Don't Really Know If This Was Right

[GobbleNut]

The other morning I parked my truck about 80yds short of a gate which blocks the road which continues on for about a mile.  I was within 40 yds of the gate and I hear an atv coming behind me.  I knew the guy and his young son so I stepped off the edge and expected them to stop.  Instead they zoomed on by to the gate.  When I got to the gate they had bugged out.  I walked maybe another 60 yds and turned off into an old road and there they stood.  My feeling is that they should have stopped and asked where I was headed instead of blasting by and running to where I am sure they knew I was headed.  If it was the other way around I would have asked where they were headed and gone in a different direction.  Curious as to how you guys would feel.

Not to excuse what appears to be disrespectful behavior on their part, but here are some obvious questions first:  Why did you park 80 yards back from the gate rather than at the gate? Was there a functional reason for doing that and do you think they might have interpreted that to mean you were hunting somewhere other than where they were going?  Secondly, are you absolutely certain they saw you when you stepped out of the way to let them pass? 

Now, assuming you checked all of those boxes, these are my thoughts on the matter.  I am the type that would not make a fuss over the incident at the time but would call/request a meeting of the club members and hash out the rules,...and the penalties for violating them.  Quite honestly, on a club that has been in existence as long as your apparently has, there is absolutely no excuse for not having a better set of rules for club members to abide by and some sort of committee established to address grievances such as what you experienced.  Sounds to me like a meeting of the club members may be long overdue in your case. 

[wvmntnhick]

dgobble,  This club is mostly family and friends of 20 guys and has been going since 1972.  One family has to be the boss as you know families are.  WV allowed baiting until a couple years ago but recently stopped it.  Still it is widely known that people of the state still do it.  It is hard enforcing rules with families and when members won't call an individual out for multiple reasons.  As I said, I have had it with him and he may see himself in me this year.

Was there a ban on baiting across the entire state that I'm not aware of? I know they've done away with it in the eastern panhandle but don't recall baiting being illegal statewide. Where's the club located?


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[rifleman]

wvmntnhick,  We are in the EP (Jefferson Co.) East of the Shenandoah River bordered by Loudoun and Clarke Counties in VA.  Seems to me that no baiting in our area has been in place for some time now and don't know if it is statewide.  Baiting still continues on private land all around us.  The owner forbids baiting on our land but it still gets done as there is no monitoring by anyone.  Remember the line...you ain't breaking the rules or laws until you get caught.  This is the attitude.

[Swenny]

When you talk with the guy he never comes off as a butt.  He spouts all the things that you'd like to hear but he just does as he pleases in the woods.  Sadly,  he is a Deacon in his church and always acts all pious.  I think he and the boy hunted over bait in a piece of VA property that adjoins our hunting land.  In discussions he says he is up and up but I don't believe him.

Holier than thou jerks are the worst!  What a self-centered jackwagon.  Treating fellow hunters with common courtesy and respect seems to be the starting point for the vast majority of hunters, but this guy sounds obnoxious.  I'd take him aside and explain your frustrations.  He needs to be called out on the carpet a bit.  And his son is learning all of these behaviors too. 

[wvmntnhick]

wvmntnhick,  We are in the EP (Jefferson Co.) East of the Shenandoah River bordered by Loudoun and Clarke Counties in VA.  Seems to me that no baiting in our area has been in place for some time now and don't know if it is statewide.  Baiting still continues on private land all around us.  The owner forbids baiting on our land but it still gets done as there is no monitoring by anyone.  Remember the line...you ain't breaking the rules or laws until you get caught.  This is the attitude.

You've got my ear now. I live in Berkeley and hunt Jefferson a lot. There are guys that bait all around me too. I tried it once but found it fruitless personally. Too many ag fields around. Hard to draw deer out of 300 acres of corn or beans with more corn.


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[rifleman]

WVmntnhick,  Baiting worked well in the hardwoods and was done by most all including myself.  I know of guys that continue to bait and have attractants esp. for bears.  Farm deer I would think are hard to bait.