poachers at conastoga

[sully]

A buddy of mine was out at conastoga bow hunting when three rifle hunters with older kids were sneaking out in the grass with rifles. after a while he went and approached them. they stated that they were hunting deer. when he told them they had no business out there they just acted dumb. He was so mad he forgot to get there licence but does remember it was a little white car. before this the car went past another friend of mines place very slow. this was on west denton rd.
Bowhunters be careful out there. I hope these guys get caught

[BigBo]

By no means do I excuse what these pukes were doing, but it sounds like they might have been stupid enough to think that they were doing absolutely nothing wrong. I think most poachers would try to make up some lame excuse. It sounds like these guys just nonchalantly answered when asked what they were doing. Kinda like it was no big deal. Makes me want to take a little cruise out to Conestoga tomorrow after work just to see if these guys are still around. If your buddy saw them later cruising by his place looking for another place to "hunt", you must not have scared them too much. I just want to reiterate what's already been stated. BE CAREFUL! There's a lot of morons out there who have no regard for the law, other people's property, and other people's safety.

[sodaksker]

This post has tweaked my interest. When I first read it, it got me thinking that they were hunting the "youth season" Which is open Sept 15 to Jan 15th. On closer review of the Big Game regs from the handbood on page 12 it says "

Statewide Youth Deer: Valid statewide for any deer AND one antlerless whitetail.
Available to resident and nonresident youth ages 10 to 15. The season dates are Sept. 15-
Jan. 15 with any legal weapon, provided that the season is open for that weapon type."

I could see how that could have been overlooked or misread. I have a youth permit for my boy in SD. I had better go back and read the SD regs to make sure we are doing it correctly. We were planning on hunting South Dakota this weekend for them, thinking that it was open to youths all season with a firearm.

Regardless, it looks like the people in your post are hunting out of season.

[brademan76]

So were there three adults + kids all in a group walking through the grass? Or, a total of three hunters?

[slakline]

First off, I would never confront anyone with a rifle(s) or weapons on their person(s) and question whether or not they were doing something questionable. Getting any info helpful to a properly trained CO would be a better way to go. It's not worth the risk as people are unpredictable in these situations.

[fowlfoolr1979]

My bro-in-law was out bowhunting Connestoga on Sunday eve. and said while he was in his stand that he heard rifle shots going off. He proceeded to get out of his stand and go back to where he had parked and saw an older guy with two highschool aged kids with rifles near a parking area and asked what they were doing? They replied sighting in our deer rifles for next weekend..... Wonder if it was the same group of guys that ruined his deer hunt that night.


Layne

[RuffWater]

At Memphis Sunday evening a guy with two teenagers was sighting in his rifle down the northwest WMA road... Had a target hung right in the middle of the gated off road, right where everyone accesses the WMA to hunt... Very NOT COOL! And Very Dangerous... Not sure if you can 'sight in' your rifle at Memphis, and if you can they were clearly not setup in the right area to do it... White 08/09 Tahoe by the way... Be careful out there guys...

[crosshair]

Dang it layne i was going to tell the adam m saga!! Im telling you guys public land has been a nightmare this bow season. I have hunted stoga for the last 3 years and never has it been this packed.

[uglymike]

Originally Posted by crosshair

Dang it layne i was going to tell the adam m saga!! Im telling you guys public land has been a nightmare this bow season. I have hunted stoga for the last 3 years and never has it been this packed.

Evidently I'm not the only one who has found it next to impossible to get permission to hunt deer in this state.

[columbus_area]

Originally Posted by RuffWater

At Memphis Sunday evening a guy with two teenagers was sighting in his rifle down the northwest WMA road... Had a target hung right in the middle of the gated off road, right where everyone accesses the WMA to hunt... Very NOT COOL! And Very Dangerous... Not sure if you can 'sight in' your rifle at Memphis, and if you can they were clearly not setup in the right area to do it... White 08/09 Tahoe by the way... Be careful out there guys...

We were out hunting memphis Sat. morning. Same thing. guys over in the north area sighting in rifles. Then down the road to the west there was a whole clan of guys doing the same. They had a whole party like thing going on with a camper in a muddy field, 4 wheelers, rifles and people running everywhere. as we were setting on the island trying to work some ducks, some guy and his wife decided it would be a great idea to walk the west bank. Needles to say, ducks don't seem to like a guy wearing a neon yellow sweatshirt with reflectors on a sunny morning.... tried to show them we were there, but it was no matter to them. I understand its public, but I still wouldn't walk in front of a bunch of people trying to hunt. just for my own safety. no way no how.

[HooksnHorns]

I'm afraid it's only going to get worse....sounds like it will be my last year to hunt on the place i've been for the past 13 years. I'm having my first kid in Feb and i wonder what it will be like when he/she is old enough to participate?

[backreeler]

Access to hunting anywhere except on public lands may be even more limited for the average hunter in the "Western states."

I've been reduced to hunting a five-acre patch across the road from where I now live in northcentral Wyoming. I can also usually beg my way on to a private ranch to fill my doe tag(s). I moved here a little more than three years ago after having lived in Nebraska almost all of my previous 56 years.

On the five acres I'm sometimes able to pass-shoot ducks and geese as they travel from roost to the only grain field within five miles of here, and I use my muzzleloader to try and shoot a deer in a fairly confined area with limited shooting lanes.

It's become all about the Benjamins in Wyoming and Montana (from what I read and hear); outfitters are the average resident hunter's worst nightmare, and I'm truly happy that I'm not beginning my hunting career in this atmosphere.

I will put a little frosting on this nasty-tasting cake, though: because we still have open water in nearby ponds I did manage to kill three Canadas late yesterday afternoon, and early this morning I had three deer (two antlered) within range--so it's not all doom and gloom. . .

[HooksnHorns]

Backreeler, what about all the BLM and state ground Wyoming has? i look at a NE vs WY delorme and get incredibly jealous! We are wanting to move to WY next year assuming i can land a different career out there and was really looking forward to the access.

[feathersnfish]

hunting around the public lakes around lincoln is almost worthless. four wheeler tracks everywhere..deer stands put up and left up are not spose to be...but are .ppl with high power rifles sighting them in for the opener in places they should not be .

houses being built along public hunting grounds . the owners yelling at you for being on public ground to close to their fence...i think when you built your house right next to a wma . you would know there will be hunters at some point hunting....they act like your out of line being there...signs being put up on our public hunting grounds saying we can even enter there any more because joe schmo built his house there and dont wanna look at ya .

pawnee lake losing hunting rights to home owners around the lake . where does it end....IT DONT. and will get worse imo .

i hunt ducks only when it gets nasty out...only the true duck hunters are out then. not when so and so gets out of bed at 8am and decides to come crashing in on your set up 50 feet away and sky busts everything in sight.

opening pheasant ...i go after opening weekend and as far south of lincoln as i can get.

opening rifle season for deer...i stay home for two weeks. not wanna end up the thing that shook the brush that might get away if we dont open fire now .

let me tell you ppl..i am doing my best to move as far from lincoln as i can . its sad...i grew up here . i grew up hunting and fishing these areas .now i do my best to go out of my way to stay away from them .