Hunting question

[Runningfool]

The op is the bow hunter in this scenario (he confirmed this in another thread), his brother is presumably the one who bought the cottage. Not sure why the op decided to word his post the way he did.

 

[Jmcc]

"just because I can, does it mean I should?"

agreed!

there is no law that says i "need" to flush the toilet after drop a giant load at your house. Same for washing my hands.

i am withing my legal rights to walk away with steamy pile sitting there

but, i can also expect not to get invited back.


"just because I can, does it mean I should?"

 

[Papaclaude]

Another thing.....Do the regs in that WMU allow bow hunting during the gun season? I’m curious to know why the brother decided to hunt with a bow? If its because he believes in fair chase or wishes for the additional challenge...then thats great. Or is it so that he could get a two week head start on the gun hunters who welcomed him into their group a year earlier? If the intention comes from the two week advantage, then I think the intent speaks volumes of the character and I wouldn't want that type of character in my hunt group moving forward. Family or friend.

Pretty much bang on - but I wouldn't condemn the guy just yet. I'd find out why he wants to bow hunt. He may have a very legit reason (time off from work, family obligations). Bowhunting deer will have almost zero effect on the gun season. Then, if it were me, I'd talk it over with the others. If they have no serious objections, he's good to go. He could offer a "cooling off period" of 3 or 4 days with no hunting before the gun season. If the others are adamant about it, OP, you'll have a choice to make - side with your brother and lose the crew, or tell your brother he can't use your cottage as a base, because you feel it's not right.

Now, if he's going to be using blinds and baits provided by the others, that's another matter entirely.

 

[Mayday_]

The op is the bow hunter in this scenario (he confirmed this in another thread), his brother is presumably the one who bought the cottage. Not sure why the op decided to word his post the way he did.

I wanted people's honest answer and not to be biased based on who I was in the scenario.

It's not he other guys that have a problem (that I know of) with me bow hunting, it's my brother. He straight up said NO.
From the majority of the responses here, the odds of them saying no are unlikely but I would respect them and their decision. But I also would not want to be part of a hunting camp that would get jealous or butt hurt if I took a deer before them. I would want to be around people that would incourage me, be happy for me and help me. The land is huge and the hunters do multiple deer drives in different spots each day. I highly doubt one bow hunter would effect their deer drives in the slightest.

I asked this question to see if I was in the wrong for wanting to bow hunt there. As a result of my brothers firm no and not even speaking with the other hunters about it and him saying it's "common sense" for me not to hunt there and "selfish" of me, I will not be hunting there this year (even though I legally can) and probably ever again in the future.

For the guys following the other thread about the dogs at camp, he's the one that told me I couldn't bring my dog because the deer will smell her when all they do is hunt by driving the bush making noise anyway.

 

[Papaclaude]

nobody dictates to me when and where I can hunt on crown land except the regulations.
If I were the bow hunting brother I'd be pretty offended if my own brother barred me from hunting crown land that had an open season just because he wanted to save face with the locals LOL

seems like people want to go out of their way to make hunting complicated and add a little facebook-mentality drama in the mix along with it.

are deer in the area so few that a bow hunter being successful is going to ruin the entire season for everyone else? seems a stupid question to me.
My favorite spot for mature black tails is hunted by other people when I'm not there. I see the wear on the trail from human feet so know they have been in there. Yet year after year I go to my spot the exact same time frame, without fail..... and I never come home empty handed. I slip in during the week , avoiding the locals who no doubt have figured me out long ago and know my spot but can only hunt the weekends.

I say let the bow hunter have at it. If the other hunters are worth their salt as deer hunters , his success will most certainly not hinder thiers. If they are bothered by it, maybe there is a monster buck they are waiting to gun that has been frequenting thier spot. So I don't think it would be impolite to "suggest" to the bow hunter to not take the area's prize buck 2 weeks ahead of the gun season but that's about it. Denying him access to crown land in an open season simply doesn't fly with me.

True, he can't stop his brother from hunting, but he can tell him that his cottage is off limits as a base. If the other guys have been hunting there for years and have accepted the 2 into their group, he does owe them some consideration. They were under no obligation to invite them in.

 

[dmcdam]

True, he can't stop his brother from hunting, but he can tell him that his cottage is off limits as a base. If the other guys have been hunting there for years and have accepted the 2 into their group, he does owe them some consideration. They were under no obligation to invite them in.

Do you think taking a deer with a bow ahead of rifle season will really impact their hunt? Maybe if it's the day before, but outside of that I don't think it would impact it at all. Where I rifle hunt we take deer off the same spots all week, sometimes only hours apart.

 

[Jmcc]

I wanted people's honest answer and not to be biased based on who I was in the scenario.

It's not he other guys that have a problem (that I know of) with me bow hunting, it's my brother. He straight up said NO.
From the majority of the responses here, the odds of them saying no are unlikely but I would respect them and their decision. But I also would not want to be part of a hunting camp that would get jealous or butt hurt if I took a deer before them. I would want to be around people that would incourage me, be happy for me and help me. The land is huge and the hunters do multiple deer drives in different spots each day. I highly doubt one bow hunter would effect their deer drives in the slightest.

I asked this question to see if I was in the wrong for wanting to bow hunt there. As a result of my brothers firm no and not even speaking with the other hunters about it and him saying it's "common sense" for me not to hunt there and "selfish" of me, I will not be hunting there this year (even though I legally can) and probably ever again in the future.

For the guys following the other thread about the dogs at camp, he's the one that told me I couldn't bring my dog because the deer will smell her when all they do is hunt by driving the bush making noise anyway.

my 3 cents

- Your brother saying "No" without at least letting you ask the question to the group was bad form
- Knowing that they may say "No" and knowing that if you go anyway could end any friendship you have
- If the land is that is big as i asked above, can you just to opposite end where you guys never hunt ? (you aren't required to, but its a good friendly compromise)
- as for your dog, i think his answer is BS but you need to ask yourself an honest question, do you have a good dog? dogs are lot like kids, I like mine but i cant stand other peoples...

 

[Jetman]

best thing to do would be to put in the work and show them your deer you shot elsewhere. anyone who brings whistles and yells on a deer hunt is a complete moron in my mind, theres one thing to do slow stalks and have someone in the clearing waiting in case they push a deer out. but yelling and screaming just equals running deer which equals rushed and poor shots. guarantee if they all sat in a spot and waited they would see more deer.

 

[Mayday_]

my 3 cents

- Your brother saying "No" without at least letting you ask the question to the group was bad form
- Knowing that they may say "No" and knowing that if you go anyway could end any friendship you have
- If the land is that is big as i asked above, can you just to opposite end where you guys never hunt ? (you aren't required to, but its a good friendly compromise)
- as for your dog, i think his answer is BS but you need to ask yourself an honest question, do you have a good dog? dogs are lot like kids, I like mine but i cant stand other peoples...

My dog is a lab. She is very smart and very obedient. She has a lot of energy but very friendly and listens. She would be in a private cabin with just my brother and I and the last time I brought her all the other hunters loved her. She is also not coming on the hunts with us.
The dog is not the problem, my brother is. He is just an ####### and because it's his cottage he makes the rules. I will no longer be hunting there with him.

 

[Mayday_]

best thing to do would be to put in the work and show them your deer you shot elsewhere. anyone who brings whistles and yells on a deer hunt is a complete moron in my mind, theres one thing to do slow stalks and have someone in the clearing waiting in case they push a deer out. but yelling and screaming just equals running deer which equals rushed and poor shots. guarantee if they all sat in a spot and waited they would see more deer.

Exactly. Thats not how I want to spend my time in the bush. They take 3 shotgun shots at it while it's running by. One guy hung back a bit last time and saw deer circle back around them. It'll work but it's not the best technique.

 

[yomomma]

He is just an ####### and because it's his cottage he makes the rules

Not really...buy your own and make your own rules

 

[Suther]

So did this group invite you to join them out of the goodness of their hearts, or did they need a couple extra bodies to push the deer to them? There's always three sides to a story...

OP it sounds like your biggest issue is with your brother not letting you use his cottage. I sure wouldn't be asking permission to hunt crown land, and if this group gets so bent out of shape about the idea that you'd go bow hunting before rifle season that they want you out, I wouldn't want to hunt with those old fudds anyways. Of course this is a purely west coast perspective where deer camp is 4 guys not 14...

 

[Mayday_]

So did this group invite you to join them out of the goodness of their hearts, or did they need a couple extra bodies to push the deer to them? There's always three sides to a story...

OP it sounds like your biggest issue is with your brother not letting you use his cottage. I sure wouldn't be asking permission to hunt crown land, and if this group gets so bent out of shape about the idea that you'd go bow hunting before rifle season that they want you out, I wouldn't want to hunt with those old fudds anyways. Of course this is a purely west coast perspective where deer camp is 4 guys not 14...

They "took us in" because they're renting the cottage because it's the best access to the forest (you can only get to it by boat) and because guys are getting too old to push the bush so we have to do it....... or maybe out of the goodness of their hearts......maybe

 

[Mayday_]

So did this group invite you to join them out of the goodness of their hearts, or did they need a couple extra bodies to push the deer to them? There's always three sides to a story...

OP it sounds like your biggest issue is with your brother not letting you use his cottage. I sure wouldn't be asking permission to hunt crown land, and if this group gets so bent out of shape about the idea that you'd go bow hunting before rifle season that they want you out, I wouldn't want to hunt with those old fudds anyways. Of course this is a purely west coast perspective where deer camp is 4 guys not 14...

I didn't even ask to use his cottage. It didn't even get that far. He straight up says I can't hunt back there lol (crown land)
Yet I'm the selfish bow hunter

 

[dmcdam]

best thing to do would be to put in the work and show them your deer you shot elsewhere. anyone who brings whistles and yells on a deer hunt is a complete moron in my mind, theres one thing to do slow stalks and have someone in the clearing waiting in case they push a deer out. but yelling and screaming just equals running deer which equals rushed and poor shots. guarantee if they all sat in a spot and waited they would see more deer.

I dunno about that. It can be a pretty effective technique for moving bedded deer at mid day. Making noise isn't just to move the deer, it's to remind the other hunters in the line where you are in case you're out of sight in dense brush.

 

[dmcdam]

They "took us in" because they're renting the cottage because it's the best access to the forest (you can only get to it by boat) and because guys are getting too old to push the bush so we have to do it....... or maybe out of the goodness of their hearts......maybe

I used to hunt with a group like this. They'd wouldn't think twice of having you to push bush and swamp for them all week but if you couldn't make it to the cut up party, they'd try to deny you your share of meat. One poor young guy got a deer while on a stand which he promptly hung in the group shed. They still tried to screw him out of taking any meat. After a few years of this a few of us finally split off on our own and now no matter how much or how little you get out, you're getting an equal share. We still go do a push of two for the old guys during the week so they can try and get some meat, but anything we shoot outside of that goes in our shed.

 

[Mayday_]

Not really...buy your own and make your own rules

His decisions are irrational. You don't do that to friends, let alone your own brother.

 

[Papaclaude]

He's lord and master of the manor. He can make any rule he likes regarding who uses the camp, whether or not dogs are allowed, booze, pot, you name it. Now, he has absolutely no say on what happens on the Crown land around the camp. It's up to you to decide whether you just look for another area to bow hunt, or go ahead and risk hard feelings with your brother. Not an easy decision either way, but from the sound of it, the relationship is already a little bumpy. If it were me, I'd look for another area or crew to hunt with, and let things calm down.

 

[Jmcc]

My dog is a lab. She is very smart and very obedient. She has a lot of energy but very friendly and listens. She would be in a private cabin with just my brother and I and the last time I brought her all the other hunters loved her. She is also not coming on the hunts with us.
The dog is not the problem, my brother is. He is just an ####### and because it's his cottage he makes the rules. I will no longer be hunting there with him.

if your dog is just around the camp then either:

1) he not that bright when it comes to deer
2) he doesn't like your dog and is making a lame excuse
3) he is just being a jerk because you stole his G.I Joe when you were 9

 

[Butcherbill]

I didn't even ask to use his cottage. It didn't even get that far. He straight up says I can't hunt back there lol (crown land)
Yet I'm the selfish bow hunter

No offence but your brother sounds like a prick, let him have his cabin and pushing deer for other people. He can say you can’t hunt that stretch of crown land till the he’s blue in the face but it doesn’t make it so. Now that we know the full story I’d be so inclined to hunt it anyway solo and tell him to mind his own business, situations like this make me glad I hunt solo 90% of the time. Hunting shouldn’t be about drama queens, it should be about enjoying your time in the woods trying to fill the freezer.

The two guys I do hunt with are close friends, I host them at my house during their respective weeks off and I happily take them into areas I’ve scouted and and explored. We all fill the freezer and I’m stoked to see them go home with a deer and as many grouse as they can bag, it’s the time of the year I look forward to the most. I’ll hopefully be making trips into their areas this year as they both are living rurally within driving distance now.

Op I wish you the best with your situation, don’t take any crap from your brother. You’ve got some experience from the last season, so you’ll have no problem doing solo now hunts.