Picking up hitchhikers

[GSPHUNTER]

NO.

 

[OneGunTex]

I hitchhiked a fair bunch when I was a teenager, in a bunch of different countries. Every couple of years I'll thumb a ride just to see if people will still pick up hitchhikers. Seems it takes me longer than it used to, but I'll still get picked up.

If i'm driving a pickup and they'll ride in the back, I'll pick up hitchhikers whenever. Otherwise, occasionally. Recently picked up a German couple hitchhiking/backpacking their way around the world. That was pretty cool. Drove a quasi homeless guy 3hrs to Baton Rouge one time just because I was headed that way and bored and he missed the bus. Very interesting trip but all's well that ends well.

 

[turbobrick]

Its pretty easy to tell the difference between an insane bum and some youth from Europe backpacking across the west. Met some cool people from Belgium, Norway, and Russia over the years. The Belgians were in for a long and dangerous day, being on the side of Hwy 50 with no shade on a triple digit day was going to suck. Ended up driving them way out of my way to be sure they could get to the bus route they were looking for. The Russian guy was awesome. He spoke really solid English, and liked the music on my playlist. I fired up Leningrad, the only Russian music I have, and his jaw it the floor. Turns out he had traveled with the band for years and even went to see them play in Brazil. It was a cool moment. I always try to be a good ambassador for Americans so the travelers tell their friends and family how kind the folks in America were to them.

 

[insanelupus]

Situation dependant for me. If I'm solo and the Spirit stirs, possibly. If the family is with me, probably not. Caveats exist, but they're pretty limited.

 

[rodney482]

as an LEO I pick up several and drop them off at a 24 hr gas station after checking their status.. there would have to be special variables in place for me to pick up somebody hitchhiking while I was off duty.

 

[Boarmaster]

Depends on the situation but generally I would not pick up a stranger on the road.

 

[bozeman]

I have and still do at times. 90% of the time, they ride in the back of my truck. When I was in college (years ago) I was on my way home, granted a 4-hour drive. I picked up a guy just out of Nashville heading south and asked where he was going.....low and behold, he was from a town about 20 mins from my parents' house. Took him the whole way and stopped and got us some grub along the way. I was in Seminary, so I had a captive one-person audience to witness to. By the time I dropped him off, he knew the gospel front to back. Now I am wandering what happened to him.

 

[mtnwrunner]

It just depends. I've had to hitchhike before due to various circumstances and always appreciated the help.
Not everyone is a serial killer.

Randy

 

[huntsman22]

I'll pick her up if she shows some skin........

 

[Mosby]

I probably wouldn't leave hunters stranded at a trail head or on the side of a mountain. Although I've run into some scary dudes elk hunting that I'm not sure I'd offer a ride.. A young women with kids and a broken down car? Probably. I used to hitch hike at the beach when I was a kid and years later found out that there was a serial killer working the area at the same time but the city didn't tell anyone about it. Didn't want to affect tourism. Hitchhiking isn't a good idea for anyone these days.

 

[Reburn]

I'll pick her up if she shows some skin........

This is more likely.

 

[Fatcamp]

These days only if they can ride in the bed of the truck. Still a maybe.

We travel with two mean ass dogs so they can't ride in the cab.

 

[Rotnguns]

If I see someone walking along a forest service road, I'll stop and check, as long as their appearance and demeanor don't raise questions. Used to hitch hike a lot in high school and college but that was back in the late sixties/early seventies. Times have changed - twenty years or so ago, a good Samaritan stopped to check on two guys next to their car with the hood open, on Idaho Highway 55. Turned out to be a setup - they shot and killed him and stole his car. I've got a responsibility to my wife after being married, so I no longer take such chances. I have, however, stopped and helped people in stalled vehicles along our busy and well-lit interstate in southern Idaho.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Hell no…

A guy I knew. College got herpes from a hitchhiker ski bum chick he picked up.

She must have been out of gas and grass.

 

[BluMtn]

Back in the 70's it was kind of a culture to see hitch hikers. If I was in the mood I would stop and pick them up and give them a ride to my turn-off. Then sometimes I would slow down after going by them and pull over about a couple hundred yards and watch them get excited for a ride and as they are running up to the pickup I would drive off. I have given rides in the mountains to other hunters in the evenings because usually they are as tired as I am or they are totally misplaced and have no clue where they are.

I remember about 10years ago during elk hunting season getting to my pickup and it had been raining for about an hour, I got in and pulling out onto the FS road and noticed two people walking down the road. Looked like an adult and child, drove down to where they were and found a woman and her kid who was about 12, I would say. Both were poorly dressed in hunting attire and were soaking wet. I ask if they wanted a ride to their camp and the woman smiled and said yes. They started to get in the bed of the pickup and I told them to get in front with me to get warm. Once in I ask her where their camp was and she told me where she thought it was. As it turned out we had to drive around the mountain alittle to find their camp and it was dark by the time I found it. Turns out she and her son had decided to learn about hunting and had traveled to the mountains and were elk hunting having no knowledge or experience in being in the mountains. As she was getting out I told her that the weather was going to turn nasty and not to dampen her desire to hunt, but they needed to close up camp and get out of the mountains while the roads were still good.

I always wondered what they would have done "IF" they had shot an elk what they would have done then.

 

[Scoot]

Nope.

 

[hereinaz]

No way, I seen the movies…

Giving a legit ride to hunters/hikers in the woods or some one carrying a gas can doesn’t feel like hitchhiking.

I have stopped a couple of times over the years, on the highways, but in the age of cell phones, I don’t feel any guilt.

 

[KHNC]

I have picked up a few. But , they were all female and needed a ride home from the bar at last call.

 

[cnelk]

I picked up a hitchhiker once.
Turned out to be a smoking hot chick.

As we were traveling along, she said "Im a witch... and if you touch me you'll turn into something..."

Curiosity got the best of me and I leaned over and touched her...

I'll be damned if I didnt turn in to a motel

^^^
[Just an old OTR trucker joke ]

 

[Shadow14]

Its been a while but I used to pick up hitchhikers every now and then. Always had them ride in the back of the truck and I was always armed. Just use discretion. Ive had my but saved a couple of times by good Samaritans and it was always a fun time and met some cool people. I remember one time my girlfriend and I were driving back from Crater Lake to Bend and I saw a PCT backpacker walking on the side of the road late in the afternoon. Stopped and gave him a ride 50 miles to Bend. Girlfriend was NOT happy lol but he was nice enough and I felt safe. He was very thankful for the lift.