public view of non resident deer hunters
 

A few years back my father and I went on a archery trip to adams county. On our way through Quincy we were seeing anti hunting signs along the side of the road. Also we were seeing them on the back of pickups too. Most of the people we met were not very nice to us, everyone from the gas station attendant, to the pizzia shop place we went to.I get the feeling that non-resident deer hunters are not well liked in some parts. Other than the reason of were here to hunt their deer is their something else that's going on that you guys could tell me?Seek advice. Thanks Lou-Lou

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

If it is an anti- hunting issue then I believe it is that some parts of the country don't recieve enough oxygen for the peoples brains to function properly.
If it is a non-resident issue, I can totally understand the resentment because a few bad apples,(aka non residents) do not have the proper respect for the local people and there property. My area has lots of problems with people coming up for rifle season and trespassing, driving right past posted signs and interupting our hunts. ^There are some problems after hunting hours are over and the local taverns fill up also.
Like I said just a few bad apples but sometimes it only takes one bad experience to turn people against non-residents.

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

I havent had a ot of experience with non resident hunters, but have had a few come in to hunt with me, and what Ive found here in Missouri, with the few that Ive dealt with is that they spent the money to hunt out of state and they were pretty serious about. In my experience, Ive got a lot bigger problem with the locals around here than Ill ever have with a few non residents. Not to say that there arent some non residents that are bad apples, but our locals are way worse, they learn about good hunting or fishing spots and fences, signs and purple paint dont mean anything.

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

Been Hunting Pike and Adams counties for 6 years now and have found most of the locals welcome us (and the money we spend there) with open arms. There are always a VERY few who resent us though. I suspect those few were probably hunting for free a few years back on property now leased to outfitters for large dollars. How would you feel if your neighbor/friend/landowner who has allowed you to hunt for years suddenly told you he leased his place to other hunters from outside the state?

Whether we like it or not, paying to hunt is well on its' way to becoming a universally accepted practice. The sooner we all recognize and accept that the better off we'll all be.

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

They say the State of Mississippi is known as the Hospitality state, I don't think we have anything on the great folks in rural Ill., they are the nicest people I have ever met, the guy I hunt with even insists that I sleep at his house when I come up and hunt every year, he even went so far as to install a shower in the basement which is also their entertainment room complete with a big screen tv and a foldout sleeper in the sofa, where I sleep. And also he won't even let me pay him and I usually stay to hunt with him for 7 to 14 days straight.....his wife fixes these huge meals for supper every night...man, I'm gonna miss these folks this year since I didn't get a NR archery permit. I'm still gonna go visit him is Sept. just like we do every year.

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

you are correct. in our area outfitting is becoming more and more popular. many local hunters are now left with little or no land to hunt. and the outfitters are the people who the locals truly resent. many of the people running the outfitter services have little or no interest in deer hunting and are in it for the $$$. the resentment you have experienced is a by-product of the locals feelings towards the outfitters.

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

I have heard many stories of outfitters tearing down fences and telling their hunters that they can hunt on private property.
Many locals can not afford to buy property anymore. A guy that I work with stoppped to look at 120 acres in Jersey County. I think he said it sold 4 years ago for $120,000. They want $430,000 now.
I know that I will never be able to buy any hunting property. I wish that I could turn the clock back 15 years.

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

Wrongway ,
go to your local courthouse and look into tax seizure properties . It's kind of a long shot , but sometimes you can find a decent patch for pretty cheap .

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

Your right you can go to the courthouse,but it's a longshot.Ijust bought 43 acres of timber in march,it went for around 3000 an acre.To much really for ground,but thats what's happening so I did it so I'd have a place to hunt.I've been hunting and in the outdoors all my life.I become an outfitter this year for a second job,I'm not doing it to get rich,I'm doing it so I dont have to go work at a job I dont like,plus I know alot about the outdoors already, so it fits me. I have friends I met from out of state in P.A. that come back here to hunt my property.I had to lease some other property so we would have some more ground to hunt,so we would'nt burn the little timber out.I have locals mad at me,but I told them talk to your landowner and help him out or pay him to hunt if you have to ,because thats what's happening.I hate to see this happen but times have changed and everyone is scared of change!

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

lou-lou, I know in our area it's not non-residents, it's non resident landowners. I hate to see new ones come in, but I love to see them go.

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

I agree . I rather see local landowners, than out of state owners that outfit use our hunting grounds,but the bad ones are the ones that give us all that outfit a bad repp and get the local hunters mad at all outfitters. There the ones that need thinned out in my opinion.

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

i only dont like a few non-residents where i hunt. one is some guys from cuba used to come and they would poach all the time and we would drive by and see these monster bucks hanging up and one time we drove by at 10:30 at night and there was a big 13 point that was still steaming so it was freshly killed. and then the other is a guy that comes and hunts with an outfitter every year and drives his diesel truck up and down our road that goes by our property about 10-15 times a day, other than that i have no problems with non-residents.

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

I live in Florida, but bowhunt once a year in Ohio during the rut. I can completely agree that a few mess it up and form bad images for the rest. When I come up, it is the highlight of my year. I think you guys are extremely lucky to have what you have in the midwest. I treat everyone with utmost respect when we travel up and everyone there has also treated me the same. I hate that a few bad apples cause residents to form bad opinions of non-residents. In my opinion, ya'll have the greatest whitetail hunting in the U.S.. I do hunt alot here in Florida, but after I make my trip to Ohio it is hard to make myself go in the woods here..

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

i wish they would make NR's shoot a doe first then a buck. wev'e worked pretty hard to establish the great herd we've got. 10-15 years ago you never heard of outfitters around here. then some huge bucks were shot and here comes everyone thinking just because it's il. you'll get a trophy. i don't really get it myself someone else does all the leg work for you.

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

I really feel for you guys, I understand I probably would feel the same way if somebody came from out of state to hunt property that I used to hunt but can't anymore due to somebody else buying it or leasing it. It really dosen't seem fair, you live there but can't hunt there, that sucks.

RE: public view of non resident deer hunters
 

I have nothing against non-residents but here is my take on it from this part of the country. Poachers, Poachers, Poachers is what the residents do not like. I'm not saying that the residents don't poach, but it seems there are so many non-residents that don't have enough money to lease good land or go with a guide so what do they do?... Poach. I see the same trucks every year, never stopped but always driving around the best hunting spots in the area, night and day. Usually all of them are from Texas. And with one GW in the county, rarely are they caught. And the ones that are get a small fine, a slap on the wrist and they're still back next year.

Between that big problem, and the fact that the legal non-residents are taking the hunting spots away from residents, a lot of the residents do have biased attitudes toward non-residents.