Bugout Log, Entry #11: A Unique Situation

During the trip, I encountered several different situations that center around running across other people.  Some questions have been asked about my encounter with two game wardens on the river, I mentioned getting stopped by a game warden in the first leg, seeing fishermen along the river leg, and some rednecks in a power boat.  Going 150+ miles, it is just something that is going to happen and honestly, I am surprised that it did not happen more often than it did.  My goal when I started out was to maintain as low of a profile as possible, for obvious reasons and I took steps to appear as benign as possible to anyone that I might encounter.  I have found that it is much easier to hide in plain sight than it is to attempt to remain unseen because when it is obvious you are trying not to be seen, it tends to draw suspicion.

Open carry is legal where I traveled and I carried a drop-leg rig for all the world to see.  It is a common sight, even with many hikers, because of the wild hog and black bear populations in the area(s).  I packed or concealed the remainder of my weapons and even considered substituting weight for my M1A but decided against it.  Now, I know there are many that will say “it is legal to carry a long gun…. It is my RIGHT….” and I agree with you wholeheartedly.  On the same note, people tend to respond to you and act differently toward you when you are doing so, especially some LE officers.  So, I weighed my rights against wanting to maintain as low of a profile as possible and opted for the common sense option in order to avoid potential problems that I really did not want or need.  I also did not paint my face, attempt to look para-military, or militia – still perfectly legal but…

Most people that I encountered passed me by without a second glance.  This included most of the fishermen, passing motorists, people in their yards, etc.  Some spoke, some waved or nodded their head but pretty much to a “t” all left me to go on about my business.  A couple of fishermen asked if I was fishing or where I was headed but their questions were more a form of greeting than anything else and I would typically answer “on a camping trip” or “down river”.  It did not seem that I piqued too much of their interest and I was perfectly happy to oblige.  I did encounter some rednecks in a powerboat on the river.  It was obvious that they were drinking and riding and they seemed to get a kick out of passing my paddle powered boat numerous times, making as big of a wake as possible, and watching me bob like a cork in the middle of the river.  Even then, all I did was grit my teeth and wave until they lost interest and moved on to their next “shiny object”.  I did wonder if they had known how well I was armed, would they have made so many trips by and around me.

My first encounter with an LE officer was a single game warden.  He passed by as I was walking along the road, turned around and came back to me.  I figure he thought I was a hunter, even though pack hunting is rather uncommon in this area.  He never exited his vehicle, just simply asked where I was headed and what I was doing.  I told him that I was doing a ruck march for the “Wounded Warrior Project”.  He asked if I had served, to which I responded somewhat truthfully, thanked me for my service and what I was doing and allowed me to continue on about my business.  I had expected this encounter, or a similar encounter with some other type of LE officer and as long as I was walking, my story was going to be “Wounded Warrior Project” since it is a common event in the area and I have participated in those events in the past. The game warden was simply doing his job and only delayed me a few minutes.

The next encounter with LE was on the river leg and it is the subject of several questions.  I intentionally did not attempt to hide my presence on the river and probably could have done so fairly easily by moving at night but moving at night along that river is dangerous and tends to raise some flags to LE officers (poachers primarily).  When they started to approach me and it was obvious that they intended to check the boat, I simply put the paddle across my knees and kept both hands visible on the paddle.  I knew they could not tell that I was armed from the angle that they were approaching from and I did not want them to panic when/if they did notice.  I had been checked numerous times while fishing along this very river, so I knew what to expect to start.  They threw me a line, which I attached to the boat and they pulled me along side of their boat.  They asked for ID, camping permits, and fishing license and at that point, I informed them that I was armed.  Of course that announcement changed things but I had to move to get what they had asked for and being armed would have been obvious.  While neither panicked, I could tell that this revelation made them nervous, so I told them where what they had asked for was and how they would like to proceed.

They asked me to paddle to a point where we could beach both boats while they followed and I complied.  Once there, they asked me to step out of the boat and remove my sidearm which I did by unclipping the strap on the drop leg and set it back in the boat.  They asked if I had any more weapons on my person and I told them I did.  At that point, they asked if I would consent to a search of my person as well as the boat.  I told them both were fine.  They searched me first, asked me to have a seat while they searched the boat, and proceeded to do so.  They asked what my purpose was on the river at which point I told them “I am a survival instructor and am looking for new areas to teach classes.”  One replied smartly, about my being a survival instructor and I said “Of course, there are plenty of those prepper types out there with plenty of money that are willing to pay big for survival classes.”  They went through every inch of my gear, including unpacking everything and about half way through their search, they told me I could start repacking the smaller items (compression sacks, zip-loc bags, etc).

I asked why they were so interested in searching me and my boat and that is when they told me about the trouble they had had with meth labs operating in house boats along the river and people running meth down the river.  Also, they always had trouble with poachers along the river.  They asked how far I was going and I told them two creeks below where I actually intended to pull out.  I asked about potential campsites, where I could expect trouble from the general public, issues down river, etc and they were more than happy to tell me all that I needed to hear.  Once they had finished the search, they stayed talking in general about the river while I repacked all of my gear.  Since I had not seen either of them before, I acted like I did not know a whole lot about the river, except what I could get from a map.  One had noticed my retired ID and asked what I had done in service to which I replied “logistics”.  Once I was done packing, they left and went up river while I continued down river.

Now, could I have refused the search?  I believe I would have been well within my rights to refuse the search of my person.  I probably was well within my rights to refuse the search of my gear.  However, I do not believe that I could have avoided the search of my boat, because game wardens are charged with performing boater safety inspections and have every right to search a vessel for “safety purposes” as well as creel limits.  So, was the search “legal” – yes, it was legal in all aspects because I gave consent.  LE officers have the right to ask permission to search and we have the right to refuse the search.  At the same time, I had nothing to hide, knew refusing was only going to delay getting back on the river longer than necessary, and really did not feel like giving guys with a tough job (think about it game wardens encounter someone with a weapon in just about 90% of their “stops”) a hard time.  Not to mention the fact that had I refused and gone all “Fourth Amendment” in the middle of absolute nowhere, with no one else within shouting distance, things could have gone bad for me in a hurry.

It is important to mention here, that at no point were any of the LE officers I encountered overzealous or unprofessional.  They treated me with respect and I do not feel as though my rights were violated at any point.  I know there are many out there thinking “no way I would have consented” and that is certainly your right, but I chose to take things a different route in my own personal situation and since I wanted to maintain some anonymity to what my true purpose on the river was, I feel it was in my best interest to consent to their request.  After all, when they left me no worse for wear, they still had no clue as to why I was there, where I was taking out, or that I was a prepper.

 

 

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    • George Jones on April 17, 2014 at 4:40 PM
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    As I have 20 acres a hour away (1 1/2 off road) I am great full of your time and info and will do research on the on foot aspect but I do have 2 questions
    1st have you ever thought about long distant bug out? I have a trip to the west coast this august and the wife is going to the east coast this month. Just a few thoughts on long term BOB
    2nd as I am over the road I have a lot of the same things in my bag as you do just because I don’t know and yes I have coffee lol but what is the one thing above all that you “wish you had”
    Thanks again

      • The Maj on April 18, 2014 at 11:26 AM
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      George, I have considered long distance bugout and on my own, it might be a real possibility. However, as I have mentioned before, my family is my limiting factor. Long distance on foot is a no go in my book and if things have gotten bad enough that I have to bugout (bad scenario, not weather) then the conditions on and along the road would be rapidly deteriorating as well. So, even with all the caches, good vehicles, etc., etc. I am not really certain that it is as feasible as some think – unless they managed to get out before things got really bad (and things did not deteriorate along the road quickly). Also, the amount of planning and resources that it takes for long distance bugouts makes it unrealistic for most preppers.

      What I did here was merely one potential aspect of our bugout plans. I put hours of planning into exercising this portion of the plan for 150 miles. Pre-scouting crossing points, scouting portions of the river leg, studying maps, going through checklists, what-if’ing everything over and over, etc. When you extend the distance, the planning becomes exponential. In the end, it all boils down to each person’s personal situation and what they need. Luckily, I already reside in a very rural area and my situation is totally different than someone living in or next to a large city.

      You mentioned “long term bugout” as well and in my mind, any TEOTWAWKI bugout needs to be planned as you are never returning and in some cases short term bugouts should be taken with a never to return mindset (weather related event, you bugout, return and your house is three blocks over). The FEMA recommendations for bugout events (even though they do not call them that) give everyone the mindset that they are returning 3-days later, which is the wrong mindset IMHO. It really does not matter if you are going 150 miles or 1500 miles, every single bugout event has the potential to be long term or even forever.

      Tough question on what I “wish I had” and I have considered it. Probably first and foremost would have been a 3rd set of pants and top shirt. I got into a situation where my first set was filthy and wet, put my second set on and then ended up getting them filthy and wet but had not had time to launder and dry the first set. A close second would have been throat lozenges and/or cough drops. Third would have been clothespins. Yes clothespins and I honestly do not know why I did not think of them but pretty bad feeling to spend time washing clothes, go off doing something else and when you come back clothes have blown off the line. Pretty simple items and pretty easy adjustments to my bag, which have already been made.

    • CanadianVet on April 17, 2014 at 7:53 PM
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    I have to ask, did you plan your cover story or did you make it up on the fly?

    When I was in Afghanistan, we were strongly encouraged to have a cover story readily available for use during our R&R if we were travelling to another country and/or for use while in transit for those guys going home instead.

    After all it is common knowledge there are HUMINT people out there and, let’s face it, if you know what to look for, or have been one yourself, you can spot someone who is military or ex-military from a mile away.

    I was lucky, a buddy of mine was as contractor with CANCAP while I was there and I grilled him about his job. So if anyone asked where I was working, I could honestly say Kandahar, and I knew enough about our logistics setup that I could fake being one of the civvies working in our uniform issue section. But that was with a lot of preparation.

    I am asking because making up a story on the fly is one of these things you can easily get tripped up in when you can’t fill all the holes in it, and there will be holes. The only way to minimize that is with preparation. No story will be airtight except for the truth, no matter how hard you try.

      • The Maj on April 18, 2014 at 9:04 AM
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      Good question CanadianVet. I guess a little of both. I had my mind made up that if I encountered LE while walking along or crossing the road my story would be “wounded warrior project” (which I had participated in before), along the river it was “survival instructor”, and cutting cross country “just another hiker”. None of the scenarios were so far from the truth that I could not sell them. The issue I have seen with most people trying to sell a cover story is they attempt to over sell it and at that point, get into trouble having to make something up on the fly.

  1. Interesting, Maj. I very much dislike the idea that law enforcement officers might get if you do not consent to a search, which is that you have something to hide. Those game wardens had as much right to search you and your gear as the police have to come to your house and search it (if you’re not doing anything wrong, why would you care if they search your house?).

    Having said that, I can understand why you consented. I don’t know if I would have consented or not, honestly. On the one hand, I’d want to carry out my objectives as efficiently as possible. On the other hand, I care very much about the constitution, and the rights it affords me. I lived in another country for a long time, and there, the police and politicians could care less about people’s rights. It always annoyed the hell out of me, and it made me appreciate the United States even more.

    As you pointed out, being in the middle of nowhere, things could have gone bad for you very quickly. It’s sad, especially when talking about law enforcement officers, that that is a real consideration.

    Wow, those red necks were jerks. I really hate inconsiderate people like that.

    I’m glad everything went relatively smoothly for you. Oh, a quick question! Why did you have to have camping permits? It seems like a basic right to be able to travel on and sleep on land that isn’t privately owned.

      • The Maj on April 18, 2014 at 9:12 AM
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      “Camping Permits” are simply a trip log you can file. They do not cost anything and you do not get in much trouble, if any, camping without them. They like for you to if you plan to camp along the river so they have a rough idea where to start looking for you if you don’t show up at your take out point within a certain amount of time. Mine was simple “start here and finish here x to y days later”. If you are camping, it tends to cause less of an issue but I have camped many times along the lower part of the river without one without any issues as well.

      I care for the Constitution as well and I am a firm believer for standing up for my individual rights. Searching my house will not happen without a warrant, I can assure you, but at that point, I am standing on ground that I own. In this case, I knew they would say “boater safety inspection” if I refused and then the search would not have been nearly as pleasant. I still had control and decided to maintain that control, rather than having it taken from me. It is all a personal choice when it comes to that type of thing.

      1. Just in case I wasn’t clear, I wasn’t saying you were wrong for consenting to the search. I might have, too, I’m just not sure. It just angers me that law enforcement often expects you to consent to a search, and if you don’t, then they’re going to make things as hard as they possibly can.

        Thanks for explaining what camping permits are. It kind of threw me for a loop when you said they asked for camping permits.

        I’m really looking forward to your gear reviews.

    • Roger on October 3, 2015 at 11:39 PM
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    Thanks for all the info; though I live in a very different environment then you do (high and dry), some things apply everywhere! I would suggest that instead of ‘life-boat rations’ you carry trail mix (mixed nuts, dried fruits, &oatmeal) in preportioned zip-locks. If you got sick-and-tired of Datrex rations, think how your kids would feel; kids (as you probably known) can be finicky eaters. I prefer to use freeze-dried foods on ‘camping’ trips, IMHO better tasting, and MRE’s have too much packaging and too small portions. I would definately add a medium-size tent to your gear, with a tarp to cover it if needed since most light-weight tents are not very water resistant; while you may be able to tough it out for weeks on end I doubt most children can. Have your ‘what if…’ questions included the possibility that your shed could be ripped-off? If the shed has a wooden floor, maybe you could leave a water-tight cache under the floor or hidden in a nearby tree! Also, what if your Jon boat (I assumed it would be stashed near the river you planned on traveling on) was gone when you got there? Maybe you could hide an inflatable raft nearby, then you could use it for river & creek crossings; you don’t want your kids having to swim (w/gear?) through cold water in bad weather! In the case of ‘Rednecks’, I would have shown that I was armed, consider the LEO’s reaction. I always open carry at least a pistol when I’m out in the woods; “a well-armed society is a polite society”! Good Luck!

      • The Maj on October 5, 2015 at 2:10 PM
      • Reply

      Roger, I agree on the Datrex to an extent and in an ideal world, I would definitely go with fruit, nuts, oatmeal, etc. However, there are issues with those when it comes to caching and to me the ideal cache is one you have to visit as little as possible. I did carry some packaged peanuts and oatmeal with me, as well as some rice and beans, which I used when I needed a break from the monotony of Datrex.

      As for MREs vs Freeze Dried, it comes to preference. MREs, while not ideal do offer packaging and portion sizes that will allow you to consume them while moving – I always break the extra packaging out. I had time to burn on the trip, so boiling water was not that big of a deal but with family in tow, it would have been a time consuming chore and it would have increased with utilizing Freeze Dried meals. Again, personal preference but my goal was to find a balance between spending more time moving or resting rather than taking the time to prepare and consume meals. I do have plenty of freeze dried meals at the shed, which in a true bugout, I would carry as much as possible in the boat when leaving that location.

      As for a tent, my wife has a lightweight tent in her BOB that she and the kids can fit in now. As the kids get older and can carry more gear, I plan to switch them to individual pack tents. I will not carry a tent, even in the rain that I saw which was very heavy, I managed to stay relatively dry when I was sleeping in my current setup.

      Yes, I have thought about what happens if the shed is cleaned out or the boats are missing when we get there. Since these entries, I have improved the “shed” to include some buried caches and other items that are “nice” to have available but not very practical to carry. As for the boats missing, it will be either RIP or continue on foot. Since the shed is an actual bugout location for my friend, we have discussed the possibility of my family having to remain there, just as we have discussed the possibility of his family remaining at my home or following us to our bugout location.

      I thought about inflatable rafts at cache points at the creek crossings or even inner tubes. I have ruled them out at this point and the plan is I will swim and we will bridge the gear and kids with rope when necessary. Since this is only a secondary plan to our overall bugout plan, it is hard to justify fully caching the entire route at this point.

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