SecretAgentMan
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2019
- Messages
- 129
So, I've hunted public land probably as much or more than private land over the years. Lots of map scouting because some of the places I hunt are farther from home than I can actually set foot on to scout before a multi-day hunting trip.
On one particular trip a few years ago, a hunting buddy and I had found a huge thicket that was maybe a 1.5 mile walk from where we could park a truck. The thicket sat maybe 150 yards from the boundary that butted up against some private land that looked to us from the map that it had probably been used to grow beans that previous year. Pretty small field, 15-20 acres. Our plan was to set up in between the thicket and that boundary. Seemed like a solid plan to us. Once we got back in there, we found out pretty quick that it was not a old bean field but was a food plot with corn feeders set near the boundary on the private land side. We packed in that evening, set up our climbers and planned to be back the next morning for an all day sit. I'd say my tree was 50 yards from the boundary. Buddy's was 75 yards or so back into the thicker stuff.
Fast forward to the next morning. I've barely gotten settled, and a flashlight comes on coming in from the private land side. Guy asks my name. I figured it was the game warden. Then, proceeds to cuss me up one side and down the other about hunting the line and killing "his" deer that he's been feeding all year. Mind you, I'm well within the boundary and hardly "right on the line". Not like I was in bow range of his corn feeder, although I could make it and the field out through the woods. Anyway, I told the guy I'd move back deeper into the thicket if that makes him happy. I should mention the guy has his rifle on his shoulder. I'm 20' up the tree. I'm not arguing with the guy to piss him off any more. Given, I was carrying, legally. But I'm not escalating the situation and getting myself or someone shot over a hunting spot. I probably should've pointed out to him that the public land was bowhunting only and him having that rifle in there was against the law, but I left it alone.
So, I get down. Go find my buddy and explain. He could hear something going on, but didn't know what was happening. I moved my stand. The guy proceeds to drive up and down his property line shooting off his .22 (pistol I presume), with the intent of ruining our hunt. We find somewhere else to hunt the rest of the trip.
Was I in the wrong, ethically, at all? I know that legally, I had the right to be where I was. It kind of shook me up the rest of the trip. I certainly don't want to infringe on someone else. Seemed to me that if you own land right next to 150,000+ acres of public land, it's assumed that people are hunting right across the line.
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On one particular trip a few years ago, a hunting buddy and I had found a huge thicket that was maybe a 1.5 mile walk from where we could park a truck. The thicket sat maybe 150 yards from the boundary that butted up against some private land that looked to us from the map that it had probably been used to grow beans that previous year. Pretty small field, 15-20 acres. Our plan was to set up in between the thicket and that boundary. Seemed like a solid plan to us. Once we got back in there, we found out pretty quick that it was not a old bean field but was a food plot with corn feeders set near the boundary on the private land side. We packed in that evening, set up our climbers and planned to be back the next morning for an all day sit. I'd say my tree was 50 yards from the boundary. Buddy's was 75 yards or so back into the thicker stuff.
Fast forward to the next morning. I've barely gotten settled, and a flashlight comes on coming in from the private land side. Guy asks my name. I figured it was the game warden. Then, proceeds to cuss me up one side and down the other about hunting the line and killing "his" deer that he's been feeding all year. Mind you, I'm well within the boundary and hardly "right on the line". Not like I was in bow range of his corn feeder, although I could make it and the field out through the woods. Anyway, I told the guy I'd move back deeper into the thicket if that makes him happy. I should mention the guy has his rifle on his shoulder. I'm 20' up the tree. I'm not arguing with the guy to piss him off any more. Given, I was carrying, legally. But I'm not escalating the situation and getting myself or someone shot over a hunting spot. I probably should've pointed out to him that the public land was bowhunting only and him having that rifle in there was against the law, but I left it alone.
So, I get down. Go find my buddy and explain. He could hear something going on, but didn't know what was happening. I moved my stand. The guy proceeds to drive up and down his property line shooting off his .22 (pistol I presume), with the intent of ruining our hunt. We find somewhere else to hunt the rest of the trip.
Was I in the wrong, ethically, at all? I know that legally, I had the right to be where I was. It kind of shook me up the rest of the trip. I certainly don't want to infringe on someone else. Seemed to me that if you own land right next to 150,000+ acres of public land, it's assumed that people are hunting right across the line.
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