5/22/2023 Shots Fired
They came by shooting today. Being that we have generally been occupying remote areas of forest, hearing gunshots is not uncommon. Typically, best practice is to avoid areas that are clearly shooting ranges. Signs of a shooting range will be various appliances and/or furniture with bullet holes in them. Broken glass is also a good indicator that you might want to steer clear of that area, or at least not setup right there. These are general rules of thumb that we have followed.
We've been here for about a week now, and everyday, I've heard shots to the north. My figuring is there's an area over there that locals have claimed as their own personal shooting range. This is not uncommon and doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I know to avoid the area, at least for camping. Today, however, for the first time, I heard shots from the east-southeast where I recently saw a couple cars setup for camping. The main road in and out of the area is in that direction, so I find it unlikely that anyone would choose that area to go shooting, given the likelihood of hitting someone. Immediately after the shots from the east-southeast, they began coming from the east and sounded very nearby. Then I started hearing ricocheting bullets flying directly over the tent. I stood up and walked cautiously around to see if I could see someone with the intention that if they saw a human walking around in the area, maybe they would move to a different location. I did not see anyone, but the whizzing bullets continued for about 30-40 minutes. I heard a few smacking through the trees overhead before hearing them land about 50-60 feet behind me. Today they were fairly high overhead, but it did occur to me that if you were trying to murder someone and make it look like an accident, a ricocheting bullet in the woods would convince quite a few people unless, of course, the target was on to you and was very publicly vocal about it which would make it increasingly difficult to perform your task. In this case, the best you can do is intimidate and try to scare them into uprooting their lives. Nevertheless, I stopped what I was doing and looked up how to treat gunshot wounds. Not long after they stopped shooting at us, a very large, earth-shaking booming began to the north. Those shots were deep blasts that sounded like explosions. They occurred in two's. There would be a shot, a pause, another shot, then maybe a few minutes of pause before beginning the whole process again. The blasts continued for another 20-30 minutes. At this time, it occurred to me that if you wanted to murder someone and make it look like an accident, but you knew they were on to you which made it increasingly difficult to perform your task, you might want to intimidate them, to scare them, to make yourself appear and sound bigger, stronger, and more capable than you are. Comments are closed.
|
Archives
February 2024
CategoriesAll Eats Gear HSFRL Lifestyle Nugs Opinion Patterns Recipies Travel |