Do your homework, if your being harassed.

[Captaintb]

Have a spot that we always fall back on for deer that always produces, not big deer, but constant deer. Went out this evening with my 10yo daughter to try and get some eyes on some deer and do a little hiking homework.
We were confronted by 2 different woman driving by, one was civilized and the other was a complete nut job.

I've done my homework on this spot in the past and have had the Sherrifs called on me a couple times(I was legal every time). So I was sure I was completely legal to be out walking around. I do have my A22 but left my bow in the truck and we were in plain clothes.

I personally don't give a crap about these incidents as long as they don't bother a hunt, but the way that one lady was talking to us scared my daughter. It probably didn't help that I answered everyone of her questions with a question of my own, I refused to tell her what we were doing and what my name was, so that pissed her off even more. We ended up walking away from her as she was telling me the authorities would be there in less than 2 minutes.
We continued on our mission and also retrieved a game cam, left the area about 30 minutes later, no authorities.

Just by chance driving to our next recon, we saw a game warden truck parked off on a dirt road. He was out of his truck somewhere, so we waited for him to ask some questions.
The Warden couldn't have been more helpfull, he was familiar with the area we where at and reassured me that I was correct and legal. Said we are doing it the right way with our maps and gps.

Gave me his card and was very willing to clear this up if we encounter these folks again. My Daughter was stoked and very surprised he was such a nice guy, for some reason she told me she thought he was gonna be mean.

Just thought I'd share a good interaction with a warden that's looking out for the hunters as well as the game.

 

[xjon]

Thanks for sharing the encounter. Where I hunt theres a woman (trail hiker) who's always giving sly remarks with condescending tones. "It's hunting season already. You're going to kill it with that?! Hope the deer wins!" I have always replied with a smile and try to end the meeting in a nice manner. I always run into her 3-5 times per year.

I realize that I'm not the only one that she is doing this to. I believe that this is harassment. I am going to take some information down next time, such as her description, license plate, and times of encounters. Then I will report her to a game warden just so they have record.

I really don't think anything can come out of it. What I am hoping for is when someone, who gets into an unpleasant encounter with this woman, will at least get validation because she will have a prior record of harassing hunters.

This type of behavior normally starts with the sly remarks and through years of hate will eventually result in an altercation.

 

[TonyS]

I have always found wardens to be very nice friendly guys who defnitely know the area. I have had them steer me into more productive areas with a big grin. Take down whatever info you can about the harrassers and report them. Then, like you said, there is a record of their crap hopefully leading to tickets or ever better, some jail time.

 

[DayHunter433]

Where I hunt, it is very common for non-hunters to drive up and down any road they can get their vehicles on and just lay on the horn. It’s a real nuisance but easy to ignore. Luckily haven’t had any bad face to face encounters. My dad do thank one guy that stopped next to us and just stared at us. We were pulled over going over maps. When my dad told the guy that by honking his horn he was making the deer visible to us he was quick to drive away quietly.
As for encountering a warden, this season we had one rangermeet us on a trail head as we came out at the end of the hunt, and I ran into the same NF fire fighter and ranger(they were paired up) in two occasions. All three encounters were very positive and helpful. The fireman actually gave me some new locations to look at in the spring and summer.

 

[Bowman]

There are people out there that's what do. Anti hunting groups. And will do whatever to harass a hunt. I have had many encounters. Mostly in Mt Laguna. This year mostly hunted off the beaten path. And no issues. I generally just walk away because they want confrontation. It is very frustrating situation.