Dang bipeds.

[TrystInn]

I completely understand walking your own property with one, I carry a BBgun pistol when I walk mine - too many raptors like to hang about my feathered ladies. I live in a rural neighborhood and when I walk my dogs, I'm armed. I finally had to start wearing the 22 when I walk my dogs because of too many loose, unlicensed dogs without collars rushing at me and my dog over the years. She's a big black Border Collie and she doesn't put up with aggression from other dogs - AT ALL. You'd think folks would be more afraid of a big black dog with large white teeth, but stupid seems to be contagious.

One idiot had just let his big dog off the leash when it noticed it and charged me. Friendly as all get out to my dog, not friendly towards me. One snap in my direction and the border collie had him on his back yelping in fear while I held my gun pointed at the dog. Idiot still lets that dog off his leash. Some folks cannot be taught.

Good luck!

 

[LizzyJo]

Stupid ain't curable.

 

[epeloquin]

Quote:
No flaming here. Some areas have good law enforcement, some don't. It just scares me when people say, "Carry a gun out there and wave it around to scare them" not thinking about the consequences if the other party might happens to be armed. Which, these days, is always a possibility.

Fact is if more Americans were responsibly armed we'd have a lot fewer victims. I completely respect people who choose NOT to arm themselves but our society is so accustomed to having been unarmed that many now think only law enforcement should have guns. This is a prime example of why property owners need to have their right to protect what is theirs upheld. If these clowns were that disrespectful that means they were not impressed by the property owner as was nor did they have any fear of local law enforcement.

I'm sorry, I find that disturbing and I would not be found without a pistol on my waist after that.

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:
No flaming here. Some areas have good law enforcement, some don't. It just scares me when people say, "Carry a gun out there and wave it around to scare them" not thinking about the consequences if the other party might happens to be armed. Which, these days, is always a possibility.

Fact is if more Americans were responsibly armed we'd have a lot fewer victims. I completely respect people who choose NOT to arm themselves but our society is so accustomed to having been unarmed that many now think only law enforcement should have guns. This is a prime example of why property owners need to have their right to protect what is theirs upheld. If these clowns were that disrespectful that means they were not impressed by the property owner as was nor did they have any fear of local law enforcement.

I'm sorry, I find that disturbing and I would not be found without a pistol on my waist after that.

I'm not at all against people being armed and defending themselves. But there are way too many people who think that just carrying a gun around and showing it off will deter people when in reality it could make the situation worse. It's their safety I'm concerned with. We own guns. We shoot guns. I like to think that if the situation arose, I could use one to protect my home and family. Carrying a gun and being prepared to use it against another human being (and by that I mean shooting to kill) is not a decision to be made lightly.

 

[epeloquin]

Too right, bobbi. I completely agree. Brandishing is silly and probably dangerous. In a case where I have people violating my property I would simply want the option as a LAST resort. There are too many people who view us gun owners as some bunch of hicks just-a-waitin' to do some-a-shootin'! In reality, the vast majority of gun owners are decent, level headed people who handle their weapons responsibly.

As to the case in point, if those hoods returned I am simply saying that my next visit would be with my pistol strapped to my hip as a silent warning that I take my property rights very seriously as I do someone violating them. I wouldn't threaten to shoot them, I wouldn't draw the weapon, but it would be there on my hip as a silent warning that this is property you don't want to molest because it is protected.

Again, I agree with and appreciate what you said, bobbi-j.

 

[LeafZoo]

Excellent comments about responsibly owning a gun for protection.

One thing that hasn't been brought up, though: have you walked through the woods in the direction the guys were going to make sure they're not growing marijuana or some such thing? Since you've said that they didn't come in to your property via a normal trail, I'm wondering if perhaps they were doing/growing drugs.

I say this because when my family lived in TN, we had a Walker Coon Hound. Dan was a great guard dog with barking at strangers. He never went after anyone until some guys started doing what we think were drug drop-offs in our woods and the adjacent wooded properties. When certain ones would try to walk through our yard to get to the trail behind our house, he would flip out. He even once pulled a support beam out from under the back deck, as he was chained to it at the time to get his bath. He went running after the guy, the chain pulled the beam, the deck sagged, and Dan kept going. We heard the guy yelling and sometime later, Dan came back home. (No blood, so he didn't kill him.) We never saw that particular guy again. Dan didn't like strangers, but he hated anyone that smelled like drugs.

Anyway, definitely check out things in the direction they were going, just to make sure, and be really careful since some growers booby trap the land around their stock. I agree with the poster who suggested calling and making a report about seeing them, especially since they were going through your things. Hopefully, this was a one-time deal.

 

[LizzyJo]

Robert Heinlein wrote a story about a future where everyone was armed. It was a very polite society.

 

[shesaredroan]

I've been thinking about your teenage visitors.
You mentioned they weren't dressed for being out in the woods........makes me wonder if they were city kids, who were visiting relatives or friends in your area. I would think local kids would know how to dress appropriately to go trekking through the briers, plus they'd probably know where the briers were and avoid them.

Has school let out for the year in your neck of the woods? Did these kids come to your place during the weekend or a weekday? My experience has been when end of school comes, it gives kids lots of time to create mischief.

You might not be the only one who's been bothered by this group of teens, I encourage you to talk with the sheriff's department. The more information you have the better "armed" you are.

 

[saddina]

Sounds like they were looking for a place to smoke a joint. (I grew up next to a park, that's where the kids would go so they didn't get caught at home, hike in a few hundred yards, light up, and walk out an hour later).

 

[Kudzu]

Sounds like you have my dream homestead. We get the occasional trespasser on our property and it irks me to no end.