Hunter Harassment

[areaone]

Gentilemen I am a landowner and hunter…I have in a very cordial manner approached the 4 wheeler, hunter and even a ginseng digger..no issue, calm quiet and friendly attitude goes all long way…oh yes… I remember. 88cent corn and expenses from the early sixties. This landowner truly needs professional help regarding anger issues…my experience with a major in psychology tells me this gentleman has a very real issue….thankfully he was not armed at the time he confronted the hunters. If anyone believes his actions were acceptable under ANY circumstances…think again…. If he were antagonized his best reply was to contact DNR as soon as the hunters addressed him in any provacative manner.

 

[NorCalMikie]

A video of the confrontation? Looks to me like it was "set up"??
Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.
The way video can be set to show ANYTHING "they" want you to see......
Didn't watch the video but the look on the Guys face tells me HE has a death wish.

 

[Charlie-NY]

The hostile farmer should have called his neighbor and expressed his displeasure with the way/location that the guys were hunting. Resolving the issue in a neighborly way was the correct solution IMO.

 

[DHuffman]

What everybody seem to keep conveniently forgetting is those guys were told they could hunt the field but not to hunt near the angry farmers because the farmer was going to hunt it.
So these guys go set up right on his property line actually touching his harvested crop.

No telling where the real line is but anyone can see the difference between the corn and bean stubble.

There's no denying the guy lost it but everyone keeps ignoring that they were specifically told not to hunt there.

Hunter, landowner charged for incident recorded in viral duck hunting video

Jeffrey Erman, Bismarck, was charged with trading in special influence, disorderly conduct-obscenity and interfering with rights of hunters and trappers, court records show. Dustin Wolf of West Fargo was charged with criminal trespass

www.grandforksherald.com

I've spent most of my life watching people come out to the rural Dakota's from places like Fargo, Rapid City, Minneapolis, etc, etc, and act like they can do what they want and we should all be thankful they showed up and spent a little money at a motel, restaurant/bar or gas station. Leave vehicles parked wherever, block roads, leave gates open, leave trash behind etc.

There are good hunters that don't cause problems and are welcomed back year after year. Then there's the entitled gang like these guys that edit up a video to conceal facts about the situation.

 

[TZaun]

What everybody seem to keep conveniently forgetting is those guys were told they could hunt the field but not to hunt near the angry farmers because the farmer was going to hunt it.
So these guys go set up right on his property line actually touching his harvested crop.

No telling where the real line is but anyone can see the difference between the corn and bean stubble.

There's no denying the guy lost it but everyone keeps ignoring that they were specifically told not to hunt there.

Hunter, landowner charged for incident recorded in viral duck hunting video

Jeffrey Erman, Bismarck, was charged with trading in special influence, disorderly conduct-obscenity and interfering with rights of hunters and trappers, court records show. Dustin Wolf of West Fargo was charged with criminal trespass

www.grandforksherald.com

I've spent most of my life watching people come out to the rural Dakota's from places like Fargo, Rapid City, Minneapolis, etc, etc, and act like they can do what they want and we should all be thankful they showed up and spent a little money at a motel, restaurant/bar or gas station. Leave vehicles parked wherever, block roads, leave gates open, leave trash behind etc.

There are good hunters that don't cause problems and are welcomed back year after year. Then there's the entitled gang like these guys that edit up a video to conceal facts about the situation.

Amen Dave. Hardly anyone knows the lies guys like this tell, and shenanigans they pull, just to shoot a shitty tasting duck or goose. Then add in all of things you mentioned besides. Another thing that gets me is how ND allows anyone to just drive across our fields if it’s not posted. Just last Saturday I had some more idiots hunt on some posted land of mine and drove their pickup and trailer all over the field. It’s dug and prepped for Spring planting already. I had to go back out and level off all their tracks. I was too busy to patrol that morning so I didn’t catch ‘em unfortunately. I don’t even waste my time talking to these type of guys anymore. I’ve heard about every lie that can be told now. I just call my local game warden and have him prosecute them for trespassing after I get their license plate number(s).

 

[B23]

In the first part of the original video the lunatic farmer says they are, not, on his land. Then later makes the ridiculous claim but the grass from their blind is touching his corn. They offer to move their blind a few feet in off the line but the corn farmer isn't interested in that.

Like all of you, I wasn't there, so none of us know exactly what happened but what we do know, per the video, is the corn farmer hung around screaming and hollering at these hunters. He would rage at them then get back in is vehicle, drive off a ways, come back and do it all over again. He did everything he could to disrupt and harass the hunters who he admits are not on his property, just that their grass was touching his corn.

They presented a solution by offering to move a few feet off the line but he wasn't interested. What he was interested in doing though, was harass and intimidate. When that didn't satisfy him and they didn't just pack up and leave, which IMO is what he wanted, he resulted to trying to extort cash from them or was going to call the game warden. After multiple attempts to extort money from them and the hunters politely declining his demands to pay or else the corn farmer, finally, called the gamie.

Again, IMO, calling the authorities is, not, what the corn farmer wanted to do because if he truly wanted to call the authorities he had ample time to do so well before he finally did. It appeared to me the corn farmer wanted to either bully these guys in to packing up and immediately leaving or extort money from them thru intimidation.

As to the editing of the video by the hunters in an attempt to make the corn farmer look bad, I believe that comment/s came from the corn farmer's son and likely an attempt to discredit the legitimacy of the video that makes his father look like a complete ass. It does appear the video was started, stopped, then started again, possibly every time corn farmer drove off then returned, but no amount of editing in the world made that guy look like such an ass except his own actions and verbal vomit.

 

[C.E.Smith043]

In the first part of the original video the lunatic farmer says they are, not, on his land. Then later makes the ridiculous claim but the grass from their blind is touching his corn. They offer to move their blind a few feet in off the line but the corn farmer isn't interested in that.

Like all of you, I wasn't there, so none of us know exactly what happened but what we do know, per the video, is the corn farmer hung around screaming and hollering at these hunters. He would rage at them then get back in is vehicle, drive off a ways, come back and do it all over again. He did everything he could to disrupt and harass the hunters who he admits are not on his property, just that their grass was touching his corn.

They presented a solution by offering to move a few feet off the line but he wasn't interested. What he was interested in doing though, was harass and intimidate. When that didn't satisfy him and they didn't just pack up and leave, which IMO is what he wanted, he resulted to trying to extort cash from them or was going to call the game warden. After multiple attempts to extort money from them and the hunters politely declining his demands to pay or else the corn farmer, finally, called the gamie.

Again, IMO, calling the authorities is, not, what the corn farmer wanted to do because if he truly wanted to call the authorities he had ample time to do so well before he finally did. It appeared to me the corn farmer wanted to either bully these guys in to packing up and immediately leaving or extort money from them thru intimidation.

As to the editing of the video by the hunters in an attempt to make the corn farmer look bad, I believe that comment/s came from the corn farmer's son and likely an attempt to discredit the legitimacy of the video that makes his father look like a complete ass. It does appear the video was started, stopped, then started again, possibly every time corn farmer drove off then returned, but no amount of editing in the world made that guy look like such an ass except his own actions and verbal vomit.

Couldn't have said it better. You're spot on.

 

[DHuffman]

In the first part of the original video the lunatic farmer says they are, not, on his land. Then later makes the ridiculous claim but the grass from their blind is touching his corn. They offer to move their blind a few feet in off the line but the corn farmer isn't interested in that.

Like all of you, I wasn't there, so none of us know exactly what happened but what we do know, per the video, is the corn farmer hung around screaming and hollering at these hunters. He would rage at them then get back in is vehicle, drive off a ways, come back and do it all over again. He did everything he could to disrupt and harass the hunters who he admits are not on his property, just that their grass was touching his corn.

They presented a solution by offering to move a few feet off the line but he wasn't interested. What he was interested in doing though, was harass and intimidate. When that didn't satisfy him and they didn't just pack up and leave, which IMO is what he wanted, he resulted to trying to extort cash from them or was going to call the game warden. After multiple attempts to extort money from them and the hunters politely declining his demands to pay or else the corn farmer, finally, called the gamie.

Again, IMO, calling the authorities is, not, what the corn farmer wanted to do because if he truly wanted to call the authorities he had ample time to do so well before he finally did. It appeared to me the corn farmer wanted to either bully these guys in to packing up and immediately leaving or extort money from them thru intimidation.

As to the editing of the video by the hunters in an attempt to make the corn farmer look bad, I believe that comment/s came from the corn farmer's son and likely an attempt to discredit the legitimacy of the video that makes his father look like a complete ass. It does appear the video was started, stopped, then started again, possibly every time corn farmer drove off then returned, but no amount of editing in the world made that guy look like such an ass except his own actions and verbal vomit.

Nobody is denying the farmer was an asshole.

If you read the article in the GF Herald nobody is disputing they had permission to hunt the ground but we're told to stay away from that farmers field.
Exactly where they set up.

Maybe the video got edited maybe not it really doesn't matter to me. Everything I need to know is in the article.

 

[Trooper836]

Who knows, maybe both sides of this were pushing it a little as far as the "line". I too, have dealt with trespassers and people who thought they were entitled to do whatever they wanted, posted or not. I am a hunter and I have always appreciated those landowners that gave me permission and I have always treated their properly with respect. I do my best to leave it at least as good as I found it. I will say, however, that if that guy came around acting that way out of the gate, right or wrong, that foul mouth would have gotten shut for him. I don't want to bother anybody but I will not tolerate anybody using that language toward me or my family. I would have gladly paid the fine to slap the taste out of his mouth. There is never a good time to act like an out of control a hole.

 

[B23]

Nobody is denying the farmer was an asshole.

If you read the article in the GF Herald nobody is disputing they had permission to hunt the ground but we're told to stay away from that farmers field.
Exactly where they set up.

Maybe the video got edited maybe not it really doesn't matter to me. Everything I need to know is in the article.

So if everyone is in agreement that they didn't trespass because the hunters were granted permission to hunt the property, but setup in the wrong area, on the property they were given permission to hunt, how is it any of the hunters can be charged with any kind of trespass. That just seems like a real stretch to me.

 

[B23]

If you read the article in the GF Herald nobody is disputing they had permission to hunt the ground but we're told to stay away from that farmers field.
Exactly where they set up.

Maybe the video got edited maybe not it really doesn't matter to me. Everything I need to know is in the article.

Are you talking about the article where, only, the corn farmers son is claiming they were told to stay away from the spot they setup or is there a different article you are referring to?

 

[DHuffman]

So if everyone is in agreement that they didn't trespass because the hunters were granted permission to hunt the property, but setup in the wrong area, on the property they were given permission to hunt, how is it any of the hunters can be charged with any kind of trespass. That just seems like a real stretch to me.

It's my opinion if they set up where they were told not to and however frivolous you think it was for the grass of the blind to be touching the corn stubble that opened the door for the trespass charge but I didn't charge them with anything, you'll have to take that up with the game warden and prosecuting attorney.

 

[DHuffman]

Are you talking about the article where, only, the corn farmers son is claiming they were told to stay away from the spot they setup or is there a different article you are referring to?

I'm talking about the article I linked in my post above.

You and I don't have to agree on this and I doubt either one of us is going to change the others mind.
I agree the guy was an asshole but I can relate to him reaching his breaking point.

 

[hogpatrol]

My 2¢ The youngsters were pushing the envelope. Another few feet in the beans wouldn't have made a difference in their set and they wouldn't have been charged with trespassing. The 69 year old man? His gripe should have been with the other landowner. My guess is there's a background feud going on here and these young men got caught up in it. Again, my 2¢.

 

[Marksman]

Kind of interesting that the kid who was "specifically told not to hunt that line" was invited back by the landowner, and did in fact go back and hunt. If the kid and his group were such a problem, why were they allowed back? Also seems odd that only one kid was charged even though there was a group of them. Feels more like the land owner changed his story after the fact because he knew he still had to be a neighbor to this lunatic. And that the criminal trespass charge was filed by the prosecutor to show landowners they were going to stick up for them. I'm betting the trespass gets reduced or dropped unless there's some other important evidence we haven't seen.

 

[B23]

Kind of interesting that the kid who was "specifically told not to hunt that line" was invited back by the landowner, and did in fact go back and hunt. If the kid and his group were such a problem, why were they allowed back? Also seems odd that only one kid was charged even though there was a group of them. Feels more like the land owner changed his story after the fact because he knew he still had to be a neighbor to this lunatic. And that the criminal trespass charge was filed by the prosecutor to show landowners they were going to stick up for them. I'm betting the trespass gets reduced or dropped unless there's some other important evidence we haven't seen.

Unless there is something out there directly quoting the beans land owner the only person making the claim the hunters were told not to setup in that spot is the son of the corn field land owner and if that is the case, well, it doesn't mean much to me.

 

[snert]

I have a couple thoughts:

I'm thinking that moving or even starting ten feet into the beans would not have made a bit of difference.

If one of my party were charged with anything, I would follow my attorney advice and simply not comment on it..it is public info. Which leads to wondering why they said anything at all...but that is another matter.

Lastly, and most important...Jeff is absolutely ripe for a series of Memes. His repeated lines are almost as good as Fred Sanford. Famous, I say, famous.

No way he isn't gonna become as famous as the brunette, blond and cat meme....

 

[markT]

The farmer is a male Karen for sure. The Dems should use him over and over. Haha.
With regards to a news paper article, I don’t trust some news writer to gather the facts and write about it.

 

[searcher]

He should have got punched in his big mouth.

I was thinking more like buried under the blind. Ha.

 

[searcher]

A video of the confrontation? Looks to me like it was "set up"??
Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.
The way video can be set to show ANYTHING "they" want you to see......
Didn't watch the video but the look on the Guys face tells me HE has a death wish.

There is a whole generation of younger people who film everything in their lives - what they eat, what they did - and every minute they are driving on the road. I watch tons of you-tube vidoes of fishing in places I intend to go - kayak fishing, etc. While I'm not expert, I don't think that film was edited one bit - it looked like a continuous stream. (I did watch all three). That anyone would argue about a bit of grass touching one's corn or even being 3' over the line (which it seems they were not) onto ones' property is childish - at best. What could these boys have done to prompt that type of behavior? That older guy has mental issues that go far beyond upsetting normal behavior. I view this one as being not much different than a security camera filming a break-in. Just because it was filmed doesn't mean it was edited to frame people doing bad things that they shouldn't have been doing in the first place. If the boys WERE as above-board as presented - I'd say they kept cooler than most of us would.