Cattle take precedence over elk in Oregon National Forests

[Washington Hunter]

There is an interesting thread on an Oregon/Washington message board I thought some of you may be interested in reading. I'm wondering if this type of "management" by ranchers, and the Forest Service/BLM is common in other western states.

http://www.ifish.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=002722

 

[Ithaca 37]

Wash. , Invite those guys over here to SI! That's exactly what's going on here in Idaho. Same crap all over. Overgraze all the public land then bitch like hell when the elk move onto private land so they don't starve, but don't let anybody hunt them unless they pay big bucks. All those welfare ranchers do is whine about everything.

 

[Washington Hunter]

Ithaca, I would invite them over...but I think it's against the rules on that board.

 

[BHR]

The bad sportsmanship exhibited by the Oregon ranchers mentioned in this thread sounds very similar to bad sportsmanship displayed by some selfish Idaho sportsmen. Several incidents come to mind. It's sad that the sport of hunting is coming to this. We should have zero tollerance for this kind of behavior, no matter who does it.

Paul

 

[Washington Hunter]

Here is one of the more recent posts from that thread...

posted 02-24-2004 09:02 AM

I will certainly agree they are not all bad. I would love to find one of the good ones that liked trading fishing trips for hunting rights. Enjoyed swapping christmas presents, and didnt mind me coming over and helping with branding or what ever for chores a few weekends a year.

I also know I have ran into some that are just flat crooked.

My first introduction into hunting east was when a good friend went east on an invite to hunt with a bunch of Ochocco locals. I didnt go but got the first hand story when he got home. The rancher turned his airedale dogs loose that were trained to chase elk and single out bulls. The dog would only bark when it was on a bull. If you heard the dog bark, run for the bark and be ready to shoot. The airplane in the sky was on the radio telling the hunters where the elk were. The closed roads that you couldnt drive, were all driven because these hunters were technically looking for stray cattle.

Not far from this rancher I have seen another rancher push the elk from the public ground to the private ground for fee hunters.

I know another rancher/wheat farmer, not in the Ochoccos but not far from there that has standing rules. If you are hunting his place and can see antelope. Range doesnt matter, if you can see them, you will shoot them, or at them, you will shoot until you are out of bullets, cant see the antelope or they are all dead. They think of them as fence busting varmit @&*(#$@&*. I suppose if I had to go fix fence everytime the antelope came thru I might get a bad taste for antelope. But this is a flat hatred for the animal. They get tired of feeding wheat to hundreds and hundreds of deer and have some extreme measures to run them off. Small caliber bullets thru the belly makes them run off and die some where else. I would have never thought of such measures unless they told me about it.

I hope my experience with ranchers is not the norm, but they have their own way of doing things. They are living in a different world.

I know most ranchers live in a predominately poor community, and are just trying to make a living on a piece of ground. It is easy to sit where I am and judge how they should be doing things.

I hope there are plenty of good ranchers doing the right thing. I know I have also ran into some real dirtbag hunters. Cant lump them all together, good and bad everywhere.

 

[Ithaca 37]

That's a real interesting topic they got going over there! Better call in SDgunslinger, Troy, BHR, mike, Lostagain and bcat to set them straight!