Dodgy dealings in the woods..

[LostPups]

I walk my dogs though a wood every day. I've walked there for a couple of years, but the last few months it's been daily rather than sporadically as my previous walking area has closed to the public. The wood is quiet and because noone really goes there, I can let my dogs off lead to run and chase pheasant and squirrels etc... and they r safe and other dog walkers and dogs aren't disturbed by them. I enjoy the walk and so do the dogs.

But in the last couple of months I've noticed men hanging around at one particular spot which is accessed from a nearby pathway adjacent to a train track. They seem to arrive by bicycle and they r always in the same spot, usually sitting or standing behind a tree (which made me jump the first few times!)

The men I see are usually always alone. They look very out of place as they are generally young (18 to 35), wear puffer jackets, nike trainers and have their phones out. Looks out of place in a muddy wood! Occasionally there'll be a more vulnerable looking man instead of or a little after/before the more trendy looking men.

Anyway, the first few times meeting or seeing these random lone men, it didn't bother me. I:d say hi, they'd say hello back, and I'd carry on my way.

But recently I've been feeling quite unnerved and if I'm honest, a little scared.

I am almost 100% sure the men in the woods have something to do with drugs. I don't know what is happening, who is dealing what, the ins and outs of what they r up to, and nor do I care. But I am starting to get paranoid someone might be finding me annoying and might try to bump me off!! Please tell me this won't happen!?!!

I really don't want to stop walking the pups in this wood, but equally I don't want to spook or piss off a drug dealer!

So .. am I'm being crazy to feel scared and paranoid I might get hurt because I have inadvertently found myself stumbling into the middle of a large drug operation!

Do you think the dealers or whoever they are, actually care im there?

Should I stop walking in the woods? (this will.b hard as nowhere local to let dogs off lead except the woods, and one of my dogs needs to run far and fast)?

Is it a known thing that drug deals happen in woods? Or could something else be going on?

Not far from this field there are also a couple of spots where people seem to regularly have fires, and also an area where there's lots of litter (cans, crisps packets etc..) and evidence of further dodgy stuff - clothes with shop tags still on sprawled.on the ground - stolen goods?

I'm so sad my country walk now feels like I'm intruding into the criminal world and that I shouldn't be on their turf :(

So... you let your dogs chase wildlife /flush pheasants out... or possibly you haven't adequate control over your dogs whilst on someone else's land / in a public area. But you are worried about criminality in the woods? Ironic, no?

Definitely sounds drug related. There was a group of young males loitering in woods a few miles away here- scooters and bikes, the woods adjacent to a large council estate.

Could they be trainspotters hanging around waiting for trains??

Gamekeeper wouldn't be too pleased about his/her pheasants being chased.
Re squirrels, it's actually illegal to allow dogs to ''hunt'' squirrels- the squirrels have to be shot, and then can be retrieved by a dog.

Is there a train yard/ train parking anywhere near that spot? You may have found some graffiti artists sneaking onto the lines to paint the trains or paint the walls alongside the tracks. The clothes fit the demographic. They'd need rucksacks for the spray paint.

It could be anything , drugs, cottaging, most likely drugs but who knows ?
However personally unless you are walking two giant hungry wolves I’d probably avoid walking there again

Geocaching?

There is no way that drug dealers are going to go out to the middle of the woods somewhere! They don't even need to leave their own home half the time.

It's probably drugs, the young lads in puffa jackets will be selling and the vulnerable looking ones will be buying - either to sell on, or for themselves. Surprised they bother going into the woods really, must be just a quiet patch they've decided on. It's more brazen where I live and done in the street. Very annoying to get held up by 2 roadmen straddling a side-street while they exchange packages through the window ( nice street, detached houses mostly). Happens everywhere these days.
This case is probably low level as they aren't even using cars. Just ignore it and carry on, seems good enough for the police to.

Report to the local police station.

Why would it be obvious? It's unlikely that you are the only person who uses the woodland and sometimes encounters these dubious individuals. And please keep your dogs under control. The birds and squirrels deserve to live in peace. They are not a facility provided for the entertainment of your pets.

though some, like pheasant man, do look a bit more nervous and a bit vulnerable - maybe a guilty look type vibe...)

That’s exactly why I’d report it. Vulnerable looking suggests possible exploitation.
If you get the What 3 Words location and report that on 101 I can’t see any way random men in a wood can know it’s you.

I can’t get past the bit where you let your dogs chase pheasants for entertainment…

There are threads for days about how dreadful trail hunting is in case the dogs accidentally chase a fox, but letting your dog chase and presumably kill pheasants is fine?

In fact I know of one truck driver I spoke to who said he liked parking up overnight in the places the gays met up. With people in and out nobody tried to steal his diesel or load.

”No one tried to steal his load” 😁😁

I’m going for drugs. The bar for searching people on foot or bike is actually incredibly high. You don’t need any reason for searching someone in a car really.

Check online to see if it a geocaching location.

County lines operation round here, before they were busted, met up through a rented house. They even had a parcel delivery van bringing parcels. They weren’t lurking at all. All in plain sight.

Lovely as it seems there is no way I would walk alone in woods regardless of having a dog with me. You've been very brave OP.

Drugs or dogging and neither will want to draw attention by doing anything to you or your dog.

Random lone men ? Is ever the same man?
Or actually random.. never same man ?

Regardless op should be careful

It must be a very narrow wood if you are passing them close enough to say hello. Is there really no option of you staying far enough away from them to go unnoticed?

I don’t know why you think it’s not cottaging, it goes on on the common near me in London and this is pretty much what it looks like.

Probably gets quite busy when The House of Commons has finished sitting.

Defo drugs. Drug dealers are dangerous and usually carry knives. Report and walk somewhere else.

What's more important to you, your dogs being off lead in the specific wood, or you being alive to continue being their owner?

I can't believe you've carried ongoing there to be honest, seeing this once would have been enough for me. The fact you've seen people trying to hide from you tells you all you need to know! They don't want to be seen by you. Take the hint. And report the dates and times so the police can do a patrol! Then find a new spot/walk your dogs on a lead like most others.

It's drugs, I've seen similar myself