What are ya'lls opinions on trail ribbons, bows, tacks & other such markers ? Personally , I'm sick of seeing them. Every where I go on public land, there are orange, green & pink ribbons every direction I look. For me, being AWAY from civilization is my number one goal, if I take an animal home, that's a bonus. I don't want to listen to traffic going past, or an airplane over head, or looking at a bunch of stupid ribbons strung out through the swamp that I'm trying to use as my get-away from society. If you're so scared of getting lost, go to Walmart & buy a compass for 5 bucks, or if you're really in high cotton, buy a 99 dollar GPS & spend a couple afternoons learning how to use it. You can go for miles totally blind & return to your exact spot with the cheapest GPS out there. I actually had some yahoo stop me one morning & ask me if I was the one who took down his precious ribbons & moved his tree stand. I laughed in his face as I showed him my GPS and explained that I could care less about moving his stand with my handicapped leg. Maybe I'm just getting cranky with my old age, but when I grew up we never had ribbons or markers ANYWHERE. OK - rant over - thanks for listening. I love this forum & all future posts will be positive, I promise...

I can understand how you feel but you really can't do anything about it so why get upset? You would think that even if some one can't figure out how to use a gps they could use a compass but you can't control other peoples behavior.

I'm guilty of taking down all of those stupid tacks and survey tape when I go out small game hunting along with getting rid of all the other trash I see when I'm out there. It's cracks me up when I see survey tape every ten feet just to go 20 yards in the woods!!

I know what you mean about the ribbons. I hate seeing that everywhere. I don't mind the tacks though. But the woods can glow in the light of a flashlight with those around too. I understand using them in thick, brushy areas where it can be hard to tell where to go after dark.

I use a product call Invisible Trail Glow. You spray it on a tree and it's completely invisible to everyone ,even with an ordinary flashlight. You use a UV flashlight and it glows super bright. It's like your own little secret path. I hunt on county park property and need to Keep my spot from non hunters and hunters There website I believe is invisibletrailglow.com If not just google invisible trail glow . The glow has been there for 3 years now. Hope this helps.

Unless the trash is on private land with permission it is litter and I take it down. I don't understand the mentality that would rather litter up the woods than take the time to learn how to get to their stand. If people are that scared of getting lost stay in your car till it is daylight. I rarely use a flashlight to get to my stand unless there is no moon.

Some people seem to be incapable of navigating on their own. Even guys who have hunted a long time.

I'm like OT. I carry a flashlight, but almost never use it unless I'm tracking a hit animal or signaling to another hunter.

When I was little Dad would have me find my way back to the truck. Sometimes I'd mess up, but usually he'd play along and let me figure it out on my own or provide enough help to get me corrected and then let me figure it out. I suppose it's a skill people could learn if they took the time to.

I got turned around a couple years back coming out of a swamp after dark. I couldn't find the place I crossed a creek that wandered through the swamp. And ended up having to follow it a ways (twistier than a dying snake) before I was able to cross. By then I was all twisted around. But still managed to orient myself after a while.

What gets me is guys use these markers to get to permanent tree stands. Places they should be able to return to again and again. But can't.

-Jake

I pull ribbons on public land. Tacks I used to use pre-gps, but so do others! Tacked into a spot on PA on a hunt in a place we'd never been, funny part was two days later when I went to use that tack line it was useless as literally 15 others had also tacked into that area. Now I use OnX

With OnX and GPS there is no need for anything else. Grab a map and compass if you want to go old school.

Never been a fan of using ribbons. I don't want to advertise where I'm hunting. I know how to use a map and a compass and have never needed to flag a trail to anythign.