Confrontation with another Hunter

[Northcountryman]

Hands down I had the worst opening day of my life this past Saturday, check it out:

 

So I got up early , was the first one out of camp, had all my gear , everything seemed good. I drive out to my spot , hike in , find my stand , get settled and check the time. Cell phone read 5:59 am and still pitch black so I was good. Then I settle in and wait for magic time. 

One thing I noticed on my stand though was a note wrapped in plastic and affixed with plastic pull ties, it said:

This is an active blind area , please move your stand immediately, thanks! 

Im like, screw that! I put this up in August , been checking trail cams every 2 weeks and never saw any other activity or stand ,  not moving! 

 

So, about

6:30 2 dudes show up, one of them says “Yo” I’ve been huntin this spot for 37 years , you need to leave, didn’t you read the note?” 

I said “ yeah, but i never saw anything here and I’ve been here sine August and it’s public land anyway “ after that, he started cursing and yelling which angered me and I replied in kind and we were both really loud and I’m sure scared anything within  a mile for hours . 

All  he kept saying to me was “ you should have seen the blind, you need to have good hunting etiquette tonwhicj I replied “ I didn’t see anything here so I thought no one was using it! “

Anyway, I finally left cuz I figured it wasn’t worth it anyway 

 

Did I do anything wrong? 

 

Thanks 

[Jeremy K]

Maybe he was there for 37 years ,maybe he did have a blind in place . You were there first ,either he deals with it or leaves . 

[Paula]

Yes, you left! It's public land open to anyone and everyone!

[Steve D]

  On 11/19/2018 at 4:59 PM, Northcountryman said:

Anyway, I finally left cuz I figured it wasn’t worth it anyway 

 

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Hope you took the tree stand with you. If not check it good before climbing back in.

[Hunter007]

This happened in the catskills?

[Rattler]

Had that happen once.  There was nothing there for at least 2 months.  It showed up within the week.  Just smiled at the guy and then started laughing.  He got mad and told me to leave and I asked him, "Is there an 'OR ELSE' with that?"  He walked away grumbling to himself.

Nobody has any rights to any spot on public land and putting a blind there doesn't mean you get to hunt there in the morning.  The first person in that spot in the morning has rights to it.  Anyone showing up later has to move.

 

[The_Real_TCIII]

Ill never understand why a guy would ruin his own opening day along with yours, they could just move a couple hundred yards and hunt for crissakes

[JRod 8G8H]

never hunted public land but the guy also needs to understand its much easier to move a ground blind than it is a treestand when the sun is coming up in a few minutes..  so to be fair there should have been some sort of compromise because after all it is public land.. he has no right to tell people what to do or to use intimidation. not to mention he likely knew he may encounter you so he brought his friend along for more manpower i'm thinking

[Hunter007]

Bazaar if your there your there already its public land first come that day gets the spot .

No reservations on state land 

No homesteading on public land. 

[Jdubs]

I don't care if he's hunted there the past 137 years.  Public is public and he has no claim to anything.  

[JimboCNY]

Stand your ground if you were there first.  It’s public land.

 

Last week I saw a car parked where I wanted to go on public so I asked where they would be so i didn’t ruin their hunt.  He went on a rant on how long he’s been hunting there and asked if the tracks he saw in his area were mine lol.  Unbelievable  

 

 

[The_Field_Ager]

And people complain about private land hunters keeping their plots for family and friends. There is good reason for this. People, by and large, are ass-hats today. 

[Moho81]

First come first serve on that day not first one there 37 years ago. Public land ain't a golf course you can't call for a tee time. 

[catskillkid]

Everyone has the right to Public Land. You paid for it through your tax dollars.

     I had the same issue when duck hunting a few years ago. I got to my spot on Public Land an hour before sunrise. Another hunter came along 30 minutes later and told me that I had to leave and that he was hunting there.  He also let me know that he was an off duty police officer in that town.  I told him that his occupation did not give him any additional rights than me and that he was trying to intimidate me into moving to another area.  "voices getting extremely loud" I also asked for his badge # and that I was going to have a talk with his chief. He turned around and left. The morning went well after shooting many ducks

 

[Big Indian]

That's effin BS. Northcountryman, I hope you enjoyed the rest of your day if possible, and I also hope you shoot the biggest deer from "his 37 year reserved spot" . F him and his a-hole friend. Only thing that worries me is hey may be vindictive. Please be careful

[Big Indian]

I had the same thing happen to me a few yrs ago, calling in a turkey, who was clearly up the bank from me. All of a sudden I hear something coming up from behind, I turn around and see another guy behind me. He's lucky I was with my 16 yo son at the time. I just told him how rude he was and how he ruined a great father and son hunt. It sucks, but I can't see arguing with someone who is obviously irrational, stupid, inconsiderate and has a gun.

[nodeerhere]

This is why I hate gun season! U can bow Hunt and there is a 1/4 of the people in the woods. Then gun season opens and u get even Tom dick and Harry in the woods! I know a lot of people will disagree with me here. But this!!!! Right here is why I'm so against crossbow during archery! Cause ur going to get every idiot in the world in the woods! Just my 2 cents! And as for doing anything wrong? Nope! The other idiot was in the wrong 

[Hunter007]

Someone should add that in big bold letters in the DEC hunting rule book  NO

Squatting on public land !!!!

 

 

[philoshop]

  On 11/19/2018 at 5:23 PM, The_Real_TCIII said:

Ill never understand why a guy would ruin his own opening day along with yours, they could just move a couple hundred yards and hunt for crissakes

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Sometimes the entire point is to just screw with the other person and provoke a negative "gotcha" response. The left gets really angry when you don't give them that response. It's actually more fun than yelling at them, because they just have no idea how to deal with it. The clueless generation.

[Will_C]

Threads like this make me so happy I have private land to hunt! I do remember when I first starting to hunt, most private land was open to all. If you saw someone where you were heading, you simply went a few hundred yards and sat there.

[nosquibs]

Wait a minute,  he expected you to leave even though you didn't see a ground blind yet he clearly saw your tree stand and he's talking about hunting etiquette? And all this on public land, WTH is it with people?

Years ago I hunted an old unused farm with the owners son, we had some guy try to kick us off saying that he owned it!

[snidely]

I scouted a new spot on state land for opening day. I got in there an hour before light. All set up, it starts getting light I see movement, unfortunately it is 2 legs not 4. I wave to the guy thinking he'll see me and walk away. He keeps coming following my tracks with a stupid look on his face. Walks right to me and says " I hope you don't mind company , I have a chair stashed over there and I've hunted here for 20 yrs." I said its first come first served. He said state land your we welcome to stay I'll be over there. DB

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[Uncle Nicky]

  On 11/19/2018 at 6:49 PM, The_Field_Ager said:

And people complain about private land hunters keeping their plots for family and friends. There is good reason for this. People, by and large, are ass-hats today. 

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Not just today, this kind of nonsense has been going on since I started hunting 45 years ago.

[steve863]

This is just one reason I will NEVER hunt public land.  I'll sooner give up hunting completely than have to deal with any of this type of nonsense.  I will add, that it can happen on private land too, but generally is much less likely.  It seems like most issues on private land happen when neighbors start challenging each other by setting up stands on property borders.  If neighbors can stay away from that, things should be fine.

I will also agree with Uncle Nicky's post 100%.  You could go back eons and you'd find similar and even worse hunter vs. hunter situations.  This type of behavior wasn't discovered last week, I can assure you!

[Doc]

Sure, even on public land, we try to do some serious scouting and usually pick out a spot as being pretty darn likely to be the best spot in the area. We know what kind of sign we are looking for, and eventually get convinced that some rather intensive scouting has produced THE spot. And yes it happens that the same sign and deer activity has caught the attention of other hunters. That is why these confrontations can frequently occur. We put our entire opening day strategy on a single spot and when someone beats you there, it can be devastating. That is why I put in extra effort and develop several spots. It means extra scouting and more time invested, but often it will result in more options so that if someone beat you to that primary hot-spot, you have three or four other places to set up at.

There  really is nothing you can do to effectively reserve a spot on state land, so instead of trying to bully another hunter out of his stand, put in some extra effort and have good alternate options.

I have had situations where other hunters set up in what I consider to be unsafe proximity, and I have moved because I am concerned. Perhaps that was their intention, but I see those kind of people to be potentially irrational idiots that I really don't feel comfortable hunting that close to. Again, alternate stands are a good option. I don't want to even see another hunter because if I can see them (even as a tiny orange color), that means to me that there is a hole for a bullet to get to me. That's too close for me.

Edited November 23, 2018 by Doc