Posted on 07/03/2011 10:14:55 PM PDT by West Texas Chuck
Interesting weekend.
I drove up to a little place called Bismarck, Arkansas. I go up there a lot, buddy of mine is camp host at a Boy Scout camp there. We camp right on Lake Degray, it is a beautiful area just south of Hot Springs. My buddy is sort of a joker, here is my story …
We get there Friday afternoon, talk to my bud, drive down to our camp spot and start making camp. Haven’t been there 10 minutes when a Hot Springs county deputy sheriff comes rolling up. I’ve seen LEOs out there maybe once before so this is weird. He asks if we have a camping permit, I tell him “No I know the guy who runs this place and we don’t fill out any paperwork.” The Scouts aren’t there on holidays, the camp is normally empty except for the occasional Ouachita Council administrator or some of my bud’s family or church members. Deputy gets sorta grim and then asks the three of us for some ID. I have to get into my truck and into my CHL bag and pull out my licenses, both of them. Before I can hand them over the deputy is laughing and tells me my buddy put him up to coming into our camp and challenging us. He was told we are from Texas and figured it would be fun to mess with us. I normally have my Lone Star flying within a few minutes of staking my claim but I was distracted unloading the truck and getting ready to pitch my tent.
OK, I know my buddy is up at the HQ laughing his silly buttocks off. We make peace with the deputy and he goes on his way. They recently started patrolling that camp and he was into the joke, we all had a laugh and he has to leave to finish his rounds. A minute or two later we hear a siren, I figured the deputy got a call or something but wasn’t sure if he had stopped to talk to my pal on his way out, so I call my bud and tell him “You richardhead, that cop hauled Tim off on a warrant he didn’t know he had, where is the jail in Malvern?” Didn’t work, but we all had another laugh, and proceeded to set our camp.
Next day we are at the swimming beach and here comes the same deputy. He says “I told you to go back to Texas, boy, why are you still here?” We all have another good belly laugh, and sit around and shoot the breeze with said deputy. He teaches me something about his Glock I did not know, how the trigger resets, and tells us all about his military and SWAT training, the guy is awesome. After a while I tell him “you know, I responded poorly yesterday when you asked for my ID, I should have raised my hands in the surrender position and told you I am a Texas CHL licensee and asked if you would prefer to get my IDs on your own or let me do it.” He says “No, if you had said that I would have had you on your knees with your hands on your head because you are on Corps of Engineers land with a loaded firearm.”
I can’t win with this guy, they have another big laugh on the Texan. We all chuckled and the deputy got a call and had to go. I like that guy, he has a poker face. As far as I know I was fully legal, but in Arkansas they can’t help but jack with a Texan.
The rest of the campout was uneventful, had a great time, then drove home today. I’m going to figure out a way to throw some payback on my buddy at the camp, it may take me 20 years, but I will top that little stunt. He is such a jackass sometimes.
They should put up signs telling us law-abiding citizens that we are violating.
I love Arkansas, both sides of my family are from there, and I have been around Scouting for a long time. I was a Cub Scout back in the 60s, and an Explorer in the 70s. I’m not involved anymore, but I still love their ethos.
A Scout is ...
Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
and
Reverent.
This place is sweet, one of the better scout camps I have ever stayed in. I just feel like a moron for breaking the law, I didn’t know.
Yeah, I could have chosen my words more carefully. In Texas the technical description is Concealed Handgun License, but Concealed Carry actually makes more sense to the average person.
Now that I have made this public my pal will prolly get fired. I should have kept this private, but it was a good story that I wanted to share.
Dale is like that. Has been, for a long time now. I try not to engage him at all.
Boy, have I had some run-ins with that one. He's got a hate on for Texas that knows no bounds. I'm originally from Cali, and even I can't talk sense into him. Strange.
Actually the correct location name is DEGRAY Lake - not LAKE Degray................
You know, that may be common for Corps lakes. Here Lake Grapevine is the normal usage but I think it is actually Grapevine Lake, too.
Naming of things around there is kinda odd sometimes. Driving up from the Interstate you go through Clark, Hot Springs and Garland counties. Hot Springs is in Garland County, and I think the lake straddles all three. That is why they have a hard time figuring out which department has jurisdiction when there is an accident so they normally roll units from all three until an exact location is determined. The deputy we talked to is out of Hot Springs County, and the Sheriff’s Office is in Malvern, about 30 miles away, while the cities of Hot Springs and Arkadelphia are 10-15 miles.
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