HikeArizona.COM

Well I am just fully depressed because I have been involved in planning two trips in September and I just found out that there is a two-week elk bowhunting season in the area at the same time. Should I be calling these trips off?

The first is a group hammock hang at Dane Springs. This is a car camping trip with a little bit of hiking.

The second is a BSA backpack trip up the Houston Bros trail.

Any thoughts?

Just last month

http://www.azfamily.com/news/Boy-shot-i ... 29111.html

@Bradshaws
Sad story, but not really relevant to hiking during bow hunting season. This poor kid was accidentally shot by another member of his group of 5. Even the VP has done that before.

@chumley
I was only trying to illustrate that hunting accidents happen. It is a real thing and should be something that all of us hikers think about during large game hunting seasons. I truely don't think there is anything to worry about as far as being hit by any projectile. I think the threat isn't so much from hunting as it is from reckless people. Hunters for the most part are a safe group but there are exceptions to everything ;)

I was surprised to run into bowhunters on some of the trails in the White Tanks. The Mesquite Trail seemed to be a popular hangout last season.

matthewkphx wrote:Wouldn't it be really dumb of a hunter to set up along the Houston Brothers trail and next expect hikers? It's not like we are going to bushwhacking. We will be on an established and popular trail.

This is right next to the Pivot Rock trail, which is on the other side of the tree on the right.
Remember elk are heavy and generally need to be quartered, so the distance a hunter will go in will vary with ease of extraction. Most blinds I've seen are a mile or less from a vehicle point.
http://hikearizona.com/photo=339776

Nothing like setting up out in the middle of the desert to do astronomy 15 or so people with our telescopes and someone just down the road decides to do some target practice.. (out by Sentinel AZ). There isn't hardly a hill out there and we could hear the zing of bullets.. and this was just after sunset...

@Dschur

we could hear the zing of bullets

I hear that a lot, that means you were actually pretty safe zinging bullets not so bad, usually means further then you think, its when you hear the air crack next to you that you need to worry

Personally I don't hunt any more but I can feel the anti-hunting sentiment on this forum..I generally believe the woods are meant to be shared and hunters play a much greater role then people realize in keeping herding animal populations at manageable levels and I will just come out and say they have as much right to the land as hikers...now orvs that is a different story ;)

some might find this link interesting, it is a .org site but certainly could still be slanted..most interesting thing I found was .02 per 100,000 that is the rate of unintentional fire arm deaths in the U.S, I think actual hunting related injuries jumps all the way to .04% of persons involved :roll: ....by those odds I would say your biggest concern hiking in Arizona should be running out of water, or falling to your death...not being hit by a bullet, let alone an arrow..currently, Camelback mountain has claimed more lives this summer then hunting has over the last decade in AZ...just some food for thought..

O
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http://www.nssf.org/PDF/research/IIR_In ... cs2013.pdf

@friendofThundergod I agree the woods are meant to be shared. I also feel that this topic is heading off the tracks and I am as much at fault as anyone

I am very PRO hunting As a former hunter, what I worry most about during hunting season( elk season more than any other) is accidentally depriving a hunter of a kill. There are some hunters that wait many years to get a tag and get a short time to fill it. I work with people that depend on the meat they bring home from hunting.

As far as odds of getting injury in the outdoors by anything ,it pales in comparison to your chances of dying on your way out of town

@Bradshaws
Well don't all HAZ forums eventually get off topic and eventually go to the birds? I just try to be middle of the road on hunting, I use to hunt, don't really care for it now, however, I will certainly defend one's right to hunt..

Of the variety of folks out in the wilds... hikers, mountain bikers, equestrians, hunters, 4-wheelers, ATV'ers, et al, I have no issues with any of the GOOD folk.

Although I have encountered less-than-good folks every once in a while, I never let it bother me. I'm sure the chances of being killed in a car accident on the way to a hike are so much higher than being killed by a hunter (or even a target shooter) that I don't deem it worthy of thought.

My philosophy is that I choose not to live my life in fear of the billions of things that could happen yet don't.

I've done a fair bit of hiking during bow hunting seasons, especially NJ deer season. I also ran into a bow hunter pretty deep into the Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon during elk season. I never felt in danger, and I've had a few good conversations with hunters. I've also yet to see a bow hunter try to assassinate a cactus or a road sign.

friendofThundergod wrote:Well don't all HAZ forums eventually get off topic and eventually go to the birds

Birds???? Where????

Seriously though...I used to Bow Hunt years ago and I can tell you that I have no problem traipsing around in the Woods during Bow Season....I can also tell you that Archery Hunters usually sit and wait for the Game to come to them, so they generally are not out all day...They are out when the Animals are active which is in the early Morning and late Afternoon/Evening mostly...we were usually back in Camp by late morning and not going back out until 3 or so...A Hunter will be looking for a Shot within 50 Yards and they need a much "cleaner" Shot than someone with a Rifle so a Deer, an Elk or a Person is going to be completely identifiable at that Range even if that Person is wearing Camouflage....

I too used to hunt....grew up hunting......but that was back in the day when we called it "putting food on the table", not "sport". (I guess that pretty much tells you how old I am!!!!)

There was a thread a few years ago on this forum about an AZ hiker being shot and killed by a hunter. The title is called: Hiker killed shot by hunter who mistook him for a bear

I'm not against hunting. I may, one day, hunt again. But I won't hunt where people hike and I won't hike where people hunt. That combination just doesn't work for me.

I have encountered hunters from time to time and for the most part have always had been friendly. I also realize that hunters have a substantial investment in their hunt opportunity and I will usually ask how I can be less of an impact to their hunt and their reply's have often been positive. The weekend quad drivers are another story usually get buzzed on the Four Peaks Road or the Rogers Trough road. My worst experience with folks toting guns was during a night backpack trip from Mammoth to the Pinal Pioneer Parkway, I encountered a roving security detail for a missile silo complex.

songdog wrote: I'm not happy at all about being in the woods with hunters. Been there, done that....it's too dangerous for my comfort.

In the end that's all that matters. Do what YOU feel comfortable doing and have fun.

Everybody is different.

I am a hunter and a hiker. I have run into hunters while hiking, and hikers while hunting. It is hard at times to pick the perfect area to hunt / hike so to not to invade the other's area. All I can say is try to respect one another. I feel bad as a hiker to come over a hunter due to the noise I made while hiking, but also not annoyed by hikers that have come across me while hunting.

It seems bow hunters can cause havoc even at home in the city. No need to go backpacking in the forest during hunting season.
http://wpri.com/2014/08/28/arrow-victim ... -her-back/

chumley wrote:It seems bow hunters can cause havoc even at home in the city. No need to go backpacking in the forest during hunting season.
http://wpri.com/2014/08/28/arrow-victim ... -her-back/

Boy it sucks to be a 9 year old girl this week.

I wouldn't worry about it - don't intentionally harass hunters or wildlife, and you and/or troop would be fine.