Disposal of lease trash at roadside parks & rest areas

We just returned from an RV camping trip across Texas. Went from Palestine to Concan to Big Bend NP, then back. A lot of miles. Needless to say with five of us in the truck and three being female we had to make a lot of pit stops.

During this period of travel (some on US-67, US-84, US-90, and I-10), we noticed multiple individuals stopping to drop off their deer lease trash at the roadside parks/rest areas. In almost every case we were stopped, someone would show up in camo, with his 4-wheeler on trailer, ice chests, and hunting apparatus...(yes, I was "profiling") This person would then unload all their trash, filling up one or both cans at the roadside park or rest area. Many times they left empty deer corn sacks full of trash.

It's really none of my business and I'm sure they are taxpayers just like the rest of us.

What do you think about it?

"It's really none of my business and I'm sure they are taxpayers just like the rest of us"

I would rather see that than the trash scattered all over our state. I have been guilty of doing this a time or 2 but I typically try to trash it at when I get home.

I would feel guilty for filling all the cans, but I do help pay for those cans and would not hesitate to use them if I needed to dump my trash.

Sounds like the cans are outdated and not adequate... let's contract out a dumpster to the lowest bidder please!

You have no problem using the trash cans at road sideparks. How about when the cans are full. You leave your trash on the side of the cans. So every varmint can scatter the trash at night. That's the problem

I wouldn't leave my trash unless it went in the can.

Would it really hurt to continue on home and put the trash with your household trash? Seems like more of a effort to pull over at a rest stop and leave just the trash.

Never figured that one out. If you have it in the truck just take it home. Another thing that gives hunters a bad rap by the general public.

Thanks. I think that's a good move. I know that when we stop and the cans are overflowing, we just take our trash with us to the next available receptacle.

It is surprising to me that many counties or even the state do not put larger receptacles in hunting areas. It is not like the same areas have not had this problem for years.

But how do you explain all those beer cans to the little women. You were only gone 2 days.

And you took my son...

There have been some counties that removed some of the roadside parks because of the trash. 3 that I know of in Runnels county, having to have crews go out on an almost daily basis to pick u trash was the reason. One north of Ballinger, one between Ballinger and Rowena and another south of Miles. The inconsiderate slobs drove though town and filled up the road side barrels instead of dumping at the convenience store when the gassed up.

But then a lot of the inconsiderate slobs let their trash blow out before they get to a dump site, we can always tell when hunting season starts, the corn sacks beer boxes, the soft drink boxes etc., are in the bar ditch by our place.

They hand out a lot of tickets every year on I20 for people dumping there trash at the rest stops.

Feed bags and several bags of lease trash are clearly not what the roadside trash cans are for. Haul your trash off. Or do like the crappy hunters down the road from my place do. Just throw if over the cliff onto my place, I am going to catch them lazy pieces of trash someday.

Filling rest stop trash cans with trash from the lease is the wrong thing to do. That's not what those trash cans are intended to be used for. You've already got it in the back of the truck, so just lug it all the way home.

What about the couches and old stained mattresses?

The practice beats what some East Texas hunters do when they just leave the empty corn bags in the bed of their truck so the wind can blow them out once they head down the highway.

I agree with you completely. However, such hunters don't want to inconvenience themselves at home and would rather inconvenience other folks who might actually like to enjoy the roadside stop.

Carry it home.... Parks and small towns along your route are not your personal dump. Just because someone else does it, doesn't make it right.

I always carry it all home!

I carry mine home or burn it at the lease but.... trash is trash. Why are the trash cans there to begin with? Why does one person have the right to use them and others don't? Why don't all travelers carry their trash home? Just sayin

Have never done it & never will. That is not what those cans are for and they will give you a ticket if they see you.

The way I see it, the cans are at rest areas for travelers to use as a courtesy of the state and attempt to keep litter from the road, not as a primary dump off for people that live near-by, or in general. Certianly not big enough for bags of trash.

Take it home!

I burn what I can and take the rest to the dumpster at the local gas station. Owner does not care because I buy a ton of stuff from their place too.

Sounds like people many hunters included are lazy scum.

I'm glad they removed the picnic area on HWY 16 between Llano and F'Burg. Once hunting season started it was just a huge nasty trash dump. We burn what we can and them cart the rest home. Heck, we even separate out the cans and bottles for recycling. It isn't that hard.

this...

I've never done it, either.

I am curious about the ticketing.. Is it a crime?

Since the farm up in Wyoming is close to yellowstone, I haul all there and throw it in the huge lake.

+1 here. While I can't really say anything against it, I feel it's the right thing to do is dispose of it in a better way. If you're filling up cans, that screws everyone else.

I take it home. I think you can get a ticket for unloading a bunch of trash in park/rest stop trash cans. Some towns have special dumpsters for hunters during deer season. Of course you have to know where it is and it's never in a convenient spot.

I think I remember seeing a sign at a rest stop trash can saying 'No Household Garbage'. Never left trash there, and now that I know I can be ticketed, I never will. I bring it home anyway. In the back seat, with all the empty feed bags. First time I filled feeders I put all the empty sacks under the toolbox for the trip back. They didn't make it, I never did that again, and yes, I looked for them but they were gone.

This time of year brings out the trashy end of deer hunters. Ive seen several stop with the trash cans being full and just throw their bags on ground next to the cans.

We as a whole need to clean our act up and help improve the image.

I was thinking Louisiana where I've heard everything is bayou-degradable!

(sarcasm)