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Old 01-07-2017, 10:08 PM   #29
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One time. Many, many years ago we were camped at Fort Yargo SP near Winder, GA (nice place) in the Starcraft pop up camper we had at the time. Our two sons were sleeping in one of the end bunks, my wife and three year old daughter were sleeping in the other end bunk and I was sleeping on the drop down table bed. We were all asleep when something, an uneasy feeling, woke me up (maybe because of a tour in Vietnam a few years before?). I squinted one eye open a bit and could have sworn someone was looking in at me through the side screen. I shot straight up in bed with a .45 in my hand and the apparition (?) disappeared. My wife also woke up about this time and felt for our daughter. Alarmed she discovered our daughter was hanging half way out of the trailer where the end canvas was bungeed around the end of the bunk. She couldn't pull her back up and said it felt like someone was holding onto her. I shot out of the trailer with the .45 in one hand and a flashlight in the other, but no one was there and I loosened the straps holding the canvas and got my daughter back inside. She had slept right through it all.  Spooked? Yes we were! But we stayed another night or two with no further occurrences, although I pretty much slept with one eye open. Was it just our imagination? We never knew for sure, but both my wife and I had grown up camping with our parents and were pretty experienced campers who had never had anything like this happen before and neither of us were or are the skittish type. Now the wife and I Camp in a hard sided travel trailer, but I always carry protection.

Now that is spooky!
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Old 01-07-2017, 10:14 PM   #30
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Only time I was afraid in my camper was a little 26' jayco TT in Dodge city during a really bad storm. So bad we left the camp ground just before dark because it was on a bald hill and storm sirens kept going off, television showed tornado warnings all night. Drove downtown and parked next to a huge old train engine in a parking lot. The TT rocked terribly all night. Felt extremely vulnerable and helpless as sirens blew for 7 hrs.
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Old 01-08-2017, 07:45 AM   #31
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I feel like I should be eating popcorn while reading these stories!
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Old 01-08-2017, 08:44 AM   #32
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Boondocking or being out in the woods never has bothered me. Man is an apex predator and most animals in North America are more afraid of you than you are of them. I tend to give grizzlies a wide berth but even they will not bother you if they know you are there.
Humans on the other hand can be a problem. One time when I was a kid probably 45 years ago we were the only people in a small forest campground on a remote highway in Northern California. Just before dark as I was wandering back to the RV with my fishing pole a whole bunch of Hells Angels came riding through the campground on their Harley's. No one stopped or said anything to us but there must have been 20 or more bikes that just rolled through. My parents were freaked out but there wasn't anything we could do so we just spent the night. Other than that one experience I have never had an issue when in a remote place. I feel much safer in the wilderness than in the city.
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Old 01-08-2017, 09:03 AM   #33
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Last April on I40 in New Mexico, We stopped at a roadside tourist trap. Parked by the trucks because it was easier. After walking the dog in the back of the lot, my wife and I were surrounded by Truckers. They separated the two of us (luckily she had our large dog) They proceeded to try and shake me down for money. Spooked Yes! We extricated ourselves from the situation with lots of yelling. (mostly directed at me) Stayed uncomfortable for a number of days afterward. Always thought Truckers were generally a friendly group. Much more vigilant now.
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Old 01-08-2017, 09:21 AM   #34
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Pulled into a campground at Denali. All the campers were at one end it seemed. I did not think much about that as I found a nice spot at the other end away from everybody.

The next morning my dog refused to leave the TT. That did get me going. But, nah, there are campers all around this area. So I had to walk all the way around the TT patting it and talking to the dog that was still inside. It was a slow walk and I was always looking into the woods. I just knew she knew something I did not know. When I made it back to the door she came out. A bit later I spotted the bear proof dumpsters through the brush about thirty feet away. Must have had visitors during the night and that dog had a real aversion to the smell of bear.

This does not qualify for being spooked. But I had a bear wake me by sniffing and snorting into my ear through the sidewall of a tent once. That is WAY past being spooked. The sound of it shuffling off was quite a relief. I guess sometimes it pays not to wash behind your ears.
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Old 01-08-2017, 10:09 AM   #35
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I can't say that I was spooked, but we did have a minor bear incident in Banff in 1964 when I was 17. It was early evening and my 8 year old sister was playing outside while the other 4 of us were in the TT playing cards. We heard a blood-curdling scream and I raced outside to see my sister screaming and a black bear about 20 feet away just standing and looking at her. I think the bear was just as startled as my sister was.

I hustled her inside and we watched through the windows as the bear ambled over, stood up on it's hind legs, and used the corner of the trailer as a back-scratcher.

After giving us a good shaking for about 30 seconds, the bear wandered off and started expertly flipping trash cans out of the supposedly "bear resistant" cages and looking for a snack. It never actually threatened us - I even followed it around the campground taking pictures - but it was both exciting and nerve wracking while it was happening.
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Old 01-08-2017, 10:52 AM   #36
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When I was around 16, I went with my parents to my brothers wedding in Jackson, MS. We were living in Atlanta and ended up leaving late so we stopped to spend the night outside Montgomery in a KOA. Around 2:30 in the morning, we heard an old noisy pickup truck slowly cruising through the campground. He would ride a little, then stop and then continue on his slow roll around the campground. It was late December and so there were not many campers in the park. You start to feel pretty venerable locked (trapped) inside a trailer. We could see he was alone in the truck but what was he doing at that hour of the night? Soon he left the campground and we could breath a little easier.

I know this isn't a bear or someone pounding on the side of the trailer but it was pretty scary to us, we still talk about it today some 45 years later. My father later installed a siren on the trailer that he could let lose and wake up some help or hopefully run someone off.
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Old 01-12-2017, 10:00 AM   #37
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Jeff, I grew up a high crime region, and lost 3 friends (murdered), 2 retired, one a student of religion ( going to be a minister). I am always in the "yellow zone" (cautious), and am "always" prepared! If I can't legally defend myself, the city,state, country, ect. will get by without my tourist cash! We plan on doing the AlCAN one day, so we'll be down to the shotgun (not practical for 24/7 carry and bear spray ( very effective but not legal everywhere, but the penalty is probably less than a firearm violation)! memtb
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Old 01-12-2017, 10:13 AM   #38
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It's rare to be the target, but I does happen. This RV couple was in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Murder charges in New Mexico provide grisly details of Arizona fugitives' blood-soaked getaway | Fox News
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Old 01-12-2017, 10:26 AM   #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by memtb View Post
Jeff, I grew up a high crime region, and lost 3 friends (murdered), 2 retired, one a student of religion ( going to be a minister). I am always in the "yellow zone" (cautious), and am "always" prepared! If I can't legally defend myself, the city,state, country, ect. will get by without my tourist cash! We plan on doing the AlCAN one day, so we'll be down to the shotgun (not practical for 24/7 carry and bear spray ( very effective but not legal everywhere, but the penalty is probably less than a firearm violation)! memtb

I sent you a PM!
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Old 01-12-2017, 11:13 AM   #40
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We camp remotely all the time, farther away from civilization the better. I always check surroundings and keep an eye out for bears, dogs, etc. and especially humans, yet we have never had anything strange happen. Some of these stories would make some good movies.
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Old 01-12-2017, 12:00 PM   #41
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My experience happened almost thirty years ago. My next door neighbor and I left late on a Thursday night from St. Louis to go deer hunting in St. Genevieve, Mo. in the national forest.

He had an old but new to him cab over camper. We were headed down a narrow two lane state highway when he (driving) said, what the heck is that? He was looking in his rear view mirror.

About the same time it got really bright inside the cab and I looked out from the passenger mirror and there was a bright light just mere feet from the back of the truck. Jerry (my neighbor) laid into the throttle and announced "keep a look out for side road."

He told me he would duck into the side road and let that crazy (insert expletive here) go around us. Soon there was a national forest road ahead, I yelled, Jerry broke hard and made a hard right.

The light followed us!

This went on for what seems forever until we hit a long straightaway on the gravel road we were on. This section of road was devoid of trees and it appeared to be a logging clearing. We were both confused and scared out of our wits because the light maintained pace with us until we got to the straight section. And then.....

The light just disappeared. It just went out. Nothing, nada. We never did find out what it was and to this day we still talk about that night. Weird, swamp gas perhaps? I still get goose bumps thinking about it.
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Old 01-12-2017, 01:11 PM   #42
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Six years ago when I decided to RV full time -- just me and a small monkey, I carefully considered all my options. I decided that I would "feel" safer in a motorhome than in a TT or 5er. I knew that if I ever felt spooked it would be easy to just hop in the driver's seat and drive until the fear subsided.

Two months after leaving on this grand adventure I realized that Sena's (the monkey) discomfort was not about traveling, but was from being at the bottom of the totem pole. Monkeys like to be able to be boss and it wasn't gonna be me. So we became 3 with the addition of a small breed puppy -- our sacrificial beast.

Once again I had to consider if I was going to break my ironclad rule about leaving the coach after dark in an unfamiliar place to walk Lily (the dog). Instead I opted to train her to use a puppy pad instead of going for night walks.

In more than 5.5 years and over 40,000 miles I have never (yet) even considered driving away from a night boondock spot out of fear. Avoidance of noise, yes, but never fear.

I am resolved to never opening the door to any stranger after dark, even a LEO. And my only readily available weapon is a tire iron that lays behind the driver's seat. Anything else is too dangerous in the hands of a curious little monkey. I bought some mace, but it has to stay safely locked away.

I've found RVers to be the best among us and feel blessed to have the freedom to explore this amazing country.
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