Hunting Club in PA has problem with outsiders
02-02-2004 | 11:16 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 548
Likes: 0
From: Gouldsboro, PA
Hunting Club in PA has problem with outsiders
I belong to a hunting club since I work for the owner, 460 acres with a 40 acre lake. It's a barter system, I watch the dam and the property and he let's me hunt and fish there. This year the owner even gave a cheese basket for Christmas. I also mow around the lake and keep it nice loking.
I bumped into the head of the hunting club yesterday (not the owner) and he told me of two problems they encounted durng hunting season.
There is a gate that leads into the property and all club members have the key. Someone placed an additional lock on the gate, on the last day of rifle, preventing the hunters from accessing the property. The head of the hunting club had to come down and cut off the lock, plus delay the guys hunting. Fees are $250 per year.
Also, during Muzzleloader season, his son saw a guy sitting in a tree stand and this guy did not belong to the club. The son started talking to him and asked him if he was in the club, he stated no, and he asked him why he should be hunting there, and this guy unzipped his jacket and showed him his pistol and said this gives me permission. So the son left the area.
I would have tried to get his liscense plat number or liscense number and report in to the local police. What he actually did I do not know but some people have nerve. Also, during ML, he should only be carrying the ML and no other gun.
The property is lined with posted signs and no trasspassing signs but these people do not follow the LAWS. This Hunting Club has been in operation for a few year now and mostly the probelms we have are with people riding ATV's, plus people going fishing.
Why do many people just disregard the sings and feel they can do whatever they want?
T
I bumped into the head of the hunting club yesterday (not the owner) and he told me of two problems they encounted durng hunting season.
There is a gate that leads into the property and all club members have the key. Someone placed an additional lock on the gate, on the last day of rifle, preventing the hunters from accessing the property. The head of the hunting club had to come down and cut off the lock, plus delay the guys hunting. Fees are $250 per year.
Also, during Muzzleloader season, his son saw a guy sitting in a tree stand and this guy did not belong to the club. The son started talking to him and asked him if he was in the club, he stated no, and he asked him why he should be hunting there, and this guy unzipped his jacket and showed him his pistol and said this gives me permission. So the son left the area.
I would have tried to get his liscense plat number or liscense number and report in to the local police. What he actually did I do not know but some people have nerve. Also, during ML, he should only be carrying the ML and no other gun.
The property is lined with posted signs and no trasspassing signs but these people do not follow the LAWS. This Hunting Club has been in operation for a few year now and mostly the probelms we have are with people riding ATV's, plus people going fishing.
Why do many people just disregard the sings and feel they can do whatever they want?
T
02-02-2004 | 06:20 PM
#3
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,491
Likes: 0
From:
RE: Hunting Club in PA has problem with outsiders
Hi Tomster,
The short answer to that question.....is that as a society we "tend to not hold people responsible for their behavior"! Law enforcement should have been called, (the police....that represented Assault. Not to mention illegal trespass). And the individual should have been charged as such.
That kind of BS should never be allowed to occur......without the perp facing the consequences of their behavior!
Just my .02 cents worth!
Dave
The short answer to that question.....is that as a society we "tend to not hold people responsible for their behavior"! Law enforcement should have been called, (the police....that represented Assault. Not to mention illegal trespass). And the individual should have been charged as such.
That kind of BS should never be allowed to occur......without the perp facing the consequences of their behavior!
Just my .02 cents worth!
Dave
02-03-2004 | 09:32 AM
#4
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 548
Likes: 0
From: Gouldsboro, PA
RE: Hunting Club in PA has problem with outsiders
akbound,
Yes I agree with you. The local cops should have been contacted, but I don't know if he did that. Since I am the only one in the club that lives next to the land, I am greatly concerned that these things occured. I happen to know personally the local game warden and he is also a cop in another township. I will have a conversation with him soon the next time I see him.
My town is a small town and has a couple of police officers that work part time. I have tried to contact them when some kids were playing on the spillway last spring. I just wanted them warned and not arrested. They were no where to be found so I contacted the State police and they told me that if they come there, these kids will be arrested, which I didn't want. What I did was walk over, tell them they are trasspassing and the owners do not want them there. But I did not kick them off, I told them to please do not come back and I have not seen them since.
Some people are reasonable and others not. I get a little worried that the people who are not reasonable will cause me trouble so I use caution when I approach people there about trasspassing on this property.
T
Yes I agree with you. The local cops should have been contacted, but I don't know if he did that. Since I am the only one in the club that lives next to the land, I am greatly concerned that these things occured. I happen to know personally the local game warden and he is also a cop in another township. I will have a conversation with him soon the next time I see him.
My town is a small town and has a couple of police officers that work part time. I have tried to contact them when some kids were playing on the spillway last spring. I just wanted them warned and not arrested. They were no where to be found so I contacted the State police and they told me that if they come there, these kids will be arrested, which I didn't want. What I did was walk over, tell them they are trasspassing and the owners do not want them there. But I did not kick them off, I told them to please do not come back and I have not seen them since.
Some people are reasonable and others not. I get a little worried that the people who are not reasonable will cause me trouble so I use caution when I approach people there about trasspassing on this property.
T
02-03-2004 | 12:00 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,706
Likes: 0
From: Delhi, NY (by way of Chenango Forks)
RE: Hunting Club in PA has problem with outsiders
It is a shame, but the simple fact is that there are idiots like that out there in every state. They are the ones that give hunters a bad rep. Hope you get the problem resovled and catch that particular SOB. People like him definitely can ruin the hunting experience (both current & future). I would be a bit nervous walking in those same woods wondering if that honyock (sorry for the spelling) was wondering around
02-03-2004 | 01:34 PM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,166
Likes: 0
From: NW Oklahoma
RE: Hunting Club in PA has problem with outsiders
That guy would have been fixing tires when his day's hunt was over if it was up to me.
On the extra lock, carry a pipe wrench, if you need to get in just put the pipe wrench on the offending lock and twist. I have had to use that a few times when I've been locked out.
On the extra lock, carry a pipe wrench, if you need to get in just put the pipe wrench on the offending lock and twist. I have had to use that a few times when I've been locked out.
02-03-2004 | 02:14 PM
#8
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,491
Likes: 0
From:
RE: Hunting Club in PA has problem with outsiders
Unfortunately....you're right. Idiots like that exist everywhere.
Several years ago I was out "groundhog hunting".....(of all things)....with my brother, his son, my brother's friend, his son & daughter, and myself. We all were armed......chuck rifles various sorts and sundry......and went to a farm in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, that we had permission to hunt chucks on....and had been there frequently in the past.
We parked, (two vehicles), near the farmer's barn.....where we had been told to....and walked several hundred yards down a tractor path towards the corner of four fields. As we neared the corner, there were some trees on the fence row, with a little edge cover, we observed a pick-up truck we hadn't seen before parked 100 to 150 yards or so out in the far right field. We saw a man with a rifle and binoculars and decided to go left another 150 to 200 yards away from the corner....putting us about 300+ yards from the other hunter. And just so there is no misunderstanding......he had a great field of view and field of fire from where he was seated. Only a small degree of it overlapped where we had move to. Most of our field of view...and field of fire.....was obscured from him....by another fence row, and line of trees. (So we weren't shooting chucks "out from under him".) All of the kids we had out were teens...and we set up so we had adults interspersed with the kids, but were within quiet conversational tone of most of each other. The adults were primarily interested in getting shots for the kids.
About 30-45 minutes after we set up....the guy got in his truck....spun a little tire....and took off down the tractor path. As it was getting on late afternoon....we thought nothing of it. Probably a little less than an hour later....I heard the crack of a bullet passing maybe 100 feet or so overhead...followed by a report several hundred yards from the direction of the road. I was looking to see where the shot had came from and saw two trucks...two hunters looking our direction......and I looked up the hill into the treed section to see what they were shooting at. They were shooting too high to hit anything in the field in front of us....so I figured something had to be on the hill in the woods. I couldn't see a thing. A moment or two later......CRACK - boom....another shot maybe less than 100 feet or so overhead. Again I looked.....checked the hill....checked the hunters....and sure as heck couldn't see what they were shooting at. At that time the 3rd CRACK - boom, and now I was getting "upset" to put it mildly. I picked up the binoculars and glassed the hunters and they were looking through their rifle scopes.....sh*t eating grins on their faces. We discussed it several moments...and started walking back the tractor path. As we neared the road I recognized the one truck.....and hunter....as the guy that was 300 yards or so away in the other field earlier. I asked them what they were shooting at....and hadn't they seen six people directly under their line of fire. The "new" guy says, "my brother came and got me and told me you all jumped his spot". I said, "what?" He repeated himself. I tried explaining to him when we saw the truck we quietly, quickly, carefully, moved away from his location so as not to interfere with his hunt....and were watching a part of pasture he couldn't see because of tree line. The guy didn't want to hear it....was belligerent....and I actually believed for a moment that he was going to force someone to shoot him because of his behavior with his rifle. And all over ground hog hunting...and someone being greedy with another person's property. Of all the stupid s**t! (Fortunately I had not unloaded my .25-06.....because I'm not sure what he would have done.....if it wasn't for the six loaded rifles there. What an idiot!)
We did mention to the farmer about the incident....(wanted to make sure he didn't hear just one side of the story).....and upon us describing the characters...he told us he had received numerous similar reports....and had banned them from hunting his property again. Unfortunately, I couldn't get around either of them to copy a hunting license number.....and both trucks had fresh mud on the license plates. So I didn't push the issue by trying to touch a truck. I filed a police report.....to insure if there was any further contact with these two miscreants.....and self defense became a real issue.....there would be a case already established as to "character" and "need".
That's about all you can do!
P.S. Haven't seen either of them since!
Several years ago I was out "groundhog hunting".....(of all things)....with my brother, his son, my brother's friend, his son & daughter, and myself. We all were armed......chuck rifles various sorts and sundry......and went to a farm in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, that we had permission to hunt chucks on....and had been there frequently in the past.
We parked, (two vehicles), near the farmer's barn.....where we had been told to....and walked several hundred yards down a tractor path towards the corner of four fields. As we neared the corner, there were some trees on the fence row, with a little edge cover, we observed a pick-up truck we hadn't seen before parked 100 to 150 yards or so out in the far right field. We saw a man with a rifle and binoculars and decided to go left another 150 to 200 yards away from the corner....putting us about 300+ yards from the other hunter. And just so there is no misunderstanding......he had a great field of view and field of fire from where he was seated. Only a small degree of it overlapped where we had move to. Most of our field of view...and field of fire.....was obscured from him....by another fence row, and line of trees. (So we weren't shooting chucks "out from under him".) All of the kids we had out were teens...and we set up so we had adults interspersed with the kids, but were within quiet conversational tone of most of each other. The adults were primarily interested in getting shots for the kids.
About 30-45 minutes after we set up....the guy got in his truck....spun a little tire....and took off down the tractor path. As it was getting on late afternoon....we thought nothing of it. Probably a little less than an hour later....I heard the crack of a bullet passing maybe 100 feet or so overhead...followed by a report several hundred yards from the direction of the road. I was looking to see where the shot had came from and saw two trucks...two hunters looking our direction......and I looked up the hill into the treed section to see what they were shooting at. They were shooting too high to hit anything in the field in front of us....so I figured something had to be on the hill in the woods. I couldn't see a thing. A moment or two later......CRACK - boom....another shot maybe less than 100 feet or so overhead. Again I looked.....checked the hill....checked the hunters....and sure as heck couldn't see what they were shooting at. At that time the 3rd CRACK - boom, and now I was getting "upset" to put it mildly. I picked up the binoculars and glassed the hunters and they were looking through their rifle scopes.....sh*t eating grins on their faces. We discussed it several moments...and started walking back the tractor path. As we neared the road I recognized the one truck.....and hunter....as the guy that was 300 yards or so away in the other field earlier. I asked them what they were shooting at....and hadn't they seen six people directly under their line of fire. The "new" guy says, "my brother came and got me and told me you all jumped his spot". I said, "what?" He repeated himself. I tried explaining to him when we saw the truck we quietly, quickly, carefully, moved away from his location so as not to interfere with his hunt....and were watching a part of pasture he couldn't see because of tree line. The guy didn't want to hear it....was belligerent....and I actually believed for a moment that he was going to force someone to shoot him because of his behavior with his rifle. And all over ground hog hunting...and someone being greedy with another person's property. Of all the stupid s**t! (Fortunately I had not unloaded my .25-06.....because I'm not sure what he would have done.....if it wasn't for the six loaded rifles there. What an idiot!)
We did mention to the farmer about the incident....(wanted to make sure he didn't hear just one side of the story).....and upon us describing the characters...he told us he had received numerous similar reports....and had banned them from hunting his property again. Unfortunately, I couldn't get around either of them to copy a hunting license number.....and both trucks had fresh mud on the license plates. So I didn't push the issue by trying to touch a truck. I filed a police report.....to insure if there was any further contact with these two miscreants.....and self defense became a real issue.....there would be a case already established as to "character" and "need".
That's about all you can do!
P.S. Haven't seen either of them since!
02-03-2004 | 03:11 PM
#10
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,491
Likes: 0
From:
RE: Hunting Club in PA has problem with outsiders
Hi MikeE51848,
Today......we do! It is too easy to have one in case of accident or emergencies. But it's a shame to believe you actually might need one because of some "shruken skull" that wants to start a war.....over groundhogs!!
(Particularly when we had gone out of our way to be "considerate".....and had three kids along!)
But I guess in a day and age of road rage....what should we expect?!?
Today......we do! It is too easy to have one in case of accident or emergencies. But it's a shame to believe you actually might need one because of some "shruken skull" that wants to start a war.....over groundhogs!!
(Particularly when we had gone out of our way to be "considerate".....and had three kids along!)But I guess in a day and age of road rage....what should we expect?!?