public hunting lands

[nitefisher]

what has become of our public hunting lands.? these hunting lands are here for the public yes, but not for people that think they own them. the attitude of hunters now days has gone down hill so bad, that it is hard to take your children out on them to teach them the how to's on these lands. openning weekend in my area was real bad, we were shot at, we were just about run over, we were verbally asulted. and yes they were all reported, and beleive it or not all the people reported weren't even from around here, they were all from the cities. the DNR in our area said this is an on going problem. i told them that they need to monitor these areas more, and he said they would have to raise the price of licenses and i said go for it, i for one am willing for a price increase if it ment safer hunting for me and my kids. i spend over 300.00 dallors every year all ready for my licenses. for you who beg to differ, get shot once like i have been and i bet you would be in the same state of mine on this. i will be takeing further action on this. first i am writeing a letter to the DNR, then im writeing a letter to the editor of many papers. my personal opinion on this is anyone given a citation for something on public lands should be manditory that they take gun training all over again. this would generate funds to manage these public areas hand down.

[DRH1175]

Yes I hear you on this. However it is what it is. This is the exact reason I took up bowhunting which I now enjoy more. You can go to these same public areas and be alone most of the time. Actually shooting deer as well. I do deer hunt on private land for gun season. However if that disapeared I would most likely stay home on the gun opener. I hate the attitude of some of these jerks. We all own this land and it is everyones to use with equal oppourtunity. Sorry you had a bad weekend. It isn't right however it is what it is.

[echotrail]

Several years ago we hunted the second week of firearm season and planned on doing it just that one year. Overcrowding of the area was becommng a big problem, but a scheduling problem was the reason we changed. We are fortunate to hunt zone 1A and have the option. We found the second week to be so relaxing and quiet we've never gone back to the first week.

[BLACKJACK]

Even bowhunting you can run into jerks. Last week I was bow hunting a WPA, was set up in a ground blind with a decoy out front, and I had another bowhunter come walking right by within 15 yards of my decoy!! Then to top it off, he climbed a tree about 60 yards away from me, effectively cutting off any deer from that direction!!! I made point of telling him what a classless act he was when he came walking by me on the way out!! I expected it to be some kid, instead it was a guy in his 40's that "had been bowhunting for 20 some years". According to him, he had been hunting that spot all fall. So what I said, it was still classless and ruined the hunt for both of us, he should have moved on, and also not walked thru my setup. Jerk.

[almostthere!]

Some people are just plain slobs. If the guy truely shot at you, then you need to push the law onto him. We do not need idiots who resort to violence out in the woods with a loaded rifle.

Remember, shooting at you means the muzzle is pointed in your general direction, not the opposite side of you; therwise, the guy could just claim he shot at a deer while you happened to walk by.

After this year, I, too, am very considering hanging up the rifle and just go with bow hunting.

Some "hunters" need a long course of hunter etiquettes, a major dose of hunter ethics or any kind of ethics, and a CO hot on their butts.

[Steve Foss]

Well, I have my own story of opener woe to tell, but it wasn't about ethics, it was about overcrowding.

I hunt 30 miles up the Echo Trail from Ely. I'm up there all seasons of the year for my nature photography, and know the best deer spots well.

Saturday morning, I'd gotten up to my prime spot 1.5 hrs before shooting light, and there was a guy from the cities parked there with a camper. Fair enough. Public land means everyone, not just the people who live near it. I went to all five of the other prime spots I'd scoped out through the year. Every one had a pickup from the Cities or Illinois (Chicago folks come here a LOT).

I ended up ratcheting myself into a nook no one but a local would know about and saw one deer late in the day, with no shot.

Sunday I got there two hours early, and it was the same situation. I decided I'd wait them out, because most of those guys don't know how excellent those spots really are, and will get impatient after a couple hours and move instead of staying put and waiting out the deer, which works well on those spots. So I figured I'd lurk, and when a pickup left, I'd pop into the spot and spend the rest of the day there.

Then my alternator belt shredded, so I decided that was a sign and headed back for town, running with no electrical accessories on and just running off the battery. Five minutes down the Echo toward Ely, my glove compartment fell apart, strewing its contents all over the cab of the pickup. Yep, another sign.

I got back to town OK and did chores all the rest of Sunday. I have Thursday and Friday off this week as well as the weekend, and I know I'll have my pick of my spots, even on the weekend. This overcrowding situation is an opening-weekend-only deal, as was previously mentioned.

And the weather's been warm, with not many deer moving and the rut not in full swing. That should change by this weekend.

I bowhunt, too, so it's not like I'm pinning my whole season on this one weekend.

I hope the tale that started this thread is unusual, though I fear a lack of ethics is becoming more and more prevalent. I've never understood people like some of those mentioned in this thread. Life's too short to go through it being an [contact us regarding this word].

[nitefisher]

thanks for all the stories guy's, this is a on going problem that needs to be adressed some how. this goes on in my area every year, and it is just sad to see our resources turn ugly the way they are. im going to talk with my DNR friend and see just what can be done.

[eagle_3464]

I understand the frustrations of hunting public lands but it is what it is. I set a stand earlier in the day for bow hunting the evening only to find another hunter there when I returned. I simply drove on to another spot. On several ocassions I have had other hunters walking near me during prime evening hours and other times marching through the area I am hunting to get deeper into the public property. I have also walked into a stand location, set up and to discover later that I was just 50 to 75 yds from another hunter that had walked in from another direction. I felt bad about setting up that close but at that point what can you do but complete the hunt and hope for the best. All of these situations basically ruins the hunt for one or all individuals and it is frustrating but that is part of hunting public lands. It is what it is and I for one am thankful for this property giving us the opportunity. At any rate, there is absolutely no excuse for public conflicts in hunting these areas. These people who choose to cause conflicts are really something less than true sportsmen or sportswomen.