# Farm Bureau Signs



## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Notice the logo on the bottom right hand corner?

So anyone want to take a stab as to which issues and how they'd be resolved to his satisfaction? Picture taken in S. ND (thanks Mothergoose).


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## stevepike (Sep 14, 2002)

How about we come up with some signs?

Land Posted
Respectful hunters allowed with permission. To obtain permission call 555-1212 or stop by the farm with the red barn 2 miles west and 6 miles north.

John Smith

Help the landowner put them out even?


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## cootkiller (Oct 23, 2002)

I have also seen these signs up in my neck of the woods.

You can look at this two ways:

1. Oh crap, these farmers are saying that until we let every tom, dick and harry in to ND to hunt they are not going to let anyone hunt. They are just siding with the tourist industry and are just trying to make more money. They don't give a hoot about the ND sportsman.

-or-

2. You can realize that some landowners are so sick and tired of one side *****ing and complaining about not getting on land and being rude when they ask, and thinking that they are better then the rural population because they live in Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, and Bismarck, that the farmers aren't going to let anyone on until the issue is solved.

I will take number 2, and instead of some of you fly by night yahoos writing in and degrading my opinion, maybe you could use the little gray matter that is available to you to step up and come up with some ideas that aren't so obviously biased to benefit yourselves.

Until that happens this problem will continue. If you aren't part of the solution you are part of the problem.

I know that ALL suburban hunters aren't this way but those are the towns where the worst examples of sportsmen come from, in my experience.

cootkiller


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## cootkiller (Oct 23, 2002)

stevepike,
I love it. That is a good idea. 
Now if everyone else will follow your lead of coming up with ideas like that we might actually make headway in this drawn out fight over hunting access.

The idea of posting signs welcoming responsible sportsmans is a great idea.
It also helps to rebuild a lot of the trust that many nonsportsman have lost for us.

cootkiller


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## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

I've recently been talking with some Collegiate (sp?) farm bureau members and trying to figure out what the problem is. It seems more than anything that a lack of respect for the land is mostly the problem.

I know that we need to police ourselves but how do we go about trying to force people to do the right thing? I cannot be responsible for all the people in Fargo, GrandForks or any other place. Why should I get blackballed because I'm from a certain town.

I could lump all the people in Farm Bureau as idiots because of the action of a few, however I won't and will never do that.

What ever happened to looking at people as individuals and judging there character? Have we all fallen for blind ignorance?


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## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

If we can get the signs together I will personally knock on doors whenever I am out in the countryside and give them to landowners.


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## cootkiller (Oct 23, 2002)

I agree gandergrinder,
It is a sad time here in ND when you have gotten a tag as being from Fargo and therefore a rude and unrespectful hunter, but the wounds of a few in the past can take many years and a lot of hard work to heal.

I believe you when you say you are a respectful sportsman but there are still far too many idiots that come out to the prairie on the weekends and ruin it for everyone else.

cootkiller


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

Coot I doubt that we will ever convice you otherwise but most res suburban hunters have roots in rural ND. Sportsmenship is a seperate issue all together. For me I see more disprect from local individual people than NR or Suburban hunters.

The situation will not change nor will attitudes from the extreme's from both sides. You bring a point of view that needs to be heard and while I may not agree I can and do understand your approach.

We had some of these signs appear in our nexk of the woods. 98% of the farmers even those that post and do not allow hunting other than family where very saddened by them. With the season long past it still brings anger if mentioned during community gatherings.


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## Eric Hustad (Feb 25, 2002)

Good point Chris, who's satisfaction? Since this is a topic that gets beaten to death I am not going to say much except to respond to part of Coot's message about Fargo, Grand Forks etc. Since these towns combine for a majority of the population it also consists of the majority of hunters. Hence you would expect most jerks to be from a large town because that is where a lot of hunters are from, right?? I wouldn't expect run into a lot jerks out hunting from Guelph. Anyway I found a lot of this to be a joke as we had no problem getting on land last fall, and nobody seemed to care that we were from Fargo, except one guy. Turns out his family loves to come to Fargo to eat at Timberlodge so he is on our list for gift certificates next fall.....


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

I agree Eric. No problem getting on land...oh except in the DL area... not *****ing, just how it was, where there are a "few" landowners that are either leasing to the outfitters or have falsely stereotyped the majority of the hunters from the Eastern part of the state into one group.

I was a little apprehensive this Fall when contacting farmers who have always let me hunt and in contacting new people that I had never met before but after the signs like above and the "b*tchng by some, a very few and a very small minority of landowners had anything but open arms. And contrary to the belief of a few, not one out of 25 or so asked where I was from.

I think there are just as many, (few) on both sides of the issue of access that have stereo-typed the people of the opposite view point.....and neither of those sides will ever be able to change n matter what is said.


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## muzzy (Mar 21, 2002)

The signs first showed up in the late summer/early fall of 2002. A friend and landowner that I hunt with asked me about them then. He had seen it in some pamphlet or newletter he had gotten from the Farm Bureau as he has insurance through them. His own words were "What the he** is that supposed to mean? Does it mean we want more nonresidents and fee hunting or less? When will we be satisfied?"

Kind of an ambiguous sign. One landowner puts them up as he is all for fee hunting and lots of nonresidents. The next one put up the sign because he wants controls on nonresidents and fee hunting. Ok, I am joking, any landowner that wanted more controls on hunting is not going to put up a farm bureau sign.


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## cootkiller (Oct 23, 2002)

Eric,
If you read my 3rd post you will notice that part of what I am saying agrees with you. It is too bad that some get labeled because of others. Think about this though in response to what you stated.

For every ten people that are great and respectful and honorable that come up to a farmers land to hunt, if that same farmer gets one, just ONE ******* who leaves garbage and cleaned carcasses and shot up signs and ruts in the field, everything was just ruined.

I don't know, however, if I agree with you when you say that the majority of hunters come from the BIG 4 just because the majority of the population comes from the BIG 4. Which also is not true.
North Dakota- 634,110
Fargo- 90,599
Grand Forks- 49,321
Minot- 36,567
Bismarck-roughly 55,532
That comes out to be only 232,019 people making up only 36.5% of the population 
So, no, the majority of outdoorsmen in ND do not probably reside in the BIG 4.

cootkiller


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

But the many ******** have been the local hunters of the are I have been hunting. I set up in a field or what ever and they come out there around 20 min before shooting light and set up down wid of you, you go and talk to them and and ask if they had permissio. And they say they did. Well after getting burned from them, you go back to the landowners house and say thankyou and tell him such and such was out there in a such and such truck. Well it truns out that "local" just screwed up his hunting rights on this guys land for the season and gives me permission when ever I want just because I was willing to ask and clean up after the hunt. So it can be a two sided deal.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

I have had no problems with any aspect of hunting but I come across a stranger one day who did. He was in an area I was asked by the owner if I would ask who they are. Just asking him who he was musta really ticked him off.

Everytime he would be in the area he would go to the gate and crap and leave crap and toilet paper on the road and musta cleaned out his truck too a few times. If landowners have to put up with that I can see why they are occasionaly upset about some hunters actions. The bummer is basicly all us hunters look alot the same so we all get blamed for the actions of just a few arses.

This person makes a living off hunters as a taxidermist. He is from one of the cities listed in coots last post and it's not over east.


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## Brad Anderson (Apr 1, 2002)

You can never please everybody at once. Some people will always ruin it for the rest. So what then has changed?? It has always been like this.

But who can remember hunting in ND when there weren't posted signs, and land access wasn't an issue?? I can and that is what bugs me!!

Hunting has been going down hill in ND for some time. Just a sign of the changin times.

Still proves that is isn't what YOU know, it is WHO you know.


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## Eric Hustad (Feb 25, 2002)

So doesn't West Fargo, Harwood, Horace, Frontier, Reile's Acres, Mapleton, Casselton, Oxbow etc count as part of Fargo?? How about Mandan being part of Bismarck, The Air Bases of Grand Forks and Minot?? So Coot, what exactly makes up a Fargo Hunter?? Please enlighten me on the issue since your from the a town with what 7700 and have an obvious pulse on what North Dakota thinks. Again my point was there wasn't much of a problem with access last fall, and nobody cared where we were from. The other point is I would think that most "jerk" hunters are from one of the big four communities. Your numbers are also four years old and you might of missed it but Fargo/West Fargo is growing.


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

We can go 'round and 'round on who the "jerk" hunters are, but the bad apples come from every city and town, and every state.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

Well put Chris!


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## torf (Mar 11, 2002)

Maybe i'm off here, but i cant see how you can stereotype someone from being from a certain part of the state. I didn't choose to be from the eastern part but i still hunt. And i recently moved to Fargo for college, so i guess that makes me a "Fargo hunter". I never signed any papers when i moved here that said will now hunt like a jerk. I don't think certain landowners signed them either. I'm not trying to start anything, i just think this could get out of hand.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

Yes they are Chris and I'm sure we have all had our day.


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## Fetch (Mar 1, 2002)

#3 for coot - maybe their just crabby mean spirted & never have & never will be satisfied & therefore don't worry about them, cause their a minority just like his example of slob hunters :roll:

Same ol same ol


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## Old Hunter (Mar 8, 2002)

I love the term Fargo hunters. I just cant figure out which people they are. My neighbor to the south moved to Fargo from Oakes. The people that live to the north were a farm family that gave up and moved to town. To the east is a family from the Elgin area. The larger cities are being populated by people from all over the state. The vast majority of the people are from ND. These people are not coming from California or New york. They are from every small town accross the state. When these people go home to hunt are they Fargo people or are they locals? Fargo Bismark, Grand Forks all of ND's larger cities have the best folks in the world do you know why? Because they are your sons and daughters from the farms and small towns of North Dakota. good luck


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## Eric Hustad (Feb 25, 2002)

Good point Old Hunter, how's Ruff??? Most guys from Fargo are pretty good, and I would think it comes down to common sense. If you get permission you treat the land with respect and will be welcomed back. Turn in the guys that are slobs, and if a landowner says no you thank him for his time and move on. Pretty simple.....


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## cootkiller (Oct 23, 2002)

Again, I somewhat agree with all of your posts, maybe I am just playing devils adovocate.
I also wish we would start coming up with solutions instead of bickering, like I stated in one of my earlier posts.
I also must clarify, the reason I go off sometimes on the BIG 4 hunters is that the attitude that I have run into up here with our land and our area is that the majority of the people who come out to the prairie on the weekends that come from the BIG 4 have the attitude that we on the prairie, in our little ******* towns are just a bunch of hicks and should just step aside as they walk all over us. It just gets sickening.

cootkiller


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## indsport (Aug 29, 2003)

I, too, have seen those signs and have but one question for the landowner and the farm bureau. What constitutes the "satisfaction"? In other words, what is the criteria to give them satisfaction? I have heard nothing from the Farm Bureau (or for that matter, from any of their representatives) that indicates what would satisfy them and therefore have no basis to respond or any starting place for a meaningful dialogue. If we don't know what their positions are, there is way to start talking.


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

The Farm Bureau has replaced those signs with their new ones:










Ya Right!

- Thanks Dick...


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: .....I should put up a sign that says" There are nine million people trying to hunt this field tomorrow"....Do you have life insurance?


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## MRN (Apr 1, 2002)

Use these signs to your advantage. Most folks don't know or care what these signs are about - so tell them what to believe, and they will.

ergo, the FB has changed and is now supporting the protection of quality outdoors in ND. Tell everyone that these signs are evidence that these folks want: 
1) a limit on non-residents
2) an end to fee hunting

Thank these farmers for supporting a limit on NR's and fee hunting.
Tell the legislators these signs are calling for serious change since there is no limit on NR's currently and nothing limiting fee hunting. I, for one, am glad the FB is putting money behind the ND sportsman's cause.

M.


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## mfeining (Nov 2, 2002)

old hunter, you are right, mostly. most people who live in fargo, such as myself, come from "out west". but don't be fooled by residency status alone. there was a burglary in fargo this week. the guy beat this poor woman with a rifle stock for a measley $300. My wife and I were watching the news and I said "I'll bet you any money the scum bag who did this isn't a ND native". Well, they caught him and guess what? He was a ND resident FROM MISSOURI. My point is this. If you live in one of those "little hick towns", such as the one I am from, remember that we are experiencing "prosperous" times in the eastern part of the state and along with them we may inherit some "residents" (loosley stated) who are cut from a different cloth. just 'cuz someone has the familiar license plate doesn't mean they're a "good ol' north dakota boy" anymore. just telling you what i have observed recently.


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

mfeining, glad to have you back man!


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