Escape and Evasion

Some people have no tact when asking those type of questions, e.g. “I don’t want your honey hole, but....” and then asking for our honey hole. Some of them don’t realize that asking such a question is lazy, so I typically try to point them in the right direction by giving them some constructive advice. For example, I might tell them the general elevation I have seen the elk the past few days. However, I never tell them where to go and instead try to educate them that finding them is half the fun. That USUALLY works.
 
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This is an interesting topic. On the hand, I get not sharing specifics with people you don't know, especially if they seem like lazy pricks or bad characters. On the other hand, if I see a guy out with a young person, or someone I can tell is new and I can tell they don't know what they're doing and they're struggling but they're trying, I'll do a lot to help them out.

I don't want to make it easy, but I'll try to educate and send them to a spot where they have to put in a little work but have a good chance of seeing something and learning something so they can become an independent hunter who can find spots themselves. I know I had people help me out when I was in a similar situation learning about hunting without a good mentor, and a lot of the people who never reveal anything to anyone probably did too.

I guess that what I'm trying to get at is the careful and thoughtful sharing of hunting information with the right people is almost like an art form that goes back to the early history of mankind. I have a few guys at work I share info with as we all have limited time to hunt sometimes and we all help each other out. The key there is being selective about who you share with, and not just mining info while giving nothing in return, or even worse giving crappy advice in return for good advise. And obviously, one has to be very careful about how you treat information that is shared. You don't go tell every Tom Dick and Harry what someone shared with you, obviously.

It really bothers me when people treat hunting like it's some sort of top secret activity and they're life depends on being the best at it while others fail. If you don't want to share info, thats fine, but giving out false info is about as douchy a thing as I can possibly imagine. When people get that way I think they need to put their ego aside and remember a lot of their fellow hunters are someone trying to provide their family with meat, someone trying to teach their kid to be a hunter and learn life skills even though they might be learning right along with them. Most importantly, keep in mind that new, uneducated hunters are tomorrows funders of wildlife conservation and tomorrows public land and wildlife advocates, but only if theyre able to get in the game. It really bothers me when people are so selfish and egotistical about hunting that they would gladly mislead, lock out,or otherwise fleece tomorrows hunters so they can kill their 45th mule deer, 50th, pronghorn, 300th whitetail deer etc...
 
It is interesting to have this thread running at the same time as the one talking about TopGun 30-06 considering that so many people have chimed in about how great he was for helping them or others out, sometimes without even asking.

That's the irony. Everyone wants information or help when they need it, few want to share. Its a form of being a game hog if you ask me. Everyone wants their spots protected even though they don't want anyone else using it. We just need to help them without having any skin in the game. I work with a lady whos really crappy about anyone using the publically owned and accessible land out by her place. She owns 40 acres adjacent and acts like she should control the whole area. But when a new gravel pit was proposed in the area that would affect her, boy, we all needed to drop that we were doing and call the county, pronto. I did, because I cared about the area, but not because of her.

I've seen it time and time again. I asked a guy in the know a question about publically accessible easements on private land once. Just how to find information on it and research other places like it. He didn't bother to respond. But boy, when that easement was threatened, action alert! Everyone come save my spot that I didn't want anyone to know was accessible until my ability to access it was threatened. Kinda funny how that works.
 
This thing is nuanced. To put it in fishing terms: there's a difference between the guy who drives his boat around the bay looking for bent rods, and the guy that sees your stringer at the boat ramp and asks if you were using artificials or bait.
 
That's the irony. Everyone wants information or help when they need it, few want to share. Its a form of being a game hog if you ask me. Everyone wants their spots protected even though they don't want anyone else using it. We just need to help them without having any skin in the game. I work with a lady whos really crappy about anyone using the publically owned and accessible land out by her place. She owns 40 acres adjacent and acts like she should control the whole area. But when a new gravel pit was proposed in the area that would affect her, boy, we all needed to drop that we were doing and call the county, pronto. I did, because I cared about the area, but not because of her.

I've seen it time and time again. I asked a guy in the know a question about publically accessible easements on private land once. Just how to find information on it and research other places like it. He didn't bother to respond. But boy, when that easement was threatened, action alert! Everyone come save my spot that I didn't want anyone to know was accessible until my ability to access it was threatened. Kinda funny how that works.
there are those that ramble on and on and say nothing with no meaning to you or
them or anyone that cares so they just keep going and going over and over and they won't stop!!!!
then they do it over again with no basis for what they are saying or why they just
won't stop rambling and it gets very annoying that the thing they are trying to say means nothing...THE END
And Thats All I Got To Say About That....:cool:
 
there are those that ramble on and on and say nothing with no meaning to you or
them or anyone that cares so they just keep going and going over and over and they won't stop!!!!
then they do it over again with no basis for what they are saying or why they just
won't stop rambling and it gets very annoying that the thing they are trying to say means nothing...THE END
And Thats All I Got To Say About That....:cool:

Yeah, I ramble. Fair point. But I think I also probably struck a nerve by pointing out that a lot of the share no information people are the same ones out mining information from others.

You say you never give any info, but you stop by other people's camps and ask about the hunting. I don't share information with people that do that stuff, and neither should anyone else. But, just giving you something to think about... you may find that the mutual sharing of information with the right people can be very helpful at times. Also, if you treat every spot like it's yours and you don't want anyone else to benefit from it, you might find yourself without allies if that spot is ever threatened. Also, if you don't help newbies and youngsters, what does that do to the future of wildlife and their habitat. Its worth thinking about and being cognizant of, that's the point I was trying to make.
 
In the field I have been on the receiving end of good and bad advice, tried to help out others when I can but without divulging any information I have been given from members on here.
The help I have received of this forum has been invaluable, I won't name names but you know who you are, and it has, and always will be retained in total confidence.
I did inadvertently name a town once, but quickly edited the post, too close for comfort!
I have found a couple of places with homework for Elk and Deer in Montana myself, the Elk location is a bit of a slog but worth it.
The deer location was interesting, a member on here pointed me in the general direction out East, but I strayed away and found a Mule deer dreams were made of with a great drop tine, but it melted away never to be seen again.
Funny thing was I bumped into a Texan guy, he got out his maps and without any prompting stated he comes to the same place year after year hunting drop tined Mule deer, in the place where I found mine!
So to sum up, take any advice in the field with a pinch of salt....and watch if you are being followed!:LOL:
Cheers
Richard
 
Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

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