Roger-
I grew up as an amatuer boxer, also. I was also a damn good wrestler
and am a wrestling coach at the school I teach mathematics (so I get
lots of practice with 14 year olds pounding on me for two hours at a
time). I am 210 pounds, and 6 feet tall. Not real big, but not real
small either. I am in good cardiovascular and muscular shape, and can
be mentally tenacious. However, I am not stupid and most importantly,
have had my ass kicked enough times that I am very realistic. I do not
feel capable to always guarantee the total defense of myself (and
perhaps family) against one or multiple assailants. Anybody who has
ever been in a real physical confrontation knows two things: 1) There
is no-way in hell one man can take on two or three and leave them lying
on the ground while he walks away unscathed. It just doesn't work that
way. Anybody who thinks different has either been lulled into a false
sense of physical prowess or has watched too many Bruce Lee, Steven
Seagal, and Jackie Chan movies. 2) No-one "WINS" a fight, somebody just
gets hurt less.
I have had three major incidents in the last ten years. Two involved
men threatening me with a piece of pipe and a baseball bat,
respectively. In both cases, I was completely surprised and did not
have a clue as to why these individuals were upset with me. One pulled
in front of my car on a dirt road and blocked me, similar to your
experience, and insisted that I was purposely driving slow to piss him
off. The second fellow followed me up a dirt road towards a piece of
public water, and said I drove over his lawn and intruded on his
property. I had no recollection of EVER doing this. I offered that
perhaps he had the wrong person. I apologized anyway, was polite, tried
talking my way out it. He would have nothing of it. He wanted to hit
me with that bat. I could smell the beer on him from 10 paces. I just
kept moving and never let him corner me. Eventually, he got tired of
this game and left. Thank-God.
The last encounter was on the Skykomish while I was fishing from the
bank. To make it short, a very large, tattooed man muscled downstream
into my drift and started throwing gear. I approached him (big mistake)
and told him that it was not polite to do that. Words flared, he put
down his rod on the bank and was preparing to pummel me, which I have no
doubt he could have, when several other anglers watching came and stood
beside me and made it clear that he was now going to have to knock-out
five of us, not just one. He turned and left. Again, thank-God.
Anyway, I have never carried a gun even though I own them. My biggest
fear is that if I did have a gun with me, I might actually use it, and
perhaps out of anger rather than appropriate self defense (and you know,
smoking somebody could really throw a kink into your fishing trip). I
have considered carrying one in my truck to use as a last line of
defense. But, in two of my three confrontations, I was able to talk my
way out of it. In the last situation, the worst case scenario was that
I would have had to endure a whippin' and nurse my pride.
As one of the other members responded, I do believe that we attract to
us what we send out. I know this sounds like some kind of karmic BS,
but I have found that lately, I have had no run-ins. I decided to
forget about the jerks, have fun, and most importantly, to leave my
fears OF WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN at home with the rest of my troubles. When I
fish, I do not want to have to be in an offensive, defensive, and
aggressive frame of mind. To stay in that space is uncomfortable as
hell and really detracts from my focus on the fishing at hand.
To carry a firearm is a personal choice that may work well for some and
not for others. I am going to try the method of not carrying one and
relying on my brain to get me out of any trouble I might encounter.
But, at the same time, I do acknowledge that real danger exists, that
there are BAD GUYS, and it is completely possible to be in a situation
where a gun could save your life. Roger, I think that carrying a gun
might be the right choice for you. You sound like a even-tempered, and
intelligent kind of guy. I wish everyone that carried guns where as
well-trained and thoughtful as you. I have nothing against individuals
that make that choice. But for right now, I am choosing different.
Jeff Hale
P.S. I nailed seven nice bows from 14-18 inches at lake Tahuyeh near
Seabeck on the peninsula. Was using an intermediate line and a #10
black bodied, brown hackled woolly bugger.
