Public Land Hunting Etiquette

[Lanse couche couche]

With the exception of one pheasant hunt in S. Dakota, I have no experience with hunting on public land. But, I keep hearing about people here who hunt entirely on public land. So, now I am interested in how people work it out. I would assume that it is first come, first serve in terms of claiming a site for a deer stand. But, do you simply have to mark the spot, or put a stand up as soon as possible. How does it get worked out if someone decides to put a stand right next to you? Or, are there public hunting areas where spots are assigned and distance between stands is regulated?

[CamoCop]

lanse, it all depends on how the other hunters are in your area. here in florida we will mark the very beginning of the trail we walk in on with orange flagging tape. on the tape, we will use a sharpie marker and put the dates of when we are planning to hunt that spot. if the people in your hunting area are considerate, they will stay out of the area during the dates you put on the tape. however, there is always some buttholes in the crowd and will not respect what you have done. if this is the case, you may have to move to another area or put up with another hunter hunting 20 yards from you.

i try to hunt as far back in an area as i can. from my experiences down here in florida, the majority of hunters will not walk more than a couple hundred yards off of a road, so i simply hunt further back. the hunters that do hunt way back in a area are more likely to be serious hunters and are generally more respectful. also, talk to the other hunters you see in the woods. alot of times if you let them know the general area that you plan to hunt, they will tell you their general area so ya'll don't mess up each others hunt.

public land is not a terrible place to hunt. you will run into some people that are unethical and general buttholes but for the most part the people you will come in contact with are hard workers who love to hunt but can't afford private land or leases. the only draw back to hunting public land is...generally not always....the deer herd is not of the same quality as private land. it's hard to pass up on a young legal buck on public land when you know the next person to see him will shoot him.

this is just a little bit of my 2 cents on hunting public land...95% of my hunting is done on public land.

[Bob H in NH]

Alot of it is simply common courtesy and common sense, unfortunately not so common.

Most will do the right thing, they will move on quietly if they come across you, some will be jerks and move right in. On public land, in general, you have no "reserved" spots, just cause you hang a tree stand doesn't mean its your spot. If you come to the one spot you scouted for weeks and someone is already setup in there (though not in your stand), then you should just move on. However, politeness also says if he saw your stand he should have just moved on as well.

It does happen that your stand won't be noticed. I did it once, headed into a spot I had found, climbed up a tree with my stand was all settled in and "wow where'd that stand come from?" Never saw it until I was in my tree, it was 15 yards from me. I stayed, but if the other hunter had come along, I would have gladly left, hadI noticed the stand before I was setup, I would have also moved along.

[Ifly]

Public Land Etiquette..until it gets written into law there really ain't no such thing.

[Rebel Hog]

here in florida we will mark the very beginning of the trail we walk in on with orange flagging tape.

Cop, I use to do the same thing, but I found that to many hunters did't care. I started to placean empty Mello Yellow bottleon the side ofthe logging road marking the entrance spot and keeping a mental lankmark of the spot!

[Chuck7]

Camo Cop ,
Said it very good. Ususally a worse deer heard because they are eatting the shoots off of shrubs instead of clover and corn. Finding a good spot is very hard work.....and most of the time the deer are nocturnall totally.
Very challenging. I hunt in the now as a secondary. Through lots of praying I have found 2 private properies and may have found a 3rd. They are always the best.
Chcuk7

[PKnTX]

I hunt public land. As far as etiquette goes it is,
as others have said, more common sense mixed with
some courtesy.
Where I hunt, no permanent stands are allowed.
It is most definatly a 1st come basis.
I know of no marking of trails or such which
is acknowledged by hunters but I will say I
have met some of the nicest most helpful people
at the WMA's. That said, I am VERY particular about
who I will approachin parkingareasand move away from
others quietly (but quickly) in the woods. I start early,
usually a couple of hrs before sunrise and get as deep as I can.
Basically all I expect from others is firearms safety
and laws to be followed. I'm not disappointed TOO often.

God bless & good hunting,
PK

[Lefty26]

I hunt about 95% public land and its first come first serve. I have had good spots scouted and found another hunter there when I arrived in the morning. Nothing I can do but move on. As previously mentioned in a couple other posts I try to get as far away from the road as possible. Their are a couple of other guys that do the same but we talk often in the parking areas and usually have an idea of where everyone has is hunting and stay away from those areas.

[Illinois Buck Hunter]

I've been hunting public land for 7 years now and this year was the first time I had an encounter with someone. I believe the guy was up here from Arkansas, but anyways....My stand had been hung 2 weeks earlier and as I was going getting ready to climb into it I heard a whistle. When I looked up there was a guy in a climber about 75 yards away. I was getting ready to go on and head out when he started climbing down and moved up the hill.

Very nice of him to do that, but when I returned to my stand the next day there was alot of blood around it. After looking a little more I figured that the guy most likely shot a deer the next morning and drug it right underneath my stand.[:@]

I would never gun hunt on public land since I don't know what kind of person is over the hill with a gun. But for the most part my attitude is first come first serve. I don't hang stands in the vicinity of other people and I try to get as far away from everyone else as I can.

[Champlain Islander]

I hunt lots of different public land in multi states. First come is the way we do it. If I see another truck parked first I go to another area. Most of the people here do the same. The rest that don't....well they aren't sportsmen and never will change so I don't worry about it.