Messing with the vehicle of a Night Hunter

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Double Naught Spy said:
Not sure if this goes here or in another section, but I figured it counted as possible hunter harassment.

Bizarre experience last night. I had finished up at one property and had a load of hogs in the back of my truck when I went to check another property up in Montague County, north Texas. As it has rained the night before, I am not to drive in to said property (landowner rule) and I parked behind some tall brush along the fence to shield me from the view of the property and the half dozen or so hogs that were about 300-400 yards away. I got my gear together and made the 20 yard walk to the gate, hopped the gate and started into the property when I heard a car coming up the road. I hunkered down into a squat in the field as the car passed so as not to be illuminated by the lights and look like a human walking in the field. The car passed and I continued stalking toward my quarry.

Almost immediately the car turns around and makes a bee line for my truck. I squat back down and watch the vehicle through thermal. A guy gets out and checks out my truck with a flashlight from his vehicle, then scans the field several times. The light shines over me but he apparently doesn't see me and I am not about to call out to him and spoil my hunt. He then proceeds to do a walk around on my truck, looking in windows, checking out what was in the bed, etc. I figure he is looking for his daughter on a date or wondering if I am a driver in distress. He then scans the field again with his light. As it pans over me, I attempt to wave at the guy to let him know everything is okay, but he doesn't see me. I am too far for the beam of his light for him to pick me out from the background.

The guy goes back to his vehicle, retrieves something, then returns to my truck, looks inside some more with the light and starts jacking with the driver's door. My thought at the time was that the guy was attempting to gain entry to my vehicle. Then, he gave up and returned to his vehicle, drove down the road and U-turned again and headed back the original direction he was heading. His commotion pushed my hogs further in to the property, but I eventually found them and had a very good hunt.

Later when I returned to my truck, I discovered that the guy had tied flagging tape to the driver's side door handle. WTH?????

The guy as seen through thermal appeared to be a man. His vehicle appeared to be a Subaru Forester. He did not appear to have on any sort of uniform. He was not the landowner or the landowner's son-in-law that lives next door. We all know each other. The landowner hasn't been contacted by any concerned neighbors.

The guy who flagged my truck did not apparently report my vehicle to either the game warden or sheriff's office.

Any thoughts on what all this was about?
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Could be any number things, concerned neighbor or even passer buy from "on down the road". Neighboring hunters, neighbors. A poaching or theft problem in the area, concern about meth cookers or migrants.

In my estimation, all he did is "mark" your vehicle so contact or talking or not, who ever owns this knows SOMEBODY around here has their eyes open, watches what is going on and cares enough to really look and he saw this going on. If it is something not on the level then that guy knows he and his vehicle were observed and report-able should trouble be heard of.

If I'm legit, I wouldn't worry about it.

I leave my business card on the dash of my truck with my cell phone number on it and one under the wiper when ever I'm parked any where people may have a question about, like a new spot.
 
Double Naught Spy said:
This is him, jacking with my door handle .
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OK so my previous assessment is probably balderdash. Unless I'm mistaken, he's not only wearing cammo top, but also does he have his head covered? THAT changes things. I don't think it's cold enough down there in Texas where you were on that night to have a problem with your face getting cold?

NOW I think he was actually marking your vehicle for a return later. By himself or by compatriots. So like at dawn if they came back and the truck was there, they'd know you probably had not been back if the tape was still on. After all those hours likely that you weren't around....so ok to jack the truck or take the tires, etc. IF they came back and the truck was there but the tape was gone..., likely you were inside the truck, and perhaps the truck was broken down AND you were asleep inside, Or maybe you simply had come back and bedded down for a few hours.

The question is, were they planning on a confrontation and jacking the truck, or stealing from the empty truck?

LD.
 
hq said:
It's not very common, but sometimes people who check a vehicle that's parked in an unusual rural location for stranded occupants, distress or the like, "flag" it so that next person driving by knows everything is ok and there's no need to do the same.
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I agree. Obviously, it seems the "Jacking with the door" was just the guy tying on the flag. If it was nefarious, I doubt the guy would announce his presence like that. There are areas during the regular hunting season, especially on public land, where I see cars/trucks parked along the side of the road all the time. It takes something unusual during those times to get me to stop and check things out. But, at night, and at a location I am not used to seeing a vehicle parked, I will stop and make sure the person/persons, do not need help. Been more than once, on my way to a deer stand in the wee hours of the morning, when I have come across a car in the ditch or stalled. Sometimes, it's just someone trying to sleep it off. One time it was a vehicle in the water and the girl was wet and cold. Since it was before the days of cell phones, and I had to give her a ride to the closest open gas station to call the cops and then give her a ride back and wait with her till the cops came, I didn't make it out to the woods that morning. If the guy was local, the "load of hogs in the back of my truck" should have been a clue....or maybe not. Either way, it just seems to me, to be a case of a good Samaritan, making sure there wasn't a problem.

This reminds me of a time, maybe twenty-five years ago or so and I was bow-hunting public land. It was also opening day of duck season and with a good number of flowages nearby, I kinda knew the wardens would be out in force. But, even when getting out of my bow stand early, the half mile walk out, in the dark, with my climber on my back, took a considerable amount of time. Going to the back of my truck in pitch black darkness to open the topper and put the bow and climber away, I heard a rustle behind me in the ditch and caught sight of movement coming towards me. Always leery of leaving my truck parked on the road, on public land, and my construction tools vulnerable to thieves, I immediately swore and took a swing as the person approached. As he ducked, he shined a light on his hat displaying a wardens badge and announced he was not a thief, but a warden. Over his radio, I could hear his partner(a good friend of mine laughing), as he sat in his truck farther down the road. He knew my truck and thought it would be good training for the new warden in training to sit in the dark and wait for me. My friend also told me they thought maybe the amount of time it took me to get out, may have been because I was hurt or had a deer that needed the tag validated.....and yes, they were in the area because of the opening day of duck season. The new warden learned to announce himself [b[before[/b] his presence was known. It was something we talked and laughed about for many years, but at the time, I thought I was in deep smuck.
 
Nature Boy said:
He was letting you know that someone knew you were there, just in case you were up to no good.
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Which is possible, but if true, very stupid on his part. The only person that appeared to be up to no good was him.

----

The notion that this was a good sam marking my truck so that everybody else would know that it was unoccupied is just bizarre in my opinion. I have hunted Montague County for the last 12 years and frequently park outside of properties and have never had this happen. The game warden, folks at the sheriff's office, and my landowners are not familiar with this practice either as being something that goes on in Montague County.

This was how my hunt went, BTW. All in all, it was a very good night.
 
I can't think of any 'Italian Job' styled plot line where a troublemaker would come up to a truck loaded up with dead animals, tie a marker to the truck in a way that readily alerts the owner, and plan to come back.

Occams Razor says he was trying to leave a message to you or someone else in a way that did not damage any of your property. What's the message? Not sure.

Maybe;
To someone else; this truck looks like it wrecked but I've checked it and and no one seems hurt.

To you;Hey, I know you're here. I don't recognize your truck and if you're here to cause trouble then know that I know you're here. (Maybe he wrote down your license plate? You do look somewhat like a poacher, parking in the woods behind bushes with animals in your bed.)

To law enforcement; (Maybe he called.) There's a suspicious truck I tied a tag to. Please check them out.

Next time try leaving a note on the dash that says "I'm hunting!" With a number for them to text?

It's a shame this is what the world has come to. But you were parked in a suspicious manner. I can only think that the marker was well jntended.
 
Rogue909 said:
Occams Razor says he was trying to leave a message to you or someone else in a way that did not damage any of your property. What's the message? Not sure
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I thought the same thing until the photo of the full face covered balaclava....no reason to cover one's face in the dead of night when he thinks he's alone....unless it's nefarious...

LD
 
Loyalist Dave said:
I thought the same thing until the photo of the full face covered balaclava....no reason to cover one's face in the dead of night when he thinks he's alone....unless it's nefarious...
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I don't think he's wearing a balaclava. I think that's an image from a thermal weapon sight set on black hot, meaning the head looks black because it's warm. You can clearly see the nose outline, indicating to me that he's not wearing any face cover.
 
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If no ones knowa who they are just assume a crack head trying to steal your stuff.
 
Loyalist Dave said:
I thought the same thing until the photo of the full face covered balaclava....no reason to cover one's face in the dead of night when he thinks he's alone....unless it's nefarious...

LD
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Its cold? May be it isn't even covered, it's not like the photo is a "glamour shot". HE DID NOT think he was alone. "Who ever parked this truck here behind the bushes THINKS THEY are "alone"... Well yer not as alone and unseen as you think you are bub.

People are just ridiculous in their paranoia.
 
I think it was a SkinWalker, ok then perhaps a TruckWalker, ok then perhaps I don't know what it was?
 
hq said:
It's not very common, but sometimes people who check a vehicle that's parked in an unusual rural location for stranded occupants, distress or the like, "flag" it so that next person driving by knows everything is ok an
Click to expand...

When we get winter storms here, hundreds of people slide off the road. After the tow or cops arrive they flag every vehicle with tape so nobody wastes their time. If one is unflagged and doors open, then its time to look for wounded wanderers.

My guess is that or a random meth man. NEVER try to understand what is going on in the meth monkeys brain or you will go insane yourself!
 
Well, I've figured it out.

The truck assailant was Bobby O'Rourke.

He'd been drinking and pranged his vehicle, probably in a hit and run. He spotted your truck and was trying to steal it to make a get away. Then he saw the dead hogs and realized he was dealing with an evil gun owner. So, he was trying to get into the truck so that could "Hell yes, take your guns". Couldn't get in because the whole 'rock and window' thing is well beyond his limited capabilities. Flagged the vehicle as an evil gun owner truck so that he could call the Bloomberg hotline and get a henchman who could chew gum and walk at the same time to break in. He planned to later hold a press conference with Bloomberg, the Brady Bunch, and most of the CNN, MSNBC, etc correspondents in attendance where he would explain that he couldn't have been driving around drunk and crying because he had been out confiscating firearms from evil gun owners.

When he called the Nanny State Gun Control Hotline, gave his name and they had no idea who he was, he fell back to drinking and whining and forgot all about your truck.

It all fits. Bizarre, random, ineffectual behavior? It's got Beta Boy written all over it. Glad I was able to clear that up.
 
Jack Ryan said:
May be it isn't even covered, it's not like the photo is a "glamour shot" .
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So you can see the detail of the cammo pattern on the jacket, but the head is completely rounded, one solid color, and only the silhoette of the nose is seen...so maybe he spray painted his head black, after shaving his scalp completely bald, and sliced off his ears in the process? :confused: Maybe it's thermal but I normally see some definition other than the tip of the nose...I think it's sticking out of a head covering...but I could be totally wrong


LD
 
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... or it could be back lighted and so what if it is? Haven't you ever worn a hat? They didn't take anything, they didn't break any thing, they didn't mess with his hunt. What are you worried about?
 
Jack Ryan said:
... or it could be back lighted and so what if it is? Haven't you ever worn a hat? They didn't take anything, they didn't break any thing, they didn't mess with his hunt. What are you worried about?
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I have to agree.

The OP might have assumed he was up to no good. He might have assumed the OP was up to no good. At the end of it all no one was right (or wrong) and no one was harmed (with the exception of a few oinkers that got ventilated by the OP :D )
 
Jack Ryan said:
... or it could be back lighted and so what if it is? Haven't you ever worn a hat? They didn't take anything, they didn't break any thing, they didn't mess with his hunt. What are you worried about?
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Well, there is no backlighting with thermal.

Nature Boy said:
I have to agree.

The OP might have assumed he was up to no good. He might have assumed the OP was up to no good. At the end of it all no one was right (or wrong) and no one was harmed (with the exception of a few oinkers that got ventilated by the OP :D )
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In the end, I think I was absolutely right. I didn't shoot the guy as a burglar under Texas Penal Code § 9.42. Deadly Force to Protect Property.

The oinkers were shot under the same law, BTW. :D
 
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