Camp Kitty

[tealitup]

Wobbler,

Okay my man - your making all this up. You have put up with someone who is rude, an alcoholic that is uncontrollable, bashes your wife, has mental health issues, lacks respect and tries to make rules that pertain only to others (for his benefit). AND YOU ARE STILL ALLOWING HIM TO HUNT!

Cut the ties - CALL HIM NOW and tell him he is not welcome in camp! Or do nto show up yourself.

[meatfish]

The way we solved it is we would play cards and Dad and uncles would clean me out I mean throw your wallet on the table and here is $ 20 to get back home.That was the only way they would take $ from me.The kicker was once I learned In B tween and Out B tween,and they would let me hand them $ for supplies.I took my uncles IH binder and his model 11 the sister to mine.Dang they thump good.The pots can grow when you get burned 2x on a duece queen

[meatfish]

wobbler I could not even read your whole post either you are making thing up sharing too much info or are in real danger.I started but could not finish. Out of about 10 Friends when I was growing up I hunted With 1 . And that was not about drinking they where idiots.Someone is going to get shot.My son wants to hunt with me and I will not even hunt with my own son because he does not handle a gun properly cause he knows everything.You guys are going to make some headlines.Drunks,guns,and idiots don't mix up for a good outcome.

[Wobbler]

I have over 500 posts on here. Feel free to look up what I have typed on any post. I don't make things up. I started this post to try to learn what other shacks do to split costs because he started not paying his fair share and was looking for a way to do things equal. I was also looking at the future when my brothers in law will be hunting in our new shack next year and I want to set up our new camp right. We are not drunks... well one was. Don't get me wrong I like my barley corn but never have been in a state not to be in control. Up until 3 years ago everyone in my party (5) I treated like family. We gave our one member the benefit of the doubt like anybody would if you thought of them as family. He was there when I shot my first grouse, buck, etc. 3 strikes and you are out and we tried kicking him out after last year and he said no. The conflict for me was to continue to do what I have always done, not hunt or find somewhere else. I know that land like the back of my hand. I have decided to hunt and I will ignore him. I guess in this dialog of this post I probably shared more than I should have. I just wanted some advice on how to deal with this. I value the insights of people on here and I was hoping someone else had a better way to deal with it then I have. I wish it was as easy as telling him you are not welcome. He does not get it. That would make him more angry we feel and who knows what would happen. His son will be hunting this year again after not hunting last year and he will be on his best behavior I am sure. Once we get through this year and we have our own shack then we don't have to deal with it I hope. Of course, then we will be the shack right next door!

[Double D]

Apparently this guys family doesn't see a problem either, which is amazing, they should be the ones making the hospital runs.

An option for opening day is don't tell him where you will be hunting or tell him the wrong place, that way if he goes on a deer shooting spree again he won't be able to find an extra tag very easily.

Just a thought.

DD

[96trigger]

Good luck getting through this year. The guy needs serious help. He should have been booted a long time ago. Be careful, I know some unstable people. Deer camp will not be the place to bring up next year. I would keep this year business as usual and as soon as the season is over, boot him. Don't wait until next fall when he will have ammo and a vengence, give him a full year to cool off and make new plans. More than likely, he will find someone else to torment. Those types always do.

[picksbigwagon]

Wobbler, I don't doubt what you are saying is true, if I didn't believe, this would have been locked down a long time ago. My first two years I deer hunted was with a guy similar to this guy you are talking about, except he was 24 and I was 27 at the time. My brother in law kicked him out of the deer camp (which was held at his house) best thing he ever did. If your Dad and the other older hunters are sick of this stuff, talk to them, have an intervention and lay it on the table next Friday night if you need to. The guy breaks the camp rules and does what he wants. You need to say something. Be ready for anything though.

[BuschPilot]

Wobbler, its to bad you have to be in a situation like this. But to get back on the subject of the kitty, we have 8 in our camp and each year we all throw in 50. that goes into our camp checkbook. we have 2 people able to write the checks out but we use that for our needs at camp. whether its improvements or something we might need there. we all tend to bring our own food as it seems the only time we're all there is after dark and thats only sometimes. some of us will tend to get the other supplies if they haven't been around to help when we try to get together. it works out. maybe not completey fair but we tend to have fun. our money is used for the propane, building supplies and etc. at our shack. we like to do improvements to our shack as we just got it going a few years ago now but we do something each year to make it nicer. this year our money went to a covered porch over our decks. 2 of us went and built that for everyone else to enjoy. we hope they like it! if not, oh well! we had a situation like yours the first year we started, we got rid of the problem right away. you shouldn't have to deal with that, hunting is for the fun and enjoyment of others with you!!

[96trigger]

Picks, I don't want to disagree with you, but an intervention when emotions can run high with weapons and ammo in easy reach, probably not a good idea, it has the potential to become very volatile. This guy sounds really, really unstable. Mental illness does not get better with age, it takes some serious help and treatment. Please, for your own safety, DO NOT confront this guy at deer camp this year. After reading what you have said, and working in an area that deals with numerous kids and parents, I can say that nothing good can come of this if your try and intervene in a remote shack. Do it after the season. PLEASE. I know its off topic, but I feel very concerned for the safety of the kids, and all adults involved.

[picksbigwagon]

(I just invented a new bicycle, watch me back peddle here.)

96Trigger is absolutely right, DON'T INTERVENE NEXT FRIDAY NIGHT, but this needs to be addressed because there are kids involved and firearms too. I am not sure I would want to be in the woods next to someone like this period. Maybe talk with the other hunters and get their feelings on the guy......

[Wobbler]

We are not saying a word to him until after deer season no matter what. If anything it is easy to say we have to talk about it later after deer season about building a new shack etc. We tried last year after deer season to tell him that he was not welcome and it got us nowhere. See his name was on the lease and he said he had just as much right as us to be there. Now with our new land purchase it can be a clean break although he refuses to buy us out or let us buy him out. Thanks for the support. I like the idea about money in kitty going to a camp checkbook for our new shack. Just so everyone knows too the youngest at our shack is 30 (My dad 56, him 55, Me 36, his son 31, my brother 30). I am the only one who has kids and they are way to young to be there during deer season. I also work with many parents and kids with problems and like I have learned, keep your mouth shut unless you have to.

[tealitup]

Wobbler, when you get back home from the season please post and let everyone know how the hunt went.

In our shack anyone found not being safe will not be allowed to come back.

[Bear55]

Good luck Wobbler I really feel for you in this bad situation. A new shack might help eveything but if it was me I might just move to a whole new area and start fresh, get as far away from the guy as you can. I know you would be leaving the land and tradition that you have known your whole life but you would be suprise how fast new area can become home. I have hunting out of 3 differet shacks in my life for various reasons. They were all a little different and it took some time to get use to it but each one was better than the next. Having him as a neighbor might not solve things and could even make them worse.

[meatfish]

BuschPilot

Well put,I hunted with my wives cousins for four years and that was pretty close to what they did and it worked great.Me being the new guy I felt I should pay a little extra coming in for supplies that where already there we decided on $25.We also had a short chat every night on the topic of tags.Usually depending on how the harvest was going it was normally the first two days no one fills any ones tag but there own.For meals each person was responsible

for one dinner and one breakfast(cook and clean)Lunches you where on your own.Never any hassles,but don't touch Harrys cashews lucky I had a full can in the truck or there may have been problems!When I stated that I could not make it any more due to work,kids,life,and my body taking a strong disliking to venison,I received a check in the mail for unused portion of the kitty,I could not believe it.It was nothing but a joy hunting with these guys.

Wobbler

Sorry I did not mean that you are all drunks or that I don't believe you.It is just sad that your trip that you should look forward to from the time you leave camp the year b-4 is filled with so many headaches.Maybe a letter stating some of what you have posted here(not all of it)would get it off your chest and drive your points across without passions flaring and things getting side tracked???

[glenn57]

when pops was alive he did all the food and we split the bill evenly and he added for cabin expenses. we were on your own for food in the woods. now pops is huntin the big woods in the sky so i take care of the suppers and my bro takes care of the breakfasts and we are still on our own for the woods. then we throw cash in the kitty to give mom for cabin expenses. no problems. thats just the way it is, dont like it find somewhere else. we do have refreshments after dark. ok one big issue, which one in the group comes up with the biggest hunting story for the day then have to deal with the rest of us and sometimes its not a pretty picture.

[Wobbler]

I will let everyone know how it went. When the guy is gone during the week my family is going to discuss what we are doing about my brother in laws so the input was great and a good place for us to start about how to do things fair at our new place. We had that discussion last year about buying a new place to start over but we all felt grouse hunting and deer hunting we have a great area to hunt with little or nobody else around and that is tough to find. How many times do you tell a guy you are not welcome? How many hints like not talking to him does it take? How many times can you tell someone to their equal share? So do you just give up and let him take everything or do you fight to keep what you have and what you have invested. I guess our decision to stay and hunt says what we want.

[TrophyEyes]

Our group puts money into a kitty based on fines. Fines can be assessed due to the following: shooting a buck under 120 inches, leaving the place worse than you found it, inviting non-group members, being stupid...(group decision/vote), unethical behavor (don't ask) and Other (left up to the group to decide punishment). No fine exceeds $150 (Shooting a small buck), and $20 is the lowest for our group. It becomes a game and everyone knows the rules. The camp is clean and the bucks have grown significantly since we implemented the rules. It also helps camp run smoothly. The kitty goes into food plots, land owner gift cards, TP, and other materials.

[Bear55]

Well said Wobbler, its easy for me give advice from the outside but things are different we you are in that situation. Good luck this season, I hope all goes well and you get a nice buck.

[fishnhooks]

Wobbler,

I as well wish you luck this year. It would be bad enough to have neighbors like you described, but to have them in the same camp? Maybe several years down the road, you can look back, laugh and say... remember that drunk guy we used to have hunt here and one time we had bring him to detox. etc..... Well, hopefull someday.

It would be tough to look forward to hunting with that around. Again, good luck this year and hope you make some GOOD memories this year.

"hooks"

[Wobbler]

There is always good memories at the shack too! Shot my biggest buck ever last year. Watched 2 bull moose duke it out and snap 4 inch popples like toothpicks. Also, tried dropping my thermos out of my stand on a grouse below. When I missed hitting it, it landed on a tree and stared at it for 15 minutes which was a riot watching the neck stretch out! Or watching my brother take 45 minutes to gut a deer! Yes the positives outweigh the negatives! After this year no more negatives!

[bigsandynorth1]

I would tell the dude that if he shot 2 deer he must come up with another tag somehow or he is SOL!! Stop covering his as*, and he will stop shooting your deer. I know it's easier said then done, but that's the feeling I have.

[BuschPilot]

At our camp the only reason you shoot a deer for someone else is if they ask. No reason to cover someone elses tags when where we are you can get more tags whenever you need. its part of the fun to shoot your own. if it comes down to last days then you tell someone if they make a good clean kill on something take it and then we will put our tag on it if we want a deer. Also for our camp kitty we do a deal where when we use the camp and stay there during the off-season we throw in 10.00 to cover propane and gas etc.. I don't miss the guy we had to get rid of after the first year. we didn't dare go in the woods with him after a few of his antics. Camp is a much better place to be now!

[Wobbler]

What did you say to him BuschPilot and how did he take it? Our guy thought we were joking. Like I said in an earlier post shoot does I could care less we have tags to cover. When you can shoot only 1 buck you pick the one and then you are done unless you are asked. When you shoot a spike and an 8 pointer walks out too bad. When you let 4 bucks go bigger than what someone shoots for you it is a joke! I won't tag his deer, drag for him or nag on him this year. Mouth shut and ignore.

[picksbigwagon]

The only good thing I guess is that you hunt all 9 days and he hunts the first weekend only it sounds like. Keep your tags, keep your cool, look forward to next year. I was thinking this afternoon, you really don't want to lose that lease, there could be a party of 8 guys like your wonder job take over the county lease and you are stuck with 8 Yahoos hunting next to your private land, when it could be just one.........

[Wobbler]

Picksbigwagon,

That has been one of the 3 reasons why we have put up with his garbage. The other 2 are everything in the shack is ours (Propane Stove, bunks, etc.) and the other is he is not getting it for nothing when he is the one in the wrong. There is a lot to lose. Lesson out of this, don't share anything if you can help it! When someone refuses to leave a shack and you share a lease good luck!!!!