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I'm usually loath to reward aholery. But I've got a highly developed sense of self-preservation too. Shortly after moving to Oregon more than 40 years ago I liked to just drive me and my two dogs into the coastal mountains somewhere in my 18' motor home and just get lost on logging roads. Can I get all the way from Philomath to the Alcea Valley by going straight over the mountains on logging roads? Lets see. I was carrying all my camping gear, a concealed gun of course, food, beds, gas. When I saw somewhere nice or got tired I would just pull over and sleep. No place I had to be.
So I was happily lost in a section of mountains that had a whole lot of roads with a particular family name in them. After a while I came upon a deputy sheriff. He was a bit worried. I explained that yes, I was lost, but no problem. He asked me if I'd seen anybody. Then he explained that the very large extended family that lived in this area thought they owned the whole woods, and didn't like strangers. Then, very hesitantly, he said a couple of outsiders had disappeared back in here. He added that the roads and woods were public, and I had as much right to be there as anyone...but...
I told him thanks for the tip, and said I could be just as happy being lost in some other section of the mountains. He breathed a big sigh of relief.
So this family's bad behavior was allowing them essentially exclusive use of public land, and even LE, in a way, was helping enforce it. Did it bother me? No. The world is full of miscreants, from petty a-holes to murderers. Ya gotta pick your battles. I didn't even know whether the deputy's story was real. For all I knew, the whole thing was an invention and the deputy was protecting a huge pot growing operation. In which case that was nothing I wanted to see either.
When I was a teenager in Georgia my dad taught me proper etiquette for being in a swamp or woods and accidentally discovering someone's still. Pretend you don't see it, get outta there, never say a word to anyone, and never go back. And if the still is actually working there's probably a guy behind a tree nearby, who has a shotgun pointed at your head, trying to decide whether he can afford to let you live. So you encourage him not to shoot you by showing no curiosity and getting out as fast as you can. The ability to mind your own business--an invaluable survival tactic.
So I was happily lost in a section of mountains that had a whole lot of roads with a particular family name in them. After a while I came upon a deputy sheriff. He was a bit worried. I explained that yes, I was lost, but no problem. He asked me if I'd seen anybody. Then he explained that the very large extended family that lived in this area thought they owned the whole woods, and didn't like strangers. Then, very hesitantly, he said a couple of outsiders had disappeared back in here. He added that the roads and woods were public, and I had as much right to be there as anyone...but...
I told him thanks for the tip, and said I could be just as happy being lost in some other section of the mountains. He breathed a big sigh of relief.
So this family's bad behavior was allowing them essentially exclusive use of public land, and even LE, in a way, was helping enforce it. Did it bother me? No. The world is full of miscreants, from petty a-holes to murderers. Ya gotta pick your battles. I didn't even know whether the deputy's story was real. For all I knew, the whole thing was an invention and the deputy was protecting a huge pot growing operation. In which case that was nothing I wanted to see either.
When I was a teenager in Georgia my dad taught me proper etiquette for being in a swamp or woods and accidentally discovering someone's still. Pretend you don't see it, get outta there, never say a word to anyone, and never go back. And if the still is actually working there's probably a guy behind a tree nearby, who has a shotgun pointed at your head, trying to decide whether he can afford to let you live. So you encourage him not to shoot you by showing no curiosity and getting out as fast as you can. The ability to mind your own business--an invaluable survival tactic.