SFC B
Well-known member
Last year was my first elk season. We had a great camp 2nd season in CO 25/26. Our camp was on the very edge of wilderness well into public land (about 2 miles). The access jeep trail cross through private land right off of the county dirt road and then climbs. The wilderness is open to grazing.
The reason I am writing about what happened is two fold. First, is the idea of game animals versus the ranching interests on public (the bison thread starting me thinking). The second is the way some of the private interests bordering public land profit by basically selling our resources (game).
The incident that occurred last season was not something I had even conceived before our hunt. My buddy and I were successful on the first and third day of the season so on the fourth day we packed up to get the meat home. On the way out we stopped by one of the camps below ours that was a group of guys who had been coming there for years and knew my camp mate well. We wanted to congratulate them on the two deer they had hanging and gloat a little on our elk. Upon pulling over we started the conversation about their deer and they commenced to tell us why they didn’t have any elk themselves.
It seems they were hunting the timber the day before and had come upon a small herd of elk. As they were making their way through the aspens toward the elk they heard some noise break the silence of the forest and saw 4 guys (ranch hands from one of the properties down below) on horseback coming at the elk and trying to move them down hill toward the private land which was about half a mile below. One of the hunters was in a position that allowed him to come out from behind a tree and freeze up one of the horsemen. With rifle shouldered he informed him that if he came up there again on his horse he would be walking back to the ranch. I wondered if I would have been so restrained.
The guys from the camp were going to the DOW office on the way out but didn’t fancy anything was going to be done. I guess I wonder what the chances of the DOW guys who work that area making an issue of it with the local ranchers versus “just a bunch of public land hunters”. I wonder how deeply the idea of a “public resource” goes.
I have been thinking about this and the more I think the more the whole thing chaps my ass. First, the ranchers get to use the wilderness to graze their cattle (and get to use 4 wheelers to go into it to check their herds and the fence when the public is foot or horse only). Then, they get to running “outfitting” operations on their ranches which basically consist of them waiting for the elk to come down from the elevation of public land to feed lower. Finally, these jokers are sending henchmen onto public land to hasten the migration to the lower elevation and the semi-canned hunts. Maybe I don’t have a large enough perspective on Western hunting since I am new (4 years) to the West and Western hunting (my first season), but what do you think about this?
The reason I am writing about what happened is two fold. First, is the idea of game animals versus the ranching interests on public (the bison thread starting me thinking). The second is the way some of the private interests bordering public land profit by basically selling our resources (game).
The incident that occurred last season was not something I had even conceived before our hunt. My buddy and I were successful on the first and third day of the season so on the fourth day we packed up to get the meat home. On the way out we stopped by one of the camps below ours that was a group of guys who had been coming there for years and knew my camp mate well. We wanted to congratulate them on the two deer they had hanging and gloat a little on our elk. Upon pulling over we started the conversation about their deer and they commenced to tell us why they didn’t have any elk themselves.
It seems they were hunting the timber the day before and had come upon a small herd of elk. As they were making their way through the aspens toward the elk they heard some noise break the silence of the forest and saw 4 guys (ranch hands from one of the properties down below) on horseback coming at the elk and trying to move them down hill toward the private land which was about half a mile below. One of the hunters was in a position that allowed him to come out from behind a tree and freeze up one of the horsemen. With rifle shouldered he informed him that if he came up there again on his horse he would be walking back to the ranch. I wondered if I would have been so restrained.
The guys from the camp were going to the DOW office on the way out but didn’t fancy anything was going to be done. I guess I wonder what the chances of the DOW guys who work that area making an issue of it with the local ranchers versus “just a bunch of public land hunters”. I wonder how deeply the idea of a “public resource” goes.
I have been thinking about this and the more I think the more the whole thing chaps my ass. First, the ranchers get to use the wilderness to graze their cattle (and get to use 4 wheelers to go into it to check their herds and the fence when the public is foot or horse only). Then, they get to running “outfitting” operations on their ranches which basically consist of them waiting for the elk to come down from the elevation of public land to feed lower. Finally, these jokers are sending henchmen onto public land to hasten the migration to the lower elevation and the semi-canned hunts. Maybe I don’t have a large enough perspective on Western hunting since I am new (4 years) to the West and Western hunting (my first season), but what do you think about this?
