Don't Be A Game Hog

I don’t necessarily mean that statement literally. Some think of a game hog as one who poaches game and keeps more than the bag limit. While that is just one definition of game hog, there a many, many more.

Game hogs come in all shapes, colors and sizes. One type of game hog that gets spotted by a lot of people are the ones driving and riding in automobiles. You might be driving down the road on your way to the store or a doctor’s visit, when you spot a vehicle full of hunter orange. Soon the windows open and out fly empy bottles, MacDonald’s refuse, cigarette butts and anything else the occupants think they don’t want to keep inside their car anymore. The repercussions of such an act need not be explained.

To go along with this species of game hog and probably would be the same vehicle, is when they park their vehicle at a log landing, end of road, rest area, campground, whereever they think is the best place to “home base” out of during their hunt. Around the vehicle you’ll find the same kinds of trash that didn’t get tossed out the window on the way there.

Another species of game hog is the one that knowingly and deliberatly crosses a “No Trespassing” sign. This is a close cousin to the game hog that leaves a closed gate open after they pass through it or because they don’t agree with a landowner’s right to post their land, tear down the “No Trespassing” signs in protest.

We have all encountered the heater hunter game hogs that never leave the comfort of the inside of their vehicle. Once again the heater hunter game hog believes it is their God given right to rut up every road in the county in order to cover more ground. You never know where you’ll see a big buck hitching a ride.

A species of game hog that through hard work and education has become more rare is the “shoot first ask questions later” game hog. These actions have been often refered to as “sound shots” – you hear a noise in the brush and shoot into it hoping it’s a deer, bear or whatever animal your hunting.

The one-way game hog is the hunter who can manage to carry a backpack full of snacks and food into their favorite stand but is too tired from sitting on their broadened backside to carry the garbage back out with them at the end of the day. More than likely this one-way hog didn’t obtain permission from the landowner to erect the treestand.

If you fit one of these descriptions or any others that I haven’t mentioned, you’re a game hog. You’re the idiot that gives hunters a bad name. You’re the same fool who asks, “Why ain’t the hunting as good as it used to be?” or “I wonder why Farmer Brown posted his land this year?’

You’re a moron and a blithe to the sport we all enjoy. Why don’t you either buy a clue or find something else to occupy your time and leave the woods for us who respect it.

Tom Remington