The Public Land Parking Lot- " Question". Has This Happened To You?

[3bailey3]

i think i just heard FrAnK speak

[eggshell]

Ok, time to piss a few people off.

I have watched in participated in this and many threads related to this topic. I will categorize them as "why I didn't kill a bird excuse threads".  It was partly interesting and mostly aggravating back when I was working in my career and ran the check station to hear all the excuses. The absolutely most common gripe was "another hunter messed me up".  It got really old and most of my staff would just say I have to go back to work and walk away soon as someone started this routine. I know some of them were legit gripes, but what I really wanted to tell them was, "it's public ground dude deal with it or get out". If you have hunted public ground for even just a few years, you should know what comes with it, deal with it and have a plan. Most of those guys you are getting pissed at just want to hunt the same as you. Sure there are some real butt heads out there, that's true in every phase of life, again deal with. I really wonder if a lot of these gripes really are just excuses we use to prop up our egos. "I would have killed that bird but" statements are often a coping device for our own short comings. I have hunted enough on land I know I am alone on and guess what the same things happen there, somehow I mess up on a bird. Then I have to blame a deer or maybe a dog, as long as it's not me.

Here is my bottom line, and it took me a lot of years to get here. I love turkey hunting and I want to have fun doing it, why make it part of my life's misery? I used to get all moody and pissed about everything that went wrong in the woods and a ton of that was due to other people, even close friends. My poor wife should have gotten a metal in those early years. Somewhere I just decided I didn't want to be miserable anymore and decided just to hunt and have fun. The hell with getting upset over not killing a bird or what someone else done. You know what happened? I started killing birds on a level I had never done before and I was having a ball doing it. Some days when I showed up only to find another car in "my spot" I simply moved on to another. I found many new spots and it was uncanny how many times I killed birds in plan B spot. When I did run into other hunters I gave them space and often tips. I tried never to get mad at them. Foolish arguments only ruin good days. It comes down to one thing, your sport should be "an escape from life's trouble not a part of it"! So relax and find the good in this sport. Of course your going to have people problems, but the best thing is to just move on or develop another strategy. You don't need an excuse to have fun, measure your hunt by your joy not by how many you pack out.

[RiverBuck]

Ol' eggshell is droppin pearls for the swine... nailed it!

[guesswho]

  to Eggshell!
   
I was fortunate to have been raised hunting only public land in Florida, even though it was a tad different back then.   But I've always been one to find humor in my failures.   As a kid I'd giggle and smile and move on when something didn't go my way, whether it was by my own doings or outside factors I couldn't control.  This was true with everything from sports to hunting, and I still carry that same attitude to this day.  I think it made for a much more relaxed and enjoyable life.  I may would have experienced more successes in life with a different attitude, but I don't think I would have had as much fun doing so.   And I've always lived life for the enjoyment.   Another hunter can't mess up my hunt, all he can do is temporarily prolong my fun and give me something to chuckle about in the meantime.

[Tom007]

Ok, time to piss a few people off.

I have watched in participated in this and many threads related to this topic. I will categorize them as "why I didn't kill a bird excuse threads".  It was partly interesting and mostly aggravating back when I was working in my career and ran the check station to hear all the excuses. The absolutely most common gripe was "another hunter messed me up".  It got really old and most of my staff would just say I have to go back to work and walk away soon as someone started this routine. I know some of them were legit gripes, but what I really wanted to tell them was, "it's public ground dude deal with it or get out". If you have hunted public ground for even just a few years, you should know what comes with it, deal with it and have a plan. Most of those guys you are getting pissed at just want to hunt the same as you. Sure there are some real butt heads out there, that's true in every phase of life, again deal with. I really wonder if a lot of these gripes really are just excuses we use to prop up our egos. "I would have killed that bird but" statements are often a coping device for our own short comings. I have hunted enough on land I know I am alone on and guess what the same things happen there, somehow I mess up on a bird. Then I have to blame a deer or maybe a dog, as long as it's not me.

Here is my bottom line, and it took me a lot of years to get here. I love turkey hunting and I want to have fun doing it, why make it part of my life's misery? I used to get all moody and pissed about everything that went wrong in the woods and a ton of that was due to other people, even close friends. My poor wife should have gotten a metal in those early years. Somewhere I just decided I didn't want to be miserable anymore and decided just to hunt and have fun. The hell with getting upset over not killing a bird or what someone else done. You know what happened? I started killing birds on a level I had never done before and I was having a ball doing it. Some days when I showed up only to find another car in "my spot" I simply moved on to another. I found many new spots and it was uncanny how many times I killed birds in plan B spot. When I did run into other hunters I gave them space and often tips. I tried never to get mad at them. Foolish arguments only ruin good days. It comes down to one thing, your sport should be "an escape from life's trouble not a part of it"! So relax and find the good in this sport. Of course your going to have people problems, but the best thing is to just move on or develop another strategy. You don't need an excuse to have fun, measure your hunt by your joy not by how many you pack out.

Very well said. We all have strategies on how we hunt. Adding another strategy on avoiding crowded woods is another fun way to enjoy the solitude we all aspire. Be safe, enjoy

[Happy]

Ok, time to piss a few people off.

I have watched in participated in this and many threads related to this topic. I will categorize them as "why I didn't kill a bird excuse threads".  It was partly interesting and mostly aggravating back when I was working in my career and ran the check station to hear all the excuses. The absolutely most common gripe was "another hunter messed me up".  It got really old and most of my staff would just say I have to go back to work and walk away soon as someone started this routine. I know some of them were legit gripes, but what I really wanted to tell them was, "it's public ground dude deal with it or get out". If you have hunted public ground for even just a few years, you should know what comes with it, deal with it and have a plan. Most of those guys you are getting pissed at just want to hunt the same as you. Sure there are some real butt heads out there, that's true in every phase of life, again deal with. I really wonder if a lot of these gripes really are just excuses we use to prop up our egos. "I would have killed that bird but" statements are often a coping device for our own short comings. I have hunted enough on land I know I am alone on and guess what the same things happen there, somehow I mess up on a bird. Then I have to blame a deer or maybe a dog, as long as it's not me.

Here is my bottom line, and it took me a lot of years to get here. I love turkey hunting and I want to have fun doing it, why make it part of my life's misery? I used to get all moody and pissed about everything that went wrong in the woods and a ton of that was due to other people, even close friends. My poor wife should have gotten a metal in those early years. Somewhere I just decided I didn't want to be miserable anymore and decided just to hunt and have fun. The hell with getting upset over not killing a bird or what someone else done. You know what happened? I started killing birds on a level I had never done before and I was having a ball doing it. Some days when I showed up only to find another car in "my spot" I simply moved on to another. I found many new spots and it was uncanny how many times I killed birds in plan B spot. When I did run into other hunters I gave them space and often tips. I tried never to get mad at them. Foolish arguments only ruin good days. It comes down to one thing, your sport should be "an escape from life's trouble not a part of it"! So relax and find the good in this sport. Of course your going to have people problems, but the best thing is to just move on or develop another strategy. You don't need an excuse to have fun, measure your hunt by your joy not by how many you pack out.

This is spot on. I think hopefully with time for most it does not become a numbers game or a competition with other hunters. I think there should be a point where how you do it matters as much or more than whether or not you walk out with a bird over your shoulder. I know we are all there to kill a turkey but does violating our personal ethics or treating others badly make it anything to be proud of? To me it doesn't. Not to pick on others or try to make anyone look bad but I believe social media has created a need for a lot of people to seek recognition and attention and I don't necessarily think that is a good thing. I am not trying to put people down or say that anyone doing that is a bad person but I think that it is a very slippery slope.

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[THattaway]

Didn't read 4 pages but feel compelled to respond to the op on the "question".

Not speaking for anyone but myself here and the way I operate. No turkey is worth getting shot over. If I see another truck I move on and hunt elsewhere and hope others would do the same for me. If it's a single access point to a large chunk of land I have no problem parking with other trucks and hunting but make every attempt to not crowd others. If I hear a guy working a bird I don't move in on him. I don't care how well someone calls, if you will listen for a few minutes you can identify human calling most of the time with certainty. If I'm the least bit unsure then I sit and listen longer to figure out the situation or simply move away and hunt elsewhere.

If a guy parks alongside and asks where I am planning to hunt then I tell him. I might even talk further and share something worthwhile since he was thoughtful enough to ask and my assumption is that his asking is a courtesy to avoid ruining my hunt. That is how I would perceive "the question".  Or I might tell him if I think he is crowding me and that I wouldn't do same to him or anyone else. Just depends on the situation but public land is just that, public. Lots of nimrods out there and it's a seasoned hunter's duty to educate them when presented with the opportunity.

The best approach IMO is to treat others like you'd want to be treated. NO turkey is worth getting shot over.

[Tom007]

Didn't read 4 pages but feel compelled to respond to the op on the "question".

Not speaking for anyone but myself here and the way I operate. No turkey is worth getting shot over. If I see another truck I move on and hunt elsewhere and hope others would do the same for me. If it's a single access point to a large chunk of land I have no problem parking with other trucks and hunting but make every attempt to not crowd others. If I hear a guy working a bird I don't move in on him. I don't care how well someone calls, if you will listen for a few minutes you can identify human calling most of the time with certainty. If I'm the least bit unsure then I sit and listen longer to figure out the situation or simply move away and hunt elsewhere.

If a guy parks alongside and asks where I am planning to hunt then I tell him. I might even talk further and share something worthwhile since he was thoughtful enough to ask and my assumption is that his asking is a courtesy to avoid ruining my hunt. That is how I would perceive "the question".  Or I might tell him if I think he is crowding me and that I wouldn't do same to him or anyone else. Just depends on the situation but public land is just that, public. Lots of nimrods out there and it's a seasoned hunter's duty to educate them when presented with the opportunity.

The best approach IMO is to treat others like you'd want to be treated. NO turkey is worth getting shot over.

Amen my brother, amen

[NCL]

Eggshell,

I think what you describe is "not accepting personal responsibility" and it seems to be a malady that has effected all aspects of like. It is one of my daughters favorite themes. I recently heard a guide on a fishing site say you learn more from a fish that gets away than you do from a fish you catch. After some thought this saying seemed to ring true and it probably also applies to turkey hunting or at least it has for me. Apply this philosophy in the above situations and you turn a negative experience into a positive

[g8rvet]

I just talk to other hunters as if I already know them, and if they are not  out of town, I often do - or at least we have mutual friends.  Worked out something with a guy one time and after talking realized I had known his pa-in-law for 30 years. 

My motto - follow the golden rule.  Treat folks with respect to start.  HOWEVER, I would rather be pizzed off than pizzed on.  Not talking crazy fighting or nothing, but if someone is just plain rude, I may point it out to them, especially if they are younger.   I look at it as an educational opportunity.  We were woodie hunting in a swamp and got a little turned around coming out.  We knew where the truck was, but missed the trail out, so we walked straight to the truck. Came up on some poor dude deer hunting.  We apologized (quietly), told him we were very sorry multiple times and got out of his way.  We had no way to know he was there, but still felt bad for walking by his climber. 

If you are in the right or the wrong, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". 

[Neill_Prater]

I haven't read every single post either, but I see no reason to act like an , even if the other person does. I have had more positive interaction with others than negative.

Last year in Alabama, my buddy and I parked at the head of a road that wasn't gated. While we were puttering around, I thought I saw a light down the road a ways, so walked that way to investigate. Sure enough, I saw a guy parked a hundred yards or so down where the road y's.

I immediately turned around and told John someone else is here, we need to go somewhere else. I see a flashlight heading our way, and the guy, a young man in his 20's was trying to get my attention. I immediately apologize to him, saying we never thought about someone being parked down the road.

He tells us he roosted 3 birds in there the night before and is going to hunt the one to the south, and that we were more than welcome to go after the other two, giving us detailed information as to which road to take to get into proximity of each of the other 2.

Now, I wish I could give the fairytale ending where we all scored, but that wasn't the case. The birds were tight lipped, and none of us even heard a gobble, but that isn't the point. The young man could have simply done nothing and had the whole area to himself, but instead, he did what he felt like the right thing.

I'm guessing good karma will follow him around from time to time.

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[CAPTJJ]

I can't believe this is even a topic... it's PUBLIC LAND.

[Hooksfan]

Ok, time to piss a few people off.

I have watched in participated in this and many threads related to this topic. I will categorize them as "why I didn't kill a bird excuse threads".  It was partly interesting and mostly aggravating back when I was working in my career and ran the check station to hear all the excuses. The absolutely most common gripe was "another hunter messed me up".  It got really old and most of my staff would just say I have to go back to work and walk away soon as someone started this routine. I know some of them were legit gripes, but what I really wanted to tell them was, "it's public ground dude deal with it or get out". If you have hunted public ground for even just a few years, you should know what comes with it, deal with it and have a plan. Most of those guys you are getting pissed at just want to hunt the same as you. Sure there are some real butt heads out there, that's true in every phase of life, again deal with. I really wonder if a lot of these gripes really are just excuses we use to prop up our egos. "I would have killed that bird but" statements are often a coping device for our own short comings. I have hunted enough on land I know I am alone on and guess what the same things happen there, somehow I mess up on a bird. Then I have to blame a deer or maybe a dog, as long as it's not me.

Here is my bottom line, and it took me a lot of years to get here. I love turkey hunting and I want to have fun doing it, why make it part of my life's misery? I used to get all moody and pissed about everything that went wrong in the woods and a ton of that was due to other people, even close friends. My poor wife should have gotten a metal in those early years. Somewhere I just decided I didn't want to be miserable anymore and decided just to hunt and have fun. The hell with getting upset over not killing a bird or what someone else done. You know what happened? I started killing birds on a level I had never done before and I was having a ball doing it. Some days when I showed up only to find another car in "my spot" I simply moved on to another. I found many new spots and it was uncanny how many times I killed birds in plan B spot. When I did run into other hunters I gave them space and often tips. I tried never to get mad at them. Foolish arguments only ruin good days. It comes down to one thing, your sport should be "an escape from life's trouble not a part of it"! So relax and find the good in this sport. Of course your going to have people problems, but the best thing is to just move on or develop another strategy. You don't need an excuse to have fun, measure your hunt by your joy not by how many you pack out.

Absolutely spot on!! Best response I have seen on the topic. It took me 35 years to lose the pride and ego and it took a move of God in my life to accomplish it.

[eggshell]

thx hooksfan, committing my life to Jesus Christ played a big part in my change of attitude too, but I was figuring it out even before that.

[ChiefBubba]

OP, maybe you hunt small chunks of public, but consider this. You hunt where I do..20,000 acres public, gravel parking lot is probably 1/4 acre big and can fit at least 30 trucks. Now I believe if your first one there then by all means, pick an area you want to hunt. But if someone else comes in behind you and asks "the question", why not be kind and just say a general direction.  Like someone else said above, how much area do you think your entitled to? The whole 20,000 acres because you were there first? I'd say you're crazy. Saying your going "where the turkeys are", I'd say well I might see you there then. But if you simply said a general direction or area you were headed, I'd definitely go the other way. Why not communicate with fellow turkey hunters? You don't have to give away your hard earned "scouted" spots. Just say a general direction or area. 

I don't know you so I say all this with the upmost respect.  But I get the impression you are angry or resent other hunters in the woods. Don't get me wrong, I love turkey hunting with a passion, but I'd give the shirt off my back for a fellow hunter. If asked, I'd almost always yield the road to a fellow turkey hunter. And if they're a newbie or novice, who better! Offer to help them!  I've hunted enough and killed enough, it ain't about "gettin one" anymore. Think about it this way, who do you have more in common with or share a similar passion with, than that turkey hunter asking you "the question" in that anxious pre-dawn parking area? You are there for the same passion. Whether their an old pro, a novice, or, maybe even a goober out to steal your spot, when your kind and courtesy, you win. All of us who turkey hunt public are in this together. In my opinion, being kind and courtesy to our other brethren is what will keep this great sport alive. I wish the best for you this season!

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This right here. You're welcome to share coffee in my blind anytime. Bubba