Glad I “ruined” your hunt. Yes you deserve to die and I hope you burn in hell!

[Pucky Freak]

I skipped WW3 public land dove opener this year. “Hunt where no one else does” creeps higher on my list of priorities with every passing year.

 

[Hunter4Life78]

If you meet an asshole in the morning......

Was thinking the same thing...

 

[RealMuddyboots]

And there is the other side of meeting someone way back in on public land. I came in contact with a guide with a couple sitting on edge of a deep ravine overlooking a saddle that we had intended to hunt. Could have been one sour exchange but became interesting. Herd of elk scrabbled up to the saddle just then and my guide and I just watched with binos. Guy turned looked at me and said, out of my range, if you can reach them please do so! Wow! I thanked him and his wife but passed since all cows and rags. But seriously, how cool was that offer! Turned out he was local but still willing to share their spot with complete stranger. I will never forget that meeting and hunting generosity. And no, I would not take a shot unless they offered it. Just my perspective they were there and its their first rights. So there are folks out there that are genuine and not POS.

But I have had my share of anal sphincters on public land but prefer sharing the best experience I had.

 

[Hunter4Life78]

DouglasR let me preface by saying sorry about that experience.

I've been fortunate enough to not have a serious encounter like you experienced.

Got a pretty thorough chewing out for stopping to watch a group of cow elk going hell bent for leather across a field next to a PAVED hwy. We stopped to let them cross so we didn't smoke one with the truck and a group of three hunters were down in the trees at the edge of the field just off the roadway. There was an incline to approach the hwy from this field.

When they were done my dad looked at his watch and said, "Well we did you a favor." The chewer just looks confused as hell, And asks, "How in the bleeping bleep bleeping did you do us a favor?". Dad tells, "As fast as they covered that field, you would've had to shoot one. And you would've shot 15 minutes before legal shooting light."

We left the chewer there with his partners and his thoughts.

 

[Hunter4Life78]

I bet his lady friend is snooping tinder while he’s gone hunting. You should run back to town and t-bag her in the jeep before he gets back.

...wow...

 

[maxracx]

DouglasR, I too am sorry you had such a crappy encounter. My wife and I are headed out to Colorado next week for elk. We are the perfect picture of flat landers from WI. We will make more mistakes than you can shake a stick at I am sure. I hope we don't ruin anyone else's experience, I will apologize ahead of time if we do. Best of luck to all us public land hunters!!

 

[shb]

I don't know what I just read...

Guarantee there were puffys involved.

 

[utah400elk]

That is crazy. I was just going to post a thread myself. I worked all summer finding a good bear spot. Got in early and set my tent up with a couple buddies, I had the perfect spot where I could hunt within 150 yards of my tent. There was an absolutely awesome game trail within 200 yards of my camp spot (some would call it a hiking trail but game occasionally does use it).

I went in early and cooked my special bear crack (bacon, marshmallows and captain crunch cereal). As a side note, I should just call this John crack because a little syrup and that stuff is good to eat and as an added bonus it works as a great bear cover scent. Anyways…me and a few friends hiked into OUR spot and were ready to get this thing done.

Then, a complete jackass ruins the area by hiking down the middle of the game trail. My buddies ran into him and said he was pretty cool but not to me.

I gained over 10 pounds eating bear crack to get the spot just right and an A-Hole with a cow call thinks he can hunt MY SPOT. Oh hell to the no!

Oh crap, I think it might have been the author…never mind carry on.

Sorry couldn’t resist. I think everybody has had a hunt ruined by somebody thinking it was their spot. The thing that really pisses me off is that I go hunting to get away from the stress of stupid people.

The good thing for me to remember is that I have had way more positive reactions fly fishing and or hunting then bad reactions.

Best of luck the rest of the season.

 

[squirrel]

To funny Doug, I just got into it with some NR Arkansas road hunters over the holiday weekend over me cutting wood, half dozen pieces blocking the road where one fell across. They pull up, I set saw down and start their way to clear the road from 40-50 yards away and the passenger hops out and starts tossing all of it as far down the mountain as he can. This did not sit well and I verbalised my displeasure in terms he had no problem understanding. 5 minutes later same scenario the folks shut off their truck and helped toss wood and got a good place to try that afternoon based on some scrapes and wallows I had seen the day before while grouse hunting.

Weird that the ARK NR were the assholes and the nice folks from Denver, usually that is reversed, but people will surprise you now and then, for good and bad.

 

[TheTone]

I'm sure there have always been jerks out there. I have not really had any serious encounters with one.

The worst encounters I've had are with locals who set up camper cities at the end of a road. Every one from 10 to 95 in the family has a tag and this has been "their" spot for decades.
I'm have been in the woods at first light two or three miles from their camp. When I'm sitting eating my lunch at noon they come putting past on an ATV. Most of the time they never see me.

Almost every NR hunter I've met in the woods were great folks. I wonder if they are expecting me to give them crap as a local and they are just happy that I don't

Don’t you dare tell those locals that there is a stay limit on forest either, they get real pissy.

I basically avoid a couple places I really like to elk hunt because of the butt head locals that claim it. My favorite encounters with them were them screaming/cussing at me in the dark one morning because I beat them to a spot and another day watching one ride in on his atv in the dark and then ride out and back to camp at 8. I worked multiple bulls that day and then had them tell me the drainage didn’t have any elk in it that year

 

[Ghillieman]

Newb or veteran hunters are a diverse crowd. I've had run ins with veterans that got my BP in the stratosphere just as many times as I have with Newbs. I'm actually much more tolerant of a newb as they are "developing" their backwoods etiquette. I on the other hand have met lifelong pals on BOTH SIDES of the fence...ya never know and its always best to take the high road....

 

[Sytes]

You know how to share a quacking fart story, Doug! That's pretty epic - haha! Bummer you ran into such. Leaves a soured smell. Thankfully he wasn't the silent sort that would come out swinging, instead swinging his vocal pee-pee. Many turds in this world. Wildly odd to say however, without arseholes there's no means to quantify a quality person.

The two notable situations I've run into:
Big Hole, MT area: Elder gent and a younger drove to our camp location and told us to get the f$#% out of his spot by tomorrow or find it destroyed. I pulled out my phone and snapped a few pics, front plate, good face pics, and all it's glory, and advised him he'd be the first stop from the deputy.
Needless to say, it spoiled our hunt a bit. Three of us present. One always at camp out of concern he'd likely swipe a few items if one of us did not stay. No signal to call though we InReach sent the plate # and basic run down of info to home who, in turn, called the sheriffs and reported the incident. The truck passed by a couple occasions though nothing further.
The older I get, the more I've reflected on the setting and pondered how much more enjoyable our hunt would have been - had we simply moved elsewhere. Meh - each incident holds it's own merit.

The other, I was in the Bob, solo "Bob Sled adventure #"x". I was bugling heard a response though tough to get him to move in. Figured must be a good bull holding his harem... hah! Long story short after occasional bugles I ran into my bugler and he ran into his. I laughed - he got pissed. Used every expletive known and stomped off. I tried telling him, I thought his calls were pretty darn good, had me fooled though he had it in his head I was messing with him. Meh, is what it is. Life of public land hunting.

 

[802flyfish]

Cool story bro…

 

[noharleyyet]

The only thing worse than running into one is having one in your hunting party. Something about subconscious traits, rare chances at critters, and a weapon can show true colors.

 

[thusby]

Most people I bump into are pretty decent. Always a few a-holes but I don’t give them the satisfaction of an argument. I get sick satisfaction out of watching their heads turn into veiny pumpkins when I don’t respond to them.

 

[Boarmaster]

I have done my share of public ground hunting. Getting walked over and walking over others is just a characteristic of it. I always was friendly to those who walked over me and alway said sorry , good luck to those I walked over. The place I hunt public has a main trails that run on the top of a ridge with finger ridges coming off of it. I limited the number of walk overs by never hunting just off the main trail. I tried to hunt down off the fingers. I cant say I ever ran into any rude hunters there in 30 years of hunting that federal forest.

 

[Mallardsx2]

Just head uphill if you want to get away from the a-holes. Its worked for me in the past. I encounter less of them the more uphill I point my nose. lol

 

[DouglasR]

Woo. That trip was a bust.
Hiked in 5mi and found 5 bros camped directly in the bottom.
Hiking down drainage last night I ran into 3 guys and a horse camped about halfway up.
Currently packing out a stove pipe some slop dick hit tent hunters left behind with their 4pt skull they were to proud to carry out.
Just got up out of the drainage and onto the ridge 5 ish more miles to the car.
About to go destroy one of those giant chicken fried steaks @MTLabrador posts pictures of.
More details to come...

 

[DouglasR]

Cool story bro…

Like my ass, miss

 

[DouglasR]

Ps I’m pretty sure that dude was right for jumping my ass.
I think me those 5 bros pushed those elk way uphill or way downhill.
In a round about way his yelling might’ve taught me something.
Thanks bro, I owe you a beer.