gates torn down, locks cut off...

Wooden Arrow

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i'm seeing way too much of this here in east TN. i've found several locks cut and gates pulled open on Cherokee Nat'l Forest the past few years. i'm also seeing folks unloading ATVs & camping gear, ready to drive back in. also too many places where roads have been cut through woods around gates. around Laurel Fork (Cherry Flats) near Pond Mt. Wilderness area, and off of 421 headed to Shady Valley mostly. was hunting up on Iron Mt. once and had a guy come cruising down a logging road in a station wagon, a good mile off of the blacktop. he told us he "had a key" to the gate. WTF???
 
I got a license check from our local USFS officer coming out of N.Cherokee last year up in Unicoi county. He was an awesome guy. Anyway,told him about guys opening the gate and being up in the woods about 1.75-2 miles. He wasn't too surprised and began to tell me about the problem they have with houndsmen nationwide and especially here in the south. Evidently they pass a skeleton key around to all of the hound clubs and just go onto forest service land whenever they want under the guise of "chasing" their dogs. Didn't really surprise me.
 
your paint brush is just as large and woefully handled as Micks is. pitiful...
Believe it or not, it means nothing to me.

I am from ETN, and still consider it "home". The ETN destructive attitude is nothing new. I saw it growing up, and I certainly saw it as an officer up there on both private and forest service land. It was a fairly frequent happening.

I probably saw my first instance of it as a teenager (probably 1970). An older friend had secured permission for us to duck hunt up on the Lick Creek bottoms. There were a bunch of ducks dry feeding in some of the farmer's fields. We went in one afternoon and had a fun hunt that was pretty successful by ETN standards. A few days later we went back and killed some more mallards.

When we came out, we were met by the farmer at our vehicles and were told in no uncertain terms that there would be no more hunting on his farm. In the days between our first and second hunt, someone had gone in and shot out the windows on his combine. He knew we had nothing to do with that, but, he was not going to let anyone on his property from that point on.

So, sorry if my "paint brush" offends you. I certainly NEVER said it covers the majority of the good folks up there that I grew up with. But, it you don't think that attitude is there, you either haven't lived in ETN very long or you have your head in the sand.
 
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The road night hunters cut my gate to my driveway with bolt cutters. Not sure who hooked a truck to it a pulled it down the year before. Redneck trash is always doing stuff like this in the volunteer state. No punishment if caught and you will be prosecuted if you get caught putting a stop to it. It's a win win situation for the dirt bags.
 
Somewhere along the line a few need to be caught and the old corn cob and turpentine treatment as to reminder them to mind their manners
 
same around here on TVA and they dont care. theyll tell you right quick "they aint hurting nothing" riding around in the lake. then call you a karen. i told one of them i hope all of yall drunks get run over by a semi truck.
 
I'm in East TN - and I have to say...it's very prevalent. Back a few years ago I got tired of tresspassers coming on our property off of public land. A buddy and I spent a whole day putting up fence and gates to keep them out. A couple of days later I went back to check on things - the whole fence was cut into little pieces and everything torn down. Cameras stolen, treestands stolen, - it's a constant battle.
 
I haven't seen it anywhere else. Have debated it a great deal and is always a topic that comes up when
I'm in the Rockies. It's been mentioned that it's our heritage of defiance that influences it. But
Out there you don't have to post your ground. It's not on the landowner to keep you out the law always sides with them. It's why I support landlocked geound and no corner crossing. Those guys take better care of it than the public ever will.
 
This reminds me of a good long discussion I had with a TWRA WMA manager just a few weeks ago. I get so conflicted with private land becoming a WMA in my area. Yes it means it's "conserved" from development BUT it also means that when it becomes a WMA, the land will become much much worse off from a conservation standpoint a majority of the time. Gates get torn down and don't go back up. The hillsides get destroyed by side by sides. Game over harvested. Trash gets thrown everywhere. Private landowners police more than TWRA. The WMA manager agreed with me because he also knew the property when it was private and better taken care of, just sad.
 
Yeah sadly you see something every year,heck sometimes more. Hopefully one day an officer will be cruising around when they start their craphousery and finally get caught in the act.
Doesn't matter if they are. In most instances, the judicial system, such as it is, is either unable or unwilling to make them regret their craphousery or change their ways. 🤬
 
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