Disgusted with Westside Elk Road Hunters!

[Curly]

I dont see a problem here, be glad the timber company is even letting you hunt there. If they have permission and they are allowed to use the truck why the heck would you not?

If you had 10,000 acres of your very own private land you going to pedal your bicycle around?

It is a privately owned forest, like said if you want everyone to play by the same rules than hunt public land only.

Exactly

+2

[Buckrub]

If I may... Hunting on private timber company land doesn't give anyone an exclusive....
Knowing hunters will be there and where the elk are going is what hunting is all about... there are no secrets.
It doesn't seem fair but a good hunter can outfox the fox.

[oneezreiter]

Hard to get pissed about someone getting permission from the owner to use a truck.  Just be thankful that they still allow anyone access.  They could shut it down.  It is a prick maneuver to drive through the herd and spook it.  I have a much harder time with that then them using trucks.  every job has some kind of perk.

[garyltbh]

Its not always bad one of thoes guys with a key packed out a bull my buddy shot 8 miles behind a gate sure saved him alot of packing. just because they have the right to use there truck dosnt make them bad guys.

[Practical Approach]

Your on private property. Be thankful your allowed to hunt it instead of complaining about how the owners dictate usage.

My hundred ting season is valued to me.  It is short enough as it is.  If the private land owner makes the rules, I expect everyone to follow them.  If there is a unfair buddy system going on, then I will hunt elsewhere.  I would just like to know about it ahead of time. 

[Practical Approach]

I dont see a problem here, be glad the timber company is even letting you hunt there. If they have permission and they are allowed to use the truck why the heck would you not?

If you had 10,000 acres of your very own private land you going to pedal your bicycle around?

It is a privately owned forest, like said if you want everyone to play by the same rules than hunt public land only.

Exactly

I didn't realize there were so many road hunters out there.  I don't think road hunters would ever see the point. 

[Dr. Death]

Its not always bad one of thoes guys with a key packed out a bull my buddy shot 8 miles behind a gate sure saved him alot of packing. just because they have the right to use there truck dosnt make them bad guys.

Ditto on that, Shot my bull 6 miles back in this year, had a company guy drive by use and give us a ride out, sure saved us alot of time and wear and tear...

Yeah, it can be frustrating, but the it's going to happen...had a security guard screw me up this year prior to getting my elk, was within 60 yards of a herd feeding in a clearcut, when he drives through the middle of it going somewhere...can't get mad at him, just doing his job.. Only way to get away from it is to hit the wilderness areas or use roads that are dug up etc...

[big J]

sounds like your jealous if i had permission to drive in i would and if you got mad about it i would laugh at ya. you should be happy they let the public in there at all. if you don't like their policy hunt somewhere else and quit crying about it 

[BLKBEARKLR]

I dont see a problem here, be glad the timber company is even letting you hunt there. If they have permission and they are allowed to use the truck why the heck would you not?

If you had 10,000 acres of your very own private land you going to pedal your bicycle around?

It is a privately owned forest, like said if you want everyone to play by the same rules than hunt public land only.

Exactly

I didn't realize there were so many road hunters out there.  I don't think road hunters would ever see the point. 

LMAO, there you go thinking again. I have four trucks, two quads and an enduro. And guess what they all stay in the garage or on the highway. I hunt wilderness there are no roads there, you should try it some day it may be a nice change for you instead of walking a road system in and sitting on a clear cut watching a herd of elk 

Joe

[Coastal_native]

Practical,

you're getting beat up on this thread...thought I'd come to your aid.  I've lived in the heart of Rayonier Country my whole life...take pride in the way you hunt and don't let comments on this thread discourage you.  If hunting means shooting at an animal 10 feet from your truck than I don't want to be considered a hunter anymore.  I do agree about the comments about respecting the fact that private timber co. lets you hunt there land, but c'mon...when did hunting turn into just killing.  Hunting is an overall experience...and I personaly wouldn't consider anything that I shot from my door jam to to be a hunting experience...How do you tell that hunting story?

No offense to disabled hunters or people with physical limitations, I applaud them for still getting out and enjoying the tradition...just proves how much they love the sport.

[woodrat]

honestly, after all the unsuccessful looking for elk I've done on foot, I can hardly imagine how the heck anyone ever even comes across one working from the cab of their truck, but that seems to be the way people like to do it around here. the clearcut up behind my land is not even worth hunting because of the truck traffic through there. I've been hunting up above there in the brush before and heard several trucks per hour going in, and then turning around and coming right back out, all day long. The blacktails are locked down so tight in there by opening day with all the "scouting" that people do before hand that it's nearly impossible to get one to move.

I understand that some older fellows aren't really up to major sidehill and brushy hiking, and there's one nice old guy that I run into when I'm hiking behind my place who is really friendly and laid back, and I don't judge him and people like him for truck hunting, but I really don't get it when I see young healthy guys like me driving around the clearcut and never even getting out of the truck to look around, let alone walking. Most of the time I never even hear them turn of their engine, and they rarely notice me hunting the edges on foot, even though I'm wearing orange.I almost never see a bootprint up there that's not my own more than a couple of yards from the roads. I haven't even tried up there for elk this year. I was hiking the main road into a different spot this morning and ran into that nice old guy going in and then coming right back out and he said there was already two trucks up there before daylight.

[jbeaumont21]

I understand and agree that we are fortunate to be able to hunt these private lands, and as frustrating as it can be I do appreciate the opportunity.  However, I do question the management of the land. Perhaps I am just uninformed but there doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason as to how they manage the game, access to gates and the enforcment of laws.  Does anyone know if they work with WDFW before deciding on when and where to open gates?  I would expect a large corporation such as Weyehaeuser to work closely with the WDFW to manage the game and wildlife on their lands and enforce better conservation.  I have found a couple articles on Weyehaeyser and WDFW working together on game management, but it was just for the special permits accessing the St Helens tree farm.  I guess when its your land you can do what you want with it? Any thoughts?

[timmyg]

The rules seem clear to me.  If you have a key, you can drive in.  If not, you are walking or biking.  Start destroying other folks property, and the rules will change to only those with keys can hunt.  If you had a key would you pedal in?

This being said, it is not fun when someone screws up your hunt like it sounds like those folks did.  That happens on private and public land all the time, as well as in the east and west. 

[donsk16]

If you don't want to play by the private owner's rules, then go hunt public land.  If you are on someone elses land you don't get to control what they do with it.  Maybe if you were the owner you would handle things differently...but you aren't and we are all lucky that we get to hunt thousands of acres of land owned by the timber companies.  They could just close their land to hunting.

[Glockster]

Timber companies are for profit and the only thing they care about is maximizing and protecting their investments.  They do not care about providing a quality hunting experience to you or me.  It is not their job to do so.

They allow us to hunt because we kill and haze deer, elk and bears; critters that impact their bottom line by damaging their seedlings and timber (bears).  They close their gates to keep meth heads, slobs and other lowlifes from using their land as dumping grounds and shooting galleries. 

So we kind of need to keep it in perspective when we complain about fellow hunters and how the timber companies are managing their access or lack of it.