Abandon camps before opener

[HydeParkHunter]

Wanted to get folk's take on this. On several occasions where I elk hunt in Idaho, I have witnessed hunting camps set up several days, even weeks, prior to opening day of a big hunt but with nobody there. They are always in quality dispersed camp spots and my feeling is they come out the week before, set up camp, and then show up the night before opener. This is especially true when opener happens to be later in a week. And I get it, who wants to bust out of work at 5 and drive three hours only to find all the decent dispersed sites taken? Now you're looking for a spot in the dark.

On the National Forest I hunt, no camp is to be abandoned for more than 24 hours. I can understand a day or two, but a week+ out kinda chaps me. I've brought it up to the Forest Service, but their LEOs have more pressing matters, I'm sure.

So, is this just an Idaho thing? Has anybody else seen the local land manager enforce this, or similar abandonment rule? Just curious.

 

[Whiskey_Fish]

I've only seen it in the overcrowded places I don't want to hunt that bad anyways. Haven't come across that sort of thing in the harder to access areas in N CO and S WY


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[brettdunn7]

Have heard this happens a lot in Utah and they seem to think they own the place also.


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[Salmon River Solutions]

Ya a lot of guys do that for “reserving” their spot. You will also see people build huge camp setups at the beginning of dead end roads. Nothing saying they can’t do this. There’s also nothing saying that you can’t ride right thru there camp at 3am on a super loud dirt bike to access the area they “blocked”.

 

[Brooks]

I see it in N.M. a lot.

 

[Spoonbill]

Wanted to get folk's take on this. On several occasions where I elk hunt in Idaho, I have witnessed hunting camps set up several days, even weeks, prior to opening day of a big hunt but with nobody there. They are always in quality dispersed camp spots and my feeling is they come out the week before, set up camp, and then show up the night before opener. This is especially true when opener happens to be later in a week. And I get it, who wants to bust out of work at 5 and drive three hours only to find all the decent dispersed sites taken? Now you're looking for a spot in the dark.

On the National Forest I hunt, no camp is to be abandoned for more than 24 hours. I can understand a day or two, but a week+ out kinda chaps me. I've brought it up to the Forest Service, but their LEOs have more pressing matters, I'm sure.

So, is this just an Idaho thing? Has anybody else seen the local land manager enforce this, or similar abandonment rule? Just curious.

Just going off on a limb, but I am guessing a lot of people who do that live a couple hours away and are “tired of the out of staters takin our hunting spots”. A friend of mine runs in to that sort of mentality when he deals with trespassers on his family ranch in south central Idaho and its typically Idahoans he has a problem with.

I would call fish and game and ask them what to do about it, worst case scenario the local sheriff cites them for littering.

 

[FullValue]

This was is an issue in AZ especially after the Forest service started making changes regarding camping in designated camping spots and or not having a vehicle/trailer more than 30' off a designated road. For a short period of time in some area's they actually started towing campers and picking up camps. Anyways if anyone is going to enforce a law that is in place even if it was a 24 hour rule, it would be tough to prove unless someone sat on it for the entire time or put up cameras. A lot of hunters leave well before light and come back well after dark. My guess is you're not going to get much satisfaction if you are looking for a resolve other than beating them to the spot or finding another place. Best results I've had is just camping out of tent or my pickup then I can sleep anywhere.

 

[11boo]

Colorado too. My one hunt on the Uncompahgre was a second season hunt. Noticed a few camps with zero traffic and huge wall tents. Then the snow hit, hard. Next time I saw the tents, they were all suffering from lack of snow removal. One was completely flattened from 14” of wet snow.

pretty common actually. FS is trying to enforce the 14 day rule by doing camp checks, but it is pretty spotty enforcement.

 

[Poser]

I’ve seen some wall tents go up in CO and stay in place for the entirety of archery season, seemingly only used on the weekends. I did see a dirt bike in a TH parking area the other day with a warning sticker on it from the FS saying that it was Considered abandoned property after 72 hours.

 

[5MilesBack]

I did see a dirt bike in a TH parking area the other day with a warning sticker on it from the FS saying that it was Considered abandoned property after 72 hours.

So someone parks at a trailhead and packs in a few miles to hunt for 7 days, but their vehicle becomes abandoned property (according to the FS) after 72 hours????? If that's the case, then there are a bunch of abandoned vehicles out there come hunting season.

I set up my base camp early in archery season and hunt that season until I'm done. Sometimes that runs the whole month of September.

Last year there was a camping trailer in a spot from the beginning of archery through the end, yet I never saw a vehicle or anybody there. Come to find out, they placed it there "early" for first rifle.

The places I hunt have plenty of open spots to camp, both base camps and backcountry camps. If everything is taken..........then I'm in the wrong area.

 

[browning2480]

I have seen outfitters do this in the area we hunt. They are usually way back in with horses though.

 

[cbat]

It happens everywhere

 

[11boo]

I have seen outfitters do this in the area we hunt. They are usually way back in with horses though.

They have paid for that use. Those camps are up from archery season on.

 

[CorbLand]

Happens a lot here in Utah. You basically have to take a camper in a week or two in advance to get a spot for the general deer tag. Personally, I dont let it stop me from walking right through if they did that. We had a guy leave a note on our pickup last year telling us it was "pretty low" to come through his camp on opening morning and that we should "respect" him. Apparently his camper in the paved parking lot at the trail head meant nobody could access anything behind him.

 

[nowen22]

Happens a lot in Utah. Especially on the Units around SLC. Guys go up and set up their camps/trailers Around Memorial Day and don’t take them down until late October. Kinda sucks when they camp right in front of a trailhead and you have to walk through their camp of 30+ people to go hunt, but whatever works for them I guess.

 

[204guy]

I get the frustration but going to be pretty hard to prove an abandoned camp unless you expect FS to sit there for 24 hrs. Unless it egregious they've got better things to do.
Better not spike out from a base camp, abandoned camp. Sleep in your truck before spiking out, abandoned camp. Also I think the 14-16 day camping limit ends in some NF on 9/1.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

I did see a dirt bike in a TH parking area the other day with a warning sticker on it from the FS saying that it was Considered abandoned property after 72 hours.

Was that in an area with special regulations? I would think the 14 day max stay would apply for vehicles as well as other property.

About 5 years ago I was told by a Forest Service LEO here in CO that even though property was not permitted to remain on FS land for more than 14 days at a time, by policy they can't physically remove abandoned property until 100 total days has passed. I rolled my eyes at that one because we were standing next right next to an absolutely trashed transient camp that clearly hadn't been occupied in months and it's not like anyone is going around tallying the days.

 

[Deplorable77]

GMU 4 in Colorado. Outfitters have pretty much claimed as private property. You can sit on Bears ears peak and spot all the camps set up in the valleys a month+ early

 

[taybou]

I get the frustration but going to be pretty hard to prove an abandoned camp unless you expect FS to sit there for 24 hrs. Unless it egregious they've got better things to do.
Better not spike out from a base camp, abandoned camp. Sleep in your truck before spiking out, abandoned camp. Also I think the 14-16 day camping limit ends in some NF on 9/1.

If you're spiking out, pick up your camp, or make room for others to use that site. You're not using it, so make room for others that could. I've seen numerous abandoned walmart tents in backcountry areas to "reserve" their spot, that never get packed out or cleaned up. I figure it'd be easy enough to place a seal across the tent flap, and if it's not moved/broken in 24 hours (14 days if you're being generous), noone's entered that tent, and it should be removed.

 

[Spoonbill]

Happens a lot here in Utah. You basically have to take a camper in a week or two in advance to get a spot for the general deer tag. Personally, I dont let it stop me from walking right through if they did that. We had a guy leave a note on our pickup last year telling us it was "pretty low" to come through his camp on opening morning and that we should "respect" him. Apparently his camper in the paved parking lot at the trail head meant nobody could access anything behind him.

Gotta love notes like that. Sad to see that level of entitlement.