Dealing With Public Land Jerks

This is an option but not one that I particularly like due to the potential for escalation. You'd have to be mentally prepared for a fight doing this and if anything went wrong it could be very regrettable. Not really a necessary risk in my opinion. It's the unintended consequences or sideways direction you can't predict that makes this option less than perfect.

That was my main point, just that most of the reactionary options could begin to spiral into an open can of worms that won't go back in the bag.

Of course if you're ready for a quarrel, I like it.
 
Slit trailer tires and sugar or sand in the gas tank would make their day interesting...... Believe me when I say I have thought of doing this more than once. And to be clear, I've never done it.

I would have launched my boat and pulled up right next to them where they hunted. When they threaten to call the warden, say I wish you would and then explain to them how you would add to their story. Or pull up a short distance from them and turned up the acid rock, or Rap music on my phone and point it their way..

I've gone the nice route and the nasty route. One works and changes attitudes and the other doesn't. Usually I'm the older of the groups involved and most of the youngsters learn that screwing around with an old nasty geezer isn't the right way for them to handle themselves.

I know, not a popular opinion on this page. I've just tired of the BS and put up with very little of it. I've also altered my hunting so I don't run into many others when hunting.

Mark
 
Eric Patterson said:
Tod



I spoke to him last night about calling the area manager and game warden to report the behavior and he refuses to do so. Reason being our state waterfowl biologist really likes the special opportunity areas (SOAs) and Thomas fears the state's solution to misbehavior is to pull the area from open access and make it an SOA which are closed most of the season and only open to lottery winners. Whether that would happen is debatable, but to us folks that like hunting freedom and despise lotteries its logical thinking.

Eric
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That's the crux of the matter right there. At some point the pressure gets so high and the resulting bad behavior so egregious that limited access is the only way for anyone to have a chance at an enjoyable hunt. I wish more land management agencies were thinking creatively about appropriate access when they develop management plans and build boat launches and other access facilities. One way to keep pressure down without resorting to lottery draws or similar strategies is to control the type of access provided. How many parking spots at the launch? How improved is the launch--suitable for small trailered boats, or can you launch the Queen Mary? Are there limits on boat size, type, or HP? One of my favorite coastal launch sites has a 24' max size limit. These has no impact on us during duck season, but I'm told that during the summer boating season when the launch is busy it keeps commercial marinas from using the public launch to put their boats in and out and tying up the launch so recreational boaters and commercial clammers can't get in or out.

Providing only carry-in access, or only access for non-motorized craft, or a HP limit is often used in Maine to limit fishing pressure on ponds. Ditto for managing the "Row v. Wade" conflict of wading anglers and drift boats. Spread out the drift boat launches and ensure that some access points are designed for wading or shore access onlu. My experience is that a walk of even 1/4 mile is enough to significantly limit fishing pressure, even on outstanding and well-known ponds.
 
Getting into a pissing match just spoils the rest of your day, one of the reasons I stopped going on weekends, and mornings, I am able to do that "here"

That said, The one time I got blocked at a ramp, Guy just left his truck and empty trailer on it.
I screwed a deck screw into a tire. It won't go flat for a while and hopefully at a very inopportune time.

I didn't go duck hunting that day but I felt surprisingly good....[pirate] .
 
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gcs said:
That said, The one time I got blocked at a ramp, Guy just left his truck and empty trailer on it.
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I came upon a situation just like this, Truck and trailer parked in the middle of the ramp and no one around. I called 911 and explained I was concerned that someone had fallen or otherwise gotten injured, while launching their boat and drifted away, as no one was present or in the immediate area.

Little different scenario than what Thomas was the victim of.

The one preemptive move I take, is to chat with (whenever I can) the local DNR officers in the areas I hunt. Get to know them well enough they recognize me on sight, and in a good way. Goes a long ways towards credibility, if you do make a report on someone in the future. The one lady officer who lived in my same home town, I actually asked her If I could put her down as a reference for a job application.
 
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