Once, while on a hike in the southern part of the Appalachian Trail, I met a local fellow who was kind enough to give me a ride to a nearby town to do some resupply. He drove a small non nondescript car that had six or eight pieces of electronics mounted in the front. Several were scanners tuned to the Forest Service, County Police, State Police and other law enforcement agencies. And a CB radio to talk to his friends. As we drove along, he spotted several forest service crews and knew all of their names, what they did and their schedules. He waited while I did my business and drove me back to the trail crossing.
Later that night, he showed up at the shelter I had stopped at with a few of his friends, all a bit intoxicated. He said they had thought of me and had brought a mason jar of local produce for me. I declined the gift, since I don't drink, but we talked a while. They were in a real talkative mood. Turns out they ran a distilling operating on National Forrest land and use the scanners to track law enforcement whenever they seem to be interested in them. He said the equipment was more for avoiding mutual embarrassment since law enforcement was not really interested in small scale producers of untaxed alcohol. Just a bunch of good old boys.
