Last Wednesday I was working in a Gobbler on my favorite area of BLM. Its 50 beautiful open acres of oaks and pines, then turns into 1000 or so heavily brushed acres. It is a veritable highway for Deer and Turkey. The next door land owner has his property partially fenced, He owns 4 Horses and constantly grazes them on the BLM in order to sway unsure hunters from hunting there. I have talked with Him several times and let him know when I would be hunting so that he would not graze his horses. He says he wont and does anyways. Last Fall my oldest was home on leave and was Deer hunting the same piece of land, He to had previously alerted this guy. Unbelievably instead of letting his horses out, he sent his grandchildren out running and screaming right up to my sons blind.
Back to working the bird. He was about 60 yards out, slowly making his way toward me. It was hard to tell, but he looked to be a pretty nice Tom. The time was 6:50 am, all of a sudden here come the horses, at full gallop straight toward me. The bird, gone. Me pissed to no end. This guy had released, no, herded them, knowing full well that I was out there. I packed my stuff and headed home seething.
After calming down I started to weigh my options. A confrontation was not going to accomplish anything. Sooooo, I took a shot and called BLM to complain. Well, today I met the BLM Ranger and led him to the area. Low and behold, our friend had his horses out. Perfect. The Ranger got out and walked the property with me, all the while taking pics and gps coordinates. The offending land owner had also been expanding his grazing area, liming trees and doing debris piles on the BLM. The Ranger was not happy. They are going back out on the 22nd to access the damage and determine his fine.
He was told not to release the animals again, period. And that harassing hunters was a misdemeanor also and that if it continued, DFG would be notified. I hate being a rat, but my and your Taxes pay to keep these pieces of property open. Rant over.
RANT ON!!!! :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:
That's pretty uncool to say it lightly.
Sorry the hunt ended the way it did. However, you did yourself and your son a favor for future hunts. Landowners that won't let hunters on their ground to hunt but take full advantage of public ground like this moron you encountered really just piss me off! Good for you and you go man!
It stinks that it came to that, but he was interfering with your right to utilize public land.
good for you man...I have a next door neighbor that thinks she owns everything and is in everyone else's business all the time...same thing got her busted by the city after she called on me three times all for bulls%&^ reasons but I caught her dumping her sump pump into the storm drain...city wrote her a ticket on the spot while they were there inspecting my property for an unfounded complaint she called in on me...
What that guy was doing is ridiculous. I have to wonder what he had against people hunting public land? Hopefully the ranger can get him set straight before your season is over and you lose another year on that property. Good luck man!
You tried it nice. he didn't care. Don't feel guilty for a second.
Good for him, he got what he deserved IMO.
good for you :icon_thumright:
Good job! Guys like that need a reality check..never let em slide...you did good.
His butt belongs in jail.Hopefully his fines will hit hard enough that he never plays that game again.
You mentioned it, but what is your state's ruling on hunter harrassment? Some states don't take these sort of things lightly.
You did the right thing. :icon_thumright:
Quote from: jblackburn on April 09, 2014, 01:24:52 AM
It stinks that it came to that, but he was interfering with your right to utilize public land.
:agreed: He didn't care about your rights so I wouldn't feel bad about reporting him.....
you done the right thing it would only get worse
Nothing "rat" about it. You stood up for all of us. Thanks!
serves him right
Update: I have been by a couple times now and the horses are being kept on his property. Saw a lot of fence panels stacked up. Oh, He don't wave at me anymore ???
Quote from: J-Shaped on April 09, 2014, 03:21:13 PM
You mentioned it, but what is your state's ruling on hunter harassment? Some states don't take these sort of things lightly.
Fish and Game Code Section 2009.
(a) A person shall not willfully interfere with the participation of any individual in the lawful activity of shooting, hunting, fishing, falconry or trapping at the location where that activity is taking place.
(b) A violation of this section is an infraction punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500).
(c) If any person is convicted of a violation of this section and the offense occurred within two years of another separate violation of this section which resulted in a conviction, the violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(d) This section does not apply to the actions of any peace officer or personnel of the department in the performance of their official duties. This section does not obstruct the rights and normal activities of landowners or tenants, including, but not limited to, farming, ranching and limiting unlawful trespass.
(e) In order to be liable for a violation of this section, the person is required to have had the specific intent to interfere with the participation of an individual who was engaged in shooting, hunting, fishing, falconry or trapping.
(f) For purposes of this section, "interfere with" means any action which physically impedes, hinders or obstructs the lawful pursuit of any of the above-mentioned activities, including, but not limited to, actions taken for the purpose of frightening away animals from the location where the lawful activity is taking place.
He is reaping the tax benefits of enrolling his land in the BLM program and then screwing the hunters. You did exactly what needed to be done!! Way to go, I salute you!!! :you_rock: :icon_thumright: :happy0064: