day as I'm walking up the trail back to my pickup I spot two dogs play fighting with each other. I made sure to make enough noise for them to hear me so that they wouldn't be spooked and atack me, but it did no good. They ran towards me snarrling and barking. They kept around me trying to bite me for a while. I figured the owners would notice and retrieve the dogs but nobody showed. I had to use my rod tube to keep them back otherwise they would definetly have bitten me. Eventually some drunk dude comes stumbling out of the brush and yells at the dogs (which took off towards him) he then started yelling at me saying I should leave his f'n dogs alone. I tried to explain that I was only defending myself and that I wasn't trying to hurt them. He wasn't listening and went back into the brush. I started walking the trail again, but before I went even 10 feet a grapefruit sized rock goes flying past me and lands on the ground. I stopped and said "Did you just throw an f'n rock at me?". He went back into the brush and I didn't see him again. I got to my pickup and thought about calling the cops, but I just wanted to be done with it. Looking back I wished that I would have.
 
I had a guy stalking me while I was on a hiking path a few years ago. I'm still not absolutely convinced he was anything but harmless and some kind of nut, but as I was walking he was following me off the trail through brush and the hills. From time to time when the brush cleared out at the same time, he would come out on to the trail and act like, "Oh we ran into each other," and then disappear in again. I think he must have thought that I didn't know he was there or something, but the whole time I could hear him following and I would catch glimpses of him wandering through the trees because he had this bright red flannel on. It was getting pretty nerve racking because it didn't seem right, but I was just keeping an eye on him and wanted to get to the end of the trail. He just didn't look like he had any purpose out there and like he was just buzzing around me.

I came across some old dead fall in the middle of the trail. I hadn't seen the guy for a while and I guess I kind of forgot about him. I took out the Buck 119 I had with me and started to hack some of the smaller branches off so I could actually climb over the obstruction the trunk.

Well, as I'm sitting there working on these branches, this guy comes out and surprises me by coming up behind me and says something like, "Nice looking knife there." He really surprised me and I had about as much from him as I wanted and I remember saying, "I don't mean any harm, but I know you've been following me and it makes me uncomfortable, and the safest thing you could do for yourself is to keep that distance and get the *explicative* away from me", while I was white-knuckling the 119... Not really gesturing any type of threat, but I could see his eye trained on it.

The guy's demeanor changed drastically and he had a very cold look in his face, but he backed off, didn't saw a word, just scowled at me as he climbed up the little hill that was at this part of the path. As soon as I was alone again I called the cops and told them where I was at and that some guy was following me through the canyon trail, and they said they would try to get someone out there. All through the way back to my car the guy was still following, but now he wasn't bothering to stay hidden nearly enough, just following me and giving me a dirty look when I saw him--at times he was never more than 20 yards off the trail, and even creepier is that when he would cross back on to it, he would turn around to face me and walk backward. After a while I stopped wanting to let him leave my sight, but I didn't want to follow him out into the brush where he could just hide behind a tree or a bush and attack me with something, so it was pretty nerve-racking when he would disappear from sight because every time I passed some heavier vegetation I felt like he was going to burst out and attack. Instead he would just take this meandering kind of path over hills and through bush, coming in and out of sight.

When I made it about 1/4 mile from my car I finally found some Sheriff's deputies out there. They asked me what was going on and I told them about this guy, but he must have seen them and taken off because there was no sign of another human being as they escorted me back to the car. They didn't treat me like I was crazy or anything, but kind of had this idea that maybe I was just a little spooked by the guy, but I don't know... It was just so bizarre the way he was buzzing around me and making inane "water-cooler" type conversation in the middle of the woods, but what mostly bothered me was just this friendly facade that I felt was phony the whole time. It was just creepy the things he'd decide to bring up, and then just disappear, and then do it again like it was normal... It would be like, he'd come on to the trail, ask something like, "So do you visit this area a lot?" and I might say, "No, first time" just trying not to get into a conversation with him, and he'd be like, "Well, see ya," and head into the brush, then come back around, "Have many relatives in this area?" and so on and so forth.

In any case, I can definitely see how my shouting at him with the Buck 119 out would make him weary, but the way he continued to follow me even afterward is a little more telling that there was something off with him. After all, would you follow around a guy in the woods if he had just gotten very upset with you while holding a large knife? Again, I think it's real possible he could have been some harmless nut, but on the other hand he could have been some deranged killer waiting for me to let my guard down.
 
Once upon a time this country had places for people like this but now we let them wander all over. Not all of them are dangerous but some of them are. I do disagree that you should let them dictate your day and just leave.

I have had a few encounters with strange people over the years. I usually start with we are doing something here and would like to be left alone. If they leave I thank them and watch out to see they really go away. If that doesn't work I tell them immediately they are bothering me and to get away from me. I don't let it go far enough that they are ever comfortable hanging around me. Generally you can tell if they belong or not.

I have never had it go beyond that point in the back country.

Many years ago a couple of girls and I walked several miles up a trail to a high mountain lake. We hung out for a few hours and decided to head back in the dark. We had a good moon and the trail was clear so we didn't think much about it even though we had been drinking a little. We were just about down to where we had parked when we came around a corner and saw a large bonfire right on the trail. There was about 20-30 bikers having a pretty good party with no way around them. I was just barely out of OCS with my hair high and tight, clean shaven, wearing a polo shirt, shorts and carrying the smallest Al Mar folder you have probably ever seen.

I didn't see any women with them and I didn't want to try to walk through them with two young cuties in tow. They didn't look like they were leaving any time soon so I decided I would walk down by myself and feel the situation out or get beaten to death :) When I stepped into the light I think I scared them as much as they were scaring me. After about 15 minutes of conversation explaining to them I wasn't a cop and was just enjoying the mountains much the same as them they chilled out. It probably took me 45 minutes to an hour to decide it was safe to bring the girls down. By the time I went back for them they were so mad thinking I had abandoned them that I sure wouldn't have envied any guy that gave them any smack. Anyways our plan was just to pass through and get on back to town.

Of course it didn't work that way. They saw the girls and their eyes lit up and several of them pulled out bottles of their special hooch to share. We stayed and had a few swigs with them and met some really cool guys. Not really my type of people but if they were telling the truth most of them worked in a warehouse for IBM at the time and seemed like pretty decent people.

It could have gone much worse and I suspect had we all three walked down at the same time it might have gotten out of hand. If it did there was probably little I could have done about it. In retrospect being polite and letting everyone know the situation worked out well as I think it generally will. But every since that time many years ago I am ALWAYS better prepared to deal with bad situations starting with trying not to get into them to start with.
 
gunknifenut said:
Yup..thats what I am saying.
[Snip]
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First, I'm not advocating shooting someone for "kicking sand in your face". And secondly, that sounds like an issue that you need to take up with legislators. Part of the issue is that you live in a very liberal-mindset run state.

Typically, there aren't too many "justified" shootings because most mature people get themselves out of the situation without having to use the gun, or more often than not, don't have a gun with them when it would have, in fact, been justified to use it. I can name several instances off the top of my head where someone came into another person's house, with a gun of their own, and without, where the intruder was shot and the shooter was not arrested. They may have been detained for a short while, but after a call to the DA, charges were not sought.

If you want some examples of instances where it's ok to shoot here you go:
-home invasion where invaders have guns or otherwise threaten harm
-armed robberies on the street
-armed car-jackings
-large unarmed group attacking single person that is armed
-etc, etc

Granted, I am generalizing and the specific details of these encounters would determine a lot.

The fact that it seems like you are saying there are no justified reasons to defend oneself with a gun is a little disheartening.

I am also not advocating, for those that are not LEO's, to use deadly force in the situations you described (store robbery, bank robbery, etc). Those examples you gave were ones where the bystander was not in the direct line of harms way. For those times I suggest not risking your own life and being a good witness when the police do arrive. For a citizen simply out with his family, the use of firearms is best used only when they or their family is in direct danger. For myself, as a LEO, I am expected to act if a felony is taking place in my presence (if I am off-duty when I witness it) so it's a little different, but I won't go into those details for now.

I also never suggested that the OP shoot the guy for cutting the rope, that is ridiculous. What I did advocate is HAVING a means of protection. The guy could have had a gun throughout the entire encounter, pulled it on the OP towards the end and then what would the OP have done? He could have tried to do something, but it might not have done any good. Preparedness is the key, and as you alluded, I would rather take action and protect my own life or my wife's life and end up doing time (should that be the case) than be dead. But you can't protect yourself against people (who you should assume are armed) unless you too are armed, it's that simple.

If it is true, in your state, that I would go to jail for defending myself in a clear-cut situationn please remind me to not visit there. That is not the case in the majority of places.

ETA: I too am using "you" as a general term, not meaning you specifically.
 
Lucky buggers

Here in Australia it is against the law to act in self defense with a weapon. In fact unless you are ambushed you can't even punch someone
 
Waldganger said:
Lucky buggers

Here in Australia it is against the law to act in self defense with a weapon. In fact unless you are ambushed you can't even punch someone
Click to expand...

It's sad to say really, but much of the US is going that way too, although at a slower pace. The problem is that the "bad guys" know this and use it to their advantage. They really don't have anything to fear in those places. They know the person they are robbing/assaulting/etc. won't do anything, and they know that the court system will only give them a slap on the hand. There really isn't any incentive for these guys to be decent, productive citizens.

Eventually the system will need a reboot and will collapse in on itself. It will be a self correcting problem.

Sorry if I am straying WAY off topic here.
 
man all these stories are nuts. All ive ever encountered in the woods was hippies, and all they did was offer me hits from their bong in exchange for helping them get their fire going or some wood processed. I never thought about self protection on day hiking trips, but im usually carrying many large knives. Plus if there ever was a problem im sure i could evade the issue by slipping off the beaten path and waiting for the a-hole to get bored of looking for me and leave. Hell when it comes to my own well being, ill be happy to set up a makeshift camp for an overnight stay if im that worried for my safety and i think the guy is waiting for me at my car.

People are freaking weird man.
 
devilpig said:
First, I'm not advocating shooting someone for "kicking sand in your face". And secondly, that sounds like an issue that you need to take up with legislators. Part of the issue is that you live in a very liberal-mindset run state.

Typically, there aren't too many "justified" shootings because most mature people get themselves out of the situation without having to use the gun, or more often than not, don't have a gun with them when it would have, in fact, been justified to use it. I can name several instances off the top of my head where someone came into another person's house, with a gun of their own, and without, where the intruder was shot and the shooter was not arrested. They may have been detained for a short while, but after a call to the DA, charges were not sought.

If you want some examples of instances where it's ok to shoot here you go:
-home invasion where invaders have guns or otherwise threaten harm
-armed robberies on the street
-armed car-jackings
-large unarmed group attacking single person that is armed
-etc, etc

Granted, I am generalizing and the specific details of these encounters would determine a lot.

The fact that it seems like you are saying there are no justified reasons to defend oneself with a gun is a little disheartening.

I am also not advocating, for those that are not LEO's, to use deadly force in the situations you described (store robbery, bank robbery, etc). Those examples you gave were ones where the bystander was not in the direct line of harms way. For those times I suggest not risking your own life and being a good witness when the police do arrive. For a citizen simply out with his family, the use of firearms is best used only when they or their family is in direct danger. For myself, as a LEO, I am expected to act if a felony is taking place in my presence (if I am off-duty when I witness it) so it's a little different, but I won't go into those details for now.

I also never suggested that the OP shoot the guy for cutting the rope, that is ridiculous. What I did advocate is HAVING a means of protection. The guy could have had a gun throughout the entire encounter, pulled it on the OP towards the end and then what would the OP have done? He could have tried to do something, but it might not have done any good. Preparedness is the key, and as you alluded, I would rather take action and protect my own life or my wife's life and end up doing time (should that be the case) than be dead. But you can't protect yourself against people (who you should assume are armed) unless you too are armed, it's that simple.

If it is true, in your state, that I would go to jail for defending myself in a clear-cut situationn please remind me to not visit there. That is not the case in the majority of places.

ETA: I too am using "you" as a general term, not meaning you specifically.
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I agree, having a carry pistol is the best form of protection.
The OP had a strange situation where the rope placed his belongings in 2 places at once...I think all he could do was leave his rope at first, I don't see how having a pistol could have helped him at all with the story as he told it. Brandishing a pistol to someone that makes you "feel" strange is a crime in MA. LEO's have to remember, they have a uniform on, which lets everyone know that they are armed..
For the rest of us, being armed, using concealed carry, you have to be armed while not letting anyone know you are armed, until you intend to shoot them.
This can make some things complicated.

Anyways, carrying a pistol is THE only choice for self defense while out amongst the crazies IMO. I still think you had better have a REALLY good reason to shoot someone (like they are running at you with an axe) out in the wild. No matter the reason, most will "question" your story...I should think.
 
dipbait said:
Its funny how we can judge a book by its cover and usually be right.
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I have run into people who made me uncomfortable when I was camping

I was right , they made me uncomfortable :P

It coulda been that they were near my camp , or that they were drunk and working on drunker and making loud announcments that they were feeling like they needed to fight someone

funny part was one of the more sober ones pointed out that even the crippled up old girl over at our camp was carrying a knife ( her kuhkri , she had helped me butcher a goat I killed ) and that he thought itd be funny to see his mate being chased off by a old woman waving a knife , and they all shut up , eventually got in their car and drove off drunk as monkeys .

I have been a bit worried about some folk tho when it was unwarranted . Once when we were camped along the nulabor , a couple of euro looking people pulled up , drove around some then parked really close .. I mean out there there is no nothing for as far as you can see , definitely no need to cram up like that ..

they came over and asked tho if we minded , they simply were kind of freaked out by the sheer emptiness of the place and wanted company to camp with was all .
I didnt mind , they were OK .
 
Instinct is something you have to listen to. The OP did good by watching the top of the mountain. I'm not a climber, but if I knew a strange guy was hanging out at the top, I sure as hell wouldn't be putting my life on the line (forgive the pun).

In the same situation, if I had a firearm, I wouldn't have thought about drawing it unless the guys tried to close the distance with the rock. I personally carry a large fixed blade and several folders in the woods, as well as a large stick to help me check for snakes. That and being extraordinarily large for Asia tend to keep me safe. I also tend to use trails very few other people use--I've only ever seen three other people on my favorite trail in 15 years, and two of them were a couple!
 
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