Hunting & Fishing Why can't we have nice things?

[neeltburn]

So this afternoon I grabbed my camera am my fishing gear and headed off to a place local to me to fish. Being 29 years old and thinking back some probably 20 years I remember hearing my uncle and grandad talk about this hole they used to fish. I was very familiar with the property being a public FWA area I hunt. So I set off on my "journey". Once I arrived I see a tent set up on the road I would have to hike back. I thought it was odd but hey maybe the folks just didn't read the No Camping rule that is posted everywhere or any of the FWA rules for that matter. As I pass the illicit camp I see 3 or 4 cases of beer all half full with the other half laying not he ground empty. (You know they will clean up their mess right?) Oh yeah I decided to hike back to hole with only camera to get an idea of what to take back to fish. Once I arrive at the said hole I felt the disappointment shoot through my body. What I remember hearing was just a great fishing hole turned out to be a make shift dump of shorts. Sure there were folks fishing, their kids playing unsupervised around the water, in their van and God only knows what else. Being a Eagle Scout I learned followed and taught the Leave No Trace Outdoor Ethics ( https://lnt.org and can only think I failed at some point. I say this because the place was littered with bait containers, beer cans and it appeared that someone saw fit to kill a snake only for it to rot away on the rocks near by. The whole experience made me almost angry thinking this is WHY WE CANNOT HAVE NICE THINGS. I wish I would have taken pictures to show our Scout Troop but did not. I must say if the folks there fished had lesser means, I can understand you didn't drive a fancy truck or car out fishing for have the latest Abu Rod or reel. But what excuse is it not to pick up your trash? I didn't leave any trash behind. So my question to fellow hiders, what would you do? I must also say I have picked up after others in the past who choose to disrespect our resources. If I wasn't afraid of what would be found it would be a great way for our scouts to get service hours in but I would be scared of what would be found. That and would it do any good? Someone tell me I am not crazy and is this a trend nation wide for Public FWA areas?

 

[-=boone=-]

Know how to track a hippie through the woods? Pick up the granola wrappers...

Seriously, I hunt public land and carry a trash bag with me. I used to get angry about it, now it just makes me sad to see people abuse land that way.

 

[steve123]

They are the same sort that taught their children disrespect for... It's a mentality I'll never understand and the same will be carried on with their children.

Last week I picked up others trash near our campsite for 20 minutes.

 

[coldboremiracle]

I hate seeing that kind of crap happening, and it always seems to be beer cans doesn't it.
I've tried taking things into my own hands before, true story:

Many years ago, my little brother and I went up to the local shooting spot. A place in the foothills where people have gone to shoot for years. When we got there, there was another group of teenagers shooting, we set up in another part of the shooting area, and did our thing. I couldn't help but notice, these kids brought a TV shoot. So I walked over and asked them; "you guys are going to pick all that up right?" To which they responded, yeah we'll clean it up. Well they ran off without cleaning up anything and left garbage strewn all over the place, glass, plastic, empty boxes, etc. well my little brother knew two of the guys from school, and they were brothers. So I got an idea, we gathered up all the garbage we could find, all the glass from the TV, boxes, plastic, everything, and took it to their house in the middle of the night, and deposited all the garbage, glass and all, spread across their front lawn.
I hope their dad found it in the next morning.

That old shooting spot has been closed now for many years.

 

[neeltburn]

I am really glad its not just me that sees this as a problem. I don't know why I thought it would have been well kept, but I was hoping for a nice quite place to fish.I may venture back there during the week before the other folks recover from the previous nights hangover, however I imagine these are the types that do not have a job so I am afraid it will still have activity.

 

[snipe10]

It's cause most people don't give a shit anymore and are just, me me me. My kids will stop or even go out of their way to pick up someone else's trash when in the mountains. I'm so fucking sick of these "entitled ones" that seem to be making up a larger and larger portion of our population every day!

 

[coldboremiracle]

It's cause most people don't give a shit anymore and are just, me me me. My kids will stop or even go out of their way to pick up someone else's trash when in the mountains. I'm so fucking sick of these "entitled ones" that seem to be making up a larger and larger portion of our population every day!

^this

 

[mdesign]

It's the people, not unusual to find that their personal lives are as big a mess and as disorganized as what they leave behind in the woods and at the range.

 

[siscoe308]

I am ashamed to call myself a hunter/ fisherman. I have been steadily growing more and more displeased with this growing minority. The anti hunting/ antigun crowd are given ammunition by the lowlifes that leave behind garage, wound animals, defy public land regulations or walk into a restaurant with their tapco tacticool sks (in a 5xl tshirt because they so disgustingly obese). All of us get lumped in with these bad apples. Its embarrassing. I was recently looking for new private hunting ground for this fall, talking to an older rancher who told me he closed his land to hunters because he was tired of seeing wounded/ lost animals. The worse part is I see no way to reverse this destructive trend.

 

[coldboremiracle]

^I do, public shaming. And lots of it.

 

[Recreational Shooter WA]

It's cause most people don't give a shit anymore and are just, me me me. My kids will stop or even go out of their way to pick up someone else's trash when in the mountains. I'm so fucking sick of these "entitled ones" that seem to be making up a larger and larger portion of our population every day!

I couldn't agree more. I can't stand some of these pieces of $**t that think the world is there to serve them. I saw a perfect example of this last week at a pizza restaurant.

Some punk, and I mean punk kid, with long unkept hair and super tight graffiti pants, walked out of the restaurant as I was pulling in. First off, he just gave me a stare down as he took a deliberately long time to cross the parking lot, stopping to take a drink from his cup in the middle of the parking, causing me to have to stop and wait for him to finish.

He then, without a care in the world, threw his water cup on the ground as he got in his car. Disgusted at what I had just seen, I walked over and picked up his water cup, which actually had soda in it--so he stole the soda--as the restaurant has different cups for water and soda.

Since his window was down, I very calmly told him "hey, don't worry, I don't mind picking up YOUR garbage."

Like a little punk, he just looked at me and said with a big smile "yeah, thanks" and drove off in his POS 1980's Honda Accord.

Not sure if I'm just getting old, or if there is something fundamentally changing, but I would have been ashamed to act that way, even as a teenager.

IMO, part of this ongoing problem has to do with all the entitlement programs our country and states have. I used to work for the state and had to leave because I couldn't stand all the BS. Laziness and apathy are actually rewarded, while hard work isn't. Both in the state jobs and with the "clients" using the programs. I finally resigned because I felt like my job was adding to this exact problem. Turns out it was the best move I ever could have made!

So to those who teach their children real values and take the time to pick up the trash of other's, THANK YOU!

OK, rant over.

 

[Southbreeze]

Marksman, ya shoulda thrown that water glass in his open window. Then taught him to speak a little "asphalt" when he stepped out that miserable Honda (Hop On Nothing Dumb Ass).

I was snorkeling once and made a 60' freedive to pick up a Heineken bottle on the sea floor, took me 3 attempts but I got there. All things that a tirethumping hickory stick can fix with a little application force to the correct foreheads.

I'm feeling a little better now, sitting here in Norway at the minute watching a couple of kids that need their asses kicked, just to make a point. I'm getting too old to slap the shit outta all these little bastaards that need it!

Cheers,
Breeze

Hey CBM, public shaming???? How about some of that Singapore public "caning" on bare ass cheeks? That's what we need for all these insolent little shits that don't realize that a real man will knock their teeth out for some of the shit coming out of their mouths.

 

[neeltburn]

Why can't we have nice things?

Thanks guys really glad to see that folks care about our resources. (i dont want to come across as a tree hugger lib) I just want to see places for future generations to hunt and or fish!

Sent from my IPhone 5S.

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

because people suck and they are sucking more each day.

 

[kytrapper]

Would have been a nice time to call a DNR tip line.............Maybe it would have resulted in an Officer making contact , issuing a summons/citation and the judge requiring the offends to spend 3 or 4 weekends cleaning up the mess...........If that does happen word will get out and your nice area will remain nice for a few more years.........

That may seem like a fairy tale but a in Bell co KY it happened and Cannon Creek Lake stayed in nice shape.

 

[neeltburn]

I actually know the CO of the county personally from Scouts but have misplaced his contact info. Next time I see him I am going to mention it.


Sent from my IPhone 5S.

 

[Smcarroll]

What I did about the people problem was move to a state with 600,000 people and 98,000 square miles of land. Less people means less ignorant assholes.

 

[BoilerUP]

Same deal in the Clark State Forest, especially the "range".

At least they have inmate labor to clean the place up twice a week.

 

[Jungle George]

I spend a couple of weeks on a houseboat on Lake Powell every year. We always come back with 10 or 12 big trash bags of stuff left behind by all the assholes that visit the lake. Golf balls are every where! People play golf on the beaches but don't pick up the balls. And fire work casings are all over the place, and they are illegal on the lake, but no one gives a shit!

Cheers,

George

Sent from my Etch-A-Sketch

 

[Niles Coyote]

I share your distain for trashing the environment and it really burns me when I find it on private property... public property it’s almost expected anymore, at least around these parts. So you got squatters, alcohol, minors... any meth components seen... might be worth calling in a tip.

 

[Dark Angel]

Go to these peoples' home, you will probably see the same or much worse in and a round their houses. If they haven't the decency to keep public areas clean, how much worse their
private spaces?

 

[40xs]

Hav'nt you noticed? Our wonderful homeland is becoming a "third world country".

 

[WaveNature]

People usually hear about good public recreation areas by word of mouth.

Keeping your honey hole on the down low is just as, if not more important than leaving it better than you found it. I've lost more than half of my favorite spots, some to fire, some to expanssion, but mostly to idiots who treat the area like a 5¢ whore.

I hunt and fish alone 98% of the time because most of the people I would trust with locations aren't interested in hunting or fishing.

 

[hlee]

This sounds like the beginning of an Eagle Scout Project...

 

[neeltburn]

This sounds like the beginning of an Eagle Scout Project...

That might a possibility. Actually I like that idea.


Sent from my IPhone 5S.

 

[knapp5356]

Same sort of stuff going on in my area. We have a beautiful lake(spring fed) not 5 miles from my house. The people have just destroyed the landing area, beer bottles everywhere glass all over the place, just makes me sick. When you should here small waves hitting the shore on a windy day all you hear is the clanking of beer bottles. What a shame.

 

[jbell]

I hear ya! I am by no means a tree hugger, but I do love this country and want to preserve it for the future. I am not a pig and do not live in a sty and I am pushing it on my kids hard! I have to tell them to keep their voices down when we are in public, they are getting pretty vocal about the dirt bags in this country. I have one of the nicer homes in my area (its really nothing special, just clean and well kept) and there is some A$$ HOLE who always throws his fast food trash in my yard. It was making my blood boil when I picked it up!! I have thought about setting up a camera to get the ID of the guy, but that would just cause trouble. Instead I just get satisfaction in the fact that all the crap fast food he is eating will be my long term win. So now I think about his congestive heart failure and smile.

I also hike and mountain bike a lot and have all up and down the East coast, picking up trash as I go. But I have to say that Maine is one of the cleaner states that I have been. It just makes the outdoor experience that much better. But the entitled people of this world are drastically increasing in numbers. So it is up to those of us who do give a damn to counter that by setting the example and passing it along to our children and their friends. Keep up the fight guys its worth it!!

 

[socalmarine]

Good to hear you guys make the effort to pick up the trash and carry bags with you to do so. Don't just pick up after yourself, but make an effort to come out with more than you brought in. When I was going to college in Santa Cruz, CA, I used to love hiking through Nisene Marks. Several times I came across hobo camps out there, way tucked away in the park. I would carry in trashbags and a backpack to carry out all that mess. Unbelievable what some a-holes would leave out there, as if it were some sort of personal dump yard. In such a beautiful place I couldn't believe someone would want to damage the area like that.
I always thought Southern California was the worst. My mom just visited us out here in VA and kept commenting how it was so nice to not see piles of garbage on the sides of the roads and highways. That's one nice thing about VA - parks out here seem well maintained and park rangers are actively out and about. Mostly what I do end up picking up out here looks to be candy wrappers or lost toys from little kids. Parents do need to instill in kids the mindfulness to pick up after themselves. Otherwise the states will all look like the big stinky buttcrack of Southern California.