My rule on shooting peopel is if they are on my property and I feel my life or the life of a loved one is truly threatened, I will shoot. I woould NEVER shoot someone over someTHING, such as deer, property rights, stealing my stereo or computer, etc. IfI heard a noise IN MY HOUSE and came downstairs with my pistol in hand and saw someone headed out the door with my stereo, etc., I would yell at them to stop. If they stopped I would tell them I had a gun and to slowly set down the stereo. If they ran, I wouldn't shoot them; I'd chase them and yell at the top of my lungs. If they dropped the stereo and pulled something out of their pocket, etc. that I thought was a gun, I'd shoot them absolutely.

It's different if I'm out in the woods. If someone enters your house, it's pretty clear they mean harm of some type or another (most of the time, it's just property harm, which isn't worth killing/maiming someone, IMO). In the woods, it's not so clear to me. Hard to know what I would have done in your situation, Rhino, but I think I would have been very quiet, maybe tried to snap a picture of him, then report him to the police. The fact that someone else also reported him tells me that he was acting strange. Just makes it that much more dangerous a situation, IMO, especially "trapped" in a tree, when he has a rifle and can run hide behind something to get a good, protected shot. I say "Hide and Tell" in that kind of situation. But that's just me.