Like many of you, I hunt public land... a lot. My best bow kills have come off public land, and I take pride in that. Unfortunately, along with the good comes the bad... Also like many of you, I occasionally have hunters stumble upon my spots. The alarm goes off at 3:45 this morning (I live an hour from where I hunt), and to be set up and let the woods calm down, I like to have pulled my bow up with at least 20 minutes of dark left... According the US Navy's website, civil twilight began for the zip code I hunt at 6:33 this morning. I was nested into my Lone Wolf at 6 o'clock. At 7:05, it's fully light, and I'm seriously scanning the woods and brush for anything sneaking back to the bedding area behind me. Eight minutes later I hear a sharp crack, followed by another. I slowly turn around and see a hunter 50 yards coming up the woodline straight towards me. I grunt at him and he turns back around. Nice of him I guess, but geesh... I run into him and his hunting party on the way out. They're nice guys... all from Batesville, AR and the guy who walked in on me has a big doe down. I help them drag it the mile back to the parking lot (oh yeah, this is the REAL source of my discontent, as they've paved a freakin' parking lot at my hot spot and brush hogged a freakin' HIGHWAY back to my honey hole). Like I said... nice guys; I just can't imagine walking in to find a tree to hang up in 30 minutes AFTER sunlight. I'm sitting here typing this in front of a new patch of private woods backing up to the Mississippi River a friend just called me and told me about; he's just leased it up and is letting me try it out.. no one can get to me tonight. HA!
I feel your pain. I was hunting the Raceway and out of nowhere came some chump in a blue t-shirt, gangsta ball cap and droopy drawers. He didn't come up from the house so all I can figure is that he followed a ridge that is several hundred yards through the woods to the neighboring forest preserve. Last year we had Boy Scouts, several peeps with dogs, a guy and girl looking for alone time and several hikers walk in on us. To top it off the forest preserve has been clearing out the bedding area where my deer once came from and driving them further away in one direction. I feel your pain Greg
I've experienced the same on public hunting areas. Most of the time they would cop an attitude when they saw me. I've heard "Its public hunting and I can go where ever I want!" many times. The last time it happened, I waited until the other guy got his stand up and was in it and proceeded to light up and smoke a cigarette. I haven't hunted public land since. I have never leased either. Up here it's easy enough to get permission from farmers by simply asking. Most are more than happy to have someone come in and thin the population on their farms.
Greg thats bummer news Lazy is the term that im going with. I dont hunt public so I dont have much of a gripe, BUT some of the members on my lease are LAZY. Ill walk a mile if I have to just for the simple fact that I dont want to park by the Deers food source where they cross the road to head back to there bedding. I have seen it time and time again, members will park smack in front of where the Deer cross the road on there way to there bedding Im not sure if its more lazy or they are not doing there homework or both. Some of these guys come in late as you mentioned to. BUT for the most, some of the guys are convinced that there are not many big bucks on the property because they dont see them driving down the road or spotlighting :D I tell nothing of my good buck encounters so in a nut shell, I have most of the 800 acres to myself and my kids
I think that guy represents the a good number of "typical" hunters. Its just hard for us die hards to understand their approach. Now I dont know if you were after a doe or not, but also keep in mind, that guy who was looking for his spot a half hour after sunlight, also got himself a deer and you didnt Maybe hes on to something!
I go in way before sun-up, but I can understand someone not familiar with the land to set-up after the sun rises.
I got to Add Greg, I USED to hunt with a guy that was absolutly afraid of the dark, he was in his 40's at the time and would flat out tell you he was afraid He always made sure when we were hunting that his stand was on the way to mine so I could escort him there and out. He always had to take a # 2 before each hunt from being nervous. Best thing I ever did was start hunting alone, other than with my Kids
