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BuckTracker: Comic Relief
Some scouting jaunts produce better than others. Today instead of hunting I spent two hours walking a pair of public tracts near my home. I found enough buck sign to keep me interested….But mostly I picked up garbage. Total production for the afternoon (besides the obvious exercise benefit for me and my aging retriever) was five scrapes and ten rubs. I also hauled out two plastic bottles (one spring water, one scent-reducing spray) and three cans (one diet and one regular Pepsi, plus a Classic Coke) for my recycling bins. Some things never change about public land, I guess. I’ve been pickin’ the trash on these places since the 1970’s.
So I came home slightly tired and definitely wet (it was drizzling and I love to scout on rainy days). And more than a little bummed about the lack of buck sign and the refuse. It’s easy to ignore sloppy hunters when the hunting looks good. Other times? Well, not so much.
Then I sat down at the computer and found this email from a buddy. The subject line read “big cat takes down whitetail buck,” and it had me completely suckered. Ready for a You Tube mountain lion video, this one hit me just right…and I’ve been smiling ever since. Sometimes all a guy needs is a good joke from a friend to get rejuvenated.
Wow - completely decapitated. Don't mess with that ol' kitty.
Bummer that people are so sloppy - I guess it's the same there as it is here. Sorry to hear that.
Posted by: Tom Sorenson | October 23, 2008 at 11:52 AM
I have never had the opportunity to hunt private land. I'm sure its as pristene and beautiful as it is in my dreams. In the public woods in my area, it wouldn't be out of place to use a can of 10w-30 or a bag of fritos as a cover scent.
Posted by: Jake B | October 23, 2008 at 09:48 PM
I too hunt public lands since that is all i have. My land is around a large lake and it is disappointing when you go shed hunting and come out with a bag of trash and no antlers. If everyone would just pick up one piece each time they go out. Then i wouldn't be able to fill up a wal-mart bag every time i go out.
Posted by: JP | October 23, 2008 at 10:24 PM
Not sure why people care so little for the environment around them. We have had to close access to much of our ranchland due to people leaving garbage behind that is harmful to livestock.
The best one I heard in dealing with the slobs is from an old neighbour of my uncles who caught some people on his pasture land emptying their motorhome sewage tanks and claiming they werent hurting anyone as it was just empty land in the middle of nowhere. He traced the plate to their house and had a load of manure dumped on their lawn. It seems to be getting worse with tresspassers all year round damaging fences and leaving trash. some neighbouring places we hunted for decades are now closed to everyone so we all pay for the slobs behaviour.
Posted by: albertahunter | October 25, 2008 at 08:48 PM
Scott, you said in an earlier entry that you hunt in Minnesota, as do I, but you never said where. I hunt around Newfolden and Strathcona on our private land. I was wondering if you were anywhere near me.
Posted by: Hanson | October 26, 2008 at 04:57 PM
Scott, you said in an earlier entry that you hunt in Minnesota, as do I, but you never said where. I hunt on our private land by Strathcona and Newfolden. I was wondering if you hunt anywhere near that or not?
Posted by: Hanson | October 26, 2008 at 05:01 PM
Hanson: I must not be anywhere near you, because I have never heard of those towns! I'm in the southeastern corner of the state, where we have some of our own funky little towns few people have ever heard of...For example, my hunting territory includes the towns of Money Creek and Buck Snort. No lie!
Posted by: Scott Bestul | October 27, 2008 at 10:27 PM
I've heard of Buck Snort but never been there. I'm about 50 miles south of the canadian border in the northwestern corner so we are actually at complete opposite ends of the state!
BTW: You probably have not heard of Strathcona because the population is a whopping 26.
Posted by: Hanson | October 28, 2008 at 07:00 PM