A joke and questions.

[Northstar]

A young man is in prison awaiting trial for a crime he did not commit, confident he will be released in due time. One day he calls his father up to have a chat, and his father is of coarse beside himself over his sons situation, and tells his son he misses him, and how he could sure use help with the garden this year, his arthritis is really beginning to bother him, and he can no longer turn the soil. His son, immediately shreeks to his father, "dad! don't dig there, that's where I hid the bodies!", and hurriedly finishes the phone call.

Within a few days the authorities had paid the father a visit, questioned him thoroughly, and began a search of the property, they searched the hole yard with metal detectors, and dogs, paying special attention to the garden and they began digging looking for the bodies.

About a week later the father received a letter from his son, wishing him well, telling him he would be home soon because the DA had dropped the case, and at the bottom of the letter was a P.S.

"I did the best I could about the garden dad".

========

Im a city boy whos decided he is to soft, ill be hitting the trails here and camping a lot this summer, and id like to ask a few uncommon questions!

1. what are the odds of an aggressive encounter with a human who is up to no good in the bush. (it worrys me, I hear storys)

2. my preferred survival knife is actually a chefs knife, and my preferred machete is also a chefs knife lol. in case you couldn't tell I used to cook for a living. would anyone imagine me having an issue with the conservation officers over those two choices? of coarse they will be on my belt and very much visible. last I heard you could carry a sword if you wanted to (not that I would lol), but things change so quickly these days, I figured I would double check.

3. are there any rules for hiking on crown land? or do you always have to have a reason other than enjoying a strole. naturally you leave it as you found it is a rule id follow anyway.

4. what are the legalitys when it comes to an over night shelter constructed out of natural materials. are the hippys going to attack me if I cut a weenie stick?

5. ill probably call a PO to confirm that schedual C do not require a hunting liscence until I get my core finished up this next year, (money is tight).

lastly and most importantly, what are the ticks going to be like this year? I think I have taken care of protecting myself as best I can with clothing and deet. but ive heard many things, like they are worst in spring, only happen really in spring etc. so any and all info would be appreciated on that subject.

thanks much.

[clte]

I'm a soft 'city boy' as well but i'll take a stab at the first question: Odds are very very rare... I hike up in the woods/mountains 6 days a week for minimum 2 hours in different locations and I can honestly say in the last 10 years I cannot recall having an 'aggressive encounter' anywhere in the woods... hell even with an animal. Usually it's inanimate objects that get me (slippery logs being the worst).

[Steeleco]

1. what are the odds of an aggressive encounter with a human who is up to no good in the bush. (it worrys me, I hear storys). You hear of these things, turn off the TV!!

2. my preferred survival knife is actually a chefs knife, and my preferred machete is also a chefs knife lol. in case you couldn't tell I used to cook for a living. would anyone imagine me having an issue with the conservation officers over those two choices? of coarse they will be on my belt and very much visible. last I heard you could carry a sword if you wanted to (not that I would lol), but things change so quickly these days, I figured I would double check. You might get laughed at, but it's not illegal

3. are there any rules for hiking on crown land? or do you always have to have a reason other than enjoying a strole. naturally you leave it as you found it is a rule id follow anyway. None

4. what are the legalitys when it comes to an over night shelter constructed out of natural materials. are the hippys going to attack me if I cut a weenie stick? Also None, if your that worried, just knock down your bivvy when your done, then you'll fit into Q3!!

5. ill probably call a PO to confirm that schedual C do not require a hunting liscence until I get my core finished up this next year, (money is tight).

No need for the Call, you do NOT require a license to shoot Schedule C critters. You will however need a PAL to be possessing a firearm.

lastly and most importantly, what are the ticks going to be like this year? I think I have taken care of protecting myself as best I can with clothing and deet. but ive heard many things, like they are worst in spring, only happen really in spring etc. so any and all info would be appreciated on that subject.

It's all dependent on where you go, some areas will be worse than others. Be vigilant on checking for them and you'll be fine. It was posted that this year could be a bad one, but it's still early.

thanks much.

No quit fretting and get out there and do some learnin!! Oh and Enjoy!

[albravo2]

Northstar,

Good joke, welcome to the site.

It sounds like you can use some time in the wilderness. Soon your questions will be more along the lines of 'If I have a .223, .243, .308 and .300, do I REALLY need a 7mm?'.

Don't worry about critters, weirdos, hippies or bugs. You are way more likely to meet helpful, friendly people if you meet anyone at all. People that spend time in the bush tend to be happy and well-adjusted.

If I see someone packing a couple of chef's knives, I'll say hello. Which I probably wouldn't have done before I read your post;-)

Also, get your CORE and PAL. It will teach you an amazing amount of necessary info.

[russm86]

I've been hunting and fishing my whole life, almost 28 now, obviously early on was with Dad etc, only ever had one issue with a person in the bush and that was probably 20yrs or more ago now on a hike with my friend and his dad, a farmer tending his illegal grow op up on the side of a mountain saw "a group of people", which was my friends dad, myself and a friend or 2, all little kids, and sicked his dogs on us, thankfully my buddy's dad was packing a defender style 12gauge and whipped that out and fortunately the farmer instantly changed his reaction and called his dogs off and everyone parted ways. Apparently the farmer was known for this and the RCMP knew of some possible locations but they weren't confirmed. I never heard of what ever happened with the whole thing beyond that. Since then I have found 2 other grow ops in the bush the one I found hiking a slash in the middle of a stand of trees that was left, no one around, let the cops know of the where abouts. Second one was heading in on an old road and noticed a bunch of weird signs and fishing line strung everywhere and trip wires etc, so I just backed out and left the area. I still feel safe overall in the bush probably even more so than wondering around downtown in any city. Just keep your wits about you and you should be fine. Other than that no issues using crown land for anything, camping, hiking, etc as long as it's legal. You may find some parks may have no camping etc and on crown land, I believe, you aren't supposed to camp for more than a couple weeks or something without moving or you can be considered a squatter.

[Foxton Gundogs]

Pack out what you pack in, have fun:-D

[Peter Pepper]

the people u meet in the woods are more likely to help you than harm. way safer than the city.
btw your knife needs a good belt sheath.

oh and you can have a knife anywhere. woods, street, ect.

[Northstar]

thanks all :D happy hunting this year!

[brian]

You have a statistically greater chance of running into an aggressive asshat in the city than in the bush. You're chefs knife will be just fine, deer are made of meat so meat cutting knives are good as long as they can hold up to everything else you need them to do. You expect to see knives in the bush so don't worry about it. While hiking on crown land you must skip for every third and fourth step however this rule can be ignored if you sing the main theme from the Sound of Music. Hippies will attack at random whether or not you cut a weenie stick, they are very dangerous and should always be approached with extreme caution. Schedule C, they want them gone no matter who does the killing. Ticks, couldn't say.

Oh and welcome to the site!

[albravo2]

Brian, good point on the Sound of Music. I totally forgot to mention that.

Nice thing about the soap dodging hippies, you can usually smell 'em before you see 'em. Makes them seem less dangerous!

[hoochie]

it was about 7 or 8 years ago on a hunting trip. My wife and I were walking up a FSR and came across an man and a teenage female in a SUV. they were driving down the mountain. Due to the road being so narrow, and them slowing down, as not to run us over,, we had a short chat. Something was just not right. I couldn't place it, but I really didn't like this guy. something was way off about the situation. stuff wasn't adding up. Said they were hunting, yet they didn't notice the tracks everywhere, weren't dressed for the weather, and had no gear in the SUV... just one observation after another wasn't matching the guys "chit chat".
a short while later I had homicide detectives at my place as I was giving a statement and being shown a picture of the girl as her remains had been found a short distance from where I saw her in the SUV.
My wife and I may have been the last 2 people to see her alive.
there can be some wierdos out there, but few and far between.
I don't hunt that mountain any more. creeps me out.

[aggiehunter]

hippies are the very least of your worries...whitetrash crackheads...now that's another story.