Our own worst enemy

[Classicvette63]

With everything facing sportsmen nowadays it's seems our biggest enemy is us. I stopped by an old farm where I use to fish. It had been sold and I wanted to ask for permission to fish in a big pond there. I was dressed nice, told him my name, explained that I fished there when I was kid. My sister and I caught our first fish there, I took my niece there about ten years ago to catch her first fish and now my youngest niece is getting to be of age to catch her first fish. His response was, "I don't let noone fish there." He was obviously a hunter by the racks he had drying on the porch, so it wasn't like he was a treehugger or something.

What an azzhole. I guess he forgot that at some point in his life that he hunted and fished on someone elses property. What is it with people now. They are like little kids. It's my ball and you can't play. This I got mine, feck everyone else attitude does not help sportsmen in the least.

I'd like to do business with the company he works for someday. Then when he comes in to see me, I'd tell him to.. well, you get the idea.

[Rocky Raab]

That's a shame, CV.

But it might serve as an object lesson for your niece. She's gonna meet winners and jerks all her life, and it's not too soon for her to start knowing the difference.

Oh, and I really hope he does end up asking you for service. Tell him he can have the regular price plus a signed trespass slip, or the "special new landowner" price. Make the special price about triple.

[fabsroman]

Yeah, it is kind of tough when you are an avid hunter or fisherman and you have your own property. One of my dreams is to have my own farm and I am starting to get a lot closer to it. When I finally reach it, with all the hard work, I plan on doing some hard work on the farm too, so that I can set it up right for hunting. It will be tough for me to allow every Tom, Dick & Harry to hunt the property without me being there. I will gladly allow my friends to hunt with me, but I still want to be present. Wouldn't even mind letting strangers hunt, but only when I am present.

See, farm owners that aren't avid hunters could care less if a person mis-manages a deer herd, over fishes a pond, or over hunts waterfowl in the field. When an avid hunter owns the property, it is his dream come true and after investing a lot of hard work in the place it would suck to give somebody permission to hunt the place and have them shoot everything in site. That is because most people that ask to hunt don't care about next year or the year after that. They also have the attitude that since other people are allowed to hunt the property too, it is a first come first served basis fr who gets to shoot everything up.

Towards the end of goose season, I got permission from a landownder to hunt a pond out front of his place. I knew that my "friend" who also knew the landowner would also be informed of it. So, I waited, and waited, and waited to see if my "friend" would let me know about it before he hunted it. I knew the geese were piling into this place. Guess what, after waiting a couple weeks to hear from the "friend," I found out from the landowner that the "friend" had hunted it twice in one week and completely slaughtered the geese. When it comes to getting permission to hunt on the east coast, it is really tough and almost nobody is your friend.

I am formulating a strategy for next season and will probably try to put it in play once the season starts to come around and I can see where the geese are going. I have a couple of fields around my new place that I have seen. I'm just wondering if geese are going to them.

Good luck with finding a place to hunt/fish Classic. It is tough out there and don't expect any help from your "friends."

[M.T. Pockets]

I grew up in farm country and could hunt & fish most anywhere if I simply asked the farmer. I went to church with them, went to school with their kids and we helped each other out when in a bind.

Now a lot of the farm places are being bought or leased by hunters from out of the area (mostly Minneapolis). They will come out and holler at you if you stop on the road and glass the area. Don't get caught stepping over the fenceline. Times have changed but they have the money and control the land. It's the American way like it or not.

[fabsroman]

It is all about money and farmers not having enough to make ends meet. The owners of the two farms I have permission to hunt on are so rich that they could care less if somebody wants to offer them money to hunt the land.