My Disgust in my fellow humans

[flydad&son]

I have been away from shooting for a number of years due to medical challenges. This year I am jumping back in to Pheasant hunting and wanted to get out for a little practice with my oldest son. We headed out yesterday to the Sibald Creek forestry area. We found a secluded spot that was not posted for "No Firearms" to shoot some clays.
When I got out of the truck I could not believe the mess left behind by previous shooters. Empty clay and ammo boxes, garbage, thousands of shell and shotgun casings, discarded pallets and anything else you could imagine. A wide variety of target items tied and left hanging in the trees from balloons to water bottles. I was left sick with disgust for the disrespect of the area.
When we were done we spent about an hour trying to pick up whatever we could and still could only scratch the surface. My philosophy has always been to try and leave it cleaner than you found it.
I know that our friends here are responsible outdoors people and I think that is why we are here. I just don't know what we can do to address this kind of thing.
Sorry for ranting folks but I am just disappointed.
I am not able to do it in the next few months but I plan to get some friends together with a couple trucks and go back in the spring to try an do what we can.

[gman1978]

There is a different breed of loser that has taken up hunting and shooting sports it seems. Glad there are still some good ones left.

[Don_Parsons]

I wish I was from that area as my friend and I would help out.

Don

[Capt. awesome]

Its not just there . The area I go shooting gets a fair bit of traffic and people just seem to leave their junk all over the place. From time to time some of us do clean it up. it seems people are just too lazy and think someone else will clean up their mess.

[wags]

Agreed, not just there. This is how we often spend the first few hours when we arrive at a crown camping spot out west, especially along the FTR - cleaning up the previous garbage, bullet shells, broken glass, etc, etc, etc.

The last time was awesome since it was several dirty diapers and..uuhhh....women stuff, along with the usual garbage left behind.

Nice of you to put in some effort to clean up after the slobs.

Cheers

[Stinky Buffalo]

Good on you for cleaning up!

Some people likely weren't raised that way - it's maddening. I've been trying to teach the kids to pick up spent shells and targets when we go out. It's a good habit to get into.

[obsessed1]

People are pigs. Most of the crown land area that is easy access in my area is used as a dumping spot for all types. Drywall, tvs, computers, old campers, cars, pallets, are just dumped and left. Cases, hulls, clays, ammo boxes, clay boxes, bottles ,and cans are left where they fall. What the heck has happened to our society??? Makes my blood boil

[elkhunter11]

It may not be posted off limits for target shooting yet,l but if that keeps up, it likely will be soon.

[YoteStopper]

Originally Posted by gman1978

There is a different breed of loser that has taken up hunting and shooting sports it seems. Glad there are still some good ones left.

About sums it up.

[bobtodrick]

Not just hunting.
It seems it's a societal problem. I've worked at the same place for 25 years. In that time I've noticed a deterioration in 'humans'. Young people today (and by young I mean under 30) seem far more likely to not clean up after themselves.
Things like not making a fresh pot of coffee when they take the last cup..or not putting on a new roll of TP when the replacements are under the bathroom sink.
I know it's not all of them...but sometimes it feels like I'm babysitting them.

[flydad&son]

We gang thanks for bearing out what I was feeling. We all do our best.... just can't fix stupid I guess.... Have a great fall season.

[Don_Parsons]

I started my spring shooting season just North of Rocky Mountain House at one of the last un-fenced gravel pits.

I thought I was in a 3rd world country,,, truck loads of garbage, washers, driers, fridges and stoves everywhere.

Old rotted out pig barn wood discarded out there to.
I'm guessing there would 5 to 7 One-ton truck loads out there.

We cleaned up the majority of it.
The MD is having a meeting this fall to deal with it since its been on going for 10 + years now.
I joined a shooting range after that.

Sad since its along ways away from any ones dwelling and is the front side of crown land,,, easy access to stuff back there.

Only takes 1 or 2 to wreck it for the rest,,, l'm sure a few of us remember the picture in the Alberta Out Door Life magazine about 4 years ago of some folks that left a huge pile of garbage at a crown land camp site after the May 24th long weekend,,, well it's just north of the pit that is the new staging grounds for the clowns to mess up.

Many of our S&M members are on year 3 of proactive crown land clean up's,,, a few old campers, trailers and burned out cars and trucks have been removed from our crown lands. Many of the old timers have been doing this long before the younger folks joined in.

If we wish to keep areas open, then it's wize too pitch in when we can.

Don

[lmtada]

I witnessed a couple of these dudes shooting up abandoned car on oil field lease. Then torching it. It wasn't their car. I asked them would you do this to your car? They were from SE BC area.

[curtz]

It's sickening how people leave there garbage, would love to find them and dump it in there front yards. Good on you guys for cleaning up.

[Justfishin73]

Thats a shame. You take out what you brought in, rule #1. My boy knows as soon as the trigger locks go in, the trash bag comes out. Should be as you found it.

Good on you though, everytime my boy asks why we are picking up other people's trash, I just ask him if he wants to come back to it next time. He gets it now.

[treeroot]

Originally Posted by gman1978

There is a different breed of loser that has taken up hunting and shooting sports it seems. Glad there are still some good ones left.

I'm pretty sure you can thank TV for this "different breed"


I swear hunting, fishing and trapping was better off before they made TV shows about it. Now every yahoo wants to do it.

[wildwoods]

Originally Posted by treeroot

I'm pretty sure you can thank TV for this "different breed"


I swear hunting, fishing and trapping was better off before they made TV shows about it. Now every yahoo wants to do it.

Yep pretty much. Everyone and their dog has a YouTube channel. Looking for views and subscribers constantly.

[huntinstuff]

It extends beyond the outdoors

Walk into a hunting store or a hardware store and look around.....

Coffee cups on shelves, product opened and scattered throughout the place.....

Peeing on the seat/floor of the washrooms

Truly, some "outdoorsmen/women" are the biggest pigs on Earth.

Women are as bad as guys. Sometimes worse.

It's the epidemic of lack of respect for others. Yet, these pigs are the first to cry foul if something doesn't go their way.

Ive looked at the same dilapidated trailer on crown land for years. This year, Im gonna burn it down. And Im gonna haul the remains to the nearby dump. F&W wont do it, so I will.

And no. It's not a trappers home or anything. It was left by slob hunters and abandoned.

[bergman]

Flydad - when you head in the spring for a clean up, please post it here and/or send me a pm.

I bet you would be surprised with the amount of help you get from people on the forum. I will gladly come out for an "AOF" cleanup day.

[Mr Conservation]

Lots of this behaviour on Vancouver Island Too easy to dump your garbage on private or public land versus taking it to the transfer station or landfill. I think one of the big reasons for this behaviour is that you have to pay when you take your garbage to the transfer station or landfill. No cost (unless you get caught) when dumping on private or public land.

While there are areas where "outdoorsmen" are largely to blame, many of the places are the result of locals dumping their garbage. Why pay to dispose of your garbage when you can just dump it somewhere else? Another big issue is the "homeless camps". The mess left behind after the homeless people move on can be substantial, leaving you and me, the taxpayer, paying the cleanup costs - just look at the cost of cleanup and remediation from the camp adjacent to the Victoria court house

Several years ago there was an anti logging protest at Cathedral Grove near Port Alberni. The protesters didn't want any of the remaining old growth trees cut (a position in which I was in agreement with). When the protest finally ended, it took numerous truck loads to clean up the mess these "environmentalists" left behind

Organized "clean ups" sponsored and led by fish and game clubs, and with the assistance of local governments, and covered by the media, can help put a dent in the problem (I don't think the problem will ever be solved). It is also good public relations for outdoorsmen.

If you witness this type of incident, get licence numbers, vehicle descriptions, suspect descriptions etc, and report it to Fish and Wildlife, Conservation Officer Service, RCMP. While can you do it anonymously, it helps when you can provide a statement, or testify in court against the offenders.

Mr Conservation

[58thecat]

Those are the same people with the same mentality that grab fast food and discard the wrappers etc out the windows...just take a look along the roads etc...spills over into the woods too

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by treeroot

I'm pretty sure you can thank TV for this "different breed"
I swear hunting, fishing and trapping was better off before they made TV shows about it. Now every yahoo wants to do it.

The media and TV shows definitely bring out the dreamers, romanticists and those with nothing to lose. A proven example is when the gold mining shows came on TV all of a sudden the Yukon and Alaska had a influx of greenhorns coming there to mine. Caused problems with water permits and such. And most greenhorns don't have the money or backing to seriously mine.

As far as hunting and trapping... I bet if a person looked at the hunting draw and licensing system, statistics would show that their was a huge influx of new 'hunters and trappers' applying for hunting draws and licences a year or two after all the hunting and trapping shows started to be aired on TV channels dedicated to the outdoors. The internet beast is a virtual distortion of many realities.

We all need to clean up after the slobs. We allow them to be part of the human tribe. Thanks to everyone who makes the effort to clean up and keep our outdoors clean.

[bosshog]

Originally Posted by flydad&son

I am not able to do it in the next few months but I plan to get some friends together with a couple trucks and go back in the spring to try an do what we can.

Would be in as well to help out. Saw similar mess out in Waiprous area. Took what I had room for but still a ton of mess left.

[Jalan]

I've shared shooting locations a couple times, amazingly a few weeks after sharing there is garbage and trash all over a place that used to never get trash.

After homestead shut down it didn't take long for shells and trash to show up around mesa butte area, and then not long after shooting getting shut down completely.

Still remember taking my coworker out to Mesa Butte shooting clays for a few weekends, each time there was more and more casings on the ground, and not from us.

[243 wild cat]

Originally Posted by flydad&son

I have been away from shooting for a number of years due to medical challenges. This year I am jumping back in to Pheasant hunting and wanted to get out for a little practice with my oldest son. We headed out yesterday to the Sibald Creek forestry area. We found a secluded spot that was not posted for "No Firearms" to shoot some clays.
When I got out of the truck I could not believe the mess left behind by previous shooters. Empty clay and ammo boxes, garbage, thousands of shell and shotgun casings, discarded pallets and anything else you could imagine. A wide variety of target items tied and left hanging in the trees from balloons to water bottles. I was left sick with disgust for the disrespect of the area.
When we were done we spent about an hour trying to pick up whatever we could and still could only scratch the surface. My philosophy has always been to try and leave it cleaner than you found it.
I know that our friends here are responsible outdoors people and I think that is why we are here. I just don't know what we can do to address this kind of thing.
Sorry for ranting folks but I am just disappointed.
I am not able to do it in the next few months but I plan to get some friends together with a couple trucks and go back in the spring to try an do what we can.

I have seen the same thing its sad state of people. My philosophy has always been to try and leave it cleaner than you found it too. And if you see it done to pick up as much as you can and find out where they live and dump it on their place with a how you like it **** head! Think about it next time

[243 wild cat]

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

It extends beyond the outdoors

Walk into a hunting store or a hardware store and look around.....

Coffee cups on shelves, product opened and scattered throughout the place.....

Peeing on the seat/floor of the washrooms

Truly, some "outdoorsmen/women" are the biggest pigs on Earth.

Women are as bad as guys. Sometimes worse.

It's the epidemic of lack of respect for others. Yet, these pigs are the first to cry foul if something doesn't go their way.

Ive looked at the same dilapidated trailer on crown land for years. This year, Im gonna burn it down. And Im gonna haul the remains to the nearby dump. F&W wont do it, so I will.

And no. It's not a trappers home or anything. It was left by slob hunters and abandoned.

Find a plate # then who owns it dump it on their place!