Alone in the Jungle, except for homeless people

[jglass]

Wild hog hunting in Florida takes another never ending twist. This morning I'm looking for the trail to my treestand at 4:45 am. From the road I can see 2 hogs already in my bait pile through my thermo imaging scope, 80 yards away. I figure I'll try to sneak up on them and maybe get a shot. I'm trying not to step on a stick or trip over something. Next, I hear faint voices. I check my cell phone, nothing there. I walk back to the road, pitch black dark, turn on a flashlight and see a man in his early 20's talking to himself. I asked him, "what are you doing out here"? He says, "I'm homeless, I apologize for my generation, I like you your gun". I say, "I like my gun as well, ya know there are help wanted signs all over town". He talks some more and I interrupt and say ,"I need to get in my treestand". Ok, goodby.

Now I wonder where in the heck this guy came from and wonder if he could have attacked me while I was walking down the road? So dark out there I barely know when I'm walking on pavement. I park my car then walk 300 yards down a road to the path leading to my tree stand.

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

Not surprising.

When I lived in Jacksonville, I used to ride dirt bikes in the Ocala national Forest. We would be miles from nowhere, and randomly see people out on the trails, and not the hiking types. We never could figure it out. It got shut down because people were making meth out the middle of the national Forest.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

Scrambler, reminds of dirt biking the mountains years ago in Montana. We rode for over an hour up through trails and forest when the lead rider pulls off by a creek. We all take off our helmets and suck on some water from our camelbacks, relax for a bit and he goes over to the creek, reaches up to his elbow under some rocks and pulls out a 6 pack of ice cold Budweiser he stashed there some weeks ago.

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

Scrambler, reminds of dirt biking the mountains years ago in Montana. We rode for over an hour up through trails and forest when the lead rider pulls off by a creek. We all take off our helmets and suck on some water from our camelbacks, relax for a bit and he goes over to the creek, reaches up to his elbow under some rocks and pulls out a 6 pack of ice cold Budweiser he stashed there some weeks ago.

That’s straight out of a commercial!

I miss riding my bike. Concussions made me quit the track and now my bike is in KY at a friends house until we get out of this tiny subdivision and find some property.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

That’s straight out of a commercial!

I miss riding my bike. Concussions made me quit the track and now my bike is in KY at a friends house until we get out of this tiny subdivision and find some property.

No doubt, ridden all my life but Texas is all private and I haven't ridden in 5 years now. I guess killing hogs kind of took it's place.

 

[Brian Shaffer]

He says, "I'm homeless, I apologize for my generation, I like you your gun".

Middle of nowhere in the dark, proclaimed homeless, showing affinity for your gun, that should set off warning bells inside your head. Time to be somewhere else.

Now I wonder where in the heck this guy came from and wonder if he could have attacked me while I was walking down the road? So dark out there I barely know when I'm walking on pavement. I park my car then walk 300 yards down a road to the path leading to my tree stand..

Of course, the guy could have been fine, but even so, that isn't the normal behavior you should expect and you aren't in a location to expect to have witnesses or help. I don't know if it is legal to carry a sidearm in FL while hunting like you are hunting, but if you can, I certainly would. While a rifle might be more powerful as a defensive weapon, you may not have the type of access to it and space to use it that you need in that sort of situation. A spare, readily accessible light would also be beneficial.

While not two legged, I mentioned this in a previous thread. It is another reminder of how things can be less than safe, in the dark, out in the middle of nowhere. Long Stalk Lone Boar | Lone Star Boars

I mentioned at the end of the video getting growled at by a hog. I was gathering my gear together after getting pics and heard growling behind me. It sounded a lot like the low, throaty protestation that I have heard bulls make when I got into their space in a barn. The sound grew louder and I turned around with my spotting scope to see if maybe I had managed to upset one of the cattle somehow and <100 yards away was a large boar, standing quartered toward me, looking at me, and growling loudly. I grabbed my rifle off the ground and by the time I got it up and toward him, he was running off in the woods. He never got close, but the growl was quite impressive.

Be vigilant. Keep an eye on your surroundings, even when doing duties other than trying to hunt.

 

[jglass]

I usually carry a ruger 380, I have a conceal carry license for Florida and Illinois. I also have a 1911 45 ACP I can carry. Florida is quite liberal about guns. We can strap on a side arm when we leave home on a hunting outing. I need to carry the 1911.

I walk 300 yards down a road after leaving the car to the path to my tree stand in total darkness usually alone. Don't want to scare off any hogs that might be there. I could easily be attacked, by anything or anybody.

Thanks for the tip brian.

 

[der Teufel]

Be vigilant. Keep an eye on your surroundings, even when doing duties other than trying to hunt.

I can't help but think that this is good advice. For the past few years I've been carrying a .22 pistol. That's really all that is needed to dispatch a wounded hog. Lately I've started thinking I ought to bring something bigger.

 

[pruhdlr]

Down here in Fla I always have a gun on me. Hunting is no exception.
Hogs at night with thermal . . Calling yotes either day or night . . Deer hunting during the daylight hours . . ALWAYS a Glock 32 with 147gr loads. --- pruhdlr