Do you say something or just roll your eyes?

tynimiller · September 16, 2011, 07:14 PM

So I was at Walmart earlier tonight and low and behold it's one of the few that guns are coming back to...and that my friends is when this happened:

-Me, standing at the shotgun stand turning it slowly looking at the prices, more or less just out of curiosity...you know trying to itch that itch we all have.

-Guy at near by rifle rack: "Excuse me, you hunt deer much?"

-Me: "Yeah, as much as I can every year."

-Guy: "Which would you recommend the .270 or the 30-06?"

-Me: "Well I'm more of the bowhunter type, but here in Indiana's firearm season if I do hunt with a gun I use a muzzleloader."

-Guy: "Well I wasn't happy with my .243 last year, wounded 3 deer last season."

-Me: "That sucks, where were you hunting?"

-Guy: "Oh just down the road a ways actually on County Road -----"

Okay at this moment what do you do? This guy clearly broke rules,rifles illegal in Indiana no matter when, wounded deer and was planning on doing it again this season now!!!!

I'll be honest I was nice but I kinda read him the riot act. To which he got extremely defensive and stated I needed to chill out. He stated at one point, "It's up tight hunter's like you who ruin it for all of us?"

To which I responded, "You've got to be kidding me?! You're the one illegally hunting, using rifles during bow season (learned this through the fact he said he wounded one in October) and have absolutely no respect for the animal you hunt or the other hunters you cast a idiot shadow over. It's because of hunters like you that all of us real hunters have to put up with people attacking us! Because idiots like you take to the woods every single year!"

Now it may have been slightly different but that's what was said exactly I'm pretty sure. Have any of you experienced this at a gun store or out inter-mingling with other "hunters"?

okiewita40 · September 16, 2011, 07:27 PM

If it had been me. I would have been a lot more rude than you were. Besides I would have told him that he had no business hunting anything. After that I would have probably told him that if I ever caught him hunting I would shove his rifle where the sun doesn't shine.

bswiv · September 16, 2011, 07:45 PM

I feel your pain.

If we let folks like that define us we are lost!

Don't know if SHAME works in this society any more as a molder of behavior but he certainly needed to be SHAMED......

Pahoo · September 16, 2011, 07:51 PM

I usually ask a bunch of questions that reflect their ignorant ways then let them know what I truly feel and it can get a bit ugly. ....

Be Safe !!!

Discern · September 17, 2011, 12:22 AM

Even when we are upset, we all need to keep our emotions in check. Did he do things that were wrong? Yes, based on what you have said. Could you have handled it better? IMO, yes, based on what you have said.

When I was growing up and learning I did things that were wrong and stupid, but my dad never lost it. Instead he corrected and taught. IMO, responses should be different for someone who has not been taught and wants to learn (he was asking) vs. those who know better but refuse to do what is right. How about showing him the rules from the hunting regs book at the counter, suggesting he gets a book so he can read and understand the hunting regs, suggesting he find a mentor (even suggesting someone you know if possible), suggesting he joins a rifle club, suggesting he takes a rifle course (NRA Basic Rifle Course would be a good one). He may have used the wrong bullet or did not have good bullet placement. It appears he was trying (maybe not the proper way) to take actions to prevent what he had done before. There was an opportunity to help him become a knowledgeable and ethical hunter, and we need to take advantage of those opportunities.

Would you have handled it any differently if he was a bow hunter? Just asking.

Sarge · September 17, 2011, 12:30 AM

BS talk. Blow it off, forget it and go home.

jimbob86 · September 17, 2011, 01:21 AM

Granted, slob hunters are the enemy.

So destroy your enemy by making a friend of him.

I like the idea of asking him questions that expose his ...... problems.

"You do know that October is bow season, right? And the fine is so not worth waiting 2 weeks (or however long)?"

You know they run stings with robo-deer on roads, right? And that the fine is ........"

"Where did you sight the rifle on at?" "What range do you practice at?" "You know you could save quite a bit on practice ammo by loading your own......."

You get more flies with honey than vinegar.

jgcoastie · September 17, 2011, 02:59 AM

Unless you're willing to come to blows over it and figure out who's right by who's left, handle future encounters similar to what jimbob suggested.

tynimiller · September 17, 2011, 07:16 AM

Discern...valid question about the bowhunter thing. I will say that bowhunters have kinda of a brotherhood for sure, but my allegience stops at any illegal activity. I'd like to think it wouldn't have matter 100% whether he was a bow hunter, ML hunter, shotgun or rifle. I know I'm a bow before gun type guy, but not everybody rolls like that.

I do wish I hadn't "blown up" slightly and maybe guilted him into hopefully checking his behavior and illegal hunting tactics, but when he said I was the problem for hunters I was done with him to be honest: "Stupidity at a point stops being logical" as my grandpa used to say.

No one will accuse me of being one of the bad apples, no one. I strive every year to brush up on better techniques, practice shooting every weapon I plan on using and practice proper deer management.

I guess the one thing I should have added was this guy was clearly older than me, although I'm quite young still at 25, he was closer to 40. I guess I'm guilty of just assuming he knew better and just didn't care. Especially when he stated the whole "it's up tight hunters like you..." line.

Art Eatman · September 17, 2011, 08:09 AM

I'm not sure what I would have done. However, based on what he admitted, I'd have to figure that he was just too bleeping stupid to be able to learn much, regardless of efforts at polite explanations...

Kreyzhorse · September 17, 2011, 09:08 AM

I'd have walked off and let Darwin take care of it....

shortwave · September 17, 2011, 09:36 AM

Don't know the laws in Indiana as far as poaching goes, but in Ohio, they catch you poaching and you'll loose bigtime. Everything you have on your person including the vehicle your in, you can count on as gone....that doesn't include the fines , possible jail time and never again being allowed to purchase hunting/fishing license.

I like the idea of 'going over to the counter and getting him a copy of the hunting regs' . Along with asking him the value of the vehicle he hunts out of...if he uses a quad and those type of questions , letting him know just what that deer he's poaching will cost him.

Course, if he's that dumb to openly admit poaching to a perfect stranger in the middle of Wally World, I'd have to think either he was BS'ing you, is an anti-hunter just telling you this to see your reaction or belongs on "The Worlds Dumbest Criminals" show.

hooligan1 · September 17, 2011, 09:41 AM

Some people are just thick, and it's hard but we must lead even thick people through the fog. Maybe he really was an anti hunter checking to see exactly the way you felt........ Don't be suprised at what lenghts people will take to dump on us!

Daryl · September 17, 2011, 01:01 PM

I'd have said something like, "Well, if you can't shoot a .243 accurately enough to kill a deer, what makes you think a harder kicking rifle will help your shooting skills?"

Then I might have mentioned that rifles were illegal to hunt deer with there, but that's not a problem in my state.

Daryl

jimbob86 · September 17, 2011, 05:12 PM

Quote:

I'd have walked off and let Darwin take care of it....

Darwin can cause a lot of collateral damage, at least in the immediate term: the life you save may be your own!

Quote:

"Well, if you can't shoot a .243 accurately enough to kill a deer, what makes you think a harder kicking rifle will help your shooting skills?"

This is constructive criticism, and if the guy could grok that, there is hope.

shootniron · September 17, 2011, 05:21 PM

He was probably shooting bull about the whole thing...may have never been hunting.

Cowboy_mo · September 18, 2011, 12:58 PM

The "teacher" in me would have to try and inform the guy he was hunting illegally and the consequences of his actions. I would have tried to do that without demeaning his actions. Now, if he wanted to argue, I would have to give him my very best 'WHATEVER' and walked away. If the guy was truly trying to learn, that is one thing. If not, I always remember Ron White and "you just can't fix stupid".

x3m · September 18, 2011, 01:16 PM

being me I would have made friends with him , found out where and when he was going to hunt again and called the cops

with a little insider information. The arrogance he has talking about wounding an animal , butchers lke him should not be allowed to shoot at animals.

publius · September 18, 2011, 09:01 PM

I would have asked him where he hit them with his .243 then told him that I had killed dozens with my .243 but was too afraid to use it in Indiana because rifles are illegal for hunting.

September 16, 2011, 07:14 PM	#1
tynimiller Senior Member Join Date: December 21, 2010 Location: Osceola, IN Posts: 258	Do you say something or just roll your eyes? So I was at Walmart earlier tonight and low and behold it's one of the few that guns are coming back to...and that my friends is when this happened: -Me, standing at the shotgun stand turning it slowly looking at the prices, more or less just out of curiosity...you know trying to itch that itch we all have. -Guy at near by rifle rack: "Excuse me, you hunt deer much?" -Me: "Yeah, as much as I can every year." -Guy: "Which would you recommend the .270 or the 30-06?" -Me: "Well I'm more of the bowhunter type, but here in Indiana's firearm season if I do hunt with a gun I use a muzzleloader." -Guy: "Well I wasn't happy with my .243 last year, wounded 3 deer last season." -Me: "That sucks, where were you hunting?" -Guy: "Oh just down the road a ways actually on County Road -----" Okay at this moment what do you do? This guy clearly broke rules,rifles illegal in Indiana no matter when, wounded deer and was planning on doing it again this season now!!!! I'll be honest I was nice but I kinda read him the riot act. To which he got extremely defensive and stated I needed to chill out. He stated at one point, "It's up tight hunter's like you who ruin it for all of us?" To which I responded, "You've got to be kidding me?! You're the one illegally hunting, using rifles during bow season (learned this through the fact he said he wounded one in October) and have absolutely no respect for the animal you hunt or the other hunters you cast a idiot shadow over. It's because of hunters like you that all of us real hunters have to put up with people attacking us! Because idiots like you take to the woods every single year!" Now it may have been slightly different but that's what was said exactly I'm pretty sure. Have any of you experienced this at a gun store or out inter-mingling with other "hunters"? __________________ ~ONLY TWO DEFINING FORCES HAVE EVER OFFERED TO DIE FOR ME (you), JESUS CHRIST AND THE AMERICAN G.I. ONE DIED FOR MY (your) SOUL, THE OTHER FOR YOUR FREEDOM!~ Last edited by tynimiller; September 17, 2011 at 08:34 AM.

September 16, 2011, 07:27 PM	#2
okiewita40 Senior Member Join Date: June 11, 2007 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 409	If it had been me. I would have been a lot more rude than you were. Besides I would have told him that he had no business hunting anything. After that I would have probably told him that if I ever caught him hunting I would shove his rifle where the sun doesn't shine. __________________ What on god's green earth do you think your doing?

September 16, 2011, 07:51 PM	#4
Pahoo Senior Member Join Date: February 16, 2006 Location: IOWA Posts: 8,783	We are all connected I usually ask a bunch of questions that reflect their ignorant ways then let them know what I truly feel and it can get a bit ugly. .... Be Safe !!! __________________ 'Fundamental truths' are easy to recognize because they are verified daily through simple observation and thus, require no testing.

September 17, 2011, 12:30 AM	#6
Sarge Senior Member Join Date: May 12, 2002 Location: MO Posts: 5,457	BS talk. Blow it off, forget it and go home. __________________ People were smarter before the Internet, or imbeciles were harder to notice.

September 17, 2011, 02:59 AM	#8
jgcoastie Senior Member Join Date: February 15, 2009 Location: Kodiak, Alaska Posts: 2,118	Unless you're willing to come to blows over it and figure out who's right by who's left, handle future encounters similar to what jimbob suggested. __________________ "To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." -Richard Henry Lee, Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, initiator of the Declaration of Independence, and member of the first Senate, which passed the Bill of Rights.

September 16, 2011, 07:45 PM	#3
bswiv Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Location: NE FL....... Posts: 1,081	I feel your pain. If we let folks like that define us we are lost! Don't know if SHAME works in this society any more as a molder of behavior but he certainly needed to be SHAMED......

September 17, 2011, 12:22 AM	#5
Discern Senior Member Join Date: July 30, 2011 Posts: 471	Even when we are upset, we all need to keep our emotions in check. Did he do things that were wrong? Yes, based on what you have said. Could you have handled it better? IMO, yes, based on what you have said. When I was growing up and learning I did things that were wrong and stupid, but my dad never lost it. Instead he corrected and taught. IMO, responses should be different for someone who has not been taught and wants to learn (he was asking) vs. those who know better but refuse to do what is right. How about showing him the rules from the hunting regs book at the counter, suggesting he gets a book so he can read and understand the hunting regs, suggesting he find a mentor (even suggesting someone you know if possible), suggesting he joins a rifle club, suggesting he takes a rifle course (NRA Basic Rifle Course would be a good one). He may have used the wrong bullet or did not have good bullet placement. It appears he was trying (maybe not the proper way) to take actions to prevent what he had done before. There was an opportunity to help him become a knowledgeable and ethical hunter, and we need to take advantage of those opportunities. Would you have handled it any differently if he was a bow hunter? Just asking.

September 17, 2011, 01:21 AM	#7
jimbob86 Junior member Join Date: October 4, 2007 Location: All the way to NEBRASKA Posts: 8,722	Granted, slob hunters are the enemy. So destroy your enemy by making a friend of him. I like the idea of asking him questions that expose his ...... problems. "You do know that October is bow season, right? And the fine is so not worth waiting 2 weeks (or however long)?" You know they run stings with robo-deer on roads, right? And that the fine is ........" "Where did you sight the rifle on at?" "What range do you practice at?" "You know you could save quite a bit on practice ammo by loading your own......." You get more flies with honey than vinegar.

September 17, 2011, 07:16 AM	#9
tynimiller Senior Member Join Date: December 21, 2010 Location: Osceola, IN Posts: 258	Discern...valid question about the bowhunter thing. I will say that bowhunters have kinda of a brotherhood for sure, but my allegience stops at any illegal activity. I'd like to think it wouldn't have matter 100% whether he was a bow hunter, ML hunter, shotgun or rifle. I know I'm a bow before gun type guy, but not everybody rolls like that. I do wish I hadn't "blown up" slightly and maybe guilted him into hopefully checking his behavior and illegal hunting tactics, but when he said I was the problem for hunters I was done with him to be honest: "Stupidity at a point stops being logical" as my grandpa used to say. No one will accuse me of being one of the bad apples, no one. I strive every year to brush up on better techniques, practice shooting every weapon I plan on using and practice proper deer management. I guess the one thing I should have added was this guy was clearly older than me, although I'm quite young still at 25, he was closer to 40. I guess I'm guilty of just assuming he knew better and just didn't care. Especially when he stated the whole "it's up tight hunters like you..." line. __________________ ~ONLY TWO DEFINING FORCES HAVE EVER OFFERED TO DIE FOR ME (you), JESUS CHRIST AND THE AMERICAN G.I. ONE DIED FOR MY (your) SOUL, THE OTHER FOR YOUR FREEDOM!~

September 17, 2011, 08:09 AM	#10
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	I'm not sure what I would have done. However, based on what he admitted, I'd have to figure that he was just too bleeping stupid to be able to learn much, regardless of efforts at polite explanations...

September 17, 2011, 09:08 AM	#11
Kreyzhorse Senior Member Join Date: April 12, 2006 Location: NKY Posts: 12,463	I'd have walked off and let Darwin take care of it.... __________________ "He who laughs last, laughs dead." Homer Simpson

September 17, 2011, 09:36 AM	#12
shortwave Senior Member Join Date: December 17, 2007 Location: SOUTHEAST, OHIO Posts: 5,970	Don't know the laws in Indiana as far as poaching goes, but in Ohio, they catch you poaching and you'll loose bigtime. Everything you have on your person including the vehicle your in, you can count on as gone....that doesn't include the fines , possible jail time and never again being allowed to purchase hunting/fishing license. I like the idea of 'going over to the counter and getting him a copy of the hunting regs' . Along with asking him the value of the vehicle he hunts out of...if he uses a quad and those type of questions , letting him know just what that deer he's poaching will cost him. Course, if he's that dumb to openly admit poaching to a perfect stranger in the middle of Wally World, I'd have to think either he was BS'ing you, is an anti-hunter just telling you this to see your reaction or belongs on "The Worlds Dumbest Criminals" show.

September 17, 2011, 09:41 AM	#13
hooligan1 Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 2010 Location: Independence Missouri Posts: 4,585	Some people are just thick, and it's hard but we must lead even thick people through the fog. Maybe he really was an anti hunter checking to see exactly the way you felt........ Don't be suprised at what lenghts people will take to dump on us! __________________ Keep your Axe sharp and your powder dry.

September 17, 2011, 01:01 PM	#14
Daryl Senior Member Join Date: July 11, 2008 Posts: 2,350	I'd have said something like, "Well, if you can't shoot a .243 accurately enough to kill a deer, what makes you think a harder kicking rifle will help your shooting skills?" Then I might have mentioned that rifles were illegal to hunt deer with there, but that's not a problem in my state. Daryl

September 17, 2011, 05:21 PM	#16
shootniron Senior Member Join Date: April 16, 2011 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,599	He was probably shooting bull about the whole thing...may have never been hunting.

September 18, 2011, 12:58 PM	#17
Cowboy_mo Senior Member Join Date: June 23, 2010 Location: Missouri Posts: 1,039	The "teacher" in me would have to try and inform the guy he was hunting illegally and the consequences of his actions. I would have tried to do that without demeaning his actions. Now, if he wanted to argue, I would have to give him my very best 'WHATEVER' and walked away. If the guy was truly trying to learn, that is one thing. If not, I always remember Ron White and "you just can't fix stupid".

September 18, 2011, 01:16 PM	#18
x3m Member Join Date: September 8, 2011 Posts: 38	being me I would have made friends with him , found out where and when he was going to hunt again and called the cops with a little insider information. The arrogance he has talking about wounding an animal , butchers lke him should not be allowed to shoot at animals.

September 18, 2011, 09:01 PM	#19
publius Senior Member Join Date: January 25, 2005 Location: Mississippi/Texas Posts: 2,505	I would have asked him where he hit them with his .243 then told him that I had killed dozens with my .243 but was too afraid to use it in Indiana because rifles are illegal for hunting. __________________ "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress, but I repeat myself." Mark Twain