- Joined
- Jan 28, 2003
- Messages
- 13,331
Last elk season in CO I damn near killed some SOB slob POS whom happened to be carrying a rifle during hunting season. I won't refer to him as a hunter.
We hunted during second combined elk season last year and the first couple of days I always bring my wife and children up and we ride the horses drive the truck around and generally "hunt" the first couple of days in a way so that my two girls age 8 and 5 can have an enjoyable time and feel as if they've participated in the hunt.
In any case on the first day we rode the horses out of camp all lathered up in hunter orange and went right up the side of a mountain riding an old loggers cut and gaining altitude rapidly. Finally ending the ride at the summit with a gorgeous view of the Roaring Fork valley and the Maroon Belles across the valley. After a quick picnic we "hunted" a couple of coulees and draws and the girls identified some fresh elk sign. My 8 year old kept assuring me that with sign this fresh these poor elk could run but they weren't going to hide from her daddy.
About mid afternoon we walked the horses back down the ridge in a leisurely gate generally enjoying the mountains and the freedom of being an American in some of gods greatest country. A beautiful landscape is breathtaking in it self. It's an unimaginable sense of freedom and liberty and happiness to experience that landscape with a well tuned rifle in your hands. GOD BLESS AMERICA.
At about 16:00 we arrived in camp unsaddled the stock and fed and watered them. My wife and kids decided to stay in camp as myself and my hunting buddy a retired FBI agent and Marine decided to head up the opposite ridge line and glass the afternoon into dark to see if we couldn't pick up some movement somewhere.
About 15 minutes before dark we headed off the hill. Of course the walk down was much quicker than the steep climb up and just at last light we were approaching camp when it happened.
A loud crack and a shower of bark and leaves showered me as a high powered bullet zinged through the trees not ten feet over my head. My first reaction was to drop and find cover. My Ex Marine retired FBI buddies reaction was somewhat startling to me... He yelled don't drop there move out run now. He immediately started a low yet shockingly fast crouched run down the hill across and away from the line of fire I followed suite as more rounds started to crack through the branches above and around me.
It was about this time that I realized that camp was directly in the line of fire. I yelled for the kids to "get down, get behind something!!"
About that time my buddy Doug hit the camp perimeter and scooped up my youngest daughter and put her behind a rock I was running as fast as I could but my legs seemed as if they were in concrete boots I just couldn't cover the ground I needed to fast enough. By the time I got to camp the shooting had stopped 5 or 6 rounds had been fired and several had struck inside my camp perimeter narrowly missing my horses my wife and my children.
I was seeing red I was so hot that at that moment I am sure to this day I'd have killed the SOB responsible if he'd have been present. I'd have killed him without a second thought and with extreme prejudice with any available tool or my bare hands if that's all I had. You can shoot at me that's not going to be good for you but your welcome to try. Once you put my kids in the picture it's a whole nother story boys and girls you just F----up big time!!
I off loaded my pack checked the rounds in my .44mag grabbed my keys and headed for the truck. Half way there I was stopped by Doug who said "listen I know how you feel I'm coming with you and you only have to do two things. one let me do all the talking, two don't start anything and let me do all the talking." Oh yeah if the SHTF back me up.
It wasn't hard to find the shooters as they were camped directly above us on the next switch back in the road. I was still in full kill mode when we pulled into there camp tactically illuminating the area with headlights. Doug with over twenty years of Law Enforcement experience approached the subjects with caution keeping every one covered. I was hoping to find some drunk mouthy SOB whom desperately needed a severe case of my fists. And even more so was just waiting for someone to produce a weapon so I could drop him. I was that mad..
Instead what we found was a dad with two teenage children who were obviously scared and clinging to their father. They could sense the rage in aggression in our movements and tone. And they knew that they'd made a mistake. My heart went out to the children. I realized at that moment that this had all been a terrible and almost tragic mistake.
Doug defused the situation and I immediately calmed down. There is a big difference between malicious and stupid this guy had been plain ole stupid with a capitol S.
The guy was from downtown Denver via some other sate further to the west on the Pacific ocean....And this was his first time ever hunting. He'd brought his two children up to the woods to experience the same things and for the same reasons that we'd brought our children to the woods.
The major difference being he had no idea as to the power and lethality of the rifle he'd been carrying. It seems that he'd tacked a target up to a pine tree so he could sight in his rifle. He didn't think that the bullets could go all the way through the tree. He didn't stop to think that there was a road and a camp not 150 yards directly in line and below his target. It never occurred to him that his bullets were damn near the end of my life as I know it. It never dawned on him that being an outdoorsman and a hunter and a shooter is one of the most awesome responsibilities a free man can have. It also never occurred to him that if he'd have killed one of my family members there would have been no jury, no judge but there would have been an execution right then and there. As it damn well should have been. There are some things in this life worth fighting, dieing or going to prison for. But I'm sure glad now that I didn't have to bring it to that level.
I guess what it boils down to is that while we all have the right to enjoy this country and to bear arms some of us don't have the background to do it. They need some training and mentorship before they go out into the wild. Apparently Hunter safety isn’t cutting it for some folks... :banghead:
We hunted during second combined elk season last year and the first couple of days I always bring my wife and children up and we ride the horses drive the truck around and generally "hunt" the first couple of days in a way so that my two girls age 8 and 5 can have an enjoyable time and feel as if they've participated in the hunt.
In any case on the first day we rode the horses out of camp all lathered up in hunter orange and went right up the side of a mountain riding an old loggers cut and gaining altitude rapidly. Finally ending the ride at the summit with a gorgeous view of the Roaring Fork valley and the Maroon Belles across the valley. After a quick picnic we "hunted" a couple of coulees and draws and the girls identified some fresh elk sign. My 8 year old kept assuring me that with sign this fresh these poor elk could run but they weren't going to hide from her daddy.
About mid afternoon we walked the horses back down the ridge in a leisurely gate generally enjoying the mountains and the freedom of being an American in some of gods greatest country. A beautiful landscape is breathtaking in it self. It's an unimaginable sense of freedom and liberty and happiness to experience that landscape with a well tuned rifle in your hands. GOD BLESS AMERICA.
At about 16:00 we arrived in camp unsaddled the stock and fed and watered them. My wife and kids decided to stay in camp as myself and my hunting buddy a retired FBI agent and Marine decided to head up the opposite ridge line and glass the afternoon into dark to see if we couldn't pick up some movement somewhere.
About 15 minutes before dark we headed off the hill. Of course the walk down was much quicker than the steep climb up and just at last light we were approaching camp when it happened.
A loud crack and a shower of bark and leaves showered me as a high powered bullet zinged through the trees not ten feet over my head. My first reaction was to drop and find cover. My Ex Marine retired FBI buddies reaction was somewhat startling to me... He yelled don't drop there move out run now. He immediately started a low yet shockingly fast crouched run down the hill across and away from the line of fire I followed suite as more rounds started to crack through the branches above and around me.
It was about this time that I realized that camp was directly in the line of fire. I yelled for the kids to "get down, get behind something!!"
About that time my buddy Doug hit the camp perimeter and scooped up my youngest daughter and put her behind a rock I was running as fast as I could but my legs seemed as if they were in concrete boots I just couldn't cover the ground I needed to fast enough. By the time I got to camp the shooting had stopped 5 or 6 rounds had been fired and several had struck inside my camp perimeter narrowly missing my horses my wife and my children.
I was seeing red I was so hot that at that moment I am sure to this day I'd have killed the SOB responsible if he'd have been present. I'd have killed him without a second thought and with extreme prejudice with any available tool or my bare hands if that's all I had. You can shoot at me that's not going to be good for you but your welcome to try. Once you put my kids in the picture it's a whole nother story boys and girls you just F----up big time!!
I off loaded my pack checked the rounds in my .44mag grabbed my keys and headed for the truck. Half way there I was stopped by Doug who said "listen I know how you feel I'm coming with you and you only have to do two things. one let me do all the talking, two don't start anything and let me do all the talking." Oh yeah if the SHTF back me up.
It wasn't hard to find the shooters as they were camped directly above us on the next switch back in the road. I was still in full kill mode when we pulled into there camp tactically illuminating the area with headlights. Doug with over twenty years of Law Enforcement experience approached the subjects with caution keeping every one covered. I was hoping to find some drunk mouthy SOB whom desperately needed a severe case of my fists. And even more so was just waiting for someone to produce a weapon so I could drop him. I was that mad..
Instead what we found was a dad with two teenage children who were obviously scared and clinging to their father. They could sense the rage in aggression in our movements and tone. And they knew that they'd made a mistake. My heart went out to the children. I realized at that moment that this had all been a terrible and almost tragic mistake.
Doug defused the situation and I immediately calmed down. There is a big difference between malicious and stupid this guy had been plain ole stupid with a capitol S.
The guy was from downtown Denver via some other sate further to the west on the Pacific ocean....And this was his first time ever hunting. He'd brought his two children up to the woods to experience the same things and for the same reasons that we'd brought our children to the woods.
The major difference being he had no idea as to the power and lethality of the rifle he'd been carrying. It seems that he'd tacked a target up to a pine tree so he could sight in his rifle. He didn't think that the bullets could go all the way through the tree. He didn't stop to think that there was a road and a camp not 150 yards directly in line and below his target. It never occurred to him that his bullets were damn near the end of my life as I know it. It never dawned on him that being an outdoorsman and a hunter and a shooter is one of the most awesome responsibilities a free man can have. It also never occurred to him that if he'd have killed one of my family members there would have been no jury, no judge but there would have been an execution right then and there. As it damn well should have been. There are some things in this life worth fighting, dieing or going to prison for. But I'm sure glad now that I didn't have to bring it to that level.
I guess what it boils down to is that while we all have the right to enjoy this country and to bear arms some of us don't have the background to do it. They need some training and mentorship before they go out into the wild. Apparently Hunter safety isn’t cutting it for some folks... :banghead:
