An etiquette question

[5MilesBack]

Is archery hunting for elk somehow more important than grouse hunting?

Well duh.

 

[suda0402]

We have shotguns in the side x side when we are elk hunting. If we are in between spots driving around and run into grouse, we will shoot them or at least try to. Shot six grouse two weeks ago and it didn't hurt our elk hunt or anyone elses that I know of.

 

[IdahoElk]

If you're Elk hunting where a guy with a dog is Grouse hunting he's doing you a favor by making you go somewhere else.
We all have equal access to enjoy the woods.

 

[dancyr3]

No issues, its public land and it should be used by the public. Having said that, we must all respect each other and hunts. I would never hunt into a basin where I saw elk hunters, if I did I would back out as to not disrupt their hunt. Do what you would want them to do to you.

 

[Wellingtontx]

Non-issue. Public land means public. Knock yourself out bird hunting.

 

[Steve300xcw]

This was sparked by a Facebook debate, which I know is the healthiest and most productive platform to debate on.

It did make me wonder if I am in the minority. Here is the gist:

As an archery elk hunter would you think it is bad etiquette, disrespectful or rude for a guy to grouse hunt with a shotgun in the elk woods during a open archery elk hunt? I am not talking barging into bugling bulls or knowingly blowing up hunts. Just simply grouse hunting with a shotgun and a dog?

My personal stance is, who gives a f***. It's public land and both seasons are open at the same time and I have way more things to worry about that some guy shooting a few grouse and potentially spooking elk or making them "go quiet" with a shotgun shot.

What are your thoughts?

I live in an OTC unit. Shoot,hunt,fish, dirt bike and just in general screw around the woods quite a bit. If I stayed at home during every season that I wasnt hunting. I would be stuck inside for most of the year.

While I'm not going to intentionally mess up somebodies hunt. I am still going to go about my day, and do what I want to do.

Why shouldnt the elk hunters give you room while bird hunting????

 

[dtrkyman]

I was grouse hunting a couple years back, parked where nobody was, got into some bugling bulls and followed them around for a couple hrs., not an elk hunter to be found!

Opener for muzzle loader season.

 

[trophyhill]

We have shotguns in the side x side when we are elk hunting. If we are in between spots driving around and run into grouse, we will shoot them or at least try to. Shot six grouse two weeks ago and it didn't hurt our elk hunt or anyone elses that I know of.

If guys are complaining about grouse hunters, they are most definitely hunting in the wrong places. Forest Roads and ATV trails.......

 

[jkilburg]

We ran into a guy grouse hunting when hiking up the mountain and he kindly let us pass by and stuck to the trail nearest to his truck. Heard a couple shots but that was it.


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[elkhog]

If I have a archery elk tag and see a grouse I become a grouse hunter ! Sure it ok . Grouse eat great.

 

[chindits]

I believe there is such thing as a once in a lifetime grouse hunt for some people.

He’s going for the GOAL

 

[Steve300xcw]

I believe there is such thing as a once in a lifetime grouse hunt for some people.

When its a good hatch. And birds are flushin in range and in the right places.....I think you might be right.

 

[chukar_chaser]

If someone is a dick, people won’t like them. Being a dick is usually a universal condition, so their wife knows it, their kids know it, their friends know it, and the strangers around them know it. If a hunter can’t figure out how to be polite in public, the internet isn’t going to fix that. We teach our kids how to not be dicks and it helps them in all aspects of their life.

I don’t think you realize or understand how passionate bird hunters are. I have driven 19 hours one way to chase Mearns quail. For me that was a once in a lifetime trip during a good hatch year. Elk hunters are not the only passionate hunters out there. If being “polite” means not hunting my dog during any big game season, count me as an asshole! In Idaho there are big game seasons going on all during upland season, so according to you we should all sell our dogs to be “polite” to big game hunters….

 

[BA_Crosho]

There's a certain depth to bird hunting that goes beyond the simple act of pursuing game. It's a quiet meditation, a way of stepping outside the rush of life and into the stillness of the natural world. As Thoreau once said, "We need the tonic of wildness." Out there, in the solitude of the hunt, it’s not about the bird. It's about being fully present, immersed in the wind, the earth, the flight of something wild.

Birds, with their freedom and grace, remind us of what we seek but often can't name. "The aim of life is to live," said Camus, "and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware." When we hunt, we tune into that awareness—the pull of something primal and ancient, where the line between hunter and hunted blurs, and we're reminded of our place in the larger cycle.

 

[TaperPin]

I don’t think you realize or understand how passionate bird hunters are. I have driven 19 hours one way to chase Mearns quail. For me that was a once in a lifetime trip during a good hatch year. Elk hunters are not the only passionate hunters out there. If being “polite” means not hunting my dog during any big game season, count me as an asshole! In Idaho there are big game seasons going on all during upland season, so according to you we should all sell our dogs to be “polite” to big game hunters….

The question doesn’t have anything to do with how passionate someone is or what license someone has. If you’re bird hunting and an elk hunter comes along he shouldn’t expect you to stop. What I see are established camps that are obviously archery elk hunters, and guys pulling up right on top of them. Again, it’s about having a little respect and understanding what’s acceptable and what’s not. If you don’t know you don’t know.

 

[rclouse79]

If were king of Fish and Game I would make September archery only for grouse. Since I am not, you get what you get and don’t throw a fit.

 

[Vabaseball10]

Whose hunt is more correct he’s legal I’m legal he’s good to go. Why would he need to wait to hunt in a legal season just so I can hunt

 

[tkhuntsman]

This was sparked by a Facebook debate, which I know is the healthiest and most productive platform to debate on.

It did make me wonder if I am in the minority. Here is the gist:

As an archery elk hunter would you think it is bad etiquette, disrespectful or rude for a guy to grouse hunt with a shotgun in the elk woods during a open archery elk hunt? I am not talking barging into bugling bulls or knowingly blowing up hunts. Just simply grouse hunting with a shotgun and a dog?

My personal stance is, who gives a f***. It's public land and both seasons are open at the same time and I have way more things to worry about that some guy shooting a few grouse and potentially spooking elk or making them "go quiet" with a shotgun shot.

What are your thoughts?

He has as much right to be there as anybody else. Yes I have heard grouse hunters shooting in the same drainage I was elk hunting. No it had no impact on my hunt. I to have been known to walk a logging road in search of mountain chicken.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Again, it’s about having a little respect and understanding what’s acceptable and what’s not. If you don’t know you don’t know.

And you never have answered my question.