Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Have you ever "gone fer your gun" in self defense?

No I haven`t and man, I hope I never have to...

I don't know if you could call it self defense, but several times in my last home. Fired shots at burglars in my house one night. Fired a round over the head of some punk attempting to steal my riding mower one night.

had to pull the trigger onetime, that guy is one of my best friends now.

Nope!!!!

But the ex wife did at a stop light one night in Jacksonville, FL. It was in the middle sixties, she was on her way to pick me up from night school with our three kids in the car and a car load of young bucks pulled up along our car at a stop light and started some of that [bleep] jive at her so she reached under the seat and pulled a S&W 32 Spl out and placed it in her lap. She said she would have used it if one of them would have gotten out of their car and touched a door handle.

One of the many reasons people should be carrying. You never know someone who looked like he could have been oberry's son could have been in that car though.

Age 14. Sitting in the east texas river bottom with my new lawn care jobs monkey ward pump 12 3 in mag with a 4 lb barrel while awaiting a dumb buck that didnt exist, I heard the most god-awful racket approaching through the Jack Frost covered palmetto my grandad had leased and posted years before to run his cows in the winter? Finally saw two horseback coming through the bottom to bypass me at 40 yards. I hailed them down and approached to see what they were doing screwing my hunt on posted ground.

They lied they were lost and didn't remember crossing a fence.

Got belligerent and one had on his name tagged army jacket and a semi- auto 30 cal.

I had my gun over my rt shoulder with rt hand on the grip, finger on t-gard, and butt pointed to his horse and muzzle away, while my thumb was on the tang safety on top of the action housing.

I could spot shoot woodies all day long coming up off the river or sloughs and up through the vines and pin oak and ironwood and sycamore and sweetgum trunks and limbs.

Army hero made a move to swing his 30 cal from across the saddle toward me and with a jerk of my right hand downward the muzzle arced from over my shoulder to right toward his face in the blink of an eye.

He froze before his muzzle had crossed his horses head. I really didnt have to explain chitt as he knew I could handle a gun.

He asked and got directions to a trail to a road to a gap that would let them out.

They were pissed but headed the direction I suggested and I stepped behind a pin oak in the switch cane and palmetto and kept sweet Bessie pointed in their general direction as they left pissed and peeved but still alive.


Rumor has it don't mess with old men who will shoot, but I would say to take care threatening a kid with a gun.

One time at my cabin on a dark rainy night. I was there for 10 min getting in my cabin. I see headlights and they stop at the end of my driveway. The hair stood up on my neck. Some Son of a bitch followed me in. I grab my .22 Ruger III and started alkinf to the guys truck. As I got 25 ft. I see it is just a utility worker looking for a downed power line from the storm. I walked up to him and he couldn't believe somone else was back here. Another time the garage door opened @ 2AM. Grabbing the .Ruger 357 Blackhawk I open the garage door and noone. It was back in the days when you could rigg your opener to open many other doors. Scary, hope it never happens again but most likely will. There are a rash of robberies in Kewaskum, Wis. Even an armed robbery at a gas station. Times are changin and time to load up!!

Twice. Climbed up in a tree stand in Hinckley, Mn. one warm foggy morning. 'Hear something rustling in the leaves under the stand just at sunrise, although it was so foggy you couldn't see very far any ways. 'Look over the side of the stand and there's a bear cub digging in the duff right under my stand. 'Hear more rustling back about 10 ft. behind me. Turn on the chair and there's another cub digging for acorns. The chair squeeked when I turned to look at the second cub, and that's when Momma bear caught wind that I was there. I heard the most guttural "WOOF!" ever. The cub under the stand takes off, number two runs over and starts climbing THE TREE I'M SITTING IN! Momma comes on a dead run, hell bent on saving her cub. Cub bails out, and Mom's about half way up the tree when I put a round through the floor of the tree stand. No idea how I didn't hit myself in the foot. Luckily she bailed out and took off, because I'd have never got another round in the gun before she'd have been on me. Take it from experience, bears move extremely fast when they're mad.

Second time.

First month in my first apartment. Not knowing the neighbors real well yet, I kept an 870 next to the bed. Turns out the kids that had the apartment before me sold a little weed on the side. One of their customers is knocking on my door at 2:00 in the morning. Rolled off the side of the bed and racked the 870. I get the impression they'd heard that sound before, as they were gone instantly. The only thing I heard was "OH SCHIDT! FOCKER'S GOT A SHOTGUN!

Word must have got out quickly, as I never had another "visit."

Great stories there gopher.

There's a difference between brandishing and preparation. I was taught a long time ago that if you lose a gunfight because it came down to a quick draw contest, you had already lost before the quick draw started.

You can discreetly draw and be prepared without waving your smoke wagon all over creation.

Blue, I remember being ready at the time I was approaching and then standing there talking to them. I was 14 and it didnt feel right to walk up to them with my gun on them.

I was watching them and carrying in a ready way and felt confident I could get the drop on them had either started anything, but I do know you are right.

Pulled twice nearly pulled the trigger once. Most recnt time I was heading to work early about 5:30. At a red and here this lowlife comes stumbling off the curb. I got the passenger window open a couple inches. I got the pistol in my hand down between the seat and the console. Now I am a rather large ugly and crazy looking redneck in a rusty suburban and I have Hank Jr rather loud on the radio. Never would I have thought you typical ghetto rat would ever come stumbling up to my truck. Anyways he is mumbling about needing gas money or some crap. I am watching cross traffic so I could run the red. I just wanted no hassles. Well lowlife decides to open the passenger door. Doors don't lock. I pulled the 45 and leveled it at his forehead. Told him to shut the door in a not so polite matter. He did and took off running.

Other time I came within a second of pulling the trigger. Caught a couple guys breaking into a property I watch over. One guy stuck around as I called the sheriff. Second guy took off. He got in his car that was parked down the road aways. As he comes in to view he punches the gas and steers towards me. I bring the pistol up and just as I pressing the trigger he locks up the brakes. I get out of the way he ended up stopped about 6 feet from where I was standing. Had he not hit the brakes at that very moment I would of sent rounds through the windshield.My father was with me and promptly got out of the truck and shoved a twelve gauge in the idiots face. He was more than willing to wait for the sheriff after that.

Never needed to. Only wished i had it once when i didnt.

3 times while on duty years gone by, once on a hell of a big bear at 5 feet, and once on a real idiot in a SAM'S club parking lot, All 4 persons decided to cool it fast, and the big assed interior Grizz decided that he didn't need to slap me around that day,,,was best for both of us.

Yep. Couple times were 4 legged. One time it was 3 2-legged "animals".

Middle of the winter. My father and I were meeting at a boat ramp, him with the jet sled, me with the truck and trailer, to take the boat home for a little maintenance. I got there first. Whole place was empty. I backed the trailer down the ramp to get ready then meandered up the shore skipping rocks 'n' so on. Couple minutes later, an old beater truck pulled down on the bar, sort of between me 'n' our truck but up against the bank. I didn't think much of it 'til 3 guys got out. They split up, one cutting me off from returning to our truck (downriver), one upriver, and one came straight at me over a thigh-high pile of small boulders in the middle of the parking area that turned it into sort of a circle drive. I wasn't looking right at them, just watching out of the corner of my eye. I pulled the ol' 8-3/4" pre-NRA "registered model" S&W proto Model 27 out of my belt and drew a bead on a seagull. Those fuggers swapped ends and went back towards their truck.

Just then I heard the outboard running ... 3 cylinder Mercury 60/70 has a unique howl. 'fore I could get back to our truck and the ramp, they'd sorta surrounded where dad was landing. He jumped outa the boat and his K-frame swung out in plain sight.

I heard one of the guys say "that fugger has a gun, too. All these fuggers got guns." They got in their truck and left. We never called the cops, they were an hour away if they came at all. I was underage to pack a pistol for sure and maybe to drive, not sure dad ever did understand how serious that situation was. Denial, y' know. "Can't happen to me out here." Hah!

Figure someone was going to get robbed at minimum.

FWIW, I used quick reply. It was just a general observation.

I'm a serious bad azzzz mo' fo..so no reason to carry.

Thus, NO!

I had spent the night at the Hitching Post Motel in Cheyenne and was heading out at about 7:15 for a meeting downtown. A young couple left the motel just ahead of me going out for a morning walk. Motel is on the north side of the street and we all were heading east. I noticed a couple of bums heading west so they and the couple met up, bums going west and the others east. Ok until the bums stopped, had a quick conference, turned around and quickly caught up to the young people. I was on the south side of the street and had stopped, wondering what the bums were going to do. Of course they were asking for money and didn't plan on taking no for an answer, one of them even tried to grab the woman. I jumped out with a 629 in my hand and told bums to get going or else I was going to start shooting. They took off and I sure was glad. The "kids" were pretty shook up but no harm done. They sure were grateful but the experience caused them to go back to their room. I advised the guy to get a gun and keep it with him all the time.

Buddy I graduated with lives in Weslaco heard a noise in the garage one night and shot a brown guy DRT.

Another guy worked with a close friend had a racket at his back door one night. Opened the door as a guy was trying to break in and fired. Black guy turned and fled.

I don't remember all details but he called cop shop and told hem he thought he may have shot some one. No evidence that night but Chief of police comes by next morning and and says, "____, we found your burglar in an alley in town this morning dead as a door nail. Don't ever call the police if something ever happens like that again. You call me the next day and just let me know what happened, ok? "

I answer the original question, yeah. The closest I ever got to using it was being about half way through the trigger pull on a guy that went for a knife at about two feet from me. He changed his mind and I was able to let off the trigger, but the scariest part was what seemed like slow motion, waiting to feel if the trigger was going to let out or the gun would recoil. I could've killed him, but I'm glad I didn't.