Good public land experiences?

[uarobert]

I had a very good experience with a fellow hunter this Saturday. I ended up getting a punctured tire just before I got to my spot and was trying to change the tire after a short hunt. After I got the lugs off, the wheel was stuck tight. A lady was driving by after her hunt and was kind enough to give me a ride the GW office to get a sledge and drive me back to the truck and help get it off. She definitely exemplified the good side of people on public land.

[redleg06]

Had plenty of bad public hunting when chasing ducks but not too bad with turkey.  I've probably had more frustrating experiences on some leases than on public...

[Gooserbat]

I've had several good experiences on public land.  Met a lot of good folks. 

[Rio Fan]

I've been very fortunate to not have any really bad experiences with other hunters on public ground when it comes to turkey hunting.  I hope it stays that way. 

[Teebugg]

I hunt a certain public land spot, that ive only bumped into one hunter over ten years. other spots ive run into hunters before and its usually a good experience. I normally hunt public land for turkeys and im usually the guy thats walking in while everyone else is walking out.

[g8rvet]

Mostly good.  Heard some stories, but none too bad for me. Had more problems in a club I USED to be in. 

[Kylongspur88]

I told a kid where I had seen one earlier and he ended up going there and killing his first bird. I've helped a few folks track deer. I really just try to avoid people as much as possible though. 

[Garrett Trentham]

In all honesty, I've had many more good experiences than bad when hunting public land. I killed my first turkey on public land and although I've been blessed with access to thousands of acres of private land, I still find myself hunting public land more than half the time. I feel like it's made me a better turkey hunter. I've heard hunting public land described as man vs. man vs. animal and I think that's pretty accurate. It's often frustrating, and dejecting, and aggravating, and tough, but when you are looking down the barrel at a longbeard that you know has been called to and stalked on by numerous turkey hunters over the years, it's a feeling that is indescribably rewarding.


I met a man I now call a good friend of mine while hunting public land. He was new to turkey hunting at the time and would pick my brain at the parking area after the morning hunts. One morning we both pulled up to the same spot and decided to hunt together and have been ever since.

[Heller]

I hunt both public and private land. For turkeys all of my encounters have been good. Most folks are friendly, helpful and courteous. Deer hunters are a different story, most I've come across are good folks, but there sure are a lot of idiots out there.

Last year I didn't make it in the timber one morning till late morning. A fellow hunter was walking out and as we passed we stopped, shot the bull and he told me where he was setup and told me what he saw and told me the direction the flock was headed. I didn't shoot a bird but I did see the flock and had a couple hens come close by.

[WNM]

We were working a bird 2 years ago on a piece of government woods and had already seen another hunter's bootprints not far away. We heard him calling to the same bird, but we were on the other side of the bird and were closer. Well the bird goes quiet for 20 minutes, and we figured he had spooked the bird trying to cut us off. We heard footsteps coming up the other side of the ridge, and being the hotheads we were (and mad after messing up 3 hunts in a row) we stood up, ready to cuss this fella out. Turns out it was the turkey walking up on us, and the other hunter had backed off when he heard us calling.

[jblackburn]

One of the first years I hunted in Kansas I ran into a group of guys from Tennessee that had all killed at least one and were headed home.  They gave me their maps and pointed exactly where they had hunted, found birds, killed, and set up.  Super great guys.

[Crawl79]

Have had my share of not so great experiences on public land but I can remind two recent good experiences on public land.

First was getting pulled out of the mud on the side of a main road by some other hunters.

Second is not my story but my turkey hunting buddies. He was setup about 50 yards in woods off a trail. He see a guy walking into his setup so he stands up to alert him. The guy motions him over and makes the signal for 2.
Apparently the guy could see 2 gobblers working down the trail to them. They immediately setup hit the call and had to birds come walking in to there setup. It would have been a good double but the other guy didn't want to shoot a jake. But very cool that they were able to share the hunt like that.

[RutnNStrutn]

I've had many experiences on public land, some positive, some negative. Basically I have found that if you put in your time scouting and pay your dues, you can have excellent experiences on public land. But you'll have plenty of bad times prior to that.

Sent from my 1950's rotary phone using Tapatalk

[akp]

Most of my experiences have been good.  Been messed up by others and have messed up others.  I set up on a bird with my dad one morning and he came straight in.  Killed him right after fly down.  As we were admiring the bird, a woman stood up out of the brush about 80 yards away.  We came in from another direction and set up in the dark.  I felt terrible. 

Her husband had dropped her off before we got there.  It was a regular roost and we both knew the birds would be there.  She saw us set up and never whistled or anything.

My worst experience was on private land.  Had my jake decoy shot right at daylight one time.  I spotted the hunters and scooted around around the tree for protection.  I tried to get their attention, but couldn't.  My split decision to scoot around the tree saved me.  BOOM!