National Forest/Government Land - What should you do?

[Otdrzman]

Here's the scenario. You've made a plan to hunt a gated fire road in the National Forest that is locked and all that is allowed is foot travel. You've hunted there before with success. You leave the house allowing yourself ample time to get there before daylight. When you arrive at the location there is already a vehicle there parked at the gate. Someone has gotten there before you and the hunter/hunters have already left the vehicle and are somewhere out the road. What do you do? (A) Do you turn around and go to another location to keep from potentially messing up the persons hunt that got there before you. Or do you (B) Park next to the vehicle at the gate, get your stuff together and head on out the road following the hunter/hunters that got there before you.

[Ocoee Ridge Runner]

GO FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO HUNT PERIOD EXCLAMATION POINT EXCLAMATION POINT. Nothing makes me more angry than someone that has no hunting etiquette and proceeds to hunt where someone beat them to the spot. Not to mention it could be very dangerous.

[turkey_slayer]

Only way in to a huge chunk of land? Hunt it. Small piece? Move on else where

[alclark2]

In Alabama you find another spot. Always have a few backups. In Indiana, there will be 3 cars at every parking area. I've ran into other hunters almost everyday I've hunted Indiana public ground.


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[Marc]

Only way in to a huge chunk of land? Hunt it. Small piece? Move on else where

In Alabama you find another spot. Always have a few backups. In Indiana, there will be 3 cars at every parking area. I've ran into other hunters almost every day I've hunted Indiana public ground.

Both valid points...

Public land in California can be crowded, and hunting many areas you will have company...  You know this going in though.

Small piece of property, I would move on though...

Big property with one access point, in my area you will have company (I know of one area with several thousand acres of land, and one access point)...   

In states with lots of public property and lots of birds, I would go to a different location...  In other words, to some degree the etiquette is regional and situational.

.

[howl]

One of the biggest factors in killing public land birds is finding one you can have to yourself and that has been fooled with much previously. You are not likely to find such a bird after parking next to someone else.

[dfresh55]

depends how close are you to the city? lol here in mo around the city every rich guy wants to hunt my decoys have been shot at public land near the city... how ever in better areas where not so populated find another spot its just the right thing to do not saying you need to find whole new ladn but find another trail might work out in your favor as the birds could eb less pressured

[GobbleNut]

The general rule in turkey hunting etiquette is that one hunter should never interfere with another hunter who is on a gobbler.  A corollary to that rule is that if a hunting area is of insufficient size to accommodate more than one hunter at a time, then the first guy there has "dubs" on the area,...until he leaves the area, at which point he relinquishes his privilege of priority. 

However, if the area is large enough to accommodate multiple hunters without them interfering with each other, I see no reason why multiple hunters could not hunt there.  Having said that, if you are the second hunter in an area and you have doubts that you might interfere with the first, you should move on.

As has been stated, it is always best to have multiple back-ups in terms of other places to go.  If you don't, then you probably need to do more "homework" during the off-season.

[ltprod]

The general rule in turkey hunting etiquette is that one hunter should never interfere with another hunter who is on a gobbler.  A corollary to that rule is that if a hunting area is of insufficient size to accommodate more than one hunter at a time, then the first guy there has "dubs" on the area,...until he leaves the area, at which point he relinquishes his privilege of priority. 

However, if the area is large enough to accommodate multiple hunters without them interfering with each other, I see no reason why multiple hunters could not hunt there.  Having said that, if you are the second hunter in an area and you have doubts that you might interfere with the first, you should move on.

As has been stated, it is always best to have multiple back-ups in terms of other places to go.  If you don't, then you probably need to do more "homework" during the off-season.

+1000

[Otdrzman]

I appreciate the input. I was the one that got to the gated road first the other morning. Got there around 5 am. I had walked a couple hundred yards up the road and was hanging out waiting for daylight. At around 5:40 or so I hear gravels crunching and eventually see the lights of the vehicle approaching the gate where my vehicle was parked. There is no parking area. Just a pipe gate blocking off the road. My truck was eased to the side of the road so not to block the gate. I foolishly thought, "They will see that I got here first and they will go somewhere else." Wrong! The lights on the vehicle go out and less than a minute later i see a flashlight headed my way up the road. I started walking farther up the road ahead of the individual. As I made my way around a couple curves I continue to look back and he is still there. At one point I flashed my cell phone light at him thinking maybe that he hadn't seen me. Didn't phase him. So I stood there as he approached me. I was nice to the fella but inside I was boiling. Totally changed the plan that I had for the morning. I almost laughed as he said a couple times, "I don't wanna mess you up!" He messed my hunt up when I saw the flashlight headed my way up the road. Anyway, he went one way and I went the other and by 7 I was in the truck headed to another spot. So with all of that being said. I haven't and would never park at a gated road when there is already someone there. The way I see it is that they beat me there, find another spot. I'll leave earlier the next time. To me, it is unethical and potentially dangerous.

[turkey_slayer]

Here majority of the areas have only one way in to 10s of thousands of acres so it's common for other vehicles to be parked together. 99% I'm the first there but if not and a bird gobbles I wait to see if someone is working him before I go in. I don't wanna mess somebody up and expect the same but the reality is there are more people that will cut in on you than people that respect you.

[d.winsor]

Otdrzman you should  not ask a question like that on a forum of turkey hunters, all they want to do is get a bird alone.  I read something to the fact that Indiana had 3 cars parked in one spot.  To enlighten you I hunted public land state and national forest in Indiana since 1984.  If I ever wanted to know anything regarding rules on public land I would call the authority of the area I wanted to hunt and ask them.  On public land in state that would be Indiana DNR.  For hosier national forest I would call them.  State land and national forest land all have designated parking areas, you cannot park off the side of the road, and you cannot block a gate.  If you come to a spot that is a gated entrance spot with only enough room for 1 car I would go look for another spot, as there is only enough land for 1 car of hunters to hunt.  If a parking area is big enough for 3 cars then there is only enough acreage for 3 cars of hunters to hunt, etc.  I have never experienced a rude turkey hunter even if I were walking in on a main trail and someone came in behind me I have no gripes,  It is the only way in and everyone has the right to travel it in or out at anytime.  No one expects you to be on the main trail hunting turkeys, they expect you to be hunting right or left of it, etc.  This past Saturday I was hunting in Indiana on public land and parked where there was no other cars there, thou there was room.  I got up into the forest and just listened, eventually a bird started gobbling to my left about 150 yards.  It kept gobbling, eventually I heard a who cooks for U coming in on the other side about 20 minutes later.  Now since I was at the bird first do I walk over and tell the individual that it is my bird.  Do I give a raggedy who cooks for you to let him know this is my bird.  No I wait till he hits the ground and give soft clucks and purrs, eventually the bird went in a direction that avoided us both.  The guy gave a half hearted attempt at a fighting purr,  End of that story.  No other cars were parked by my car when I got out.   Was I mad at the guy for coming in on MY BIRD.  No He didn't know I was there and was just like me trying to get a gobbler.  After all it is public land.  I have hunted private land once, a couple weeks ago, to keep this story short the adjacent landowners were protecting their birds.  Even though they were not branded.  I prefer public land.  I moved out of Indiana 3 years ago but go back to hunt every chance I get.  One note of interest, don't call from the main trails, birds get called from there all the time and are leary of it.  I do not know what state you are from but I would recommend you calling the DNR for state or federal land you plan to hunt, If it comes right down to it and you are drawn into a situation you don't want to be in it is best to be on the right side.  Good luck

[deadbuck]

I hunt public land in Mississippi almost exclusively and turkey hunting is no big deal. When people ask me where I kill my birds I tell them and add that the hunting pressure is awful and I see hunters regularly , etc. Keeps them away, LOL! Duck hunting on the other hand is totally ridiculous. People will spend the night in their boat illegally to be the first person in the hole at 4 am. Also, adjacent duck hunters will shoot to flare ducks if they think they are going to land where someone adjacent to them will get a shot. These public land duck hunters are a work in progress if you know what I mean.

[ltprod]

Deadbuck
I see you have duckhunted at st caterine creek nat refuge
Lol

[Uvagobbler]

Otdrzman, here in sw virginia we have large chunks of national forest land with multiple access points. There are parking areas, gates and even large rocks off the road that serve as places to pull over. Where I hunt, the size of the parking areas have NOTHING to do with the amount of land behind them. I agree 100% that you got there first and the other hunter had no reason to park beside you. First, he doesn't know where you are. Second, if you were farther away from the road, you wouldn't have a clue that he was there. Third, the vehicle who parked next to you has no idea if it is just you or you and 1-2 others. It's called hunting etiquette. I hunt public land also and if someone is in a parking area that I want to hunt, I move on to another. He beat me there. It boils down to SAFETY first then basic etiquette. I agree with most of the answers you got. I've had the same happen to me. It's frustrating. I don't understand why d.winsor would say that you shouldn't ask that question on this turkey hunting forum. That makes no sense to me. Maybe he thinks you should have asked that question on a fishing forum. People jockeying over one gobbler usually ends up educating the gobbler and lowers everyones odds by a mile. Also, his " after all it's public land" ties in to the beginning of this thread.  Unfortunately, there are some hunters with this excuse and see nothing wrong with the scenario you experienced.