13 replies to this topic

[Gunorea]

Just a little rant I want to share with my fellow waterfowl hunter's. One of the things that tick me off about having to hunt in blinds on refuges is PIGS. Not the tasty kind but the kind that trash the blind by leaving garbage, water bottles & shotgun hulls everywhere. Yes it sucks having to pick up after slobs but suck it up and do it. Also it seems like I have a full garbage bag after every hunt. Alright rant over.

[packhorse9]

after I target shoot I usually leave with half a truck load of others garbage, thats alot of the reason its getting hard to find anywhere left we can shoot

[ShooterJohn]

We had a spot we used to shoot in the hills. One day a group of yahoos show up and dump an old refrigerator out and proceed to blast it to Swiss cheese. Then they did the same with a couple of old 20lb propane tanks and a bunch of glass bottles. I snapped a couple of pictures of them unloading the stuff while they weren't watching. After they ran out of ammo they jump back into their truck and proceed to leave. My buddy beats them to the exit and we tell them they forgot something. They look at us like. :WTF_1: I told them they forgot their trash and that they should take out what they brought. The driver got mad and said "Get the _____ out of our way. I told them we had pictures of them unloading their junk and shooting it up and would call the sheriff if they didn't remove it. The driver gets out of the truck bring a handgun and his buddies come piling out. About that time one of my friends touches off a .50BMG round that we hadn't shot while they were there and really gets their attention that we aren't kidding. When the driver started to bring his pistol up he didn't know how close he came to not going home. We watched them load their junk and followed them to the main road and out to the freeway. We also called the sheriff and let them know what happened and that they still left allot of shot up material like glass and such. We gave the sheriffs office a description of their truck and it's license number and I emailed the photos to them when I got home. They were cited for littering and could have been arrested for brandishing a firearm but we didn't press charges. I hate litter bugs!

[microtus]

Last time I hunted a refuge was Gray Lodge in the winter of 1980/81. I took a load of #6's to my left side from inside of 20 yards. An idiot was shooting at a spoonie flying just off the water. A week earlier I was in a barrel blind and had a hunting partner in the adjacent blind swing on a snow goose. The muzzle was inches from my head when he fired.I gave up waterfowl hunting that year. You folks can have it.

[wannakillacoyote]

When I first saw this thread, I was like "Refugee Hunting" WTH!!! lol

[Red Dog]

Here's another story that happened to me. I was using a cardboard box to staple my targets to as I always do. When I was leaving, a guy asked me if he could use my box since I was leaving. I thought about it briefly and I kindly let him. I told him that he had to haul it away though and he said he would. Well a couple weeks later, the BLM law enforcement officer came knocking at my door while I was away. My wife answered the door and the officer told my wife that I left my box at the range. They found my shipping address on the box. They left after leaving a littering ticket with my wife for me to deal with later. I went to court over the ticket and after a conversation with the officer that cited me, he called the person that was my aliby. Of course my aliby told him what happened and supported my story. The officer kindly let me off but told me to share my story with others. So there you go, that's my story in a nutshell. The moral of my story is to pick up your trash and take it with you. Even if a decent looking person says they will take it away for you.

[peeker seeker]

Yup thats why I do not hunt on duck refuge anymore. And the price to get in.

[Old timer]

I hunted Gray lodge three years and that will last a lifetime for me

[clampdaddy]

Yup thats why I do not hunt on duck refuge anymore. And the price to get in.

What did it for me was when I saw an angry hunter leaving in a really bad mood because someone took a dump in the blind he was assigned to. Now that's a bunch of dog poop....literally!

[Shoot-it]

OOps sorry I couldn't hold it What I hated was some moron refuge worker disked around the blinds and then flooded it and you had to walk in it to get into your blind and you would sink up to your knees carrying your gun and decoys then you had to walk 3 miles to get there they make you park so darn far away even with my trailer and bike it was a work out. The first time I hunted a private club I stepped into the water and felt gravel and a little road to the blind I thought that was the best thing since slice cheese.

[CRITTRGITTR]

It's amazing how careless people can be. Every time we get to hunt the Sac refuge we always take a garbage bag to clean up the blind when we get done. One time I was picking up trash and there was a piece of a plastic bag stickin up in the mud so i kept pulling and it ended up bein a 20 Lb ice bag and it had about 2 1/2 boxes of 3 1/2 Inch BB loads stuffed in it. We talked to a warden later and told him of our discovery and he said that is a very common trick guys like to pull so they don't have to walk back to the truck for more shells. For those of you unaware, on most refuges you are limited to 25 shells on you in the field while hunting. So we try and do our part with cleanin up it would be nice if everyone had the same views. But what can you do. Bryan

[bzzrd feedr]

Heck it's not only the refuges. My Duck Club with only 14 members has pigs that leave dog poop every where. Really PO's me when I get into a blind that's trashed. What's the big deal to pick up your casings and whatever trash you create. When I shoot upland I always try to use my O/U and put my empty cases in my game bag.

[Moe]

This must be a California thing. No offense meant but I hunt Umatilla NWR and have never had to clean up behind anyone nor has anyone had to clean up behind me. When you are assigned a blind your name is on the card and in the book so they know who left a mess.

[Jeff]

Not everyone can afford to hunt clubs. I hunt refuges because I love to hunt and without them, I would do very little duck hunting. While I HATE the crowds, the a-holes, and the prices - it's still a place for me and my friends to hunt together, some of the BEST memories I have are from duck hunting the refuges. Some refuges are better than others and seem to hold a higher standard for hunters, and I try to frequent those as often as possible. A story from Gray Lodge a few seasons ago.We had drawn a top ressie on the closing Saturday of the season, so we thought we'd try our luck out of the "ever-producing" parking Lot 2. (We HATE going to the West side, there are more a-holes in one pond than on the entire East side). We were in the center of the large pond on the island and because of the ressie had gotten there first (which doesn't mean jack on a refuge). By sunup the pond was full, of course. We were shooting well. My friend got yelled at by a lovely few guys across the pond for "coot shooting," They were yelling "COOT SHOOTER!" Well, those idiots, sure knew their Ruddy ducks. Not an hour later the same idiots took a line drive across the pond at something on the water and I got hit straight on. Good thing I was wearing my heavy jacket that day and had my head down. I got huffy (albeit quietly) and debated walking across the pond without my shotgun. I didn't, but a few minutes later I got hit again. Same guys, straight on. All of us (there were four of us that day) put our guns down and yelled that we were there and they didn't even respond. My buddy limited on teal and Ruddy's and we had enough ducks to get the rest of us out of there happy. I HATE that pond because of the way it's setup as it forces guys to be extra greedy, and that's the last thing we need on a damn refuge. Rant over.