What about the guy that is all about the money? The guy that tries to get buddy buddy with the land owner to bump you out? Is he slob or just a dick?
"Slob hunter"; what can you tell me about it?
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Mostly a dick for that. That guy could be really ethical with game and the land. Maybe tries to improve it. But a dick nonetheless
Big_Holla
Senior Member
I am far from perfect when it comes to hunting in many ways however I do believe I have not let myself, my dad or my kids down on how I carry myself in the deer woods. I try to always think safety whether it is how I carry my gun, bow, climb a stand, shoot, etc.. The leaving trash behind is a no-brainer to someone being a slob hunter so I won't talk much about that. A few examples come to mind on people I have hunted with in the past that make me think they could fit this bill of being a slob hunter.
- The way a person carries their gun. You can tell if someone is conscious of where their barrel is pointing no matter if it is "unloaded or loaded". When I get that oh-shit feeling as that barrel points at me or someone else that is it, you are done in my book.
- The shots they take. I remember walking back one day with two of my dad's friends from hunting on the farm. Aside from them not caring where their guns were pointed the one spotted a group of deer heading towards the bottoms, at least 400 yards away. My dad was probably 100-150 yards further directly beyond these deer. Sure enough both of them pulled up and unloaded their guns at those deer, aiming higher and higher trying to "spook them towards your dad". I was furious but young, and was told that is how they did it around there.
- Greedy hunter. Years ago before we bought the farm my uncle and all of us sat down to discuss the idea of passing smaller bucks and try to only shoot bucks that were out past their ears, clearly older deer or wounded. The plan back then was to try to shoot a few more does as we were covered up in them. We even came up with a small fine that a person would pay, the fine would simply go into food plot seed or fertilizer. The one guy said he would just pay the "fine" ahead of time because he wasn't going to worry about how big a buck was.
One of my buddy's routinely would kill deer all season long and often when he butchered he threw out a lot of good meat because he "didn't have a grinder" or the time to waste trimming up shoulders and neck meat. It was then when I realized that he could not have been buying enough licenses to cover all these deer. One extra buck one year and I knew what he was up to and it didn't matter what any of us would say.
- The effort to recover game. One of my dad's friends had the biggest buck (to this date) I had seen on the farm at about 50 yards and he unloaded (5 shots back then) his gun at it as it ran off down the big holla. I was home being told this story on the phone and I asked him if he went to check for blood or track it and his reply was it didn't act like he hit it so he didn't waste the time. That buck was never seen again after that day. Another year that same guy hit a doe but said he couldn't find it that afternoon and decided to quit looking because he wanted to get to his spot for the evening hunt. I went there the next morning and followed an easy blood trail right to the deer. She was bloated and already spoiled as it was warm that year but of course I didn't tell him that when I told him where to go to get his deer drug out. I was pissed.
My one buddy gut shot a doe one night and I was discussing with him on when we should start tracking. He wasn't going to waste the time, wasn't worth his effort. Well he must have done that a bunch more times because eventually the neighbor where most of these deer would run asked the farmer what was going on, that he had over a dozen dead deer on his place that were not recovered the one year alone!
I could go on with more stories but in essence the people I trust to hunt with me and my family is a small group. Hunting safety is a big one that excludes others right away. Just be conscious of what you are doing and treat every gun as if it were loaded and you are half way there. How you treat the game you are after, or for that matter the resource including the land, is the next big thing in my book.
- The way a person carries their gun. You can tell if someone is conscious of where their barrel is pointing no matter if it is "unloaded or loaded". When I get that oh-shit feeling as that barrel points at me or someone else that is it, you are done in my book.
- The shots they take. I remember walking back one day with two of my dad's friends from hunting on the farm. Aside from them not caring where their guns were pointed the one spotted a group of deer heading towards the bottoms, at least 400 yards away. My dad was probably 100-150 yards further directly beyond these deer. Sure enough both of them pulled up and unloaded their guns at those deer, aiming higher and higher trying to "spook them towards your dad". I was furious but young, and was told that is how they did it around there.
- Greedy hunter. Years ago before we bought the farm my uncle and all of us sat down to discuss the idea of passing smaller bucks and try to only shoot bucks that were out past their ears, clearly older deer or wounded. The plan back then was to try to shoot a few more does as we were covered up in them. We even came up with a small fine that a person would pay, the fine would simply go into food plot seed or fertilizer. The one guy said he would just pay the "fine" ahead of time because he wasn't going to worry about how big a buck was.
One of my buddy's routinely would kill deer all season long and often when he butchered he threw out a lot of good meat because he "didn't have a grinder" or the time to waste trimming up shoulders and neck meat. It was then when I realized that he could not have been buying enough licenses to cover all these deer. One extra buck one year and I knew what he was up to and it didn't matter what any of us would say.
- The effort to recover game. One of my dad's friends had the biggest buck (to this date) I had seen on the farm at about 50 yards and he unloaded (5 shots back then) his gun at it as it ran off down the big holla. I was home being told this story on the phone and I asked him if he went to check for blood or track it and his reply was it didn't act like he hit it so he didn't waste the time. That buck was never seen again after that day. Another year that same guy hit a doe but said he couldn't find it that afternoon and decided to quit looking because he wanted to get to his spot for the evening hunt. I went there the next morning and followed an easy blood trail right to the deer. She was bloated and already spoiled as it was warm that year but of course I didn't tell him that when I told him where to go to get his deer drug out. I was pissed.
My one buddy gut shot a doe one night and I was discussing with him on when we should start tracking. He wasn't going to waste the time, wasn't worth his effort. Well he must have done that a bunch more times because eventually the neighbor where most of these deer would run asked the farmer what was going on, that he had over a dozen dead deer on his place that were not recovered the one year alone!
I could go on with more stories but in essence the people I trust to hunt with me and my family is a small group. Hunting safety is a big one that excludes others right away. Just be conscious of what you are doing and treat every gun as if it were loaded and you are half way there. How you treat the game you are after, or for that matter the resource including the land, is the next big thing in my book.
Slob = Lazy, ignorant, inconsiderate, irresponsible, uneducated (by choice), and often, unethical. How each of those undesirable characteristics manifest themselves varies by the hunter, and the hunted.
Wtf, not worth going and looking?! Sounds like the horror stories of farmers with nuisance tags.
Big_Holla
Senior Member
These are some excellent examples and points that you've shared and I appreciate it, thank you Chuck!
I've done some bad/slob things in my hunting life and real life. Part of learning for most. It's those that don't learn that are slobs in my book. I took a slob shot on a buck this year and it reminded me of why I do the right thing. Who takes a neck shot with a bow? A SLOB! A shit hunter with no respect for the game. I got home that day and explained what I did and how I would not let them take that shot EVER. I still don't know what happened in my mind. I just reacted and it didn't work for me or the deer. It was a great reminder for my household.
I don't think this makes me a slob, I think this makes me human. Humans make mistakes and bad choices. Its the piece of shit that does this year after year that is the slob!
I don't think this makes me a slob, I think this makes me human. Humans make mistakes and bad choices. Its the piece of shit that does this year after year that is the slob!
Big_Holla
Senior Member
I think you hit the nail on the head, if you don't learn from a mistake and make changes to keep it from happening again then the word slob comes to mind. Most of the people I mentioned were the same few individuals doing things over several years that just make you go WTF...will they ever learn?!
About two years ago during the gun season if I recall correctly, I woke up way early for whatever reason and decided the heck with it, I’ll get dressed and head out to the furthest setup of mine from the house, which was my ‘Hilltop Stand’.
I usually walk the road, the long way around of all the neighboring properties to get to it from the North, hiking along the back side of a AG field, through a hedgerow of mature timber to the largest CRP field in the area, clear on top the large hill, then down to the wooded area to my tree-stand that was located approximately 35 yards just inside the woods. Altogether, approximately a mile in half hike for me one way.
I remember that I didn’t need to use my headlamp, however I still used it for safety reasons, but using the red instead of the green or while light options that I had available.
Once I got up into my tree, which was still way early yet, somewhere between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m., I heard clear down at the bottom of the hill a vehicle running. I looked and what I saw made me furious.
Apparently, two individuals inside a pickup truck, one in the bed of the pickup and the driver holding a bright spotlight flashing it ahead of the truck while driving very slowly through the lower standing CRP field from the East towards the NW corner, towards the creek bottom.
The lower CRP field is 19 acres of the 750 owned and just on the South side of the main creek. It’s also the lowest point within the valley where it can not be seen from any public road or resident in the area. It’s also far enough away where if a shot was to ring out, typically no one would hear it, except me because I live right off the main creek, approximately 500 yards away from where I first saw those individuals.
Anyhow, as I was watching these two individuals, spot lighting for deer, the individual in the bed of the pickup let off a round about the time the vehicle reached the middle of the CRP field. That’s when I started to video record as best as I could with my cellphone, however the video didn’t come out very well at all. I could not make anything out due to the darkness.
I happen to see deer flee from the field within the headlight of the pickup and spotlight of the driver, heading towards the creek bottom and I have no idea how many, at least a few.
I was approximately 100-200 yards away when all this was happening, and I could not clearly make out the model type of the vehicle or see the two persons to clearly identify them later if need be due to the darkness.
Once the pickup reached the West end of the field, the driver turned up the property lane and back out to the main road to the South, approximately a half a mile away, neither of them ever leaving the vehicle once. After they slowly reached the road, I watched them turn West and finally out of sight approximately a little after 5:00 a.m.
After I finished my short morning hunt, I called the WO for our area, left him a voice mail about what I witnessed. I have established a good repour with the officer prior for basically reporting similar previous type incidents, much the same or similar in nature.
It didn’t take long for the WO to call me back. I explained what happened and told that I kind of expect those individuals to make their way back later in the night again due to the good weather, moon phase and rut activity.
The WO said that he was going to inform the local sheriffs and have them sit out near the end of the lane, just off the main road out of sight for the next couple of days and stop whoever goes in or out of that area.
Now, I do not know if the sheriffs ever caught those individuals or not since, but I do know that I have not seen that type of activity take place since. The WO never informed me whether or not the authorities were successful in apprehending those individuals.
I was glad that I just happen to wake up early that day to catch those individuals doing what they were doing and to report them to the authorities.
This is just one example, and I have a couple of others that I would like to share within this thread, of what I experienced and how I dealt with it.
Yes, those unscrupulous individuals were attempting to poach deer, perhaps they did. I did not know for sure just how long they were within the immediate area before I first noticed them. When I did first see them, they came out from the hardwoods, just to the East, from off a utility right away. I suspect it was not the first time those individuals visited the area based on how they navigated their vehicle through the property, they knew the area well.
It was quite obvious to me that those individuals did not have a care in the world, especially towards the property & the owner, the wildlife they were attempting to pursue or even the law.
So, this may not be the best example of a “slob hunter”, but rather of a couple of douche bag criminals instead. An example non the less while I was a field and witnessed a couple of uncaring individuals that had no respect or care for anything other than themselves, which made me very furious to the point to take appropriate action.
I have couple of others that I’d like to also share that I believe are more in line with the specific topic and/or definition. I will go through some of my past photographs hoping to share a couple of examples of what I uncovered on the property that I have been hunting most the past couple of years.
I usually walk the road, the long way around of all the neighboring properties to get to it from the North, hiking along the back side of a AG field, through a hedgerow of mature timber to the largest CRP field in the area, clear on top the large hill, then down to the wooded area to my tree-stand that was located approximately 35 yards just inside the woods. Altogether, approximately a mile in half hike for me one way.
I remember that I didn’t need to use my headlamp, however I still used it for safety reasons, but using the red instead of the green or while light options that I had available.
Once I got up into my tree, which was still way early yet, somewhere between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m., I heard clear down at the bottom of the hill a vehicle running. I looked and what I saw made me furious.
Apparently, two individuals inside a pickup truck, one in the bed of the pickup and the driver holding a bright spotlight flashing it ahead of the truck while driving very slowly through the lower standing CRP field from the East towards the NW corner, towards the creek bottom.
The lower CRP field is 19 acres of the 750 owned and just on the South side of the main creek. It’s also the lowest point within the valley where it can not be seen from any public road or resident in the area. It’s also far enough away where if a shot was to ring out, typically no one would hear it, except me because I live right off the main creek, approximately 500 yards away from where I first saw those individuals.
Anyhow, as I was watching these two individuals, spot lighting for deer, the individual in the bed of the pickup let off a round about the time the vehicle reached the middle of the CRP field. That’s when I started to video record as best as I could with my cellphone, however the video didn’t come out very well at all. I could not make anything out due to the darkness.
I happen to see deer flee from the field within the headlight of the pickup and spotlight of the driver, heading towards the creek bottom and I have no idea how many, at least a few.
I was approximately 100-200 yards away when all this was happening, and I could not clearly make out the model type of the vehicle or see the two persons to clearly identify them later if need be due to the darkness.
Once the pickup reached the West end of the field, the driver turned up the property lane and back out to the main road to the South, approximately a half a mile away, neither of them ever leaving the vehicle once. After they slowly reached the road, I watched them turn West and finally out of sight approximately a little after 5:00 a.m.
After I finished my short morning hunt, I called the WO for our area, left him a voice mail about what I witnessed. I have established a good repour with the officer prior for basically reporting similar previous type incidents, much the same or similar in nature.
It didn’t take long for the WO to call me back. I explained what happened and told that I kind of expect those individuals to make their way back later in the night again due to the good weather, moon phase and rut activity.
The WO said that he was going to inform the local sheriffs and have them sit out near the end of the lane, just off the main road out of sight for the next couple of days and stop whoever goes in or out of that area.
Now, I do not know if the sheriffs ever caught those individuals or not since, but I do know that I have not seen that type of activity take place since. The WO never informed me whether or not the authorities were successful in apprehending those individuals.
I was glad that I just happen to wake up early that day to catch those individuals doing what they were doing and to report them to the authorities.
This is just one example, and I have a couple of others that I would like to share within this thread, of what I experienced and how I dealt with it.
Yes, those unscrupulous individuals were attempting to poach deer, perhaps they did. I did not know for sure just how long they were within the immediate area before I first noticed them. When I did first see them, they came out from the hardwoods, just to the East, from off a utility right away. I suspect it was not the first time those individuals visited the area based on how they navigated their vehicle through the property, they knew the area well.
It was quite obvious to me that those individuals did not have a care in the world, especially towards the property & the owner, the wildlife they were attempting to pursue or even the law.
So, this may not be the best example of a “slob hunter”, but rather of a couple of douche bag criminals instead. An example non the less while I was a field and witnessed a couple of uncaring individuals that had no respect or care for anything other than themselves, which made me very furious to the point to take appropriate action.
I have couple of others that I’d like to also share that I believe are more in line with the specific topic and/or definition. I will go through some of my past photographs hoping to share a couple of examples of what I uncovered on the property that I have been hunting most the past couple of years.
Sgt Fury
Sgt. Spellchecker
Everyone makes mistakes and bad choices....the difference is that you learned from it and vowed never to make that same mistake again. That’s called experience...slob hunters know their choice is wrong but continue to do it.
What about permanent hunting structures, such as makeshift blinds and/or old tree-stands left behind and/or abandon within the beautiful woods?
Does that make a person a slob for not appropriately disposing of them?
I can tell you that I have come across so many of them on just one of the properties that I hunt nearby. To me, not only are they complete eye sores, but very dangerous should anyone ever decide or attempted to use one of them because most are definitely dry rotted and dilapidated to the point where I would be afraid to even walk underneath them.
So, does that make a person a "slob hunter"?
Does that make a person a slob for not appropriately disposing of them?
I can tell you that I have come across so many of them on just one of the properties that I hunt nearby. To me, not only are they complete eye sores, but very dangerous should anyone ever decide or attempted to use one of them because most are definitely dry rotted and dilapidated to the point where I would be afraid to even walk underneath them.
So, does that make a person a "slob hunter"?
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Big_Holla
Senior Member
If it is private land then I would say they just neglected these. Time is often used on easy projects, time sensitive projects or things around the home front. Once things get so far they often just get left to rot away. It is easy to forget about things like that and soon weather and time has taken it's toll. Our cabin on our place is just that. It was hit by a tree, knocked the front porch off and the front deck. Ruined a spot in the roof and side wall. Time has not been friendly with it but we are now finally getting things a bit safer and hope to fix it up so we can use it without worry. In no time it went from being a decent place for us to not being used at all and into disrepair.
Yes, it is private property, however the landowner is quite old, unable to truly get around on the entire property and I do not believe he's fully aware of just how many of the abandon hunting structures that are left behind. I have had conversations with him about it. I'd say about of third of them are still being used. Most are not. He did say to me with regards to any of the abandon steel stands that he'd like to see them taken down if at all possible. I do maintain the ones that I have placed ever year, and I'll most likely either retire and/or replace a couple of them within this new year.
There are many old wooden structures out there though that are definitely in need of serious repair first should anyone ever decide to use them again no doubt about it, which many appear to be simply abandon and not used in decades.
Like some have already mentioned and I agree with totally, it's your responsibility to leave the area as if you first found it once your completely finished hunting the area. That to me is not only the right thing to do, but just plain common sense.
I appreciate it once again Chuck, thanks!
I look at those old stand like an old tree or picture. Wishing it could tell stories. I love them and I should probably start taking pictures of them. That's how much I enjoy seeing them. I think it could be another thread in itself "this old stand"
That's an interesting outlook, Dave.
I tell you what, the next time I take another long hike again, I'll take some photographs of those abandon hunting structures. There are many of them that I came across over the past couple of years. I would imagine if they could talk, some would most likely offer up some rather entertaining stories I'm sure. I'd estimate that a few of them are perhaps as old as me, or very close to it. The ones that I know are being used still can't be no more than ten years old, but I bet some were built as far back as the 70's and/or 80's, or at least appears to be that old at first glance.
Anyhow, I agree with you Dave, that would be rather neat if they could talk.
You know what 'J', I just remembered that I did have an out of state hunter setup one day right next to my tree/tree-stand, literally 10 yards away with his climber, utilizing the shooting lanes that I created. Huh, I can't believe I forgot about that. Funny, cause I have the same exact climber as what he had sitting at home during the time.
Anyways, as I approached my tree for a midafternoon/evening hunt, I noticed a hunter in a tree near my tree once I reached the wooded area, right where my 'Hilltop Stand' was located on the North ridge.
As I continued to my stand, I said to the guy from the ground, "see anything?", and he replied something to the effect, "just a coyote and a couple of small deer". Then I asked him if my shooting lanes were working out for him and he laughed as he immediately started to pack up and climb down.
I meet him at the base of the tree and nicely told him that I really didn't appreciate him hunting in my area, but I emphasize, I was polite and nice to him about it the whole time.
He acted rather nervous and jerky the whole time I was speaking to him, asked him where he was from because he had a somewhat of a southern draw to'em, then I also asked him if he had permission to hunt the property. He said, "yes". Of course, I asked from who and he gave the correct name. He also mentioned that he was hunting with a buddy that was supposedly hunting clear at the far East side of the property.
I would say he was approximately half my age at the time, and about my size, perhaps slightly taller.
Well, once the guy gathered all his belongings once again at the base of the tree, he threw his climber over his shoulders and took off in a double pace fashion.
I watched him continue his hike along the field/hedgerow edge once I reached the platform of my tree-stand. Then I happen to noticed/question that he was headed towards a parked vehicle clear at the end of the hedgerow, along the side of the road. Once he reached that vehicle, he didn't waste anytime in tossing his gear in the back, jump into the vehicle and was gone in a matter of minutes from the time I talked to him face to face. I thought that was strange.
His behavior and where he actually parked made me question whether or not he truly had permission to be on the property. I never seen him again after that nor his so called buddy.
Sorry that I failed to recall that experience. I do believe though, that is the only time in Ohio I ever ran into another hunter trying hunt in the same area I was setup in.
I did end up seeing deer that afternoon though. In fact, I captured a brief video clip of a young buck around 4:00 p.m. that afternoon. He was pretty much all the deer I saw during that hunt, so the guy didn't completely ruin my planned hunt.
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Stressless
Well-Known Member
Suggest you watch and think about the old stands... eyesores or not. Trash is entirely different matter.
That is the clip I was thinking of. I think it was @Curran that shared that some time back.
I watched it, thanks! Can't say it swayed my thoughts about them being left behind though, especially those that do not belong to the landowner.
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