I just wanted to share this situation since it not only put me in a very uneasy situation while I was armed but afterwards ticked me off for the past day and a half as well.
note: relevant story to title is in bold if you want to skip through.
its a long read but with stories, that's just how I am so its up to you if you want to read through it all.
First something that has nothing to do with the other event,
I've been doing some mushroom hunting and I always carry when out. Last weekend I ran into a guy, and then his two friends in some river bottom land. I run into the first guy and we are talking about mushrooms in the area. He had come to the spot by boat. I had hiked about 3/4 of a mile through the bottom forests to get there so he was wondering how I got there without a boat and I was telling him that public parking wasn't far off. After talking a few minutes he finally notices I have a firearm on my hip and says, "Holy cow you got a gun!" like he was surprised or alarmed. I told him I always carry while out and he asked if anything had ever happened to me which I replied that I've had several bad incidences in my earlier days. I didn't tell him any events in my past but told him you just never know what to expect and he agreed.
A long time ago, one of several different events happened to be with some screwball who thought me and some other teen friends of mine were trespassing and that he owned a low water bridge and he pushed our car off the road with his truck and then pulled a shotgun out and pointed it at us.
More recently, I also was hunting with a buddy in this same mushroom spot last year when some guy came up on us and basically said we were on Soda Pop's land and we better get because Soda don't like people taking his mushrooms and then left to get Soda Pop. I knew we were close to the private land but had been following the signs and I carry google earth satellite picture maps and a compass. The guy also could see I was armed so I told my buddy we should move on out of the area before they came back. My buddy was like, "screw em, we aren't doing anything wrong and are on public land, what are they going to do"? I told him they just might come back with a couple of rifles, knowing I am armed and right or wrong, I don't want to be out deep in this forest armed with a 9mm handgun against two numbskulls with rifles who think they are right and have something in their heads to protect.
So on to yesterday and what this particular post is about. I am out hunting mushrooms alone on Franklin Island, public lands on the Missouri River bottom. I was the only car in the gravel lot about a mile or more off the road and had to walk about a mile to the spot I was wanting to scout. By the time I get back I am hot and tired and just want to get to my truck. As I am walking through a stand a trees to my truck I can here a big dog woofing and coming towards me. I have a big stick in one hand and as the dog comes up to me, barking, snarling and growling I point the stick out. This dog was not only big like 100 pounds or so but it was seriously aggressive. It was going back and forth in front of me, head down low making a huge fuss. I tried to kneel down, hold a hand out and talk nice to it to see if it was just scared but it wouldn't stop being aggressive like that with the woofing and teeth gnashing stuff.
I could see a truck and a man by it maybe 30 yards past my truck, which I was near but the dog wasn't letting me get close to my truck with any ease. I was having to take baby steps. The guy wasn't doing anything and he could see the way his dog was acting. I told him to call his dog and he didn't respond. I move towards my truck and yell at the guy, "Dude, I want to get to my truck, call your damn dog off", and then the guy just starts moseying over to my side of the gravel lot, not saying anything or calling his dog. I turn my body to walk around to the driver's side of the truck, keeping my eye on the dog because I just had a feeling it would go for me if I turned my back and sure enough it charged low at the back of my legs and I swung around getting the stick inbetween us and yelled at the dog. My plan was to just move cautiously and if that dog bit me, I would probably unholster my gun only then and shoot it.
I really didn't know what the best course of action was but started thinking about what I should do in my head. The guy was almost to me and the dog. Alarms were already going off in my head about him. I didn't know if he might be armed and if I drew my firearm because of that damn dog, I didn't want to have an instant problem with this guy as well. I decided that I wasn't going to touch my gun unless that dog attacked me first. He tells me the dog is mad because of my stick and that's all he says ever about his dog.
So the guy gets to my truck, his dog goes over and stands next to him and I am moving around to get in my door and the guy walks over and leans on the side of my truck and starts talking to me asking questions about what I am doing. Both the guy and the dog are way too close for my comfort. The guy is armed with a large sheathed knife on his belt. He's talking like he's either a nutjob or drunk or both but he actually didn't seem drunk, just very very odd and not very good with his speech. He's about 6 feet away just gibbering to me and even takes one step closer as if I can't hear him or something and he's laughing about the rain that he says is about to come and that he's going to go take all my shrooms and his laugh was maniacal and very weird. He wasn't being friendly and he had like a scowl on his face and one eye half cocked shut. He also keeps dropping his eyes from mine to my gun and back, never mentions anything about it but it obviously is constantly grabbing his attention to the point of seeming odd to me. He does this alot in a short amount of time. Now I am thinking about should he decide to jump at me and pull that knife, I probably am not going to be able to use my gun at least not immediately. I felt like he was sizing me up, and we are both decent sized people. I feel like I have myself in a bad situation at this point.
My alarm is going off in my head. His speech, mannerisms, his dog and his lack of any action with his dog when it was aggressing at me make me feel as if the guy definitely has some screws loose. I can't explain how uncomfortable the whole situation made me feel. I told the guy that its been a long day, I really don't want to chat and am heading out. He just stands there leaning on my truck so I open the door while facing him and watching his dog and get in as the guy turns and walks away.
As I drove away I let out a sigh of relief and told myself that's the reason I always go armed when I am out off the beaten trail. I can't tell you how many really weird nutjobs I have met out in the rural countryside here in Missouri. This guy racked my nerves. I really thought his dog was going to physically attack me and after awhile of 'phew', I then started feeling pretty ticked off at the way he acted. Then again, the guy was just flat out creepy and weird and what was alarming me could have just been flat out normal for him and whoever he is family to or spends his time with, I don't know.
It reminded me of another nutjob from a few years ago when I had a guy cut me off on a gravel road, block the front of the truck with his, yell out his window, "Want some fish?!!! Follow me!!" I was like, "WTF?" and UTurned and went the other way.
Anyways, with the guy and his dog, I am glad I didn't touch my gun and that it worked out but I also wonder if I just got lucky. I have thought out a dog scenario before and if its a lone dog, I had thought I would allow it to bite first before I would use a firearm. Two or more big dogs, I can't give that kind of leeway because its just too dangerous of a situation
note: relevant story to title is in bold if you want to skip through.
its a long read but with stories, that's just how I am so its up to you if you want to read through it all.
First something that has nothing to do with the other event,
I've been doing some mushroom hunting and I always carry when out. Last weekend I ran into a guy, and then his two friends in some river bottom land. I run into the first guy and we are talking about mushrooms in the area. He had come to the spot by boat. I had hiked about 3/4 of a mile through the bottom forests to get there so he was wondering how I got there without a boat and I was telling him that public parking wasn't far off. After talking a few minutes he finally notices I have a firearm on my hip and says, "Holy cow you got a gun!" like he was surprised or alarmed. I told him I always carry while out and he asked if anything had ever happened to me which I replied that I've had several bad incidences in my earlier days. I didn't tell him any events in my past but told him you just never know what to expect and he agreed.
A long time ago, one of several different events happened to be with some screwball who thought me and some other teen friends of mine were trespassing and that he owned a low water bridge and he pushed our car off the road with his truck and then pulled a shotgun out and pointed it at us.
More recently, I also was hunting with a buddy in this same mushroom spot last year when some guy came up on us and basically said we were on Soda Pop's land and we better get because Soda don't like people taking his mushrooms and then left to get Soda Pop. I knew we were close to the private land but had been following the signs and I carry google earth satellite picture maps and a compass. The guy also could see I was armed so I told my buddy we should move on out of the area before they came back. My buddy was like, "screw em, we aren't doing anything wrong and are on public land, what are they going to do"? I told him they just might come back with a couple of rifles, knowing I am armed and right or wrong, I don't want to be out deep in this forest armed with a 9mm handgun against two numbskulls with rifles who think they are right and have something in their heads to protect.
So on to yesterday and what this particular post is about. I am out hunting mushrooms alone on Franklin Island, public lands on the Missouri River bottom. I was the only car in the gravel lot about a mile or more off the road and had to walk about a mile to the spot I was wanting to scout. By the time I get back I am hot and tired and just want to get to my truck. As I am walking through a stand a trees to my truck I can here a big dog woofing and coming towards me. I have a big stick in one hand and as the dog comes up to me, barking, snarling and growling I point the stick out. This dog was not only big like 100 pounds or so but it was seriously aggressive. It was going back and forth in front of me, head down low making a huge fuss. I tried to kneel down, hold a hand out and talk nice to it to see if it was just scared but it wouldn't stop being aggressive like that with the woofing and teeth gnashing stuff.
I could see a truck and a man by it maybe 30 yards past my truck, which I was near but the dog wasn't letting me get close to my truck with any ease. I was having to take baby steps. The guy wasn't doing anything and he could see the way his dog was acting. I told him to call his dog and he didn't respond. I move towards my truck and yell at the guy, "Dude, I want to get to my truck, call your damn dog off", and then the guy just starts moseying over to my side of the gravel lot, not saying anything or calling his dog. I turn my body to walk around to the driver's side of the truck, keeping my eye on the dog because I just had a feeling it would go for me if I turned my back and sure enough it charged low at the back of my legs and I swung around getting the stick inbetween us and yelled at the dog. My plan was to just move cautiously and if that dog bit me, I would probably unholster my gun only then and shoot it.
I really didn't know what the best course of action was but started thinking about what I should do in my head. The guy was almost to me and the dog. Alarms were already going off in my head about him. I didn't know if he might be armed and if I drew my firearm because of that damn dog, I didn't want to have an instant problem with this guy as well. I decided that I wasn't going to touch my gun unless that dog attacked me first. He tells me the dog is mad because of my stick and that's all he says ever about his dog.
So the guy gets to my truck, his dog goes over and stands next to him and I am moving around to get in my door and the guy walks over and leans on the side of my truck and starts talking to me asking questions about what I am doing. Both the guy and the dog are way too close for my comfort. The guy is armed with a large sheathed knife on his belt. He's talking like he's either a nutjob or drunk or both but he actually didn't seem drunk, just very very odd and not very good with his speech. He's about 6 feet away just gibbering to me and even takes one step closer as if I can't hear him or something and he's laughing about the rain that he says is about to come and that he's going to go take all my shrooms and his laugh was maniacal and very weird. He wasn't being friendly and he had like a scowl on his face and one eye half cocked shut. He also keeps dropping his eyes from mine to my gun and back, never mentions anything about it but it obviously is constantly grabbing his attention to the point of seeming odd to me. He does this alot in a short amount of time. Now I am thinking about should he decide to jump at me and pull that knife, I probably am not going to be able to use my gun at least not immediately. I felt like he was sizing me up, and we are both decent sized people. I feel like I have myself in a bad situation at this point.
My alarm is going off in my head. His speech, mannerisms, his dog and his lack of any action with his dog when it was aggressing at me make me feel as if the guy definitely has some screws loose. I can't explain how uncomfortable the whole situation made me feel. I told the guy that its been a long day, I really don't want to chat and am heading out. He just stands there leaning on my truck so I open the door while facing him and watching his dog and get in as the guy turns and walks away.
As I drove away I let out a sigh of relief and told myself that's the reason I always go armed when I am out off the beaten trail. I can't tell you how many really weird nutjobs I have met out in the rural countryside here in Missouri. This guy racked my nerves. I really thought his dog was going to physically attack me and after awhile of 'phew', I then started feeling pretty ticked off at the way he acted. Then again, the guy was just flat out creepy and weird and what was alarming me could have just been flat out normal for him and whoever he is family to or spends his time with, I don't know.
It reminded me of another nutjob from a few years ago when I had a guy cut me off on a gravel road, block the front of the truck with his, yell out his window, "Want some fish?!!! Follow me!!" I was like, "WTF?" and UTurned and went the other way.
Anyways, with the guy and his dog, I am glad I didn't touch my gun and that it worked out but I also wonder if I just got lucky. I have thought out a dog scenario before and if its a lone dog, I had thought I would allow it to bite first before I would use a firearm. Two or more big dogs, I can't give that kind of leeway because its just too dangerous of a situation
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