5A Hunters

[little blue 300]

The hunters that hunt at 5A are the meanest hunters that I have ever met. Most of these people claim to own land there and are upset that we ride our atvs there. They blame us cause they can't get a deer there when the real reason is that there are no deer there. When I ride up in the Ocala Nat Forrest I see deer every time I ride and deer tracks are everywhere. I've been riding at 5A for 18 months and I've seen 2 deer in all that time and I think it was the same deer both times. I very seldom see any deer tracks at 5A.

Last Thursday we had a group of 8 ATVs riding there. We had a young guy that always took the lead and rode faster than the rest of us. He came around a turn and came upon a hunter on the main trail that had three dogs with him. He must have scared the dogs, so he stopped to apologize. He told the hunter that he was sorry and the hunter said that he knew he was. Some other words were said and the hunter told him to get the He*l out of there or he was going to shoot him. When the rest of us came by the hunter, he motioned us to keep going and looked like he wanted to shoot us too.

I am writing this so that if you see any hunters out there, the best thing is just to turn around and go another way, if you can. I would never recommend stopping and talking to them. It is a known fact that they hate us!

Larry

[asmart82]

Stick to the south side of the canal and you should be fine

[AintSkeered]

Sorry boys, when it comes down to it, hunters are our best allies against the tree hungers. They only get to legally hunt at periodic intervals throughout the year. You can ride all year.

[patches206]

Lets see trespass on an ATV = misdemeanor.      Armed Trespass= felony + aggravated assault with a fire arm= felony number two.    Sounds like the hunters are a bunch of ass clowns.  There is plenty of places to hunt other than areas where folks ride off road vehicles. 

[AintSkeered]

I responded to an ignorant, generalized, stereotypical complaint allegedly-caused by one hunter. There's certainly as many ass clown ATVers, as there are ass clown hunters. But, hunters are the largest lobbying group consistently opposing environmentalist attempts to prohibit recreational access(public lands), not ATVers. ATVers have a symbiotic relationship with hunters @ Big Cypress, River Ranch, Holopaw, ONF, Appalachicola Forest. ATVers lost access @ Francis Taylor/Holeyland/Rottenberger because of irresponsible ATVers. Law enforcement suggested you call them when you see unlawful activity and that's not asking too much. Law enforcement should be called to deal with illegal hunting, threats of force by firearm or drunken operators of ATVs.

[little blue 300]

I responded to an ignorant, generalized, stereotypical complaint allegedly-caused by one hunter.

I think that's a comment meant for me.

If that's the only hunter that we've had problems with at 5A, I would not have said anything. Last season I had a young lady with her young daughter lectured me that they can't run their dogs cause of us riding our atvs. After five minutes of hearing all of her B/S, I just left. Remember, I was 65 years old at the time. These great hunters seem to only yell at young kids and old people. BTW, one member of our riding group owns land at 5A and gave us permission to ride there anytime we want, so we are not trespassing.

I just read your reply again and noticed that you think I was attacking all hunters. WRONG !  The title says 5A Hunters.

As for calling the cops when that hunter made a threat against the young guy. Waste of time! It would be his word against the hunter's word and nothing would have happened. You really need to watch "Judge Judy" more often !

[riley804]

Not taking anybodys side on this matter.....but the wife and I also ride 5a so can relate to when its hunting season.       

We just don't ride as much during this time  and when we do if we happen to come across a hunter, we ask him if its ok if we pass and we apologize if we did anything wrong.     So far, all of the hunters we have met have been more than nice when we ride up on them .

Not trying to start anything with you little blue pill 300 or anybody else, but while the hunter guy may have given you guys some attitude, you don't know how many other riders he had come across before you guys came up .      We all have a point of where we have had enough and words might be said.     Put yourself in his shoes and think of what your reaction would be.

[mudbucket2]

really... larry I pictured you watching judge wapner......LMAO

[little blue 300]

really... larry I pictured you watching judge wapner......LMAO

Very funny Jim !!!  I was trying to lighten things up a little bit.

I wasn't trying to start a war with hunters all over the country. I was trying to warn riders of a very small group of hunters at 5A. When I was younger I used to deer hunt in Western Pa.

Good comments Riley804 ! When we see hunters, we turn around and go the other way. We never bother them. The day the hunter threatened to shoot the young guy in our group, we had just left the big oak trees and was going up the main trail cause all of the guys I ride with are parked up at Maytown Road. He was parked sideways in the road making it hard to get by, so there was no way to avoid him. BTW, the young guy did stop and apologize for scaring the guy's dogs and that's when he make the threat.

As for asking if its OK to pass, that's up to you. Believe me, they don't own that land. Some of them might own an acre somewhere out there just like the ATV rider in our group. The only reason I ride there now is because I like the group that rides there on Saturday. My wife and I do our real riding at ONF up at Salt Springs. It is not uncommon for us to ride one and a half to two hours before taking a short break. If we are by ourselves, we always go at least 100 miles. Not bad for a couple of 65 and 66 old ATV riders.

[AintSkeered]

Hey Viagra, no ill-will intended. In fact, I'll PM you the next time we ride ONF. My son and I will make sure the hunters behave.

[ProEMTPFF]

First and foremost I grew up in that area and it was used for HUNTING first before any ATV was made. I ride out at 5A but I have the good sense to NOT ride there during hunting season. Also, be careful accidental discharge of firearms have been known to happen at 5A.

[KFXLes]

I guess my plans to ride Nov or Dec are screwed! When does hunting season starts? I really don't want to be on the same trails as guns. One shot fired the wrong way is all it takes.