[CalCCW03]

I am in Lake Ellsinore with a client , who is looking to buy a 90 acre parcel of land that over looks the lake. The site has never been developed and is covered with grass and trees in a hilly terrain.

We have been walking on the site for about half an hour, there is drizzle in the air , I have my 5.11 jacket on with my HK Compact under my left arm in a Galco Miami Rig, two spare mags under my right arm.

Suddenly we hear screams in the trees ahead of us, picture we are in the middle of the site, we might as well have been in the jungle, thick foliage, difficult terrain, no clear path way. We were a long way from help and very much alone.

The screams turn into insults, it sounds like there is a riot going on in the bushes ahead of us music is playing dogs barking, I am guessing at least 20 people were hiding ahead of us.

In that instant I realize we had stumbled on a meth lab, no one had ever developed this land it had remained unused while other areas of Lake Ellsinore grew. I could see what looked like trailers between the trees and I knew there was potentially a problem as the local meth gang would not want to be discovered by us.

My client is now peeing in his pants he is so scared, bare in mind he is an old man of short stature and slight frame, he was no match for some wild meth head.

My dilemma was do I tell him I am armed, it is not something I like to tell anyone. I decided to stay calm, pop the holster open on both the gun and the mag, make sure the gun was loose in the rig and keep my hand under my coat.

I told my client not worry that I would look after him and we started to make our way out of the woods commando like. I was on red alert, I expected a BG to behind every tree and every bush as we made our way out. My hearing became conected to my gun hand, if I heared a twig snap I was going to draw.

The obscenities were getting worse and I was finding it hard to stay calm myself. If you know where the BG is it makes it much easier than expecting to see one at every turn.

I wanted to badly to draw my weapon and have it at the low ready, in hind site I should have done, I risked my own life because I did not want my client to see me with a gun and I knew if drew I would have to report it to the Sheriff which might have been the end of my CCW.

We eventually made it out of the woods, as soon as we hit a path my client ran to the car, I eventually followed, I was not in any rush to get to the car as I expected trouble there.

Over all no one was hurt but I always wonder in I handled myself correctly. Should I have drawn my weapon, should I have told my client, I thought about some warning shots but that would have got me in even more trouble. Hard to make the right move when you on your own with no back up ( My cell phone had no reception)

Once again the shakes came about 30 mins later and I felt like being sick back at my clients office.