So I have stewed on this for a week now, I guess I will share...

[derekhonda]

Let me tell you a story about last saturday night.

For starters, let me give you a background. We have camped on this ground for the last 10 years, since before we could drive a car. It is one of my best friends' dad's property, he grew up out there and it is still in his family. It used to be a great place to go, you could ride all day on around 800 acres and never hit the same trail twice, no one knew about it, it was just perfect.

Years ago, the guy who owns australian gold tanning lotion purchase a large tract of land, right in the middle of our trail (which we did have permission to ride on) Immediately, a 10 foot fence went up, riding cut down to aroun 150 acres....

More background, the place we camp on is 16 acres, and it is situated along an older, notorious drug road. We had all sorts of problems when we were younger, it was not uncommon to come out and find pot plans buried in planters. When the plants got to big to stay in a house, they would come bury them along our trails to sun the rest of the way out. After we started being out there more and more, always calling the cops and turning over the plants, eventually that subsided.

Even more background, our land is broken up into 2 sections, there is a 6 acre hay field up top, and then it drops down about 15 feet into a little gulley that we camp at. There is a gravel driveway that runs down through the hayfield, down the hill, and into our camp site. It was always great when we were younger, because you had about a 90 second window when you saw headlights, you knew someone was heading down the path.

My senior year of highschool we had a scare. We saw headlights at around 2 am on a friday night. The headlights stayed there for around 3 minutes, and then backed up, and left. We knew something was fishy and walked up there. Someone had driven down the gravel drive, got out, walked sideways, and left a meth lab out there to cook. We called the land owner (my friends dad) and he called 911 and came out there for the night.

The cops came, they brought in the drug lab from indy and disposed of it, and stayed out there to wait for the druggies to come back out and pick it up...which they never did.

(more to come don't post)

[derekhonda]

Ever since then, we have brought out guns with us when we are camping.

Everything has been going smoothly ever since, we keep the ground mowed, there are no trespassing signs, we have really regained control of the land apprently the druggies know that their drugs will be confiscated and the police will be called, we haven't really had manyproblems until recently.

I have had 2 occasions where i have been out there this year, someone was having sex on our picknic table and i stumbled across about 10 mexicans swimming in the creek parked on our land, all were asked to leave but it kind of made me put my guard back up.

Last saturday, we were out there around 4pm, had a couple 12 guages and a .22/20 guage over under and we shot about 150 pigeons or so, havin a good time. A bunch more people came out later that night to hang out and drink a beer. That gravel road the comes in is not really 2x4 friendly, sometimes is someone is driving a honda or other smaller car, they leave it parked up top nothing out of the ordinary, in fact it usually makes me feel better because I don't feel like a person is going to drop off a drug lab while a car is parked up top in the hay.

So last saturday, we are out there, and its roughly 1 am. We are down there listenin to some music drinkin beer hangin out around the campfire, when we see lights shoot down the gravel drive. We arent expecting anyone, so we kind get nervous. the lights just stay there...for about 2 or 3 minutes, finally, i say something isn't right, someones breaking into that car up there in the hay field.

We have shot all of our 12 guages, but the single shot 20guage i have plenty of ammo. I tell me friend "stan" (made up name), who is a pretty good shot and has only had a couple of beers cause he wasn't staying to load up the 20 guage, i was going to ride up the hill on the fourwheeler and that if I took off into the woods he wa to call the cops and get everyone to run off into the woods and keep the gun with him.

I run over and jump on the 400 and fire it up and just rack it out jsut to let them know we were out there, I didn't really want trouble, I take off, round the corner and head up the path when 6 or 7 flashlights click on, the police....

[UNBROKEN]

man this is a good story what happens next , gotta love suspence :cool:

[extremeblastr]

i know i'm gettin all into this

[derekhonda]

Un known to me, a less than sober friend had grabbed his 12 guage (which keep in mind we had no ammo) and began rackin it like he had just loaded it up. The police had heard that noise, drew their weapons and raided our campsite. I had just rounded the corner, they were sitting there on te bottom part of the gravel drive, on private land, listening to us this entire time. It took an empty shotgun rack to lure them out of the darkness, and that is when the "fun" (sarcasm) began.

i was ordered off of my fourwheeler, thrown to the ground laying there while two officers took my pocket knife off of me, and the other 4 or 5 went towards my friend who had made the shotgun racking noise. All of us were put on the ground, knives and guns taken, I laid there for probably 5 or 6 minutes face down in the dirt, and asked, oh ill say it nicely, more than once (like 8 or 9 times) why they were on our land.

Each time, i got a ****ty response, "ill tell you after i disarm you", "Ill tell you when you need to know" "ill tell you in a minute" blah blah....


Finally, after they ask me if we have permission to be here, and I say yes, they stand me up (didn't even ask me whose land it was, just, "are you supposed to be here?" "Yeah" "Oh ok here is your knife back, well we are here because about 3 miles up the road (in a different county) someone had their house broken into, so we are out investigating anything suspicious looking"////

[derekhonda]

I guess the bottom line is (pappys encouraging me to finish), this just sucks. My favorite spot to go all summer long is just spoiled.

I explained to the cops, all of the trouble we have had out here on the land, one of the cops even said he remembered the meth lab, and we still have no rights.

We are out camping, doing absolutely nothing wrong, and the cops, because of that car being parked in the hay field (which they ran the plate before coming down the hill, was not stolen was not anything wrong) but was suspicious enoug for them to walk down the hill and sit there and listn to us, only coming down once they heard a gun being loaded and a fourwheeler being started.

This property, the owner is a lawyer. He has informed all police and deputies that they are to notify him before they are to go onto his property. They didn't/

there were no cherries and berries, only headlights. We would have acted differently if there were police lights (and there is no where to run to, there is a creek that runs all along our property)

thirdly, they could have announced their presence as they were sitting there listening to us.

Fourthly, THEY DIDN"T EVEN KNOW THE GUY "STAN" WITH THE LOADED 20GUAGE STILL HAD IT LOADED AND TUCKED IT INSIDE A TRUCK BED AS THEY DISARMED THE empty 12 guage.

I'm just rambling on. as I said, I have been sitting here for 6 days stewing on this, and it just makes me sick. I guess I will take a little break from camping and doing what I really enjoy all summer long, because the cops feel like a car parked out at a campsite is suspicious enough to come down guns drawn an pointed at me, which i did not appreciate at all.

[derekhonda]

oh yeah side note, encourage your girlfriends not to buy austrialian gold tanning lotion, that guys a dousche and he took away my riding land.
:D

[extremeblastr]

i would bring it up with the property owner and file a complaint with the departmenth they were from, i would've been writing down badge numbers the second i was up and talking with them.....they were just trying to do their jobs but i'm sick of cops being aholes and pretty much doing whatever they want and expecting no reprecussions. not to mention what if your buddy had fired a shot as they came out because he thought it was possibly one of the druggies? the death would be their own fault, he would have been defending himself in fear of his life.

[extremeblastr]

Originally posted by derekhonda
oh yeah side note, encourage your girlfriends not to buy austrialian gold tanning lotion, that guys a dousche and he took away my riding land.
:D

consider it done lol

[Pappy]

My take on it to Derek was that the officers have prior knowledge of the area being used by druggies etc. This in no way excuses any behavior that is not legal by the officers, but it does lend some credibilty to them not just rolling up code 3:p


I would also follow the advice of chatting with the landowner. It could swing both ways however, he may decide that its a bunch of trouble and close the area all together. Tact is the order of the day.

And it does suck when your a law biding citizen starting down the barrel of an officers gun when you have violated no laws. But hey, its his protection over yours and you dont mean jack ****.

[derekhonda]

Eh I'm not real worried about the land owner, I know he wasn't real happy about what happened on both sides, but hes been like a second father to me and he knows we were just protecting ourselves, he just wasnt real happy with what all took place.

[Pappy]

I think this is one of those "pick your battles" things. If it went down exactly as stated, I doubt you have any thing that would be useful if you wanted to make a complaint.

What you could do, is set up an appointment with a supervisor at the local police station and have them explain things and what you can expect in the future because you intend on using the property as you have for so many years. They may tell you to pack sand or the chat may help in future issues.

I would also chat with the landowner and make sure the property is posted and I would have written permission to be on the land. If you aren;t the owner, and the cop wants to be a real prick, he can haul you out of there just out of spite and there isnt jack you can do about it.

[Tommy Warren]

If I was a cop comming to check out whats going on and I hear the cocking of a shotgun.....I would probably just open fire on your ***. but good story!:D

[derekhonda]

Originally posted by Tommy Warren
If I was a cop comming to check out whats going on and I hear the cocking of a shotgun.....I would probably just open fire on your ***. but good story!:D

hopefully you don't become a cop.

[<DRS>GPF]

wow.. good story.. im glad things "went ok", as it couldve easily turned ugly considering the premis..



on a relative note.. "country cruising" has pretty much become a thing of the past around my area, mostly due to the meth-heads..

there was a time when a person could just go creeping around on country roads, drinkin' and smokin', just to keep out of trouble on a weekend night..
now with the fear of the meth-heads thieving and such, people are quick to call police when a vehicle idles by with a group of people.

luckily, my days of "country crusing" have passed and if i want to do any drinkin' and smokin' ill just light a fire in the pit and sit out in my yard.

[AbnMP13]

Originally posted by Pappy
I think this is one of those "pick your battles" things. If it went down exactly as stated, I doubt you have any thing that would be useful if you wanted to make a complaint. [/B]
Very true.


Originally posted by Pappy
What you could do, is set up an appointment with a supervisor at the local police station and have them explain things and what you can expect in the future because you intend on using the property as you have for so many years. They may tell you to pack sand or the chat may help in future issues. [/B]
Definitely would not hurt; might make a friend or two.


Originally posted by Pappy
I would also chat with the landowner and make sure the property is posted and I would have written permission to be on the land. If you aren;t the owner, and the cop wants to be a real prick, he can haul you out of there just out of spite and there isnt jack you can do about it. [/B]
Exactly, keep the owner informed. The cops may see you; call the owner and find out if he knows WHO IS DOWN THERE and then the Cops are less likely to crash your party.

[MX MaNiAc 06]

I hate cops man. Pappy has a good arguement but they could have handled that situation better. You're lucky they didn't do anything about you driving a fourwheeler with a gun pointed at them. lmao Or give you an underage for drinking. Or DUI for riding your quad after drinking.

[derekhonda]

Originally posted by MX MaNiAc 06
I hate cops man. Pappy has a good arguement but they could have handled that situation better. You're lucky they didn't do anything about you driving a fourwheeler with a gun pointed at them. lmao Or give you an underage for drinking. Or DUI for riding your quad after drinking.

I didn't have the gun with me on the fourwheeler. Im not underage. We were on private property.