Logger describes shoot-out in woods SCARY

[sturmruger]

I read this news article in the paper today. It sounds pretty farfetched the lack of motive by the purported bad guys makes me wonder if there is more then meets the eye here. I don't know of too many loggers who bring a handgun and shotgun to work with them. It makes me think this guy was expecting something to happen. Still and interesting story though. I am sure we will learn more about this in the days to come.

Logger describes shoot-out in woods
Associated Press
A logger told investigators two men drove up and shot at him while he was working alone in the woods, sparking a gunfight in the forest, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department said.

John "Homer" Van Meter of Rhinelander told investigators he had never seen the men before and didn't know what prompted the shooting, said Mike Caylor, communications officer with the sheriff's department.

Van Meter, 52, was in serious condition at an area hospital Friday with three bullet wounds to his torso and a graze wound to his head, Caylor said. The injuries were not considered life-threatening.

According to the account Van Meter gave the sheriff's department:

Van Meter was working around noon Wednesday in the town of Tomahawk when a passenger in a black sport utility vehicle got out and began shooting at him with a handgun. Van Meter ducked behind his truck, where he retrieved his own pistol and returned fire, which he believed injured the passenger.

The driver emerged with a rifle and began shooting, but Van Meter said he probably injured that man as well, and the driver got back in the SUV and drove away without the passenger.

The passenger started running through the woods, so Van Meter grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun and continued the gun battle until the man disappeared. Van Meter sustained the torso injuries during the chase.

He walked back through the woods, discarding his shotgun by a road after he grew too weak to carry it. Wardens with the state Department of Natural Resources found the shotgun by the road Thursday.

Van Meter sought help from a homeowner, who called 911.

"Everything we're finding in terms of physical evidence is matching up with what Mr. Van Meter is telling us," Caylor said.

Investigators found more than 30 shell casings from the original shooting site, believed to have come from the driver's weapon. The crime scene covers a two-mile stretch into the woods, slowing the investigation, according to authorities.

More of the same story

Shooting victim in serious condition
By Daily News



The investigation continues into a shooting in the town of Tomahawk Wednesday evening that left a Rhinelander man in serious condition at an area hospital.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department reports it spent much of Thursday mapping out the crime scene - which they think is much larger than was originally believed - and gathering evidence.

Authorities are also talking to John “Homer” Van Meter, 52, the victim of the shooting.

Van Meter, a logger, has told authorities he was in the woods near County Highway O working on a skidder when two white males in a black SUV came down the road, left the vehicle and began shooting at him.


Van Meter told authorities he reacted by returning fire with his own weapon.

Authorities are not saying what type of gun Van Meter used or the type of weapons used by the other men. It's not known if his return fire struck either of the other two men, who fled the scene after the shots were fired.

Van Meter told authorities he stayed in the woods for some time before seeking help from a nearby homeowner. The homeowner called 911 and Van Meter was transported to an area hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds.

According to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department, Van Meter remains in serious condition but doctors expect him to recover from his injuries.

Meanwhile, investigators are trying to piece together the motive for the shooting.

“We have not been able to put a finger on what precipitated the incident,” Sheriff Tom Koth told The Daily News Thursday.

According to a news release, sheriff's investigators are planning to get together Friday to review all information gathered so far and hope to release additional information to the public soon. The Wisconsin State Patrol, wardens from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and workers from the Lincoln County Forestry Department are assisting the sheriff's department in studying the vast area of woods where the shooting occurred.

 

[Oldtimer]

I often go out to the Mojave Desert by myself, for camping and target practise. There I am, in a remote spot with nothing but my firearms, food, camping equipment and vehicle. I don't think that I could be MORE vulnerable than that....except for having firearms!

I'm sure you recall the Miami-FBI shoot-out with 2 bank robbery suspects. Those suspects had, in fact, driven out to a remote shooting area in Florida before the infamous shoot-out with FBI agents. They found an unsuspecting target shooter there, killed him,took his vehicle and guns. That incident has stayed with me!

Perhaps there IS more to your story than meets the eye, but there were no witnesses. The ARMED citizen came out a winner, in my opinion!

 

[musher]

I don't know of too many loggers who bring a handgun and shotgun to work with them.

I'm guessing you don't know a lot of loggers.

It doesn't sound strange me that he had a couple of guns in his truck. The handgun is just common sense, and a LOT of upland birds are shot after being spotted by some guy driving by that happens to have a shotgun in his rig.

 

[mr_dove]

I had a few logger step-dads growing up and every one of them was armed on the job. Loggers tend to run into snakes frequently and I understand that its easier to hit a snake with a shotgun than a handgun.

 

[critter]

I have a friend who is a timber forrester who cruises timber to be sold. I heard him asked one day if he ever found any patches of illegal dope growing in the woods. He said his best day was ELEVEN different patches! Sometimes they are guarded by armed 'farmers'. NO WAY will I go into the woods without armament, even my own 175 remote acres!

 

[kjeff50cal]

Not making light of his name but..... John "Homer" Van Meter, isn't that the name (or very close to) of one of the FBI's Most Wanted back in the "roaring Twenties"?

 

[Langenator]

How well does MJ grow in the woods in Minnesota?

Out here on the West Coast this wouldn't surprise me much at all, as there are lots of MJ farms out in the woods. And some other places-one hunter (bow type) found one in the midst of a huge blackberry bramble. He had to un-ass the area under fire.

 

[Old Dog]

John "Homer" Van Meter, isn't that the name (or very close to) of one of the FBI's Most Wanted back in the "roaring Twenties"?

Yep, you're right -- bank, robber, an associate of John Dillinger's, I believe ...

Homer was killed on August 23, 1934 almost a month after Dillinger was killed, a block within the St. Paul Capitol building. Without friends since Dillinger's death, local mobsters determined he wasn't a threat, and tipped their contacts on the St. Paul police department as to his whereabouts. The police caught up with him at a Ford dealership as he was looking for a new car, and chased him into a blind alley near University Ave. and Marion St. With no where to go but not interested in giving himself up, Van Meter drew his .45 and was met by a hail of machine gun fire from officer's guns.

 

[1911 guy]

Meth?

I'm just putting a randon thought out there. Is it possible the logger got too close to a meth lab or something? MJ is possible, but so are a couple of other illegal activities. Good for the logger being armed.

 

[Leanwolf]

Just speculating here.

A logger, alone in the woods, working at his profession.

What if a couple of "Earth First/Earth Liberation Front" whackos were out in the woods crusing for just such an opportunity... not being smart enough to consider that some dirty, filthy, tree murdering logger might be armed????????????????????

Just speculating.

As to loggers being unarmed: not out here in Idaho, nor in the logging country of Calif. where I used to have some property.

FWIW. L.W.

 

[sm]

We have some Timber folks that use shotguns to shoot tree limbs. Even though some / most areas are NO Tresspassing, amazing the plots of grass that "appear" , so these men and women are armed with handguns, and get some training on spotting booby traps. They stay in contact with radios and GPS, and learn some woodscraft skills too. Never alone, two person teams.

Some are shotgunners, some are not by nature...some I have taught how to shoot something moving, besides a tree limb. Some just needed some additonal shotgun skills.

As stated a lot of Whacko's out and about, not telling where or when just hiking off the main path, or even canoeing down a creek, stream, or somesuch through the woods.

Still today there are Pirates that use waterways, just as the Highwaymen catch folks in remote areas.

 

[hillbilly]

I never go into the woods without a gun of some sort.

In fact, today, I was fishing on some backwoods creeks, and I had a .45 with me the whole time.

I can think of all sorts of reasons why a couple of wackos would open fire on somebody in the woods.

Defending a marijuana patch

Defending a meth lab

Simple thrill killing...while rare, there are documented cases of folks engaging in random thrill killing....One within 65 miles of my house. Guy in a ghillie suit stalked and killed a middle-aged couple who were camping in Eastern Oklahoma in the Ouachita National Forest, strictly for the sheer hell of it.

Earth-Firsters defending the planet.

Simple robbery.

Bad blood between the shooters and the logger based.

The world is full of whack-jobs.

I'm sure we'll find out

hillbilly

 

[hillbilly]

As evidence for random wackos in the woods, I submit the following:

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3545243


MUSKOGEE, Okla. An Oklahoman has pleaded guilty to killing a Texas couple camping in Ouachita (WAH'-chih-tah) National Park nearly two years ago.

Edward Leon Fields Junior pleaded guilty in Muskogee, Oklahoma, to two counts of first-degree murder and two federal firearms counts. He also pleaded guilty to single counts of armed robbery and auto burglary.

The 38-year-old Poteau, Oklahoma, man was accused of fatally shooting 50-year-old Charles Glenn Chick and 47-year-old Shirley Elliott Chick on July Tenth, 2003.

Authorities say Fields wore camouflage as he stalked the Hurst, Texas, couple for days, then shot them with .22-caliber rifle.

A hiker found their bodies the next day.

Federal prosecutors had said they'd seek the death penalty against Fields. But they haven't stated their plans in light of the guilty pleas.

 

[COACH]

Mr. Van Meter (applause)

I'm sure there was a motive for the suspect's actions.............And I hope this story turns out as true, which, once again, show the positives of CCW

 

[Chuck Dye]

ooops! wrong window. SATC

 

[Cosmoline]

Earth Firsters? No way. It's not their style to go attacking random men with chainsaws, and most of them are terrified of firearms. They might spike a tree or try to sabotage equipment, but they don't get in shootouts. It's far more likely this was someone who thought the man was law enforcement or a trespasser. It may also have been just a couple of loons. But I think we can rule out the tree huggers.

 

[sturmruger]

I never go in the woods without some type of protection, I was ust a little suprised that he had a handgun and shotgun with him. He says that he thinks he shot both of them I wonder if they will show up in and ER somewhere.

 

[hillbilly]

Cosmoline, that hasn't been the Earth Firsters' style so far.

However, they have upped the ante recently. Remember the serial arsons of SUVs on dealership lots?

Remember the active arsons and vandalisms of expensive homes sites in forested areas?

There was even a ski resort torched by these wackos.

I would say that it's only a matter of time before either an Earth Firster or a "fellow traveler" steps up to shooting and killing people they feel are hurting the enivronment.

I'm not saying that I think this logger was attacked by Earth Firsters.

I am saying that I think Earth Firsters are perfectly capable of killing for their twisted cause, and it's only a matter of time until they start doing just that.

hillbilly

 

[Cosmoline]

Killing? Yes, certainly. But a stand up gun fight? It's laughable. The EF'ers I've known wouldn't know which end of a rifle to point, let alone have the sand to engage in a lead exchange with someone shooting back at them. I know these guys. I went to college with them. Above all else they're COWARDS.

 

[armedandsafe]

When I was in high school, I worked about 6 weeks in a logging camp one Summer. Everybody was armed with something or other. When you heard a shot, somebody would say "There goes the dinner bell."

Pops

 

[Burt Blade]

It is unwise to assume that a coward will not kill. The whacko who would never face you in a fight may well booby-trap your camp, wire your truck with a bomb, fire your home, or back-shoot you.

 

[Langenator]

There weren't any arguments that the Earth Firsters wouldn't kill...it's that they lack the stones to do so in a stand up gunfight. Probably even to shoot someone who was looking at them.

Booby traps of any sort, I wouldn't put it past them. Hell, they've already set potentially lethal booby traps-a chain saw hitting a spike it a tree could be lethal if the broken chain hits someone wrong.

 

[Cosmoline]

I know they've killed and maimed. But this was allegedly a running gun battle with shots, and apparently hits, going both ways. The Firsters would have high tailed it the second they heard a bullet heading their way. There's a long long list of folks in the woods who might get in a shootout with you, from mushroom pickers to meth cooks to property owners to little Khmer guys with SKS's. The enviros don't make that list. Though they might slash your tires.

 

[AaronE]

loggers and other woods sorts...

I don't know of too many loggers who bring a handgun and shotgun to work with them.

I'm supposing that you dont know too many loggers...I dont know any loggers, cruisers or assayers who DONT go into the woods armed anymore.

Several reasons for that. As previously mentioned...MJ plots, meth labs (bad here near Seattle/PS) both defended by "farmers/cookers" and boobytraps. I've found a claymore on a trail, deadfalls and other nasties while out hiking in the Cascades. Also since the beknighted idjits (bunny kissers and Disneyfied city sorts :banghead: ) voted to eliminate bait and dogs for hunting bears and cats, there has been an explosion of cats (cougars) that has laid waste to the deer and elk population locally.

In the days of my youth, there was ALWAYS a .357 on my hip and a 30-30 or .32 Winchester Special in the cab with me or in the crummy.

I figure that there are several possibilities for this one, but the police should figure it out...and find the other guys fast.

Aaron Everett, live from the great Pacific Northwest!

 

[1911Tuner]

Cowards

Burt said:

>It is unwise to assume that a coward will not kill.<
***********************

Major +1. A coward is more likely to ambush you than a stand-up guy. Like my pappy always told me: "You don't want to make anyone afraid of you. A scared man is more apt to kill you than a man who's just got his shorts in a knot."