Public land hunters

The 100 acre field I have permission to hunt right by the house is connected to 800 acres of public. What I noticed over the season is that some of these public guys have 0 respect for others. My buddy was set up on the corner of private / public at 5am opening morning, he had 2 guys hike in while he was hitting them with the head lamp, and they both set up within 30 yards from him. We caught 4 different guys trying to set up to shoot in to the corn field and we found 3 bags of corn dumped in the corner of the corn field as well. We had man other incidents along the way. Guys who March right through the woods and put a blind in the bedding areas at 9am lol. Lots of dumb asses out there. The 1 morning I sat out there we heard a guy shoot 6 times so we went and asked what he shot. He was shooting at a deer 400 yards away with a 12 gauge 870. But in the direction you could see 2 different orange things in the trees. We found and took down a stand last night that wasn’t there 2 days ago. Thanks for that guy.
Pretty unbelievable the lack of respect when it comes from hunters to other hunters.
I now get why the land owner asked me to keep a eye on the field since I live closer then he does. Hopefully all public land isn’t like this. I bow hunt this same public land and haven’t had a issue but come gun season it was sure dumb. Last year when I met the farmer he was telling me guys sneak in to his box blinds and steal his chairs, also some one took a dump in his shack as well. How nasty some people are.

It is unfortunate how some bad apples can ruin it for the rest of us. I have had my share of people doing dumb stuff on public land and setting up way to close to me. I hunted some public this last weekend and ran into a couple guys out in the woods. Talked to a bow hunter in the middle of the woods for a bout 10 min that was doing the same slow walking as me and had a nice conversation, we both just went different directions after chatting. I was trying to get to a water hole and another guy beat me to it so I backed off hunted a different spot well away from him. Ended up talking to him in the parking lot at the end of the day for a bit. Does urine me off when people just dump stuff on public land. I found a full box of unused clay targets this spring on some public land that I put to good use tho!

Yeah the garbage is something fierce around here. We clean it up every few weeks. They use the little parking areas to dump anything from a dead carcass to a fridge and oven. The worst one was this early bow season we found a brand new cooler out there so we opened it and it had 2 dead rotting cats in it. So we called the sheriff and let them clean that up.

Prior to buying own land , same issues as you stated . Hunted a private farm and hunters would constantly trespass ! On one occasion on a different private property opening day found a guy sitting in my tree stand ! The prick stayed up there telling me he had 2 guys making a drive to him ! I told him to get down and go on your own property ! I was pissed to say the least !

I’ve encountered things that you’ve mentioned BC and my first and foremost concern is safety in regards to fields of fire. I’m all for gun ownership and hunting but I generally operate with the assumption that others aren’t going to be as safe as I’d like with their firearms. To set up that close is insane and careless IMO. My brother and I hunted together opening weekend and when texting about where we could each set up I told him I planned on having dirt in between us, i.e. at least the other side of the hill so we literally couldn’t shoot toward each other.

On public land, I’m not making contact with people, we’re not having a quick chat about sectors of fire or left/right limits. I’ve run weapons ranges most of my entire adult life and not having good plans around others with guns scares the hell out of me. By default, I’ll just stay away. Also, as a courtesy, as I’m walking around, possibly looking for a spot, I try and look up a lot to see if there’s orange in a tree. I’m pretty new to deer hunting and the last thing I want to do is get in the way of someone who has spent years or a generation on a spot. I know no one has a claim to anything public, but I don’t mind showing some respect either.

Bearcat89 wrote:

He was shooting at a deer 400 yards away with a 12 gauge 870.

Lmao what an idiot. That’s as dumb as they come.

I used to hunt in the Chippewa National Forest for about 25 years and I never really encountered the issues you stated, at least to that extreme. People baiting deer is a constant problem and even with stiffer penalties for getting caught, they still do it. I don’t understand how someone with conservation or fair chase morals can throw out some bait and just shoot a deer that walks up to it. That’s beyond my comprehension.

Unfortunately, deer firearms season is by far the most popular hunting season in many states and just the sheer number of participants is going to increase the number of morons. Its simple math.

Randy has some interesting stories about his deer hunting episodes in Wisconsin. I’m sure he’ll chime in here in the next week or so.

Sheesh BC that is really pathetic that people are just that disrespectful! I hunt public land and I see a lot of crap too. I see people dump bikes, microwaves you name it. Heck there were a bunch of beavers that were shot and just laying along one of the trails.

I don’t know how many of you read the Outdoor News but there is a section called Cuffs & Collars where it has all the activities and citations listed in the past week by each officer. The November issues are by far the most entertaining and interesting to read because of firearms deer season. Some of the stories in there just make you shake your head.

Ive seen my fair share of idiots. Gun season is the worst as you mentioned. The good news is most of those guys are super sloppy and very easy to hunt around. The nice thing is they push deer to pretty predictable areas if you can imagine where the laziest guys will setup and walk to. Sorry you had to deal with that BS. Guys should be better but the average guy is an idiot.

Good post to be reading as I get ready to go scout out some state land this afternoon north of Mora. Hoping most of the idiots are back to work today.

One of the farms I have permission on backs up to public, and the field road is actually the foot access to the public. The farmer has told me to watch over it like it’s my own similar to you BC.

I have multiple no trespassing signs on the fingers of woods all of the public hunters walk past, and people still go in there. Tuesday last week I filled a trash bag with garbage the trespassers threw on the ground. Yesterday morning I heard a few shots, and after texting the neighbors to make sure it wasn’t them I climbed down, and started walking that way. As I was turning up the field road a white truck went tearing out there. There was an obvious bloody drag trail coming out of the private woods up onto the field road so there was at least one deer poached yesterday. Yesterday afternoon the other bow hunter on this particular farm ended up kicking 3 more people out of those same fingers of woods.

The trespassing problem is crazy, and it’s amazing the way it ramps up during gun hunting. It’s amazing when you confront people how they think they can play dumb on all of this. I catch them hunting the private they say “we thought it was public” even though they had to walk right past the signs and everyone has onX now. Or they drive up the field road and they say “we thought this was the vehicle access” even though there are signs at the beginning of the field road saying no vehicle traffic beyond this point, designated parking parking with arrows pointing across the road, and even a rope gate with a no unauthorized vehicles sign they have to get out and drop to drive up.

It’s incredibly frustrating!

I had a pretty positive experience this weekend on some public land that is bow only. Chatted with 5 guys that hunted it that day/night and everyone was very respectful and wanting to go the extra mile to make sure we didn’t mess up anyone’s hunt the next day. Unfortunately the following morning a different guy came in right at daylight and setup about 100 yards from me with a climber that took him about 20 minutes to get up the tree in. Also, really surprised at the amount of cameras and stands guys leave out there, I could have had a nice sale if I took them all, instead I wave at the cameras and mark the stands so I don’t inadvertently setup too close in the morning.

is the private land your hunting posted no tresspassing?

Coletrain27 wrote:

is the private land your hunting posted no tresspassing?

That’s a good question, but shouldnt matter regardless.

CaptainMusky wrote:

That’s a good question, but shouldnt matter regardless.

I am agreement with this. If you don’t have permission, don’t be there. I know the game laws state you can enter private land without permission to retrieve wounded game, but I would still seek permission to do it.

Pretending to not know with signs posted everywhere is not viable excuse, clearly.

gimruis wrote:

I know the game laws state you can enter private land without permission to retrieve wounded game, but I would still seek permission to do it.

I agree, but at the very least I would leave my gun behind to get it.

It does seem gun deer season brings out the worst people and the worst in people.
That instinct to take large game is strong. Some people just dont know how to handle it.
I knew two guys that took deer and then left them in the garage or trunk for weeks into months. They just HAAAAD to kill one…..

by law private land can be entered without permission unless it is posted or ag land. if the land owner asks people to leave then they must leave. im not saying its right for people to be entering but thats the law

I guess the one thing I would be worried about is when Joe Smith the landowner loses his temper because too many people have been trespassing on his land, and you’re the one who takes his wrath. Confrontation with firearms can lead to potentially dangerous situations. No bird or deer is worth going down that road for this guy. I don’t care what the law says. Its a respect thing for me. Stay off land you don’t have permission to be on, period. If I was a landowner I’d want people to stay off my land too. If you want to enter it, have the morals to come ask me about it ahead of time.

gimruis wrote:

I don’t care what the law says. Its a respect thing for me.

Yep! Same for me. I got permission for my son to hunt turkeys on a guys land, but I told my son he had to go meet him and ask him boundaries, where he should park, etc. He went over to talk to him (never met him before) and the guy had a change of heart and was no longer letting people hunt because of the actions of some other guy.

gimruis wrote:

I guess the one thing I would be worried about is when Joe Smith the landowner loses his temper because too many people have been trespassing on his land, and you’re the one who takes his wrath. Confrontation with firearms can lead to potentially dangerous situations. No bird or deer is worth going down that road for this guy. I don’t care what the law says. Its a respect thing for me. Stay off land you don’t have permission to be on, period. If I was a landowner I’d want people to stay off my land too. If you want to enter it, have the morals to come ask me about it ahead of time.

i agree with you and im sure everybody here does also but unfortunatly there are alot of morons out there

gimruis wrote:

I don’t know how many of you read the Outdoor News but there is a section called Cuffs & Collars where it has all the activities and citations listed in the past week by each officer.

I sure do read that, and it’s in part amusing and good for a laugh sometimes, but mostly utterly depressing, at least to me. With all the access people have nowadays to regulations, everyone should have the knowledge and have a plan. And when you read that section, you also realize that what I just said doesn’t matter and people just do many things because they know they’ll likely get away with it. Fishing/hunting out of season, shooting from a road, overharvesting, etc. Very frustrating because I look around this IDO forum and there are some good/great people on here that I have no doubt respect and follow the laws. We’d all like to think that the outdoor community has a good understanding for what we have and to not overharvest or otherwise violate the good things we have, but that’s obviously not true.

Coletrain27 wrote:

is the private land your hunting posted no tresspassing?

Yes. Every 100 ft. Probably 80 signs I hung this summer over his old ones.

No excuse then Bearcat! If you catch them I hope you press charges against them.

I was late season pheasant hunting last year and was planning on hunting a wma right next to a guys house with the skinny drive down to the access going right down the guys property. I saw them out side so I drove over and asked if there were any issues of driving down to the public. The guy laughed and said no one ever askes they just drive right on by. I asked some questions about the area and their history and then without me even asking he offered up all his land for me to hunt that day. Didn’t get any birds off it but it was a good interaction. I think being courteous and polite goes a long way.

I sat in a tree stand for a grand total of 6.5 hours so far this year in two different quick evening sits. I saw 7 deer and never had any intent of harvesting anything (freezer is full, and biggest buck was a basket 9 pointer).

Despite the small timeframe, I encountered a trespasser on our land. The guy was probably mid 60’s, pulled up into a logging road on our land from the road with his atv and started walking. My brother-in-law sent me a message in my stand to go deal with it as the guy triggered his camera linked to his phone. I crawled down and came across the guy. Long story short, he was somewhat polite but ignorant. Despite him being older than me it was clear nobody had ever really taught him about hunting access or even how to look at maps. He started by telling me he “knows this is public land” and that he was “given specific directions from his brother to access it from here” After a long, firm discussion I told him that he was wrong. He entered this branch of the county road from the other end, meaning his “first logging road and gate you see” direction from his brother was actually over 4 miles away. He eventually admitted his mistake and was gone. I was sure to take a good picture of him and let neighbors know as well.

We don’t even butt up to public land yet deal with trespassers. For anyone like BC who hunts land butted up to public parcels, good luck. Respect, spatial awareness, and common sense are rare.

dhpricco wrote:

I was late season pheasant hunting last year and was planning on hunting a wma right next to a guys house with the skinny drive down to the access going right down the guys property. I saw them out side so I drove over and asked if there were any issues of driving down to the public. The guy laughed and said no one ever askes they just drive right on by. I asked some questions about the area and their history and then without me even asking he offered up all his land for me to hunt that day. Didn’t get any birds off it but it was a good interaction. I think being courteous and polite goes a long way.

I’ve gotten access to bow hunt this same way.

Bearcat89 wrote:

The 100 acre field I have permission to hunt right by the house is connected to 800 acres of public. What I noticed over the season is that some of these public guys have 0 respect for others. My buddy was set up on the corner of private / public at 5am opening morning, he had 2 guys hike in while he was hitting them with the head lamp, and they both set up within 30 yards from him.

Let me guess, he was set up on the corner near the public because all the private land is an ag field with zero habitat.

crawdaddy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
The 100 acre field I have permission to hunt right by the house is connected to 800 acres of public. What I noticed over the season is that some of these public guys have 0 respect for others. My buddy was set up on the corner of private / public at 5am opening morning, he had 2 guys hike in while he was hitting them with the head lamp, and they both set up within 30 yards from him.

Let me guess, he was set up on the corner near the public because all the private land is an ag field with zero habitat.

The field is standing corn. The public is woods and swamp with some pig grassy open fields. There is 45 acres of woods that locked in the private on the other side. Farmer puts some one in a corner ladder stand to divert public from his corn. They moved around my buddy and both set up with in a 50 yard area of my buddy. Every one facing the corn. When confronted they were to close and facing private land they played stupid. I’m guessing they were planning to shoot the deer in the corn. But I’m more amazed how you walk within 30 yards of a head lamp and they try to hide behind a tree. Even if it was all public that’s messed up

It’s crazy how little respect some people have. If they were respectful and decent, they would have private land to hunt. But these are the ones who ruin everyone else’s hunt and access to privately owned areas too.
Our family quit going to Chippewa National Forest due to too many hunters in the area were in.
I would agree, some take it too far just to “fill tags”.