Should this bother me?/need to vent
 

I hunt a small tract of public land around Jackson Ms while im here at college and it really is a great piece of property.... To my knowledge I only share it with three or four other people and the one i met seems like a real nice guy. Yesterday i went out there to freshin up a salt lick i had put in before leaving for home for the summer and was really excited about that spot when i got up to it what else do i find but a pile of corn and a camera already hangin on a tree watching it... now I know this is public land and i shouldnt be so greedy but come on now, at least put in your own salt lick next to it or something. I believe it had been a different guy i may not have been so bothered but this is the same guy who rides fourwheelers in every morning when there are suppose to be no vehicles at all on this tract. I didnt hunt his lockon stand (which are also illegal on this piece) when i found it last season. I guess this year if I need to take a potty break while in the woods Ill know just the tree to lean on...
Should I not be bothered by this?? Im kinda new to the whole public land thing. Is this the norm on public property??/

You'll encounter this kind of intrusion every so often! That's why I try to find spots that nobody else even thinks of going into. It might be that you had selected the best spot and he didn't want to miss out. It's rude, but on public land there's not much you can do. Maybe report him if he does something illegal, or talk to him if you see him. I'm not quite sure of the potty break you're talking about, but I personally don't think urinating affects deer hunting! I occasionally pee outta' my stand!!!

public or not i would be salty ( all pun intended) about it..lol. this guy is completely unethical. a little dribble will soon be forgotten though

I don't think he was talking about leaving a pile of pee under the guys stand. Really all you can do is report the 4wheeler use. And good luck getting anything done about that. As Predate said, the best method for public land is get where no one else goes, the deer will shop up their once pressured. Don't overlook small section either. One of my best public land spots is a narrow strip of woods running between a field and the road. No one goes into it because the overlook it due to it's size and being close to a road, but the deer like to hide in there because of that.
-Jake

The guy is unethical and from what you're saying is also a violator. You can't keep him off the public land, but you can sure turn the SOB in to the G&F Office and ask that the area Warden look out for him and issue some tickets on the violations. It is up to all of us to help police the bad guys because there just aren't enough Wardens around to do it all on their own.

Agreed, If he is violating the law then turn him in with as much info as posssible. The 4 wheeler and the lock on are a good start. They might not have bite but they start the eye watching(Maybe). It seems petty, but right is right and wrong is wrong. I would deffinately think about moving my stand site tho, retaliation while in a tree is not a fun thing. This is the mentality of so many public land hunters. Good luck on this season.

yes retaliation is never good;) buuuuuut if you absolutly had to... a couple cheap hotel bars of soap will work much better... and it lets him know his presence is not appriciated. Or just mmove you salt like and burrry his corn ;)

Report him, for the violations.

Then use his work to your advantage. He put the corn there, now use it.

Find the travel corridors that lead to the site and hunt back from the pile. When he sees you dragging the deer out that you shot using his bait pile, he'll be so pissed and jealous that he might move it or leave all together.

Yeah I have thought about reporting him a few times last year but I never did. I have always tried to find the most secluded spots on this piece but It is reletively small as it is.. I dont know the exact size but probly only about 80 - 90 acres total. This was actually one of my spots that i thought was pretty well off the beaten path. He had to walk a good 200 yards into the woods and not throught some pretty thick stuff to find it.

I'd be sure to walk back and forth in front of the camera as much as I can. Heck, Id go there, walk in front of the camera (not showing my face) then change shirts, walk in front of it again 10 mins later and repeat. If he gets enough pics of what looks like different peoople he'll think 20 people are already hunting this spot and look for a new one. Little does he know its only one person and you won't be adding much more scent since you were already there.