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Airstrip Issues too...
Posted by Michael Strahan on Jan 11 2006
Thought I'd mention a related point. Most of the airstrips out there weren't put there by the Army Corps of Engineers! Pilots flew out there (or in some cases hiked miles to get there) and put the strip in themselves, frequently risking their aircraft in the process. It's understandable when they're upset at finding someone else using "their" strip. Granted, it's on public land, but I think there's a principle there.
I think part of the problem is the minority of slob hunters out there who really only care about one thing: themselves. One year we had a huge base camp in an area we hunt sheep, and two doctors from Anchorage landed on "our" strip. I was setting up our weatherport and walked out to meet them thinking we were headed for conflict. I'm a pretty accomodating guy and told the guys that while they certainly had every legal right to hunt the area, we had eight clients that would be using the area over the season, and that since there were only two forks in the drainage, it was likely we would all end up on top of each other. I also mentioned that there was an excellent area just over the ridge that was out of our legal area and was not being hunted at all (the absolute truth). Instead, they opted to camp right on top of us and the first morning opening morning), they inserted themselves into the best area of the whole drainage. This ruined our chances and my hunter didn't even see a ram. The guys walked all over the area and eventually flew off after three days or so. It was a mess. Did they have a legal right to be there? You bet they did. Did we accomodate to them? Yep. I said and did nothing to compromise their experience. But I thought what they did was very self-serving; especially considering that there was a great area just over the ridge. They probably didn't believe me and thought I was just trying to get them to leave, but I was telling them the truth.
It's not an easy issue to deal with, but it gives me some hope to see that there are folks out there who have enough respect for other users that they'll avoid areas already being used. It's a huge state, and there are still places left where nobody goes. Access is difficult; this forces the true pioneers still among us to go to the same lengths as our fathers and grandfathers to get to these places. Then there's the school of thought that says sometimes it's best to leave some places untouched. Several years ago I flew in with Al Lee on a solo sheep hunt in the Chugach Mountains. I shot a ram and on the way out we took a detour so he could show me two huge bull moose he'd seen earlier. He dipped his wing so I could get a look and he was right; they WERE huge! I commented, "Yeah, but how would you get in here to get one of them?" I'll never forget his reply. "Why would you even want to?" As we flew out of the area that stuck in my mind. Yes, I'm glad there are places like that. Some day someone will probably punch a trail in there and eventually it will be laced with ATV tracks, but at least for then (and hopefully still), it remained untouched and unspoiled.
I don't think issues like this can ever be resolved with legislative remedies. I think the fix lies with people who are willing to defer their rights to those of another hunter.
-Mike
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