Public Land Experience

[Flatsnbay]

It seems like just about every time I go hunting or fishing, I have people all over me. I try so hard to get away from people but that doesn't seem to matter. This past week I had a very positive experience.

I was hunting a Wildlife Management Area in central Florida and had an area all scouted out which was several miles from my truck. I set up in between two gobblers with the hope that one would come my way. I had plenty of action but no luck. I figured out where the Turkeys were with the hope of returning the next day.

When I got back to the truck, I met 2 hunters who parked at the same designated parking area as me. They both apologized to me for walking up on me when I was blinded up because they heard the turkeys gobbling and were running and gunning to them.  I never did see the hunters and must have looked in the other direction when they walked up on me They asked me if I was planning on coming back and I said that I was and thought that I had the birds figured out. Much to my surprise, they said that they would let me hunt the same bird and that they would not return and hunt a different area. That was an unexpected and refreshing response.

I told them that there was actually 2 birds in the area and we worked out a plan to each target a bird.

The next day I slipped in to my spot and success! My hunt was over in 5 minutes. A nice gobbler came right in strutting straight into the decoys.

I never did see the other 2 hunters. I much appreciated their cooperation and willingness to not try to crowd me or beat me to the spot. I hope that they had success as well.

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[Tom007]

Class act with both of you. That's what is supposed to be all about, ethics, fun, and sometimes success. Kudos to both of you, hopefully I cross paths in the woods with people like you all. Good luck!

[JeffC]

Congrats on taking a public land Tom. Its sad that it is the odd occurrence when everyone can talk and make a civil agreement on something. Glad you shared your positive experience!

[runngun]

Glad to hear that you had a great time!!! That's what it's supposed to be like.  Certainly the way I was taught. That's the kind of people that we need. Not greedy, selfish people.  I bet if you could find those 2 they would certainly be happy for you. .

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[Turkeybutt]

Thank you for sharing your experience and congratulations on taking your tom!

[Muzzy61]

Congrats on the bird, nice that you guy's could work it out.

[wdog]

That's how it outta be. The public I hunt, if I even see another truck, I just move into the next parking spot.

[POk3s]

Well isn't that a breath of fresh air! That's exactly how it's supposed to be and it's sure nice when it happens that way!

I hunted florida last year for the first time on a draw hunt and had a positive experience as well. I had scouted a couple days before season opener and no one seemed to be around. For a couple days I hunted turkeys that no one else was and then one day I walked back in hoping to "close the deal" and to my surprise walked right into a decoy setup. In reality I was about 30 yards away when I saw them but I tucked tail and made my way to an opening for fly up time. I ran into those guys on the way back from hunting in the dark. I apologized for romping through their setup as I had no idea they were there and didn't see their truck. They never saw me and mentioned how they parked up the road (just out of site from where I parked. I told them they could have the spot but they both told me to go for it as they had to work and said they were going somewhere else after that. Again, communication worked out well and I was on the receiving end. But it's just nice when people talk and we can all dodge eachother.

[RutnNStrutn]

It seems like just about every time I go hunting or fishing, I have people all over me. I try so hard to get away from people but that doesn't seem to matter. This past week I had a very positive experience.

I was hunting a Wildlife Management Area in central Florida and had an area all scouted out which was several miles from my truck. I set up in between two gobblers with the hope that one would come my way. I had plenty of action but no luck. I figured out where the Turkeys were with the hope of returning the next day.

When I got back to the truck, I met 2 hunters who parked at the same designated parking area as me. They both apologized to me for walking up on me when I was blinded up because they heard the turkeys gobbling and were running and gunning to them.  I never did see the hunters and must have looked in the other direction when they walked up on me They asked me if I was planning on coming back and I said that I was and thought that I had the birds figured out. Much to my surprise, they said that they would let me hunt the same bird and that they would not return and hunt a different area. That was an unexpected and refreshing response.

I told them that there was actually 2 birds in the area and we worked out a plan to each target a bird.

The next day I slipped in to my spot and success! My hunt was over in 5 minutes. A nice gobbler came right in strutting straight into the decoys.

I never did see the other 2 hunters. I much appreciated their cooperation and willingness to not try to crowd me or beat me to the spot. I hope that they had success as well.

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Having cut my turkey Huntington teeth on WMA's in central Florida, I can tell you that you were blessed and fortunate. Congrats on your gobbler. I hunted central Florida WMA's for decades, and never had your experience.
FWC does a piss poor job of running WMA's, and more often than not it turns out to be a bad experience. Don't get me wrong, I've killed many an Osceola on WMA's, but I've also had hen decoys shot, been intentionally walked in on, and many bad experiences due to inept managing of hunts.

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[Dtrkyman]

My experience in many states is similar, most folks you run into are great.  However last season I had run into more ignorant hunters in less than a week than the entire rest of my life!

[Greg Massey]

Glad to see some positive experiences on public ground ... this was good for everyone...

[FLGobstopper]

Good deal! I've hunted FL public mostly ever since I started 35+ years ago. I've had good and some bad. I've run into some good people on public lands and try to interact with most giving them the benefit of the doubt.

I had an interaction over the weekend where I went after a gobbling bird in an area on a really hard hunted WMA where atv's are allowed. I was setup in on a bird and had 2 guys come in from the direction I had parked and come from earlier that morning. I gave them a whistle to let them know I was there and they went back from where they came from. I'm not 100% sure, but I didn't see any other boot tracks so I'm thinking they actually might have come in on an atv back there and parked somewhere before I got there. There are atv tracks all over the place on that WMA and you can't tell if someone is in there hunting today or joy riding yesterday. I was parked off the main road an saw no signs of another hunter or truck. So in reality I might have come in on them.

I would of backed out had I know they were there first and they would of talked to me. But I do really appreciate the etiquette of them moving on regardless of my opinions of atv's on public lands. So, yeah there are a lot of good guys out there and I've made some good friends and connections with guys that are local and some from all the way across the country. Going out west to meet up and hunt with a buddy on a trip this year I met that way.

However, when I do occasionally run into the other end of the spectrum I do my best to steer clear of them or send them packing if they're a problem.

[Tunaguy]

I've generally had some good experiences. My son and I had a guy walk up on us in Virginia and I had to whistle for him to see us. He acknowledged us and moved on. When we're hunting in our home state (NY) and see a vehicle parked at a spot, we just move on. There's no point in crowding a site with a good chance of nobody getting a bird.