Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
A ways back I posted about the “Four Corners Survivalists” and their ill-fated three-man revolution that they started. The story fascinated me because of how the guys disappeared into the desert and stymied the authorities attempts to find them. When it all shook loose, it turned out they all died in the desert and all that was found were their bones.
Someone emailed me a link to this story about the Ballarat Bandit. A guy who broke into remote wilderness cabins to supply himself as he hid out in the wilderness. He escaped from the authorities on several occasions including running five miles non-stop and in one case hiking 60 miles over snowy terrain. Eventually feds , SWAT teams, and a buncha various law enforcement was brought in to find him…a curious amount of overkill for what was essentially a burglar. I suspect the authorities felt their manhood had been challenged by a guy who could out hike, out run and out hide them in their own backyard. And, when all else fails, imply links to terrorism to justify the huge call out for whats amounted to a property crime.
After cat and mouse games they finally corner the guy who shoots himself in the head. Then the mystery starts. no ID, no nothing.
The story interests me because Ive always been oddly interested in those one-man-against-the-odds stories. So was this guy a super soldier? A Rambo? A survivalist expert? A major wanted criminal? Nope. As it turns out, he was something far less exciting. A Canadian pot farmer.
I find these stories fascinating and would love to read more about them than what I find in the news articles. For some reason they captivate me. From a practical standpoint, theres always a bit of useful knowledge to be gleaned from these things. Seems like the failure point for this guy was his lousy luck with vehicles.
“…a curious amount of overkill for what was essentially a burglar. I suspect the authorities felt their manhood had been challenged”
I think you nailed it. When push comes to shove, LEO’s are just like us only they get to use taxpayer dollars to buy their toys. Here in Tucson, the cops won’t even show up to a routine burglary, they send a ‘community volunteer’ to take a report for insurance purposes.
At the risk of being branded one of ‘those’ guys, there is a parallel in the Waco incident. The local sheriff had arrested Koresh twice on outstanding warrants and would just wait until he came into town to get his Starbuck and donuts and would do the arrest singlehanded. But once the Feds latched onto the case, much like the current Polygamy case, they go way overboard. Budget cycles, front page ink, cowboy mentality, one upmanship, etc. all serve to push these other wise nice enough folks over the edge.
Having hiked solo and in small groups quite a bit in my younger years, at 50 years old I know I could elude them for a good while, can’t run 5 miles without stopping or hike 60 in the snow, but if I know the terrain and have water it would be catch me if you can for many weeks/months.
when they want to find you
it is amazinf what resources be used to locate and find you. funny if you are nobody important, you could go missing for weeks to forever. this is what happens if you are successful at “keeping a low profile” even in your spending habits and other activities, for in the future, they are creating laws to make you an “instant criminal” suitable for cheap lobor at suitable prison work camps, under construction now.
so how long will it be before you discover “wilderness camping” as your new lifestyle to survive out of their clutches? AMERIKA is now here, growing more real every day. good to aquire skills in perimitive bushcraft because you can only run away dragging so much into the wild lands. good idea to make your own “hikers cache” for occassional re-supply as needed. hope your future turns out all right. Wildflower 08