Elk Etiquette; Does it Exist?

hibernation said:
I’ve had probably 80% friendly encounters, 15% standoff-ish but fine, less than 5% total jerks. Majority of encounters at trailheads, along trails, or even out in the woods are a friendly chat, how’s it going, and either sharing our own rough plan/direction or asking theirs, so I can try to avoid them. Saves us from calling at each other and wasting a bunch of time. Most people are receptive to that.

Then there was the guy who got his quad around a gate, ripped a mile up a closed road to the spot we had hiked in to glass at first light. Parks 20 yards from where my wife was set up watching some elk that me and another guy were going after. Gets on a radio and gives a play by play to his friend down the drainage, and completely refuses to acknowledge my wife’s existence in the middle of the road with a tripod.

I try to keep the mindset that we’re all out doing the same thing, most people are decent, and assume good intentions until proven otherwise. I’m thankful that it’s the rare few that really push that.
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Like most everything in life, the bell curve.
 
I have been fortunate to have predominantly positive experiences with other hunters (and other public land users) in my part of CO. Almost everyone I've met is just as excited and grateful as I am to be out there. As with any other activity on public land, I occasionally run into some folks whose attitudes / decisions baffle me, but those instances are typically vastly outnumbered by positive or at least neutral interactions with seemingly good people.

(And at least in my experience, it seems that the harder it is to get to a given zone, the rarer it is that the people I encounter cause me any trouble or rub me the wrong way.)
 
From what I have seen over the last several years, people "generally" still respect each other. But I am strictly speaking about archery seasons.

Its public land. I try not to get too jerked around about it unless someone does something really stupid to intentionally $hits in the proverbial elk well. I have been on the receiving end of that more than once.....
 
People are generally decent. One issue that causes confusion at times is different seasons going at once. When I get a chance I try to chat with folks to see what tag they have cause if they are hunting Elk and I am hunting deer I don't feel bad moving in on a deer and vice versa. Then you have aspects of what type of quality folks want. My son had a buck tag last fall and I caught up with the hunters in front of us walking into a basin, the daughter also had a buck tag. Well we wrapped up the sidewall a bit and there was a decent but not great buck we had a shot on but was in front of those other hunters walking in and they just watched it till it move off. We ran into them later and it turns out they wanted a more mature one but my son would have been fine with it and we had an absolutely safe shot on it also. They would have been fine if we shot it but we didn't know that. I'm not mad at all, it was just a missed opportunity.
 
Hnthrdr said:
There is a group of people by my family’s place that sets up their camp on the dang NF road 2 big outfitter tents on either side of the road and 3-4 trucks parked around them, basically to try and keep people from going through/ hunting an area, they are friendly enough but I’ve known them for a few years now, definitely not a cool thing to do IMO…
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Thats nothing....I pulled into a TH in Wyoming one year during archery with 2 trailers. One guy asks where we are from - out of state- and he goes ballistic with 4-5 guys piling out of their trailers a couple armed. "These are Wyoming elk for Wyoming residents, get out of here"

We left but wanted to see the big deal so we cut in on the trail about 1/2 mile up and sure enough they had corn spread around and 3 salt blocks next to a big wallow.
 
Fishing this week in Wyoming I witnessed two accounts of poor etiquette. First one from younger dudes newer to the sport and I sort of give them a pass as naive, and the second one from a set of dudes who damned well know better. It was a group of 4 and you could tell 3 didn't like what the 1 jerk in the group was doing but went along with it anyway. Times have changed. I don't have an answer for it.

"It's the tide. It's the dismal tide. It's not the one thing."
 
Last year halfway through the deer hunt we were headed out in the afternoon to a spot we had not visited that season. To my dismay a sxs turned up the road 10 seconds ahead of us. I cursed the things that put us 2 minutes behind where we wanted to be at that time. We followed them up the road because we knew there would be different options as we got up to the mountain. Then they stopped in the middle of the road a little ways before a fork in the road. I was in a SUV so they got to that point a while before me. I decided to stop behind them and go up to visit. It turned out they were hunting elk. They then proceeded to tell us about a couple bucks they spotted a few hundred yards off. They then waited for my two kids and I to sneak in on them and shoot both bucks. Then they wanted to see the bucks and walked over there with us. The bucks were about 100 yards apart at that time. The first deer was in some high thick brush. The second was up the hill in sparse sage. They took some picutes for and with us, then went to get back to their hunt or so I thought. As we turned to go back to the first deer they had dragged it right next to the second deer for us.
I coldnt believe these folks. Some of the nicest people in the mountains.
 
Trimbandit said:
Last year halfway through the deer hunt we were headed out in the afternoon to a spot we had not visited that season. To my dismay a sxs turned up the road 10 seconds ahead of us. I cursed the things that put us 2 minutes behind where we wanted to be at that time. We followed them up the road because we knew there would be different options as we got up to the mountain. Then they stopped in the middle of the road a little ways before a fork in the road. I was in a SUV so they got to that point a while before me. I decided to stop behind them and go up to visit. It turned out they were hunting elk. They then proceeded to tell us about a couple bucks they spotted a few hundred yards off. They then waited for my two kids and I to sneak in on them and shoot both bucks. Then they wanted to see the bucks and walked over there with us. The bucks were about 100 yards apart at that time. The first deer was in some high thick brush. The second was up the hill in sparse sage. They took some picutes for and with us, then went to get back to their hunt or so I thought. As we turned to go back to the first deer they had dragged it right next to the second deer for us.
I coldnt believe these folks. Some of the nicest people in the mountains.
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The that’s good stuff right there
 
If you guys can can walk away from the first bull you have located in 3 days just because you are pretty sure someone else is in the same canyon pursuing him, you are much more generous than me. Might be the only chance you get. It’s not an etiquette dinner. Get out there and have fun but don’t be a jerk, if someone is obviously in the kill zone before you then let them have their crack and don’t mess anyone us, but no need to give them the canyon because they happened to arrive 30 seconds before you.
 
Beendare said:
Thats nothing....I pulled into a TH in Wyoming one year during archery with 2 trailers. One guy asks where we are from - out of state- and he goes ballistic with 4-5 guys piling out of their trailers a couple armed. "These are Wyoming elk for Wyoming residents, get out of here"

We left but wanted to see the big deal so we cut in on the trail about 1/2 mile up and sure enough they had corn spread around and 3 salt blocks next to a big wallow.
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Lol just as I thought, every accusation is a confession. 100% these are the same idiots on Facebook going ballistic about how less than 10% of nonresidents are killing and poaching all the wildlife in their state.

My experience echos the same, saw a lot of the same behavior from residents in New Mexico during muzzy season too.
 
I do "get" the feeling that etiquette seems to be lacking these days, but just to add some balance here, don't forget some of our ancestors hunted plains bison nearly to extinction, sometimes doing mass kills where they only removed a few parts like the tongue and left the rest of the animal to waste and rot. I find old tin cans and other trash - even mattresses rotted down to their springs - just left out in the woods all the time, and they're definitely decades old - some of the cans have the old "key" style openers. And I regularly also find things on public land like tree stands and makeshift huts that are obviously decades old, where now the etiquette is leave-no-trace.

The trick with "etiquette" is that the rules are unwritten. We all have to agree on what they are, and some are pretty vague. Is it poor etiquette to walk through a meadow when you can see another hunter sitting at the edge of it? I've seen threads here in the past where the argument is made that this is rude. But this is public land - what right does the first guy have to "own" that meadow and anything that walks through it, just by sitting there? I wouldn't personally do that on purpose - I've deliberately changed my route to avoid it. But if I was halfway across I also wouldn't turn around and backtrack.

If the other person is a stranger whom you've never met, what exactly do you assume they consider rude vs not? Unless we're going to actually write all this down and everybody is going to sign a compact to adhere to it, a lot of etiquette gets into some pretty gray areas.
 
Sneaker said:
If you guys can can walk away from the first bull you have located in 3 days just because you are pretty sure someone else is in the same canyon pursuing him, you are much more generous than me. Might be the only chance you get. It’s not an etiquette dinner. Get out there and have fun but don’t be a jerk, if someone is obviously in the kill zone before you then let them have their crack and don’t mess anyone us, but no need to give them the canyon because they happened to arrive 30 seconds before you.
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I get that. For me, it's more the times I crest a ridge and see a guy up on top already. Or I move in to check out some cow calls and spot that it's two guys. Or we're both getting out our packs at the trailhead at the same time. I usually try to have a quick conversation about what we're both up to, maybe where they came in from and which way they're headed.

Maybe I glassed some elk up high already and I'm heading after them, I'm not exactly about to tell him that but I will say we're heading towards a certain area. If I'm just working the area in general, I don't usually mind changing my plans if he's the one with a destination. I just want to avoid wasting my time and listening to some dude's bugles all morning if I can help it. And there's always the understanding that we're both free to do whatever, so if someone doesn't take it as a friendly conversation I just shrug and move on.
 
taskswap said:
The trick with "etiquette" is that the rules are unwritten.
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Varies by region too. A treestand hunter from Michigan might have a very different idea about "personal hunting space" than a wilderness hunter from Montana.

Even seasonally, a lot of rifle elk hunts near me are more like combat fishing. I've been in spots during archery season, even rifle deer, where I've watched people spot me across a clearcut, wave, and turn around to leave. Same area during a 4-day rifle elk season... oh man, no way.
 
Coveyleader said:
Seriously is public land elk hunting even fun these days?
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It is to me, but everyone has different expectations. I don't expect I can just roll out there and have the whole place to myself, with 35 elk to choose from until I find "just the right one." I do expect beautiful scenery, amazing views, hikes through (mostly) untainted wilderness, good exercise, and the chance to take home a few hundred pounds of the best meat there is as well as some great photos and stories.

This isn't virtue signaling. But consider this. My favorite spot to hunt is so notoriously pressured that there's a guy who regularly arrives early and helps coordinate people parking as tightly as possible so 10 more people can fit into the parking area than otherwise would. If you don't arrive by two days before the opener, forget about finding a spot - there will be 40-50 folks taking all the spots. It's a literal "sea of orange" out there. But I've learned to use that to my advantage. The thing about pressure is it works both ways. It moves animals - but if you're crafty and figure out the movements and where other hunters are, it can actually push the animals toward you. Honestly, with enough pressure, I feel like my chances go up, not down. It's like "walk with your eyes" (glassing) - there's all that territory I don't have to explore because I know elk will get funneled out of it.

I love it. I don't pretend to claim everyone else should. But you asked. 😀
 
Many years ago I had a group of Resident Idiots driving this ridiculous lime green buggy past me every single morning while I was set up glassing. They were trespassing with their buggy across a piece of private every single morning and they didn't even care (they were not the only ones). I verified with the landowner if anyone was allowed to use that trail and they assured me that nobody was allowed on their property to hunt and if caught anyone they would press charges.

These "Green Buggy Nancy's" were like a disease. Every time I I was glassing, here they would come. They were just boondocking the unit from daylight to dark. My wife and I cussed them under our breath every single morning. But I told my wife we would hold tight because I have seen this play our more than a few times in my life...

4 mornings in, they were again trespassing and they bumped this buck right to me at daylight. I heard them zooning towards us on the trail saying "Where did he go?!?!" about the time I settled on the sticks and started into that buck. They were clearly trying to get ahead of the deer.

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I heard them bitching about me and how "That F'in guy is there again!" as they drove right past it without ever even seeing it laying there....lol What a bunch of twats.

I always wondered if the elk etiquette was similar in the area but I never went back to find out.

My wife and I still talk about that "green buggy". I bet they drove past our glassing locations 150 times during the week. We would just shake our heads.

Its rare to encounter people like this on every hunt but sometimes it happens. That's public land for ya.

They did kill a buck at some point because I saw it in their buggy as they drove by. So their "road hunting" tactics eventually paid off for them. I talked to a bunch of people in the unit and everyone had something to say about this group of dip$hits.
 
Hopefully Trophyhill started this thread to improve the situation and not just stirring the pot- grin

It's a fine line right? I've hunted Oregon in some of the most heavily hunted areas. Spots where you couldn't find a parking place at the TH. One spot, we got in there at 4 am walking within feet of the few camps blocking the TH to be a couple miles past the hoard when it gets light. Inevitably guys in their tents would yell, "WTF". Hey, they were 5' off the trail with noisy oak leaves....what did they expect?

I've also been heading up a trail and passed a couple other hunters who after a short amicable conversation said where they were going so we cut off and went to a different area so we weren't working against each other.

Then there are the total A holes like the guys in my WY example....or the guy I ran into at a water tank in AZ a full month before the season that screamed at us, "WTF, get out of here, this is my spot....I am going to hunt this on the opener"

Guys like that make you want to set up on the feeder trails and cut off the elk coming in to that spot.
 
Like most, I've had a wide range of experiences on public land. Out west, my experience has been very positive and going as far as recommending me on where to go. However, I only see a few individuals/groups every year; if that's on the trail, by camp, or out in the field. Here a few encounters:

I've had people take down my number and message me to let me know they've seen elk in a unit they didn't have a tag in (hunting the unit boundaries). They also gave me pins of where they've hunted elk in prior years when they did have a tag for my unit.

I was hunting for Coues deer for the first time ever and a group crested the top of the mountain. I approached them and they gave me a lot of advice and said they've shot deer right where I was sitting. They even mentioned that they'd come grab me if they find a deer they don't want to shoot since I wasn't going to be picky.

I saw the same individual on the trail every day and at first he wasn't honest and told me things that would cause extra work. For example, where I parked was easier to hike in from (which it wasn't). I believe he was reluctant because I was a non-res and made comments about "how'd you find this spot". Every day we talked, he started warming up to me and finally he gave me advice on how to hunt elk in the area. It may have helped that I offered to help pack out his elk for him and he finally took me up on that offer a day or two later since he shot it 9 miles back and kept it cool submerged in the river. He drove me back to my truck and saved me a half day of hiking and offered to give me a backstrap.

Almost every person out west has been willing to give some advice and I haven't had an issue with "you're in my spot".

The worst experience I've ever had was Minnesota pheasant hunting opener. I got to a public hunting spot 2+ hours early. I had an older individual knock on my window 20 mins before shooting time asking if I was hunting here. I told him I've been here for hours and I plan to hunt starting here and working my way in that direction. I also mentioned I wouldn't go on the north end so they'd have room to hunt. He replied he's been hunting this same spot every single year and even has his dog buried there. I watched as his large group got out of the truck and loaded their guns. I left the spot and went to the other end and 2 mins before shooting time a young individual pulled in and unloads his dog within yards of me and my dad. Frustrated after two encounters, a little bickering developed but we finally decided to hunt together. We watched the first group speed walk across the field and cut us off so we couldn't hunt the other side of the field. No one had a good experience.

Being friendly goes a long ways. Most people are easy to get along with but there will always be difficult ones that want it all for themselves or nothing for all involved.
 
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