I am curious on everybody's thoughts on what a good respectable hunting distance is between hunters on public land. During the early season I don't mind having another hunter close say 100 yards but my real itch gets going when the rut hits. I have had a hunter come from another direction and setup all his equipment (stand, scent dispenser, and buck decoy) on the other end of a field I was hunting about 100 yards away. I waved at the hunter an orange vest to let him now I was on the other side hoping he would move out. I am bowhunting so I know I can't shoot that far but during the rut when calls work you could pull a deer from that far fairly easily. I was just irritated he came in the last 2 hours of light with a big visual aid (buck decoy) when I had been in the stand almost since first light. What are your thoughts on a respectable distance during the rut?
If I even see on truck in a parking lot near where I wanted to hunt I'm moving on. One truck is one too many. During my scouting I look for tree stand, trail markers, and scratches in trees from climbers. If there are any in an area I move on even if the area looks like it may have good deer movement.
We had a rule of 150 yards for rifles season and 100 for bow season. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Depends on terrain. Sometimes 100 yards puts them in deer you will never see and other times they are blocking the deer from coming to you. I hunt all public land and use other hunters to move deer to me. In Kansas you can leave a tree stand up but if someone gets in it before you they can use it. Only have had that happen once. Personally during bow season I give another hunter about 200 yards if I know they are there. I do not get upset so long as they are at least 100 yards away and not up wind of me. Wind is a big thing in Kansas. A holes will be A holes but maybe you can help a newbie and together you can help each other.
I'm a little like AB... however if I'm in SW FL. it's not quite as bad, as our public lands areas are quite often hundreds of thousands of acres, and sometimes there will only be 2 or 3 access points, and I hunt very deep in so I never see anyone anyway. In Illinois however, the acreage in my public access is greatly smaller and even though I usually am going into the woods deeper and earlier then most, if I do happen to wonder upon another hunter no matter the weapon being used I try to always give him or her full courtesy and allow 400-500 yards between us. If that's not possible I move on.
If it's a field on public land within a mile of the nearest access point, I'd say 100 yds is certainly fair to expect.
I personally will not hunt if someone is 100 yards from me. The deer are very alert where I hunt and having another person close by is just another issue.....Id move
200 yds is a law for waterfowl and I try to stick to that with deer hunting too but the further the better. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I think the concensus so far is around 100 yards. I like others have stated will turn around and go home if I see another truck parked first in a spot. I would rather go home than ruin someone else's hunt walking in to there setup.
It depends on the area for me. I try to not set up near anyone, however, do not always know where folks are. On the smaller state parks I hunt, I can not get upset if someone comes close to me. It's not really avoidable. For these areas, I try to position myself in the best possible spot where someone has to setup on the outside of me vs, cutting me off. In the large game lands, I feel intruded on and have a choice - remain or relocate. I have gone to the extent of asking hunters at the parking lot...where they were headed. I usually get a cross look from them and they do not want to tell me. I explain...I was planning to head in X direction and did not want to interrupt their hunt. They usually say, OK...then say..."I'm not going that way". Rarely do they tell me which way they are headed? Usually, they are not even happy I said hi to them...which I can never understand. I believe this is mostly because they are not used to it... I then try to remember their truck color for future hunts.
Here in NEPA, specifically the Scranton/Garbagedale area, alot of the public land that you can hunt is not more than 5-10 mins from heavily populated area, so just about anything goes, including using someone else's hang on which is perfectly legal. Rather than get bummed whenever I see 10-12 trucks in one little spot, I like to challenge myself and use those other guys to my advantage. Snow and mud are a huge help as it allows me to find those historical escape routes that the deer seem to use every single time they get bumped. I am not a great woodsman by any stretch of the imagination and observing deer outwit other guys (myself included) is all part of the fun for me. It's all in the way you look at it!
I know exactly what you mean, the nice ones will give you a gruff "mornin" at max. Most pretend they can't hear ya, there is a guy where I like to hunt that drives a white truck who always in the woods atleast 2 hours before sun up. I try and beat him there just so I can meet him but have had no such luck yet!
