HT Crew,
I have a situation that really kind of rubs me the wrong way.
I used to elk hunt with an older guy who had permission to hunt a fairly decent sized private ranch. I was lucky enough that he invited me to go bow hunting with him a few years back. It is a really cool ranch....but its not huge and it borders public land. It is also a little bit lower then the public ground 7-8k vs 8-11 k in elevation. I think the ranch would be amazing for later season rifle hunting. Anyway...after hunting with him and realizing that the elk numbers weren't stellar on the ranch (and also not wanting to infringe on his territory)I left the low country for him to hunt at his leasure and I spent most of my time hunting the higher elevations on the public portion. I hiked A LOT (like 70-80 miles, you can read my previous reports). I told him that the elk numbers were a lot stronger at this higher elevation (and its all around better elk country). Well....he is old and lazy....and wasn't too interested in hiking hard and putting in the leg work. In the 10-15 years of hunting this ranch he had went up on this higher elevation and mountain 1 time....and said he never cared to again. Now that I have set the scene......let me tell you why Im so pissed.
After hunting with this guy a couple years and us going our separate ways (we have night and day different hunting styles....he doesnt train at all....is out of shape and lazy....I want to cover ground and find elk)...I put in for a rifle tag for this unit. My buddy and I got lucky and drew our first year. We packed clear in to the public ground (from the public access road....not through the private ranch.....which would have made it 5x easier) and we managed to pop 2 good bulls. Since then word got back to him from a mutual friend and he is mad as hell at me for hunting "his" spot. To make things worse.....his private ranch he hunted on for all those years sold. That made him even more upset at me. So in my mind.....I am hunting public ground.....that he had little to no interest hunting to begin with....that I started hunting in the beginning to stay out of his way......that is all of a sudden now "his" spot. I got a text from him the other day asking me to stay out of the ENTIRE UNIT until such time that he gives up elk hunting all together. This doesnt sit well with me AT ALL. I put in hundreds of miles of leg work and found elk.....and they seem to be there every year. Now that he lost his other spot he all of a sudden wants me gone from this one. I would NEVER dream of contacting the land owner and ask to hunt that ranch.....or even trespass through it to get to the public ground. If I did it would make things 5 times easier for me. Instead we loaded up our packs and walked in the long way....just like anyone else on the planet can. Am I over reacting to this? Did i do anything wrong here? Help me out guys? And I am really not sure why I care so much. I probably should delete him from my phone and move on with life. I guess thats not in my nature. I think its just sour grapes on his part.
I have a situation that really kind of rubs me the wrong way.
I used to elk hunt with an older guy who had permission to hunt a fairly decent sized private ranch. I was lucky enough that he invited me to go bow hunting with him a few years back. It is a really cool ranch....but its not huge and it borders public land. It is also a little bit lower then the public ground 7-8k vs 8-11 k in elevation. I think the ranch would be amazing for later season rifle hunting. Anyway...after hunting with him and realizing that the elk numbers weren't stellar on the ranch (and also not wanting to infringe on his territory)I left the low country for him to hunt at his leasure and I spent most of my time hunting the higher elevations on the public portion. I hiked A LOT (like 70-80 miles, you can read my previous reports). I told him that the elk numbers were a lot stronger at this higher elevation (and its all around better elk country). Well....he is old and lazy....and wasn't too interested in hiking hard and putting in the leg work. In the 10-15 years of hunting this ranch he had went up on this higher elevation and mountain 1 time....and said he never cared to again. Now that I have set the scene......let me tell you why Im so pissed. After hunting with this guy a couple years and us going our separate ways (we have night and day different hunting styles....he doesnt train at all....is out of shape and lazy....I want to cover ground and find elk)...I put in for a rifle tag for this unit. My buddy and I got lucky and drew our first year. We packed clear in to the public ground (from the public access road....not through the private ranch.....which would have made it 5x easier) and we managed to pop 2 good bulls. Since then word got back to him from a mutual friend and he is mad as hell at me for hunting "his" spot. To make things worse.....his private ranch he hunted on for all those years sold. That made him even more upset at me. So in my mind.....I am hunting public ground.....that he had little to no interest hunting to begin with....that I started hunting in the beginning to stay out of his way......that is all of a sudden now "his" spot. I got a text from him the other day asking me to stay out of the ENTIRE UNIT until such time that he gives up elk hunting all together. This doesnt sit well with me AT ALL. I put in hundreds of miles of leg work and found elk.....and they seem to be there every year. Now that he lost his other spot he all of a sudden wants me gone from this one. I would NEVER dream of contacting the land owner and ask to hunt that ranch.....or even trespass through it to get to the public ground. If I did it would make things 5 times easier for me. Instead we loaded up our packs and walked in the long way....just like anyone else on the planet can. Am I over reacting to this? Did i do anything wrong here? Help me out guys? And I am really not sure why I care so much. I probably should delete him from my phone and move on with life. I guess thats not in my nature. I think its just sour grapes on his part.
