RE: claiming " your" spot on public land...
 

My spot.....public land.....:D:D:D:D:D

Some well placed mounds of crumpled toilet paper can discourage others from using your site...[>:]

RE: claiming " your" spot on public land...
 

That' s a good idea cyclone, LOL.
First come, first served. If a guy is there before you, go somewhere else, don' t setup 75 yards up the trail. I' ve hunted spots for 10 years and had someonee come in and " claim" the spot, ribbons everywhere. I don' t want to have to outsmart the deer, AND overcome someone else' s blundering. Easier to just move on.
If someone setup 30 yards from me, one of us is getting a whuppin' .

RE: claiming " your" spot on public land...
 

The lands I hunt here in Illinois you have to sign into a certain area. First come first serve.

I' nve hunted public land in MI, and only had a problem once. I chose a spot that was near another guys hang on stand. I was there about an hour and a half before he got there. He said to me......" I' m hunting here, I don' t care. I' ve had my stand here all season" . Well, I did' nt want to get into a pissing match since I was in a climber I climbed down and went a 100 yards down a ridge. I saw him in the parking lot and he did' nt see a damn thing. I saw 7 deer that night;) Never got a shot off. I had a doe spot me in the tree, but she played with me for about 15 minutes trying to get me to move. Thats another post, though.

J

RE: claiming " your" spot on public land...
 

I some idiot sees me and sets up 30 yards from me the day is ruined anyway. So I will just move around alot make noise,even sing,talk out loud to myself. They eventually move and dont come back. They just wright me off as a psyco case.

RE: claiming " your" spot on public land...
 

I tend to agree with the thought of " first come, first serve" when it comes to any given day on any public land. Granted, you did scout the place out and prep it for hunting but every person that hunts public land does so with the thought that another hunter could be in the spot that they picked out. As per the other suggestions, I would have a few stand locations set up prior to when you plan on hunting any given area. That way if someone is in your primary location then you can move to another place with little effort.

I take the same gamble every time I go hunting. The SGL that I hunt receives quite a bit of pressure during just about every season. I still do prep " favorite spots" and do put cat' s eyes up to lead to each stand. But, under no circumstances do I assume that any spot is " my stand" . What I do is get up there extremely early to make sure that I am the first one to the spot. If I see another hunter approaching then I shine the flashlight in his direction. Most of the time the hunter turns around and heads back in the direction they came from. However, I have had several occasions where the hunter blunders around in the dark trying to find another tree that is relatively close to the one I am sitting in. They think they are far enough away but when it gets light out then chances are they are within 50 yards of my location. In such a circumstance I just grin and bear it. More often than not their new stand location does not have any shooting lanes and deer actually walk right past them and down, or over, to where I am sitting. It happened last year with a half rack 8 pointer that I saw on the third week of the season. I am sure it will happen again this year.

Personally, I think the orange tape around a tree, etc... is a bad idea. It immediately alerts others to your presence even from a distance. Most hunters are curious and will investigate. The cat' s eyes, though still noticeable, usually cannot be seen in the daylight without being relatively close to them.

I would get there early if I were you and hope the other hunter has some common decency when he sees there is another person hunting that particular spot. There really is not anything else you can do.

RE: claiming " your" spot on public land...
 

Not to be a pain in the butt ,but that is also illegal on public land in NYS.


It' s nice that people are still not posting everything.

RE: claiming " your" spot on public land...
 

I' ve hunted public land that had so many darn ribbons I literally couldn' t find a place to hunt.

First come first serve.

RE: claiming " your" spot on public land...
 

I will hunt public land for the first time this year. I found some pretty good areas and hope the (first come first serve) rule works for me. I know if I got to an area and someone was flashing a light at me, I would certainly turn around and find a new spot, I hope others would do the same.

RE: claiming " your" spot on public land...
 

I have tried the ribbons and other markers but other hunters just pull them off and stick theirs up. I now just go into an area and put up a stand unless someone is obviouly hunting this spot. If someone else comes in I' ll usually move further in.
Most places I hunt, other hunters dont want work to get to. I' ll put on a pair of chest waders and cross a swamp or small creek while everyone else doesnt bother to walk more than a few hundred yards from their truck. Over the years I have learned to pretty much avoid the other hunters. I may have to walk through their area to get to my spot but usually no conflict. The six main stands I had last year, I never saw another hunter. Not even during the gun season.

RE: claiming " your" spot on public land...
 

Got to say i am with teh swamp man. Don' t put up a sign and expect people not to check it out. But it is sad that there aren' t to many ethical hunters out there respecting each other.