I used to hunt early goose hunts not far from this area outside of Jackson. I’ll never forget the time a red Subaru wagon drove by the fields we were hunting, jumped out with binos and watched us for a while. We were quite a distance from the little backroad they were driving that morning. The only way they could know we weren’t just a flock of geese that far away in the field is they had binos and saw my buddy when he got out of the layout blind to fix something.
They sat there for 30 minutes, just watching. When a flock of geese started working our setup they had two people out of the car jumping up and down, waiving their arms, yelling, with another laying on the car horn. As I said, we were quite a ways away from the road so they had no impact on flock and the only thing them waiting around did was allow them see us dump 6 birds.
Some, maybe even some here, might suggest that we shouldn’t have shot that flock because it will give these antis a reason to hate us. Screw them, and forget that. We were on a giant property (tens of thousands of acres) with permission from the property owner, legally and ethically hunting geese. If a car full of huggers didn’t like it, they didn’t have to sit there with binos for 30 minutes so they could watch it all go down while trying to screw up our hunt.
The principle DW is trying to get across is powerful to me. Yes, I agree that our actions as hunters can be our own worst enemy. But where do we draw the line? Clearly this action by these elk hunters was unwise. Is hunting the foothills on the extended that we’ve been hunting for decades the same, since all the yuppies buying up prop
If you arrow 4deer, leave them laying for 33 hours, a stones throw from a major highway, then YES hunting the extended is going to suffer.
I'm actually surprised there are guys even balking on this one. I figured it was good for a head shake and a laugh.
Just for starters, the mess these clowns created for the local guys is inexcusable. They stir up a hornets nest, than high tail it back to Minnesota. Wyoming should go 95/5 after that.
A 79yr old dude, shouldn't think he can wade City Creek, let alone the Snake.
I can't think of any 79 yr olds I know of that can pack out elk, let alone across a creek. And I especially can't at high elevation.
This story has less to do about the public. I agree. They shoot an elk, float out, cut it up, float it out, and the public cries, TOO BAD. But the public, including hunters, seeing elk bloat up, while idiots stand there looking stupid, have a right to be pissed.
All the tangent 14ers, or goose hunting is just that. This was a freaking debacle, and there isn't any way to spin it. Other than TRI, I'm shocked anyone is trying to defend it.
