I just thought I would tell you guys what happened to me this weekend, maybe give you a quick laugh.
Normally during this time of year my Saturday mornings are spent in my tree stand, with my bow, waiting for a big buck to jump into my lap. This past Saturday was a little different because we (my brother and I) decided to take our buddy hunting for small game. It is his first time hunting and we thought it would be fun. So we loan him a 410 single shot bolt gun and we both had Savage 22's, mine had my Spectre II on it and his had his Sparrow on it.
We are spread out and walking through my property. As we approach my main tree stand we all converge. I have several stands but this is my only hand built one. It's got sides, a roof, benches built in, heck it is more of a treehouse than a tree stand. Up to this point we hadn't seen another living creature, so we decided to walk past my stand and kick some brush on some old abandoned train tracks (also on my property).
I hear someone yell "do you have permission to hunt here". I yell back "no need for permission, this is my property". We go back and forth a few times arguing and my brother says "dude! He's sitting in your tree stand!" Now the three of us are laughing and this guy is getting frustrated.
I mean, who just happens upon a tree stand and thinks, yep, this is mine now! I even left a few magazines in the stand last weekend, so at least he had current reading! The guy finally says that he "believes me" and he'll leave.
So as he starts walking out, he is headed in the wrong direction. I asked what he is doing, he tells me heading back how he came in. I told him he must be turned around, he didn't come in that way. He says "nope, I even marked my trail". So let me explain this to you guys, to walk in that way, this guy traversed some serious terrain. He would have had to cut through the majority of my property, my brothers property, another neighbors property and a pretty large farm. Oh yeah, and all of these properties are properly posted. As the crow flies, I would say this is a good 3.5 mile hike. We have a cliff (like rappelling gear not required but recommended type of cliff), a boulder field, a large creek and a VERY angry neighbor who wouldn't take kindly to a trespasser! And this dude had to have done this in the dark!!! I don't know how this guy did it, I would put him in his late 40's and he was clearly out of shape!
So that is my story. Interesting weekend, right?
I wonder if the tree stand guy is on his gun forum telling everyone how he was confronted by two big dudes with silenced rifles and one small guy with a shotgun?