Any saved by a gun story during backpacking or hiking trip?

[killmime1234]

....wasn't this thread a lot longer than 2 pages?
what happened?

I was thinking the same thing. I remember reading more stories, most of which about tweaker scares.

[mattt]

10 years ago me and my wife were staying in a rv park on the trinity river in lewiston ca. We were there to fish the trinity river for salmon. Well the second night at 1 am I am awoke bye my wife saying there is a crazy drunk man in front of of the rv yelling. Wide awake from fear I look out the front window and see a drunk with a butcher knife yelling he is going to kill us cut our heads off for f**king with him. I have no idea with this guy . There was no cell service there so I tell my wife that the owners of the park will hear him and call the sheriff . I was never so happy to have my 44 mag with me. I loaded it and just sat on the floor and told my wife to do the same. She thought I was going outside with the gun but of course I wasnt I told here I am not stupid and would only shoot if he forced his way into the rv. Well after an hour of him yelling a huge deputy showed up asked him to drop the knife . Seeing how drunk the man was he didnt give hime a chance to reply and knocked him out cold, cuffed him and threw him like a sac of potatoes in the back of the sheriff car.Country justice. 44 mag dont leave home without it

[guayuque]

Yes, seems like a sound lesson learned. If you're not ready to use it, a weapon is more likely to make a bad situation worse. I'm still surprised by the attitudes some people have, either that a gun is some sort of talisman that will automatically transform you into a seasoned commando, or cancel the chance of any threats by its mere presence.

Boy is that not the gospel truth.

[DarthSean]

My story takes place at a Boy Scout camp back when I was in a venturing crew so this is a case of where I wish I had a gun. One night I got really annoyed about sleeping in the cabin so I went out to the parking lot to get a tent from a truck at about 11:30 pm. The path was along a tree line and on my way back to the camp I suddenly got a very distinct feeling I was being watched. I turned on my flashlight for a second or two to see if anything was just beyond the tree line, but I only had a mini mag lite so that didn't really prove or disprove anything. It was about 250-300 yards back to the edge of camp, so I knew I didn't have a chance if I dropped the tent and ran back to camp assuming it was more more than just nerves (and I really think there was a mountain lion out there, it wasn't like me to spook like that), so I walked calmly back to camp and luckily didn't have any incident. I must have looked over my shoulder as much as I watched where I was going.

After doing a lot of camping with the scouts I've found that there are 2 main reasons for needing a gun while camping in southern California: mountain lions and various types of 2-legged predators.

[Mendo223]

nice stories...whenever i go camping i have paranoid thoughts about running into some mexican cartel members with AK 47s...i always pack in the wilderness.

nighttime in the tent i would go nuts if i didnt have my guns with me. every little crack of twigs has me wondering if its some psycho killer, a mountain lion, bigfoot, aliens, who the hell knows!!

sleep is so much more peaceful when you have your trusty gun by your side.

[lbdrummer3]

sleep is so much more peaceful when you have your trusty gun by your side.

+100 on that!

[trob]

DP....

[trob]

my cousin was hunting ducks at lake barrett down by the border and this line of mexicans walks right past them (cousin and buddy in camo) dressed in black and my cousin stops them with his shotgun in his hands and yells 'HANDS UP' in spanish, and they immediately put their hands up. He called border patrol and all of them were illegals that just crossed that morning.

The BP guy said he asked the illegals why they would walk so close to other people, and the guys said they had no idea my cousin was there.

AND he snapped a little pic of the incident. One of his more proud moments. He isnt pointing the gun directly at them, but the angle makes it look like he is.

[n556]

[santacruzstefan]

my cousin was hunting ducks at lake barrett down by the border and this line of mexicans walks right past them (cousin and buddy in camo) dressed in black and my cousin stops them with his shotgun in his hands and yells 'HANDS UP' in spanish, and they immediately put their hands up. He called border patrol and all of them were illegals that just crossed that morning.

The BP guy said he asked the illegals why they would walk so close to other people, and the guys said they had no idea my cousin was there.

AND he snapped a little pic of the incident. One of his more proud moments. He isnt pointing the gun directly at them, but the angle makes it look like he is.

This story is awesome... it almost looks like the illegals are laughing in the photo.

My story doesn't involve a gun, and its actually pretty lame. Back in the summer between junior high and HS, I went with my buddy and his family to visit their relatives in Wisconsin for a few weeks. We would ride around on their quads, smoke cigarettes, and generally do the things boys do at that age. Anyway, they had a lot of land, with a ton of quad trails all over it. We decided to go camp for a night back in the woods, so we loaded up the van with our gear, some booze, and some fireworks we had bought (Wisconsin has all the best kinds of fireworks, except the kind you make yourself, of course...)

We get way back there on the trail, set up camp and a fire, and start making some hotdogs etc. We're drinking a little, taking apart black cats to get at the flash powder, and its about dusk when we hear a noise. We get really quiet, and just hear this crashing coming toward us. We never saw it, but I know it was a bear; nothing else makes that much noise. We fly up into the van, and close the door, terrified. We're miles from the house, drunk, no weapons, but we have a brick of the black cats. So what we do, is light a pack, open the door, and toss them out into the darkness. We keep doing this, until my buddy misses his throw, and tosses them into the hood of my sweatshirt. Boy, was I pissed. In any event, we scared off the bear, and made it out ok, save for some small burns on my neck and ringing in my ears.

[trob]

This story is awesome... it almost looks like the illegals are laughing in the photo.

My cousin was laughing too because he couldnt believe his luck. They thought he was joking around and would let them go because he was laughing, but they shut up when he got on the phone and called BP.

[echo1]

Not quite but sort of related. My wife and I used to backpack alot (me still her no). I'd always carry a .41mag Blackhawk except when going off trail, to save weight. We were going to a remote camp. Late in the evening, of the last night, we heard what sounded like a woman screaming/screaching loudly, never heard anything like it.. Our 5 Aussies jumped up and ran off into the darkness, barking, howling, screaching, a bunch of commotion. Very unnervering. The dogs came back out of breath but unijured.
Later that week after comming home from work, when I walked in the door my wife handed me a 6" S&W Model 10 and said "Here, this is lighter". Gotta love a woman who thinks like that.