Kinda odd question about traveling turkey hunting

[eggshell]

I have hunted 8 different states on probably 100+ hunts and have never had the first issue. Most of it on public land too. Whoever said, "people will treat you as you treat them" was right. I make it a point to talk to locals whenever I can. I think for the most part they just want to know reasonable and honest people are in their neighborhood. There was a place in the mountains where a forest service gate was also access to a home. It looked like a rough place and I was warned the guy would mess with your stuff. I saw him pulling out of the gate one day and stopped. I walked over and pulled the gate shut behind him and waited for him to come around and  lock it. Now he looked like trouble and I wasn't sure if I would get a knot on my head or what. I spoke first and he just grunted. I asked if it was a problem parking at the gate and he snorted, "it's public ground". I made a simple statement that I didn't want to be a bother to anyone, and he just stared at me and said, "your the first SOB that ever asked!". Then he snorted, "you know them Damn turkeys roost right behind my house, and most of those dumb F##kers just shoot right towads my house". I said, "I ain't one of those dumb F&&kers". If you want me to move on down the road I will. I noticed he had a old military coat on from Vietnam and I ask if he was a veteran and he grunted yup. I thanked him for serving. Well an hour later we ended that conversation and his , last words was, "you know it's better to go in on those turkeys from up by my house, help yourself to em". I thanked him and said I'd never go in through him without letting him know the day before and he grunted, That'd be good". That was several years ago and I hit that spot almost annually and still stop to talk. I have had others tell me he has had their vehicle towed or let threatening notes and they wouldn't hunt there because the old bastard was nuts. All he wanted was respect.

[fallhnt]

I know a couple guys who hunted a public spot in NE when a guy from TX put a gun to a guy from IL and said, " If this was TX you'd be dead and buried ". Claimed the guy from IL was trespassing. Took his gun and wallet. A retired CPO was talking to his buddy when the guy came out. They called the sheriff and TX got arrested when he came out.

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[deerhunt1988]

Hunted all over and never had an issue. Toted a butt-chewing a couple times from locals, but no harm done. I remained calm during the interactions and eventually they realized how dumb they sounded and calmed down.

[The Southpaw]

Between deer and turkeys, I've hunted quite a few states. I always either sleep in my truck, or take a tent. I've never had an issue with a local, and often times have found them quite helpful. Most of the people I've ran into couldn't believe I drove all that way to hunt.

[LaLongbeard]

Some of the vandalism if not most, is not done by hunters. One guy I know in particular had his tires cut and they pried his gas tank door open. He had a locking gas cap as well which saved them stealing gas or putting something in the tank or whatever they were attempting. This was in the DBNF, when he called the law they came out basically told him there was a lot of meth heads in the area not much could be done. I was told the same thing when I hunted there had no problems didn't even see anyone were I hunted, you just never know.

[lmbunch69]

Only ever deer hunted out of state but never had a problem. In fact, the locals there were nicer than the ones at home. Talked to a landowner that backed up to the public and gave us permission to hunt. A little small talk goes a long way and being courteous is king. The guy told me and my buddy how many people trespass every year. He said all they had to do was ask to hunt. Guy even helped us get my buddy's buck out with his four wheeler.

[Kylongspur88]

I've never personally seen any issues at our local wma's. My take is if you buy a license you have just as much a right to there as I do. I've even been known to point a few oos folks to good areas. Not ones I'm hunting but places I know hold birds.

[shaman]

I've not had problems, but I also have not parked my rig full of stuff out in the middle of nowhere very much.

1)  When I've been out of state, I'm usually camping at a state or federally run campground.  There's usually very little theft in those.
2)  I've generally been with somebody else, rendezvousing at the destination.   We take one vehicle camping and leave one behind with all the valuables in it.
3)  When I wasn't in a public campground I was usually either hunting private property or using someone's farm as a base camp.
4)  When hunting with a guide, he provided the transportation.

[wkyhunter]

Again, thanks all!
I'm leaning toward taking my 03 truck with 200k miles. Think its in good enough shape.

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

A lot of states have rear license plates only. We have front and rear plates here in Virginia. Where legal, I take my front plate off as soon as I get into a new state.

I also back in everywhere.  No reason to draw unnecessary attention to yourself.

[Ranger]

Seems incomprehensible to people that have morals and ethical compasses, my first thought when I see OOS plates in my local WMA is respect for their earnestness and hope they find success to make the adventure even better. Saw MISS plates last year in South GA WMA and thought the same thing, bet they're having fun and maybe they strike to cap it all off.  Possessiveness of game animals is a problem on public and private land

[simpzenith]

In all of my travels, I've only been messed with once and that was in Kansas and all they did was drop a deuce near my truck and left a nasty note under my wiper. Otherwise, it's been smooth sailing (knock on wood). I will get a cheap room to keep all of my expensive gear, if in an area that I believe is sketchy, such as TN this past spring. I was told by a local warden that there were a lot of break-ins in the area I was parking so that was my reasoning for that particular area. One thing I do, and I don't know if it makes a difference, but I never let traffic see me leaving my truck to go into the woods. If I hear a car approaching, I either quickly get back into my truck and wait for them to pass or I run into the woods to hide until they pass. This way they don't know how long I've been gone and hopefully they think, "he may come back at any moment!" At least I hope that's what they think. 

[Southerngobbler]

Last year a new pattern emerged where it no longer mattered who got there first. In several instances I was lucky enough to get to my spot first and was rewarded with a single gobbler to work. Eventually some yahoo bumbles in and gets between me and the gobbler of course spooking off the gobbler, well its public land so these things are gonna happen-no big deal and I walk to my truck to leave only to find out the other hunter parked right beside me-so he knew I was there and IMO didn't care if he ruined my hunt or not. These are little parking spots on a long road-plenty of other places to go and in almost every case it was an out of state tag.
Did there vehicles get messed with? Yeah a little.

[Ranger]

Last year a new pattern emerged where it no longer mattered who got there first. In several instances I was lucky enough to get to my spot first and was rewarded with a single gobbler to work. Eventually some yahoo bumbles in and gets between me and the gobbler of course spooking off the gobbler, well its public land so these things are gonna happen-no big deal and I walk to my truck to leave only to find out the other hunter parked right beside me-so he knew I was there and IMO didn't care if he ruined my hunt or not. These are little parking spots on a long road-plenty of other places to go and in almost every case it was an out of state tag.
Did there vehicles get messed with? Yeah a little.

Dang. Thought you said it was no big deal.  Driver might have been 3 miles away and you ran into someone else possibly. You parked first at that spot, what if the guy in the woods was dropped off and there before you....not even the driver of the vehicles that got 'messed with'. Never know. Either way you look extreme with that 5ft gator on your back

[Southerngobbler]

It's not too difficult to follow someones boot track on a dirt road