Deer hunting traditions continue but public land limitations are threatening

[Lee Borgersen]

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Deer hunting traditions continue but public land limitations are threatening

Echo editorial


The invasion of the orange hats should arrive in Ely by the end of the week. Look in grocery stores, pick-up trucks, coffee shops and even in the woods for hunters in search of trophy deer.

This may very well be considered as the golden age of deer hunting, with a healthy herd and still enough public land for people to find a place to sit and wait for that big buck to come by.

But the times they are a changing and we've aired our concerns about certain practices of the DNR and the Forest Service that will lead to future problems.

For those who own 40 acres or more, deer hunting is a time of year to gather with family and friends at a hunting shack, play a few hundred games of cards, shiver in a deer stand and hopefully bring home some venison.

For those who hunt public land, there is the continual concern that soon there will be more hunters than there are places to put them and an enjoyable season may or may not be possible.

How can this be with so much county, state and federal land? Simple. By blocking off roads and limiting how many people can hunt a certain area.

This past week we listened to a local hunter as he sat at his kitchen table and voiced his frustration of a public road/portage that had a berm built across it by the DNR.

Two DNR Conservation Officers listened and offered to help but warned him that removing the berm would lead to a ticket and a court appearance.

The berm was erected just days before the 2003 deer hunting season by the DNR. No warning, no clear reason, just a pile of dirt blocking access to motor vehicles.

This story is being played out all across our area and sooner or later, someone's bad temper is going to lead to trouble.

Dirt roads that wander back off the main routes for miles allow for hunters to disperse further into the woods and away from potential conflicts.

When those roads are closed, a road that once held five separate parties becomes a cluster of hunters all parking in the same spot and fighting for a space to hunt.

We've heard some pretty wacky reasons for these road closures, from littering to the Sierra Club line of protecting lynx habitat. Horse puckey.

This is just another attempt to limit the public from using the land it owns. Closing off public roads is a practice that needs to stop right now.

In the BWCAW alone we have over one million acres of land and water without roads and still that isn't enough for some people.

They want more wilderness and will say or do anything to get it. And yet all sides in this debate have basically come to the conclusion that the wilderness we have is a good thing and should be protected. Adding more may be a good fundraiser for the Sierra Club but it's bad public policy.

We'll throw in the changes made by large private landowners to sell or lease their lands that were often used as if they were public lands.

Landowners like Potlatch have the right to sell or lease their land, our concern is with agencies like the DNR and Forest Service that are unable to factor those changes into their land management plans.

Keep your eyes open for the orange hats and coats that will appear in Ely this coming week but also think about the many uses of our public lands. Hunting is one of them, but there are plenty of others as well. Be it hiking, berry-picking, skiing, mountain biking or snowmobiling, all are impacted when public lands have limitations placed on them.

Our hope is for a safe 2006 deer season free from accidents and heated discussions over who was where first. We also would encourage our elected officials to be aware of these issues and carry those concerns on to the agencies that manage public land.

And perhaps most importantly, hunters need to remember that this year they need to come in from the woods and cast a ballot on Tuesday, Nov. 7. That is a tradition that even outweighs deer hunting.

[jigglestick]

Amen to that!

more and more I see roads that used to be open to travel, now gated or bermed.
roads that are open to..."foot travel welcome".
give me a break. what about our fathers and grandfathers who have hunted these areas for years? some of them have a hard enough time walking around the block. they have paid their dues to society and we should hold them in the highest regaurd. to me a sign that says open to foot travel is a slap in the face to those who have limitations.

lets run this argument. if they are closing access to more public land each year, then our taxes should be going down right?

once the anti's have got all of our atv's sitting on moth balls, dont think they wont try to get us to only travel by foot on designated foot paths, as to not disturb their mother, the earth.

dont forget that these public lands that are being closed off are just that, PUBLICLY OWNED!

ooooooh this just torks me!

[Bufflehead]

I'm all for what both of you have said/posted

Where the problem lies is, 4X4 trucks and ATV's using these roads when the roads are soft and muddy. Too many who are not really hunters but more off roaders have wrecked miles and miles of forest/logging roads. I have been places where 4X4 trucks have put ruts a foot and half deep in places. They are to blame for wrecking it for the rest of us. I say trucks are the real leader in damage. ATV's are made to stay on top with high flotation tires and weigh less than a 4th of what a small pickup weighs.

The Snowmobile trail between Jacobson and Hill City had something like $60,000 worth of damage from trucks and ATV's a a couple of years ago, even wrecking one bridge.

You see someone doing damage. Write down any Lic. # you can and turn them in or we will see more of what this post is about..roads being closed off to us. 
 
 Don't blame the DNR...blame those who are wrecking for the rest of us
 

[jigglestick]

I agree that that is to blame for some
of the road closures, but in no means is it the rason for even half of the road closures.
there is an area just north of my home that has been gatted--open--gated--open--gated off and on for years. when I asked the DNR land department about it, they couldn't give me an answer why. they said maybe because they didnt want it to get rutted up by off road vehicles????
that area goes into high gravel based land. the wood in there is cut during the summer and the truck traffic that it sees when the areas are logged is incredible, and no-one has had to come in to fix up the road even after the loggers are done with it.
so, dont feed me that b.s. mister DNR guy.

the old "there's an eagle nest in there" excuse only goes so far with me as well. they only state that the birds need peace and tranquility while nesting their young.
hog wash!
what about the eagle nest along the road side, or on the power poles by the highway?
doesnt seem to bother them.
then how about opening these areas during the non breeding season?
it's like they get their jolly's closing off more and more area.

I agree about damage to the railroad grade/  snowmobile trail and having someone come in and run the dozer upo and down it  couple times. not sure where that turns into $60,000.00 worth of damage though.
it's not like the of roaders take the gravel out with them. it needs to be leveled again, yes, but $60,000? I'll do it for half that
then the other fiftyone weeks of the year I will twiddle my thumbs.
how about this scenario.
if a truck drives in a dead end road and makes ruts. now I'm not talking about roads with homes, I'm talking about forestry type roads.
say they go in and leave ruts. then another guy goes in and leaves ruts, then another guy follows those ruts in. finally one of these guys gets stuck. the trail becomes impassible for trucks. big deal. leave it be. time+ snow and rain, the ruts will heal somewhat and vegetation will grow.
look at old skid trails in the woods. they heal up. where's the hangup?
just something for people to bitch about that's all.
I believe if they are going to gate a road, they should allow people to get a permit to go in. then if trash is going to be found, they know right where to look for the culprit.
also, if the are going to close roads without lowering taxes, then for every mile of road they close, they should open a mile somewhere else.
we are here on earth. no getting around that.
we are going to leave a footprint no getting around that.
anybody who wants to bitch about using public lands and disturbing terra ferma, should not drive on any road made of blacktop or concrete.

[Snowsnake]

Wow dave got ya irked i see. settle down take a pill i don't want to go to a funeral next week during hunting season

I'm an avid hunter,avid offroader (mud trucks) avid atv'er pretty much an avid outdoorsman and there is two side to all of this i agree people should not be ruining land anywhere as we all have the right to public land no matter what our sport

[Bufflehead]

Jig, maybe you should call Danny Kingsly of the Jack Pine Savage snowmobile club in Hill city, and check with him about damages between Hill City and Jacobson and Hill City and Palisade, maybe then you will know more about what your posting. When it comes to what damages were done.

 This year with as Dry as it's been. It's pretty hard to do the same amount of damage as in wet years

[ScottPugh]

I agree with both of you.  Part the DNR and part the few folks ruiing it for the rest of us.  I'm just glad we have family land that has been passed down.  We keep teh trails in tip top shape and make sure to bring out what we brought in. 

This winter they are using our trail to get to the state land to log.  They are even putting up gates so no one can use that trail, which would be illegal anyway since the easiest way in would be through our land.  They can come through the swamp but I think that is privately owned also. 

I have my grandparents to thank for the land I just make sure I keep it as nice as possible and keep the deer herd down. 

[Bufflehead]

 Scott, you are right about the private land thing. In the future, private land is going to be a person's only real get away. We bought 150 acers  near 20 years ago and also bought 20 acers and a hunting cabin about 50 miles from our place. In the years to come, land is going to be like Gold Best investment we ever made

[ScottPugh]

You don't want to know what we can get for our land (not even counting the log cabins).  I can guarantee you one thing there will be NO WAY that land will ever leave our family if I have anything to about it. 

There is just no replacing sitting in the middle of the woods and watching the stars and animals and not hearing anything but a faint truck in the very distance... 

[JohnWester]

this weekend, i'll take some pitcures of what a few @ssholes can do of the trail on my old man's property.  I told him to just put posts up so they don't ride through anymore.  D@mn 4 wheelers!

[Outdoors Junkie]

I can see both sides of this topic.  I hunt on public land by URL.  I have been hunting that area for 22 years.  We are lucky that there aren't too many hunters in that area.  There have been a few 4-wheelers that have tore up logging roads.  A couple of the roads have been closed.  I have a 4-wheeler, but I don't abuse the trails.  So, I can't complain too much.

About 8 years ago, we would take my grandpa (who had a stroke) out to a portable shack by 4-wheeler.  So, he could be part of our hunting group.  Deer hunting was his favorite time of year.  So, if we didn't have a 4-wheeler, we wouldn't have been able to get him out to his spot.  Luckily, the roads were not closed off.  If they would have been, we would have had a big problem with that.