I'm catching up on posts, so this is a little late, but necessary. In your post you inform us the authorities can KY* and you expect to flit through the woods like Peter Pan while they fly overhead impotently. Ahem, Before you drop into some Owyhee range saloon and toast Claude Dallas let me set you straight before real trappers do. F& G officers have the most dangerous duty of all agencies. They exist, because simple numbers of people would overwhelm what fragmented bits of nature remain. Odds are you will stumble into a pot farm, moonshiners or other illegal activities in our natural reserves if F &G haven't discovered them first. Do not expect a wrist to wrist hearty handshake and mutual wolf howling while the wind blows your hair. They will shoot,shovel and shut up except to gripe what little loot you have on you, had on you. ETS has an enviable working relationship with many agencies. For you to toss off such a foolish and cavalier crack is insulting to this website's effort and the whole infrastructure that will in all likelyhood have to save your *. Think about that for a while.I'm going to leave this thread open. Maybe it will get a few Lost Boys to grow up.

Thanks Chris. Needed desperately to be said.

It's a fine line between giving useful advise and indulging fantasies.

John E.

Alright, this is a legitimate accusation, and I have to clarify my statement further- I am very in-tune to the fact that I'm going to be facing resentment from authorities,underground crime, and regular people due to the reasons I'm there in the first place(slightly difficult to explain on the spot)- The woods are only the beginning. But I agree that without conservation officers, things would be a good bit worse than they are, and have good intentions. I apologize for the harsh terminology, that was a bit out-of-bounds.


On the note of the moonshiners and weed farms- I have heard bits about this before, but didn't think about it until you mentioned it. It is definitely going on my list of things to be careful about- I will have binoculars, and will scan areas ahead at any opportunities. My intention is to do nothing but travel- by foot to my destination.... I will be doing everything in my power to avoid any conflict, be it authorities or people doing illegal acts. If I do happen to run into anyone, all I will do is politely introduce myself, and speak peaceful intentions.

Thank you for the warnings, I will keep them in mind. My apologies again on insulting conservation officers, they are there with a good purpose- In the future I'll watch my phrases and acronyms.

Public spankings are always a bit shocking.

Public apologies take some character.

Respect and acknowledgement to both sides.

Now what?

You know, Dave started a whole thread on dealing with authorities:

http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=139330&page=1

Many of us, including Chris and Dave, are participating in that ongoing discussion. As yet apparently, no need for attitude adjustment detected there, and it is clear Chris' message carries over to that thread.

How about, either here, there, or both, we discuss how to detect and avoid the threat from the lawless in the wilderness, including using law enforcement as a resource?

I don't know about your neck of the woods but here in Wisconsin if you get caught trapping, fishing, hunting or even gathering wild edible plants illegally the authorities can and do confiscate everything involved... weapons, equipment, vehicles... pretty much everything but the clothes on your back. As many homeless people and transients have learned, the State doesn't much care if everything you own is in your pack. Get convicted (which may take several months during which you won't have access to your pack anyway) and it's the State's, period.

You may want to rethink your idea of living off the land on your journey.

The days of living off the land while traveling are pretty much over. Sad to say but true.

Well the days of living off the land may very well be much more difficult than they have been in the past, due to laws and development of civilization... But fact is, the free-minded ideal to wander still does exist- Regardless of the difficulty of acting upon it. It remains both a choice, and a possibility of success.

Wow. The pictures on this site were copied from The SAS Survival Guide. That is jacked up.

This is fantastic, amazing schematics. Hope it doesn't come to using them- but I'm going to take the information along with me, plus a pre-rigged setup that could easily be deployed...

"...I'm going to take the information along with me, plus a pre-rigged setup that could easily be deployed..."

You need to keep in mind that those traps/triggers look simple and easy, but getting them actually set to work is sometimes a pain in the fanny. Like many things, practice helps, a lot...