Hunters: Please Be Considerate With Your Trash
Kevin Felts 10.01.18
For people who live in rural areas, there are several clues that hunting season is drawing near. One is the obvious influx of trucks with trailers loaded down with ATVs, deer stands, deer feeders, generators… etc.
The other clue is the amount of trash out-of-towners throw on the side of the road.
I live next to a hunting lease. Several people park their vehicles on the side of the road, then take an ATV into the woods to reach their deer stand. It never fails, during hunting season there will be some kind of trash where the vehicles were parked.
During the 2017 – 2018 hunting season, one hunter left a bag where the truck had been parked. The gas station brand name printed on the side of the bag is not found within 100 miles. This meant the hunter stopped on the way to the lease, bought some stuff at the gas station, drove the 100+ miles to the hunting lease, then tossed their trash on the side of the road.
I almost promise the reader, the person who dumped the bag, along with the contents, would not like someone throwing trash out on their road. So why would they throw trash out on the road I use daily?
- So what if this is a rural area?
- So what if just a handful of people live here?
- Shouldn’t we be entitled to the same respect as everyone else?
Yes, it is nice to get away from the city and visit the country. However, that is no excuse to throw trash out of the vehicle.
Then there is the issue with empty deer corn bags that blow out of the back of a truck. Sometimes it is not just one or two bags, sometimes it looks like a half dozen bags laying on the side of the road. It takes just a few seconds to secure the empty deer corn bags. Put them under an ATV tire, tie them down with a ratchet strap… do something to stop them from blowing out of the truck.
The honest truth is, rural America has its own internal problems with trash. The problem was talked about in this article – Loss of Respect For Nature.
People who live in rural areas already have to deal with neighbors dumping trash on the side of the road, and in some cases, creeks and streams. Out-of-towners throwing bags, beer cars, coke bottles… on the side of the road compound the issue.
There is nothing to worry about, it is just one bag, right? Well, there are probably thousands of people who think that same thing.
If you venture to a rural area to hunt, please be mindful of your trash. Take it back home with you and dispose of it there.
