Strategy for Other Hunters in "Your" Spot

[johnnycake]

I don’t disagree about old stuff, but in this case I’d say if it’s there fresh I won’t touch it. If it’s obvious it’s been there a while or I saw it last year then I consider it abandoned or “donated to public use”.


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Not me. The entitlement people have to leave personal stuff on public land just pisses me off. And seriously, I've had a brand new tarp on private land get shredded by squirrels in just a few days. New or old, don't leave stuff on public lands.

 

[Contendi]

It’s public land for a reason. Always good to be respectful but if no one is there.. I’d setup shop and they can decide if they’d want to move.

 

[cjdewese]

I should add that the Wisconsin deer hunt massacre happened within a 1/2 hour of my hometown. I may be overly sensitive to encroachment squabbles.

Wow just googled that. What an ordeal and sad for those involved. Might have to watch the documentary about it at some point.

 

[brando20]

Go with the intention of hunting and setting up in that spot but don't be surprised if they're there before you. Like others have stated, definitely have a plan B in place. But who knows, maybe they'll invite you to share camp and wanna help you out.

 

[manitou1]

Its public land: "first come first served". If someone is hunting/using "your spot" then find another. Always have a plan b on public lands.

Amen brother. But there is that pesky little eitiquette thing that many ignore.

If I get to my planned PL spot and somebody beat me to it, good on him, I move somewhere else, or at least 1/2-1 mile away, depending on terrain.
I am not going to mess up his hunt or compete for shots at the same animal.

I have guys come in an set up 200 yards away in plain sight of me. This is in big open country where rifle shots are 4-700 yards regularly.

 

[PointlessArcher]

The who gets there first sometimes sits wrong with me too…. Obviously I have deferred and changed plans, dude was puppy guarding a wallow a week ago so I hunted somewhere else. Yet it’s all public. Say you find a sweet buck, an outfitter pays some yokel to sit on the buck for weeks so big money can come “shoot” it. You just don’t get to hunt the buck anymore cause some dip shizzy was there first… ehhhh doesn’t sit right. Bottom line be respectful and try not to be a jerk but it’s public land.

Maybe I've been living under a rock, but I've never heard of this happening. Is this a pretty common practice by outfitters out west?

 

[Hnthrdr]

Maybe I've been living under a rock, but I've never heard of this happening. Is this a pretty common practice by outfitters out west?

Not super common, since bucks and bulls that demand that level of attention are not that common, but I have a couple personal experiences and have heard second hand accounts of it happening, guys blocking FS roads or essentially not allowing others up a trailhead because of a “special animal “

 

[StoneTrees]

Thought I'd update on how this played out...

I slept at the trailhead on Thursday night and was hiking in by sunrise. Got to my spot around 11am or so. No one was there so I set up camp and made lunch. Around 12:30pm, a guy comes up over the ridge from the opposite direction I came from. I only caught him out of the corner of my eye at the last moment as he's walking over to where the firewood is stashed and drops his pack.

After about 10 minutes he walks over calling out to me. I tried to keeps things neutral but light: "Looks like we had the same great idea!" He responds with "I've had the same great idea for 50 years." I groan internally, because this comes across to me as him declaring this is his spot since he's hunted it forever. As the conversation proceeds, he relays all the history as well as how awful the hunting is, etc. etc. Totally comes across as him trying to scare me out of the spot, knowing he can't outright ask me to leave. Turns out he and his uncle (a serious old-timer) are only in the area for the opening weekend. Since I'm planning (at this point) to be in for the whole season, I hold my ground and we end up hunting the opposite sides of the ridge. In the end, it worked out, even though it was uncomfortable.

As far as the hunt goes, the glassing was awesome though it never materialized into a buck. I had the ridge system to myself and was pretty much able to glass every square inch from multiple angles. There were a couple hunters on the basin floor working the timber between this basin and the adjacent one (expected), but only does and fawns were making themselves visible so I never really knew which section of timber the buck(s) were actively using.

On Wednesday, I had to hike out to reload on food and fuel. I was socked in by clouds which weren't expected to disperse for several days so I packed up camp and opted to move to a lower elevation. There were a couple spots down low that would still give me reasonable glassing, but would put me in a better spot to strike if a buck showed. As I was hiking though, I heard a shot in the timber where the other hunters were operating. Knowing there was likely only the one legal buck in the area, I opted to carry camp all the way out.

As I hiked out, I meditated on the hunting experience and can say with confidence that I had done right with both my physical and mental effort as well as my assessment of the opportunity in the area. In the past, I haven't always been able to say that. So without any regrets that concluded my deer general season. Rather than head blindly into an area hoping to bumble into something, I took a couple days in the comfort of home and then took my dog bird hunting. The extra vacation days will be transferred to elk hunting where I have some better intel.