Complained to game commission

T

Troponin

New member
I wanted to see what the hunter's rights are as far as being able to hunt without interuption from people taking walks etc through game lands. 3 hunts I have been on so far have been interupted by pets and their owners. The dogs mark up the area, bark and growled at us, and the owners were not the least apologetic.

The Game commission officer called me back and told me this was an ongoing battle. The Commonwealth describes this as public land and anyone is allowed on it. On the other hand, hunters are the ones paying for it and are using it for its intended purpose, wildlife management.

The officer told me that if someone is walking their dog and interupting a hunt, if I get the license plate, he will be more than happy to stop by their home and give them a lecture on safety and the possibility of their dog being shot, especially ones that look like a fox or Yote. He said he also has no problem with telling them to knock it off. LOL /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

I know we can't stop it altogether, but it atleast makes me feel better that these guys are willing to help out the hunters. After all, no one else wants to help hunters, we are just savage hill billys, right? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
 
Something else he told me was that there has been a boom in fox hunting this year. He said that this area is being hit really hard this year and he has never seen hunting pressure so bad for fox.
 
Bang Bang I thought I saw a Coyote bang bang. I am sorry did not see your dog.

Bang Bang I only shot to scare your dog he was growling at me. That AR was right next to his ear surely he heard it.

These none Hunters are too scared of guns not to use it to your advantage.
 
The PGC takes complaints serious. Stuff like what was mentioned, when you provide some data, will be checked if not prosecuted.

Best regards,
chalmitch
 
I'm not defending the people you ran into however others have the same right to be on gamelands as you do. If they are not purposefully out there to harass you I can't see how you have more right than they do. Hikers,bikers,etc. It is public land. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
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others have the same right to be on gamelands as you do. If they are not purposefully out there to harass you I can't see how you have more right than they do. Hikers,bikers,etc. It is public land. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif



I agree dont give people any more reason to hate hunting be respectful to thier rights just like you want them to do to you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Hikers walking thru a stand are not being respectful of the camoed hunter who has been there in the bush all day.

The intelligent thing for the game commission to do is to post the land during regular hunting seasons. Something to the effect of "Hunting season in progress. Non-hunting activities are restricted. Enter at your own risk."
 
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Hikers walking thru a stand are not being respectful of the camoed hunter who has been there in the bush all day.


Hikers probably are unaware of people being in camo up in a tree. Isn't that the point not being seen? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif I'm sure not everyone out there is trying to ruin a hunter's day. Like I said it is public land.
 
I sorta agree with beaglers notion on this. Many people are pretty ignorant about hunting activities and may not be doing anything on purpose to interupt the hunt. I also would NEVER shoot the dog they're walking. At the least you'll throw a black cloud over all hunters for a careless, unthinking, and maybe dangerous act. At worst, most likely you could be arrested and charged with a criminal act, and, sued in civil court. You'll loose, and, most likely loose a lot... I'm not sure if you read the fairly recent thread in the Members Forum about the bird hunter whose dog was shot by a bowhunter on public ground. We all got pretty excited about that. I know if I had Bullet (my beagle) out for a walk and some A-hole shot him because he claimed I was somehow interupting his hunting... well, there'd be hell to pay in triplicate.
 
ITS PUBLIC LAND,THEY EVERY RIGHT TO BE THERE,IF THEY KNOW THEY ARE RUINING YOUR HUNT AND STAY IN THE AREA THATS HARASSMENT OTHERWISE THEY ARE INNOCENT MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.
 
I have worse problems from other hunters that see you on a set up. And they decide to walk along the ridge 100 yards from you to see what you are set up on and spook a bedded 5x5 mulie. Bedded 35 yards in front of me that i had to belly crawl 100 yards to get that close to and i sat there by the sage for 30 minutes waiting for it to stand up. Then those idiots came over the hill glassing after 10 minutes. Spotted me and moved along the ridge to see why I was hidden in the sage. Oh shoot did we spook those bucks. I live in eastern washington and they were from seattle. We over here call them coasties and most of them are some dumb [beeep] jerks.
 
My two cents- In Massachusets we are required to purchase a land stamp irregardless if you hunt state land. IMO anyone that uses state land here in Ma or other state thatderives land trust funds from hunting lic sales should require a stamp to enter. I believe NWR use to or still require a federal duck stump to enter irregardless of activity?
-As terrible as my state is for hunting they restict some state forests during popular seasons. Like no bike riding on the dirt trails. A state park her in my home town posts a large sign HUNTING SEASON IN PROGRESS FROM .....

I do sympathize and stay out of public lands that are accesible to the general public for that reason. Try and get off the beatin path and you may not encounter them. I called up the landowners old muts today from 500yds out. So even private land will not stop ruined hunts. I did have fun with them. It amazes me how they were able to pin point my exact location like a coyote. Seems all the senses were not bred out.
 
I run into ATV'ers, joggers, dog walkers, hikers, etc. I figure its public land, and its just as much theirs as it is mine. I've never had anybody go out of their way to bother me. Sometimes they screw up your hunt, but you have to share public land, or else buy private.
 
I am willing to bet the people who are saying they have a right to use the land don't have to worry about this problem...just a hunch.
 
Interesting. Well....to those of you who commented and aren't from or arent familiar with Pennsylvania...you really can't comment. While it is technically "public land", it is the money that comes from the sales of hunting and fishing licenses, that pays for the vast majority of purchasing, maintenence, stocking of game, etc. We the hunter's and fisherman, also pay most of the salaries of those employed by the commission. The PSGC, while a state run organization, has always been a totally seperate entity from other state run commissions.
Very little if ANY, of the "regular peoples" tax dollars in this state, go towards the funding of the PSGC or any of that "public" land. When you consider that PA is one of the top hunting/fishing revenue induced states in the country, and per capita, has one of the highest ratios of hunter's and fishermen, we are talking a whole lot of money.

So while I'm not opposed to non hunter's being on this land per se, I can tell you from my 25 years experience "Sneak hunting" in and around Philadelphia, because these idiots want to burn me at the stake....Many of these "hikers", "Dog walkers", "Mountain bikers", etc are of the tree hugging variety. They tend to be rude, snide people who know EXACTLY what they are doing when they venture on to this land.
IMHO, this is often times a calculated ploy to "accidentally" harrass or interfere with the activities that generally occur on this land. (hunting & fishing) Some of these people really get off on doing stuff like that.

We pay the same taxes they do, PLUS our fee's to hunt, fish, and keep/maintain this land. They will have every right to be on that land to do as they please, once they start paying for the licenses and permits the same as we do...and not before then. FYI, were not talking chump change either...were talking Millions & millions of dollars shelled out every year by hunter's and fishermen in this state.

By the same token here in Philadelphia, we have parks that are over run with deer. Lyme disease is running rampant any where within 50 miles of the burbs. Coyotes are getting hit by cars on the Blvd, and these same "hiker's" & "Dog walker's", have this huge tract of land all hemmed up in political red tape. If they can roam the SGL's and do as they please, why wont they allow these parks to be opened up to a bowhunt by special permit? I know why...because they are Hypocrites! I hope they all get Lyme disease and the deer continue to eat their "prize" shrubs. I guess when they're pets get snatched from their back yards by Yotes, maybe they will change their minds.
 
If we complain too much about people on public land interfering with us it may be us that gets banned from public land especially when they start throwing the public safety issue at the legislatures after all we are the one with the guns. The bad part is it is state land and your elected official can pretty much do with it as they please, unless you have millions of dollars in your pocket you are willing to spend in a 5 year court battle.
 
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