The rest of the story !!!!

[DeerSpotter]

You know when you hunt with Longbow, you put your time in for practice, you do the Scouting, you develop your set up on the land.

But this is the third time in a role that I have had this happen.  Last night perfect setup, just right at shooting time, here comes someone walking straight down the deer path.  There are plenty of tracks of both buck & doe, and on top of it fresh droppings, three paths leading into a Y, before they go into corn & soybeans, it's a weekday, and right at about 40 minutes before sunset, here comes someone strolling down the corn side of the path, I just jumped up and said look at that path, " ya there is lots of droppings on it man, and tracks"

I said to him do know that it's right at shooting time ?, "oh sorry I can go back",NO damage already done, forget it.

I packed up and left, as I was leaving at the other end of the acreage, two very mature does were coming down a path, but where they were, was private land until they crossed over.  They never did.  But they were nice to look at.

I'm so frustrated with public land, sorry guys I just had to rant little bit.  But it sure is making me frustrated, I get the time off, I only worked part-time, and I put a lot of effort into a fining the right spot, and this is the third time in a roll that this has happen.

I know about going in deep, but the paths are right next to their food source, and it look good.  I thought the weekday thing would help out.  It makes me want to give up until I can get private land, don't get me wrong I enjoyed seeing the colors and the beauty of the forest, God, sure does do a beautiful job, on the beauty of the forest.

I thought for sure, I would have deer picture here this week, but it looks like I forgot about the fact of (unexperienced, I don't care attitude hunters).  It makes me want to sell all my equipment, and read other peoples hunting experiences.

OK I am done, sorry

Carl  

[Anvil]

There are all sorts of frustrations. Don't let it get to you brother. I haven't seen a deer yet and the season opened mid Sept. They appear to be moving through my land after dark.
Just keep on shooting and enjoying the flight of the arrow, venison in the freezer is a bonus if you're blessed with it.

[Grizz 53]

I can sympothiz with ya brother. I hunted public land for years and you have no control over what the other guy is gonna do. I now have 42 acres with only about 7 or 8 acres of wood and 3 of us trying to hunt it. But I'll stick with the limited hunting space before I'll go back to hunting public land.

[chesapeakeblend]

I always sit it out anyway.  If it was just someone passing through, everything will settle down and the deer will resume moving shortly after they pass through.  Only if it was another hunter coming in and setting up would I get frustrated.

I look at public land as an opportunity to make you a better hunter.

Don't give up on it.

Mike

[Bill Carlsen]

My wife and I just purchased 25 acres of God forsaken land-locked river bottom land. The abutter is granting us a walkin right of way but we have purchased a cheap canoe and are going to make it into a "hunting rig" for paddeling in and out. We are pretty much surrounded by posted land and a marsh that is miserable to walk thru. We want to be undisturbed when we hunt and we think we are very fortunate to have this little "hell hole" as our own. We are hunting moose in there right now, but the weathe today is too wet to go out this AM. We paddled out last night in the dark. I duct taped a floating lantern to the bow of the canoe and it works slick. This winter and spring I am going to "rubberize" the canoe to make it as noisless as possible. We just got tired of situations mentioned above and of loosing good hunting spots to "friends, neighbors and relatives" of the landowners we have been fortunate enough to have let us hunt. Now we need to improve the wildlife groceries available and plan on planting some wild grapes, winterberry, elderberry and cutting down a few old pines and doing a small food plot as an experiment. The farm that gave us the right of way is also full of oaks and some beech trees. We feel fortunate to have stumbled upon the place and wish we had had it years ago. But that just makes us more grateful.

[bbassi]

broken arrow - I feel for you 'cause I've been there. 2 things come to mind. I use to hunt a piece of public land that was often invaded by other hunters AND non-hunters on a regular basis (hikers and horses). The one thing I noticed is the deer often wouldn't spook just because someone was walking thru the woods. They would watch them, but once they passed the deer would resume normal behavior almost immediately. Don't give up your spot just because someone walks by. Remain hidden and quiet and you might just be surprised how soon you see deer.

The other thing is that public land is not necessarily your only option. Most times when I hear someone say They only can hunt public land because all the other land is posted, well, that just tells me they haven't really tried to find some private land to hunt. I've hunted 4 states besides my own, and in every case I have been able to find some private land to hunt within a day of arriving. It takes some investigation, and you do get rejected sometimes, but my experience has been a smile and a polite request will often get you a key to the gate. Give it a try, you might be surprised.

[Longbeard]

Broken Arrow,

    Hunted public land last night & when I was walking in there were 4 does feeding in the food plot already.  I ignored them like they didn't exist & walked on to the tree I was going to set up in.  They paid me no nevermind & I was surrounded by does all evening.

Like bbassi said above, "The one thing I noticed is the deer often wouldn't spook just because someone was walking thru the woods. They would watch them, but once they passed the deer would resume normal behavior almost immediately. Don't give up your spot just because someone walks by. Remain hidden and quiet and you might just be surprised how soon you see deer."  That's been my experience, too.

[madness522]

Sorry to hear that happened again.  Since it is public land and that fellow has as much right as you did to be there you really shouldn't get that bent out of shape about it.  Its gonna happen on public land more times than not.  You could pretend like he was a deer and not move and see he spots you.  Or you could put your bow on the ground and position your self and fake draw on him with just your hands (bow is on the ground!!).

[ChuckC]

I agree with Chesepeake.  Sit thru it.  In public areas the deer are often used to human intrusion. As long as he kept going, I'll bet it would have made no difference.  At least , you won't know by leaving early.  Also, his walking could kick or move deer from other areas past you.
ChuckC

[frassettor]

Hang in there

[DeerSpotter]

First off, I'll say that everyone of you are right, and I didn't get bent out of shape, but that's what it looks like when you put it into print.

Now some of you may not agree with this, but that's OK, here's how the story went after that gentlemen came out of the hunting ground.  I told him about the private property next to it, and how it had hunting dog, and how the hunting dog didn't have the master, so it decided to hunt on its own, it was chasing birds, and sounded like a doe with a buck on its tail run into the corn and the weeds.  And then he came along, and I gave up because it was just about dark, I'd say about another 30 minutes may be 40.

Before I went to the hunting grounds (public land) I asked God to give me the opportunity, either for deer, or someone to witness to about how Jesus Christ gave His blood on the cross and died for our sins, when he came out of the public hunting grounds after scouting.  I said to him I have three things to show you, two deer that were very mature standing in a field across the road, we both agreed they were about 4 1/2 years old, one looks so stocky it looked like a buck without antlers.  And I gave my 10X42 binoculars, and showed him the moon, it was full and bright and low in the sky, so it was really huge, and then I said the third thing, I wondered what you doing with Jesus Christ in your life, do you know He died for you and save you by going to the cross and if you accept as your personal savior He can save you to.

He said cool I sure do, I served as a missionary on the Gunflint Trail, and also in Canada, and I'm now working with a church in Ham Lake, and we proceeded to have a great conversation, about many things, his name is easy to remember, because I have guitar with that name, and he offered to hunt with me there, together as a team.  So it didn't turn out all that bad.  But with my schedule, as an outreach director with my church, and working part-time 25 Hr.  A week, we might not be able to connect together.  And he knows how I feel,

He came to public land, because he lost the private land that he was able to hunt on.  His story is better than mine.  They lost their private land that they were hunting on to Timberwolves, as in four-legged, now we are in the central part of Minnesota, that's the farthest that Timberwolves have been recorded to take up refuge.

And I can understand how he feels, I lost public land last year to Coyote's.  So I'll work it out with my attitude, and I will find a spot, I have to developed a niche, actually all I think I need is about 6 in. of snow.  And that weeds out 90% of the people that hunt on public land.

But thanks for your support, and I won't give up on it hunting that area.  Because there are some really mature deer there and I am a
" trophy doe hunter" I am looking to get that stocky one.  Confession time, I have never shot a buck, passed on 8 pointer last year.

Thanks again


Pastor Carl

[DeerSpotter]

[superkodiak]

Pastor Carl,

   God works in mystery ways... I am a youth pastor here in Erie PA... just got done talking to my teens about how God uses the ordinary in extraordinary ways.... I too have lost some of my land to hunt, yet God is still so giving and He truly knows our needs. =) Thanks for the story.

ICL,

   Shawn

[southernarcher]

Was the guy supposed to be hunting,or just hiking?If the people that are walking up on your sets are hiking,I would just let them pass.I hunt a public spot that gets alot of hiking,and the hiking trail goes within 80yrds of one of the spots I hunt.I have watched as does just stood there and watched as the huker goes by,then right back to business as usual.

[Thaihunter]

I too, hunt on public land and sometimes on private land.  Unfortunately, its public land and everyone has opportunity to use it.  However, we live in a country that provide us with public land to hunt and freedom.

I'm sorry to hear that your hunt was ruin, don't give up.  Good luck!