Hunting: Leave the TVs and pets at home, please...

D

doofus47

New member
Ok, I'm whining.
I get to my camping spot on Friday and am throw up my tent amidst a series of spots at the no-moto trail head with a small rodeo of horse trailers. Some are taking tents and gear down the trail into the valley. I'm not so worried about that. Then things go very, very wrong as dark falls.
1. One horse trailer at the trailhead turns on his industrial sized generator. Ever worked at a construction site that ran klieg lights at night? In the middle of the woods it sounded about that loud. Why does anyone go out to nature to do that?
2. Another guy at the trail head lets his dog run into the hills where it proceeds to run and bark for a couple hours. It's times like that where you're hoping for a mountain lion....
3. A dog at one of the camps down in the valley began barking, maybe in response to the one up top and kept it up ALL NIGHT LONG....

So my buddy and I bike and hike up and down and around for the next 3 days and you know what? There's no elk. None. How odd is that....

Humans invented kennels for a reason. Use them. And if you can't be without your freakin' "Sex in the City" episode for a week, stay home.

Done whining.

edit: ok, there's nothing about guns, so this thread probably should be closed.... I just feel better for getting that out.
 
The drawback to hunting on public lands is that idiots have the same right of access and use as do rational, thoughtful people.

I can recall from forty years back that there were the same sorts of frustrations in national parks. It's not just hunters who suffer.
 
I park my truck at those trailheads but my camp is packed in a few miles.
What is holding you there?
Even if someone set camp right next to you on public lands and you didn't like it you just have to move and get on with your hunt.
It's all attitude! ;)
 
I get to my camping spot on Friday and am throw up my tent amidst a series of spots at the no-moto trail head with a small rodeo of horse trailers.
Click to expand...

So they were there first, were on public land and did nuttin illegal or wrong other than annoy you? That's their fault because?


So my buddy and I bike and hike up and down and around for the next 3 days and you know what? There's no elk. None. How odd is that....
Click to expand...

Nope.....ain't gonna go there.
 
He he... that's kinda funny actually. Any time you choose to share space with the public at large, you have to expect one and all, from the mouth breather to the sublime.
As your location states "live in a in a house when i'm not in a tent"... you'd think you'd understand that. You probably do actually, but the minor rant seems a bit contrived.

Now... lets see, did I pack enough fuel for the generator and "Honey... did you get the blender and Keurig coffee maker loaded?". "Alright kids... lets go enjoy the great outdoors!" :p

C
 
I consider hunting a traditional way of living......it never, ever includes TVs or noisy pets that serve no purpose...
Click to expand...

While I agree with you FairWarning, I also respect the rights of others to do differently than me. I also do not try to blame my lack of success while hunting on the actions of others when I have the option of going somewhere else or using a different approach.
 
I'm with doofus. Outdoor people don't go out into the wilderness to listen to In A Gadda da Vida and if your dogs are not trained to behave in the woods leave them home. Play your radio if you must but only loud enough for your ears not the whole campsite and that goes for generators, chainsaws, drunks yelling at each other and barking no good for nothing yipping dogs. Your right to be an ass does not extend to invading my peace and privacy. I almost always brought my dog but he didn't run free bothering people or wild life. I have grown to believe the dogs were an extension of their owners personality and indication of their owners intelligence. If the owners weren't smart enough to train their fogs better then they probably don't belong in the woods either.
 
Your right to be an ass does not extend to invading my peace and privacy.
Click to expand...
Barring your private property... Actually that "right" you mention is protected by the 1st amendment unless it violates a particular odinance such as "noise" for the most part...

Brent
 
I park my truck at those trailheads but my camp is packed in a few miles.
What is holding you there?
Click to expand...

This year, I couldn't go in farther b/c of the last second bail of my other bike friend with his second bob trailer. Time wouldn't allow me to make the now doubled equipment trips into our planned campsite that evening. Next year, I'm planning lighter or going solo, if necessary.

Take up backpacking.
Click to expand...
Sigh, yeah, back to the pack would be ideal. Next year the kids should be old enough to start getting back to the woods again.

It is the double edge of public land. Like I said at the start: I'm whining. Next year: I'm gonna be winning.
 
Your right to be an ass does not extend to invading my peace and privacy
Click to expand...

Barring your private property... Actually that "right" you mention is protected by the 1st amendment unless it violates a particular odinance such as "noise" for the most part...
Click to expand...


Exactly. What the difference between the sound of a generator or TV invading the space of a hunter, and the sound of hundreds of gunshots from someone target shooting to a birdwatcher? There is none. Still, both have the same legal right to be there. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. That's why it's called public land and open to multiple recreational purposes. Don't like it, don't go there. Your right to be an ass won't stop others from being likewise.

It is the double edge of public land.
Click to expand...

Well said. Fortunately most of those that want the outdoors to be an extension of being at home don't go far from the road and easy access. That leaves plenty of room and good hunting for the rest of us.
 
Yep, Elk season arrives and you want to go hunting. So...........now you are married with your 2.5 allotment of kids and dog. Kids want to go because......well kids want to go! Wifey isnt about to rough it. She wants the trailer, motorhome etc. You also know by now that if Mom isnt happy, NOBODY is happy! Of course you know that the kids arn't about to leave Spot at home................. Shall I continue? Of course this isn't all that different than a group of guys sitting around the campfire and tossing down cold ones one right after the other and getting boisterous until 2 am. Actually I prefer the family group because alcohol and firearms do NOT mix and the family goes to bed about 10.
 
While I understand the frustration, I have to side with those who say the annoying people also had a right to be there.

If I find people annoying in a public venue, I go somewhere else.

There are typically campsites, trailheads, etc that prohibit powered vehicles, or dogs, etc. These may require a hike to get to, but if peace and solitude are that important, the hike may be worthwhile.

Other such sites may be accessible by canoe, or horse.

For those who don't want to deal with the great unwashed, and don't want to hike or paddle in, there are two other good options:

1) Buy or lease your own hunting land; or

2) Make friends with somebody who will let you hunt their private land.
 
Some of us are getting too old to sleep in snow banks............I've slept in more then my sare.

So I've gone the camper route. Actually a horse trailer with living quarters.

So my pet is a Belgium, who by the way can pack a lot more then I can. He's not 65 so he can go a lot farther then I can also.

Yeap I have a generator, I don't figure it hurts much since this year I was elk hunting in an area where they were logging. So it wasn't noticable compared to the chain saws, skidders and log trucks.

I had to go a full 300 yards from the trailer to get an elk.

Lots of four wheelers running around public lands now days. You'd think they would scare the elk out of the country.............I haven't found that to be the case either.

The woods are big. Room enough for me and everyone else. There are plenty of elk. I know a lot of old guys, not fit enough to get 100 yards from camp. So they set by the fire and wait and sure enough a lot of time the elk come through.

There is plenty of back country if you're young enough for that. To me any more, I enjoy hunting with my grand kids more then hunting itself.

As mentioned, to each his own..........the woods and mountains are big enough for all of us.
 
Barring your private property... Actually that "right" you mention is protected by the 1st amendment unless it violates a particular odinance such as "noise" for the most part...

Brent
______
Click to expand...
There is a time and a place for everything and a hunting camp when people are trying to sleep is not the time to fire up a noisy generator or to turn your fogs loose. It's called common courtesy. I expect that at a public camp ground in a state or national park but the most egregious offenders will find themselves in a conversation with park rangers trying to keep the peace and make everybody happy. In an unregulated space like trail heads a reasonable man will respect others rights to peace and privacy. If he is the only camp at the site than be my guest but don't pee in my drinking water and don't keep me up all night when I intend to get up at 0400 hrs to dress, eat and make my way to my hunting spot.

It's why when I took my family camping in state parks I always requested a wilderness site as far from the main campers as possible. The kids would rather have had hot water, toilets with flush toilets, electricity and arcade games but they gained in woods craft and freedom to run around the woods without me worrying about them.

1970, Sequoia National Forest, I approached the campsite of In a gadda da vida around 0600 hrs with a pair of wire cutters prominently displayed in my hand intending to cut the speaker wires if they didn't turn down their music to less than bleeding ear level. They turned off their stereo when I was about 50' from, them. I got a standing ovation as I walked back to my camp and by 0700 the van full of pseudo hippies had packed up and left. Turns out nobody but them and my young bride enjoyed Iron Butterfly. Even she was kind of upset, seems like she didn't believe anybody should get out of bed before 0800 hrs if they didn't have to be someplace early.

So I am old fashioned, sue me.
 
Last edited:
Doof,
A few years back while enjoying a late summer weekend at my hunting shack, the Grandchildren putting around on the putter
0825081112.jpg
and making all the noise they typically do.
Well a bear hunter walked into the yard and apologized for having cursed us as he sat in his stand not over 300 yard from my shack. He said he figured his baiting and all was waisted because we made so much noise. He was a guest from one of the near by shacks. Well 10 min after he verbally shredded us he saw a bear, then another and within 20 min got his teddy :)
He then felt compelled to come and confess. Poor guy though, with the bear sent on him, well the dog didn't like him and nipped him in the back side. :o
 
I guess this is the reason I got addicted to the Bob Marshall Wilderness years ago. The only thing you hear is the occassional airplane, and even that is rare. Cell phones don't even work.
 
I have to agree that everyone has a right to be outdoors, but I completely understand the frustration too.
We do a fair amount of trail riding in state forest lands/parks. The horsemans camps are all primitive with no running water or electricity. We sleep in the unfinished front tack room of a gooseneck horsetrailer, haul in our own water, and make all of our meals over the fire. Other than it getting pretty cold on some nights, I think thats about as good as it gets.
It puts a real damper on things to have to listen to a generator cackling. Trucks left running cross the way with headlights pointed into your campsite blinding you are no fun either, and not being able to hear each other talk because your nighbors are drunk and singing along to the radio pretty much ****** me off. I can't just go farther into the woods, because we are required to stay in the designated camping area. And I can't do much about my neighbors when they move in after I've already registered for a site and set up camp.
I don't think its as much an issue of "how you have to behave in the woods" as its an issue of acting decent in public. I wouldn't leave my headlights pointed into my nieghbors bedroom window when I'm at home, and I don't make a habit of playing music so loud it rattles their windows either. When I'm camping, I do my best to have my fun without ruining everyone elses and it would be nice if others did the same.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top