A number of year's ago I was hunting the John Day River at Clarno, Oregon. I was up high and watched a guy watching some deer moving toward him. There were two little fork horn's in the group and he shot both. The first one he gut shot, then shot at the second also gut shooting it. Then he went back to the first and put two more shot's into it without killing it, then one more, deer probally bled to death. Then he started shooting at the second again, two more shot's to kill it.
I went down and talked to the guy. He also was from California. He'd come up to hunt with his dad, from The Dalles, Ore, and he leased private property about 3/4 mi away. They put a chain and a lock on the gate.
When he started leaving, I asked him about the other deer he shot and he dropped the first deer and went right to the second deer. I hiked out and called the gamewarden, also from The Dalles, and took him in to where he could see where the deer had been killed and the camp they were using. Told the warden, Ore State Police, that he was with his dad and they probally already had another tag on the second deer. I was told that if that was the case, he'd write a ticket for borrowing and lending also.
Turn's out that the father was a friend of the dad. The dad had tagged the second deer and the officer wrote one ticket for shooting the second deer, confiscated the second deer then re-validated the dad's tag and walked away. So much for borrowing and lending!
In the same area, there's a campground that is alway's looking like a trash bin after hunter's leave. These are not only non-resident's but state resident's that come from a long way off just to hunt. The resident's in many of these area's such as this really get tired of it. These people bring nothing into our local economy but leave us their trash to clean up. On top of that, they are willing to lay out huge sum's of money to lease up private ranches in the areas. Some year's ago, Cherry Creek Ranch went to a group out of Seattle for $35,000.00. Hay Creek Ranch has now been taken over by some outfitting outfit out of Prineville, Ore. The ranch's up on the Criterion have been leased up by yet another club, out of Califorina.
trespassing is a major problem durning the hunting season's. This is happening where, a few years ago, the average income of area residents was $14,000 per year. We have trouble getting tags, we're left to clean up other's garbage, and people in this area can't compete dollar wise with the big money guy's coming in and leasing everything up.
This is a situtation not likely to change in the near future. Oregon fish and game is only interested in the revenue, and damn little of it goes back into fish and game. Now I see where some non-resident hunter's are complaining about the price of their tag's. Well baby, you brought it on yourself. In time, hunting will be like Europe, a sport only for the wealthy.
