Your weirdest woods encounter

myright · Sep 9, 2009

Cpl Punishment said:
I may be wrong, but IMO if your "Spidy sense" goes off, you should trust it.
Although I'd argue that you leave the area, rather than investigate.

It may be nothing, but it may be that you are picking something up that you don't consciously realize, and it may save your bacon.

Me? I like to bring my dog. I do trust his "doggie sense" more than my "spidy sense".

:thumbup:

Doggie sense is not to be messed with. Also - I'm a firm believer of trusting your gut and not investigating like they do in the horror films.

BushcraftBrainTrust · Sep 9, 2009

myright said:
:thumbup:

Doggie sense is not to be messed with. Also - I'm a firm believer of trusting your gut and not investigating like they do in the horror films.

I just steer of Walmart all together.

It's amazing how many people fight through their gut feeling and later say "they had a bad feeling".

Cpl Punishment · Sep 9, 2009

myright said:
Also - I'm a firm believer of trusting your gut and not investigating like they do in the horror films.

Unless carrying something of large caliber, preferably belt-fed.

Don Rearic · Sep 9, 2009

I just don't see any reason to call the police unless you actually suspect something is wrong. :::shrug:::

kr1 · Sep 9, 2009

BushcraftBrainTrust said:
I just steer of Walmart all together.

It's amazing how many people fight through their gut feeling and later say "they had a bad feeling".

A remarkably cogent point.

Several of you have made this point and it is an excellent one. Only two reasons that I can think of. One, being overly goal oriented which is the stupidest of reasons and gets way too many people in trouble and I have seen that myself. I will recognize that mistake and not make it again when hiking with my wife. The second is a little more subtle and difficult to control and that is I have been going into situations like that for a while and it becomes kind of a normal state. It’s not fear as much as a heightened state of awareness. To try to be aware of any evolving situation that can become dangerous.

I will also say that there is a requirement in my state that whenever a “reasonable person” has a suspicion that there may be a problem with regards to a child, I have a legal duty to act as a “mandated reporter”. It doesn’t mean that there is a problem, only that any reasonable person might believe that one exists. More than anything that is the reason that I wanted that checked. I felt that was a reasonable thing to do for a 9 or 10 year old whether I was actually legally obliged or not.

The antifreeze, if that was what it was. My impression, and that is all it was, was that he may have torn shit out of his cooling system in his attempt to get out.

And his fear factor of my wife and I would be likely be very low. Visually, my wife and I appear as harmless as milk. The questions I asked were related to the fishing and how the fishing was and not knowing you could launch a boat at that site. Not “you know, it’s illegal to camp here, and have a fire here, and fish here, especially to be trapping fish and I’m calling the cops, just as soon as I can get a cell signal”. I’ll also mention that these were things that he brought up. He did a lot more talking than I did. You know, that nervous type of babble, all while clearing camp.

But I was hoping that you would be telling me your weirdest woods encounters. Not making me tell you why I thought mine was weird.

randomlooker · Sep 9, 2009

I once found the remains of a 3-wheeler ATV on a steep hillside in heavy woods, a fair ways from the nearest trail. Looked like it'd been there for years, in terrain that I wouldn't have thought would have been remotely possible to tackle with one. Apparently it was, but not quite navigable enough to go back.

Had a SAR mission a few weeks ago that could have been a weird, not to mention traumatic encounter for random hikers. A guy on a backpacking trip had a heart attack and died. His buddies did CPR for a long time, then went for help, leaving him lying on the trail with a sleeping bag draped top. Imagine coming up on that without warning...

Luckily, it was a seldom-used trail and nobody stumbled upon the scene before we got there.

Joel Stave · Sep 9, 2009

randomlooker said:
Had a SAR mission a few weeks ago that could have been a weird, not to mention traumatic encounter for random hikers. A guy on a backpacking trip had a heart attack and died. His buddies did CPR for a long time, then went for help, leaving him lying on the trail with a sleeping bag draped top. Imagine coming up on that without warning... Luckily, it was a seldom-used trail and nobody stumbled upon the scene before we got there.

Randomlooker, sorry for being off topic, but it sounds like you're a SAR person, so I just had to ask about this. You mentioned buddies -- shouldn't at least one person have stayed with the guy that was down while others went for help?

Tostig · Sep 9, 2009

dipbait said:
My spidie senses tingled this spring while mushroom hunting. I was by myself except for a friends dog. Walking along I got an uneasy feeling about the area I was heading into. Didnt hear or see anything.The area looked peaceful and serene. I stopped , stared and listened for a minute or two , nothing strange was observed. The dog was about thirty feet in front of me. She stopped sniffing around, looked in the same direction , her hair stood up and she growled. I quietly retreated out .

Had the same thing happen one more than one occassion.

I quietly retreated out

Which resulted in the same reaction from me !

Tostig

GrinderMcgee · Sep 9, 2009

Taking a wooded shortcut a couple years back, me and my buddy stumbled upon a pair of guys behind a rock with like 6 dirty magazines laid out around them, thank GOD the rock was there. I believe there was a loud WHOA! and about-face, then we waited a couple of min from a vantage to the entrance to the shortcut to make sure they didn't linger. They packed up and left abruptly. Not the wierdest thing to ever happen to me but definately a big shocker.

One more. This wasn't "in the woods" per se but...Riding shotgun in a rear loading Garbage collector in 2004 on a wooded road, the fellow that was driving Teddy stopped at a crossing on the way home from the days stops. Suddenly the truck jumped what seemed like 5 foot in the air! We looked at each other immediately both thinking "are we dead or what?" this is a ten truck empty so no regular car could hit it and produce that kind of jolt. Getting out of the cab we both immediately saw the problem. A 90 ft oak tree had fallen in the woods and landed on the rear end of the truck!! No one was injured but what are the odds? Middle of nowhere.

As far as kr1's situation, I also don't understand the need to call authorities if the weirdos cleared out. Maybe they were pissed the fishing was no good and wanted to hit W-mart for gear, just took your arrival as the cue to get motivated. Of course I wasn't there and with child(ren) involved always adds an extra sense of concern. I don't call the police unless there is definite law breaking going on.

randomlooker · Sep 9, 2009

Joel Stave said:
Randomlooker, sorry for being off topic, but it sounds like you're a SAR person, so I just had to ask about this. You mentioned buddies -- shouldn't at least one person have stayed with the guy that was down while others went for help?

Probably, but it's not like he was going anywhere (Well... bears and cougars do live in the area), and they were understandably upset and stressing out over it. Can't blame them for not wanting to stay. If somebody did, he'd have sat with the body for 6 or more hours before the first rescuers got there. That's a long time.

Now, if it'd been something non-fatal, then yes, one of them really should have stayed with the victim while the other went for help.

Don Rearic · Sep 9, 2009

kr1 said:
I will also say that there is a requirement in my state that whenever a reasonable person has a suspicion that there may be a problem with regards to a child, I have a legal duty to act as a mandated reporter. It doesnt mean that there is a problem, only that any reasonable person might believe that one exists. More than anything that is the reason that I wanted that checked. I felt that was a reasonable thing to do for a 9 or 10 year old whether I was actually legally obliged or not.

I don't see where you would reasonably think there was a "problem" to begin with. Is that "requirement" because you are a ParaMedic or are you just speaking about being a Citizen? 'Cause I have to say, I don't believe that I am duty bound to hassle my fellow Citizens. Hell, when the EMTs came out to our apartment because my wife had an ovarian cyst that burst (they thought it was her appendix and took that out and found the cyst), they asked her if I was beating her and this was causing the injury and pain, she told them to go screw.

"Reason" and "reasonable" and "logic" and other things are really getting stretched out nowadays.

Nuke_Spook · Sep 9, 2009

AF said:
What is your perceived significance of the antifreeze? You say you thought it wasn't a good sign.

Okay class, what is the favorite make in the boonies drug of choice that uses antifreeze?

How about Meth?

Antifreeze is used in the process. The process itself creates noxious fumes and leaves a nasty residue so a lot of people make it out in the sticks to try and avoid "legal entanglements" (also known as your @$$ in jail). Also, people who make it are almost as paranoid as those who take it, which explains their hurried evacuation of the area.

You could very easily have come up on a mobile Meth Lab. Any LEOs who want to chime in and lend some credability to this theory please do, as I lay no claim to any expertise in this area.

Don Rearic · Sep 9, 2009

It's absolutely possible! Just like the presence of a lot of Sudafed and Lithium Battery packaging can point to the same thing.

It's quite likely they went to China-Mart to get the antifreeze because they busted something getting out of the area as described by the OP.

EMT_Lee · Sep 9, 2009

Don Rearic said:
I don't see where you would reasonably think there was a "problem" to begin with. Is that "requirement" because you are a ParaMedic or are you just speaking about being a Citizen? 'Cause I have to say, I don't believe that I am duty bound to hassle my fellow Citizens. Hell, when the EMTs came out to our apartment because my wife had an ovarian cyst that burst (they thought it was her appendix and took that out and found the cyst), they asked her if I was beating her and this was causing the injury and pain, she told them to go screw.

"Reason" and "reasonable" and "logic" and other things are really getting stretched out nowadays.

Unless his state has something special, then no. Off-duty, you are not "bound by law" or any such thing to go around filing police reports. At least, not in the great State of North Carolina. And, in your case, I think the Medics did a poor job of questioning your wife. We're not detectives, and it's not really our job to question people about that type thing, period. If you have a bad feeling about something, you can pass that along to investigators, file a report, what-have-you - after the fact. But, asking those types of questions on-scene is a good way to get shit stirred up. Our job to to give aid, and get the person out of the bad situation. Law Enforcement handle the questioning and arrests.

Don Rearic · Sep 9, 2009

They waited until she was in the ambulance and then started asking this woman who was throwing up everything all over the place if she was abused. I think it is the law here that LEOs and EMTs do that as well as ER personnel...because...when I scratched by cornea a couple summers ago and it was terribly infected, the intake nurse in the ER asked me if I was abused by my wife sitting out in the waiting area. I looked at her deadpan and said, "Yes, she hits me all the time." The nurse sort of chuckled and I said, "If it's so funny, why in the hell do you ask it?"

I'm just sick of all of the interventionist mentality and 1-800-RATBASTARD nonsense that society has become.

Joel Stave · Sep 9, 2009

randomlooker said:
Now, if it'd been something non-fatal, then yes, one of them really should have stayed with the victim while the other went for help.

Oops. I wasn't reading attentively -- I missed the "and died" part of "had a heart attack and died".

EMT_Lee · Sep 9, 2009

Don Rearic said:
They waited until she was in the ambulance and then started asking this woman who was throwing up everything all over the place if she was abused. I think it is the law here that LEOs and EMTs do that as well as ER personnel...because...when I scratched by cornea a couple summers ago and it was terribly infected, the intake nurse in the ER asked me if I was abused by my wife sitting out in the waiting area. I looked at her deadpan and said, "Yes, she hits me all the time." The nurse sort of chuckled and I said, "If it's so funny, why in the hell do you ask it?"

I'm just sick of all of the interventionist mentality and 1-800-RATBASTARD nonsense that society has become.

If I had a real reason to suspect abuse, and I had the person seperated from the suspected abusive person, then I might ask. But, again, it's not something that I ask on every call, or in every circumstance. It's just not reality to do so.

Nuke_Spook · Sep 9, 2009

Don Rearic said:
It's absolutely possible! Just like the presence of a lot of Sudafed and Lithium Battery packaging can point to the same thing.

It's quite likely they went to China-Mart to get the antifreeze because they busted something getting out of the area as described by the OP.

If you read kr1's post (excerpt below) there was what I would consider suspicious behavior.

kr1 said:
...To our amazement they had broken camp, in minutes, and were trying to get that RV out of there and they didnt care how they did it or what kind of damage occurred. At one point they had the rear tire hung up on the ground and the younger guy who was guiding told the older man who was driving that if they tore off the tire he would fix it later. There were more issues with getting the RV out of there than just the tire getting hung up. ...KR

Were they making Meth? Heck if I know. But lets not stick our heads in the sand and try to rationalize suspicious behavior. Most people don't take a motorhome back in the woods where a jeep has trouble going without some pressing reason and they don't just up and decide that they just have to get to Walmart right now to the point that they are willing to tear that same motorhome up.

Don Rearic · Sep 9, 2009

Nuke_Spook said:
If you read kr1's post (excerpt below) there was what I would consider suspicious behavior.

Were they making Meth? Heck if I know. But lets not stick our heads in the sand and try to rationalize suspicious behavior. Most people don't take a motorhome back in the woods where a jeep has trouble going without some pressing reason and they don't just up and decide that they just have to get to Walmart right now to the point that they are willing to tear that same motorhome up.

HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE "CHILD" and that is what I was addressing more than anything. Before you respond, look again.

As far as Meth is concerned, it is a pox upon society but if I really think that is what was going on, I sure as HELL am not going to take my wife into a potentially deadly situation to sniff around and try to be some sort of investigator.

Lee,

If I thought there was abuse and the county/city/state allowed me to do so, I would want to try to get a person some help with the full knowledge that for the most part, they go back anyway.

I think here they have to ask, which is just stupid. Just like going to a new doctor now, they ask if you own firearms! Handguns, specifically. You leave it blank and most of them will tell you that you have not completed the form. I just look at them like the nosey pricks they are.

Nuke_Spook · Sep 9, 2009

Don Rearic said:
HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE "CHILD" and that is what I was addressing more than anything. Before you respond, look again.

Thank you for telling me the "rules" under which I am allowed to respond.

Three family members camping in the woods is not going to raise a whole lot of concern for the "CHILD".

Two adults and a "CHILD" in a motorhome back in the woods where kr1 didn't want to take his jeep, who get the heck out of Dodge as soon as he leaves the area, risking damage to their vehicle, and who are then seen buying one of the ingredients for Meth might be a reason to be concerned about the "CHILD".

So, is it now more evident that one conceivable reason for potential concern might be that they were potentially making Meth around the "CHILD"?

Oh, please feel free to respond before or after you look again.