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Public land etiquette

I meant to take a pic but forgot.....my last quota hunt i found where someone had Rambo macheted a path through the woods.... Cutting anything in the way up to 2'' diameter.... Total a-hole, i hope the he got snake bit
Also witnessed the 3 foot steamer flagging set every ten yards.....even in our thick woods i could see his/her tail 150yds off into the woods. Your pack and all your pockets would be filled to the brim carrying all that trash out
 
If you've ever gotten into multiflora roses with a goose down coat on, you will see the need for flags and tacks. LOL. My buddy from Idaho came here to hunt and did just that. By the time he got got out of them all the filling from his vest was almost gone. He said it looked like someone had plucked a chicken! He's a believer in tacks.
 
I've been known to use a tack or two in a new area to me and i consider myself a pretty decent woodsman. For me it is usually about getting back in clean and quiet and some reference in the dark has helped me do that. Spots i know i hardly even use a light to access. I hate to see trash in the woods as much as the next guy but it is interesting how strongly some guys feel about the use of a glow tack or a piece of survey tape. With all the gas exploration in my area of Ohio that stuff is everywhere in the woods...some of you would lose your minds :tearsofjoy:
 
I spend alot of time in the woods and do use the reflective tacks from time to time....do i mark every tree leading to my spot? of course not, and i never use flagging tape as its too obvious. I use landmarks as much as possible and save trails in my gps so i can follow...but we all know the woods looks totally different in pitch dark and you can get turned around real quick so what i do is mark my tree on the side i will climb with 2 tacks. If i use any tacks to mark my way in, its only a few trees close to where my tree actually is just to guide me in quietly that last stretch (do not mark a runway all the way to your spot!)
 
I'll police up flagging tape that looks old or faded. I'll leave fresh-looking stuff alone. I'm gradually replacing my tape with reusable, reflective orange paracord, 1' chunks of orange fiberglass stakes with reflective tape on them, and biodegradable crepe paper. I've also bent and cut branches to use as markers. If I walk in off a road instead of a parking lot, I'll use some pre-existing litter in the ditch opposite my trail as a reference, walk in within 20' or so of that marker, and find my route a few dozen yards into the woods. That way I'm not leaving a trail on the road for others to follow.

As far as other hunters are jerks... yep, it sucks, but that's the price we pay to hunt public land. Don't be an jerk, and if I can set up so their jerkery pushes deer my way, then good for me.
 
SwingingGator said:
I’m a firefighter too so i plan on taking some Wednesday’s off to get those 5 day weekday hunting blocks where the pressure should be a little lower. Love our schedule lol


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I’m a retired firefighter myself. 34 yrs in the service. Use your time off as an advantage. Most hunt the weekends. Try to hunt during the week and if it looks like someone is still using the spot you like, find the way the deer are avoiding him. If he is repeatedly going to the same spot the deer will learn that and find a different way around that spot. Isolate and hunt there. It may only be 50-100yrds away.
 
I’ve had mixed luck in my first couple years back into hunting and only having access to public land. The good; another guy and I talked about where we were trying to go to turkey hunt, it was the same place and he had scouted far more than I had, when I said I’d just try a different area he offered to just set up together. Had someone run their dogs through (twice, different areas) but I consider that a nothing burger; it stinks but it happens, it’s public. Only bad/uncomfortable I had was an older gentleman who came in about 2 hours after I’d been in a spot. I waved a bunch, he continued to walk right to me. Set up less than 10 yards from me and said “I’ve set here anytime I hunt for 23 years, I ain’t changing just because you found a spot today.” As he lit up a Marlboro Red I decided to just move on.

All in all part of my reason to get the saddle, I need to go to more places people aren’t but I won’t likely ever be the confrontational one either way. It’s just a blessing being out there and I’m not going to let someone who isn’t realizing that ruin my time.
 
I know a lot of old timers in my neck of the woods will mark a spot or access with a ribbon, their name, and the dates their quota permit is for. If I see the ribbon I respect it. No need to start a fight with someone over a deer hunt. I especially wouldn’t want to ruin some old man’s hunt, or even a child’s. I’ll go where they won’t.
 
This is 2022 gps is ready available and on every smart phone. I will NEVER understand why I still find reflective tacks and flagging.
 
Ouachitamtnman said:
This is 2022 gps is ready available and on every smart phone. I will NEVER understand why I still find reflective tacks and flagging.
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Sometimes I will put one on the tree I picked, at platform height, so I can find that specific tree in the morning. But that's it.
 
Ouachitamtnman said:
This is 2022 gps is ready available and on every smart phone. I will NEVER understand why I still find reflective tacks and flagging.
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I think it has to do with being afraid of getting lost in the woods. I found a stand last season and it was 75 yards off a road. There were streamers of orange flagging tape two feet long hung at 5 yard intervals right to the stand. Also, the guy had put those small aluminum pie plates with trail marking tacks along the route too. He does not want to get lost. I think he has a thing with heights too.

I saw this fear of being in the woods a lot when I was in that club. We had guys who would ride their side by sides or 4 wheelers up to the base of their ladder stands and they would usually leave 20 minutes before dark.
 

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NMSbowhunter said:
I think it has to do with being afraid of getting lost in the woods. I found a stand last season and it was 75 yards off a road. There were streamers of orange flagging tape two feet long hung at 20 yard intervals right to the stand. Also, the guy had put those small aluminum pie plates with trail marking tacks along the route too. He does not want to get lost. I think he has a thing with heights too.

I saw this fear of being in the woods a lot when I was in that club. We had guys who would ride their side by sides or 4 wheelers up to the base of their ladder stands and they would usually leave 20 minutes before dark.
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Dang, I just feel bad for the poor guy
 
NMSbowhunter said:
I think it has to do with being afraid of getting lost in the woods. I found a stand last season and it was 75 yards off a road. There were streamers of orange flagging tape two feet long hung at 5 yard intervals right to the stand. Also, the guy had put those small aluminum pie plates with trail marking tacks along the route too. He does not want to get lost. I think he has a thing with heights too.

I saw this fear of being in the woods a lot when I was in that club. We had guys who would ride their side by sides or 4 wheelers up to the base of their ladder stands and they would usually leave 20 minutes before dark.
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Man I used to get mad and or laugh but one day I met a guy that suffered a bad TBI and got lost easily. I still don't like it but I do realize there's some elderly or guys that have suffered some kind of injury but by far, it's usually just fools!! I had a spot I tool my biggest buck at and never hunted it rest of year. Next year I went back and there was glow tacks everywhere!!!
 
I don't mind if a guy goes out and puts up one tree stand. But on one public spot I am hunting, about 250 acres, their are 5 tree stands i know of and I have only seen one used one time. I think the others are abandon. Some guys are putting up multiple tree stands taking multiple spots. TN went to a new no tree stands left over night on public. I wish KY. would do the same.
 
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