Road hunting is bound to lower the number of wildlife collisions too. Condition the animals to fear the road and vehicles and kill those that can't learn. Those bushwacking hunters are creating a hazard by herding animals back toward the roads and trails, undoing many years of conditioning. Rather selfish of them, I'd say.
Gear or skills?
- Thread starter Rugdoc
- Start date
Funny thing: my father said since his youth, Antelope's habits around vehicles and road crossing have changed radically. All joking aside, evolution has changed their habits in the last 60 years. From the start of regular vehicle usage til now, the Pronghorns have adapted to not running into the road at the sight of a vehicle.
There's no doubt ATV's, Argo's and such have changed hunting for the good and the bad. For the good they had made the recovery game much easier. For the bad they have made access to otherwise inaccessible country easy for the average hunter. The noise and presence of these vehicles tends disturb not only the animals but some fellas otherwise remote peaceful hunt.
But that's the way it is now a days as these things are not going to go away. Like what has been suggested, hunt the way you wish and try to respect the other fella's hunting while doing so. I was never an ATV/Argo man, always preferred to sneak around on foot or by canoe until I got these heart issues, now I have both and they allow me the opportunity and mobility to still go out hunting. I still walk as much as I can tolerate but these tools get me through the rough spots.
But that's the way it is now a days as these things are not going to go away. Like what has been suggested, hunt the way you wish and try to respect the other fella's hunting while doing so. I was never an ATV/Argo man, always preferred to sneak around on foot or by canoe until I got these heart issues, now I have both and they allow me the opportunity and mobility to still go out hunting. I still walk as much as I can tolerate but these tools get me through the rough spots.
I know BC has areas with ATV bans for a few hours at both dawn and dusk. I have hunted one of those areas for close to 30 years. I also hunt areas where ATVs are allowed and really have no issue with them when used. I am sure anyone who has hunted for a long time has come across those that feel they own the woods and want to chase you away but that is a problem with the person not the tool they use.
That's about it. There are a lot of people who would like to have the bush to themselves, and they will use any amount of rationalization to make it make sense.
"I parked my truck here so the bush is mine"
"I bought a 60 dollar tree stand so the bush is mine, even when I'm not there".
"I've got a sharp stick that says I'm a better person than you so screw off"
"I don't have a quad, and I'm a better person than you. Even if you get off your quad screw off 'cause the bush is mine".
At its heart, much of it boils down to wanting everyone to screw off, but they can't say that so they say "Do it my way or screw off, or just screw off that works too". Or maybe "Do it your way somewhere else".
Crown land belongs to all of us to use for our various purposes. Growing up in a heavily populated area (Montreal area) drove me to find a remote area to pursue my passions. BC's lack of population north of Hope was my drawing card. If you want the bush to yourself you have to go where there are no people, fortunately for most Canadians this is still possible. I use mechanized means to get there and then I disappear, it is the best of both worlds.
I have seen/experienced everything from farmers with grazing leases claiming to own the land and post no hunting to a logging company leaving a piece of equipment behind in a slash to rot just to claim active logging and keeping the road closed for over a decade and the wildest one was a hunting party complete with a refrigerated truck and excavator that tore up the road behind them.
If we had more conservation officers to enforce the legal practise of hunting here in BC it would go a long way to stop these problems but I have waited days for them not to show up to illegal kills left to rot and other serious infractions like those above. Now (last 10-15 years) it seems highway road checks are the only method of enforcement I ever see.
That's all well and good, until you pass a morally superior individual on a pogo-stick. He's still going to hate you for driving past what took him 1/2 day to bounce to. When you get there, will there be someone with a pack-train that thinks you're a lower life form? The guy with a horse would vote to ban your ATV in a heart-beat and if an outfitter could think of a way to ban back-packers he'd do that too. The fixed wing guys did it to the chopper guys, and it wasn't because they are nicer guys. It all comes down to turf; I bet the cavemen killed each other over this stuff, and its a sure bet the Indians did even when there was only 10 people on the whole continent.
Thos pogo stick people are the worst.... So friggin' uppity....
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Perfect! In Saskatchewan we called the guys that sat in their trucks on high points to watch us, vultures.
We also took full advantage of their road warrior activity and quietly hunted on foot, the forested creek boundaries that they drove beside, and often were successful harvesting deer that were distracted by the passing truck convoys.
