THE OUTCOME OF MY INNOCENT OUTING COULD HAVE BEEN VERY SERIOUS

[lou423]

Your story is scary...
Here is mine: I was detecting near a local school in Chattanooga where some buldings had been razed.
I was about 200 yards from my car, I looked up at my car and saw some guy walking slowly near my parked vehicle, I kept detecting, I again looked up and saw the guy looking through the window...I started to walk towards my car and the fellow walked away in a hurry.
When the economy goes sour, crime goes up.
I am glad you survived your encounter.

 

[Moonshadow]

God Nattie....I'm so glad you are okay! Geesh......There are some real creeps out there!! I have had a couple of "hair standing up on my neck" instances and I too scooted quickly to the car. I hunt in some really remote areas too and sometimes I just go places I shouldn't just because I want to find stuff and areas that haven't been hunted or just want to get there before "the other guys" do. I do stupid stuff all the time like that. I should really be more precautious. I only weigh 90 lbs. and would be no match for anyone wanting to hurt me. If he didn't knock me out though, I've got a mean set of lungs and can kick like a dang mule! I know that wouldn't help me very much against a weapon though.

I'm so sorry you had to go through this and hopefully, you never will again! Damn thugs!

Be safe and continue to find awesome goodies!
Moon

 

[trixster]

Glad to see ya got out of there ok , you might consider carrying a folding wristrocket ( sling shot ) while not much comparison to a handgun if ya beaned him in head with a marble sized ball bearing maybe he would be too busy looking for the excedrin to worry about bugging you . By the way I am a full fledged believer that all law abiding citizens should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon anywhere they want to carry it , as it is the nature of our hobby to find yourself in remote and sometimes dangerous areas . These so called Thugs wanna steal our stuff off of us and most of them are too stupid to use them anyway otherwise they would have a job and buy thier own and find out what real fun is .

 

[dcinffxva]

Although it has already been said several times here, I'll toss my $.02 into the mix.

I've been in full-time, paid, professional law enforcement for almost 25 years.

Everyplace I go, I carry a gun. Outside of work related incidents, in all those years, I've only pulled it once, and that was an incident where some idiot got mad at me on the road, blocked my vehicle, and started running towards me with a nightstick. I came very close to shooting the guy, but didn't. When the local cops showed up, they told me that I would have been 100% OK with shooting him. I'm still glad I didn't.

For 20 of those years, it was "illegal" for me to carry a gun in a lot of places. I still carried it.

I figured, if I have a concealed weapon, and nothing happens, no one will ever know I had it. If something DID happen, and I really needed it, then I really didn't care about whatever problems may arise, because at least I was alive to deal with them.

Many years ago, I had people criticize me for carrying a gun everywhere. I had people say that they only carried a gun if they thought they would need it. My response was always "If I thought I needed a gun there, i wouldn't go."

Nowadays, there aren't as many critics. When someone does say something, I remind them that five Amish girls thought they were safe at school, and tragically, their next of kin found out that wasn't the case. I also remind them I have insurance on my vehicle, even though I don't intend on crashing it.

You can never guess, nor plan for what you may encounter. Be prepared for the worst, hope for the best.

If you live in an area where concealed carry is permitted, then carry. If you live in an area where it is not permitted, then carry, and strongly petition your politicians to make it legal. If you happen to end up in a position where you defended yourself, then hope that you truly have a jury of "reasonable persons" that would see that you had no other options, and that the tragic outcome was the fault of the bad-guy, and not you.

All that said, you have to make your own decisions. What risks you are willing to take, and which you are not, and the ability to accept the consequences for either path you choose. I've chosen mine, and I'm OK with it however it turns out.

And for my own disclaimer, the defense of "some dude on Treasurenet.com told me" is a weak defense

 

[Mirage]

Thanks for posting Natman.

There have been times when Nate and I have hunted in bad neighborhoods. Half the time you are hunting you are looking over your sholder and wondering if it's worth the risk.

And as my son has said - It's not the ones that are together - it's the ones that are alone that you worry about. Of coarse that doesn't always apply.

I know I would have been freaking out but...

If it was a gun (very well was) why would he shoot? He would have wanted to either 1. rob you 2. just really wanted to hurt someone or 3. scare the crap out of you. If it was reason 1 then when you started to "get away" why didn't he warn you to stop or he'd shoot? If it was 2 then when you started to get away why didn't he just shoot? Both of these questions could be dismissed by the fact that only 1 or 2 was going to happen only if he got close enough to you. I would tend to think his motive would be more on the lines of #3 but that would be more appropriate if he was with others not by himself. So you really made the best of the situation and did the right thing.

Bob

 

[ModernMiner]

Nat,
I just came across this post. Holy smokes Dude I'm glad you got out of there o.k.
Sounds like he was trying to lure you in & rob you. What a friggin loon!!!
Thanks for the post and warnings.
-Doug-

 

[EDDE]

I just came across this post. Holy smokes Dude

 

[foundinrolls]

Hi,

I have been lurking for awhile and It has been forever since I last posted. First let me say that I am glad that Nat was aware of his surroundings and that this all worked out OK.

I used to metal detect a ton when I lived in NY and then when I lived in PA. My detector died just before I left PA to move to WA. I am just learning how to use a new machine in my backyard at this point.

What is important for me with respect to this thread is that, in my mind, I was ready to transfer all my comfort and feelings of familiarity with detecting from PA to WA and I never gave it a second thought. In other words, i was comfortable back in PA, I always felt safe as i knew the areas I was detecting very well.

The fact is that everything out here is unfamiliar territory to me. Thanks for this post as it reminds me to pay attention and not to be too complacent as I search new places.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Natman]

Thanks again to everyone, and Bill you've successfully reiterated what I can't stress enough..be aware of your surroundings and don't hunt in remote areas that you're unfamiliar with..the potential of finding something really great or valuable isn't worth jeopardizing your safety.

Nat

 

[rmptr]

I read most of the responses Nat... and I believe you did the right thing with a quick exit.

Just over a period of time you may run into someone who is whacked.

Sounds to me like it could be a druggy who used the school yard as a cache.
It very well could have been a gun, and also drugs.
He might not have wanted you to discover his cache.

A lot of bangers around here wearing 'hoodies' even in hottest weather.
Also copycat dumb kids trying out bad attitudes.

I wouldn't want to accost someone with the possibility of a gun, even if I had my own, over open ground!
Not that I'd be concerned about the opponents accuracy, I'd be concerned about the random odds of a hit!

I generally detect alone, but there is generally strength in numbers.
It can avoid some of the potential problems.
Just not possible to be on schedule with others sometimes, though.

Recently groups of attendees at a civic function were accosted by roving groups of bangers.
It got messy.

Never know what's gonna happen next.
Glad you're here to talk about it!

 

[cheese]

Wow! Glad you're OK Nat! I carry too, not all the time. You did the smart thing for sure. His gun might not have even been loaded, or it might have been a pellet gun, or maybe and if all day long, but maybe it was real and loaded. I wouldn't want to draw on someone who has already drawn a bead on me. The best thing to do in that case is evade. Spooky for sure...it would take me a while to shake that off.

 

[Detectingfreak]

yup it is rough in the world of today. To many kids wanting to commit suicide or kill someone. Everyone be carefull out there! I am glad that you are ok!

 

[Redfoot]

Sorry to bring that back up. I am glad your ok and hope you never have to deal with something like that again. Someone was looking out for you thats for sure and you found someone to look after (Dog). Again sorry for asking. Curtis

 

[Natman]

Curtis, you're a good man. Don't be sorry, I didn't mean to sound standoffish..it was just a very scary thing..it never made any sense to me how so many innocent people in the world are forced to go through bad experiences because of some lowlife.

Actually it's good you brought up again, it allowed more people to notice the original post. Hopefully more people read it, and that in turn allowed them to think twice about hunting in unfamiliar places.

Nat

 

[CoinFinder52]

Why would he try to shoot you? Was it a fake gun and he was trying to scare you? Did he shoot?
I would run as hell if i saw that. dosen't the school have viedeo cameras? tell the school to check there cameras
Maymbe they can find that idiot, how long ago was this? why did the police did not queston you?
Some bad police does not help out alot

 

[NGE]

I think the guy was walking his bike because if you pulled a pistol, he could run faster than peddling his Azz away from you, I really think he was messin' with ya. But who really knows? He wouldv'e caught up with me really quick, as my knees are almost not connected to my legs .....NGE

 

[dirtdiver]

Hey Natman,
I can relate to your experience. I live in south st. louis and was detecting at a park near my house for the first time. Its a small park and i was the only one in it that day. Everything was going just fine until these two jerks showed up and started smarting off to me. They would walk away for awhile and then come back and look me over. I dig with a big hunting knife, and i think that is the only reason they didn't try anything. But they walked across the street went into an apartment and came out with three of their buddies. That little voice in my head said it is time to go, so made a b-line to my truck and left.
Haven't been back since. The sad thing about it is, i was finding a lot of coins that day.

Now when i am detecting i am aways looking around checking out who is around me. It is easy to get distracted and not pay attention to your surroundings. Always listen to that small voice in your head it is usually right.

HH Dirtdiver

 

[greydigger]

Although I and my son carry (Legally) I would rather not use.

My biggest problem so far has been with dogs running loose where they are required to be on a leash.
I was recommended pepper spray and there is a company that makes "Bear Spray".

Check your state but this might not be considered a "concealed weapon".

Gives you time to "exit stage left".

 

[rebelLT]

Good to see you made it out of there ok. You did the right thing, carrying or not. Even if you had a weapon you would have been better off avoiding a confrontation. You could have been possibly hurt, or worse yet sued . You best bet is to hunt with a buddy, preferably one who carries the gun I carry a handgun when I detect, a beat up old ruger 9mm that I dont mind giving to the police for a while if I have to. I dont worry much about where I carry it cause I can carry it anywhere in the U.S. except for federal courthouses and some federal properties. I'm kinda the creepy looking redneck type and dont really have much problems. My worse experience has been with kids, dogs, tornados, the curious, and some guy trying to tell me that "what I was really looking for was god". Some times it is better to run away and live to detect another day!

 

[Hardrock]

HI ALL:
Over the years of detecting I have had run ins with all kinds,most of the time with pleasant endings.Some with just coming out to a sense of pack up and leave but being bull headed,kept going anyway. Now in this case, RUN FORREST RUN WAS A GOOD CHOICE.
We have just to many nut cases around anymore. In my job I have had firearms leveled in my face several times when responding to emergency calls, fortunatly no bad outcome yet. But deep thoughts are always in the mind with a list of what ifs. Cops do not show up out here in a timely fashion and not many times anywhere else. Good choice on your part. Take care and be careful. Hardrock