Is nothing sacred

[Wapiti1]

In retrospect my walleye, and crappie spots are sacred. My wife is the only other person that knows where they are.

Jeremy

 

[CamoPirate]

Is that like...a hole with honey in it? Like...an underground bee nest?

 

[Gila]

Residents usually don't say squat. It's the non-residents who don't get drawn and probably won' be hunting or be drawn again for a unit that let it all fly out. I have been lurking here a while because this site has "loose lips". A lot of it has to do with the idea that some folks want others to think they might know something about something. I wrote a story about hunting Merriam's in New Mexico. I linked it to a forum (not here) and had people asking me where to hunt turkeys. Think of all of the time and money people spend on scouting and it really isn't fair.

 

[pk_]

 

[JustHunt]

I’m not too worried about it. They won’t know how to hunt the spot properly anyways.

 

[Wassid82]

the only way to have a sacred honey hole is to own private property and get a landowner tag. But if you are like me and don't have enough money to own your own ranch and you enjoy the Public Land Hunts...well then assume everyone know everything about the mountain and just hunt harder and smarter. Successful hunters are in the minority percentages.... Its a correct assumption that most go home empty handed....why?....because they aren't good enough or strong enough to seal the deal most years.

 

[Newtosavage]

Residents usually don't say squat. It's the non-residents who don't get drawn and probably won' be hunting or be drawn again for a unit that let it all fly out. I have been lurking here a while because this site has "loose lips". A lot of it has to do with the idea that some folks want others to think they might know something about something. I wrote a story about hunting Merriam's in New Mexico. I linked it to a forum (not here) and had people asking me where to hunt turkeys. Think of all of the time and money people spend on scouting and it really isn't fair.

Geez here we go with the non-res blaming again.

Man, last year I hunted a unit in CO and got there 5 days pre-season to scout. On day one and two of scouting, I had not one but TWO locals stop by on the road, start up a convo and by the end of the 30 min (or more) that we spent talking, they had given me leads on 2-3 good spots each, offered me a phone if I needed it and told me I could fill up my water jugs at their place. And they were legit - not planned distractions. All the other non-res's up there were as tight lipped as it gets and would start looking at the ground and kicking rocks as soon as anyone said something about where they'd be hunting.

I shot my buck 90 min. into the season, and traded a quarter for a couple bags of ice at one of those local's places on my way out. He was tickled to death and offered me a free guided fly fishing trip my next time up, which I intend to take him up on.

Some folks on here make it sound like there is always friction between residents and non-res's and I just don't see it. If anything, the folks I meet in CO are a heluva lot friendlier than the folks I meet out in the country 'round here who are always telling stories about that one time 16 years ago they think someone shot one of their cows. LOL.

 

[chindits]

The assumption that everyone knows everything about an area because of the internet is false. They could if they knew where to look or even start looking.

The assumption that not a single person knows squat about your favorite hunting area is false. However, that doesn’t disqualify it from being an outstanding area. A few people have kept a few gems for the tribe.

So I agree with the OP. Sharing areas on the internet in the vaguest sense is a mistake. Not all of us have accepted hunting crowds as the norm. I’m not a proponent for disinformation but those units right by Denver is where I would start. You can take that to the bank all my dear internet hunting buddies.

The colfax buck still lives:

 

[notradame]

Its called sharing information and its all we do here, No land or space truly belong to anyone as we will all grow old and die someday. Allowing to teaching someone how to be sucessful in their hunt is nothing sacred. Its always good to share.

 

[JLane330]

I'm highly skeptical when someone gives out honey hole information. You can waste a lot of time following false leads and hunting "recommended" areas. Not everyone is a liar, but how would a guy sort out the good info from the bad? If you know about it, so do many others!
There isn't a replacement for putting boots on the ground and scouting the area properly. Come hunting season, use any crowds and other traffic to your advantage. Most get pissed when an ATV comes up a road during an archery hunt, especially way back in. Sure, it sucks (I've been there multiple times), but take that opportunity to use it to your advantage.

 

[Laramie]

It's amazing what a person can accomplish with public internet posts. I know of ruined areas for sure but I also know of a few that have been very negatively reported on that are still pretty dang good. Do some intentionally post incorrect information to steer people away from their preferred spots? You can bet on it. Online info should be taken with a grain of salt and people should put in the work to verify.

 

[Newtosavage]

I sometimes wonder how many tavern fights there were in the 13 Colonies over someone blabbing about wild turkey honey holes. LOL

 

[Gila]

Its called sharing information and its all we do here, No land or space truly belong to anyone as we will all grow old and die someday. Allowing to teaching someone how to be sucessful in their hunt is nothing sacred. Its always good to share.

It's called hunter competition! Back in the golden years I would fill 3 pronghorn tags every season (as a resident). I had 40,000 acres of public ground basically all to myself. I rarely saw anyone else hunting. When I did they were usually non-residents. I helped them out when I could. Why not? I have not hunted that area in many years as I no longer live there. But in recent years I have seen that area blasted on hunting forums. What we see now are more non-resident hunters with fewer places to hunt and hard to come by tags. Sharing hunting info on a forum doesn't include a place to hunt. I would say get off your lazy a$$ burn some gas, and scout! If a person can't for some reason do that then hire a guide like everyone else does.

 

[ShortMountain91]

The guys that ask for spots probably won't fill their tags. The guys that find the spots on their own probably will. I keep my ear to the ground but in all honesty it's not really that helpful. Hunting the ground is what's helpful

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Mosby]

I have a great place for elk in Colorado. I almost never see another hunter and I found the place myself. I helped my son's best friend last year by telling him where to hunt. He killed a 5x5. The kid was adopted. His biological father is in prison. His adoptive father died a few years ago. He is trying to learn how to elk hunt and I help him when I can. I realize I am risking a great spot but some things are more important to me. He called me from the mountain as soon as the elk dropped. He was a kid on Christmas morning. His first elk. Would I do that for someone on the internet...no but I will help a young hunter. I think it is important to pass it on but not on an internet forum.

 

[Researcher]

You cant compare today to the golden years. Its like saying 2+2 = a bushel of apples. In the golden years there were like 10 people living in western states not named California. Of course you didnt run into anyone hunting, there was no one to even run into. All the western states have seen huge population growth. Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and all the others. I have family that has hunted Utah for 80+ years. Its a family affair. It started as Grandpa and kids and now its grandpa, his kids, their kids, and now their kids. We’re talking like a 50 person camp here. Not 50 tags but 50+ people show up to spend time with the family.

Most states cap non residents in some way but some states are not managing resident tag allocation and are seeing huge population growth. They like to blame non residents for invading when really its all the new residents driving up the number of people in the woods.

There is no better time to be hunting than now, get out there and get it done.

 

[Gila]

This issue is not about who shows up to hunt or the number of tags. It is about sharing hunting information on an internet forum that should not be shared. Some do it "quid pro quo" but either way I think it is wrong. IMO you are giving out information that does not belong to you.

 

[Newtosavage]

You cant compare today to the golden years. Its like saying 2+2 = a bushel of apples. In the golden years there were like 10 people living in western states not named California. Of course you didnt run into anyone hunting, there was no one to even run into. All the western states have seen huge population growth. Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and all the others. I have family that has hunted Utah for 80+ years. Its a family affair. It started as Grandpa and kids and now its grandpa, his kids, their kids, and now their kids. We’re talking like a 50 person camp here. Not 50 tags but 50+ people show up to spend time with the family.

Most states cap non residents in some way but some states are not managing resident tag allocation and are seeing huge population growth. They like to blame non residents for invading when really its all the new residents driving up the number of people in the woods.

There is no better time to be hunting than now, get out there and get it done.

Well said. If there are 20 trucks at a trail head and half of them are non-residents, why are those the only guys who get blamed? LOL

 

[Newtosavage]

This issue is not about who shows up to hunt or the number of tags. It is about sharing hunting information on an internet forum that should not be shared. Some do it "quid pro quo" but either way I think it is wrong. IMO you are giving out information that does not belong to you.

Now that's some interesting logic.

 

[Researcher]

This issue is not about who shows up to hunt or the number of tags. It is about sharing hunting information on an internet forum that should not be shared. Some do it "quid pro quo" but either way I think it is wrong. IMO you are giving out information that does not belong to you.

My point is blaming the internet, an inanimate object is an easy choice but not the root cause. There are no “honey holes”, I hate that phrase anyway. Maybe in Alaska or some other remote place you have to fly in there might be a place “no one” knows about but unless its private property you dont have a spot of public land to yoursef in the lower 48. Someone knows. Imagine 5 people independently find a good spot once they told their kids and their grand kids and it get passed down in 50 years you have 500 family members that know.

I get way more “spot info” from face to face conversations. Imagine the evil, dirty, non resident eastern hunter who comes on his once in a lifetime western hunt. Gets an animal in your “honey hole”, not knowing its yours of course, and goes home. He is gonna tell all the jim bobs, bliily bobs, and cousin bobs he knows if they ask him. Then you say your honey hole is overrun and you move on to another spot. Well guess what you probably just moved to someone else's honey hole. Thus the dominos fall from spot to spot to spot until no one hunts the original spot.