dogon, I stepped on your toes and I will apologise. But stop a minute and think how your opinion, when stated publicly steps on those toes of us who are residents.
SD is once again my declared state of primary residence and for decades there, here in Montana and around my property in ND, I and my neighbors have listen to out of staters whine or [censored] about this or that.
It is like having a dinner guest who complains that the meat is to rare or tough or because it was broiled rather than grilled, as well as several other small nags.
Let me share with you an encounter I had at a Cenex station, four or five years ago.
A gent of maybe 45 and with a companion of about the same age pulled up to the adjacent pump in a new Suburban.
He looks at my PF sticker, my MT license plate, my garb and the dogs in my rig and says something like "I bet you got birds."
I nodded and he takes off on a real rip. "Well if these damn landowner appreciated how much we spend coming here to hunt, maybe they wouldn't be so bitchy about letting someone hunt."
Rather dumbfounded I say "Pardon me". He goes on and on about me and my neighbors not liking out of staters and refuse permission to hunt and tell him to go hunt the blocks; that is what they are there for. For two days that was how they had been treated.
Now I come uncorked. I point out that he is driving a rig bought out of state, wearing the best from L.L. Bean, bought out of state, putting gas in his rig from a station that belong to a MN corporation, has his dogs sitting in a WW. Western Crate, bought out of state. I told him I was pretty sure the dogs and the guns in the gun vault were bought out of state and the ammo too, since I could see Fioche Golden Pheasant boxes on the back seat.
So I ask him just how "grateful we all should be that he and his buddy bought two dinners and two breakfasts and drop two nights lodging with the motel owner from Billings?
His retort. "God, you are all alike. If the state didn't want us here, they wouldn't be selling licenses."
Well dogon, the state doesn't spend much around Sidney, certainly not enough that we should have to endure opinions that would best be left unsaid.
As I went back to pumping gas, I told him I had no doubts as to why my neighbors sent him down the road.
Now I grant you, this was the worst of all I have heard. Most out of staters are a pretty decent sort. In fact, I host near twenty of them every year, many of them from this board, others from the Shooting Sportsman board and the Nots board. I rather enjoy their company.
In short an out of state hunter is not a guest of the state, but of the little community he hunts around and it's inhabitants.
Guests should be mindful of what they say, no matter how insignificant it may be.
So, since I stepped on your toes, please let me apologise.
