Bowhunter tries to close road with boulders on Saturday

[bowsniper]

To the bowhunter who was trying to close the road Saturday morning in unit XX by rolling boulders into it.

 

(Hopefully you read this forum)

 

I am a little frustrated with your efforts to close the road Saturday morning with boulders after I drove out. Logs did not work the week before, and boulders will work not either. I have been using that road to access my stand for a few years now, and you show up a few weeks before the season starts, and try to close the area so you can hunt it and restrict access to others. After you saw me drive out, I hiked back in and took close up video of you (and your truck license) rolling boulders into the road, attempting to block access.

 

I have a coues stand back there, and use the road to access it before and after the season. During the season I hike back there in full scentlock and rubber boots. I stay in my stand all day, so I seriously doubt my hunting will effect yours.

 

I have a few requests for you.

 

1) Please do not do anymore road work. If there are anymore attempts to block the road, I will submit the video and a complaint to the Forest Service and Game and Fish.

 

2) If you find my stand and camera, please don't destroy or steal. A friend of a friend has access to DMV records, and I will come see you or some of your stuff at your home sometime. (Not a good Christian thing to say or do, but I don't like being vandalized)

 

3) Please send me a private message. I am not angry, and I would very much like to work this out in a Christian way. I have a different stand I could hunt, and I would be willing to stay out of this area when you are hunting it. So send me an email so we can work this out to both our advantages.

 

Thanks,

 

Mark Lucas

bowsniper

[CRB]

I totally respect youre way of calling this guy out i think alot of us would do the same that good thinking on the video tape

[KGAINES]

bowsniper this a very good thing you are trying to do, but the one thing this guy needs to know is that we have enough access problems to deal with not counting people trying to stop public access on their own. I understand that it sucks when you scout an area for months or years without seeing anyone and then on opening day there are people in your area, it happens, but it is not illegal. This guy is lucky it was you that seen him and not someone else with a lot less restraint because some problems might have occured.

Good Luck with this, God Bless.

[gotcoues]

I hope you get this worked out, but anybody that will do something like that probably won't respond. Good luck on your hunts this season sniper.

[Guest Ernesto C]

Mark,how do you know if that guy reads this forum? If he does good,lets hope he reads your message but if he doesn't you need to get in touch with him in another way.

You mentioned you have his license plate,that's all you need to get the guys name,addres and phone number. If you want to I can tell how you can get that info and it is completly legal.

 

My point is that he needs to know that you know what he did and that your are giving him a fair chance to redeem himself. I like the way you are handling this and that you are giving the guy a chance before he gets in trouble and causes a lots of pain to his family. If after that he still does not learn.................well you have all the authority to make your rights count. God bless.

 

Ernesto C

 

Life will teach you the lessons,is up to you to learn from them!

[DLT]

Mark, nice way of trying to handle a problem if a guy couldn't work it out with you he must have a problem.

Much respect, Dave

[TwoGuns]

My buddy that I hunt with and I have been talking about this problem for a while, and actually had a long conversation yesterday about it. Between the two of us and our friends have had at least 10 incidents in the last few years where other hunters have either told us to leave the area because it is their area, or tried their best to stake their claim on the territory. It is amazing how some hunters in the woods come into an area to hunt, and in a matter of time, consider the area "their" area, and get pissed when they see someone else in the area.

 

My buddy in Flagstaff had an unbeleivable experience two years ago. He had created a spot to sit for his archery bull hunt at an old drinker in a ground blind. He spent a lot of time hauling water into the resevoir so that he could sit there. He shows up opening morning, and some guy had put up his tree stand right above his ground blind and was already sitting in it. Whe confronted he told my friend to take a hike and that he had the right to sit there because he was there first. My buddy had even left a note in the blind that said he would be there opening morning and put his name and phone number right on it and still got the shaft.

 

Why do some people act like they have the right to a spot, and totally throw out all courtesy and responsibility and ruin hunting experiences for others? We have lost something in the last few decades, and I dont think it is ever coming back. Too bad.

 

I hope everyone has a great year this year and good luck.

 

twoguns

[az4life]

Well when comes to hunting spots, we all know it can get pretty intense. Keeping a cool head and realizing people have weapons is crucial.

 

I think about the story a year or 2 ago with the family in Michigan or Wisconsin who had stands set up on their land and some whackjob takes up residence in one of them. An Argument ensues, and before it ends seems like 3 or 4 of em are shot.

 

The AGFD's new plan for creating more "opportunity"in AZ could be the fuse in the powderkeg. That extra opportunity will certainly create some conflicts too!

 

Be Safe out there!

[TAM]

Two Guns,

 

If I'm understanding you correctly your buddy was wrong to think that just because he hauled water, scouted the area, set up his blind, and left a nice note that he had first dibs on the tank. AZ G&F clearly states that the water tanks are on a "first come" basis. If this other guy beat your buddy to the tank on opening morning then your buddy should politely back off. I know that would be a difficult thing to do because of all the work and scouting he did, but we all have equal right to the hunting areas and if someone else has beat us there we should move on and go to plan B.

 

In your post you ask the question: Why do some people act like they have the right to a spot, and totally throw out all courtesy and responsibility and ruin hunting experiences for others?

 

I think it's your buddy that thinks he has the "right" to hunt this spot just because of his time and efforts, and that he's the one throwing out all courtesy and responsibility by expecting others to stay out of "his area".

 

Regardles of how much time and effort we put in to scouting an area, any reasonable and ethical hunter would move on if they discover someone else has beat them to it.

[TREESTANDMAN]

Ditto to Tam's response.

[COUESAZ]

If i came up on a spot that someone had set up for them self and took the time to make it that way and left a note i for sure would walk on. I think that the guy in the stand has the problem for taking the spot. I say this is a diferent issue than some one blocking the road from others though. I have seen lots of bad situations come from issues like all of the ones that have been mintioned.

[coueshunter84]

I canot even imagine what TwoGuns friend went through. Although first come first served is the rule. With that much time spent working on something, and have someone " take it" . The rules again state first come first served, But what about the other side. Takes quite the "man" to find a spot and put a tree stand up over an existing ground blind. But not all folks are that civilized.

 

 

Loads of you have salt out, and have scouted your areas enough to know every rock and antler resembling tree limb in the region. Thats all fine and good but what happens when you show up opeing morning ad find someone sitting your salt. They got there first, but its your salt.

 

 

This is a huge double edged sword. Ethics on either side can be argued until your blue. The law states first come, but ethically you shouldnt be hunting over something someone else put loads of time money sweat and everything else into.

 

 

I agree about the Powder Keg. I would have to swallow hard if I found someone sitting on one of my spots and would not move. I've got 2 right now that I plan on my 12 year old getting a shot out of this year, with her recurve. Someone sitting one of those would definately not make me happy. But what can you do?? Well legally anyway.

[TREESTANDMAN]

A waterhole and a salt plot are 2 very different things. You may have several hunters scouting a public waterhole and putting forth equal amounts of effort to hunt it. First come first serve, no exception on a water tank. Even better if a hunter leaves a note w/ a phone # to call and work out which days to hunt.

 

In my opinion, you just don't hunt someone else's salt plot. Go find your own spot.

[TAM]

I agree it's a touchy situation and both sides have a clear arguement. My personal opinion is that a drinker or a water hole is public. Here's an example: Treestandman and myself went scouting a few weeks ago. We looked at no less than 10 different tanks. By the end of the day we would start joking to each other as we were walking into the tanks about "where will the perminant ground blind be?" Just about every tank we saw had some sort of ground blind constructed of sticks and branches, even tanks that were a 1/2 mile from the road. So if we wanted to hunt these tanks and took time to set up our own blinds or set up cameras, or even haul in water we would have to compete with other hunters. Even if we left a note to another hunter we can't assume that they ever got the note, and even if they did get the note it's still not "our" tank. For all we know they could have spent a lot of time and effort scouting the same exact spot. We have to respect other hunters and share. I think it's equally important to have a back up plan.

 

Now salt on the other hand is a little different in my opinion. Most tanks are public knowledge, while most salt holes are not. I think a person would have to be a pretty big looser to sit a salt hole that is obviosly being maintained and hunted by someone else. But regardless, I think if they beat you to the punch it's still better to just walk away and get there earlier the next day.

 

Put your salt in areas where no one will find them!

 

The problem is that these days lots of people are trying to "claim" water tanks by leaving signs and putting up stands months in advance or even all year long. I saw a sign while scouting for an elk hunt in unit 8 a few years ago that said something like " I will be hunting this stand for elk during the week of.... Please stay away." The persons sign was left out several weeks before the hunt even started. I had another guy put surveyors tape across a road during the hunt with a sign that basicly said someone was hunting in that area and to please be curtious and stay away. Both of these clowns were completley out of line thinking they can "reserve" the areas.

You can't lay claim to hunting areas. They're open to everyone!

 

Ps. Sorry for hijacking the original post.

[TwoGuns]

TAM, I suppose we all view things from different perspectives. As for my buddy in Flag, the old drinker he was going to sit had been dry for years and years with no water. the only reason it had water in it on opening morning was because he had put it there. Regardless, all the guy had to do was call my friend and work it out, instead he made sure to be there extra early in the morning just to screw my friend out of his opening morning plans. He made no attempt at doing the right thing, he was selfish, and I think that is wrong. I try really hard to get into areas to hunt that I will not run into other hunters. I enjoy being alone as possible in the woods, but I also know that the woods do not belong to me. My friend definitely took a risk in putting in that work on the drinker, knowing that someone might find it. I guess he was wrong to assume people, especially hunters and outdoorsmen, still had some sensitivity and courtesy.

 

The worst part of the whole fiasco was that when my buddy confronted the guy that morning and pointed out the work and planning and sign he had posted, the guy to him to go f>>> off, and that he was there first and could care less about any work he might have done.

 

I dont know what anyone else would do, but I know for myself, I will never treat any other hunter with that sort of contempt. I know the work I put into hunting a certain area or spot, and I would sure hate to screw up another guys hunt by being selfish.

 

I guess I hope I hunt in a different area than people like that, or anyone that thinks what he did is ok.

 

twoguns