It May Not Be What You Think: What It May Really Be Like
It could be a security breach at any location you are defending, not just a bug-out-location. Inside the wire, which means someone or some group has penetrated beyond any physical barriers established, or someone has activated an alarm system, or Listening or Observational Posts (LP-OP) you have established have sounded the alarm. They are close, and they are moving closer.
Who has Come Knocking at Your Door
If they are a trained unit, then they may breach any physical barriers using explosives. Blow a hole in the wall or knock down or cut holes in the fence in several places around the perimeter and spread out once inside.
Your cabin would be surrounded in a matter of minutes. They would do it this way, because they already know what kind of resistance they could expect. They did their homework. They had you under surveillance for days. The unit knew what toys to bring to the party and their toys are bigger then your toys.
Any guards that were out roving about the perimeter are now prisoners or worse. The attacking unit would not care about alerting you to their presence. They have the upper hand, because of training and overwhelming force.
This is not likely to be the case however. The above would be a worst case scenario and not likely to ever happen.
So What Happened
There were no explosions, no gunfire, no yelling. The motion detectors went off and cousin Bob radioed back that he had spotted some people walking through the woods. Cousin Bob was talking too fast into the radio, and you can’t understand him, he is out of breath. He is running and yelling into the radio and he makes no sense.
Confusion Abounds
The Internet is full of conspiracies about FEMA camps, Jade Helm type operations, Martial Law and all that. It could happen, but not likely and you have to ask yourself, why any trained unit working for the government would target your humble abode.
It could be people lost, or refugees from a nearby city, it could be a family on the move, and they simply saw the lights on. They hope for a hot meal, some water maybe, and directions to the next town. It could be anybody, it could be looters, it could be those Preppers that claimed online they will take what they need at gunpoint, it could be anyone, but not likely to be the U.S. Military.
Your heart is pounding and you can’t help yourself, you are looking over your shoulder, craning your neck in all directions, and squinting into the tree lines looking for intruders.
Plans, what plans, oh yes the plans for such an occasion. The spider holes, the foxholes, the range cards so you know how far from the foxhole to the big tree that could be cover, oh those plans.
Your mind is racing and you find your finger is on the trigger, where it should not be, because you have to determine the threat first, and you cannot just start shooting, or can you. It’s your home after all, your property, so why can’t you send a few rounds into the trees, scare them off you think.
Do you stay inside the cabin, do you jump into the foxhole, and do you fire warning shots. It all looked good on paper. The moves you would make were laid out in black ink, simple moves. When the alarms go off, you do this and this, and yet the alarms have gone off, and you are standing there doing nothing.
You never had to defend your home this way, you have never been shot at, nor have you ever shot at another human being. The forums and articles online had described what you need to do, people that had been there and done that described how they would shoot anyone walking up to the door, they would defend their home and lay out the bad guys in the front yard.
They made it sound so common, so easy to do. Now you wonder if those describing what they would do, or supposedly had done, really knew anything at all. Had they been there, or were they just a bunch of blowhards, were they just Keyboard Rangers assigned to QWERTY Company.
In some respects it would be easier if people just started shooting at you, because you could then shoot back. It is obvious what their intentions are if they start shooting. You could shoot back and maybe hit one or two and run them off. It is not knowing who, what, when and where that makes it hard to muster up a defense. Makes it hard to shoot first and ask questions later.
Unless You Have Been There You Don’t Know
It doesn’t matter how many articles you have read from so-called experts online from the “ex” this, or that who claim to have been there and done that, no matter how many podcasts or videos you have listened to or watched, you simply don’t know.
There is always a first time however, and if you survive your first time, you will have learned some valuable lessons. You would have gained some skills that will stay with you the rest of your life. Many of your have never been in this type of situation until now. You can practice, conduct dry runs, do drills, practice live fire and dry fire exercises, but until someone shoots at you with the intentions of killing you, you don’t know, and you can’t expect to know until it happens.
You do need training, and then you practice what you have learned, so it becomes ingrained in your psyche, to where you don’t stand there wondering, you move instead. Your hands and feet are ahead of your brain, your finger is hovering, but no pressure on the trigger until you can identify and reasonably expect to hit the target if one exposes itself. Your mind is already looking for the end game, what happens if.
Your mind is asking where cousin Bob is. Can I remember what he is wearing so I don’t shoot him, will he come charging out of the brush or will he sneak out, is he stalking the intruders or is he puking somewhere out of fear, or has he been neutralized.
You should know cousin Bob well enough to know what he is doing, if you didn’t train with him he shouldn’t be there. Cousin Bob is now a possible liability, because you have no idea how he will react under fire, but how could you know, because neither one of you have even been under fire together. You don’t know what you don’t know, and sometimes you don’t know until it’s too late. This is how it really will be like when there are possible intruders on your property.
If you get jumped in a dark alley you will struggle, fight back, kick, scratch, gouge, and try to get away. Its instinct, you do something even if all of your struggles are in vain. Defending a piece of ground is different.
When the SHTF people will be everywhere, walking on your property walking up the road that runs along your property and some may even come to the front door. Not many, unless they are the military, will announce any ill intentions. They could be conducting surveillance by coming to the door looking for help or supplies. Get a look around and come back later, you don’t know for sure.
This makes it difficult to respond, because you cannot simply shoot everyone that comes onto your property. Some online say they will, but they won’t be around long if they do. The community at large will deal with those that are a bit trigger happy.
You have a right to defend your property, your home, and family and do so vigorously when threatened. You do have to make decisions, and make them quickly, and unfortunately in most cases, you do have to wait until the threat is clear and present.