Hunting Etiquette (Public Land)
09-27-2004, 09:08 AM
#11
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: East Berlin, PA
Posts: 17
RE: Hunting Etiquette (Public Land)
Hey swamp, you did nothing wrong. Every hunter knows the woes of hunting on public land, and if they don't they should. I know where your heart was but the bottom line is just because you hang some brightly colored tape on some trees doesn't mean you can sleep in an extra hour. I've known people to go as far as sitting in other peoples tree stands they left in the woods they say if its on public property and no one is in it it's now there for public use. Obviously we all have to determine where the line is but on public land as everyone has said it is first come first serve.
09-27-2004, 02:19 PM
#12
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,445
RE: Hunting Etiquette (Public Land)
Orange flags don't mean the guy that hung them will ever come back. Could be a guy that worries he's gonna get lost. Could be blood trail markers from last week. Never know.
I would think twice about following flags into the woods though. Somebody is sure to follow them sooner or later.
When you hunt public land, you take your chances. There's no reason why a guy can't go out after first light. There's no reason why a gang can't run drives. I've seen drives go past me, and that's when I expect to see a deer coming out through the side or back of the drive.
People in the woods will move deer. I bet there are lots of guys that have shot a deer that somebody else got moving, without ever realizing it. Try to use the predictable actions of others to your advantage when hunting public land.
I would think twice about following flags into the woods though. Somebody is sure to follow them sooner or later.
When you hunt public land, you take your chances. There's no reason why a guy can't go out after first light. There's no reason why a gang can't run drives. I've seen drives go past me, and that's when I expect to see a deer coming out through the side or back of the drive.
People in the woods will move deer. I bet there are lots of guys that have shot a deer that somebody else got moving, without ever realizing it. Try to use the predictable actions of others to your advantage when hunting public land.
09-27-2004, 05:29 PM
#13
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 162
RE: Hunting Etiquette (Public Land)
I bow hunt public land about 99% of the time. If you are able to hunt Mon-Thru. you have the place to yourself most of the time.
There are Hi-Tech way's to get to your stand without marking(tape etc.) it for everyone to see.
If you are lucky enough to have a GPS, it can be used to get to a far away stand day or night.
silbowhunter
There are Hi-Tech way's to get to your stand without marking(tape etc.) it for everyone to see.
If you are lucky enough to have a GPS, it can be used to get to a far away stand day or night.
silbowhunter
09-28-2004, 02:27 AM
#15
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 3,903
RE: Hunting Etiquette (Public Land)
When ever I see all that crap tied up in the trees along with cups, bottles and cans, I follow it along to see where they are hunting and tear it all down along the way.
It's littering and trashy.
It's littering and trashy.
If you dont have enough hunting savvy to use natural land marks and a compass to locate your stand then stay home!! I find that crap and I call the local DNR so their ready and waiting to write the littering citation when the morons show up.
09-29-2004, 09:04 AM
#16
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Minneola, Central Florida, USA
Posts: 246
RE: Hunting Etiquette (Public Land)
Most of you folks are right, public land means first come first served. And I agree, you don't need a mile of orange surveying tape to find your way around in the woods.
If the hunting stores sold "marking tape" in white or orange paper, it would last a month or so in the woods, but by the time the real winter hit or the spring it would rot away and not be a problem any more. Plastic has no place in the woods.
I have been known to put a reflector dot or twist tie on a tree on public land. Here are a couple of hints on how to do it:
1) Never use anything big or even visible during the day. Mine are only reflective at night and no bigger than a thumbtack or twist tie.
2) Only use them where you have to. GPSs are fine, but they won't tell you which path through the briars you should take at 4:00am. I never use more than 2 or three for getting to a particular tree, but those are critical. I hate to spotlight the woods looking for the best trail. Hang them close to the ground, about knee height. I guess once I have been hunting the same area for a couple of years I won't need to do that any more.
3) Deception will keep others from following your bread crumbs. When I hang a tag to tell me where to leave the fire road trail, I hang it on the opposite side of the trail. That is enough to deviate 90% of the folks.
4) Get there early. I take the "road edge" reflector with me on the way in and put it back on the way out. If it is near the end of the season and I don't think that I will come back there, I take them all out.
5) When you are doing your scouting in the pre-season, you should be taking notes anyway. Mark where you put the reflectors so you can come back and get them on the way out.
When tracking a wounded deer, use toilet paper to mark the blood trail. It is visible a long way away, disappears in a couple of days and it is handy to have in the woods for other things. [:'(]
Chubber
If the hunting stores sold "marking tape" in white or orange paper, it would last a month or so in the woods, but by the time the real winter hit or the spring it would rot away and not be a problem any more. Plastic has no place in the woods.
I have been known to put a reflector dot or twist tie on a tree on public land. Here are a couple of hints on how to do it:
1) Never use anything big or even visible during the day. Mine are only reflective at night and no bigger than a thumbtack or twist tie.
2) Only use them where you have to. GPSs are fine, but they won't tell you which path through the briars you should take at 4:00am. I never use more than 2 or three for getting to a particular tree, but those are critical. I hate to spotlight the woods looking for the best trail. Hang them close to the ground, about knee height. I guess once I have been hunting the same area for a couple of years I won't need to do that any more.
3) Deception will keep others from following your bread crumbs. When I hang a tag to tell me where to leave the fire road trail, I hang it on the opposite side of the trail. That is enough to deviate 90% of the folks.
4) Get there early. I take the "road edge" reflector with me on the way in and put it back on the way out. If it is near the end of the season and I don't think that I will come back there, I take them all out.
5) When you are doing your scouting in the pre-season, you should be taking notes anyway. Mark where you put the reflectors so you can come back and get them on the way out.
When tracking a wounded deer, use toilet paper to mark the blood trail. It is visible a long way away, disappears in a couple of days and it is handy to have in the woods for other things. [:'(]
Chubber
09-30-2004, 09:54 PM
#17
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Free Union, VA
Posts: 750
RE: Hunting Etiquette (Public Land)
I've been lucky most of the time on public land. I've gotten in a prime spot and had hunters come in an hour after me, just before light. I wave my hat a few times and they leave. I've had dogs run right over me...kinda scarey when someone's blasting from the directiong the dogs are coming from. I've taken advantage of the dogs being run by setin gup on what I considered the most likely escape route. I was right. Nobody said anything about me taking a deer that their dogs were chasing. Two of them even gave me a hand finding the blood trail ( THere was so much blood that from the deer running a cross pattern from the dogs, it was hard to tell which way it went.) I would never knowingly walk on someone elses hunt, and you didn't either. Seeing a bunch of tape can also be from someone trailing a deer. Public land is public. best bet is always to go deep You can still hear their dogs but you see less of the people.
David
David
