Thread: Would you leave?? what would you do if this happens to you?

Originally Posted by Drewski

.....the plot thickens....

Da da daaaaaaa!!

Hi Mike,

As discussed see below for the progression of events on the morning of the 8th March-with my good friend Shane Hardy (0223450559)
My issue regarding firearms safety is the reason for my communication and should be isolated, however I will let you know the events that were endured that morning.

We had arrived at our campsite at about 6pm Friday evening, one of the numerous access points to the native bush and places to camp along the 45minute 4wd trip. We had enough time for a quick hunt before a feed and off to bed at 10pm. At 1am in the morning a ute arrived turned off their engine make some remarks to each other (3 of them) before starting to unload their camping and hunting gear within 5m of our campsite and our parked ute. I let them know in no uncertain terms they were not to camp right beside them, and told them there are a heap of campsites and hunting areas in the valley, some 5 minutes 4wd away. One of the three hunters was obviously the main man in the party, while his mates stayed in the background while the other (Kyle Mitchell) made it clear that he wasnt moving and it was where he hunts and if he didnt like it we could piss off. I made it very clear that we were here first and it was tough luck, he needed to go somewhere else as we were hunting in the native behind camp. After kicking some of our campside rubbish out of the way they set up camp right beside us. You can imagine we were quite upset by these guys actions after rudely been woken, headlights shinning everywhere, loose dogs, no politeness whatsoever and remarks from Kyle very offputting at 1am in the morning. Kyle made it clear he could camp where he wanted and emphasised if we did not like it we could piss off. I guess its lucky it didnt come to blows at this stage, shocked with what just happened. We still hadnt had any introductions and not one bit of politeness our common curtosity shown. They could have easily camped further away but they obviously liked a couple of the manuka stems to put up their fly.
After they had finished setting up camp they had a word to each other and Kyle came up and appoligised for his behavoir mentioned the long drive they had from Wellington and the fact their were other hunters in "their" spot, Kyle said we would sort out where we were hunting in the morning. I know a fact that this bloke Kyle Mitchell only started hunting the area in November last year, We had hunted it for close to 10 years. I guess this dosent matter how long you have hunted the spot, its DOC land and anyone is welcome to hunt it, However the unwritten and well abided by a majority of hunters is if you are first their you can choose where you want to hunt, and common respect for each other and in such a vast area a little privacy and room for comfort regarding camping-considering you are in a DOC area of about about 2kmx5km!. Fuming it took a few hours to comprehend what we had just experienced and eventually get back to sleep to be rudely awoken at an early hour.

Come 530am, a long time before light Kyle and his mates were up and making noise, camped right beside us we were easily woken with the noise and headlights shinning and loose dogs at an unnessesary hour considering the bush was not light until close to seven. Over the next half hour I had to deal with a very close call regarding a dog fight, these guys dogs were not tied up and one had a go at my tied up dog and guys yelling at their dogs, bloody brilliant when you could hear some deer just behind camp the night before! Eventually Kyle came over, still had not indroduced himself and asked where we were going to hunt in a rude and abrupt manner. Precisely I showed him our route, only a small loop, about 800m long, up one side and down the other side of the ridge. In a big DOC area a small fraction of the DOC park Politely I pointed out some good hunting areas for Kyle and his mates and pointed out that we would be moving camp after our morning hunt. We were so put out from the previous events and knowingly after last nights proceedings these guys were not going to give us an inch of respect and privacy that we didnt want anything to do with these guys, they had already ruined out weekend. I said they could have the area adjacent to our campsite after we had hunted it in the morning. Kyle pointed out where his friends were going to hunt and himself pointed out an area, a ridge system further down the range only accessible by walking further down a 4wd track in the tussock and cutting into the native. He also made it clear to us to be careful in the bush. This remark now makes alot of sense as we were soon to find out Kyles actions. Kyles mates left at a reasonable time to reach their hunting area, about the same time kyle should have left to get to his area. After being up at 530am Kyle sat under his fly while we got ready, very stange considering how long ago he was up. Shane and I procrastinated for about another 30minutes waiting for Kyle to leave which he didnt he just sat there in earshot under his fly. Shane and I know exactly what he was up to, he was waiting for us to leave for our hunt before sneaking into the same area we were to hunt later in the morning, this was very obvious. ( I had seen a couple of his videos previously on the internet, I easily identified this area- obvious to us now he didnt want another hunter in 'his' area before him) We cut into our area before climbing the ridge 80meters before sitting down and listening down in the bush below and where Kyle had his truck parked. 25mins later we heard the boot very quietly close and Kyle sneak on the noisey undergrowth onto the left side of the ridge, we had made very clear to him we were going to hunt that morning. By the time we cut back down we couldnt find him, I would say very lucky for him.

After our hunt, we were both still fuming and thought we better move off early to simmer off and to avoid confrontation. At this stage I wrote a note for Kyle on the dust on his windscreens, "if you ever pull any of that shit again on us you will get your head kicked in". Obviously I regret writing that on their ute window but, as you can imagine after the events we had encountered we were absolutely fuming by this stage and now it wasnt someone being inpolite, arrogant, disrespectful, dishonest, slimy it was someone who could handle someone hunting an area they also hunt and took huge safety risks. I believe someone like this should in no way be in possesion of a firearm considering this risk and lack of safety this guy possesses.
I take my safety in the bush seriously, I know people who have been shot and have had near misses in the past by other hunters. This totally avoidable situation sends the shivers down my spine and absolutely disgusts me.

Following the weekends events I contacted a couple of people in the hunting industry to find out some information about the guy, Kyle Mitchell, no one said anything pleasant about this guys character which I find alarming yet so believable.

Something must be done about this guy, he should be weary of doing this to some people with less restraint than Shane and myself. Saying this I doubt we will be so tollerant if he turns up after we have arrived on a future hunt, no doubt sometime in April. We have been unfortunate enough to have people camped at this spot in April of years gone by, tough luck for us, we move on to hunt somewhere else. Its the way it goes no matter who is camped at the spot.

Hopefully you can help me out with my alarming issues and actions from a firearms licence holder.

Cheers
Julian Danby
0273397468

Shit ! I ran out of popcorn

Originally Posted by Pengy

Shit ! I ran out of popcorn

Get me a beer while you're up


Tim

Originally Posted by Pengy

Shit ! I ran out of popcorn

Here have some of mine...got diet coke as well if you want some!

two sides to every story

Haha fucking handbags, he said she said

Two sides indeed! That wasn't easy reading though, I hope that was just the draft.

Ah shit Kingstoncowboy, ya had me believing that this guy was a right cunt when in fact he just can't spell the word "tolerant"


Guess I'll go back to talking to people and taking them at face value, and assuming that people online talk shit

Julian -
Someone with such a self proclaimed prestigious position and status in the hunting community (as referenced by your introduction ensuring those that didn't know or care who you are can now reply with the respect that a NZ Hunter writer demands) should know that threats of violence, publicly confirmed by yourself, maybe not the best look, should your status as being fit and proper to own firearms be questioned.

They say 1st impressions last, and you have made one with the person in mention here and with this forum as that of a fuckwit.
Some traits of someone you associate with have defiantly rubbed off onto you.

Originally Posted by Pengy

Talking to a mate earlier today, and he was telling me that he had 4 or 5 phone calls from complete strangers over the weekend, all blokes, and all asking him for "special favours : so to speak.
Took him a while to suss out that some prick had put his cell phone # on the wall in local public loo.

You think he would have recognised your voice?

Whinging to the cops to cause issues for someone's firearms licence after you yourself, wrote physical threats on their vehicle?
About as smart as fighting over a public hunting area, with 4wd access

why do these magazine writers think there shit don't stink.... its not the first time iv seen it.
but both parties as bad as each other really, your spot was taken, move on!

Yup, probably bit of truth to both sides. Who needs this type of crap ? Be sweet justice if the relevant AO's had a "oops, you've behaved like a royal twat" rule and suspended firearms licences for the roar...

Originally Posted by bully

why do these magazine writers think there shit don't stink.... its not the first time iv seen it.
but both parties as bad as each other really, your spot was taken, move on!

It doesnt matter who we are, I just wanted to make sure Kingston knows how small the hunting community is. No courtesy, manners, not even a request if we mind them camping 5m from our camp in the middle of the night, and having the cheek to let us know more than once if we didnt like their actions we could piss of somewhere else. Imagine this happenning to you at 1am in the morning after a long week at work. I can deal with this to some respect as I know there are some fuckwits you meet in life.
What I cant deal with is when someone jeopardise our safety and bullshits about where hes going to hunt.