Public Land Etiquette

[trimmer21]

When hunting Crown land,it's to be expected that other hunters can and will "pop up" at any time,especially in areas in the south where Crown or public land is scarce Nobody has the right to keep anyone off public land......period. I know there's some camps that think and act like they own the property they hunt on,but,thankfully,those camps are few and far between,anymore,because the ramifications of a belligerent confrontation can have far-reaching consequences more severe,now,than in the past with anti-gun/anti-hunting sentiments running quite high through the Liberal justice system. For hunters,in general,we have far more to lose than gain. Every hunter MUST be aware of that fact and govern themselves accordingly.

[73hunter]

When hunting Crown land,it's to be expected that other hunters can and will "pop up" at any time,especially in areas in the south where Crown or public land is scarce Nobody has the right to keep anyone off public land......period. I know there's some camps that think and act like they own the property they hunt on,but,thankfully,those camps are few and far between,anymore,because the ramifications of a belligerent confrontation can have far-reaching consequences more severe,now,than in the past with anti-gun/anti-hunting sentiments running quite high through the Liberal justice system. For hunters,in general,we have far more to lose than gain. Every hunter MUST be aware of that fact and govern themselves accordingly.

Well said, and with that said, if two hunters meet in the bush, a little consideration for each other solves most issues.

[GW11]

S55 , do you consider other hunters, when you lay claim-stakeout-monopolize, public land to the exclusion of others?

Most of the time in places like Smitty mentioned, there are no "others" to worry about. Our group hunted a place that sounds very similar to it for many years. There were other groups that hunted the same land and we all stayed out of each other's way so as not to mess up runs with the hounds. If by chance some "other" showed up needing consideration they were given it. They had as much right to use the land as we did. If they wanted to hunt right in the middle of the line of standers they did, although I don't know why anyone would.

I don't know what kind of consideration you're talking about though. Should we have offered the "others" a stand to hunt in or tip them off to the good spots? They can do their own homework, same as the group who has been successfully hunting the area year after year.

Are there groups who "lay claim" to an area and try to keep newcomers out? Sure there are, but they're few and far between. As it goes with anything, a few examples of it here and there hardly make up the "norm".

Just because a group goes back to the same area year after year doesn't mean anything other than that they are familiar and successful in the area and enjoy hunting that spot. You may see it as "monopolizing" the area, but don't they have as much right to continue hunting there as anyone else who might show up on opening morning? It works both ways.

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[fishermccann]

Yes I agree with most of that , but, what if they indeed do their homework as you say,(google maps, summer walk through, etc.), and thought that the spot looked good, ( they did not know you were there for years), and wanted a piece of the action there? If they got there with a couple of their friends, before your group, would you move on? Be honest!

[GW11]

Yes I agree with most of that , but, what if they indeed do their homework as you say,(google maps, summer walk through, etc.), and thought that the spot looked good, ( they did not know you were there for years), and wanted a piece of the action there? If they got there with a couple of their friends, before your group, would you move on? Be honest!

One group I used to hunt with would not have moved on, which is a big part of the reason I no longer hunt with them. The example you gave was almost exactly what happened.

The people I hunt with now absolutely would move on if we weren't the first ones there in the morning. That's why we drag ourselves out of bed so early in the morning, walk for an hour in the dark to our stands and then sit in the dark for half an hour or so until legal light. If someone beats us in there, fair enough, I'll sit somewhere else.

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[fishermccann]

Fair enough, you are one of the good ones. I also bet many would say,(forcefully), that they had been hunting that area for years and you should move on. Hunting on crown land, possession should be 100% of who hunts there, not who hunted there 'before'.

[Gilroy]

What an ahole. I would have been furious and he would have heard it from me as he was circling the stand. For me there is no doubt he ruined your hunt at the prime time of the day. There are no excuses for his behavior at all in my mind. I don't care if he was a newbie or not, it's about commons sense and consideration for others. Even if he was new, they do cover hunting etiquette and safety in the course so he absolutely should have known better.
I hope he didn't ruin your spot, but if he pushed any decent buck out of that bedding area it may be gone for good. Hopefully some does would stick around though, so closer to rut time some bucks will still be around to check out the gals. Good luck with it.

Cheers

Here's where you are so wrong, at least IMO. It's has nothing to do with the fact that someone else has the right to be there just as much as anyone else. It's about respect and consideration for other hunters, just as you would expect to be treated. For 15 years I hunted crown land on the north shore of White lake. There were 4 or 5 camps every year that hunted that territory and we all had our areas that we hunted in. Ours was around 500 acres and we mostly hunted the back half. We never had any problems, each camp knew where the other gangs hunted and we all respected each other. Sure there was the odd loner we would see, but even they knew enough to stay away from a gang of guys who would not be happy having their hunts ruined by idiots tromping all over the place when they damn well knew there was already a crew hunting there.
Bonkers maybe we have a different idea of being disturbed, as you put it. To me that would be some stranger showing up, seeing you, give a wave and backing off. It's likely happened to most of us at one time or another. I think ride.lift.shoot was being nice when he said "kind of bothersome". He has every right to be ticked off, there's nothing hilarious about it to me.

That's what happened here to the OP. That jerk not only didn't back off when he saw him on his watch, he had the audacity to actually circle him in his stand leaving a scent trail and then went tromping through the bedding area at the worst possible time of the day, guaranteeing that he would ruin that stands hunt. That's the worst part, even a newbie hunter should realize that evening prime time is for sitting still on a watch, not wandering all over the place. Like nobody could be that stupid one would think, so it makes me think the arsehole did it on purpose. I could maybe give someone a bit of slack in the middle of the day, but even then I would be sure to tell him if possible where other hunters are located so as to inform him where he might have a better chance of having a successful hunt, specially during rifle season, not that it was the case here.

Now I will admit that I've never hunted southern Ontario, so I can't actually say I know how busy it gets on public land down there. If it is really that bad then yea you're right, the best bet would be to travel way, way far back to get away from the crowds, although that brings with it a whole new bunch of potential problems, like trying to drag a deer out through a mile or more of thick bush. I know it was a major but happy chore for us to drag a deer out if we got one and there was 4 of us. We were in the bush all day, so we carried a fair amount of gear. Two guys would drag using a good length of hardwood through the gams and the other two guys would carry all the gear. Then we would switch. With only two hunters it would sure take a long time.

Like you say, getting far back is often the key. I just checked google earth and my morning watch was 1450 yds from the road as the crow flies, so an easy mile+ walk in the morning dark. We hunted way north of there too. Lot's of swamps everywhere, they just never stop lol. Thing is, we could easily have hunted the front part if we had wanted to, but scouting showed far more sign far back from the lake in the messiest bush. Even opening day we were back there. All we ever did was travel through on the same trail. It was hard hunting still, nothing like around here with agriculture. Pure bush and swamps. Real messy too, likely why we didn't see many other hunters back there.

Cheers

Gilroy you are reading into things that I never said or implied. Go figure. Bowj got it right, no problem. You seem to have a problem with comprehension maybe. Btw I consider myself in Eastern Ontario not southern. There are tons of camps on crown land and yes, most of them do respect other areas. Sounds like you're the type who would go tromping through public land where ever you please, just because it's legal. So much for consideration for other hunters eh?

This line really shows your attitude. "There is a way to level the playing field on all this crap, on Public Land pay to hunt, on Crown land pay to hunt." That has to be the most asinine comment I've ever heard a hunter make. You are a shame to the hunting community. Nuff said.

No problem with my comprehension here are your posts,calling other hunters A holes,idiots and telling us you expect privacy on your Crown Land spot in White River. You want private land rights and are not prepared to pay for such and are totally aggressive in your tone towards other hunters.I don,t think your are straight shooter.

[Crawdad Six]

No problem with my comprehension here are your posts,calling other hunters A holes,idiots and telling us you expect privacy on your Crown Land spot in White River.

He said White Lake, not White River.

[Gilroy]

He said White Lake, not White River.

LOL, LOL For someone who does not know where Southern ONTARIO IS YOUR PRETTY SHARP TO PICK UP ON THIS.

[Crawdad Six]

When hunting Crown land,it's to be expected that other hunters can and will "pop up" at any time,especially in areas in the south where Crown or public land is scarce Nobody has the right to keep anyone off public land......period. I know there's some camps that think and act like they own the property they hunt on,but,thankfully,those camps are few and far between,anymore,because the ramifications of a belligerent confrontation can have far-reaching consequences more severe,now,than in the past with anti-gun/anti-hunting sentiments running quite high through the Liberal justice system. For hunters,in general,we have far more to lose than gain. Every hunter MUST be aware of that fact and govern themselves accordingly.

That's a good point.

If I'm standing around arguing with another guy or group of them, I'm not hunting. Wasting time arguing over who has the right to be on public land is about the least productive use of precious vacation days I can imagine. Life is full of disappointments. Suck it up and move on.

I've got multiple likely spots mapped and if someone's there, I'll just do the polite thing - fire three shots into the air to let him know that I see him and ensure that he sees me.* Then he can enjoy his hunt while I move about a mile further back into the bush and enjoy my hunt.



*I don't really do that.