Last year I traveled out of the heart of Dixie and went north to Missouri for an out of state hunt. I drove overnight basically so I could tend to church matters with my family on Sunday to arrive in the early hours of Monday. I went straight to a moderate to small sized state conservation area and parked to sleep for a few hours.
The first truck who pulled up in basically the only parking lot to access the entire southern end of this place did so at 3:30am so I rolled out of bed to go ahead and get moving. Me and this young man walked into woods at 4am when the CA opened officially and no other trucks were there.
I went to the back end of the place as to hopefully not be walked in on. As soon as I got to the listening spot I immediately see green head lamps approaching from the private land. I flashed them off and they happily turned back and went another way.
As it got closer to daylight I could see other head lamps way off from my vantage and assumed quite a few other were in the valley below. Long story short it was very windy and I heard a few way off but didn't make a move as I knew others would be closer like the young guy I walked in with.
After several hours of slow playing things I decided to head back to the truck and could see a guy or two way in the distance in valley below. I met the young guy on the way out by chance and we made it back to the parking lot to only see one other truck. After 5 minutes a guy walks up the trail with a nice gobbler. We chatted and congratulated him. Come to find out he says he was the last person to the parking lot that morning and was the ELEVENTH truck in the lot. I busted out laughing as I couldn't believe that many hunters were in the woods with us.
He had roosted the bird the night before and got to the parking at basically day light. High tailed it in there and weaves his way around other hunters to the bird. Killed it late morning.
I moved to a more rural area of MO that afternoon a few hours away and killed a nice bird myself the next day. Only saw one other truck there the whole time.
What is the most trucks you've seen at one parking lot/gate/property?
I can't imagine what the 9th, 10th, and 11th guy pulling up were thinking. Just blows my mind. Glad I moved areas and found birds quickly afterward. I'm convinced there likely wasn't a bird on that medium/small CA that didn't get killed last year due to the pressure I saw opening morning. Didn't stand a chance.
There is a lot of public land out there- you did the right thing by moving on to find something else! If there is a vehicle there I'm moving on myself - only exception would be if I were able to talk to the guy and we agreed on which way we would hunt to stay off each other- so I don't t see many trucks in lots I move on down the line!! Good luck out there!!
Only 2 times in my life I saw one truck in a spot of public I hunted. Both times I went to plan B.
Quote from: Tom007 on January 27, 2023, 09:33:45 PM
Only 2 times in my life I saw one truck in a spot of public I hunted. Both times I went to plan B.
I use plan B alot. And C,D,E...Honestly, I very seldom deal with other hunters. If I see anyone else I will go to another area.
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Honestly, just one unless it's in a camping area. Like the others, if someone is there I move on. I've been in unfamiliar territory and I still go to the next parking area until it's just me. But that's me. I'm a firm believer if one one beats me it's their spot. 11 trucks in one spot. That's just crazy.
I do remember when I was younger I rolled up to a spot about mid morning with 3 trucks there and everyone was just standing around looking at a gobbler and they were talking how they were competing for his attention, all in good friendly conversation. But I couldn't do that. Heck, if I hear another hunter calling, I'll bolt. I have no interest in competing. But people say I'm a loner so there's that. :TooFunny:
For deer firearm season in MN? Endless vehicles... being #12 would not be alarming.
For the Turks? Somewhere around 3-5.
Like most I drive off 99% of the time. Every now and then if it's just 1 truck ands it's the only access to a large amount of acreage, I'll trek in.
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Last year on one of my favorite pieces of public, there were anywhere from 4 to 10 trucks in every pull off for about the first 6 days of season. 95% of them were Ohio, Indiana, or Mississippi plates. They put a hurting on them there last season, typically the harvest amount for that wma is about 30 per spring on 8,500 acres. Last year it was 66 or 67 taken off from it. I moved off in the mountains on National forest that was a lot less crowded.
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If I'm hunting with someone, often times, we'll both drive. Two trucks in the lot might convince others to go to their plan B.
This whole concept of "parking areas" and "gates" and such is totally foreign to me. I guess I have just been fortunate enough to have never hunted anywhere where that situation exists.
Interesting dilemma that some folks have, I suppose. I have hunted lots of places around the country and have never hunted a place or in a situation where I had to park in a particular location to hunt an area. My first thought on this thread was wondering how many folks across the country hunt places where they are forced to park in a specific location, without the choice to just drive on down the road and find another spot to hunt?
Bottom line for me is that if there is a single vehicle parked in a location that I was planning on hunting, I am moving on. Those that do not have the choice to do that have my sympathy.
There's a central TN WMA that was exploited quite heavily on the TNdeer forum and YouTube. Honest to truth, now days there will be a few hundred people hunting it on opening day. It was always pressured, but after all the spotlight shined on it, it became unreal and unsafe. Someone did finally get shot there last spring while fanning. I've submitted comments multiple times asking TWRA to make it a draw hunt but they sell too many NR licenses to people hunting there to make it draw. I had a bird roosted the eve before the opener a few years back. Got to the gate about 2AM. Was sitting within ~100 yards of the bird and was having to shine people off in the dark. Of course that turkey didn't work out, so went to another that was flirting with the public/private boundary. He started committing and then someone on the public takes about a 80 yard shot at him while he was still on the private. Ran into a couple more guys the next couple hours in this small block. Drove around afterwards and quit counting at around 40 trucks. Decided I'd never be back. Wouldn't mind dying in the turkey woods, but don't want it to be from someone's TSS!
Gobblenut, for this conservation area it had the unusual arrangement of needing to park on that specific area to access due to private surrounding it. I agree in most instances I'm not parking at a parking lot when I hunt public in MS. It's either off the road pulled over or occasionally at a gate with a trail to walk down then bail off right or left at some point.
If I had any idea 10 others would come in after I had already parked there I would never have considered the property.
Unless I know where the fella is hunting (a regular in that area) then I will move on to the next place with just one truck parked.
That being said, in TN at least, others don't give me that same courtesy. The last 3 years in a row on opening day I was first to the gate and had people come in behind me and blow the turkey out.
Depends on the management area but I've seen as many as 12+ to access a few hundred acres. I tend to go where other people don't want to. Really cuts down on crowds.
I'd never be able to hunt if I passed on spots with more than 2 trucks.
I'm usually one of the first to where I hunt. I know there will be 4 - 5 trucks parked while I'm hunting. Most come and go while I'm in the woods.
Last spring in the Black Hills we had a guy come in after us hunting the same area. We never knew he was there until we went after a gobbling bird late morning. I very rarely see others hunting the areas I hunt. If I do see someone pulled in a spot I go elsewhere. I try to stay off public the first couple weeks to let the crowds die down.
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Quote from: Crghss on January 28, 2023, 07:05:19 PM
I'd never be able to hunt if I passed on spots with more than 2 trucks.
I'm usually one of the first to where I hunt. I know there will be 4 - 5 trucks parked while I'm hunting. Most come and go while I'm in the woods.
I've have done that too. Plenty of times. Parking lots full all over Missouri.
I hunted a decent sized in Indiana last year. We were the second truck to a small parking lot that gave access to two long ridges. Talked to the guys in the first truck and they were going one way so we decided we'd go the other. There are at least 15 parking areas on this piece. Not too long later another truck pulled in. After talking to us they decided to move to another area because they knew there would be hunters on each ridge. Soon after that two more trucks pulled in. They asked where we were going and then told us that's where they were going too. We didn't like it but nothing you can do. We walked back early to get to the area we wanted to listen from. About gobbling time we saw a head light coming our way and it was a completely different guy that walked right past us. A bird gobbled close then he came back and set up on that bird knowing we were hunting it. I did end up calling a bird in for my dad and he killed it but when we got back to the parking lot there were 5 trucks that had parked after us and the original truck that was there. I've hunted pressured public for years but I was prettt surprised that many people would willingly park and go hunt an area they already knew others were in. Came back the second day of the season and never saw another truck until the gobbling had already started. I killed a bird that morning. I think a lot of it is just guys that don't have a clue. I'll probably skip opening day on the smaller wmas like that from now on
Quote from: Kygobblergetter on January 29, 2023, 10:33:44 AM
I hunted a decent sized in Indiana last year. We were the second truck to a small parking lot that gave access to two long ridges. Talked to the guys in the first truck and they were going one way so we decided we'd go the other. There are at least 15 parking areas on this piece. Not too long later another truck pulled in. After talking to us they decided to move to another area because they knew there would be hunters on each ridge. Soon after that two more trucks pulled in. They asked where we were going and then told us that's where they were going too. We didn't like it but nothing you can do. We walked back early to get to the area we wanted to listen from. About gobbling time we saw a head light coming our way and it was a completely different guy that walked right past us. A bird gobbled close then he came back and set up on that bird knowing we were hunting it. I did end up calling a bird in for my dad and he killed it but when we got back to the parking lot there were 5 trucks that had parked after us and the original truck that was there. I've hunted pressured public for years but I was prettt surprised that many people would willingly park and go hunt an area they already knew others were in. Came back the second day of the season and never saw another truck until the gobbling had already started. I killed a bird that morning. I think a lot of it is just guys that don't have a clue. I'll probably skip opening day on the smaller wmas like that from now on
You have to wonder how many guys pull in after seeing 2 trucks already there that at least one of them guys there knows where the gobblers are? Especially when other parking lots are empty. Those 5 guys had some easy scouting done for them. Kind of like those that drive across multiple states after seeing parking lot signs or landmarks on You tube.
I am 1st to park 95% of the Time. If,I come out early at 9.30am or so there could be between 2 +6 or so other Trucks . Most with Buck,Gobbler, NRA, or Gun Club Decals.
I've been hunting out of state for probably 12 years or so now. I've always had people park next to me on small blocks where I wouldn't ever see someone in my home state of Mississippi do. I'd never park next to someone if they were parked on a small block of property or even a large block. They beat me there so I'll carry my butt on someone else. It's just an etiquette I was taught growing up. I've had quite a few cuss outs, heated discussions and made a lot of friends in those situations. Nowadays I can pull down a road as far as possible get there at 3 a.m. to secure a spot and someone pull in at daylight and just take off walking like they don't even see me. That used to be unheard of in Mississippi but not anymore. It's sad the disrespect people have for other hunters to just suck it up and move on and not take the chance of messing up another man's hunt.
I have just sat here and shook my head on a lot of these responses. Not at anyone here but to the fact that others would be totally okay with just piling in on others. I'll go home before I would intrude on someone else. True story.
Reminds me of a few years ago, I went to a WMA I grew up hunting just for old times sake. I parked at a spot I had hunted many years ago. Slipped up in the woods, listened didn't hear anything. Walked about a half mile, still didn't hear anything. Went back to my truck to go to another area. Got to the gate and there was a truck there so I turned around to go to another place. As I was driving past my original first spot there was another guy getting out of the truck so I pulled in to let him know I had just came out and didn't hear anything. I pulled up, he saw me roll my window down and immediately turned his back to me with his head down. I said "hey". He stood so still. Didn't budge like he figured if he didn't move I wouldn't see him..lol. Anyway, I started to pull away and I just said, good luck sir.
Now don't get me wrong..I'm an introvert but I wouldn't flat out ignore another hunter. I said all that to say that people never cease to amaze me. It's called respect. And day by day we are losing more and more of that as the human race.
I've hunted plenty of public in other states and I never stop if a vehicle is parked there. Even if I don't know the area...I'll move on to the next spot even if I've never set foot on it. But again, introvert here.
There's absolutely no way I would park at a spot with other trucks there and just blindly go walking in not knowing where they are. And IF I did and I saw them, I would turn and go a complete other way.
Quote from: slave601 on January 29, 2023, 08:47:36 PM
I've been hunting out of state for probably 12 years or so now. I've always had people park next to me on small blocks where I wouldn't ever see someone in my home state of Mississippi do. I'd never park next to someone if they were parked on a small block of property or even a large block. They beat me there so I'll carry my butt on someone else. It's just an etiquette I was taught growing up. I've had quite a few cuss outs, heated discussions and made a lot of friends in those situations. Nowadays I can pull down a road as far as possible get there at 3 a.m. to secure a spot and someone pull in at daylight and just take off walking like they don't even see me. That used to be unheard of in Mississippi but not anymore. It's sad the disrespect people have for other hunters to just suck it up and move on and not take the chance of messing up another man's hunt.
Same here. If I see a truck at a small block or trail I keep going. I walked in unknowingly on a pair of guys last year as we came from different directions in the dark. They flashed a red light as I got very close to them. I walked over, shook their hands, told them I was turning around and headed out and wished them luck. De-escalates any potential situation and it was the right thing to do.
And you're right about folks having no cares about pulling up and heading in right past you. That's why I head in real early and sit in the woods until listening time if feasible. If you're already gone from the truck I think it gives some guys pause to head in but that could just be my wishful thinking. At the very least it stops a potential situation at the trail head by idiots who pull up later and act like it's the only gate in the county to hunt.
2 or 3, majority of the time they are hunting together or have coordinated who is going where, and I know who they are.
I move on because they know my truck and would do the same, if they rolled up with me parked there already.
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Depends on the size of the property I am going to hunt. One spot I hunt every year is public land and if I see more than two trucks there I move on and go somewhere else. I guess I must be the only turkey hunter around that does not drive a truck. I have been driving some sort of Jeep(Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, Compass) for nearly thirty years.
I'd have gone somewhere else or home. I hunt what I consider heavy use areas but if I see one truck there I won't go. I don't like when one guy even hunts the areas I go that week and prefer to rest areas for the week if possible. Sounds like you drove to a nightmare id have avoided.
Now I never hunt the low hanging fruit. Easy birds everyone sees. I was just telling a fellow Sat the year I had surgery I still wanted to hunt the mountain top spots away from everyone. I had no balance and couldn't walk up so I honestly crawled through the steep spots. I hunt some other guys use areas but they typically use one farm side, me the other. Split by a road. Not many birds around to fight over it seems lately anyhow but I'd never crawl into a spot with others. Always ways to make distance.
I witnessed 4 trucks at a gate at 2pm on a Tuesday in central TN last season.. It got to the point at daylight, that there wasn't room to park at gates, so people were parked between every gate.. I moved across the state after seeing all of that.. It wasn't much better, but I could walk and get away from a few hunters..
On the public land where I hunt there are many places to pull off to the side of the road to park. If there's a vehicle already there where I'm going I go somewhere else. No turkey in the world worth risking getting my head blown off by some inexperienced trigger happy idiot.