Hunting Public land when you have access to private land?

[Gellar]

What would be nice, IMO, is if people thought about where they hunt, and how they hunt, impacting the wildlife and their fellow hunters. Consideration for others is never a bad thing, but not a requirement in regard to public land specifically, we're all equal owners with equal access.

In general, I've seen a recent, and very dramatic decline in ethics in regard to public land and consideration of the resource and other recreational users than ever before.

In the past, public land users were pretty respectful of each other and the resource...that ship has sailed.

For sure! I’m glad you said public land users and not just public land hunters.

 

[Gellar]

Some people worry too much. Go have fun.

I wasn’t worried about it at all. As other people alluded to, I already knew what I was going to do it just made for interesting conversation in a time when we have been struggling with that around here.

 

[Wayne_Brent]

I must really be a prick.
I work third shift and often hunt public land when I leave work (while most people are working).
I save any private land access I have for the weekend, when NF gets crowded.
I don’t lose any sleep over it though.

 

[rwc101]

Everyone has the right to hunt public. I would think poorly of someone if they restricted access to their private land so they could shoot a "trophy" buck each year then go to public and blast away at anything brown to fill their freezer.

 

[1_pointer]

Everyone has the right to hunt public. I would think poorly of someone if they restricted access to their private land so they could shoot a "trophy" buck each year then go to public and blast away at anything brown to fill their freezer.

I wouldn't.

 

[rwc101]

I wouldn't.

Cool. Anyone that treats public lands with less care than their private is a net drag on public lands, imo.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I wouldn't.

I just don't want to listen to that dude complain, yeah bro it's crowded go hunt your land make it less crowded.

 

[TOGIE]

I just don't want to listen to that dude complain, yeah bro it's crowded go hunt your land make it less crowded.

this makes me think of an outfitter i know (in that i am acquaintances with him and his family) who outfits on public, his private, and leases private.

you'd think the sky was falling in his world. well, in whatever reality he lives in the sky is falling. i have no empathy for him.

it's like, it's public land man. book fewer clients and focus on your thousands of acres of private if it sucks so bad and leave the public land hunters alone. lot of drama, often involving the warden, behind that ranch and i've been party to it once, unfortunately

 

[1_pointer]

I just don't want to listen to that dude complain, yeah bro it's crowded go hunt your land make it less crowded.

So, if he's not complaining, you're cool with him? The one's complaining could buy/lease/go to another spot and make it less crowded as well...

Cool. Anyone that treats public lands with less care than their private is a net drag on public lands, imo.

If he has the proper tag, he has as much a "right" to hunt public and fill his tag on whatever it permits. Heck, just a week or so back, folks were stating how critters from public land are "better" than those from private...

 

[rwc101]

If he has the proper tag, he has as much a "right" to hunt public and fill his tag on whatever it permits. Heck, just a week or so back, folks were stating how critters from public land are "better" than those from private...

Yeah, hence the first sentence in my original post.

 

[Gellar]

this makes me think of an outfitter i know (in that i am acquaintances with him and his family) who outfits on public, his private, and leases private.

you'd think the sky was falling in his world. well, in whatever reality he lives in the sky is falling. i have no empathy for him.

it's like, it's public land man. book fewer clients and focus on your thousands of acres of private if it sucks so bad and leave the public land hunters alone. lot of drama, often involving the warden, behind that ranch and i've been party to it once, unfortunately

Anywhere I’ve ever lived a certain segment of locals bitch about tourists even though those out of towners often times make the services they rely on daily possible. I am guilty of it every weekend as I live in an area with many weekenders and absolutely loath going to town on the weekend.

 

[Gellar]

Cool. Anyone that treats public lands with less care than their private is a net drag on public lands, imo.

I don’t think you can say someone saving their private land for a big buck and shooting brown is down on public is wrong. They may have access to private that has the potential to produce 1 trophy buck a year but may not support a large herd. The public land they are hunting may be an area that the managers have identified an overpopulation of animals and are asking for more hunters to control the population.

 

[Rzrbck918]

Hunt where you want to hunt. I have private land I own, private land I lease, and I still hunt public land because it is a different opportunity and experience. I also still put in for controlled access hunts in OK and several other states. I don't see it as any sort of ethical dilemma as I rightly, legally and ethically, have access to hunt public land while also having access to private land.

I also believe don't think it is inconsistent to post private land and hunt public. In my mind, crowded hunting and its subsequent political pressure is likely the only impetus to gaining more public land and access.

 

[TOGIE]

Anywhere I’ve ever lived a certain segment of locals bitch about tourists even though those out of towners often times make the services they rely on daily possible. I am guilty of it every weekend as I live in an area with many weekenders and absolutely loath going to town on the weekend.

it's the american way, to hate outsiders

but i'm just more referring to a colorado outfitter who goes out of his way to try and make other public land hunters lives more difficult or feel uncomfortable because they're "in his space" and "ruining his operation" on public land

classic outfitter antics

to wllm's point then, if he doesn't like how crowded the public is he should book fewer clients so he can focus on and provide an excellent experience on his many thousands of acres of owned and leased private, but if he doesn't wanna do that he needs cram a sock in it and buck up

but instead of cramming a sock in it they'll just keep booking more clients on otc tags, and crowd up every square of private and public and then complain about how his average client success is going down and keep petitioning the COA to find more ways drum up garbage proposals and policies and resist every good one along the way

 

[Deleted member 28227]

So, if he's not complaining, you're cool with him? The one's complaining could buy/lease/go to another spot and make it less crowded as well...

If he has the proper tag, he has as much a "right" to hunt public and fill his tag on whatever it permits. Heck, just a week or so back, folks were stating how critters from public land are "better" than those from private...

I think the outfitter in @TOGIE example is creating his own problem.

Leasing is legal, outfitting is legal, you have access to public no matter how much prime habitat you control. I don't think any of that should changed from a legal stand point.

I do wish people would consider opening up their land once again to friends and neighbors. Let the kid down the street take a doe off your place. Etc.

I don’t think you can say someone saving their private land for a big buck and shooting brown is down on public is wrong. They may have access to private that has the potential to produce 1 trophy buck a year but may not support a large herd. The public land they are hunting may be an area that the managers have identified an overpopulation of animals and are asking for more hunters to control the population.

Friend of a friend bought the ranch my in-laws used to own back in the 60s-70s. At the time he purchased it lots of locals hunted it and used it to access the public behind it. He shut down all public access, and rarely hunts it because you have to hike, and a lot of it is pretty steep and timbered, mostly he hunts high fence in Texas. At least let people use the trail. Dude is a tool, I'm sure he'd tell you he's letting those elk grow.

 

[rwc101]

I don’t think you can say someone saving their private land for a big buck and shooting brown is down on public is wrong. They may have access to private that has the potential to produce 1 trophy buck a year but may not support a large herd. The public land they are hunting may be an area that the managers have identified an overpopulation of animals and are asking for more hunters to control the population.

You can think of a million scenarios where people are right or wrong depending on the particulars. Nailing a bunch of whitetail does on public around Laramie is probably a good thing considering how many tags they put out. My main point being stewardship of the land and the very real phenomenon of people treating public land as lesser.

 

[Gellar]

I do wish people would consider opening up their land once again to friends and neighbors. Let the kid down the street take a doe off your place. Etc.

I think there are plenty of people who would be willing to allow friends and neighbors to hunt on their land, but have been burned by open gates, rutted fields, friends bringing friends of friends, etc those are the people no matter where they hunt public or private are going to be bad stewards of the land. Unfortunately, we can’t bar them from using public land.

 

[Gellar]

it's the american way, to hate outsiders

but i'm just more referring to a colorado outfitter who goes out of his way to try and make other public land hunters lives more difficult or feel uncomfortable because they're "in his space" and "ruining his operation" on public land

classic outfitter antics

to wllm's point then, if he doesn't like how crowded the public is he should book fewer clients so he can focus on and provide an excellent experience on his many thousands of acres of owned and leased private, but if he doesn't wanna do that he needs cram a sock in it and buck up

but instead of cramming a sock in it they'll just keep booking more clients on otc tags, and crowd up every square of private and public and then complain about how his average client success is going down and keep petitioning the COA to find more ways drum up garbage proposals and policies and resist every good one along the way

Eventually that attitude will catch up with said outfitter. Unfortunately, it’s usually after they’ve raped and pillaged the resource.

 

[TOGIE]

Eventually that attitude will catch up with said outfitter. Unfortunately, it’s usually after they’ve raped and pillaged the resource.

i have several buddies who guide there and they give me hunt reports for archery to first rifle and then i stop caring. but i think it's catchin up already.

my jaw dropped when they told me how many clients he booked for first rifle last year. 2 hunters per guide all season long. downed elk was percentage wise definitely at an all time low if not just raw numbers all time low.

but otc tags! book as many as want to book! cash cow, who cares about the experience or the resource.

smh

but also, the commission needs to start thinking more carefully about OTC i think.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I think there are plenty of people who would be willing to allow friends and neighbors to hunt on their land, but have been burned by open gates, rutted fields, friends bringing friends of friends, etc those are the people no matter where they hunt public or private are going to be bad stewards of the land. Unfortunately, we can’t bar them from using public land.

Those the same folks who were accidently shot with a bow from a tree stand? Apparently that happens all the time so we should shut down hunting on lots of public lands were people walk their dogs. Archers just flinging arrows henny penny... SMH

Private land definitely gets abused, but I think as often as not people just use that as an excuse.