Bukmastr

When I was a boy, I remember my Dad walking in the woods with me and stopping to pick up candy wrappers and soda cans left by others. He was a man of few words and lead more by example than words. He did not say anything about the people who left the occasional piece of garbage, and neither did I. Although no words were spoken, it had an impact on me as a kid that regardless of who threw it there or whether or whether not it was accidently dropped, it was all of our responsability to keep the woods clean.

Now, many years later, I still try to leave the woods a better place when I leave, than when I entered... This goes much farther than garbage too... I don't cut down shooting highways, I don't target practice on signs, or non-game animals... I simply apreciate the woods and its animals, and try to lead by example...

How about you?

GTOHunter

Yes indeed...I can not stand to be out in the woods and have to look at trash laying around,we always pick up our trash and any other trash laying around from someone else?I can say that on the Lease where we hunt its a chore to find any trash...everyone there is very courtious about keeping things nice and clean,the most dis-carded trash I have ever found where I hunt was some Mylar balloons that had gotten loose from someone's birthday party....way out in the middle of nowhere!I put it in my backpack and disposed of it later on!When we put out food plots or mineral licks we pick up all out containers and empty bags and clean everything up.

Same thing on the Wife's Family Farm...I can't stand to see soda/beer cans laying around,so I make sure to pick them up....which usually isn't much if any and actually there shouldn't be any there but the lazy BIL doesn't respect Land or Property.

Champlain Islander

Aways… and have for many years. I take pride in walking out with more than I went in with. Cans bottles and candy wrappers are always the sign post of someone's stand on public lands. I often will keep a trash bag in the back of the truck just to pick up the trash left by others especially at popular fishing spots. All the beer and pop bottles and cans as well as the worm containers look much better in the back of my truck than on the lake shore. I actually scored a great place to hunt turkey many years ago by picking up trash. There was a small but pretty productive piece of open land surrounded by a large farm parcel that didn't allow hunting. Since it was a long ways from home I tented near a river on the edge of the open land. There was a pull off spot known as the fishing access which is where many parked when they wanted to access the river. After hunting and coming out at the mid day deadline for turkey hunting I decided to gather up all the trash I could find at the access. I filled the back of the truck with bottles, cardboard, wood and a few bags of household trash. I even picked up a rusted car hood which someone threw out there next to an old stuffed chair. A few people drove past and nobody stopped or said anything. I was getting ready to settle in for the night in the tent and a truck came past that had gone by earlier and he stopped. He told me he noticed I had picked up the access and said thanks for caring. I told him I always try to leave a place better than when I got there that was the way I was taught. He looked funny and said have a good night and said good luck hunting. After the hunt the next day I came back to the truck to pack up the tent and head home and found a note on my truck thanking me for being a good steward of the land and welcomed me to hunt his farm. I didn’t know who it was that stopped and it just happened to be the farmer who had his whole farm posted. True story.

gator59

I am on a 17,000 acre lease in SW Fla. We take pride in the fact that all of our 17000 acres are litter free.

This past year we got a new member that uses dogs to hunt hogs. Everytime one of his dogs messes on his buggy he stops wipes the crap off the deck and throws away the paper towel jumps dumps it on the ground. It was getting pretty bad.

So I made up a sign and posted it at the check in center. To please pick up after yourself and not to dump papertowels full of dog crap on the ground. I explained that our lease prided itself on being 100% litter free.

The following week this guy had backtracked and picked up 100% of the paper he had dumped.

Sometimes I think that people do not consider the consequences of their actions. And need to be made aware of the fact that they are doing wrong.

Bukmastr

I think some people act one way when people are looking, and have a whole different set of morals and ethics when they think no one is watching...

Sfury

Over the years I've picked up more trash than I've left in the woods. I was disappointed in myself this year when a water bottle I had strapped to the deer cart came loose and I lost it. I don't like leaving anything behind when I'm in the woods.

It's the way my Father taught his boys to respect nature.

Mojotex

All I'll leave in the woods is used toilet paper .... buried in the make shift mini latrine !! I hunt with 12 others in a "hunting club" on about 3150 acres. We have a few that will not bring their trash back .... water bottles, candy wrappers, fruit cups, etc. One guy in particular. Irks me to no end !!

drktmbr2

I can't say that I have ever left any trash in the woods as I surely respect the woods. But I must admit I have walked right past a soda can or wrapper and didn't pick it up. Now that I have listened to your discussions, I am a little discusted with myself and can't help thinking that I will never pass a piece of rubish without bringing it back to camp. Cheers for inspiring me...
I absolutely love the woods a d think it beats the concrete jungle that I work in... I owe it to the outdoors to do a little bit more.

Ghost of the hardwoods

After the first year or two of hunting on our private land, things where pretty clean. Just a couple bottles or cans could be seen here or there. We always picked up junk when we found it. However, on the adjacent property we could find many oddball items laying around. They ranged from an old Chrysler K-car to a couple washing machines or refrigerator. But perhaps the biggest surprise that I encountered over there was a 24 foot sailboat that was all beat to heck.

At least I know what happened to Gilligan and the rest of the lost souls on the island.

FoldEmXtreme

I always try to leave the woods, field and marsh better than I found it. This includes picking up garbage left from others and empty hulls from our shotguns, etc. I hunt most of the season with my kids and teach them to respect this beautiful world the Lord created for us.