hunting and hikers

[mshred]

anyone ever been a situation while hunting where they were going to get a shot (rifle or archery) at a deer or elk but there were hikers in the area - not necessarily impeding the shot or hunt, but likely to witness the shot/kill take place?

if so, what'd you do? how'd it play out?

mshred

 

[utelkhntr]

screw the hikers if you are legal drop the sucker and hope they are members of peta so you can piss em off haha.. i would definately kill it

 

[sremim]

If I am hunting and about to shoot something and others are around I would not hesitate to continue. Why would you? If you aren't doing anything wrong, screw what they think.

 

[Pines_N_Tines]

There are a lot of hikers to deal with on the wasatch front. If you're there with a legal tag then hunt away. You have as much right to be in the hills as they do. Based on the dollars that hunting generates, I'd say you almost have more right (almost). In most cases it's best to be as polite and ethical as as possible to avoid any extra tree huggin crap. Too often the hikers are completely uniformed or at odds with hunting.

I had a buddy hiking the hills of the wasatch with his bow only to have a woman scream and wave her arms saying "don't shoot, don't shoot, I'm hiking" He didn't even have the bow off his pack. As she passed him on the trail, he said "I'm through with my therapy and have agreed not to shoot anymore people".

It may not have been the best thing to say if he were trying to share the mountain or find common ground but, I did say "in most cases" ... some people just deserve comments like that.

 

[WYGriz]

As long as the hikers aren't in any danger of getting shot (safety first), then I'd take the shot. No harm, no foul.

 

[nickman]

At least in my area, the BLM and USFS, inform the hikers that a season is open in the area. They also point out that it is illegal to interfere in any way.

Our backcountry fishing seasons also last until mid November, so we generally have a bunch of those people in the mountains.

Hunters, on the other hand, know that there are sensitive "nature fakers" and in my opinion, should avoid being involved in a confrontation, if possible. It mostly just wrecks your hunt.

That said, I probably would not pass an opportunity, just because someone might see me kill a deer or elk.

 

[NMPaul]

You can normally pick up a OTC hiker/mountain biker tag before you go in the field.

 

[mulecreek]

I had a wyoming unit 16 moose tag a couple of years ago. It's on the west side of the Tetons. It was full of recreational hikers. On the weekends the trailheads were packed. I hunted the less popular trailheads on the weekends but even still we ran into hikers while walking in and out. I did not have a single negative encounter. Most people were very curious what we were doing and seemed to have little idea that people even hunted moose. They had lots of questions about how you get a moose out of the mountains after you kill it. The Alaska Basin trail is the most popular trailhead in the area and I avoided it on the weekends, mainly due to so many people I assumed the hunting would not be as productive. I ended up hunting it on a week day and took a bull about 300 yards off the main trail. I saw a couple of hikers while we were packing the bull out and some seemed a litte put off by what we were doing but nothing was said. The most interesting incident was when I was checking out a steaming pile of bear crap in the trail and all the sudden I hear soemthing running up the trail I turn to see what it is, expecting a charging bear, and i see a couple running up the trail. We were 4 miles in and these two were at a full run. We talked for a few mintues, they were not hunters but were curious about it. All in all, I tried to be respectful of the others using the area and they did the same to me.

 

[EROCK1313]

+1 mulecreek.

I have hunted the Wasatch and Stansbury's and in all my encounters, the hikers seemed more interested in how you get an animal out from so far back. I have been in a few conversations that were even intrigued by my using a bow versus a rifle. I think given enough time and encounters surely I will run into a bad apple or two, but like anything; if you keep a positive attitude and give a smile when a hiker walks by, you will leave a better lasting impression on the hunting community and resource that we all love to use.

?-ERock-> ?