Shotgun Forum banner

hunting public land

16K views 43 replies 25 participants last post by  oldthompson 
#1 ·
I watched a video a while back that I can't seem to find again that I've been thing a lot about lately. It goes like this. Opening day of the second split, public land. A "guide" is in a freshly brushed blind with his clients LONG before shooting time(he did say what time he got there but I forget, something crazy like 2am). 20 minutes before legal shooting time the guy that brushed the blind shows up with his grand kids. The guy in the blind won't leave and the other guy is *****ing because he doesn't have an alternative at this point.

I can see both sides on this one. The "guide" did a douche bag thing by going in some else's bling, but the other guy doesn't have the right to stake claim on public land.

I'm not siding either way, but what do you guys think?
 
#27 ·
mudpack said:
"Okay, I'll pick up my decoys then".... and at exactly legal shoot time, I would have started picking up and it would have taken a good three or four hours to finish the job.
You must hunt with some rude folks in your area, if I found your decoys over a spot in public water and no one attending them, I would pull them up and delicately place them on the shore.......over yonder somewhere.....

Honestly, and this isn't just for you Mudpack, if you don't have the sack to a) get up early enough to secure your spot or b) spend the night over the decoys, don't leave them out overnight and expect anyone to honor the "this seat taken" sign on public water.
 
#29 ·
elvez said:
mudpack said:
"Okay, I'll pick up my decoys then".... and at exactly legal shoot time, I would have started picking up and it would have taken a good three or four hours to finish the job.
You must hunt with some rude folks in your area, if I found your decoys over a spot in public water and no one attending them, I would pull them up and delicately place them on the shore.......over yonder somewhere.....

Honestly, and this isn't just for you Mudpack, if you don't have the sack to a) get up early enough to secure your spot or b) spend the night over the decoys, don't leave them out overnight and expect anyone to honor the "this seat taken" sign on public water.
I'll second that. That "seat taken" move would not be tolerated where I hunt. If we want "the spot", we get up early and beat everyone there.
 
#30 ·
RPD63 said:
I'll second that. That "seat taken" move would not be tolerated where I hunt. If we want "the spot", we get up early and beat everyone there.
Actually we DID beat everyone there....by about 15 hours.
As I said, it might not be considered kosher everywhere, but it was tradition at the area. I forgot to mention that after we put out our decoys in front of our blinds, we camped about a mile away (by boat). So, while we were not in the blind all night, we were close by and it was obvious what was going on, even to a new-comer.
If we'd boated to the blind the day before and found a spread of decoys already in front of it, and the decoy's owners were camped close by, then we'd have gone on and found another spot. It worked both ways.

By the way, if you'd picked up my decoys and moved them "over yonder' somewhere, you've have found yourself talking to the sheriff's deputy and/or the Federal game warden in the area...in short order....discussing several charges I'd have been happy to press. In all honesty, though, I don't think you'd actually have done that; you're too smart.
 
#31 ·
MP, I won't drop this down to calling names (you big sissy) but if someone called the CPO on me because I moved their decoys onto the shore since they weren't sitting on them that morning, I would probably tell the CPO that I got one caught up in my prop and in order to save another boater from a navigational hazard, I moved them. I would also ask the CPO what kind of a sissy leaves their decoys out overnight to avoid having to get up early? I got up early enough to set a rig, wonder why this big sissy didn't.

The whole "leaving the rig out overnight" play reminds me of a soccer mom unfolding a blanket out along the Halloween Parade route the night before and expecting people to honor it the day of the big event. It's especially applicable since she lives in a house only a mile away. Gimme a break.

....and no one has ever accused me of being too smart. Too good looking, wealthy and endowed but smart?....Never....

Hope you're shooting ducks, all our water is frozen for the foreseeable future.
 
#32 ·
In Iowa on Public land it's against the law to leave Decoys out overnight. It's also first come first serve. Come hunt the Mississippi River in Northeast Iowa you will never run out of places to hunt.
Just for fun I hunted a different location every day one whole season and hunted a lot of nice spots.
Do some looking around you will find some great places without competition. Good Hunting.
 
#33 ·
mudpack said:
RPD63 said:
I'll second that. That "seat taken" move would not be tolerated where I hunt. If we want "the spot", we get up early and beat everyone there.
Actually we DID beat everyone there....by about 15 hours.
As I said, it might not be considered kosher everywhere, but it was tradition at the area. I forgot to mention that after we put out our decoys in front of our blinds, we camped about a mile away (by boat). So, while we were not in the blind all night, we were close by and it was obvious what was going on, even to a new-comer.
If we'd boated to the blind the day before and found a spread of decoys already in front of it, and the decoy's owners were camped close by, then we'd have gone on and found another spot. It worked both ways.

By the way, if you'd picked up my decoys and moved them "over yonder' somewhere, you've have found yourself talking to the sheriff's deputy and/or the Federal game warden in the area...in short order....discussing several charges I'd have been happy to press. In all honesty, though, I don't think you'd actually have done that; you're too smart.
Possession is 9/10s of the law. You weren't there, your decoys don't count.
Sleep in the blind next time! :lol:
 
#35 ·
Unattended dekes are illegal in Idaho, too.
When I moved here in the 80's I did all my hunting except deer, within 40 minutes of my house. Mostly on the river west of town. Eventually, I was getting to a spot at what I thought was very early, and I'd find 2-3 rigs that had been there long enough for the windows to re-freeze. Those guys really wanted that spot. I don't think I ever went back to that put in.
 
#37 ·
The reality is it's public land so we all own it, which means whoever is in the blind at shooting time well it's theirs, case closed -- regardless of how many dumb lanterns you hang on it :) Now that said, if I sit in a blind at say 2AM with my buddy and gramps shows up with 2 grand kids 10 mins before shooting time I wouldn't have the heart to say "out of luck". I'd say "enjoy the time w/ yr grand kids" and I'd either go somewhere else or hit a diner for a hot breakfast knowing they're enjoying a special time they might remember for the rest of their lives. There are many ways your hunt can qualify as a "success".... Beside, the spot you go to next might actually be the real hot spot who knows...
 
#38 ·
Oldman1949 said:
I think if I had to go back to hunting public land I would quit hunting . I enjoy waterfowl hunting way to much and dealing with Jackwagons ruins it for me .
The biggest problem with public land is the part that says public .
Feel the same way regarding my turkey hunting, I`m sorry to say.
 
#40 ·
In WI permanent blinds are not allowed on public land. You can build a blind, but it has to have your name and address on it, and it has to be removed by the end of the season which is a real pain in the arse because you don't know when the water will freeze. If there is one inch of ice, can't walk on it, can't boat on it.

Most guys on public land around here just pull their small boat into the catails or use a boat blind.There is one bay I hunt that is real popular on weekends because the ducks and geese use it and it is easy access. I usually hunt it weekdays. A friend of mine has property on the water so I can launch at his place, but most everybody else uses the public launch that I gotta drive by to get to my friends house. When I launch usually there are no cars at the public launch. If somebody is at the launch when I'm going by I'll stop to say hello, tell them I'm going out too, and ask where they plan to hunt so I can plan around it and it's not a race to see who can get to the best spots first.

Last week i was out in this bay with two guys set up about 300 yards away from me. A flock of five mallards and about eight ringnecks came by a good ways up there and I called them down, I think. The other guys did not call anyways. Maybe they did not see the birds or maybe the birds were just really tired. They came circling down and the mallards split up into two pairs and a single. The one pair of mallards landed 50 yards away from me, flying by just out of range. The other pair of mallards landed between me and the other guys, and the single mallard and eight or so ringnecks tried to land in the other guys' blocks. They shot a mallard and three ringnecks. Did not get a shot myself, but I had a blast watching those birds working down. Good thing it wasn't a bunch of skyblasting kids 300 yards away from me.
 
#41 ·
Leaving decoys out on public land in my area is a good way to get them stolen. The county north of us experienced a tragedy involving some young hunters and an older hunter over a public blind dispute this past hunting season. It ended with three of the 4 involved deceased. My buddy and I do hunt public land as well, but we either use our boat blind, or wader hunt. He's familiar with the flooded timber we hunt in, so we can usually find places no one else knows about. We came across one man wading into the bottoms near where we were headed to hunt once. We just invited him in the boat and he hunted with us. No hunting spot is really worth getting upset over IMO.
 
#43 · (Edited)
Up here in North Dakota everything is good for the resident season, everyone is nice and parties (if there are others) will often work together and it works out really well. When the season opens to out of state hunters, it can get pretty bad. The locals call it the boat parade because for the first part of the season there’s just one truck after another pulling boats and trailers ect… I’ve had folks from out of state scope out our positions and come back that evening sitting in the spot we hunt, we just go elsewhere. They will camp out there. Fortunately I have lists of spots, it must suck to go to all that effort to stake out and hold a spot. I selfishly would like to see the state cut the season in half for the out of state hunters or at least add a week to ours. Over the last 15 years most of the good private spots have been posted due to run ins with rude and sometimes drunk non-local hunters. I’ve posted my land after having people shoot next to my house at the crack of dawn, it gets pretty ridiculous and people will give you a hard time about posting your own land!

You know people need to start thinking of others and communicating more. They might even like each other and have a great time hunting with new friends. Plus folks will be more apt to let you on their land to hunt.
 
#44 ·
In the state of WI, "navigable waters" are public land. Basically if you can float a tea pot in it someplace nearby and your feet are wet, you are on public property. It doesn't even have to be wet year round so you can walk dry ditches and creeks. Usually there are too many branches in the way. But, there are also DNR properties that are landlocked- unless you know where the creek is.

Public land in WI is first come first served.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top