Originally Posted by Armistead (Post 2130143)

I generally carry a gun during my nightly walks, but only concern mostly about wild dogs that sometime roam the area. It's not that I'm afraid of anything here, I simply feel safer with it. I never pointed it, just concerned for my safety in the dark. Fact is it happened so fast and something wasn't right, mostly because the stranger or whatever it was wouldn't respond to anything I said. Frankly, no one should be in this area, so that concerned me as well.

I don't remember what all I said, as I stated my main concern was to get my dog on a leash. I said several things, such as my dog doesn't bite, hows it going, I'm walking, can I help you....numerous things,,,,no response...it just walked away. I kept my distance..

I can't explain it, all I know is I know that bridge is loud if you walk on it and it freaked me out a tad, but I wanted to know what was up, so I pulled gun and kept it at my waist....I almost don't want to say it, I'm not crazy, I could see a figure outline in the moonlight, like I blinked and it was gone....

Rest assured, ghost or human I wouldn't have pointed or shot unless I felt my life threatened. THing is my house is near along those trails and no one needs to be out there at night....

I can't explain it, it did freak me out, but I was trying to logically make sense when nothing in front of me was logical....I know my dog, I know that bridge, it simply makes no sense to me....Well, it made sense when I thought it was a stranger, but it made no sense when what I saw simply went away during a blink.....it's like your staring at it and you shake your head and say "where did it go"......There was no where for it to go, no where....

I'm still up trying to make sense out of it, probably stay up until the sun comes up and head back out there first light.

Originally Posted by Stealhead (Post 2130133)

What good would a firearm be against a ghost or spirit anyway?:hmmm:

It is possible that it was a deaf/mute person who being only able to communicate via sign language if they encountered a person they did not known especially a night in such a place they might choose not to use sign language as...
1.the person will likely not read sign.
2. the person might see a hand movement as threat.

I have to agree with periunder you have to be very careful in such a situation and not allow fear to cause you to make a serious mistake.

Sound can travel in very strange ways at night and something that should be easy to hear will not be and other times something very quite can get your attention.Just from my experience living out in the woods many things can throw you and your senses can fool you.

My personal rule of thumb at night or in other low light conditions if I see another person I will keep my distance if they do not pass I will go another way not with my back turned of course.Part of this reasoning is because around here in this part of Florida there are black bears and very rarely cougars.
Once after a summer nights rain I walked out into my field with one of my dogs.It was nice misty out and you could smell the rain in the air still.At the end of the road I stood for a minute looking up at the sky my dog seemed not notice anything.We where standing down wind so any thing downwind of us we could not smell.

I looked down the dirt road and I could just see roughly 50 feet away what I at first thought was a person crouched down sneaking>I own several guns but usually do not carry them unless I am getting ready to go hunt or to do some shooting so I have nothing but by fists.My dog (a lab) she could now smell what ever it was and froze which made me think this must not be a human but something the dog fears.I see then that it was not a person but a black bear now it is only maybe 20 feet away.
I yelled "Holly flying(*) stingrays (*) its a fantastic(*) bear!!" This sudden noise startled the bear and it stopped I yelled at my lab to run and she ran and I threw the glass of water I had in my hand at the bear and it turned and ran and so did I back to the house.

Now normally you can smell a bear from a ways up to 100 yards if you are down wind from one in this case the air was thick with moisture and on top of that the bear was up wind of our noses so even my lab did not smell this bear.

(*)= family friendly version real word starts with the same letter

Originally Posted by Armistead (Post 2130147)

We have some small bears, but I don't worry much about them. The thing is, when I called Bear back it was about 30 yards away, about half way cross the bridge. It had to know I was there, turned towards me, just wouldn't answer. When it turned and walked away, I walked up faster behind it, but stayed away. I know I was still talking....asking questions, even said stop, gonna call the police, that you're trespassing, etc. Then I lost it, but it was still a good 30 yards to the other end,....I was like WTF.....I then basically ran the distance, the bridge swaying...Nothing.

What I don't get is my dog, never seen him act like that ever....

Again, when we were leaving the bridge was sounding off this time like someone walking across it. At night, I can hear Bear crossing it from 100 yards away and he weighs about 20lbs.....but nothing.

You got to understand, in my mind I had a stranger acting weird near my house out in the hicks...about 10 yards in front and then he was gone...I don't know how to explain it or what I saw.

I know it sounds crazy, I don't believe in ghost, don't know what happened, but I'm not scared about it.

Originally Posted by periunder (Post 2130145)

You're still giving briefs here about what you said. Really, what did you say? You share this with us and you probably expect us to believe you. Do us the favor and spill the details. Apparently you had a whole conversation with the shadow, and you kept on talking to it, even though it did not respond.

About the gun. You made a commitment to pull the gun, therefore you acted with your gun. Had some other variable happened you may have pulled the trigger, which was the next step. Close call.

If you feel "safer" with your gun, than without it, then without it you feel you are less "safe" than you are with it, in this area. Why do you feel so much less safe without your gun, on this trail, that you insist on carrying your gun?

Also, you say people shouldn't be on this trail. But you are on the trail. Are you not supposed to be there? If not, perhaps you shouldn't trespass with a firearm. You may wind up dead or behind bars.

Originally Posted by Armistead (Post 2130155)

I don't want to make this a gun thread. I've owned and used guns all my 50 years, I conceal and often open carry, most do around these parts.

My few acres butts up and the old sunken road is the property marker. The large farm behind it about 2000 acres belongs to family, that land meets the old closed park across the bridge. The only people that ever come through are people canoeing the river during the day which is rare, cuz shallow river. The actual park area is probably another mile from the bridge. There is a old scenic trail, but it's closed, even the sign is down, but I have seen hikers checking out the bear slides near the river. Generally I cross the bridge, turn and walk back...

Yea, I was constantly talking to whoever or whatever it was, the more it ignored me, the more forceful I was. If by some chance it was a stranger and it turned to me, I would've stayed my distance. I wasn't going to let the person walk away without some answer of why he was there.

Certainly, at night back in the woods, two strangers meeting up can get dangerous. The bridge is technically family property, my wifes uncle keeps it up so he can get to his fields on the other side, however legally anyone can use the river or the bridge over it, but only if it's river related.

Rest assured, I wouldn't shoot anyone unless I felt my life was threatened. Now, if he turned and ran at me and I couldn't run fast enough to get away, yea, he would've probably got shot.

Originally Posted by periunder (Post 2130158)

Lets flip this on its head.

Let's say what you saw was a real person who didn't disappear. If the person you saw was me. If I had not talked to you, turned away and started walking away (maybe having a bad day and didn't want to talk or pissed off at the world or just stupid drunk), and you started running after me with your gun drawn. I would have thought you were a loon. I probably would have called the police because you were threatening me with your firearm as you were running towards me as I walked away. I would have told them there was a mad man pointing guns at people over by this trail next to the park.

Originally Posted by Armistead (Post 2130160)

Are you not reading.. All the land on both sides of the river belong to family, marked with no trespassing signs. Once you cross the bridge, only about 10 acres is family, but family owns land both sides. On one side it runs up to the old closed park, but we have a gate blocking the road with a no trespassing sign. They're probably 4 houses here abouts surrounded by 1000's of acres and I know them all. Yes, there is an old park closed, next to it an old golf course, but that's about 3 miles away and across an even larger river. Now, beside the old park are old scenic trails, but those are across the river attached to both park and family land.

Now maybe you don't mind people roaming your land at night and not responding to you, but round these parts, well, I wouldn't shoot you, but these old farmers might. In fact, I tried to act nice, cuz I was caught off guard, got my dog, asked could I help, that I'm walking. It was no response and him walking away that concerned me and I felt threatened. I told him I would call cops, etc....That would make any normal person respond. Now, when I lost total site of him, seemingly into the thin air, dang right I felt threatened,,,

Yep, we do sometimes deal with people using the river, it' their right because all rivers are federal, legally, they can leave the river and use the bridge because it crosses the river, but no one dumb enough to do that around here at night, they never do and if this was a stranger, he wasn't canoeing and was a trespasser. Sorry, you on our land, at night and don't respond, I'll consider you a threat. Yep, I may remove my gun because you concern me, but I won't shoot you unless you become threatening...That's basically how police do it....

Family owns all the land on this side all the way down and past the bridge way back. I'm sort of in my back yard here taking this picture. Once you cross that bridge, family owns it up to the old closed park...A few miles down past the park on another river this one runs into is a closed mill. The park was actually a previous mill park, but closed with the mill. The county purchased it, but closed it within a few years cuz it's too far out,

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/u.../WP_000191.jpg

Originally Posted by periunder (Post 2130138)

It gets better...
:har::rotfl2::k_rofl:
:rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2:

Originally Posted by Armistead (Post 2130117)

Don't worry, I wouldn't open fire regardless, unless I knew it was human and attacking me.