Public Land Etiquette

[Deleted Account]

This year I will be hunting public land for the first time, minus one hunt on Sam Parr Lake in my native Illinois.

I'm really thinking about etiquette when it comes to other hunters. Are there any unwritten (or written) rules in hunting public ground that other hunters may have been using for years? Is there a way to know where others might be hunting so that I don't encroach on that area?

I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!

[corydd7]

This could go 20 pages. Tough question with no real answer. Depending on how crowded the area is, depends on how I would handle it. I won't hunt a crowded area even if I've scouted or hunted the area in years previously. I'm in orange county so if I was upstate I might answer that differently. 

But on state land the further you go in by me, the better results and less people you will find. 

[squirrelwhisperer]

Down here there are a lot of hunters on public land. It is typically first come, first served. In other words, there have been times when it becomes a race to get to that good spot. I try to treat other hunters the way I would like them to treat me...If I can tell someone hunts an area, I find another. I usually leave a stand or two in the woods, but I chain them to the tree, not everyone is as nice as we are. If I was one of those dirtbags, I would have hundreds of stands in my garage and cameras too. I used to have a KILLER spot (pun intended) on private land where the deer population was unbelievable but the owner sold that property so I am back to hunting public. I was invited to join a club that hunts nothing but private in an effort to control the number of deer on various pieces of property. They do a lot of nuisance permit stuff. I may join soon. 

Having said all this, hunting on public is a much harder challenge which makes taking a big buck all the more rewarding. 

[BowmanMike]

I am in the same boat leland,this will be my first year hunting public. I do have access to quite a bit of private land as well,but this year i want to try to never hunt the same spot twice,unless there is good reason to.

I am in the Cooperstown area and i am pretty sure that the pressure on state land out here is pretty low during archery season. Not much for population centers here. I expect the pressure to increase for crossbow and the rut. I wont be on state land during gun season,that much i know. Too many bozos out there then.

I would not necessarily avoid spots other people hunt because everyone has the same right they hunt public land. I found some tree stands while scouting this spring and i may try some of those spots. Keeping those stands up is illegal and doesn't give anybody claim to the area. If however someone is there the day i am hunting i would go somewhere else.

I guess my approach is to have a lot of spots in mind and decide depending on wind and pressure where i will go.

I would also agree that harder to access spots will keep most people away. Most people are lazy when it comes to hunting. I will be very mobile with my saddle set up this year.

[GreeneHunter]

I hunted public land years ago - Windham NY - and very seldom ran into another hunter . But if the parking lot was full I just kept driving to another location where it was less crowded !

Edited April 12, 2020 by GreeneHunter

[sbuff]

I've hunted pine bush  ,partridge  run ,Margaret burke ,parcel 45 ,grafton park ,black creek marsh and a few others in the capital district.  Not to mention the adks. Aside from opening day in partridge run one year I never thought any to be crowded . As long as all hunters use common sense and a little hunter orange you'll have a great experience.  Where you planning on going ?

Steve 

[Lawdwaz]

BlackBeltBill will have plenty to add to this one.  Hopefully he sniffs it out........

[Deleted Account]

6 minutes ago, sbuff said:

I've hunted pine bush  ,partridge  run ,Margaret burke ,parcel 45 ,grafton park ,black creek marsh and a few others in the capital district.  Not to mention the adks. Aside from opening day in partridge run one year I never thought any to be crowded . As long as all hunters use common sense and a little hunter orange you'll have a great experience.  Where you planning on going ?

Steve 

Looking at Parcel 45, Daketown and Saratoga Sand Plains, maybe a few others in the Ballston Spa/Saratoga area.

[cas]

My only addition is just because you don't see any cars/trucks parked, don't assume there's no one hunting. 

 

[Farflung]

here's a thought for you (and others). Many counties have County forest lands. Some have a county forester or sometimes SWCD handles it. Often the areas are poorly marked but if you can locate them, you often have the place to yourself. Others (like the Onondaga County forests) get heavy use.

[sbuff]

I've heard of some slammers coming out of Daketown state forest .

[genesee_mohican]

Out here in central NY there is so much state land to hunt it's crazy.  I've bow hunted up in Ossian State forest and never saw another truck. Expand off that area and look at the state land on a map.

[crappyice]

Hunting in the densely populated 3S and 3N state and public lands was a challenge years ago. It was indeed a “race to the spot” scenario often and was not without confrontation. I often take to the high road and if I see someone on stand already , I move on to a new spot or try to position myself to catch the deer escaping his movement at 9:00 since most seem to not stick around long. If and when some “cowboy” tells me I am hunting “his spot” I typically leave- ain’t no deer worth trouble in my mind.
I have also noticed the contrapositive to the “go deeper than the deepest” statement. It seems to me that some deer get themselves pretty comfortable around parking lots and trails if heavily brushed. They seem to be patterning the hikers, bikers, dog walkers as much as we are pattering them. Keep an eye out for hidden honey holes near lots and trails. The issue then is the general public harassing you.


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[BizCT]

Hunting in the densely populated 3S and 3N state and public lands was a challenge years ago. It was indeed a “race to the spot” scenario often and was not without confrontation. I often take to the high road and if I see someone on stand already , I move on to a new spot or try to position myself to catch the deer escaping his movement at 9:00 since most seem to not stick around long. If and when some “cowboy” tells me I am hunting “his spot” I typically leave- ain’t no deer worth trouble in my mind.
I have also noticed the contrapositive to the “go deeper than the deepest” statement. It seems to me that some deer get themselves pretty comfortable around parking lots and trails if heavily brushed. They seem to be patterning the hikers, bikers, dog walkers as much as we are pattering them. Keep an eye out for hidden honey holes near lots and trails. The issue then is the general public harassing you.


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Agree. My dad and I hunted Lockwood for a few years. We’d go farther in than anyone and see Nothing. Then we started hiding in the heavy stuff closer to the parking and wait for midday when people walk in and out of woods and shoot bucks midday.

Also Showing this message to [mention]The_Real_TCIII [/mention] and [mention]sodfather [/mention] and [mention]Jeremy K [/mention] since they think there are no hunters around us.


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[Deleted Account]

8 hours ago, crappyice said:

Hunting in the densely populated 3S and 3N state and public lands was a challenge years ago. It was indeed a “race to the spot” scenario often and was not without confrontation. I often take to the high road and if I see someone on stand already , I move on to a new spot or try to position myself to catch the deer escaping his movement at 9:00 since most seem to not stick around long. If and when some “cowboy” tells me I am hunting “his spot” I typically leave- ain’t no deer worth trouble in my mind.
I have also noticed the contrapositive to the “go deeper than the deepest” statement. It seems to me that some deer get themselves pretty comfortable around parking lots and trails if heavily brushed. They seem to be patterning the hikers, bikers, dog walkers as much as we are pattering them. Keep an eye out for hidden honey holes near lots and trails. The issue then is the general public harassing you.


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So that's another question that I have, and I think you've answered it. I was wondering if the public land with trails shut down their trails during hunting season. I'm planning on primarily hunting public land during bow season, and hunt the little bit of private ground I have access to during gun season. 

[Swamp_bucks]

I mainly hunt  public land 1 unwritten rule I've always gone by is if you see someone don't sit on their lap.  It happens alot.  Another is have extra spots can't ever have enough and don't get upset if someone beat you to your spot.  Most of all talk to the people you come across most will be friendly and let you know where they mainly sit and after awhile you'll learn who hunts in what sections. There's one piece I hunt that gets hunted by 3 main groups of people and we stay out of each other's main sections until muzzle loader season.  Just be prepared some people think they own the Stateland because their families always hunted it or its a secluded piece surrounded by private some think that it's theirs.  Doesn't happen alot but it does.   If you hunt stands get a hang and hunt setup also if you put cameras out hang them up high or they may grow feet and walk out of the woods.  Good luck it can be very rewarding.

Edited April 13, 2020 by Swamp_bucks

[The_Real_TCIII]

I enjoyed hunting state land during bow season. There were the same four or five trucks, if one was there I went to plan B and so did they. This was bow season of course. Gun season was a dark carnival of aholery

[Daveboone]

Back in the late seventies there are some areas we would go to that would be bumber to bumper. Thank goodness that has pretty much ended. Just the same, be more aware on opening days/week ends. I would be sure to try to scout areas out, and like was mentioned previously, the further in you go the fewer folks. When scouting, look for signs of tree stands....scratches on likely tree stand sites, litter, etc. Some times (although not supposed to be done) you will find tree stands still in the woods. 

Although I own my own 10 acres, I still largely hunt surrounding state land. I seldom bump into anyone. If you see someone, give a friendly wave and wander away. It isn't unusual for someone to be willing and happy to chit chat a bit. that is a good time to let them know where you are and find out where they are centering their activities. Just the same, folks parked along the road usually are happy to chit chat for the same reasons.

[Deleted Account]

30 minutes ago, Swamp_bucks said:

I mainly hunt  public land 1 unwritten rule I've always gone by is if you see someone don't sit on their lap.  It happens alot.  Another is have extra spots can't ever have enough and don't get upset if someone beat you to your spot.  Most of all talk to the people you come across most will be friendly and let you know where they mainly sit and after awhile you'll learn who hunts in what sections. There's one piece I hunt that gets hunted by 3 main groups of people and we stay out of each other's main sections until muzzle loader season.  Just be prepared some people think they own the Stateland because their families always hunted it or its a secluded piece surrounded by private some think that it's theirs.  Doesn't happen alot but it does.   If you hunt stands get a hang and hunt setup also if you put cameras out hang them up high or they may grow feet and walk out of the woods.  Good luck it can be very rewarding.

I have always primarily hunted with a climber. Always pack in and out, I've seen too many peoples things get stolen or vandalized.

Thanks for the advice!

[crappyice]

Agree. My dad and I hunted Lockwood for a few years. We’d go farther in than anyone and see Nothing. Then we started hiding in the heavy stuff closer to the parking and wait for midday when people walk in and out of woods and shoot bucks midday.

Also Showing this message to [mention]The_Real_TCIII [/mention] and [mention]sodfather [/mention] and [mention]Jeremy K [/mention] since they think there are no hunters around us.


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I will say there are no squirrel hunters around here when they grace us with a GTG presence. I have never had Ninham to myself.


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[Doewhacker]

On 4/12/2020 at 7:28 PM, Splitear_Leland said:

Looking at Parcel 45, Daketown and Saratoga Sand Plains, maybe a few others in the Ballston Spa/Saratoga area.

Daketown and parts of the sandy plains are pheasant release sites. 
 

Also parts of SP are off limits To hunting I believe. 
 

45 Gets hammered and a good amount of people walk there too. 
 

I have seen deer tracks in Daketown while participating in the youth pheasant hunt with my son. 
 

All of the spots listed are northern zone in case you didn’t know. There is also a chunk of county land not far from SP/45 that I hunted once when I lived up there. 

[squirrelwhisperer]

6 hours ago, Splitear_Leland said:

So that's another question that I have, and I think you've answered it. I was wondering if the public land with trails shut down their trails during hunting season. I'm planning on primarily hunting public land during bow season, and hunt the little bit of private ground I have access to during gun season. 

 

4 hours ago, blackbeltbill said:

Trails + Marked Woodsroads are open to all users for Access.

This depends on where you are and where you go. There are several spots near me, Riverhead in particular, where the DEC posts very large signs stating “Deer Hunting in Progress, Hunters only” or something to that effect. I can take a pic for you in the Fall (if you remind me, after all memory is the third thing to go, I forget the first two)