Hunting Camp Dilemma

[wreckerman5288]

I'm new to this site but I feel like I need to vent a little and ask for some advice from you guys. I have read enough on this site to know that you guys will be able to help me deal with my problem in the best way possible.

Here is the scenario. My hunting group has about 1,500 acres of land to hunt out here on the Palouse, it is private land and is split up belonging to 3 property owners. I am the only one who lives in the area. I have spent about 4 days a month scouting these properties since June. There are 5 of us in the hunting party, my dad and three of my close friends.

One of our guys is bringing a guest, who would like to hunt the first few days with us. I have me this guy before, he joined us at turkey camp a few years back and we liked him and being from Bellingham he has never hunted whitetails. We all agreed it would be alright for him to join us for a few days.

Fast forward to tonight, me and my friend (the one who invited this guy) are doing some planning and he was asking me what I have been seeing for bucks when he tells me that his friend filled his "Homeland Tag" last week with a fork horn blacktail on his 20 acre property in the Bellingham area, but he still planned on coming to hunt with us. My blood instantly began to boil and I asked "So he POACHED a buck at his place and now he wants to come over here and hang his tag on a buck from one of the properties I have worked so hard to acquire access to, scout, and provide myself and the rest of us a good chance to legally harvest a buck on?"

We got into an argument and I told him that this Poaching SOB was no longer welcome as far as I was concerned. My father and one other member of our camp (who is related to one of the property owners are in agreement about this. The guy who invited this poacher has Been a friend of mine since we were kids. He grew up in a family that was anti gun and non hunters. My father and I taught him to shoot and hunt while he was in college. In fact all three of my friends from hunting camp come from a similar background and learned to hunt with my old man and I. I am a strictly law abiding hunter and to tell you the truth I am a little ashamed that someone who learned to hunt from me would even associate with a low life scumbag like this guy, let alone want to invite into our camp.

Bassically I am very angry and I will under no circumstances tolerate this guy hunting from my camp, capitalizing on my hard work, and potentially stealing an opportunity from any law abiding hunter, let alone one from my camp.

I'm trying to find the best way to handle this without causing a rift to form in our hunting camp, but ultimately I will not allow it, I don't care if I have to physically remove this guy from my camp. Sorry for the long, bummer of a post.

Thoughts?

[coachcw]

Tell your buddy it simple if he wants to hunt with the other dude then go find a new place. Cut and dry

[Blacktail Sniper]

 

[Evoac05]

 

[deerhuntr4885]

  and turn his ass in!

[Alchase]

I have never heard the term "homeland tag" before.

I would tell my friend, I hunt with "hunters" not "poachers"!

But then anyone I considered a friend, would already know that and would understand.

Actually a real friend would not put that on you to make the decision, he would have taken care of it himself and told the guy to take a hike.

[cooltimber]

tell your {friend} neither one of you are welcome here in this camp. #1 get you in trouble
#2 could lose your hunt area
#3 what does your friend have to gain
#4 not ethical
#5 homeland tag guy is a *censored* bag
#6 Doesnt say much for you or anyone in your party if u allow it. NO
 

[Bullkllr]

My 

Situations like this happen. Friends get new friends...want them to join in...forces others to make decisions.

The main thing is you are right, and all your other partners are seeing it the same way. Stand by your decision.

Bad news is you could lose your long-time friend. I agree with the posts above, but would add that if he is a true friend he will eventually see the error in his ways, apologize and make amends.

[wreckerman5288]

Thanks for all the replies. I pretty much told my buddy that if he wanted to hunt with this guy he needed to do it elsewhere. That's when he hung up. The thing is, I'm pretty sure he is going to show up on Friday the 10th and I'm going to find this jack wagon in tow with him.

When he told me about this poached deer and I got unhappy about it his response was that he knew he shouldn't have told me because I would like it.  Everyone in my camp knows how I feel about breaking hunting laws and that it will not tolerate it in our camp.

Alchase, your last statement about a true friend not doing this is 100% correct and is largely why I am so mad about this whole thing. I've known this guy for 20 years and I got him into hunting and guns, I thought he would have a little more respect for me and my father than this.

I thought everyone I hunted with was a decent hunter who believed in following the game laws and respected the wildlife we pursue. Apparently not.

As for turning this guy in, I would love to do just that. The fact is that it won't do any good. He shoots these deer on His 20 acre property that is heavily wooded and processes this at his house. It would be pretty near impossible for me to get him caught.

The bottom line is I am not going to allow it for all the reasons cooltimber listed, plus the fact that I would be in a bad mood all week while I was hunting, I'd hate to see my efforts go towards helping a poacher, and I just couldn't live with my self.

[Seahawk12]

Be a man of principle.
If your friend can't see that then maybe he isn't a man of principle.
IMHO you made the right call. If your friend won't agree with that then I would plan on politely letting him know that he's out of the hunt this year.
The season is short. You worked hard to prep everything. There are other principled hunters involved and looking forward to sharing their short and anxiously anticipated hunt with you. Don't let an unprincipled hunter ruin it for you and your other guests.
I'm sorry to hear that this friend of yours has put you in this position. Especially so close to go time.
I hope you have a great time with the people that will be there and that you are able to put your tag on a nice buck.

[Seahawk12]

Thanks for all the replies. I pretty much told my buddy that if he wanted to hunt with this guy he needed to do it elsewhere. That's when he hung up. The thing is, I'm pretty sure he is going to show up on Friday the 10th and I'm going to find this jack wagon in tow with him.

Really? 
If you really believe that then I would certainly make sure I got in contact with him immediately and in no uncertain terms tell him that the person in question is not going to be allowed on the private property. If the guy wants to make it a test of friendship, then its a test he just failed.

[7mag.]

First of all, you are absolutely right. I commend you for standing up for what you believe in. Second, you have every right to set the standards for any one that is welcome in your camp. I would urge you to try and not be so angry about it, because it will only make things worse between you and your friend. I think you should calmly explain to your friend how important good hunting ethics are to you, and you will not tolerate anything less in your camp. You should also explain the legal issue, and the fact that this could cause problems with the land owners, and the possibility that something like this could get your invitation to hunt there revoked.

[BoomWhop]

Stick to your guns.  You are right.   

[wreckerman5288]

Be a man of principle.
If your friend can't see that then maybe he isn't a man of principle.
IMHO you made the right call. If your friend won't agree with that then I would plan on politely letting him know that he's out of the hunt this year.
The season is short. You worked hard to prep everything. There are other principled hunters involved and looking forward to sharing their short and anxiously anticipated hunt with you. Don't let an unprincipled hunter ruin it for you and your other guests.
I'm sorry to hear that this friend of yours has put you in this position. Especially so close to go time.
I hope you have a great time with the people that will be there and that you are able to put your tag on a nice buck.

Thanks. Politely and calmly is exactly how I want to handle this. This is why I am waiting until tomorrow to handle this. Just too mad about the situation right now especially since he hung up on me.

[wreckerman5288]

This is a problem that I did not expect to have. I grew up hunting g around people with ethics and always hunted around those with similar ethics since. Never expected someone would try to bring a poacher to camp. Its ridiculous that this is even an issue.

I'll let you guys know how it all plays out tomorrow after everyone in camp has called this hunting buddy and told him that his friend is not welcome. I hope I shoot a nice buck this year, this deal is putting a dark cloud over the hunt for sure.