DON'T PARK HERE!!

[Prospector]

Eggshell at no point in my personal renderings did I advocate confrontation/ entering into a dangerous situation- but I would like to add that if you don't hold folks accountable in some way they believe it's the right way to act or even worse use anger, mean mugg attitude as a tactic to get their way. This applies in many subjects outside of the Public Land gate. However, you are absolutely correct in seeking peace- I will as well but sometimes peace comes because those that might not choose to cultivate peace know the consequences of messing with those that do.

[Happy]

I dunno, I find a lot of these new fellers amusing. Sometimes, if I get done early enough with my hunt, I like driving around and getting some good chuckles in.
Running around like they don't have a clue, 17 cameras stuck on them like they are a surveillance camera pole. You talk to them, and all they want to tell you is what states they have killed in. People have lost their minds trying to be liked and followed. It's sad but extremely amusing at the same time. It ain't about hunting turkeys for these folks. It's about hunting attention.
I will take a peaceful day in the woods with zero gobbles compared to running around elbow to elbow with those wackadoos

Good-looking and Platinum level member of the Elitist club

[eggshell]

Prospector, I understand and I agree. I guess that's the problem with internet post and chats, true meaning is often lost in perception and lack of detail. In my mind I was thinking how I will react if I am not the first one to arrive or was not already hunting. I agree with holding people accountable for bad behavior, but I won't ruin  a day I meant to enjoy a little time away from life's stress over a jerk. I'm too old to get physical with anyone but they will know how I feel if they cross a line. I apologize if it seemed like I was calling anyone out....I wasn't. I was simply trying to say to me I am out to have an enjoyable day and I can do that without drama or killing a gobbler.

[CALLM2U]

I dunno, I find a lot of these new fellers amusing. Sometimes, if I get done early enough with my hunt, I like driving around and getting some good chuckles in.
Running around like they don't have a clue, 17 cameras stuck on them like they are a surveillance camera pole. You talk to them, and all they want to tell you is what states they have killed in. People have lost their minds trying to be liked and followed. It's sad but extremely amusing at the same time. It ain't about hunting turkeys for these folks. It's about hunting attention.
I will take a peaceful day in the woods with zero gobbles compared to running around elbow to elbow with those wackadoos

Good-looking and Platinum level member of the Elitist club

It's worth noting, not everyone who films wants "likes" and "follows".  I know quite a few people who have been filming hunts for years and have no desire to be a social media star.  I have been filming for years and all my videos are private.  Only close friends and family are able to see them. 

Point is, if you see someone with a camera, it doesn't mean they are a YouTuber. 

[Spurs]

Eggshell, that is exactly what I am saying too.  I go to the woods to escape and think about nothing but what I'm hunting.  If I know that someone is in my block, I am constantly worrying about what they are doing and how are they going to mess me up. 

My personal litmus for a good hunt is just getting a tom to respond.  A successful hunt is walking out with one across my shoulder.  And a bad one is when someone messes me up.

There ain't a turkey in the woods gobbling that others don't know about, so claiming them is like claiming the wind. 

[ruination]

Now I do not do the mean mugging, I will talk to everyone with respect, and if there is another option, will discuss how we may tackle an area together/separately.  But if someone gets upset because they are asked to leave a public spot after getting beat, that sounds like a YOU problem and not a ME problem.

Kinda sounds like a you problem since you're the one asking someone to leave.

Work is relative, too.

I don't see how it's my problem as my plan worked out and you should be understanding.  Therefore, your problem to figure out what plan b is...which any public land hunting should have at a minimum 4-5 backups...so not really a problem per se, but a less desirable option.  But that's semantics.

No, work is not relative.  Personal life decisions does not factor in either if that is what you are referring to.  Nor does scouting, pop up blinds, grand pappy's old spot, or any other excuse on the day of the hunt.  Hunting is hunting and life is life. 

If you are working on a night shift, get off at 4, make it to the gate at 4:30, and that's your excuse....sorry, you should be have backups on top of backups.

If you walked that same road for a week straight for the opener, cleared out every twig off the train, did your duty and picked up trash...that was yesterday and you got beat. 

There is absolutely no excuse.

But I want to stress that I have and will NEVER tell someone to get lost or mean mug them.  I've been dog cussed, even when I was the first to the gate.  I treat everyone with respect.  I've had, on many occasions, people hear me out, just to come right in with me and screw me up.  That's all part of it though. 

Embrace the suck and be thankful that I wake up just to have the same conversation the next day. 

Really I was just joking.

I don't think I've ever been 2nd to a gate.

But it could take someone who lived further away with two toddlers a lot more work to get to the spot as say someone who is retired and lives down the road.  So work hardly factors into it.

I think everyone would like to have the property to themselves.  But I think there's a whole bunch of states where that's just not a reality.

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You are talking about personal decisions that no one can affect but yourself.  The guy with 2 toddlers made that decision and chose to be a father.  Also, that old retired guy put in his time.  If I get beat to a gate by a person, presumably in their 60s, you dang right I'm rolling to the next gate.  I have kids myself, but if they are the reason I got beat, then I move to the next spot. 

What you are referring to is what is wrong with so much of the world today.  Everyone thinks they deserve to have a ranking system that is dependent on their own good/bad decisions.  Just because someone made a conscience decision to walk a certain path does not give them some kind of special pass.  There is sacrifice in everything and those sacrifices need to be honored.

And the point went right over your head.  You're the one that said who ever put in the most work should have priority.  Maybe what you meant to say is "who ever got their first".  Work has little to do with it.

But again, you're talking circles.  You're trying to justify something that's nothing but a personal opinion.  "Honor sacrifices".  You can sacrifice more and still show up to the gate 2nd.  That's the point.

Personally, I don't want to share a gate, so I will move on. 

And it's my problem because that's what I believe, but it's not what the guy busting the roosted bird I was set up on believes.

No, you just have the thought in your head that because someone has a different lifestyle, they should get some kind of brownie points if they show up late.  Turkey hunting is turkey hunting and life is life.  Trying to intertwine those two activities is what you seem to be over looking.

If someone puts in the work, gets up early, gets to the gate first, they when the day.  If someone else has a late night with the kids, hits the snooze 3 times, stops by the diner for an egg sandwich, and is 2nd...move it on down the line.  First guy put in the work that day.  Nothing else matters. 

Like I said previously, semantics...but it all boils down to work kills turkeys more consistently than any other thing out there.  Wake up early, go to be late, walk further, study maps, learn behaviors, read the weather, etc.  Nothing beats hard work in the long run.

I do?

Lol.

Mighty fine strawman you built up there.

The only person that said the person who worked harder got the gate was you.  I was just pointing out that's not so.  I was merely pointing out there is not the fairness you've built up in your mind.  "Honoring sacrifice"...

The only person trying to control others and thinks their rules applies to everyone is you.

And I guess if another person in your bloc stresses you out, that is also your problem.

If your ethics don't line up, it's your problem.  I wouldn't of asked a guy to leave.  I would've just left myself.

Again, I agree with you.  But your trying to put fairness into an equation that's not fair. 


You win, first to the gate.

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[arkrem870]

If I'm beat to a spot I don't even hit my brakes when heading to another spot. I for sure don't talk to  or try to negotiate with the person already there.

[Happy]

That's where I am at. Treat others how you would like to be treated. It's a turkey, I love hunting them, but I ain't gonna fight idiots over them. If someone is in a spot, I move on. If I am there first, then I expect others to move on or work it out with me. It really ain't that hard.
I remember once having a fellow pull in as I was headed in. He was from out of state and asked where I was planning on going. I told him, and his face fell. He informed me he had roosted a gobbler there the night before. He was polite and respectful, and I told him to have at it. I was going to leave him to the bird and go further back in to hunt another area I knew well. He would just have to take my word that I would stay out of his hair. He agreed, and I went and had a good hunt myself and got to sit on a high ridge and listen to the gobbler he was on respond to his calls. I couldn't hear him calling, but it was fun to listen to things play out. He never shot, and I assume he didn't get the gobbler.
Point is, if a person is decent and respectful, then it goes a long ways. None of us own any of the turkeys, and it's good to keep that in mind. I am not a jerk, and I expect others not to be either. Otherwise they will see a different side of me and it ain't because of the turkey. It's about manners.

Good-looking and Platinum level member of the Elitist club

[ruination]

When I am OOS for a week and I sleep at the gate, is that my private land for the week?

[eggshell]

That's where I am at. Treat others how you would like to be treated. It's a turkey, I love hunting them, but I ain't gonna fight idiots over them. If someone is in a spot, I move on. If I am there first, then I expect others to move on or work it out with me. It really ain't that hard.
I remember once having a fellow pull in as I was headed in. He was from out of state and asked where I was planning on going. I told him, and his face fell. He informed me he had roosted a gobbler there the night before. He was polite and respectful, and I told him to have at it. I was going to leave him to the bird and go further back in to hunt another area I knew well. He would just have to take my word that I would stay out of his hair. He agreed, and I went and had a good hunt myself and got to sit on a high ridge and listen to the gobbler he was on respond to his calls. I couldn't hear him calling, but it was fun to listen to things play out. He never shot, and I assume he didn't get the gobbler.
Point is, if a person is decent and respectful, then it goes a long ways. None of us own any of the turkeys, and it's good to keep that in mind. I am not a jerk, and I expect others not to be either. Otherwise they will see a different side of me and it ain't because of the turkey. It's about manners.

Good-looking and Platinum level member of the Elitist club

Your right Happy. We make life way too difficult at times and I have had enough difficult in my life to make turkey hunting "just another hassle". I have killed my share, so good luck and have at it buddy. However, I do agree that if someone insist on being a jerk, they don't deserve my consideration. I'll still move on becasue a guy that desperate probably is unsafe to boot, but he'll know how I feel before I move on. I can honestly say in 50 + years of turkey hunting, my overwhelming experience has been 95% of all turkey hunters I have encountered while out hunting have been A1 people and very considerate. I can actually only think of 3 instances that I felt hunters i encountered were jerks. I have had many good discussions at forest gates and made all kinds of deals. Almost without exception people honor the deal they made. I share whatever I know about the area as well. An informed hunter is less likely to mess you up. I have even walked in with guys and told them, the first bird that gobbles is yours and I'll move on further in, rarely does anyone turn down that offer. I will just quit hunting when it simply becomes another hassle in my life.

[GobbleNut]

I think we here would all agree that if someone else is there first, the best thing to do is to move on to another spot.  But, it seems to me that from some of this discussion that there must be some folks that hunt in places where those spots are so limited that there exists the possibility that all of the spots might have someone parked there.  (Once again, I am really glad I don't live in a place where that possibility can even remotely occur).

So, to me, the question becomes,...If there is no public hunting area that you have available to hunt when you go out that does not already have someone there, are you going to try to "fit in" somewhere where others are hunting,...or are you going to say "oh, well" and just go home?   

Furthermore, what if "home" is several hours drive away and someone has made significant time and effort to hunt this particular area?  It seems to me the question is a bit more complicated than it appears to be "on the surface".  That is not to say, however, that the general principle of "whoever is there first gets the gobbler" is not valid, but there may be extenuating circumstances that need to be taken into consideration in some (assumedly rare) cases...recognizing, of course, that deliberately interfering with someone else that got there before you is ALWAYS unacceptable. 

[ruination]

The goats are pretty smart

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[Happy]

I can't speak for everyone,but I hunt the northeast, and it can get pretty congested. However, I am lucky in that I have plenty of options. I know my areas pretty well and constantly explore. I can always find something to hunt, even if it means a little extra effort. Plus, I have private land options in two different states with a little over an hour drive. Bottom line, I still give people plenty of space and expect the same. I am a believer in work. If it really matters to you, then you are going to put forth the effort. If you only know one spot and hang your hopes on that, then "Bless your heart." Don't expect sympathy from the guys that put in the effort, though.

Good-looking and Platinum level member of the Elitist club

[Prospector]

Ruination: if it's legal and you're willing to sleep in your truck then I'll move on to the next gate

[Prospector]

... but don't leave to go to the Quik-Stop bc I know there's a turkey there and my truck sleeps Great!!!?