You met some redneck hunters and did the right thing. If you like deer hunting and do not have private land access, look into bow hunting - you will find it is a lot less hectic and hunters like you met will less likely to be out on the public lands. And I am not saying all gun hunters are rednecks - I gun hunt and so does my son. But on public land, things can get pretty ugly during the gun season, as you found. I hunt public land with my bow, but I choose smaller parcels that are generally overlooked and avoid the "nice looking" spots where everyone tends to hunt. For gun hunting I generally hunt our own private land but I have gun hunted one small public parcel a few times that is always overlooked by other hunters. Another option for public land gun hunting is the muzzle-loader season - this is a lot less hectic on public land as well - last fall I almost got a deer on public land this way - nobody else was anywhere near.