Somebody is in my deerstand

[banen]

Hi Guys,
I have some frustration to vent.  I have been hunting for the last 6 years in the same spot, never seen or heard another hunter near by.  I went out in mid September to fluff up my ground blind which is nestled back in a pine tree.  I put some orange streamers criss crossing between some branches right where I sit just to let someone know that spot was taken. 

Well, I  just went out to check it this weekend, and someone else has a bait pile about 20 yards from where I sit.  Every other year I have had alternates, but this year I didn't because I have never needed one (Murphy's law).  This isn't private land.  I guess I will just go out real early on opening day and if someone shows up I hope they will politely go elsewhere.  I am choosing to believe they just don't realize I my blind is there.  How would you guys Handel it? 

[crow_feather]

I think you said it all when you said it was public land.  The other person might just sit down next to you which isn't sporting, but is within his rights.  By now, you know where the deer are coming from.  If the person persists, move your blind closer to where  the deer come from.  After a few fruitless days, he will seek other areas.

Signed
Dear Crow-feather

[whiskey101]

I assume it is legal to bait there.

Like you said, be there before he is. Kinda stinks though, knowing that at any time he could walk and ruin your hunt.

I had a similar experience on year in Florida. I went out early before season and set up my stand in a tree over a good line of rubs. I hung orange tape on everything. On the stand and on the trail in. I hoped it would keep another hunter from inadvertently setting up on top of me. I showed up on opening morning very early and guess what I saw? A tree stand in the tree right next to mine! My stand was locked to the tree and some guy set his stand in the tree less than 6 feet away. I was so pissed that I waited until he showed up right before shooting light and I thanked him for ruining both of our opening mornings. I then very loudly removed my stand from the tree and hiked all around the woods looking for a new spot. He said he thought I wouldn't show up for opening morning and that was all he was going to hunt. BTW, I killed the buck that made the rubs the next weekend. It is enough to piss you off though.

Good Luck.

[Cheesehead]

Attach a polite note explaining your intentions and time table and get there extra early on opener. It is your right to hunt there.

Cheese

[flyboy]

Don't expect a lot of consideration from the peckerwoods. 

One  year, I had my rifle leaning on the back of my car, and was dressing my son in blaze orange, when two locals pulled up about 25 yards behind us.

One hurridly bailed out of the pick-up and stomped off into the only available area with his big bore Ruger pistol in his hand.  I don't dispute his right to hunt where he likes, but his courtesy left much to be desired, which is a frequent occurrance during hunting season.   We left and went elsewhere, and had a grand day, even if we didn't see anything.   

[GRIMJIM]

Attach a polite note explaining your intentions and time table and get there extra early on opener. It is your right to hunt there.

Cheese

In a perfect world that's the way it should be, but in the messed up world of public hunting land it isn't. First come first served is the rule and I have fallen victim to it more times than I can count. Definitely get there extra early, I have walked up on people in a ground blind that I took the time to make and said to myself "That's what I get for not getting here earlier." and went to hunt somewhere else. Right or wrong that's the way it is.

Personally I hate public land, on one hand it is nice because of the amount of land there is but to sneak out before dark and wait until the sun comes up and see a sea of orange all around you really sucks.

[quickdtoo]

That reminds me of a drop camp hunt I went on with my dad and best friend in '89, rode in on horses 9 miles to a tent in the Eagle Cap area in Oregon for a mule deer hunt. We got there on Thursday for a Saturday opener, Friday morning a couple of other hunters brought their camp in on horses and set up just across the meadow from us which really ticked up off, but there wasn't much we could do about it. 

One of em got his come uppins tho, he went on horseback a few thousand feet below camp hunting, while he was on foot away from his horse, it spooked and came all the way back to up to camp, it showed up about noon one day in the meadow, so we tied it up for him . He showed up later that day with real sore feet, as he told us his story (we're trying to act sympathic ) about cowboy boots not being the best for hiking in the mountains!!

Tim

[banen]

Thanks for the input guys.  I choose to believe this guy just doesn't' realize I have a current spot there, but he didn't have this set up in Sept when I went to freshen up my blind.  I know it is public land and he has a right to be there (as do I).  Where this is, there is probably 30 square miles of huntable, available land (really not an exaggeration), he just happened to pick my same spot.  He is probably a nice guy, that's the worst part, because one of use will have a bummer season.  I don't wish it on him either.  I will let you know how it goes. 

[ihookem]

 I wish I was as lucky as you. For years someone has been using my canoes. They always wrapped the ropes nice and put them back. It is probably the landowner across the river which is landlocked land. Last week one of the canoes were gone. I hope they return it but I doubt it.

[Graybeard]

On public land you have no stand. It's strictly first come first served you have no right to expect any spot on public land to be yours unless you get there first. Now if you do your use of that spot SHOULD BE honored but will not always be. Let me give three examples of what I've seen in this regard and the different outcomes from them. They are not by any means all such experiences I've have.

1. This is the oldest of the three and happened perhaps 25 years ago. We were hunting on the Hollins WMA here in Alabama. We in this case was my oldest son Bob and a couple of friends plus me. We went to an area we had often hunted on the first hunt of the season at the WMA. My son was still young and I think maybe in his early teens so he went to an area only a couple hundred yards from me. Around daylight time someone came in and put up a stand on a tree and climbed within 50 yards of my son who was wearing an orange cap and vest and waved to the guy to let him know he was there. The guy waved back and went up the tree anyway. Sure legal but not in my opinion very ethical and ruined the hunt for my young son on that day. I was the only one who killed a deer that day in our party.

2. Next one came about in the Chocolocco WMA also here in Bama. I had been scouting an area below Rattlesnake Mountain for several weeks before season and identified a heavy deer travel area I wanted to be on opening day. I decided to hunt it from the ground rather than bring in a deer stand. This was bow season in the rather early days of the use of treestands. I got there long before daylight, cleared the leaves and sticks away and sat down with my back to a tree. At least an hour or longer after I'd sat down a pair of hunters came along just as it had gotten light enough to see to walk without a flash light. They walked right up to me and kinda sorta almost demanded I give up the spot cuz one of them had a loc on type stand on a tree about 10 yards behind where I was sitting. I sure had not seen it in the early morning darkness as I came in and since it was behind me still had not noticed it before they arrived and pointed it out to me.

I told them sorry but it was public land and first come first served and I'd not depart it since I'd been sitting an hour at least. They discussed it between themselves and the hunter agreed to do his morning hunt elsewhere and let me have that spot. I in turn agreed that when I was done for the morning sit I'd depart the area and let them have it for the rest of the day if they wanted. The guy told me I could use his stand rather than sit the ground if I wished. I declined saying I never climb into another person's stand. I left after I figured my morning hunt was over and moved to another spot I'd scouted 200-300 yards away. That evening I missed my first deer with a bow. Some where I still have the trophy arrow bent and mangled from hitting a rock beneath the deer.

3. Again in the CWMA many many years later when I always seemed to use a climbing stand. I had scouted out an area that had some really old logging roads that were all grown up in briars and saplings and brush so thick you really couldn't force your way thru. I spent the summer clearing trails back to several stand sites I planned to use. Some of the trails were on the old logging roads and some cut off them and curved back on. My hope was that no one else would be able to exactly follow my trails even if they came into the area. I put up some " Bright eyes" tacks just high enough to not be easy to see in a flash light beam unless you knew to point the light higher than normal for walking again hoping folks would not see them.

Some guy came in and removed my tacks and each time I replaced them he'd again remove them. I never met the guy as I was always in my stand long before he came in. But I sure heard him as he didn't follow my cleared path that could be walked quietly but rather chose to come in thru a pine thicket of young trees and brush. He never bothered to clear a path and you could hear him coming from a half mile away as his stand beat and banged against the trees and I was easily able to hear him nosily climbing his tree as well. He was not very quiet on stand either as I often heard noises from him as we both sat in our stands a few hundred yards apart. He clearly broke no laws but why he felt the need to remove my bright eye tack markers is beyond me, he didn't use them to mark his own trail but seemed to hope I wouldn't be able to find my way without them. I was but it did take longer to work out my path in the darkness that I chose to go in.

On public land if you reach a spot first it is your right to use it. If you don't I guess there is no law that says you must move on to another and let the first there have it but it seems to me that ethics demands it. At least mine does but clearly not everyone feels the same.

[EsoxLucius]

I had my rifle leaning on the back of my car

That would be a violation in Wisconsin with its annoying $175.40 fine.

Hanging colored tape all over on public land is not only annoying for those of us who know how to get around in the woods but is also littering.

If their bait pile exceeds two gallons they are in violation.  You could contact the warden about the individual but would probably lose your ground blind for the year.

I guess hunting etiquette requires one be sensitive to others in the woods and I can't figure out those who are unaware enough to not know there is a fluffed up ground blind nearby and that that might not make for the best place to hunt. But I guess there are a lot of unobservant and inconsiderate people in the woods.  If someone wants to occupy my blind at 4:30 am they are welcome to it and I am prepared to go somewhere else.

I had someone set up a treestand and bait pile about 100 yards from my ground blind one year who didn't even know the blind or I was there until one day when he walked by about 10 am and I said "Hi". He just about jumped out of his skin and said "Jesus, you scared the poop out of me!" and that was it.  He acted as if I wasn't there.  By 10am opening day I was already sick of him moving and getting in and out of his stand but was determined to stick it out in hopes he would eventually leave.

[GRIMJIM]

That's one thing I could never understand, the amount of ignorant people you run into on public land. I feel terrible if I walk up on someone in their stand but some people seem to go out of their way to interrupt your hunt. I had one guy come up on me when I was bow hunting and he walked right to me and started talking about whether I'd seen anything, how nice this area was and whatever else he could think of. He was an older gentleman and I was brought up to respect my elders so I politely talked with him until he left but I was surprised he didn't just leave when he saw me in my stand.

I've shined my flashlight at people to let them know I was there in the dark and when the sun came up there they were sitting 30 yards from me and not caring if I was there or not. I still hunt on public land, but two years ago I finally got the opportunity to hunt some private land and have been going there when I'm invited. I usually hunt the Shawnee national forest in southern Illinois and there are tens of thousands of acres to hunt but there are people everywhere. The private land is only 80 acres but there are only three of us that hunt it and it's great, I know where everyone will be hunting and I just leave all my stuff in my ground blind at night because I know no one will be there in the morning. I take my bow or shotgun or pistol out with me but leave my chair and backpack.

[banen]

Hey Guys,
Thanks for all the comments.  I appreciate all the stories.  I am hoping this guy will turn out to be a nice guy.  Yes I know he technically has every legal right to sit in my stand if he desires, I just hope he give me the common courtesy that I would give him.  One of the best parts of hunting where I am is that practically all the land is public except for lake front property.  There is no shortage of promising places to go and you don't need permission to go there.  I am sure it will all work out, I am looking forward to a great season. 

[buck460XVR]

I had my rifle leaning on the back of my car

That would be a violation in Wisconsin with its annoying $175.40 fine.

Hanging colored tape all over on public land is not only annoying for those of us who know how to get around in the woods but is also littering.

aye...aye. I remove all surveyors tape I find on public land as a service to the others that hunt there.

I put some orange streamers criss crossing between some branches right where I sit just to let someone know that spot was taken.

probably how he found his stand......figured it had to be a good spot if someone went to all the bother to mark it so well.

same reason Wisconsin doesn't allow permanent stands on Public land....so one can't "stake" a claim on any spot. Yes, continuing to hunt an specific area may help keep other regulars away from your stand, but newbies to the area are looking for obvious sign and easy access. If your "honey hole" is like that you will forever have competition. Even being there first don't guarantee you exclusive rights to that spot. Maybe the other guy only has the one spot also........and by law, as long as he doesn't endanger you or harrass you(Wisconsin guarantees you the right to hunt) he has as much right to that spot as you.

Maybe you should have one or two alternate spots picked out before opening day in case you don't run into the other guy before season. That's how many of those that regularly hunt public land  do it. It just might make for a more enjoyable hunt compared to an argument or sharing the spot early on opening day. Being from Wisconsin, we all know that can lead to disaster.
 

[Graybeard]

I like to mark a trail with marker/surveyor tape on the opposite side of the road from me at least a couple hundred yards back in so folks will follow that rather than my cleared but unmarked trails on public land.  Folks do have a tendency to follow marked trails down here. 

[crow_feather]

Not a secret any more GB

[Graybeard]

Maybe not but knowing where I am at any given time is.  I no longer drive a truck that is so unique that anyone seeing it will recognize it. I'm sorta camoflaged now in that there are no distinguishing marks on it to tell it from anyone of hundreds of other just like it trucks in the area.

[crow_feather]

May your blind have the sweet smell of success.

[jh45gun]

I bothered to set up a area with bait once before rifle season never again I do not use it as I went through a lot of trouble just to find some idiot made a stand 20 yards past my corn pile. He built a large wooden stand in a tree and covered the damn thing in black plastic you could hear that plastic making noise all over the woods I doubt he or she shot anything with all that racket. It hardly pays to try to scout out a good area during bow season on public land as if it looks good to you chances are it did to some one else and you will see a sea of orange opening day. I now just pick a spot and if some one intrudes I leave. I am getting to the point I enjoy archery seasons and Muzzle loader seasons much better than rifle seasons anymore though I still go at least part of the season.

[Odinbreaker]

I only hunt public land in the black powder season I just cannot put up with the fools in the woods. 

[william_75]

I feel for ya I really do but what do you expect putting up bright ribbons right to your spot, mights as well been a neon sign saying "great hunting here".  By the way had a buddy last year get a littering ticket the last weekend of gun season for having ribbons out. 

[ihookem]

 Never mark your hunting spots! I have had years where I would not go to favorite areas because of snow on the ground and newbies follow other foot prints. When snow is on the ground I go to a stand I am sure most won't follow me there.

[Graybeard]

Snow? Whatzat? Here in Bama I've not seen any of that in so long I think I've forgotten what it looks like. Been at least 5 years and seems maybe much longer.

[ihookem]

  Snow is white stuff that falls from the sky. Most like it at first , making people feel almost fun. By the time February comes it's down right annoying. Lucky you Graybeard, we have two inchs on the ground now. It sure makes it easy finding out whats been in the area though.

[Chilachuck]

A friend of mine and his family went for a walk in deer season one year. He had his rifle, but did not really expect to find anything to shoot at. One of his kids went sulky, sat down, and started bawling. The friend says, "Fine, go right ahead. We are going to go on without you." The kid stayed right there and bawled his head off. When the friend and the rest of the family came back, several deer were peeking through the brush at the kid, trying to figure out what was making all that noise. One of them was a nice buck, and the friend got him.

Now he is trying to figure out how to stake the kid out in the woods to draw more deer without the wife clobbering him.

[jpred1]

Dont sweat the deer hunting promblems on public land,you all should try duck hunting on the river.Pulled in this morning to a spot that Ive never seen anyone at and got set up up,1 hour later and many of spotlight signals,we had 4 boats in an 1/4 mile area.Luckily I was the early bird,maybe will beat them there in the morning.I leave out at 3:30.

[banen]

Well, The Wisconsin season was and is no more for me.  I told you all I would provide an update.  Turns out nobody was there which was a pleasant surprise.  The unpleasant surprise was that the guy would have been doing me a favor if he had been there, it was my worst season ever there.  I did find a tree stand set up, that wasn't there before, but no more corn? Strange.  It is definitely a bow hunter set up though.  I don't know what the deal was.  He probably decided to set up his bow stand there after he saw my rifle blind and decided to set up for bow season. Probably his tromping in and out with corn over the last couple months is why I didn't see anything.  The first couple years I use to tear down the blind so no one would know it was there, but then I switched strategies to marking "my territory" in hopes that people would be courteous and observe a first come first serve rule.  Yes I know it isn't truly "mine" but you know what I mean.   Again, where I am there is very little hunting pressure and plenty of good land to hunt.   Anyway, it all turned out all right in the end except for the deer part.  I did see some does, and it is always fun to see anything. 

[bub524]

For 15 years we hunted in Clark County WI off the same ridge. One opening morning about 10 years ago my partner and I got settled in and when the sun came up there were six hunter all around us in tree stands. One of them within 30 yards told me in a gruff voice to get out of this area because they were hunting it now. We were pretty angry and left, because it public land and first come first served. However they were very rude and as we walked off a couple of them made comments about stupid Cheeseheads.
We moved to a different area about a quarter of a mile away and didn't see a deer. When we went out to the parking lot we saw a bunch of the usual local guys we had seen there for years. They were all laughing because there was 4 or 5 expensive GMC PUs with flat tires sitting there. Somebody said they had a run in with these guys earlier.
We decided to leave before the shooting broke out and didn't hunt there again for almost 11 years.
This turf thing can take the fun out of a hunt for sure. It sure isn't worth getting shot for though. Public land hunting is a crap shoot. Best to have alternates. Some guys are good sports others are jerks, but they all have guns and its not worth a dispute.

[buck460XVR]

this last deer season I went up to one of my favorite areas to sneak hunt on public land. I chose these spots day to day depending on weather, wind and pressure from other hunters. Anyway it was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and there weren't many folks out hunting, and there was no one where I had decided to start. By the time I got ready and the gun loaded about six or seven PU's full of hunters came tearing in the access road. One of the trucks pulled up beside me and the driver made a comment about the hand canon  I was carrying and then proceeded to ask me the name of the flowage we were at. When I told him he cussed and asked where such and such flowage was and I told him how to get there. He then yelled at the other trucks they were in the wrong spot and out they all went. About a quarter mile and a  hour later I heard commotion behind me as several hunters took stands on the ridge behind me. Hearing the sound of drivers in the opposite direction I proceeded to move out from between them to a spot where I was safer and more visible......and yes it was a spot I knew the deer would take on their escape. Wasn't long before several deer came by and I took a shot,  and when another one stopped at thirty yards I popped her.  After seeing her go down I stayed where I was at and let several other deer go by in the direction of the standers. Needless to say the never saw 'em. After the drivers came out of the woods and met up with the standers one of them proceeded to walk the 1000yards or so to where I was and confront me. It just so happened to be the guy from the truck.  He got in my face and told me I had "cut into" their drive and that the deer I had shot was rightfully theirs. He then proceeded to say how I had ruined all their hard work and had actually endangered them by shooting into their drive. Then he even accused me of lying to him about the correct name of the flowage just to screw them up.

After he had said his piece I calmly told him I did not "cut into" your drive. I was here first...you saw me when you asked directions and the standers saw me when they set up. I them told him  the standers could verify the fact that I had moved from where I was to a spot out of the way of their drive and then proceeded to show him how  I had waited till the deer had turned out of their drive and I could safely shoot before I took the shot....and the fact that the deer I shot was going away from both the drivers and the standers and was basically a deer they never would've known was there. I then told him it was they that had endangered me by making a drive thru an area that they knew contained other hunters. I also suggested he either look on a map or look at the sign posted on the access road so he'd know for sure that after hunting this area for 40 years that I knew the correct names of the flowages, unlike his hunting buddies, and that I had no reason to lie, I was honestly trying to help them with directions.  I finished by saying with 50,000 acres and twenty hunters with high powered rifles they should not be intimidated by one old man with a handgun......

After dragging the doe halfway across the swamp thru knee deep water I noticed the same hunter coming towards me again. I had been thinking that my Blazer would be trashed by them out of anger by the time I got back, but I had taken the hunters backtag # just for that very reason. He approached this time with a slight grin and told me the standers had backed up my story. He also said that he had looked at his map in the truck and confirmed that I had indeed told him the truth. He then apologized and asked if he could help me finish  dragging out my deer. Back at the vehicles he apologized again and said they had been frustrated because they had hardly seen any deer in the area, and that his son had shot a nice buck on opening day that some other hunter finished off and tagged before they could find it. He was just so darn so nice after that I didn't have the heart to ask him if he wanted to help me out with the buck that was laying dead back in the swamp near the  spot where the doe had fallen.