# More than just a few hunters???



## tsodak (Sep 7, 2002)

Not only true in MN....

From the Star Trib Sunday

At a clearcut just north of Duluth, hunters often stand at the edge of a drop-off and shoot clay targets. It's unlikely you'll see the hunters, but it's obvious they've been there. The plastic hulls of their ejected shotgun shells litter the ground. Not just a few, but hundreds of hulls in various stages of fading color.

The site is not far down the road from a gravel pit where hunters used to do the same thing, but the site became so trashed with spent shells and shell boxes that the site was eventually bermed off and posted as closed.

Who is the modern hunter? Is it the family that attends the Ducks Unlimited banquet and contributes money for duck habitat? Or is it the hunter who sharpens his shooting eye north of Duluth and leaves a pile of plastic in his wake?

Sorry to say, it's both. As much as hunters may try to defend their practices, they are continuously undermined by their cohorts who behave badly in the field.

I received a letter a week ago from a man who lives on 85 acres in the woods. He and his wife fish, hunt and trap. And he doesn't believe the common defense that "only a few" outdoors people are causing the problems.

"Different groups of people like fishermen, hunters, trappers, snowmobilers and ATVers have been hiding behind "Oh, it's just a few' for way too long," he wrote.

He cited numerous incidents of snowmobilers and ATV riders trespassing on his land, anglers taking double limits in a day, ATV riders riding their machines into lakes to wash off mud, and hunters blasting signs along rural roads.

He isn't alone. Talk to any farmer in Minnesota's ag country and ask him about the hunters he encounters. You'll get a discouraging report. Many farmers dread years like this one, with its preseason forecast of excellent pheasant hunting. They know such reports will bring more hunters to their roads and lands, and that means more problems.

Trespassing is common in farm country. I went hunting in western Minnesota on opening weekend of the pheasant season. The landowner had to leave a morning hunt to go check on a group of hunters he had seen near his land. Sure enough, they had crossed onto his property to hunt, and he had to ask them to leave.

Deer season is worse, says a farmer from west-central Minnesota. An avid hunter himself, he calls deer season a "slob event." It's his best guess that 50 percent or more deer hunters there wouldn't hesitate to shoot a deer off the road.

Other examples abound: An Alaskan bush pilot I spoke to this fall says many of the sheep hunters he flies into the Brooks Range ask him to locate animals from the air for them. He politely declines, considering the practice unethical. A young Minnesota deer hunter I spoke to mentioned that he helps put out corn at the camp where he hunts. I'm not even sure he knew baiting deer was illegal in Minnesota.

How do we, as hunters, deal with these attitudes? It's a tough one. The first step is admitting that all is not right in the hunting world. Second, we can speak up within our own hunting circles when we believe something is wrong. Finally, we can work with conservation officers who can apprehend those behaving badly.

As diligent as conservation officers are, I'm not optimistic that enforcement is the answer. Changing values has to come from within, and I fear we have a long way to go.


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

A good reminder to help pick up after others, trash doesn't belong in the outdoors.

Call in guys who you witness littering as well.

It's almost ice fishing season, and fishermen have to do the same duties. I remember one incident alone on the Pipestem where Panchot and I spent a half hour picking up trash just around our house from guys who'd been there before. It sucks to see...


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

We call those people the Weekend Warriors Not Outdoorsman!


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## cootkiller (Oct 23, 2002)

I say we go a step further. I say we document the incidents we see, I say we find out the names of these bastards and I say we post their names, phone nmbers, and addresses on here so we can all get to know the offenders personally. And they can get to know us by our voices and our letters as to how we feel about them. I am sick of all of us talking about this crap. IT IS TIME FOR ACTION.

cootkiller


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