Farmer got confrontational with me while on state land

[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.

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.


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Yeah it had obviously been there a long time, but that doesnt make it okay.  that guy knew damn good and well he had public land posted.  Total b.s.  that guy has zero authority over that land and nobody is required to ask his permission to hunt it.

[huntnfmly]

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.

Agreed and that is the problem common courtesy is in very low supply these days

[bobcat]

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.

Agreed and that is the problem common courtesy is in very low supply these days

I agree with this too. I personally would not have picked a green winter wheat field to shoot in. But the farmer was wrong in the way he handled it. There's nothing worse in my mind than a farmer claiming ownership of public land.

[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.


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Yeah it had obviously been there a long time, but that doesnt make it okay.  that guy knew damn good and well he had public land posted.  Total b.s.  that guy has zero authority over that land and nobody is required to ask his permission to hunt it.

True


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[bigtex]

I agree with others that have said they would not have shot there because of the crops. Just because something is legal doesn't mean its right. DNR or the legislature can easily ban target shooting on lease lands. This farmer may have the ear of a state rep in the area. A couple years ago a state rep from the Tri Cities authored a bill which would've banned public access to water bodies which did not have a public parking lot, restroom, and garbage can. He authored the bill after hearing about an issue from one of his constituents.

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[jackelope]

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.

You’d do that in a field of green wheat that belonged to someone else?

[Nwgunner]

In the future I will avoid green wheat fields.  I can understand the common courtesy in that. I would assume that this does not apply later in in the year when the wheat is not actively growing?

Yes this was near the tri cities and yes I did have a discover pass in response to earlier questions.

[BDildine]

Common courtesy and letting stuff roll off your back seem to be in super short order now days
He's in the wrong because while it is in fact not his state land,and should not have reacted the way he did. I'm glad to hear you were respectful and didnt further escalate the situation.
I am quite worried about everyone elses "piss on him and his crops" response though, thats the s#!t that will keep closing off access, continue to tighten up uses of state and federal lands because eventually it will piss off EVERYONE and they will vote/litigate your usage out, then what?
turn the other cheek, call it a day, and be a good steward for hunters and shooters......dont think thats too much to ask

[jackelope]

I wouldn’t worry about it if it was in stubble.

[Caseyd]

You sure it’s not closed while in crop? All leases are negotiated on an individual basis.

DNR leases houses out. You going to go shoot in their front yard

[nwwanderer]

On the other side of the coin, I have had people rant and rave as they try to kick me off of my own ground, sounds like you handled it will.

[KFhunter]

In the future I will avoid green wheat fields.  I can understand the common courtesy in that. I would assume that this does not apply later in in the year when the wheat is not actively growing?

Yes this was near the tri cities and yes I did have a discover pass in response to earlier questions.

Walking through the wheat between the planted rows wouldn't bug me, if I knew that's what you were doing. 

Thing is a lot of folks want to drive way down yonder to drop off and check their target (through the field) then drive back to the bench, rinse, repeat. 

Also, if a range gets established it gets used over and over and more people driving on the wheat.

The farmer pays DNR for the right to grow a crop on leased land, so the margins are thinner than growing a crop on their own property.

The farmer has probably had a lot of past problems with folks that think "DNR land is open for public use PERIOD"  and while it is mostly if people are driving on the field to shoot DNR will allow no trespassing signs be put up and the people could get charged (thanks Bigtex)

I had friends in Pomeroy, learned quite a bit about CRP land and DNR leased land for crops and every one of my Pomeroy local friends all made sure I knew not to drive on a growing crop PERIOD.   Not that I ever would, as I grew up farming too, but they made sure I knew anyways 

The farmer that confronted you could have done a lot better job informing you instead of freaking out, you weren't driving on his field as you stated so he could have just informed you not to do so. 

[dscubame]

No wheat was damaged in this production.

[pianoman9701]

In the future I will avoid green wheat fields.  I can understand the common courtesy in that. I would assume that this does not apply later in in the year when the wheat is not actively growing?

Yes this was near the tri cities and yes I did have a discover pass in response to earlier questions.

Walking through the wheat between the planted rows wouldn't bug me, if I knew that's what you were doing. 

Thing is a lot of folks want to drive way down yonder to drop off and check their target (through the field) then drive back to the bench, rinse, repeat. 

Also, if a range gets established it gets used over and over and more people driving on the wheat.

The farmer pays DNR for the right to grow a crop on leased land, so the margins are thinner than growing a crop on their own property.

The farmer has probably had a lot of past problems with folks that think "DNR land is open for public use PERIOD"  and while it is mostly if people are driving on the field to shoot DNR will allow no trespassing signs be put up and the people could get charged (thanks Bigtex)

I had friends in Pomeroy, learned quite a bit about CRP land and DNR leased land for crops and every one of my Pomeroy local friends all made sure I knew not to drive on a growing crop PERIOD.   Not that I ever would, as I grew up farming too, but they made sure I knew anyways 

The farmer that confronted you could have done a lot better job informing you instead of freaking out, you weren't driving on his field as you stated so he could have just informed you not to do so.

He already stated he wasn't hurting the crops. I can only assume that means he wasn't driving down to his target, so not really a point. Leasing is actually far more economical that purchasing land, keeping it up, and paying taxes on it. Even if the margins are tighter, which I doubt, he has no right to harass someone using public land.

If the shoot went down as described, and I have no reason to doubt the OP, the farmer was being a jerk and has an inflated view of his rights with regards to farming public lands.

[Badhabit]

Here's a copy of a DNR lease from Franklin County.

https://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/psl_ag_proposed_12a82173.pdf?1lbaw

Go to page 6 of 30 for the Public Hunting section.