It took some time before they drove up near me; and when they did, they stopped…
I was camped about 50 meters from the ‘road’. I was sure they had seen me and stopped to say hello or something. That’s when their flashlight started moving around near me and a large bird suddenly flew up and over my campsite. Their flashlight followed it. I realized then how wrong I was about them. They were hunters and they were spotlighting!
One of the hunters exited the vehicle and took something out from the back and put it on the ground. This is where I should mention that it’s illegal to own firearms in Taiwan. Aboriginals can own them for ceremonial hunting, but that’s about it. Nobody should legally be out there using a gun of any kind. But there they were, presumably loading their weapon…or possibly putting it together, as many of their rifles are homemade.
That’s when my brain finally kicked in. They were about to start shooting near me and didn’t know I was there. So I quickly turned on my headlamp to its brightest setting and started shining it in their direction like a mad man. They saw it, said a few words, and quickly drove away down river, where they started spotlighting again. I heard a gunshot 30 minutes later in that direction.
That was the first incident…