Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Need for firepower in the field.

In another thread about handguns it was suggested that instead of a light back up handgun I should abandon hunting with my drilling and instead opt for an AR with multiple 30 round mags due to a possible run in with armed drug dealers or bandits.

Has anyone or does anyone know of a person here in the U.S. that had to fight his way out of LEGAL hunting situation where he needed multiple high capacity mags or died because they had exhausted the ammo for their standard hunting rifle or shotgun?

Actual experience or documented knowledge, not "I know a guy whose cousin" kind of story.

There were some folks over in Wisconsin had a run in with a trespasser a few years ago. I don't know as more fire power would have saved any lives, but it couldn't hurt.

Really??

Some people watch too much TV.

In Wisconsin they were shot unarmed or before they could fire a shot.

Added info on the WI shooting

One of the wounded hunters was able to fire one shot at the fleeing killer. Six hunters were killed and two wounded. My B in L was a sheriff's deputy in the adjoining county at the time.

No, but I've had to wave and say "Hello" to several other hunters.

In South Texas a guy hunting on our place held a couple of illegals at gunpoint until the border patrol showed up. He said he done the same thing in Iraq so I guess he knew what he was doing.

There were illegal Mexicans in Iraq?

We have been told by the Border Patrol and the county sheriff that doing this can and probably will result in a charge of kidnapping or unlawful restraint .

At least one rancher over by Douglas, AZ, who held illegals at gunpoint, was sued and ended up losing his ranch. If the situation can't be credibly explained as self-defense, you should probably just abstain from initiating a confrontation.

Depending on where I hunt I sometimes carry my G-19. Some places involve driving quite a ways onto public land. I don't like the idea of coming back to the truck after dark with only a bolt rifle.

Never really needed it, but I've run into some drunks once or twice. One group had ran off the road and wanted me to attempt to pull them out. It was an impossible job that needed at least 1 wrecker, maybe 2 to keep the truck from rolling down the mountain. They were pretty pissed when I said I'd call a wrecker when I got back to pavement, (pre-cell phone days). I actually called the local sheriff.

I discovered a very recently destroyed moonshine still when I was 16 and walked up on some guys in the process of stripping a Mustang when I was 14. This would have been in the mid-1970's.

I've had enough incidents in the woods to keep me alert, but so far haven't felt the need for more than a handgun.

Hunting in far S. Texas close to the border is a whole new ball game nowadays. And I'd bet it's probably worse in some parts of Arizona.

Personally, I've never had a problem here in TX, but I don't go ANYWHERE without a handgun nowadays. And if I'm in far S. TX, my Handgun will be a Hi-cap Glock. Usually my Glock 32 in 357 sig with a couple of extra 15 rd mags to boot. It also works really well on feral hogs and Javilinas.

Yes, they fought for the US Army and were rewarded with citizenship, but what I meant is that he detained people with a gun.

The Border Patrol just picked up the illegals and drove them off and didn't do anything to guy but they told us not to do that and to just call them in the future.

They should ask their Coyote for a refund.

When I lived in Oregon I used to ride my dirt bike on old logging roads and often would come across remote camps and I am not talking recreational camps, I am talking blue tarp, garbage strewn camps.
I suspect they were meth cooking camps, don't know for sure because I got the hell out of there.
So I started carrying a side arm while riding, would be foolish not to.

I also know in Humbolt and Mendacino county in Calif. they advised people to stay out of the hills during harvest season.

[quote=irfubar]When I lived in Oregon I used to ride my dirt bike on old logging roads and often would come across remote camps and I am not talking recreational camps, I am talking blue tarp, garbage strewn camps.
I suspect they were meth cooking camps, don't know for sure because I got the hell out of there.
So I started carrying a side arm while riding, would be foolish not to.

I also know in Humbolt and Mendacino county in Calif. they advised people to stay out of the hills during harvest sea"

Have run into similar camps in Colorado near the front range, but not while hunting. My thought is if you are a CCW type of person, there aren't many places you aren't prepared. Local conditions might reinforce that.

The Wisconsin deal was a bad one, but definitely atypical if you read up on it.

This story was posted on another forum a couple years ago. The link to the original story doesn't work now so I'll just copy and paste.

Exclusive: Family shot at, threatened by drug cartel in Tucson

http://www.examiner.com/drug-cartel-in-n...g-cartel-tucson

Last month, a man I will refer to as “Willie” took his 9-year-old son coyote hunting less than 10 miles southwest of Tucson, in a very rural area close to the San Xavier del Bac Mission which is located on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. As the two stood outside their vehicle gathering their gear, a truck pulled up a few yards in front of them.

Both the driver and passenger of this truck exited the vehicle and began staring at Willie, at first he thought they may simply be in this rather remote area for the same reason, until the passenger began shouting at he and his son in Spanish.

Willie does not speak Spanish and could not understand what the man was saying, but feeling uneasy, he told his son to get back inside their vehicle.

Then, he noticed the passenger reaching for something in his waistband…it was a pistol.

According to Willie, the gun misfired as he withdrew it, nearly hitting his cohort.

The two men did not see what Willie had in his hands, as the door of his truck blocked their view…It was an AR-15.

With the man taking aim at him, Willie opened fire, hitting their vehicle several times. The two quickly fled the scene.

Not anxious to see if the two may return, Willie jumped into the vehicle with his son and headed back for town. As they were driving along, they began to hear “popping” sounds coming from some distance behind them.

The two men in the truck were following them and shooting at them.

Willie floored the accelerator, but the shots continued. He raced to the top of a hill, turned his vehicle sideways and positioned his rifle on the hood of his truck and began firing back at them.

He said he “pumped round after round” (later discovered to be 12 rounds) into the grill of their truck until smoke began pouring from the vehicle. The men leaped from the now-stalled truck and ran off into the desert.

Willie called 911 and the Border Patrol reportedly showed up 45 minutes later. BP agents doused the smoldering truck with fire extinguishers and towed it away.

He says the Border Patrol told him “at least four times” to keep this incident quiet and do not talk about it to anyone. The reason given to him was reportedly “the cartel will come back and kill you.”

Fearing reprisals and understandably nervous for his family’s safety, Willie did just that…he kept quiet.

So, why is he speaking now?

Three weeks ago, a “sedan with darkened windows” began showing up outside the family’s home in Tucson. On two separate occasions, the family observed this vehicle positioned just a few doors down for about two hours each time.

Both times, they called the Pima County Sheriff’s Office and on both occasions, the vehicle left only moments before a deputy arrived (Indicating the individual(s) may have a police scanner in their vehicle.).

Also, rather than driving past the house, the vehicle in question backed down the street both times. Perhaps, as not to allow the family to see their license plate number (Arizona only requires vehicles display one plate).

Then, about a week later, a man approached Willie outside his house and began a seemingly friendly conversation with him.

During the course of this chat, the man stated that he “used to run drugs for the cartel” and he understood that he “had recently had some trouble with them.”

This unidentified man told Willie that he should continue to keep quiet about the shootout or he and his family “would be killed.”

After this contact, Willie’s wife became so terrified she left with the children and is now staying with friends.

Willie is of course, frightened for the lives of his family but he is also angry that criminals are allowed to operate with such impunity in this country and that an American family must now live in fear from a foreign drug cartel…simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time (BUT STILL IN THE U.S.).

More than likely, this man and his son inadvertently drove into a pre-determined ‘drop’ situation. Cartel henchmen often meet in remote areas to exchange drugs or money.

As I said at the beginning of this report, this information was given to me by a very trusted and reliable source who has known this man and his family for many years…After multiple conversations and some independent checking, I have no doubt that this report is accurate.

If enough publicity can be afforded to this case, “Willie” has said that he may be willing to speak publicly about these experiences, in hopes that he may become “too visible to touch.”

Not for me, hunting in the deeper woods one rarely gets more than the first shot. My bolts have at least four so plenty for myself. Having been issued a few AR types they do work well, but I see no need for one in a deer hunting situation. I do however carry my 357PD 41 mag as a backup/finishing shot.

Well I can tell you about a guy up northern CA way, steelhead fishing who cut through an area looking for access. He was approached by a dude with an AR who pointed it at him and asked for his wallet. Took the driver's license out and studied it then handed it back to him and called him by his first and last name. Told him not to come back or think about making any calls.
He never did see what the guys was protecting, pot, meth lab, who knows. He complied, figured he didn't want to deal with the ramifications of reporting it.

Seems it's a coyote hunt?

I was looking for wolfs once and came upon a pack of 30+, trust me, I wish I had an AR.

I've hunted deer along the Colorado River just up stream from the mexican border for many years. I've run into lots of odvious illegals over the years.
I've never had a problem or even the slightest threat from any of them. But I've always been armed. I had three of them walk into our camp asking for help one dark night as we about to hit the bags. That did shake us up a bit, but, again, no problems.
Had several conversations with a local who worked as a volunteer for the sheriff's search and rescue unit. He carried a Colt National Match 1911 and two extra magazines of hardball. It was not for hunting according to him. He told me that most of who we'd meet were poor people who were no threat to us. But he also said that really bad criminal sorts and terrorists would also used the same routes. Anyone traveling alone, particularly if dressed for hiking, can easily be one of these. The worst of these sorts however were the guides who the "poor people" would hire. Locally known as coyotes, they were ruthless people who were known to abandon families with children in remote desert areas during the summer months. He had actaully found some of these groups both near death or dead. He made it clear to us to never turn our backs on these sorts. And to be armed at all times. E