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thats no joke my grand dad is almost 80 and been farming and ranching his whole life and has never seen it this dry here. luckly weve been able to weather the storm so far, but i know others almost his age that have had to sell their whole herd theyve spent their life time building up , talk about sickning
being a farmer myself, I'd much rather share the mountains with the cattle and ranchers than a group of tree-hugging hippies. beef taste too good not to let them utilize all that grass we can all share and enjoy. ranchers should also follow the rules and not try to claim it is private.
thats no lie some land owners can be a bit more hard to get along with then others, i know some guys that will let any tom dick n hairy hunt on them n others that throw a fit if u get with in 20 yards of their fence. i love to hunt but ill let a hunter or two on me every now and then if they show common kindness and are respect full,that goes alot farther than catchin em out there n them sayin i didnt think u would mind!!! when i was younger several very kind land owners let me hunt on em, i feel the favor needs to be passed on. not every one hunting on private land should have to pull out the check book. but thats jus my 2cents
i know aroudf here alot of private land gets closed to hunters due to the fact that these so called hunters are shooting cattle. id love to wittness this first hand. takes one idiot to mess things all up.
i guess i dont have a problem with the grazing on public land issue. What really bothers me is the "extreme" ends of both sides of the issue. I too have seen no hunting signs on public lands, and roads closed with no tresspassing on roads open to public use........and I have sure seen my fair share of "slob hunters"....especially in Wisconsin.......shooting game on private lands, leaving junk around, gates open............but i do think most people are reasonable people, rancher and hunter alike. I think that b/c of a few radicals, both rancher and hunter, there seems to be an atmosphere of distrust from both sides. Long term, I think this is detrimental to all parties involved. How do you get the radical ranchers to calm down and the slob hunters to grow up???? Not sure the answer to that, but if we can somehow get by those folks, I think we would have a much better relationship b/w rancher and hunter. There certainly would be less animosity shown toward each side.
I raise seedstock registered Beefmaster cattle on private property with no chance to graze public land. When the cattle graze through my area there are no elk, no deer, and no bear left. There is no food left, absolutely no game left, game is displaced. Cattle are allowed to rub on my Newell Post breaking them. When I complained, I was informed, it is my responsibility to fence the cattle out. I am not going to fence my place, a yard of 1 acre. The cattle are allowed to go through the entire subdivision wrecking anything in their path. These are 1800 type laws not fit for 2012.
On a recent visit to the high country, one mile above my house there was lush forest, animals, deer, antelope, and elk that I could watch. There were cattle nearby on private property but the gates were open and soon everything will change. I want the cattle off public land as well as the treehuggers.
Last year, I watched a rancher for 4 consecutive evenings drive thru a closed road to the backside of an area I was hunting by walking into the area. They would show up at about 3:00 in the evening and leave at dark. Just so happened, I caught them wearing orange one evening. Sure did upset me as I walked the 3+ miles into the hunting area when they misused their grazing rights to go hunting. We spoke with the Forest Service asking for our key to the closed road because it was obvious he wasn't using the access properly. Even spoke with the game warden, which he said he would take care of it. I guess we'll see later this year if our complaining did any good.
Elk avoid water tainted by cattle? I've watched bull elk come into a small pond, where just 45 minutes before 20 head of cattle had watered and crapped and pissed in the pond, and the bull would piss in it, roll around in it and then drink the water. I've also watched bull elk piss in a fresh elk wallow, roll around in it and then drink the water.Quote:
Originally Posted by BKC
i agree everyone work together to make every one have a better experienceQuote:
Originally Posted by Ilovethewest
We have lots of issues with a certain landowners here in MT. It is not unusual to see state or blm land "posted" and the rancher thinking they own it because the lease the grazing rights. There are also some that think because their land blocks of all the easy access to public land that they therefore own the public land. When someone is willing to put in the work and hike hard to access it they act as if you are trespassing.
Another pet peeve of mine. Ranchers who accept federal or state subsidies yet dont let people hunt. If you are going to accept public tax dollars, then you should be required to open up your land to the public for recreation. Huge scam if you ask me and wish it could be addressed legislatively although it never will due to the money the landowners throw at the politicians.