“I don’t want you hunting this outfit.”

[Big Sky Guy]

People are crazy.

Watch: A Landowner Stole My Buddy’s Public-Land Elk to Deter Us from ‘Hunting This Outfit’

While elk hunting on public land in Wyoming, a few buddies noticed a rancher running off with one of their skulls. So they tracked him down.

www.outdoorlife.com

 

[Nameless Range]

Wild. Highlighting Randy's contribution to the article because it's a good message:

“I fear something like what you experienced could be construed by some hunters as ‘all ranchers are bad,’” he observed. “Our communities are getting so divided and polarized that something like this could be a wedge to further divide us. But just like we keep saying that not all the hunting community is a monolith, I think it’s important to stress that the ranching community isn’t a monolith. This was just one unfortunate incident.”

Glad that incident didn't end in violence, because I could see it going there.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

Wild. Highlighting Randy's contribution to the article because it's a good message:

“I fear something like what you experienced could be construed by some hunters as ‘all ranchers are bad,’” he observed. “Our communities are getting so divided and polarized that something like this could be a wedge to further divide us. But just like we keep saying that not all the hunting community is a monolith, I think it’s important to stress that the ranching community isn’t a monolith. This was just one unfortunate incident.”

Glad that incident didn't end in violence, because I could see it going there.

Good point. I often hunt solo and think having the group of them definitely worked to their advantage in de-escalating the situation. Had it been one scrawny solo hunter such as myself I’m not sure the rancher would have been as cooperative. I’m also not sure I would have even confronted him by myself. People make me nervous. Maybe would have depended if he had a firearm or not. I would like to think I would just try and get photos and then get in touch with warden and hope for the best, but easy to say that just reading an article and not being in the there and now of the situation.

Thanks for highlighting that quote from Randy, I somehow read past his name when reading the article and thought that was Andrew’s thoughts.

 

[TheTone]

They handled it better than some would have. I’d kind of love it if they had grounds to sue him into having to sell the ranch to a public entity

 

[Big Sky Guy]

They handled it better than some would have. I’d kind of love it if they had grounds to sue him into having to sell the ranch to a public entity

Boy wouldn’t that be the irony of ironies after the corner crossing fiasco lol. Perhaps if they had a legitimate fear for life I think lawsuit could get traction.

 

[Mallardsx2]

Ya.............Lets go ahead and give them landowners tags to sell too!!!!! HAHAHAHA

Rancher greed at it finest.

 

[Elky Welky]

This is pretty fascinating for another reason too: these are not your typical hunters.

There's no judgment here, but they had the time, equipment, and money to go in as a group on a helicopter to hunt this property. I'm not using this in a pejorative way, but that makes them pretty elite. A common-man hunter probably would never find themself in this position, because they can't get there either.

In a sense, both these hunters and the landowner have "exclusive" access to this public land. One for owning the property around it, the other for having the resources to get to it.

I don't know how I feel about that, really. Just has me thinking.

 

[seeth07]

but they had the time, equipment, and money to go in as a group on a helicopter to hunt this property

Less than 8k a person though right? Otherwise they would have just paid for that access across the private. Its not quite the same.

I can't imagine the prices for a helo ride are more expensive than the rates in AK flying bush planes due to the logistics, location and risk/insurance costs. With that said, I think I can comfortably assume that they paid somewhere in the range of 2k-4k per person for the flight which would put it quite a bit cheaper than the private land access route and not at all too far out of "your typical hunters" as people pay these prices all the time to hunt in Alaska. They are paying for those flights typically to hunt quality animals in an exclusive place - no different than this hunt

 

[Wind Gypsy]

This is pretty fascinating for another reason too: these are not your typical hunters.

There's no judgment here, but they had the time, equipment, and money to go in as a group on a helicopter to hunt this property. I'm not using this in a pejorative way, but that makes them pretty elite. A common-man hunter probably would never find themself in this position, because they can't get there either.

In a sense, both these hunters and the landowner have "exclusive" access to this public land. One for owning the property around it, the other for having the resources to get to it.

I don't know how I feel about that, really. Just has me thinking.

Sounds kind of like judgement to me.

When would a hunter not be "elite"? Is being able to afford to own and care for horses elite? What about renting llamas? Afford to pay for a new pair of kennetreks and a nice pack?

Hell a Special WY elk tag costs $2k itself.

 

[Gr8bawana]

This is pretty fascinating for another reason too: these are not your typical hunters.

There's no judgment here, but they had the time, equipment, and money to go in as a group on a helicopter to hunt this property. I'm not using this in a pejorative way, but that makes them pretty elite. A common-man hunter probably would never find themself in this position, because they can't get there either.

In a sense, both these hunters and the landowner have "exclusive" access to this public land. One for owning the property around it, the other for having the resources to get to it.

I don't know how I feel about that, really. Just has me thinking.

Hmm...wasn't there an episode of Fresh Tracks where Randy hired a helicopter to access some locked in public land? If you can swing the $$ I say go for it.

 

[kiwi hunter]

This is pretty fascinating for another reason too: these are not your typical hunters.

There's no judgment here, but they had the time, equipment, and money to go in as a group on a helicopter to hunt this property. I'm not using this in a pejorative way, but that makes them pretty elite. A common-man hunter probably would never find themself in this position, because they can't get there either.

In a sense, both these hunters and the landowner have "exclusive" access to this public land. One for owning the property around it, the other for having the resources to get to it.

I don't know how I feel about that, really. Just has me thinking.

To access public land with a heli is par course in the lands down under, nz and oz

 

[npaden]

I'm actually kind of surprised that hiring a helicopter hasn't gotten more and more popular even in areas that aren't land locked.

And I think the cost really isn't as high as some people are thinking. By the time you figure up lama rentals for a week for a big camp and the time and effort spent on them you probably aren't out of pocket much more hiring a helicopter especially if you are splitting it 3 ways.

I guess wilderness areas are still safe and there really aren't too many places to get very far from a road other than that.

 

[packsaddle]

This is pretty fascinating for another reason too: these are not your typical hunters.

There's no judgment here, but they had the time, equipment, and money to go in as a group on a helicopter to hunt this property. I'm not using this in a pejorative way, but that makes them pretty elite. A common-man hunter probably would never find themself in this position, because they can't get there either.

In a sense, both these hunters and the landowner have "exclusive" access to this public land. One for owning the property around it, the other for having the resources to get to it.

I don't know how I feel about that, really. Just has me thinking.

The guy in the video, the hunter, is a good friend of mine. Blue collar as you can get. Well digger, equipment operator born and raised in WY. Just cause they choose to spend their money differently than you, doesnt mean they are rich doing so. And you choosing to assume they are "elite" shows your ignorance and why hunters always seem to continue to find reason to put other hunters down

 

[birdseye]

Extremely doubtful that G & F and/or Sheriff will do anything, especially if this particular rancher is some big "name" enamored by law enforcement. And...if so, don't be surprised if G & F and/or Sheriff is looking at some way to stick it to these heli-hunters. I'd love to be wrong on this one.

Regarding the "theft" of one's property (which occurred when this clown stole and cached the elk head), I imagine that the value is $1,000 + so he's looking at felony charges

Personally, I would of pounded this Mother eF'r to the ground on the spot.

 

[Elky Welky]

The guy in the video, the hunter, is a good friend of mine. Blue collar as you can get. Well digger, equipment operator born and raised in WY. Just cause they choose to spend their money differently than you, doesnt mean they are rich doing so. And you choosing to assume they are "elite" shows your ignorance and why hunters always seem to continue to find reason to put other hunters down

I stated in my post that there wasn't judgment and that I wasn't using the term "elite" in a pejorative way.

 

[jls456]

Wow,that’s crazy.