Confrontation

[DRAFTSTUD]

Most of the time you see Residents put up camps BEFORE their season to hold a spot, but I would think what you came across is just what it sounds like, people who would do the same thing at home as away. I have even seen locals put notes on trees asking you not to camp in a certain place, makes good toliet paper after a 27 hour road trip! Losers are losers at home or away. John

 

[elk_hunter]

Hey, if there are thieves, make sure you mark your belongings; then pay a visit to all the camps with the Ranger and see what happens.

Hehe...nice. I hope this doesn't mean I'm a hypocrite, but notes don't mean anything. If you've dropped stuff off however, the spot is yours.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

I'm too old to be a tough guy anymore, but I really laid into two poachers I ran off my property last year. Mighta pushed my luck a tad the way I was yelling at them, but I pulled it off because I was THAT mad.
One year my brother and I and a buddy were hunting Clay Basin in Utah. As we were walking the flats heading to the peaks, a Blazer shot out of a neighboring camp, roared past us and starting roadhunting the exact same ridges we were about to hunt (cutting us off)! Totally messed us up to say the least. I figured that they must be slob residents, but when they returned to their camp after an hour or so on a side road, I glassed their license plate... They were from California -just like us!! Sometimes you just can't win. We woulda given them a piece of our minds if we got a chance, but we figured -why push it?

 

[Tom]

They must have been trying to make trouble for some reason. Maybe the drive from Indiana to Colorado, then down the road or up the mountain or both with so much snow was just too much for them. The gut pile in their camp idea seems pretty hard to do, if you have to haul the guts there.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

I've noticed the "get lost vibe" whenever we've tried to find a camping spot and we weren't exactly welcome, but no one's gotten hostile yet. It's true about the locals setting up a week or two before the season starts, but there's nothing wrong with that -happens everywhere.
Whenever we've set up across from a camp and there's no one there to communicate with, we always give them as much room as possiable. As long as they're not total party animal jerks, we sit tight and try not to foul up any of each other's hunts when we head out in the morning. Usually we wind up doing security for both of our camps, and sharing food and drinks.
Having someone attempt to crash my camp would be a nightmare and it wouldn't be well recieved. Sorry to hear that that sort of stuff can happen.

 

[1_pointer]

It's true about the locals setting up a week or two before the season starts, but there's nothing wrong with that -happens everywhere.

It can be a problem on public lands. Without a special permit I don't think you're supposed to be in one spot for more than 2 weeks.

 

[sreekers]

As long as you are inside the legal stay limit, its cool, set up whenever. The only one I have ever had to mess with was the 14 day limit, and never had that problem, cause I can't get 14 days off, or time off before or after a hunt.

 

[elk_hunter]

That is interesting...I didn't know about the 2 week rule for public land. So the DOW mucks it up with a special permit requirement? Heck, if you draw 1st season and hunt 2nd as well, you could be there for over 2 weeks easy. Would the DOW have something about this on their website? Because I don't see any mention in the synopsis/brochure (CO)...

 

[sreekers]

You would need to check out th forest service regulations. A lot of this has to do with whether or not you are on a national forest. Generally there are stay limits there.

 

[IDHunters]

I don't think the BLM has the rule (14 day stay) just the USFS. Just move your camp across the road and you are legal for another 14 days.

Its to discourage "permanent" settlements springing up around camp areas. If you have ever run into one of these settlements I swear you can hear the banjos from Deliverance playing...

 

[MattK]

IDHunters- I'm not sure if this applies to all BLM land but the general rule is it has to no more than 14 days. If you stay in one spot for 14 days, you have to move 25 miles from that spot. I got this off of a BLM website but it is just a general rule. In some areas, it was less than 7 days (developed campsites) and no camping in others. There are also regulations on the amount of space between your camp and bodies of water. Pretty specific actually.

 

[sreekers]

What was the link to that info matt?

 

[Dangerous Dave]

I was aware about the rule of camping too close to sources of water. I'm pretty sure that rule applies to all states -especially BLM land. The 14 day maximum camping regulation makes sense also.

 

[Steiny]

What you are talking about is just basic manners and courtesy. Unfortunately, there seems to be less and less of it all the time. I suspect alot of it is the restult of the single parent / divorce thing. Something like 60% of kids haven't been raised by a set of parents and basically have never been taught wrong & right.

On the flip side, I've ran into quite a few cool dudes on hunting trips, visited with them, etc. like many others have mentioned here. I think there are a lot more good guys running around than bad eggs.

 

[elk_hunter]

I reckon you're probably right...without parents with decent heads on their shoulders, the kids are already off on the wrong foot.

 

[MattK]

Steiny- It seems to me, by the examples given in this thread, it doesn't have much to do with youth. Correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds like the older generation causing these problems.

Sreekers- I got the information from the BLM website. In search I put in campsite limit.

 

[elk_hunter]

I'm not sure; if kids don't have a good example to follow, regardless of their generation, it stands to reason that there's a higher likelihood of them making poor decisions in life, don't you think? Maybe those 60-ish y/o guys didn't have parents to teach them right from wrong? Or, maybe they just got sour with age? Maybe a bad drive from IN? Could be a variety of things...but that still doesn't justify their actions. Everything always boils down to a choice...am I going to be an ass today or will I be nice?

 

[Wild Bob]

Personally, I have issues with anyone, local or not, that want to buddy up and camp right next to my camp! Man, that's why we're out there...IMO it is to hunt and have some solitude. If I wanted camping buddies I'd be in some camp ground.

I guess (and I too have run into a few guys like this) some folks like a sense of community, even while hunting. Well, not in my camp...if I have a buddy or occasionally a couple along, that's the way we want it; just the group that was invited to be in camp. I don't invade other's space, nor do I want to be invaded. I treat others as I want to be treated: that would be respectful and give them plenty of space.

My thoughts on all this go like this: If you are not in an invited group of hunters, and you want to chummy up (ie camp attached to their camp, or 'get right neighborly' and set up close to their camp)...then go sit a dam bar where you can sally up and be social with some other guy(s) you don't know cause that ain't welcome in my camp. I'm hunting...not playing Boy Scouts.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

You have a point Bob. I also wouldn't like some yahoos setting up camp too close and trying to be buddies. That would put anyone off. Most of us demand our solitude and things could get ugly.
On the same token I know that I don't own any Public Land camping spot and I would be willing to share as long as everyone kept their distance and didn't get underfoot. We've shared a camping spot a couple of times before and it worked out great. Maybe that's a rarity, but we all got along great by being quiet and giving each other alot of space.

 

[elk_hunter]

Yeah, I think you really hit the nail for me. When we're out, we are with our family/friends for a reason -- not in some big corral or formal campground with a bunch of random hunters. For some, perhaps they enjoy being more outwardly social, but I just want to get away from the day-to-day grind and enjoy the woods. I'm not saying I'm opposed to chatting, but I like to keep it to a minimum -- I do enough talking with people at work!