Hunter Harassment on Antelope Hunt

[Carnage2011]

I was spotting on the side of a county road last year looking at some elk up on a south face. A guy pulls up and tells me that he owns the land next to me and that I’m trespassing.I explain to him that I’m parked on a county road. He then tells me that he called me in for shooting from the road into his property. I laughed at him, said good luck, and continued my spotting. He died a couple weeks later of a heart attack so I don’t think there is any follow up necessary on my end...

 

[WyoDoug]

In my case, I ran into the game warden on the road yesterday while trying to fill my last antelope tag. Got to talking about it and he said the person was cautioned that if she (so I know it was a female caller now LOL) called again on a similar situation they would issue her a summons (must appear ticket) for hunter harassment. Apparently, the individual is just anti-hunting period. Some of the residents in the area are young and do not support hunting and would rather take the damage to their crops than allow hunting. The game warden was really friendly and respectful and checked my last license again and I told him about the size of antelope herds I had been seeing and he said he had seen them even bigger along the state highways.

I got a fair idea who it is but going to take the high road and let it slide with a warning. The game warden let it slip that the caller was a "she" and there was only one woman who was on the road watching me take aim on an antelope. The others who watched me shoot at various times were farmers including one who gave me permission to drive on and shoot on his land as long as it was not cultivated and active crop.

 

[QELKhunter]

The only time I have been harassed while hunting was while I was on private property. It happens about 6 years ago, but anyway I was out hunting private property and this truck drives up and blocks my truck in and starts honking his horn. So I hike down to my truck to see what's going on, when I get there the driver gets out and starts yelling at me telling me I am on private property and have no right to be there. I was pretty pissed off as they guy never asked who I was or introduced himself or even gave me a chance to get a word in before he went off on me. When I finally got a word in I told him I knew I was on private property because my grandpa owns it. He simmered down real quick and got a ghost color. Turns out he had been hunting this property for years as his dad and my grandpa were really good friends but he had always been under the assumption that his dad owned the property or had exclusive rights to hunt it. Me and the same guy are really good friends now and go hunting together yearly. I still give him a hard time about it but a really awesome friendship came from it.

 

[williaada]

In Michigan a few years ago one of my brothers got harassed while bow hunting on state land. The private land owners drove up and down their own two track multiple times and yelled a variety of things at my brother.

My brother just recorded the landowners actions. Then climbed down from his tree stand, and walked to his truck. At the parking area there were two more trucks a state trooper, and one big log behind my brothers truck. The state trooper asked my brother where he was hunting, and that he was on private property. My brother provided him with gps coordinates and then showed the trooper on onX where the stand was located. The trooper called the game warden for the area to confirm the state land. When the warden showed up my brother again provided his location, and was told he was fine and to go home. My brother responded back would the gent who placed the log behind his truck please move it. Then he showed the warden the videos. The warden got the two guys to move the log, and issue citations to both guys for hunter harassment.

 

[Marshian]

Back when I lived in Michigan, a group of us were duck hunting a small island public land island on Lake Michigan which was offshore a safe and legal distance from some homeowners. One of them decided to motor his boat all around our decoys which he told we told him was illegal. He said he was free to motor his boat wherever he pleased. A quick phone call to the warden made him get real quiet and polite real quick. We decided to just let it stand as a warning and declined issuing a citation.

 

[Mnbogboy]

The only time I have been harassed while hunting was while I was on private property. It happens about 6 years ago, but anyway I was out hunting private property and this truck drives up and blocks my truck in and starts honking his horn. So I hike down to my truck to see what's going on, when I get there the driver gets out and starts yelling at me telling me I am on private property and have no right to be there. I was pretty pissed off as they guy never asked who I was or introduced himself or even gave me a chance to get a word in before he went off on me. When I finally got a word in I told him I knew I was on private property because my grandpa owns it. He simmered down real quick and got a ghost color. Turns out he had been hunting this property for years as his dad and my grandpa were really good friends but he had always been under the assumption that his dad owned the property or had exclusive rights to hunt it. Me and the same guy are really good friends now and go hunting together yearly. I still give him a hard time about it but a really awesome friendship came from it.

Reminds me of a story in WI about 3 or 4 years ago. Sitting on a ladder stand on a hill on public land a guy stops and sees my MN plates on the town road where i parked he then drives his quad up the logging road closest to me stops, walks up to me and accuses me of sitting in his brothers stand! Well he saw and knew my son put it up. I got down, walked over to him and shook his hand. With a funny look on his face i welcomed him into the family!......i told him that my son put the stand up!.....he immediately regretted ruining my morning hunt and has been very cordial to my real sons ever since.

 

[bullbugle307]

Years ago when I was guiding I was out touring a property with the outfitter I worked for. We were placing trail cams and blinds for future hunts. Along comes a side by side with a guy driving that I can only describe as being build like a tank. His young son was in the passenger seat. He proceeded to tear us a new one for several minutes, not letting the outfitter, who is very well mannered get a word in edgewise. Eventually the guy got so worked up he was sweating, beet red, and honestly I think he was about to tear the outfitter out of the drivers seat and assault him.

In ten plus years of knowing the outfitter, it was the only time I've ever heard him so much as raise his voice to another person. He finally bellered, who are you? I've got this property leased for hunting and I know you aren't the owner. We had done everything right, knew exactly where we were at all times and had even given the landowner a complimentary heads us that we would be out that day well in advance.

Turned out it was the landowners brother and nephew. The guy never even apologized either, he just said, Oh, I thought you guys were trespassing. Frankly, we were all lucky that that situation didn't escalate further and end up turning violent.

In another fun encounter, I killed my first antelope on BLM land and was accused of trespassing. Once we established we were on BLM (paper map days) he still thought I must have accessed it through his property. I guess the guy just thought there was no way I would've accessed the public the way that I had, which was legal. Again, no apology.

I say all that to say that I would probably not be very forgiving if this ever happens again unless it were an honest mistake or simple misunderstanding. If a person is curious about what I'm doing and wants to treat me in a decent manner when they come talk to me, I have no problem with that. Unfortunately it seems like a lot of the time landowners get away with something over and over again before they even get so much as a warning not to do it.

My past experience with landowners made me very leery about dealing with the rancher where we bought our property. Thankfully, those concerns were completely unnecessary and so far our relationship has been like the good ol days. We can shoot cow elk on their place and have helped with road projects just to build a good relationship. I wish it were always like that.

 

[Losing_Sanity]

I

Her name is Karen. Are you non-white, by any chance?

Does she drive a Subaru? I think I've ran into her. I just told her to go ahead and call the law.

 

[antlerradar]

I have got to try this hunter harassments thing. I wonder how long I could keep it up before I just couldn't keep the laughter in any longer.

 

[thusby]

In another fun encounter, I killed my first antelope on BLM land and was accused of trespassing. Once we established we were on BLM (paper map days) he still thought I must have accessed it through his property. I guess the guy just thought there was no way I would've accessed the public the way that I had, which was legal. Again, no apology.

Pretty common one there. I had this happen to me this year in Montana. You know they do this pretty consistently because they have a network of people that will call the rancher any time they see you walking across legal BLM and out comes the wheeler.
It must be working because I have never seen anyone else hunting that BLM chunk in all the times I have driven by.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I had it happen to me. I was hunting a piece of national forest land and had a ranch hand tell me that I was trespassing and shooting game illegally. He was claiming a grazing allotment fence was the property line even when I showed him the map. He then claimed you couldn’t discharge a firearm a 1/4 mile from a private property line. He tried to follow me back to my vehicle but I hiked deeper into the forest until he left me alone.

I had a ranch hand tell me that I was trespassing once, I had just stepped over a fence. He said the fence was the property line. I showed him on my GPS that the fence and 3 miles past it were all BLM land. He then said that the Ranch owner had the grazing lease on it and that he gave this guy full authority to run off any hunters on it. I told him to GFH and call a warden or the Sheriff. He mounted up and left. Give them an inch.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I was spotting on the side of a county road last year looking at some elk up on a south face. A guy pulls up and tells me that he owns the land next to me and that I’m trespassing.I explain to him that I’m parked on a county road. He then tells me that he called me in for shooting from the road into his property. I laughed at him, said good luck, and continued my spotting. He died a couple weeks later of a heart attack so I don’t think there is any follow up necessary on my end...

His kids are probably worse.

 

[thusby]

The worst part is that it totally ruins your day of hunting. The interaction doesn't last long but you end up thinking about for about 2 weeks while getting progressively more pissed.

 

[fmnjr]

I've seen plenty of landowners herding animals and had outfitters try to run me off public land.

I would take that as a strong hint I was in the right place.

 

[bullbugle307]

The worst part is that it totally ruins your day of hunting. The interaction doesn't last long but you end up thinking about for about 2 weeks while getting progressively more pissed.

Its pretty sad that being harassed by antis doesn't factor into my thinking at all, but going out and hunting legally on public land there's always a chance of being harassed by neighboring landowners. It's always in the back of my mind, so much so that I don't even like hunting those isolated square mile type places anymore. And then to hear that they just get a warning not to do it again really irks me. For every guy that reports, there were probably ten more that got scared off or decided it wasn't worth the BS and went somewhere else.

 

[shines@times]

It's a bummer that people have nothing better to do than randomly call the cops on someone for fun.

Take heart, at least such busybodies can now be distracted from harrassing hunters by the richer target environment offered by filing reports on their neighbors who have more than six people attend their Thanksgiving dinner.

 

[shines@times]

He tried to follow me back to my vehicle but I hiked deeper into the forest until he left me alone.

Perhaps he began thinking that you were leading him to a remote site where the grave would not likely ever be discovered.

 

[shines@times]

I asked really thats it you have nothing to say about the way you acted? and treated us he just say this shouldnt be legal in his opinion so I tell him being an A## hole should be illegal in my opinion

Not nearly enough prison or jail capacity to house all of those--nor could we ever afford the taxes to build them.

Good on you for sticking up for your rights!

 

[antlerradar]

I have got to try this hunter harassments thing. I wonder how long I could keep it up before I just couldn't keep the laughter in any longer.

All kidding aside. I talk to dozens of hunters on the State and BLM adjacent to our property every year. Some of them you can just tell by their demeanor that they have had an unpleasant encounter with a landowner in the past. Pretty sad. They are cocked and ready to get in my face and tell me to pound sand. I do my best to calm the things down. Usual not too hard.

 

[Mnbogboy]

Real hunter harrassment was the time a dirt bike club out of Mpls./St. Paul was actually running an on purpose rally the first day of hunting season in the Nemadgi State Forest. Seems that trail user disagreements between MDNR and the motocross group drove them to the disgusting display of "sportsmanship" between them and numerous hunting families at their camp sites & in the woods trails. Warden was busy trying to make peace. Funny nobody was shot. Soon after i used my self climber and got situated in an active acorn patch at prime time it was my turn to get "buzzed" for about 10 minutes until i climbed down and left the oak patch.
Seems they got their way because the following year there was trails marked clearly motorcycles only, no quads or trucks!