Do you carry a gun fishing?

[Khal]

I almost exclusively fish the Washita river, which I am sure most of you would consider a creek. It averages 4 feet deep and is approximately 100 feet wide. Most of the time we never see a soul, which is why I always carry. Rumors of people growing marijuana, meth cookers, and angry landowners, make me nervous on the water. Here in Oklahoma, there isn't anything wild that I can't handle with a solid oar. My tackle box gun is a glock 22 and on overnights, I take my bushmaster.

[Dog Catcher]

Everytime I go out to the river I carry my Glock 21 in my shoulder holster (before anyone asks I do have a concealed weapons permit). Since it is out in middle of nowhere you never know who or what may be moving around at night (snakes etc.).

[CatfishCharlie2]

It's always better to have it and not need it, as apposed to needing it and not having it.
Charlie

[Khal]

Here is a tough one for you. I recently posted in this section about angry landowners and I encountered one today. I was fishing my favorite spot on the Washita, when the landowner came to the river bank and told me I had ten minutes to leave or he was calling the game warden. I calmly picked up my cell phone and contacted a game warden that had stopped to check my license a few weeks ago. When he stopped me I asked about my rights on the river and he told me landowners could do nothing about fisherman.

When the landowner asked if I was leaving a second time, I asked him if he wanted to speak with the game warden. I crossed the river and handed him the phone. After 30 seconds of talking to the warden, he handed the phone back to me and said f*@! the game warden. He again told me to leave. When I told him that I had every right to be here, he said, "then you are starting a war". When I asked him what he meant he said, "you will find out." The warden advised that I call it a day because the man was so irrational. I packed up and headed up river. As I was rounding the first bend, I heard the mans pickup and five gun shots. Apparently they were warning shots.

What if this cat would have brandished a weapon while we were fishing? What if he would have pointed this weapon at me?

[dwestep]

Here is a tough one for you. I recently posted in this section about angry landowners and I encountered one today. I was fishing my favorite spot on the Washita, when the landowner came to the river bank and told me I had ten minutes to leave or he was calling the game warden. I calmly picked up my cell phone and contacted a game warden that had stopped to check my license a few weeks ago. When he stopped me I asked about my rights on the river and he told me landowners could do nothing about fisherman.

When the landowner asked if I was leaving a second time, I asked him if he wanted to speak with the game warden. I crossed the river and handed him the phone. After 30 seconds of talking to the warden, he handed the phone back to me and said f*@! the game warden. He again told me to leave. When I told him that I had every right to be here, he said, "then you are starting a war". When I asked him what he meant he said, "you will find out." The warden advised that I call it a day because the man was so irrational. I packed up and headed up river. As I was rounding the first bend, I heard the mans pickup and five gun shots. Apparently they were warning shots.

What if this cat would have brandished a weapon while we were fishing? What if he would have pointed this weapon at me?

Holy crap! Glad you're okay! Stuff like that is why it is always a good idea to carry a gun while fishing - provided that you have the appropriate concealed carry permit. I'm not so sure, but I would say that had he pointed a weapon at you, you could have shot him legally in self defense if you carry a gun.

[Catpaw]

Well its not to hard to figure out..If you where on his land he had every right to be pissed off at you ... now if you where in a boat in the middel of the water he was wrong.....It's called trespassing for a reason if i caught you on my land or in my backyard it would turn real bad for you real quick.

[Khal]

Well its not to hard to figure out..If you where on his land he had every right to be pissed off at you ... now if you where in a boat in the middel of the water he was wrong.....It's called trespassing for a reason if i caught you on my land or in my backyard it would turn real bad for you real quick.

The point of my post is, I was not breaking the law. This man did not care that I had the game warden on the phone saying the river is state property. He simply did not want me to be there. When the warden told him I was there legally, he dropped the, "I am going to call the game warden" threat and changed his threat to, "I am going to take matters into my own hands".

Now fellow fisherman, answer me this. A landowner brandishes or points a weapon, while you and your wife are floating on state property. What do you do? (I have a CCW permit by the way, and I do not intend to return to this area with people that I love)

[DanG]

Best course of action is to get the hell out of there, whether you are armed or not. In a boat, you are a sitting duck for somebody on the bank. If he was already brandishing his weapon, he has you at a tremendous disadvantage to start with. Considering what a loon that guy was, if you had shown a weapon he probably would have shot you before you could do anything with it. I hope you reported those shots to the authorities. That guy needs to be straightened out on the laws before he kills somebody.

[Dlynch]

Best course of action is to get the hell out of there, whether you are armed or not. In a boat, you are a sitting duck for somebody on the bank. If he was already brandishing his weapon, he has you at a tremendous disadvantage to start with. Considering what a loon that guy was, if you had shown a weapon he probably would have shot you before you could do anything with it. I hope you reported those shots to the authorities. That guy needs to be straightened out on the laws before he kills somebody.

times 10

[Khal]

The depressing thing is that this guy was trying to run me off of someone else's side of the river. I now am forced to give up a spot I have fished for years, because some redneck isn't concerned about the consequences of stupidity.