Darn Non-Resident Hunters?!?

[CoachChris]

I live in NW Wyoming.
I have enjoyed my interactions with non-resident hunters.
The only gripe I have is around the concept of a "meat buck". We have minimum antler requirements for a reason. We don't have "meat bucks" to fulfill the need to "kill something" no matter how far they drove or how much money they spent.

 

[Fedwell]

I went to Montana in May for 2 weeks for bears. I treated every area I was in like it was my own back home. I actually took out more garbage than I produced in that time. Locals on the other hand weren't too nice. Someone stole a bunch of clothes I had drying in my camp. Also somewhere else someone broke into my truck cap and stole my lantern and jumper / power supply pack. Had a few times in different areas where local people came to my camp and told me to get the f out. Including one guy who was rather rude about it then the next day came and found me and started glassing the same hill 50' away from me. The next day he seemed very gracious to see me because he had 2 flat tires on one side of his truck. Normally I'd drop a day of hunting to help someone out but this guy got a California Howdy and I drove right by him. Not sure how he made out. He had about 9 miles of walking to do and no cell service.

Whoever vandalized your Camp had a lot of Nerve or was just plain STUPID. I guess it never Dawned on them that you could have been watching through your Scope?

 

[Finsta]

I've seen it come up on a lot of threads and am so confused by this concept of "non-residents" being bad stewards of the land/resource (trash, disrespectful, bad sportsman, etc), YET most hunters hunt multiple states!! Does that mean they are perfect citizens in their own state, then complete degenerates in the non-res states??!!

Or maybe, bad apples are just that! I have family who hunt and live in a few other western states, and am in the field a lot Aug - Jan…..my brother and I alone have 7 hunts in 4 states this year. During all my time in the field, I have seen absolute no correlation between res and non-res with respect to being bad stewards, and again, for all those hunters that claim non-res people are the problem, I hope you are all looking in the mirror the next time you hunt outside your home state.

By the way, I'm the guy who will always welcome you into my camp to chat or have a beer, and genuinely want to support my fellow hunters. If you have a flat tire, I will offer to help. If you are in the camp next to me and are a slob, I'm going to stop on my way out to clean it up (and likely report you). AND, I'm a big believer in supporting the local small business owners (motels, super market, restaurants, gun stores, etc) and local guides/outfitters (when I am too busy with family or work to scout a new area).

IMO, I see this non res BS here and elsewhere a lot when residents are trying to justify changing res vs non res fees or allocations. But again, MOST hunters are both res and non res hunters, so I scratch my head. On this particular subject, I do think the actions of one (state) can ruin it for the rest of the states, so I do wish their was a 'Western State Alliance (equal representation from each state)' to set basic standards on allocation/etc……that way, no one feels like they can screw people for the sake another state did it (ie - change to 90/10 or worse b/c their residents have to deal with that as non-residents in the boardering/surrounding states)…..BTW, this isn't a 90/10 debate, just using as an example.

Good luck to all the res and non res hunters on your hunts this year and keep a look out for those bad apples!

There's good and bad on both sides. I've seen this type of reasoning in Pennsylvania. The trashy(not the good folk) locals blaming the outsiders and newcomers for their woes. On the other hand, there are outsiders that are poor stewards. Most of the time it's the locals or people from the next county or town over. I'm seeing this in Florida now. Saw it in upstate New York and in New Jersey decades ago. It's inescapable unless you want conservation officers up your behind even more than they already are. Unfortunately, I find you got to just help out and pick it up yourself. And constantly have scornful conversation at all times with disdain for those littering.

 

[david.eustache]

A while back our group drew 4 coveted buck tags in Idaho and we put tags on 3 good bucks, mine got posted in Peterson's magazine. While skinning our bucks out, a game warden came by and and validated our tags and we chatted a bit. We mentioned seeing doe carcasses every morning along the dirt road and hearing gunshots several evenings after dark. That evening, that same game warden showed up with a dirt bike and after the first shot he blasted out after the poacher - a local resident. The game warden stopped to thank us, but it was us who thanked

I totally agree and there are always bad apples, hopefully the exception rather than the rules. Also remember that non-residence licenses cost more and therefore bring more funds into the area for game management activities. Also the funds spent in the local area such as food lodging, and fuel help the local area. Live by example and use encouragement for those that have gone astray, for people are entrusted to take care of the Earth.

I usually stay for several months. On my days off so to speak I clean up existing campsites out of boredom. Correct about the funds. 200 gallons of fuel for generators grocery shopping laundry restaurants etc.

 

[L.Sherm]

What gives a NR the right to do anything in a other state just because he thinks he spent xyz amount of dollars in another state. That reasoning just kills me.

 

[chindits]

I don't like the us versus them in most things, but I tell you in the backcountry it's easy to tell where hunters have been because a lot of hunters are disgusting slobs in the backcountry be it resident or nonresident. Leave no trace is a foreign word. These photos are all various wilderness sites and multiple photos of the same outfitters various camps. The outfitter is a resident out of towner, the idiots who tried to melt the ice in their frozen plastic ice cube on a fire were Mennonite looking horse hunters out of OH. It's never ending the trash you can find and it's not backpackers bringing that crap in or not covering their crap. I can't believe the number of hunting camps I've come across with human waste surrounding their tents.

 

[emp1953]

most of my out of state hunts have been through an outfitter so everyone in camp was a non-resident. over 28 years only one was a bonehead and the outfitter refunded his money, told him to leave and not to come back. Never hunted with an outfitter in PA. Most PA hunters were good guys, But the ones who were bad apples were locals and were bad apples to everybody, neighbors, and strangers alike.

 

[mnoland30]

My observation here in NM is that the bad hunters are often from Texas, where they can't afford a hunting lease. The ones that come from out of state are often from the big city and just don't know enough about hunting. We hear talk of Texas bullseye (shot in the A**) and "Sound Shots". Things got much better here when they mandated hunter's education. My favorite hunt is in the wilderness areas. Once you're a mile or two from the road, you don't see many hunters. When I was young I watched some "hunters" load 10 cases of beer into their truck for the hunt. I also spotted a hunter on the rimrock "scoping" me with his rifle. He determined that I wasn't a deer and picked up his beer again. NM doesn't allow out of state hunters to hunt cow elk, which makes it easier for me to fill my freezer. They also give out lots of landowner tags which helps the locals, and should make them friendlier to hunters. All of you non-residents help support this poor state and our Game and Fish. Thanks.

 

[3darcher2]

I've posted before that as a NR, I make doubly sure I am 100% legal on everything and doing the right things. The last thing I want is legal trouble 1500 miles from home. I don't care if it's littering, trespassing or game law - in addition to doing the right thing I make sure I'm doing the legal thing. My issues have always been in my home state with locals.

 

[Stgraves260]

I've seen it come up on a lot of threads and am so confused by this concept of "non-residents" being bad stewards of the land/resource (trash, disrespectful, bad sportsman, etc), YET most hunters hunt multiple states!! Does that mean they are perfect citizens in their own state, then complete degenerates in the non-res states??!!

Or maybe, bad apples are just that! I have family who hunt and live in a few other western states, and am in the field a lot Aug - Jan…..my brother and I alone have 7 hunts in 4 states this year. During all my time in the field, I have seen absolute no correlation between res and non-res with respect to being bad stewards, and again, for all those hunters that claim non-res people are the problem, I hope you are all looking in the mirror the next time you hunt outside your home state.

By the way, I'm the guy who will always welcome you into my camp to chat or have a beer, and genuinely want to support my fellow hunters. If you have a flat tire, I will offer to help. If you are in the camp next to me and are a slob, I'm going to stop on my way out to clean it up (and likely report you). AND, I'm a big believer in supporting the local small business owners (motels, super market, restaurants, gun stores, etc) and local guides/outfitters (when I am too busy with family or work to scout a new area).

IMO, I see this non res BS here and elsewhere a lot when residents are trying to justify changing res vs non res fees or allocations. But again, MOST hunters are both res and non res hunters, so I scratch my head. On this particular subject, I do think the actions of one (state) can ruin it for the rest of the states, so I do wish their was a 'Western State Alliance (equal representation from each state)' to set basic standards on allocation/etc……that way, no one feels like they can screw people for the sake another state did it (ie - change to 90/10 or worse b/c their residents have to deal with that as non-residents in the boardering/surrounding states)…..BTW, this isn't a 90/10 debate, just using as an example.

Good luck to all the res and non res hunters on your hunts this year and keep a look out for those bad apples!

Very well said. I live in Texas and I like to hunt in Colorado. The last time I went elk hunting some resident hunters camped pretty close to our camp site. We were there for 10 days. It was 3rd season. We hunt up in Columbine Pass area. We invited them into our camp and they were like we were invading their space. They were telling us we had to move because this is their camp sight and they set up here every year. It got so bad that they called the GW on us trying to get us to move. The only thing that saved us was the 1st day we drove in and started to set up camp we met the GW and introduced ourselves and were we were from. Super nice GW. We asked if we could just scout around with no guns until 3rd season was open. He said yes. Just don't take any guns with you because another GW might get the wrong impression you are hunting out of season. We just said NP. I do believe it was after the 4th or 5th day we were there, thats when our neighbors set up camp. I mean they were around 20' from us close. Well anyway this could go on. The GW actually mad them move their campsite and told us not to let this discourage us from coming out in the future. Again super nice GW. My friends/family and I will never judge a hole state based of one bad encounter with some very rude people. I know Texas has its bad apples as well. Really wish everyone the best of luck this hunting season. Be kind to your fellow hunters. After all hunting is all about getting outdoors and enjoying the wildlife and meeting new people and makes new friends.

 

[Stgraves260]

Very well said. I live in Texas and I like to hunt in Colorado. The last time I went elk hunting some resident hunters camped pretty close to our camp site. We were there for 10 days. It was 3rd season. We hunt up in Columbine Pass area. We invited them into our camp and they were like we were invading their space. They were telling us we had to move because this is their camp sight and they set up here every year. It got so bad that they called the GW on us trying to get us to move. The only thing that saved us was the 1st day we drove in and started to set up camp we met the GW and introduced ourselves and were we were from. Super nice GW. We asked if we could just scout around with no guns until 3rd season was open. He said yes. Just don't take any guns with you because another GW might get the wrong impression you are hunting out of season. We just said NP. I do believe it was after the 4th or 5th day we were there, thats when our neighbors set up camp. I mean they were around 20' from us close. Well anyway this could go on. The GW actually made them move their campsite and told us not to let this discourage us from coming out in the future. Again super nice GW. My friends/family and I will never judge a hole state based of one bad encounter with some very rude people. I know Texas has its bad apples as well. Really wish everyone the best of luck this hunting season. Be kind to your fellow hunters. After all hunting is all about getting outdoors and enjoying the wildlife and meeting new people and makes new friends.

 

[milo-2]

I left mining and entered the gas industry for 5 yrs. So I was in the field 5 days a week.
I can say, on the surface, non resident hunters are way easier to deal with than resident ones. Of course, a friendly meet and greet never reveals ones intentions. From meeting on a 2 track, to open gates, non residents lack the ownership aspect of things.
IMO Wyoming has done some crappy things wit public lands, like turning vast areas into walkin's, and letting oil companies build private rds on public lands< I still scratch my head on that one.

 

[david.eustache]

Prior to my first time 2016 (Idaho panhandle) I contacted a fish & game biologist based out of Coeur d'Alene. This guy told me a bunch of his lifelong secrets and put me in a honey hole.

 

[cabelasken]

Generally the folks in Colorado are very friendly towards out of state hunters. Quite unlike many other states.