Held at gunpoint

[TATAat27]

A friend of mine informed me this weekend that a friend of his and his two hunting partners were held up at gun point by four illegals with automatic weapons during the archery season. They were forced to strip down to their socks and underwear and robbed of all their gear. I dont know the exact location this happened, but it was somewhere in 36b. He told me that they talked to border patrol and said that border patrol was aware of these "gangs" who are actually targeting the smugglers to take the drugs and money that they are carrying.

 

Just wanted to pass this on in case you are on your way down there in the next few weeks. Be careful. As a side note, my dad and I ran into 3 smugglers loaded with marijuana in 36b in the San Luis mountain range last year. Luckily they weren't hostile.

 

Blessings, Rich

[russd]

looks like they are after more than just smugglers. robbing arizona hunters at gunpoint? hmmm.

[Str8Shot]

On a recent Scouting trip in 36b My cousin and I had a near run in with a group of Four similar individuals ... as we dropped down into a thick tight part of the road leading to Amole Tank ..... we drove within about 140 yards when we seen them through the trees, all sporting Tactical style weapons and looking like a crew cut from a Hollywood movie... we watched them for several minutes through the thick trees with our glass from inside the truck .... Even though we were still a mile from our deer destination and packing heat of our own the logic kicked in and we hit it in reverse pretty fast.... why tempt fate .... I later spoke to BP about the foursome and I too was told the same thing that many of these groups now packing in those hills are on the hunt, but for two legged creatures with big bails on their backs ..... All I can say is we have figured out where not to hunt in the unit based on several sightings of not just these guys but many mules making haste on their way north through out the hills..... With that being said in the unit we have found plenty of areas with little to no activity from our bordering friends to the south, but I will second with the caution ... Be aware ... Be observant ... and be smart and make sure if your a newbie stop by the check point and save the BP phone # in your phone.... you would be surprised the areas you find a signal down there and the react quick to activity called in from us hunters .... We will be headed that way later this week and while deer is the main goal .... having a good time while being safe is the other....

 

 

Good hunting to everyone this season

and be safe

Chris

[azpackhorse]

I've been in a couple of situations down there, yet there are people who refuse to beleive that any of this is going on......................amazing. You won't ever hear a story like that on our news stations, the only thing you hear about is how people are dying of thirst in the desert and how they just want a better life over here, for a small percentage of them that is true but if you can get ahold of some good, unbias, true, information and statistics on the type of people the majority of these people are it will flat out scare the crap out of you...........and rightly so.

 

Be safe all.

[.270]

seems all ice and the bp wanna do is hassle joe for catchin' em after they get here. sometime soon there is gonna be a tragedy between hunters and these bastards. Lark.

[Switchback]

are these guys mexican gangs or us gangs? not sure i should post this but if that were me its going to be like the shootout at ok correl..... If BP knows about these gangs are they doing something about it?

[WOODSAZ]

sometime soon there is gonna be a tragedy between hunters and these bastards. Lark.

 

Seriously! Unfortunatly thats what it will probally take in order to get some freaking national attention! That fact that we have to deal with this crap on OUR public lands, disgusts me and really pisses me off.

[AzHuntAtty]

I have a left-over November tag for that unit and was planning on taking my 14 year-old nephew down there with me to introduce him to deer hunting. This crap really bothers me. What is most disturbing is that in today's world if there were to be a shoot out between hunters and these criminals the presumption of wrong doing would be on the hunters. The allegations would be that hunters were out looking for trouble or were too aggressive etc. The most powerful country in the world and we refuse to secure our borders.....amazing.

 

I guess I will take my chances. I am not going to have a bunch of dirty criminals dictate where I hunt in my own country and state.

[John O]

I have a left-over November tag for that unit and was planning on taking my 14 year-old nephew down there with me to introduce him to deer hunting. This crap really bothers me. What is most disturbing is that in today's world if there were to be a shoot out between hunters and these criminals the presumption of wrong doing would be on the hunters. The allegations would be that hunters were out looking for trouble or were too aggressive etc. The most powerful country in the world and we refuse to secure our borders.....amazing.

 

I guess I will take my chances. I am not going to have a bunch of dirty criminals dictate where I hunt in my own country and state.

 

If you don't already have a spot down there, send me your email address, and I will send you some maps of areas I have found to have less crossing/issues.

 

[coues7]

I recommend that your friends, EACH, send a letter to their representatives and senators!!!! Personal experiences always seem to be the ones that hit home for these disconnected folks.

[luvdemcoues]

I agree with AZHuntAtty. If that shoot out were to happen, the news would portray it as the hunters fault. And heaven forbid, a hunter were to die, the news would likely laud the gangs.

My brother, PALIVS2HUNT and KDOG had a run in with a smuggler a year or 2 ago down there. Scary deal. The gangs shot and killed one of the smugglers buddies and this smuggler got away but lost everything he had. I will let one of them post the story.

[leland]

I cant belive crap like this is going on, and no one is doing anything about it. Makes me want to puke. Im heading down to 36b this year, usually i hunt in mexico. Pretty bad that mexico feels safer than our own state. I hope i dont have any problems!

[cbf]

I will in 36b this thursday around 6:00 a.m. Lets see how it goes but there is also about 15 of us ......

[TAIL CHASER]

This is getting out of control! 36B is a great unit to hunt with alot of deer in it. I hunted it for quit a few years but this is the reason I don't hunt down there anymore. I finally got tired of seeing all the trash as well as run-ins with illigals. Although never had anything happen to this extreme it is a little scary down there. You've always got to be looking over your shoulder "not fun".

If your hunting down there don't hunt alone and be very cautious.

Good luck

Jason

[AzHuntAtty]

That's the dilemma with hunting down there. Once I'm in the hills I like my chances and am not too concerned about running into them. The problem is leaving camp and/or bringing children/friends who may not be as capable should a confrontation occur. (Case in point, last year two illegals tried to steal my truck while I was trying a case in Tucson. I caught them in the act and as I tried to stop them from fleeing the scene they tried to run me over with their get away car.) It is certainly more convenient to hunt elsewhere. On the other hand, because of situations like the one described above I feel almost obligated to hunt down there to push against the tide. If we were to group up and organize to stop the lawlessness we, like the Minutemen (and I can't profress to know much about the organization other than what I've read in the mainstream news)would be labeled as racists and hatemongers......