Escape and Evasion

[Nameless Range]

I thought about this post last night.

If someone asks you, "Seen anything?" - a question I would never ask another hunter - you really must lie. I suppose you could say, "I'm not answering that", which would be fine, albeit weird. But that may almost lead someone to believe you definitely did see something. I have told folks the absolute truth in the hopes that they would fill their tag, I have said, "Nope" when that was a lie, I have invented animals I did not see, and I have told half-truths with the what being correct but the where being 180 ° and 5 miles off. I've used vague terms like "a ways" and "up there" and"some". It's funny, but I think lying comes naturally to a hunter.

I guess a good rule is never tell anyone that you saw anything ever. Make it always seem like the places you are hunting suck. Can't trust folks. I think you made the best of your situation and appreciate your misdirection.

 

[ignorethefringes]

It's a wonder that hunter recruitment is falling when we tell everyone that everywhere sucks and ain't worth hunting LOL. I wonder if an anti-hunter has ever overheard a hunter saying something like, "there ain't any deer around anymore . . ." just to throw another hunter off his game.

I'll admit, I guess I'm either naive or optimistic in this arena. I'm generally honest about what I'm seeing even if I'm vague on the details of where. I generally want other hunters to be successful and hope they feel the same for me.

 

[Sytes]

I had a place parked off the side of a highway with no trail. It was just straight uphill. I was cautious about concealing the game on the hill side of the truck as I loaded and doing my best to avoid loading when a vehicle was in view however one year... just took one, a truck passed by, slowed, pulled a *180, parked on the other side, father and young son got out, crossed over and offered to help. I was caught in the act. I said no I'm good however they still took a look, asked those typical questions and we'll, you can guess what truck was parked there next opening season...

I remember thinking to myself, well crap! I'll probably have competition next year. It's the nature of the game. Intel is Numero Uno.

 

[JTHOMP]

I had a place parked off the side of a highway with no trail. It was just straight uphill. I was cautious about concealing the game on the hill side of the truck as I loaded and doing my best to avoid loading when a vehicle was in view however one year... just took one, a truck passed by, slowed, pulled a *180, parked on the other side, father and young son got out, crossed over and offered to help. I was caught in the act. I said no I'm good however they still took a look, asked those typical questions and we'll, you can guess what truck was parked there next opening season...

I remember thinking to myself, well crap! I'll probably have competition next year. It's the nature of the game. Intel is Numero Uno.

I have a spot like this I'm nervous every time I enter it. It requires a small boat, which in some areas I hunt a boat is no different than a vehicle. In this area toting a boat would raise an eye brow. It's a lot of work to get in the area. But all it would take is someone to see me with my little boat, put two and two together, and there will be a lot more pressure there. The game is there because the pressure aint there.

 

[kansasdad]

Poppy taught us kids how to answer Grammie's probing questions........she was searching for the deets to brag what fine fisherman we were, and how we had permission to some areas generally off limits to all but the landowners next of kin.

"Where'd you all go fishing today?"......up on the mountain

"How many did you catch?"......... a few. (Few meant anywhere from zero to 2 bazillion!)

 

[Irrelevant]

I'm a big fan of coy. I went that direction and didn't see much. Good luck.

 

[wyoboypt]

Last season while walking out of the woods with a quartered 9 point in my pack, I was close to the road when one truck passed so I ducked down and hid. Then at my truck putting my pack on my tailgate another guy sees the deer head and stops and I give him an elaborate truthful of how I killed the deer, but on the other side of the road. People will hunt dead deer and live deer. NEVER let them know.

So was that a 4x5 or an 18 pointer?

 

[Pucky Freak]

I was excited and made the mistake of mentioning the specific range I was in.

We all make mistakes. I'm sure you'll learn from this one.

I do hard work and find my own spots. This is part of what makes hunting (searching/seeking/looking) enjoyable to me. I spend probably x3 as much time scouting as I do afield with a weapon. Many hunters want a shortcut. I get bombarded with "where did you shoot this animal?" by such people. I try not to let it get under my skin. I just shrug or give such general information that it is useless to them. Some people act offended. I guess that is their problem.

Non-hunters also ask my hunting location because they are trying to make conversation and be friendly. They don't know what questions to ask so this is a common one. The risk is that they pass it along to another hunter, who then hunts the spot. Therefore, they get useless general information too, but I do it in a way that's polite. Sometimes I'll describe parts of the landscape, or share or quadrant of the state (e.g. SW Iowa).

The only person who knows the exact places I hunt is my wife.

I also give detailed reports of game I see, with locations, for spots I won't ever hunt. This is because they are generally poor spots with very little game. However, people think I'm sharing a valuable tip, and might be off to the hills.

 

[LuketheDog]

My standard canned response when asked at the trailhead about how the hunting/fishing was, is "Yeah, I saw/caught a couple, it's kinda slow out there today though". You can see guys just deflate when they hear the word "slow".

...Unless I'm talking to close friends, then it's always "You should have been there! It was SO GOOD!!!!"

 

[JTHOMP]

So was that a 4x5 or an 18 pointer?

If you want to get technical I can hang 12 rings on that rack.

 

[elkduds]

Almost a classic:

 

[matthausarchery]

Ive been given BS advice from hunters I knew after the fact were messing with me. But it almost paid off.
They were glassing a very steep ridgeline, I asked if they had seen anything and sure enough they had seen two medium sized bulls but they were after a big one. They directed my 23year old self straight down into a choked ravine and up a cliff for a mile and a half. Halfway there I got to thinking I had been duped but I had nothing better to do so I let a bugle rip and sure enough a shooter by my standards bugled back not far away. I got too excited and forgot about the wind and spooked him.
Got back to the truck and there was a PBR and a note that said “hope you had a nice hike.” I did.

 

[RockinU]

Ive been given BS advice from hunters I knew after the fact were messing with me. But it almost paid off.
They were glassing a very steep ridgeline, I asked if they had seen anything and sure enough they had seen two medium sized bulls but they were after a big one. They directed my 23year old self straight down into a choked ravine and up a cliff for a mile and a half. Halfway there I got to thinking I had been duped but I had nothing better to do so I let a bugle rip and sure enough a shooter by my standards bugled back not far away. I got too excited and forgot about the wind and spooked him.
Got back to the truck and there was a PBR and a note that said “hope you had a nice hike.” I did.

I get not giving anything away, but that’s borderline douchey...

 

[88man]

Sorta on topic> a few years ago after a few days of scouting and on the eve of the colorado first season opener. We had numerous bulls scouted out and the afternoon before the opener we sat at the glassing spot for a few hours and had basically, had a hand full of bulls lined up for the next morning as a few were good shooters. Anyway, this other hunter see's us and comes over, the bulls were talking and very visible at times. He tells us he is scouting as he wants to draw the tag the next year! Proceeds to walk at the herd and my friend stopped him a few hundred yards away. He basically said he wanted to blow them out so they would not get shot the next day!!!!!!!! Crazy

I will share accurate hunting info with strangers during a hunt if I have a good feeling about them. We have gone way out of our way and spent time helping others a few times after a hunt. Made some good friends that way and also had some good laughs at the way other people hunt/shoot/think etc.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

I went turkey hunting in Tennessee very early season last Spring and the area we were in had a lot of water and a lot of fishermen, mostly locals. And they all loved telling us that they saw a turkey out strutting just a mile or so down the road. I can tell you that by the time we got a mile down the road there was another fisherman who saw a turkey out strutting just a mile down the road. Any hunting advice from a stranger should be taken with a very large grain of salt.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

I went turkey hunting in Tennessee very early season last Spring and the area we were in had a lot of water and a lot of fishermen, mostly locals. And they all loved telling us that they saw a turkey out strutting just a mile or so down the road. I can tell you that by the time we got a mile down the road there was another fisherman who saw a turkey out strutting just a mile down the road. Any hunting advice from a stranger should be taken with a very large grain of salt.

How many miles did you go before you found the Turkey?

 

[sbhooper]

I don't even ask anybody. To me, that is rude, to ask someone where they are hunting. I have friends that will tell me and vice versa, but not strangers. I don't even try to elicit info, because for one thing, I got over chasing antlers/horns. Problem solved.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Stopped by a fellow hunters camp one afternoon and asked how the Deer
hunting was going,? They replied they were turkey hunting.Sure enough
all hunters had shotguns.I let them know in all of my 14yrs hunting the
same area I had never seen a Turkey.Headed back to camp and the
first creek I crossed a whole flock of Turkeys ran right down the creekbed!
Sunufa-Beach! You Never Know...
And to top it off,one of the guys saw my
personalized licence plate "DRTCLOD" and asked if I was Dirtbag!?

 

[88man]

I went turkey hunting in Tennessee very early season last Spring and the area we were in had a lot of water and a lot of fishermen, mostly locals. And they all loved telling us that they saw a turkey out strutting just a mile or so down the road. I can tell you that by the time we got a mile down the road there was another fisherman who saw a turkey out strutting just a mile down the road. Any hunting advice from a stranger should be taken with a very large grain of salt.

I heard the Turkeys are thick in Tennessee

 

[TheBenHoyle]

How many miles did you go before you found the Turkey?

The funny thing was, this "advice" was unsolicited. In most cases they were pointing us on in a direction we were already headed. As for the turkeys being thick in Tennessee, I am sure they are but we never got into the thick parts. Heard a bunch of them but only saw one.