Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Public land etiquette

I'm from Stevenson, live in Huntsville now.
Been thinking about heading back that way to hunt, but I wasn't sure how bad the public land over there has got.
How's the hunt so far this year?

It's been ten years or more but Barbour was always the most crowded hunt I've ever seen. Early or late, made no difference as far as I could tell.

Several folks mentioned going to plan B if someone is parked at your first spot. I disagree in some cases. One spot I hunt is a gated road that accesses 1000+ acres. I have parked there with 3 other vehicles before. Other than at the gate, I never saw another person. If those guys chose to sit on the road then they should expect people walking in on them.

If your spot is just a pulloff on the side of the road in the middle of public land near a likely attraction and someone is parked there, then move on to your next spot.

Another scenario would be if a corner of public land touches a public road and is the only access point. If a guy walks in a 100 yards and hangs a stand he is asking for it. If I know I am walking a good ways in I will still hunt it.

You just have to look at your situation and be reasonable. I have had very few run-ins with other hunters doing this and walking in a good ways.

On our club it's great. We have managed to keep to the pressure to a minimum. I think Skyline is still good but you have to know where to go. I hunted straight up 79 into TN. You take a little road off to the right and it goes back into AL. Turn left a mile or so down that way and I hunted off a ridge going toward Little Coon Valley. Didn't see many people back that way. You really need a UTV/ATV for that area. Especially after good rain in the winter

In 35+ years of hunting public land, I have never had a bad run in with another hunter. "Knocks on wood"

I don't share some of y'all's fear of other idiots with guns...that's never bothered me, in fact I like the crowd to jump deer and such.

I'm just crazy selfish about a place. I can't stomach the idea that somebody is close enough to have me cut off. I want to be the only person in the proximity. Ain't no way on earth I'd ever park at a place where another truck already is. Heck, if I see your truck on side of the road, I make an assumption about where you probably are and I won't even go in close to that if I think you might have me blocked.

Good point here but i rarely ever hunt those gated off roads for the simple reason of there is always somebody parked there and unless you know them or have talked to them you have no idea where they are and vice versa. One bad thing about public land is generally you can get to a spot in the woods from multiple ways. Years ago a guy walked in on me, I whistled and waved and he turned around and left. Ran into a guy who turned out to be him at the check station that night and we got to talking. Once he realized i was the one he walked in we sat there for a while trying to figure out how we both ended up in the same spot from 2 different directions. Turned out to be a nice guy and we actually started parking at the same spot. We were hunting different areas but if i saw his truck i would park and go hunt without bothering him and he did the same. I even helped him get a deer out one day. Most guys are reasonable fellows who just want to hunt. Some are asshats. You just have to weed through both.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I guess do unto others should be the motto. There's bound to be another idiot that will make the trek I'm gonna make and beat me to this spot. I've just got to find out what time check station opens. Been calling no answer. On the youth hunt it opened at 5am

nm

As soon as I saw this thread this was my exact thought...

That's tame compared to the way it was 20 years ago. There would be 800-900 on every gun hunt.

That's what my father in law said. There used to be over 1000 30 years ago. He said they just had to keep walking in until they didn't see flashlights shining at them before daylight. They would walk right by people until they found a kinda open spot.

If you see a truck, keep driving.

That's 3-400 camping, many more than that hunting.

Any of you fella's spent time on Freedom Hills' gun hunts? I've only ever bow hunted it, but thinking of going potentially this weekend for their first gun hunt. Not really sure what to expect in terms of how crowded it is or isn't.

Do any of you know what time the check in station opens at Barbour wma in the morning? Or just stop self serve box?

I never park at a gate another hunter is at and I always make sure my truck is visible so people know the area I am in. I rarely walk in on other hunters or have them walk in on me by doing that. No spot is so good that it is worth being rude to a fellow hunter or have to unnecessarily share the same area.

Whsts something you look for with topo ! I've never hunted public land but I'm ready to try it . I'm close to skyline and I'd also like to try Bankhead next season .

I didn't use topo. Just scouted around. Drove in til I found what I thought looked good and walked many a mile scouting before the season.