Hunter Harassment : Opinions Needed

[zelmo1]

Morning Gents.I had an interaction with a very angry person yesterday and am meeting the warden tonight after work. Just looking for feedback.

      I was hunting a Piece of private land that has been put into SELT( Southeast Land Trust). This opens the land to all lawful activities, no motorized vehicles. The abutter to this land treats it as his own. He mows a walking path to walk his dog, even though he has 9.5 acres of his own and no motorized vehicles are allowed. Personally, I really don't care. But I was on stand in the corner of the field and he came out, orange hat and vest on the dog so he knows its hunting season, and proceeded to walk right up to me. His dog was friendly but i didnt address the dog in any way and was not going to talk to this stranger as I got a bad feeling about his intentions. He approached and said" How is it going?" I replied, " I guess its ok" He immediately stepped towards me and yelled, " What did you say?" I repeated my answer more loudly and clearly. He yelled," You're not welcome here" I turned back to the woods and ignored him. 30 seconds later I hear him yelling to his dog, he is now circled back and closer to me. I asked him if he was going to do that all afternoon, his response was," Maybe I will." I responded with, " Great, that will make it easier when the wardens get here." He proceeds to yell, " You're not welcome/ you don't belong here/ you don't matter, and I don't care " in a loop. He stood 15 feet away and kept it up and said' I am the steward of this land, can't you see my walking path". I said," that is your unleased dog? walking on the path you illegally cut on public access land with a motorized vehicle." This made him sputter and stammer uncontrollably. I then pulled out my phone and he walked away yelling his favorite phrases over his shoulder . I would usually brush it off, as men do, and continue with my life. But I had a text late last night from my buddy saying the wardens wanted to talk to me.I told him to give them my number or I can meet them after work. Sorry for the length of the post. I am wondering if I should push for him to get cited. Bottom line is that if minds his own business and doesn't harass me, I couldn't care less what he does. I was smart enough to mark my position and set my onX tracker to document that I never went on his property. Just bored and curious on a monday morning, Z

[Turkeybutt]

I would push to get him cited as I'm sure he would do the same should you do something illegal.

[GobbleNut]

Unfortunately, I think encounters with anti-hunters (and non-hunters) are becoming regular occurrences in a lot of places, even in places we would not expect them to. Far too often anymore, it seems we have to make choices like you are contemplating with this guy. If you let this incident slide, he will continue to do it.  You should certainly follow through with a complaint to authorities and insist that it be made clear to this fellow that future incidents of this type will result in significant consequences. 

Now, whether or not you choose to return to that public parcel to hunt, regardless of the outcome, is another matter that only you can decide for yourself. The question really comes down to "is it worth it" to have to deal with this kind of stuff.  Personally, I have a tendency just to go elsewhere rather than possibly have those kinds of negative encounters with folks.  Even in my state, which by most standards is sparsely-populated, there are many places I no longer hunt...even though I legally could...just because I know the possibility exists of having the same type of thing happen that you had.

Nonetheless, I would not tolerate the kind of crap you had to put up with in your encounter with this fellow. My advice is to see it through with whatever authorities might need to be involved. You might be doing this guy a favor in that the next guy he pulls this on might be less inclined to be as tolerant of his BS as you were. 

[Greg Massey]

I would discuss the situation with the game Warden and let him make the decision on what's next for the guy.
Show him what you have on video.. It's his job to follow up on the complaint.


I had problems with neighbors dogs on my farm and had videos, so I called my local sheriff dept and they came out and talked with the neighbor and the problem was solved. I never had to talk to the neighbor.

[Turkeyman]

Unless this character is thwarted by authorities he'll continue to do to others as he did to you. So I'd press the issue.

[NCL]

I certainly agree with what others have said. If you do not follow up he will continue with this type of behavior toward you or others. It seems like it is a situation that he considers that property belongs to him.

[Notsoyoungturk]

More and more we are seeing this attitude of entitlement.  People become self appointed custodians of other people's behavior and rights.  Most peoples first inclination is to just ignore them; it's. just not worth the effort.  Unfortunately, ignoring them gives them a sense of victory and encourages them to repeat this behavior.  I think Greg has the right idea.  This man, not you, broke the law.  Report him to the game warden and let the law address it.  Hopefully, it will be a case of play stupid games and win stupid prizes.  I am sorry he has ruined this opportunity for you but I hope he will win his stupid prize for his actions.

[Yoder409]

You were in the right.
He was in the wrong.

Call the law and stick it to him. 

[zelmo1]

Well, it ended up like it should have. He got cited for the unleashed dog, he showed up on site with the dog unleashed so it was a slam dunk. He also got cited for mowing the path with a motorized mower and he got a warning for hunter harassment and was told to not bother us again. He started to sputter and the warden said the fine for hunter harassment is up to $2500 and he clammed up, lol. The other fines could be up to $1000, $500 each but the warden said they usually get $250 for each. The guy was his worst enemy, he showed the behavior that I described in front of the warden, so I think I will be listened to if it goes any further. I think by the look on his face, he is done. Looked like a little kid that just got spanked, lol. It was worth the trip. Have fun and be safe, Z

[Cowboy]

Nail him to the wall. Straight up hunter harassment. 

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

[mcw3734]

Hey Z,

THANK YOU! Thank you for remaining calm during the encounter, for documenting the interaction, and for following up with law enforcement. That is such a drag that you had to deal with that when you were headed out to enjoy the woods. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

Clearly this guy's wrongful sense of entitlement is infringing on the rights others (and the habitat with the mowing). You didn't just catch him on a 'bad day'. His actions needed to be firmly addressed at the earliest opportunity. Your actions, and that of the officer, hopefully will save others from a similar disappointing encounter.

I would go back there, frankly. Or maybe have one of your hunting buddies check it out (if its not a secret honey hole of yours). That guy will probably leave you alone, but he might pull the same stunt with some other hunter he doesn't recognize.

And another thing... I would consider making the owners and/or managers of that donated land aware of the encounter as well. I'll bet they would like to know about it. I sure would if I were them.

Again, thanks for what you did!

[Tom007]

He thinks he has the right to bother you, you know you have the right to prosecute. Kudos Z, the best retribution here is to drain his wallet with fines! Well done!

[zelmo1]

I'll be there every time the wind is right. Z

[Turkeybutt]

Good for you Z!

[Notsoyoungturk]

It is refreshing to hear about a victory for the good guys.  Congratulations and thank you for your actions.