Disgusted with Westside Elk Road Hunters!

[huntmando]

Glockster hit the nail on the head.

[grousetracker]

the state gives big timber companies like weyco, port blakely and others tax breaks for allowing hunting in our state. if you apply for damages from the wdfw and you dont allow hunting the state goes after the money they paid you for said damages. i have a list of all properties that applied for damage control and the companies listed are all on them, so if they close there land to you,just call a warden and show him the list and watch how fast that company opens its land. i do it every year and they let me hunt anytime i want, just to shut me up.

[fair-chase]

Grousetracker, you must be making a lot of friends over at the timber company. that is some great insight. Way to go on researching the land that you want to hunt and holding those taking our tax dollars accountable.

[TONTO]

I spend several days scouting elk on the westside this past week.  Found a couple of nice herds with bulls in them and was pretty stoked.  This was on Rayonier and Green Crow properties, which were all gated.  My hunting buddy and I spend hours riding and pushing bikes all over the hills scouting for elk to find the ones we did.  On the day before the season opened an Gabe Regard and a crony of his started using his keys to get behind the gates and drove all over the country side scouting for elk.  He wasn't working in the area, just scouting.  Well I was sitting on a elk herd watching them for the day and waiting for them to bed for the evening.  Well low in behold Mr. Regard came driving in on the herd that I was watching.  At first they just stopped the truck and glassed them for a while.  So I stepped out of my hiding spot and let them know I was there watching the elk.  They drove past me without acknowledging I was there and drove right into the herd of elk spooking them out of the area.  This crap pisses me off.  So now a perfectly laid plan is wasted.  

Then to top it off my buddy radios me telling me that there is another truck driving around scouting for elk as well. He is an employee of one of the timber companies and he has permission to hunt using his truck.  How is a guy to compete with that bullsnot.  These two timber companies disgust me with their lack of enforcement and key management.  I have seen in other forums where Tribes are considered poachers for not hunting by the same rules, well if this same argument applies, then these fat lazy jerks are poachers as well.

If the gates are closed forvehicle access, then they are closed for everyone.  No privileges.  I don't care who you are or who you work for.  If this ever happens to me again and I catch up to the truck parked somewhere, they will be buying a new set of tires for sure.  You have to be a pretty sorry sort of person to feel like you are owed the right to drive around shooting up all of the elk herds while others are abiding by the rules and working there asses off to do it.  




Anyone else run into this type of crap?

 I didn't take the time to read the pages of posts, yeah I'm gonna be that guy tonight I'm tired. You had my sympathy untill

I don't care who you are or who you work for.  If this ever happens to me again and I catch up to the truck parked somewhere, they will be buying a new set of tires for sure.

 Keep in mind it is private property, and they do aperantly have keys. Quite possibly they do have the property owners permision. So say they do get their tires slashed then this gets back to the land owner. Nothing pisses a land owner off more than equipment vandalized, yeah even if it is a private owners truck. Next it is not only gated but written permision is required.....

Same thing has happened to me and my brother, we scouted, put the elk to bed , and were a good 6 miles in on a 7 mile hike to where the elk were seen at dusk the night before. Then we were passed by a string of 4 trucks, up around the bend they go, and the shots rang out. They took 3 of 4 bulls at daylight from the ridge we were on the night before.
 Then we got the pleasure of seeing them drive back and forth the rest of the day, racks sticking in the air, looking for the fourth. The was one other guy in the area that had passed us earlier on a mtn bike. He had license numbers and was headed to report them. I heard from my brother later that they were all fired from the jippo outfit that they were working for. I guess I'm saying sometimes you should take the high road, don't make it look bad for the rest of us.
 OK we didn't actualy go away without a little revenge I guess, back at the truck my brother took a super glue coated toothpick and broke it off in the lock while they were still in there. Probably not the wise thing to do, but they get to explain why they had to cut the lock to the property owner.

[SemperFidelis97]

I can understand the frustration, but it is the nature of the beast.  You may try to talk to the guys hell they might have some useful information.  We ran into a similar situation this year elk hunting, and come to find out from talking to the guy he was the owner of the company that does a large amount of the DNR cutting in the area.  Because we were nice to the guy he drove us around showing us all the areas he had seen elk, and told us how to get ahold of him if we did get an elk, and needed to get it out.  Sometimes it goes a long way to just talk to people even if they are really in the wrong you may help set a guy straight, or get some useful insight as with what happened to us this year.

[BAR C3]

I spend several days scouting elk on the westside this past week.  Found a couple of nice herds with bulls in them and was pretty stoked.  This was on Rayonier and Green Crow properties, which were all gated.  My hunting buddy and I spend hours riding and pushing bikes all over the hills scouting for elk to find the ones we did.  On the day before the season opened an Gabe Regard and a crony of his started using his keys to get behind the gates and drove all over the country side scouting for elk.  He wasn't working in the area, just scouting.  Well I was sitting on a elk herd watching them for the day and waiting for them to bed for the evening.  Well low in behold Mr. Regard came driving in on the herd that I was watching.  At first they just stopped the truck and glassed them for a while.  So I stepped out of my hiding spot and let them know I was there watching the elk.  They drove past me without acknowledging I was there and drove right into the herd of elk spooking them out of the area.  This crap pisses me off.  So now a perfectly laid plan is wasted.  

Then to top it off my buddy radios me telling me that there is another truck driving around scouting for elk as well. He is an employee of one of the timber companies and he has permission to hunt using his truck.  How is a guy to compete with that bullsnot.  These two timber companies disgust me with their lack of enforcement and key management.  I have seen in other forums where Tribes are considered poachers for not hunting by the same rules, well if this same argument applies, then these fat lazy jerks are poachers as well.

If the gates are closed forvehicle access, then they are closed for everyone.  No privileges.  I don't care who you are or who you work for.  If this ever happens to me again and I catch up to the truck parked somewhere, they will be buying a new set of tires for sure.  You have to be a pretty sorry sort of person to feel like you are owed the right to drive around shooting up all of the elk herds while others are abiding by the rules and working there asses off to do it.  




Anyone else run into this type of crap?

Gabe , Mr. King Logger? More like Chief lazy ass! He isn't going to work for nothing. Only thing is is working at is making an ass of himself on Ax Men! Knew him in my college years and he isn't what I would qualify as a hunter!

[BAR C3]

I would call Rayonier and Green Crow. We use to do bear damage hunts for Green Crow on the Peninsula. Got keys to the gates for bear hunting only! If we got caught for anything else, we would loose the privledge. I saw one of the biggest blacktails of my life while baiting and didn't shot it because I follow the rules. I then bicycled in and shot the biggest blacktail of my life. Got the photos to prove it. I know when I lived over there both had security on the roads. Regardless if Gabe is working in the area, he cannot use the keys for hunting and he knows it. He could have also copied the keys from previous work. I would turn is butt in. Can't stand him. Tell him Chris Fitzpatrick says hi if you see him again. Dated his wife before he married her. He isn't a big fan, so you may hurt his feelings.
If you want to know my feeling on this gate thing, read my thread on the Peaches Ridge Violators. Dealt with the same crap and the tree huggers at the Forest Service and the timber company could careless, so the phone call could be a waste of time. I would still call and give them a piece of your mind!

[CastleRocker]

Well, I have to chime in on this one.  I've been on both sides of this one, and hunting by foot or by truck, it's still hunting.  Some just go about it differently than others.  

I too have hiked in past everyone else and had a truck come by me and spook the elk I was going to hunt.  Like others have said; if you want to get away from that, then go hunt a wilderness area.  I've done that several times as well.  

On the flip side, I have been just as frustrated as anyone out there when I've watched "my" bull every damn day for months while logging and then some city dude drives up in his brand new Eddie Bauer Edition Ford and pops the bull I've been watching since he started growing velvet stumps last spring.  Yeah, I used to be one of the guys with the keys.  I'm not anymore, but I still believe that if anyone has more right to be there in a vehicle, it should be the poor soul that barely makes a living working his ass of in every kind of weather all year long.  Never done it?  Then you have absolutely no concept, and I'll just leave it at that.  Oh and Tonto just a word of advice; you (or anyone else for that matter) would NOT want to be caught by a rigging, or cutting crew while you are messing up a lock.  Ever been "stump broke"?  

These days I'm the guy on the mountain bike huffing and puffing.  I do make sure I talk to every rigging crew, and cutting crew that wants to talk to me.  It was mentioned earlier, but it's worth mentioning again.  Loggers and others that work in the woods and are there working every day, know where most of the animals are.  Make friends with them and they will most likely help you out any way they can.  Make enemies of them, and well, it's just better to get along with them.  Been there.

[logger]

 

[stumprat]

Talk to the game warden, it may be worth 10 bonus points!

   You are kidding RIGHT??

I am so tired of hearing that statement!

 Bonus points for turning in someone for using thier issued key??? Like a few others have said. Use of the tree farm is a perk for some timber companies.

[Basket Rack]

the state gives big timber companies like weyco, port blakely and others tax breaks for allowing hunting in our state. if you apply for damages from the wdfw and you dont allow hunting the state goes after the money they paid you for said damages. i have a list of all properties that applied for damage control and the companies listed are all on them, so if they close there land to you,just call a warden and show him the list and watch how fast that company opens its land. i do it every year and they let me hunt anytime i want, just to shut me up.

What taxes exactly would you be referring to, I do not believe there is any tax break from allowing hunting on state timber excise taxes.  Timber companies do apply for depredation tags for bear damage, beaver damage, mt beaver damage etc.  but I do not think there are any cash payments made just permits to remove damaging animals.  Where did you get this list of damages paid and how does it correlate to these supposed tax breaks.

[BAR C3]

Well, I have to chime in on this one.  I've been on both sides of this one, and hunting by foot or by truck, it's still hunting.  Some just go about it differently than others.  

I too have hiked in past everyone else and had a truck come by me and spook the elk I was going to hunt.  Like others have said; if you want to get away from that, then go hunt a wilderness area.  I've done that several times as well.  

On the flip side, I have been just as frustrated as anyone out there when I've watched "my" bull every damn day for months while logging and then some city dude drives up in his brand new Eddie Bauer Edition Ford and pops the bull I've been watching since he started growing velvet stumps last spring.  Yeah, I used to be one of the guys with the keys.  I'm not anymore, but I still believe that if anyone has more right to be there in a vehicle, it should be the poor soul that barely makes a living working his ass of in every kind of weather all year long.  Never done it?  Then you have absolutely no concept, and I'll just leave it at that.  Oh and Tonto just a word of advice; you (or anyone else for that matter) would NOT want to be caught by a rigging, or cutting crew while you are messing up a lock.  Ever been "stump broke"?  

These days I'm the guy on the mountain bike huffing and puffing.  I do make sure I talk to every rigging crew, and cutting crew that wants to talk to me.  It was mentioned earlier, but it's worth mentioning again.  Loggers and others that work in the woods and are there working every day, know where most of the animals are.  Make friends with them and they will most likely help you out any way they can.  Make enemies of them, and well, it's just better to get along with them.  Been there.

Well said! But with this situation, I don't appreciate a liar. If it had been me and I was working behind a gate, I would at least give the guy a ride. He told him he was scouting.
Game Department won't do anything about it!

[outlaw]

I feel for ya fellow hunter,  But this day and age it seemz people are lazy and have more green backs than the most.  Soo go ahead and pop the tires and take the chance and walk away maybee you get caught maybee you dont but pretty much you get satisfaction and maybee the lazy guys will get out of there truck.  And work for the animal rather thean be lazy knowing some corporate guru is in it for a$$.  But that is just me.  Good luck!@#$%^&*()

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

I know the farmers will get money for damaged crops from the state, not sure about tax breaks. If u call a warden they will give u names & addresses of people that have claimed damages if u ask them to hunt and they tell you no, you can call WSDFW and they will no longer give them funds for damaged crops. I had them email me the list it's also a decent tool to give you an idea where elk hang out. It does get old on here with people bitching about others hunting habits. You can use vehicle traffic to your advantage. Oh and the 10 points things I'm sick of it too. Go out ryderwood and all the Weyco employees will drive right passed you it a perk to them for working for the company. You would be slashing a lot  of tires up there, unfortunately u may not make it out alive or might mysteriously come up missing.

[woodrat]

My understanding is that the big timber companies do get a reduced rate on their property taxes, with the understanding that they are providing a public service by allowing hunting and other recreation on their lands. I've heard this from several different sources. I would be pretty dang surprised if Weyerhaeuser and the like pay the same rate on their timber land as I pay on my timber land.

That being said, I like locked gates. I walked for over 8 miles today behind locked gates, and while I didn't see any elk, I also didn't see a single truck, either, and only one guy and his kid on foot, less than a mile behind a gate. As soon as I got back out on the unlocked side, I was passed by three trucks in less than 20 minutes and saw two more parked on spur roads within a quarter mile of each other. I'm a big fan of locked gates right now, although it would have been annoying to have hiked miles in, uphill all the way, to get into a nice area and then run into truck hunters. The company that owns most of the corporate land around here is pretty much just an insurance/investment company, and they contract all the real work out. I'm sure there are guys that keep copies of keys, no doubt in direct violation of the rules, but so far, I've not run into trucks behind the gates.