Why do people do this when they camp?

[bullbugle307]

When hunting on public land, you are going to run into other hunters. When there is a road, they will drive, camp, shoot and even poop on that road. Yes, I've seen it, complete with toilet paper, in the middle of a well traveled road. I used to be the guy who would put a half day stalk on a herd of antelope, only to have some "idiot" drive up and run the herd off, and I would cuss that idiot up and down. My hunt would be "ruined"! The fact of the matter is that I am on public land, and I'm not going to go on a discussion board and convince all public hunters to hunt exactly like I hunt. Other hunters are part of the equation. Just like wind, rain, snow, other animals, etc, they will affect your hunt. If you don't like other hunters, hunt on private, hike in, go the last few days of the season, hunt during the week, etc. If there's a road, you take the risk that other hunters will drive on it and they may scare off game. All I'm saying is nothing wrong with going online and venting, but don't let it ruin your hunt. Look at other hunters as one of the many, many challenges involved in planning and executing a successful hunt.

I think we all embrace it as part of the challenge. But there's so many lazy road hunters with no ethics I'll never stop cussing them out. And there's too damn many roads in a lot places, especially when it comes to pronghorn and open country mule deer in my part of the state. It's hard to get away from them, much as a guy can try. I can't tell you how many times we've literally attracted the road hunters simple by getting out of the truck and, you know...hunting. These people literally think, OMG, there must be a giant buck over there, cause there's literally NO WAY someone would get out and walk a half a friggin mile unless there was a huge buck over there. Next thing you know, you've got three, maybe even four vehicles circling "the loop" around where your hunting and stalking, hoping you'll kick something out to them so they can shoot it off the road. Seen it on Game and Fish properties, walk ins, BLM, you name it.

I don't even care if people road hunt, especially old folks. It's a valid form of scouting even...but screw anybody that can clearly see you out actually hunting and starts crowding on purpose to try and take advantage of it. And then when they wanna come act all chummy and try to mine you for info after they blew the herd out... yeah, it ruins my hunt sometimes, and my faith in humanity.

 

[Jack Ryan]

When hunting on public land, you are going to run into other hunters. When there is a road, they will drive, camp, shoot and even poop on that road. Yes, I've seen it, complete with toilet paper, in the middle of a well traveled road. I used to be the guy who would put a half day stalk on a herd of antelope, only to have some "idiot" drive up and run the herd off, and I would cuss that idiot up and down. My hunt would be "ruined"! The fact of the matter is that I am on public land, and I'm not going to go on a discussion board and convince all public hunters to hunt exactly like I hunt. Other hunters are part of the equation. Just like wind, rain, snow, other animals, etc, they will affect your hunt. If you don't like other hunters, hunt on private, hike in, go the last few days of the season, hunt during the week, etc. If there's a road, you take the risk that other hunters will drive on it and they may scare off game. All I'm saying is nothing wrong with going online and venting, but don't let it ruin your hunt. Look at other hunters as one of the many, many challenges involved in planning and executing a successful hunt.

Good advice. It can be a hard pill to swallow sometimes though.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

If road hunters and people using roads on BLM land ruin your hunt, then hunt away from the roads.

 

[Davidheart]

Been hunting for years in the East. Killed a fairly large amount of deer. Hunt 90% of the time on public land. I hunt solo on foot, camp, stalk, avoid crowds, leave no trace. Compared to the west the data shows I hunt smaller tracts of land with significantly higher hunting pressure. Dealing with hunting pressure is standard fair. Youll have hunters sometimes within 100 yards of your spot, other times walking under you while sitting in a tree. I use it to my advantage, realize more hunters won't hike, and plot where animals are being pushed to. While the weekend warrior irritates me I don't let it get to me. They're clumsy and drive animals to me.

I don't want to disrespect anyone, step on toes, or violate the space of residents. I'm a considerate hunter, wildlife volunteer, rmef member, nwtf member, fill my freezers to feed my four kids, love Uncle Randy, and I'm an "adult onset hunter." I never hunted out west but put in for my first antelope tag in Wyoming this year. I joined this forum because of Randy so I could learn more and contribute positivity.

The comments here make me feel like I don't want to step foot into Wyoming to hunt antelope for fear of offending the locals. I now have no idea where I should camp, if I should drive down a public road, or waste the time to take my little boy along so daddy could make a fool of himself in a land he doesn't belong.

Maybe I won't be able to draw a tag this year anyway.

 

[RyGuy]

Been hunting for years in the East. Killed a fairly large amount of deer. Hunt 90% of the time on public land. I hunt solo on foot, camp, stalk, avoid crowds, leave no trace. Compared to the west the data shows I hunt smaller tracts of land with significantly higher hunting pressure. Dealing with hunting pressure is standard fair. Youll have hunters sometimes within 100 yards of your spot, other times walking under you while sitting in a tree. I use it to my advantage, realize more hunters won't hike, and plot where animals are being pushed to. While the weekend warrior irritates me I don't let it get to me. They're clumsy and drive animals to me.

I don't want to disrespect anyone, step on toes, or violate the space of residents. I'm a considerate hunter, wildlife volunteer, rmef member, nwtf member, fill my freezers to feed my four kids, love Uncle Randy, and I'm an "adult onset hunter." I never hunted out west but put in for my first antelope tag in Wyoming this year. I joined this forum because of Randy so I could learn more and contribute positivity.

The comments here make me feel like I don't want to step foot into Wyoming to hunt antelope for fear of offending the locals. I now have no idea where I should camp, if I should drive down a public road, or waste the time to take my little boy along so daddy could make a fool of himself in a land he doesn't belong.

Maybe I won't be able to draw a tag this year anyway.

I understand your fear of stepping on toes and offending people. I too have these fears. I feel like lots of people enjoy making up “rules” like: don’t camp at the end of a road. And then they get upset when people don’t know or follow their made up rules. There is a fine line between ethics and “made up rules” sometimes. But if you follow the actual rules set by your state game agency (or the agency where you are hunting) and you do your best to be an ethical hunter you will get along with most people. There will always be some guy who runs you down and tries to chew you out for not following some made up “rule” that you haven’t followed but thankfully they are few and far between.
Don’t quit on hunting out west! It’s an amazing experience and it’s worth it.

 

[bullbugle307]

My post probably came off a bit triggered. Just be respectful of others and use common sense and you'll be fine.

 

[Bob-WY]

Since I started this....

My OP wasn't that a non-resident camped wrong etc. It was that the guy and son camped way down the road, drove in and out multiple times a day AND complained they weren't seeing goats in that piece of public. Of course not if you drive back and forth all day

 

[Shangobango]

Been hunting for years in the East. Killed a fairly large amount of deer. Hunt 90% of the time on public land. I hunt solo on foot, camp, stalk, avoid crowds, leave no trace. Compared to the west the data shows I hunt smaller tracts of land with significantly higher hunting pressure. Dealing with hunting pressure is standard fair. Youll have hunters sometimes within 100 yards of your spot, other times walking under you while sitting in a tree. I use it to my advantage, realize more hunters won't hike, and plot where animals are being pushed to. While the weekend warrior irritates me I don't let it get to me. They're clumsy and drive animals to me.

I don't want to disrespect anyone, step on toes, or violate the space of residents. I'm a considerate hunter, wildlife volunteer, rmef member, nwtf member, fill my freezers to feed my four kids, love Uncle Randy, and I'm an "adult onset hunter." I never hunted out west but put in for my first antelope tag in Wyoming this year. I joined this forum because of Randy so I could learn more and contribute positivity.

The comments here make me feel like I don't want to step foot into Wyoming to hunt antelope for fear of offending the locals. I now have no idea where I should camp, if I should drive down a public road, or waste the time to take my little boy along so daddy could make a fool of himself in a land he doesn't belong.

Maybe I won't be able to draw a tag this year anyway.

My advice is to be legal and then be considerate without being a pushover. You have just as much right to be out there as anyone else.

If you offend anyone while doing things in the above manner then that is their problem and not yours.

 

[JAG]

Been hunting for years in the East. Killed a fairly large amount of deer. Hunt 90% of the time on public land. I hunt solo on foot, camp, stalk, avoid crowds, leave no trace. Compared to the west the data shows I hunt smaller tracts of land with significantly higher hunting pressure. Dealing with hunting pressure is standard fair. Youll have hunters sometimes within 100 yards of your spot, other times walking under you while sitting in a tree. I use it to my advantage, realize more hunters won't hike, and plot where animals are being pushed to. While the weekend warrior irritates me I don't let it get to me. They're clumsy and drive animals to me.

I don't want to disrespect anyone, step on toes, or violate the space of residents. I'm a considerate hunter, wildlife volunteer, rmef member, nwtf member, fill my freezers to feed my four kids, love Uncle Randy, and I'm an "adult onset hunter." I never hunted out west but put in for my first antelope tag in Wyoming this year. I joined this forum because of Randy so I could learn more and contribute positivity.

The comments here make me feel like I don't want to step foot into Wyoming to hunt antelope for fear of offending the locals. I now have no idea where I should camp, if I should drive down a public road, or waste the time to take my little boy along so daddy could make a fool of himself in a land he doesn't belong.

Maybe I won't be able to draw a tag this year anyway.

The most recent, good tip on hunting etiquette I heard from Randy came from his 2020 first-season rifle hunt in Colorado. I don't remember if he addressed it in the video series or podcast or both, but his point promotes courtesy and can eliminate much unnecessary frustration.

In this scenario, Randy hiked about 9 miles with Beau's llamas as a spike camp and an outfitter came in behind him across the creek.

Have a conversation with the other party and agree to work together by disclosing your hunt plans so that you both can stay out of each other's way. That way you don't walk into their area in the dark, aim at their game, or vice versa.

 

[RyGuy]

The most recent, good tip on hunting etiquette I heard from Randy came from his 2020 first-season rifle hunt in Colorado. I don't remember if he addressed it in the video series or podcast or both, but his point promotes courtesy and can eliminate much unnecessary frustration.

In this scenario, Randy hiked about 9 miles with Beau's llamas as a spike camp and an outfitter came in behind him across the creek.

Have a conversation with the other party and agree to work together by disclosing your hunt plans so that you both can stay out of each other's way. That way you don't walk into their area in the dark, aim at their game, or vice

Talking with other hunters is always the way to go! Things have always worked out best when I talk to people and we share our plans and hunt accordingly.