Sorry for the delay there, folks. Contrary to popular opinion, I actually do have a job and it occasionally requires me to do stuff. This past week, I've been pretty busy on a project that I finally just wrapped up this morning. No time for shooting, running, flying, or blogging. Ah well...such is life.
I did have an interesting experience last night though. A little bit after midnight, as Lagniappe and I sat out on the deck, we heard something big scrambling around in the woods next to my house.
Now a couple of weeks ago, there were several bear sightings right around here, and the morning after one of those, a section of my fence was noticeably damaged. It didn't take a whole lot of imagination to suspect that the bear had been here too, so when I heard the commotion in the woods, I went out to investigate, suitably armed with my trusty Remington 870 and it's attached Surefire light.(I was literally "armed for bear".)
I approached the source of the commotion, and when I got close, I activated the light, surprising a pair of deer who were, shall we say, "getting busy".
OK, that mystery solved, I was heading back towards the house when I saw a van coming down the road very slowly. As I watched, it's lights went out and it slowed to a stop. The driver got out and walked into the trees on my property.
OK, now I'm curious, especially as we've had a rash of burglaries and thefts around here as of late. So I walked down my driveway to the road and approached the back of the van. As I did so, he came back out of my woods so I put the light on him and asked him what he was doing.
He put his hands up to shield his eyes and demanded that I turn the light off.
I told him that that wasn't going to happen, and again asked him what he was doing in those woods.
He replied that he was on his way home, and that he just lived a short distance away on a nearby road, and that he'd stopped to relieve himself. He sounded like he'd had a few drinks (not surprising around here), and when he told me where he lived, I recognized his van as one I frequently see parked there.
I politely but firmly recommended that he refrain from such conduct on other people's property in the future and advised him to have a good night. I still hadn't turned off the light or taken it out of his eyes because I like keeping the tactical advantage, even if I am just dealing with a neighborhood boozer. So after he got into his van and closed the door, he rolled the window down and shouted "The next time you shine that light in someone's eyes you might just get your ass kicked!" Then he put the van into gear and drove off down the road, apparently blissfully aware of the fact that the light he objected to was attached to the business end of a 12 gauge shotgun.
No harm, no foul in this instance, but if you're one of those trash-talkers who likes to run his mouth at people you don't know (and/or can't even see), you might want to consider the possibility that sometimes your mouth might be writing a check that your body can't cash.
I'm just saying...
Oh, man... what's that about never bringing a knife to a gunfight?
ReplyDeleteI sometimes get the same reaction when I use the light on my patrol rifle.
ReplyDelete"Man, you ain't gots to shine that light in my eyes!"
Well, if you don't get your hands up like I told you to, you'll be seeing an entirely different light. Muzzle flash.
It might have been worth going down one round to rack the shotgun... then he'd understand the business at hand.
ReplyDeleteI have tried over the years to train my boys never to shine their lights in each-others, or anyones, eyes. It is truly rude. Yet, when I see a child with a flashlight on a walk at night I just know that if he notices that I am on the path too I am going to get it in the eyes.
ReplyDeleteNow, pointing a gun at someone who may or may not be a threat is different. You just never know what a stranger is up to.
Not a real smart thing to say. But he had booze fueled courage.
ReplyDeleteWhat an idiot.
ReplyDeleteJust an aside about bears... If you'd seen one in the woods, most likely you could have made it run away (or wander away) by shouting at it. I routinely hike in grizzly country without a firearm and I've never had a problem.
ReplyDeleteBears in neighborhoods may be harder to frighten off if they're used to getting food, but most people don't even try. Yell, wave your arms over your head to look large, and maybe throw rocks at it. That should be all you need. A slingshot might be handy (although a bear that is eating won't be chased away for very long or very far with a slingshot).
It's not quite fair to shoot a bear just because there's one in the woods near a house. Especially not a house with molasses covered corn in the yard.
Now to clarify, Liz, I would never shoot a bear just for being here. You know me. I'm an animal lover, and animals usually love me. I'd consider it a treat to see the bear here. However I still take precautions in case the bear doesn't feel the same way about me.
ReplyDeleteAnd the bear won't eat the corn, will it? That corn's for the deers, not bears!
Yes, and the strawberry I had on my plant in the windowsill was for me, but my roommate's dog didn't know that and ate the dang thing anyway.
ReplyDeleteBears eat trash, I imagine it will love your corn. What are the deer gonna do? Chase it away?