I had an experience with gang/radio hunters a few years back. It is very hard to find a place to hunt in central Arkansas if you don't know somebody with a farm, even then their whole family hunts on it. Your hand is usually forced to get on a lease or hunt public land with everybody and their grandmother(really). Anyways, this was 5500 acres of what we call mountainous terrain(big hills) and lots of clearcuts with less then a dozen hunters signed up. Good numbers! The guy in charge actually lived on the edge of the property and grew up there. I went to meet him and see the place and his house was totally decorated with some very impressive mounts, they were everywhere. He said he had killed all those bucks on the property. Anyways I was totally impressed with this place and was happy to shell out a small fortune to hunt there. After several weekends scouting I was the only bow hunter in camp, which seemed odd to me. But I thought it was a good sign. I had been seeing a very-very good 10 pointer and several good deer but just couldn't get the big one close enough. The first day of muzzel loader season I perched myself in a spot down an old unused logging road to get a better shot at MY buck as he came in. As soon as the sun came up that guy and his whole family(who doesn't have to pay as I found out) were riding around on four wheelers and dirt bikes, yes I said dirt bikes, with radios. It kinda angers me when somebody has the nerve to ride up to me in a stand and ask if I had seen the big 10 point they were chasing. Yes I made the mistake of saying I'd seen a big buck in that area. I got down and left, mad as hell! I went home and calmed down. A couple weeks later was opening morning of gun season and I decided I paid enough and invested enough time to go back. When the sun came up guess what. This time it was worse, the were running dogs also, dozens of them! I freaking hate running deer with dogs...and the possy was hot on their tails. I got mad and got down. This time I went to the camp site to see if anybody had actually got anything. All the PAYING hunters were new to the camp, apparently they can't keep people around for more then a year. They were all as ****ed as I was. There were several (8 if I remember)good bucks hanging up, and MY big 10 point! But, none of them belonged to the paying members, just the presidents "GUESTS". According to a couple guys who camped out they heard four wheelers and gun shots all night. The rest of us said we were never coming back. I figured I was already there so I would finish out the day on a clearcut, may just get lucky and shoot something. Oh I did but not what I wanted. One of the jack -a$$es had the nerve to ride up with a cooler of beer and park a couple hundred yards in front of me. Seems they were doing a "drive" (literally). The second time he raised his rifle and looked at me through the scope I put a 162SST into the engine block of his four wheeler, walked to my truck and never went back.
Gang hunting. Is it fair to the animals?
- Thread starter goodgrouper
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ol mike
Well-Known Member
The whole scenario of radio scouts is new to me ,i had no idea that kind of hunting even existed.
I have always disliked the rich-guy hunter scenario -you can have a billion dollars and be a real hunter -more power to you.
But the guy with the presidential grade wood weatherby ,who gets dropped off at a deluxe shooting house in a Z-71 suburban and someone skins out his trophy buck while he has a glass of wine --is a joke.
I lived in the southeast for 21 years -i all but quit hunting for 10yrs b/c there was just nowhere to " hunt " ,there was a lot of deer chasing and spotlighting with trucks ,4-wheelers beer drinking cb radio's etc etc..
Most of the guys i knew only hunted w/dogs -the dogs often caught the deer and the dogs often got killed from stray buckshot.
I know some people will think a hunter shouldn't crap-talk anothers method of deer hunting but dog hunting is something i don't agree with.
Dogs chasing deer and people using radio's and motorized vehicles is BS plain and simple.
One guy i knew hunted w/beagles -that was different the dog sniffed along barking and kept the deer moving enough to let a hunter get down-wind and get a shot.
One guy who was a driller on the offshore rig we worked on brought a 223 mini-14 w/a 30 round clip and 2 cases of beer.They would shoot deer in people's front yard and if the residents got mad they would just take off hoping nobody got their license plate number.I couldn't believe the things i saw in a day of hunting w/that bunch of fools.
I think hunters need to speak out against this sort of hunting -lord knows we don't need anymore rules/laws but then again we do..
I have always disliked the rich-guy hunter scenario -you can have a billion dollars and be a real hunter -more power to you.
But the guy with the presidential grade wood weatherby ,who gets dropped off at a deluxe shooting house in a Z-71 suburban and someone skins out his trophy buck while he has a glass of wine --is a joke.
I lived in the southeast for 21 years -i all but quit hunting for 10yrs b/c there was just nowhere to " hunt " ,there was a lot of deer chasing and spotlighting with trucks ,4-wheelers beer drinking cb radio's etc etc..
Most of the guys i knew only hunted w/dogs -the dogs often caught the deer and the dogs often got killed from stray buckshot.
I know some people will think a hunter shouldn't crap-talk anothers method of deer hunting but dog hunting is something i don't agree with.
Dogs chasing deer and people using radio's and motorized vehicles is BS plain and simple.
One guy i knew hunted w/beagles -that was different the dog sniffed along barking and kept the deer moving enough to let a hunter get down-wind and get a shot.
One guy who was a driller on the offshore rig we worked on brought a 223 mini-14 w/a 30 round clip and 2 cases of beer.They would shoot deer in people's front yard and if the residents got mad they would just take off hoping nobody got their license plate number.I couldn't believe the things i saw in a day of hunting w/that bunch of fools.
I think hunters need to speak out against this sort of hunting -lord knows we don't need anymore rules/laws but then again we do..
BrandonA
Well-Known Member
I actually started hunting with radios this past weekend.
I the new Cobra 27 mile 5watt radio's which I use for when I'm mountain hunting so I can talk to people at camp. We generally don't use the radio too much unless we hear shots or someone knows there is something big coming another person's way or to just goof off for a little bit.
My second radio is actually a GPS (Garmin Rhino). There is only a couple people with them I know so far but I mainly use it for the GPS Positioning system where as you talk you can see everyones positions on a map along with yours. I find this to be really helpful when hunting new areas I'm not familiar with.
I like my setup when it's on it's effective to keep communication open over long distances even though it's usually telling me they want me to get back to the truck to leave!
I did talk to a bear hunter who used dog's this weekend and had the GPS collars on them. I think those are pretty neat keeps him from losing dogs I'm sure i'll talk to him more in future to see how they work out in the thick brush up where I deer hunt on public land
I the new Cobra 27 mile 5watt radio's which I use for when I'm mountain hunting so I can talk to people at camp. We generally don't use the radio too much unless we hear shots or someone knows there is something big coming another person's way or to just goof off for a little bit.
My second radio is actually a GPS (Garmin Rhino). There is only a couple people with them I know so far but I mainly use it for the GPS Positioning system where as you talk you can see everyones positions on a map along with yours. I find this to be really helpful when hunting new areas I'm not familiar with.
I like my setup when it's on it's effective to keep communication open over long distances even though it's usually telling me they want me to get back to the truck to leave!
I did talk to a bear hunter who used dog's this weekend and had the GPS collars on them. I think those are pretty neat keeps him from losing dogs I'm sure i'll talk to him more in future to see how they work out in the thick brush up where I deer hunt on public land
devildoc
Well-Known Member
I am in total agreement with you all on this one. It seems that there has been a disturbing trend as of late, it seems we're regressing back to the days of the "king's deer". The problem is that there is too much money in it, and because of that we're losing alot of the tradition that we cherish. Unfortunately, I don't think we're gonna see any changes unless real sportsmen find a way to put a whole lot of pressure on the wildlife/game commisions in there state. And even then it's gonna be an uphill battle since the outfitters pretty much own most of the game commissions. Untill we can cut off the outfitters from influencing game management and law, we're going to continue to see our public access, and hunting traditions turn to dust.
royinidaho
Well-Known Member
Ya gotta love this: I put a 162SST into the engine block of his four wheeler, walked to my truck and never went back.
I keep a couple "special" flat based bullets (untraceable, I hope) for those trophy ATVs.
They are #1 on my list right behind Woofs.
I keep a couple "special" flat based bullets (untraceable, I hope) for those trophy ATVs.
They are #1 on my list right behind Woofs.
NYLES
Well-Known Member
Ol mike sounds like you did find yourself a bunch of fools but dont label all dog hunters that way! I will agree that those guys are out there but not all of us fit that bill! Ill also agree that guys like that are the reason I dont do it anymore...however I promise you those trucks radios and figure in a couple hundred more varibles in it.....makes tree huntin seem easy!
All boils down to respect for others, just aint enough of it in the world these days!
Ill make no other comments on the subject thats just 25 years of hunting I enjoyed when there was room for it and people had a lil respect for each other.
All boils down to respect for others, just aint enough of it in the world these days!
Ill make no other comments on the subject thats just 25 years of hunting I enjoyed when there was room for it and people had a lil respect for each other.
NONYA
Well-Known Member
Just as fair as using a 1000 yard rifle to hunt game,if its legal who cares if its "fair"?
goodgrouper
Well-Known Member
Well that's funny. Your sig line says if it's not fair chase it's foul. Hunting penned in animals is legal but you don't think it's kosher. Well, I don't think gang hunting is kosher. In fact, since it is cheating with other people's animals it is much worse in my opinion then shooting some pen animals that have been bought and paid for by the land owner. At least those animals are being sold by the actual owner of them.
