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

Its usually first come but I try to find out who' s sharing the area and what days they usually hunt there then I just hunt a different spot. (I have at least 15 different trees picked out) or I try not to hunt Saturdays and hunt during the week when I usually have the woods to myself. Love the thread about the t-paper:D As someone said communication is the key. Also those solar lights they sell in garden centers work better than those bright eyes;):D:D

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

What " unwritten rule" ? It' s public land. It' s not [/B]your[/B] hunting area. It' s everyone' s land. Unles you' re actually hunting the area at the time, you' ve got no complaint.

This is your first season hunting there, right? Maybe he hunted it last year? This is why I hate hunting public land. People don' t seem to understand the difference between public and private.

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

I hunt public land in northern Wi and most of the time the guys you run into bow hunting are very friendly and will move on if your in there first and I do the same. Rifle hunting sometimes you run into a yayhoo that spots you and just sets up next to you. Its something you have to deal with if your on public land. I also agree putting up flagging tape to mark your trail or stand sight is inviting people to check it out.

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

Thanks for the advise guys... as mentioned I will just have to arrive a little earlier on days I would like to hunt the spot. I am not complaining about having to hunt first come first serve, I have accepted that ...I just dont understand why someone would WANT to hunt a spot someone else is OBVIOSLY using and risk walking in on the other while hunting, even if it was " their" spot last year. Thats why I marked it in the first place, but I will keep my other spots a secret :D

Oh well, its a mute point... like someone mentioned some are just lazy and its easier than scouting the woods in the 90 degree heat. Thanks again!

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

I hit this one a little late. Being a veteran of public land hunting I have come up with my own little philosophy on hunting " spots"

Speaking in reference to a area in a WMA that has thousands of acres, If another hunter can pick the same spot I have or vice versa then I am not hunting far enough or deep enough from the road ;)

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

well, its public land and that means that its everyones spot. i have had all kinds of experiences from someone setting up within 40 yards of me to the person who turns at the sight of my light and finds another place. bottom line is you can get mad all you want and it does no good but ruin your day. i find that going in at first light to my stand site works good b/c you can see evidence if someone is using the same trail as you and if they are where you plan to hunt you can find another one easier in the light than blundering around the dark. just my 2 cents.

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

Last season I was on public land that just opened up for hunting. I was sitting in a tree about 50 yards off the border of the reserve area. I saw something moving about 100 yards away, but realized it was 2 guys looking for a place to hang a stand with screw in steps(not legal). They spooked a nice buck that was bedded 70 yards away from me. It ran past me without offering a shot. These buttheads kept coming toward me, so I whistled at them and told them that they were in the no hunting area. They moved on up the woods but came back to set up about 100 yards from me, which would have been fine except they were only wearing camo shirts with light bluejeans. They had no bows, only a drill and a stand.They took 2 hours to hang the thing. The whole time I could see one of them walking back and fourth. If I would have known that it would take that long I would have moved a couple hundred yards down the border. I was told that I could track a wounded animal into the reserve, that is why I was hunting near the boundry.

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

One of my biggest pet peaves is seeing our national forests littered with ribbons and bright eyes![:@]
I leave the forest the way I found it , unless I find some trash , then I' ll pick it up and take it with me!

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

Don' t be so hasty to look at this as a negative. Yes, I enjoy hunting alone, but this guy might be of some help. He might have better knowledge of where the deer are on that part of the land. Who knows, he could become your new hunting parter