Road Warriors

[Stumpslayer]

Whitecourt is an awesome place to live, 5 minutes in any direction is some awesome hunting rifle or bow, north of the Athabasca River (347 and 349) or South of town (346) is open for bow August 25th for rifle on September 17, but anywhere south of the River (348) or east of town (507) is open for bow September 1st and rifle November 1st. 5 zones all meeting at the town.

Only one issue, too many guys are "road warriors" and if your in the farm land do you actually have permission to hunt if you're just out crusing around? A lot of farmers are getting very upset with the number of guys driving around just blasting away at anything in range.

If you are one of those guys, I would like to advise you that many people in the area are now posting their land and calling in offenders, and I would also like to say a sarcastic "thank you very much" for screwing up some great opportunities for honest fair chase hunters.

And the really brutal part is 7 out of 10 of these farmers would have allowed you to hunt if you just knocked on the door and asked!

[teledogs]

X2

Watched a group jump ahead of us this fall on the land we had permission to hunt...very frustrating.

[jryley]

Doesnt surprise me one bit hearing what goes on up there.

I posted a while back about slob tactics from those parts and got harrassing pm after pm. Like i said, cant say im surprised. Typical transition town non local guys not giving two flips about what they do or how they do it

[roger]

The road warrior is probably the best way to see a high value rutting buck.
Only a local would know where the chances are best to attempt something questionable. A non local doesnt have that luxury and dont know anyone
Its the out of towners who buy current landowner maps.
The places we go in sask. its us non residents who are asking for permision, locals assume its ok.
Its not.

[BigDaddysToys]

The road warrior is probably the best way to see a high value rutting buck.
Only a local would know where the chances are best to attempt something questionable. A non local doesnt have that luxury and dont know anyone
Its the out of towners who buy current landowner maps.
The places we go in sask. its us non residents who are asking for permision, locals assume its ok.
Its not.

Pretty much everything in this post is inaccurate lol

[Matt L.]

Doesnt surprise me one bit hearing what goes on up there.

I posted a while back about slob tactics from those parts and got harrassing pm after pm. Like i said, cant say im surprised. Typical transition town non local guys not giving two flips about what they do or how they do it

Yuuuuup! Lived here most of life and hunted a good chunk of that, it can even be difficult for a local to get permission anymore.

[Dunezilla]

"Road Warriors" can be both a blessing & a curse. The curse being that there is a crap load of them, & that translates into deer staying in the bush (which is a blessing if your a bush hunter like myself) but a curse too because the "road warriors" stop their vehicles & get out or they look through their rifle scopes down outlines or lease roads that you happen to be on. I look at them through binoculars while they are looking at me through their scopes. Scary actually.

"Road Warriors" have the $$$ for the fuel & so to spend $150 on fuel for a day trip to come home empty handed means little to them because they got to go out & that is great. I have little money & so I park & walk & I too come home empty handed but I got to go out & that was great. It cost me $25.00.

They go out again & spend $250.00 on fuel on a long weekend & maybe bag 5 deer & head home happy. I spend $25.00 for a 1 day hunt bag 2 deer go home happy.

The real issue is not the "road hunting" but the danger it can cause if you are a "bush hunter". Nothing like people target practising while you are in the area bush hunting & they just stop the vehicle because they saw a target & start shooting at a target that is in a tree 5ft high off the ground.

They will always be here & so you might as well adopt to the situation & work around it to your advantage. Some big bucks only stay in the trees. Sometimes deer see a "bush Hunter" & just stand there 25 yards away.

[normanrd]

I dont think I have ever thought of them as a blessing. Like the OP says, a large number are driving up and down rural roads with no permission willing to shoot at pretty much anything they can. This results in ****ed off landowners and guys that have secured permission, which are not necessarily locals. the net result is that pretty much everyone out there (a lot of hunters included) think that every other person out there who hunts is an a-hole, and wont give them either respect or permission. Deservedly so in a lot of cases, but tough for the rest of us who try to do it right.

Spades are spades. Road warriors are not and never will be any kind of a blessing. They are only a curse which makes our passtime, passion and sport a lot tougher than it should be in terms of public perspective, respect and permission. Just my opinion though. For the record, there are a lot of locals who fall into the road warrior category!

[last minute]

So whats the big deal so they close it up for a while the animal population grows the farmers have crop damage reopen it up to thin the herds and its a win win .Just have to hunt some place else for a while no big deal :)

[normanrd]

So whats the big deal so they close it up for a while the animal population grows the farmers have crop damage reopen it up to thin the herds and its a win win .Just have to hunt some place else for a while no big deal :)

Are you one of those guys? "No big deal" about bad press and poor representation amongst not only peers, but antis too? If you consider yourself a sportsman you wouldn't even post like that!:snapoutofit:

[last minute]

Are you one of those guys? "No big deal" about bad press and poor representation amongst not only peers, but antis too? If you consider yourself a sportsman you wouldn't even post like that!:snapoutofit:wow nice try but sorry i wont bite:fighting0030: 9 posts 783 looks i still dont think its a big deal:thinking-006: just hunt else where for a while.:)

[jryley]

Wow last minute.

Awful bud. Just plain old awful

[BowtechBoy]

I cant begin to count the times i have had cross hairs on me.......friend even got shot at 3 years ago by some fellas from edmonton in bow season....saying that they thought he was a yote and were seeing how accourate there rifles were...wtf? I am a bowhunter first and rifle hunter second only because once the the lead sticks come out the animals hide and i need range on my side! I was fourtunate this year as i had watch watch for three evening in a row a local farmer(s), no names of course, that hunted everyones elses land without permission, i might add, drive past my vechile parked in the ditch a mile away across the section of land i was hunting scaring all the deer, elk, moose....heck even the grouse into the woods!:sign0161: But me being the patient waited until dark each night waiting....waiting...hoping and you know what i won in the end! I scored very nicely with a 8x5 wt! Patience is a virtue friends! What kind of story do they have to tell their buds or the locals for that matter.....well u see i was driving up and down this road.......blah blah blah! It drives me nuts to see it to, dont get me wrong! Turned in many a "wannabe hunters" some lost their jobs, and others much more! Its the ones that see and know the signs are there and yet race across the land chasing god knowns what to death, that REALLY grind my gears:angry3:, that my friends happens way to often, where i hunt anyways! I could go on and on as many of you could also, but it is a losing battle thus far for us ohnest and ethical hunters! thank u! :argue2:

[Cowtown guy]

This whole thread is a pile of drivel.

Here's to hoping this load of crap is closed before another thread that pits hunters against each other gets out of hand.

[Rhino81]

Pretty much everything in this post is inaccurate lolpretty much everything he said is right! You are going to see more area and in turn more quality from the seat of your truck. Come on, everyone know that.

[Big Daddy Badger]

Pretty much everything in this post is inaccurate lol



Pretty much everything in this^^^^^^ post is inaccurate lol

He's right... the local often manage to skirt blame and pass it on to guys from out of town.
When I catch guys on land without permission... its almost always a local fella... who seemed to think that asking permission was more a suggestion than a rule.

The locals know where the back gates are and people schedules.

Guys from out fo town are usually a bit less confident about not getting caught and being forgiven if they are.

Then again... you might know better.

That land and those crops you drove over last fall to recover an elk without permission.
Was that round your home town or did you take that action on the road?

[purgatory.sv]

The road warrior is probably the best way to see a high value rutting buck.
Only a local would know where the chances are best to attempt something questionable. A non local doesnt have that luxury and dont know anyone
Its the out of towners who buy current landowner maps.
The places we go in sask. its us non residents who are asking for permision, locals assume its ok.
Its not.

I actually know roger and I believe what he has posted. No I am not a friend or enemy, I have meet him at several gun shows and a couple of bbqs.

[Big Daddy Badger]

I actually know roger and I believe what he has posted. No I am not a friend or enemy, I have meet him at several gun shows and a couple of bbqs.

I believe it to.

I've harvested lots of animals that have been pushed away from roads a couple hundred meters.

I'm generally happy to see guys driving along roads.... it can save me a lot of leg work if I exploit that for use it to my advantage.

Hunting... generally involves accepting the conditions that exist... whether it is terrain weather or traffic and finding a way to use them to your advantage.
You seldom get everything to work in your favour so you need to be prepared to adjust your plan when things are adverse.

[JTRED]

I believe the same issues exist almost everywhere. The problem does not appear to me to be along the lines of local or non-local rather a general lack of respect. I'm not sure why things have changed so much in the last couple of decades. It is very unfortunate what is happening in regards to securing access but we all have to adapt. I spent a few days asking permission to hunt some of the farmland not long after we had moved here to s.BC and I was shocked. I made sure to dress nicely, truck was presentable, was very polite and not only did I get a resounding no nine times out of ten I also often got a lecture on hunters trespassing, shooting across their land, shooting at night, shooting from the road, etc. Very calmly I explained that these people were not hunters, they were criminals and poachers. I didn't change anyone else's point of view, it did change mine. Why would they grant permission to any stranger when this is what they see and experience? Why wouldn't they post their land, fence it, gate it and lock it to try and protect their crops and livestock and just say no? Hunting is a privilege not a right and as such could be taken away. Trespassers and poachers are not hunters, cruising the roads and trails is not illegal, shooting were you don't have permission is.

[Drillbit]

The road warrior is probably the best way to see a high value rutting buck.
Only a local would know where the chances are best to attempt something questionable. A non local doesnt have that luxury and dont know anyone
Its the out of towners who buy current landowner maps.
The places we go in sask. its us non residents who are asking for permision, locals assume its ok.
Its not.

I agree %100 & have experienced the same.

[metro]

Actually with Saskatchewans tresspass laws in respect to hunting and snowmobiling permission is not always required for private land.