Farmer got confrontational with me while on state land

[farmin4u_98948]

Being a FARMER.  I will say that you were the recipient of bad behavior from former shooting enthusiasts.  His reaction was due to others bad behavior, not yours. As with most of the restrictions we face, it’s not our behavior that is the problem. It’s the ones that came before us. Be kind and kindness will follow you.

[KopperBuck]

State DNR land is open for recreational use, period. If the person leasing it for agricultural purposes doesn't like it, they need to take it up with the DNR. In some cases the DNR will allow them to close it to recreational use. But if it were, it would need to be posted. And obviously in this situation the guy was full of it, since the first thing he did was to lie and say you were on private land. I would have got a photo of HIS license plate and turned him in to the DNR.

Exactly ^

Besides, not like conventional winter wheat is a huge cash crop to begin with...! You walking out there and shooting a little makes absolutely no difference to his bottom line. He was just being an idiot.

I’d try another justification. Pretty piss poor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Axle]

Being a FARMER.  I will say that you were the recipient of bad behavior from former shooting enthusiasts.  His reaction was due to others bad behavior, not yours. As with most of the restrictions we face, it’s not our behavior that is the problem. It’s the ones that came before us. Be kind and kindness will follow you.

I'm going to say this is right on. He's probably has some bad apples in the past. 

Now - do you know if the wheat was GMO or non-GMO? I'm just curious....

[hunter399]

I was recently harassed on state land shooting as well .Lady walks up with her dogs from the opposite direction from which we where shooting.Snaps a pic of my license plate.So I ask her why she was taking pictures,and explain it's state land,we all have the right to use the land .Then she starts smarting off that "you guys are the one that did this on some mountain"Then I explain I have never meet you before in my life and your bat $hit crazy.Then she walks down to my cardboard box and takes a pic of that.At this point I yell down 100 yards away and tell her I'm taking my target with me.Then she kinda walks off into the woods behind where we where shooting .So we couldn't shoot no more not knowing where she was exactly down range .Had to call it a day and only got maybe 10-20 shots down range.

Never explained why she needed pictures
Never explained what is was that she thought I had done

I reload all my brass and always take my target with me so nothing gets left behind.
This spot does get used a lot for shooting

[bugs n bones]

I’m gonna say you both were in the wrong, farmer for the way he handled it obviously.   I grew hunting in pomeroy, it was always the cardinal rule to stay out of the green wheat . Even though it’s state land which is fine to be there it’s more of a courtesy thing just to stay out of the growing crop.

[jackelope]

State DNR land is open for recreational use, period. If the person leasing it for agricultural purposes doesn't like it, they need to take it up with the DNR. In some cases the DNR will allow them to close it to recreational use. But if it were, it would need to be posted. And obviously in this situation the guy was full of it, since the first thing he did was to lie and say you were on private land. I would have got a photo of HIS license plate and turned him in to the DNR.

Exactly ^

Besides, not like conventional winter wheat is a huge cash crop to begin with...! You walking out there and shooting a little makes absolutely no difference to his bottom line. He was just being an idiot.

I’d try another justification. Pretty piss poor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree. I want to access all the public land I can, but I’d never be walking over any farmer’s crops regardless of what it was or what  it was worth unless I had the green light from them. It’s worth a lot to the farmer, otherwise it wouldn’t be there. This might also come from me spending a lot of time hunting in pomeroy and getting to know and understand the farmers way of life a little better.

[KopperBuck]

Being a FARMER.  I will say that you were the recipient of bad behavior from former shooting enthusiasts.  His reaction was due to others bad behavior, not yours. As with most of the restrictions we face, it’s not our behavior that is the problem. It’s the ones that came before us. Be kind and kindness will follow you.

I'm going to say this is right on. He's probably has some bad apples in the past. 

Now - do you know if the wheat was GMO or non-GMO? I'm just curious....

There isn’t any GMO wheat in production, at least not purposely. But organic white wheat, organic red wheat, winter malt barley or organic malt barley, waxy barleys... lots of valuable crops that you can’t identify without a little detective work.

Agree it was bad on both ends. Usually there’s more to the story, even though it doesn’t make it right. We had a good one the last day of waterfowl. Guy claimed #1 we were on tribal land. We ALL knew that wasn’t the case. He was trying to bully us. #2 He wasn’t even the farmer that owned the ground, he was a neighbor. Called him on that as well. I mean, after all, we had permission from the landlord. But have had issues where the landlord didn’t communicate to the farmer either.

I actually understood his frustration as the area is well known to have problems with trespassing. But no reason to act irrational. The problem is for every respectable outdoors person they run into, there’s another 5-6 bad encounters. I’d venture more.

Dismissing one bad situation with equally bad behavior or attitude = shut down access, period.

I understand in this instance it was public ground. I wouldn’t lease state ground to farm if it was my last choice. Too many headaches. Wish it would go away, frankly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Colville]

Go pro, big memory capicty.  Video from parking to end.  Dont put a foot in any planted field and go right back to shooting, take a friend.

[Fishnfowler]

This has happened to me also, but not on Wheat.  I was driving on a public road and pulled over on shoulder to mess with the GPS.  I had my 10 and 12 year old boys with me.  The rancher went ballistic about my car on his road.  He refused to listen, yelled about how I should have a GPS.  I tried to show him the maps and GPS with public land and he had none of it.  The guy was downright freaky.  He eventually left me alone, but it was the worst experience.  The interaction was very one-sided with him having a crazy temper and me being respectful and apologetic.  I grew up on a farm and have repaired plenty of fences as well as confronted trespassers.  Before I leave my house, I know where I'm going and whether I'll be on public land.  I'm also a rural healthcare provider and have spent my life interacting with people daily about life and death issues.  My clients have been farmers, loggers, ranchers, and other generally poor people.  I also have plenty of experience dealing with people who are mentally ill.  To go on a rage-fest over these circumstances of questionable trespass simply displays that the person is unwell.  Perhaps they just had a bad day or are having troubles we don't understand. Perhaps they are just rage-monsters.  When working with these angry people, my advice is to stay calm, avoid escalation, and walk away. 

On another note.  I've got a hobby of looking for state land leased for wheat.  I find the owner and knock on their door.  I explain that I've been looking at maps and want to avoid trespass.  I ask their help to show me where the lines are and in the process have a nice conversation about crops and how long they have lived there.  Eventually I ask if they ever let people hunt on their land.  It is rare that I'm turned away.  I generally get directions to where the birds and deer are.  I always bring a quart of honey or whiskey, and if they do me a solid, I give it to them as thanks.  This has given me more private land to hunt than I can cover.  YMMV.

[yorketransport]

Every time I hear stories like this, I appreciate the west side of the state a little more; it just sounds like a hassle to find accessible land on the east side.

Regardless of who was in the right here, I wouldn't go back. Catching a guy on a bad day is one thing, going back to "poke the bear" again is asking for an escalation.

[pianoman9701]

If I lived by you, I'd try and get as many friends as I know to go back out to where you were and target shoot all day! guys that take advantage of public leased land need an Azz kicking.  Such bs

Yep. I'd bring the Grendel and shoot off $300 worth of ammo. We'd have a fun day. Too bad Tannerite is now prohibited on Federal and WA state lands.

[JimmyHoffa]

Hunt-WA 2019 Range Day......

[pianoman9701]

Hunt-WA 2019 Range Day......

I might even make the drive for that.

[Bango skank]

Unfortunately its not all that uncommon for people to falsely claim ownership of public land.  this sign was on dnr land.  i contacted dnr, they came and removed the sign.

[Gobble Doc]

Unfortunately its not all that uncommon for people to falsely claim ownership of public land.  this sign was on dnr land.  i contacted dnr, they came and removed the sign.

That sign was up for years. When I first saw it I actually went and talked to him. It was worth it because my kid was learning to bow hunt and he gave us permission to shoot in his yard so the kid got to shoot at a lot of birds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk