Non resident bad sportsman

[Wapiti]

Recently I was elk hunting on the west slope of Colorado and found that people really do not respect the forest or any laws that are in place. It frustrates me that people can be so inconsiderate of other peoples backyards. After hunting in Colorado for nearly 25 years I have noticed a trend in the people that are doing the littering, driving off designated roads, starting campfires when a fire ban is in place and party hunting just to name a few. This trend is from people that live in Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin and other eastern states. Maybe your rules are a bit different and you don't have fire bans and ATV's can be driven all over those states, but here in Colorado if the signs say no ATV's beyond this point it means exactly that, also if the sign says No Fires it means No Fires. Maybe these people from other states feel they have a right to do whatever they please when they spend a little money out of state, but remember when anybody is hunting or fishing out of state you are a guest and please respect local laws and the environment. We all need to enjoy it and take care of it for future genereations.

Brett Bell
Colorado Native

After reading several post about Lake Erie fishing and seeing peoples sympathy

[TJB]

How exactly do you know it is people from Min, Wi, and other eastern states? I have lived and hunted in Wisconsin for over fourty years and noticed the same things hear but have no idea were the people doing it live! I am not saying it does not happen but saying it is people from certain states will get you nothing. Just my 02 cents worth.

[eyedog]

I gues what you are saying is that there is no way that it could be people who are native colordians, guess that means that you people out there are as pure as the driven snow. Speaking of driven snow you know what you can do with your slam against MN. and WS. and anyone else you may think of as being your problems. Better clean your own back yard first before you start picking on your neighbors!

[Wapiti]

The way that I know it is people from those states is because the license plates and OHV registration stickers read Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri or elsewhere. Also, these people will tell you if asked.

Brett Bell

[Kemo]

It happens everywhere. I had to post the land behind my house. Last year on the first Saturday of deer season I had an idiot posted up in my back yard. His buddies drove the deer into my yard and he shot at them, 30 yards from my dog pen. My brother was there to see all of this and kindly ask the moron to leave. Where was he from? I have no clue. A moron is a moron, now matter which state they are from. This happened in Pennsylvania if you were wondering. I felt bad about posting it but I have to protect my family from morons.

[Wapiti]

I am sure that there are Colorado people that will do these acts but what I am saying is that I have experienced this from year to year from out of staters. If you are not one of these people that don't care about the backcountry then let it be and don't get offended by my post. I have hunted in many states from New York to Utah and I have not once broke a law or mistreated the private or public property that I hunt on, I am just hoping for the same out here.

Brett Bell

[BlackSilver]

Brett,

We all have disdain for poor stewards of the environment, but you are out of line to lay the blame solely on non-residents of your fair state. A$$holes come from all over, including your state.

Walk softly and carry a big fish.

Hans/MN

[Mckoz]

Brett, while I sympathize with your feelings towards those who ignore laws or generally are just plain screw ups I think you may have gotten carried away with the blame.

I am a full-time Wisconsin resident and a Part-time Colorado resident (we have a year round vacation home in Estes Park) All of my wifes relatives are from the Fort Collins area. While I have never hunted in Colorado I have noticed that "non-residents" hunters are treated in a less than welcoming manner.

Would it then be fair for me to say that all Colorado residents are rude and treat out of state guests like red-headed step children? No it is not, and I wouldn't.

Seems to me there is some sort of lack of communication in both areas - maybe a little education for both sides is in order.

Mike Kozlowski

[Wapiti]

I know that it is not all out-of-staters that are doing these things to the national forest, but that is what I have experienced first hand. I the past year I have read about local (COLORADO RESIDENTS) that have poached deer,elk, moose, antelope and have started forest fires. Unfortunately where I hunt and the season I hunt there are alot of people that are from different states and very few Colorado residents. A couple examples of bad behavior:
1) Hunters (Ohio plates) Forest fire initiated within 200 yards from their camp, we stopped by to see if they contacted anybody about it. Their response "No" we asked if they would help put it out they responded they needed to get hunting since they would only be around for a couple of days. We (Coloradoans) put out the fire took 6 hours.
2) Two hunters from Minnesota killed 5x5 bull elk 1 mile back in from trail head(sign marked No ATV's beyond this point), they proceeded to drive ATV past that point to retrieve elk. After talking to them about it they responded these are big animals and are hard to get out. The problem with this is that the trail now has vehicle tracks on it and other people will start using the trail because somebody else did it, so it must be O.K. They are lucky they didn't end up with many flat tires because of that stunt.
3) Wisconsin hunters party of 8 made large camp and decided to burn their trash in the fire pit. The day after they left the empty corn and green bean cans were still there along with some soda and beer cans.

This type of behavior really bothers me and I am just saying respect the lands that we (Americans) have so that our children can have clean forest to enjoy.

Brett Bell

[GoWyo]

It happens all the time here in Wyoming to Wapiti, but I have seen it from residents and non-residents alike. Depends on the individual(s)more than anything. If you come across a bad group and they are doing something wrong and you happen to catch them at it. Report there dumb asses. If there planning on leaving and haven't been sited yet, be sure to slow them down on there scheduled departure date. Take out there valve stems or my personal favorite borrow there lug nuts till the Warden or Ranger shows up. Be creative. These people need to dealt with.

[Stillwater]

Wapiti (Brett)

I am from MN and own a cabin in WI and I can assure you it was not me or anyone I know who fouled the pristine CO landscape during your recent trip.

A little Story:

I was in the Air Force stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, CO in 1969 and it was a training/tech school base, so all students were straight out of basic training. We had hair 1 inch long and we stuck out like sore thumbs among all the hippies of that era. We were treated very badly by a lot of the Golden/Denver merchants and someone casually mentioned that to our Tech school instructor.

He said he had been stationed at Lowry a number of years earlier and the complaints from airmen had gotten so bad that the base commander had issued orders to payroll to encourage airmen to pay all local merchants in silver dollars (which were made available at the local Base Credit Union), and all airmen started doing this. It took only 2 months before the merchants realized that 25 to 40% of their income came from the people they were treating badly. All they had to do was notice how much of their gross was in silver dollars. Attitudes improved all around.

My point is:

I still log in to active military websites. I login, and when I see a post like, "I just received orders for Lowry AFB, what can I expect there?" I Do Not say "You can expect to be treated like Sh*t, Coloradoans HATE American Servicemen". Incidentally, I did not need to check license plates, I was in Colorado, they were all locals.

Nope, I don't do that, cause it's not my way...shouldn't be your way either.

Scott

[JimVT]

Brett:
I lived in Colorado for four years. More than once when I was in Wyoming and Nebraska, I heard complaints about the "Greenies," i.e., the Colorado hunters with green license plates. Now that I'm back in Vermont, the complaints are about the New Yorkers. One of Vermont's hunting publications even ran an article titled, "Are nonresidents ruining our hunting?" Your problem is universal and has nothing to do with the home state of the offenders. Slobs are slobs, everywhere you go. JimVT

[Box]

Brett,

If you see these people doing these things, why do you not contact the authorities? You say you can tell by the plates - well, if you get the plates, then the authorities will know how to track them down.

I am not meaning at all that there is justification for their acts - no way. But if you do nothing but complain and do not contact authorities, how do you think things will ever change? I am certainly not blaming you, just offering what I think would be a reasonable method to at least make the offenders pay.

I am a "city hunter" - I live in a city and head north to hunt and fish. I constantly hear the "city hunter" slams, but I know that I am a better steward and a more responsible hunter and angler than many of the people who complain (similar to your complaints) and these are often our friends doing the complaining about others. I have found that many "locals" do many bad things in their own back yard - but I don't say all locals are evil...

I also have hunted in NoDak, and we have picked up trash and closed gates, etc, that others (who knows where they are from?...) have left. So it is not all "non residient" or "city hunters" who are doing these bad things.

Please, call the game wardon or sheriffs or whomever when you see stuff against the law. Make the people responsible for it pay, not all of us with MN or WI or whatever plates.

-Box
MN

[Pete]

I have seen vehicles with Colorado plates litter in Colorado. There is far more littering going on by residents than non-residents in every state of the union. It is this way do to the shear number of residents vs visitorz. Don't take a dump on other states and not include your own!