Etiquette or maybe just a public land gripe.

[Joe J]

So this morning got in to a small chuck of bow hunt only public land. It’s a 3.5 mile by 250yd stretch. And only 30 min from my front door to being set up. Levee on one side leading to a swamp bordered by a canal. I Was set up on the ground about 25 yards in on a nice trail (funnel between two sloughs.)
Anyways watched a guy in blaze (not required here unless shotgun deer hunting is in season,) walk down the levee 10 min after legal shooting light…no biggie I’ve had late starts before.
Then the squirrels started moving and I missed a nice fat fox squirrel.
Side note I need to build more flu flus again.
I sneak out to the levee area to recover my Judo point and I see orange lying down on the slope of the levee 50 yards away.
Regs say you have to be 100 feet from a road (which this levee is.)
I thought it was a pack or something ditched so I glass it up from the tree line.
Nope it’s Mr. Xbow watching the tree line. I wave and it’s like he doesn’t see me only slightly picks his head up when I rustled back through the briars.
Now to the dilemma.
30 min go by and I stand up to stretch.
What’s that a fleck of orange about 40 yds upwind.
Could it be one of those pretty orange red trumpet looking flowers.
Let me get the 10x out of my bag….
Nope guess my movement at the tree line made him sneak on in.
I just shrugged and walked out no need to confront the guy. No need to say hey didn’t you see me. I just left.
I get that the crossbow is an easy inlet to extra time hunting. Not gonna knock that aspect of the guy. I can understand a late start. But if I walk out and wave at you and you can’t recognize a dude in cammo. Maybe he was the type that thought ole Joe here knew a hot spot…it wasn’t just has some good squirrels.
And right after he set up pigs started going nuts with squeals and grunts. So I guess thanks crossbow guy for locating where I need to move to next time

[Stringwacker]

I think you just run into all kinds on public land. I have hunted it on occasion, but it likely bothers me more than most people to not know who else is in the area or where they are headed.

I think you have to be special person to hunt public land. Many are and it goes without saying that folks are good at it.
I remember the time a fellow walked up to me on a stand and told me I was in his spot and wanted me to leave. Geez....you can't make some of this stuff up and you just proved it.

[Cory Mattson]

Might be he didn’t see you?
I have been hunting public in NC SC GA for the past 40 years with very few negative encounters 
We prefer water entry and this adds to the quality of the hunt beyond leaving others behind
From a Gate. I rarely will hunt less than a mile in and for deer hunting have always had undisturbed hunts
Both situations I never see other hunters in the woods
Until yesterday!? I climb down and in just minutes I am back to start loading My Hunt Pack Treestand belly pack Treestand/Sticks onto a set of wheels I use now to carry stuff and deer out.
A flashlight pops up and like I said I’m a mile in minimum
We walked out together
Good guy
Said he took a wide loop in so not to disturb me when he saw me parked at the gate
Dan is his name. Hope to see him down the trail
Anyway water and or a mile might help
Good Hunting <><
<———————-<<<<<<

[Sam McMichael]

If you hunt long enough you will run into rude, inconsiderate people. Confronting them seldom has a desirable outcome. I gave up hunting public land many years ago, as I was able to secure permission to hunt on private land. I really feel for the guys who have these problems on public hunting areas. Fortunately, most hunters are courteous and respect their fellow outdoorsmen. Finding a secluded location is the best advice I can give to avoid these problems. I have seen relatively few hunters more than a few hundred yards from the road.

[mgf]

Of course not all public land is created equal. I see vids from guys hunting public land in Georgia (I think) and it looks like a hunters paradise. I enjoy our National forest in the southern part of my state of Indiana though I seldom get there because of distance. Plenty of room to roam and I don't run into anybody in the woods though.

Close to home it's bout 45 hundred acres with parking lots and access roads/trails everyplace. There's no such things as "going way back in" or a water entry. I get desperate every year and go scout it a little. Last year I even went with my bow a couple of times...once I was turned away because they had already signed in their quota for the day. Desperate for a place to hunt I drove over yesterday morning....cars in every lot. I even spotted hunters from the road. I never got out of the car.

 I've never run into somebody being intentionally rude but you can't help getting in each other's way. I don't think it's so much a matter of adequate as just so many of us looking for a place to hunt. This is fairly easy driving distance from a bunch of big cities full of people who want to go hunting.  For me, trying to hunt it just isn't any fun. My wife and I spend more time there when it isn't hunting season...she likes it.

[Roger Norris]

I hunt public land often and with pretty good success. Last week I felt bad....I was sneaking into what I thought was a remote spot, got to a great looking area and looked up...a guy was waving at me from a treestand. He had worked hard to get in there, and I had screwed him up. I waved, mumbled a quiet "sorry buddy" and turned around leaving the same way I had come in.

My intention was to get away from easy access spots....so was his. I suppose he might be telling the story differently, about the jerk with a recurve screwing up his hunt.

PUBLIC land....we all just need to be polite and enjoy our time in the woods.

[MnFn]

My experience was much like Roger’s. I was sneaking down a wooded draw and came upon a guy up in a tree stand. I waved and backed out as quietly as I could.
It’s hard to say what the other person was thinking.

[Mint]

On Long Island there is no such thing as a remote spot. I try to get away from the crowds as much as I can and hunt the thick stuff and  I'm 50/50 on running into decent guys. My biggest problem lately is finding illegal bait piles in the thick stuff and not wanting to get caught baiting when I didn't even know the bait was 50 yards away.

[Joe J]

So yesterday I went back in the same area. No one else was hunting. I did however figure out why that guy moved from the levee into the woods near me(probably never saw me.) I saw some orange on the ground and thought he may have left his hat or something…
If you have to cut the sleeves off your sweater for emergency… ummm… purposes please pack them out with ya!

[Wudstix]

What is this public land you speak of?  Not much at all in TX that isn't private.  Pay to play land.