Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk ALTurkey Talk -- Beards and Spurs Public Land Etiquette

Maybe I should have titled the lack of. I hunt a fairly decent amount of public ground throughout the state but around North Alabama I have never seen the lack of respect for other people in any other place I've ever been. I've seen trucks pulling up and parking beside other trucks that were there first. Guys pulling down 150 yards and going in were someone already is. Boats tying up where there's already other boats. Guys in boats pulling up beside a boat tied up and sending yelps through the timber with a box call with no care that somebody is in there or not. Guy told me that he had a guy pull up in a boat beside his, get out and run past him to a gobbling turkey on the limb after he had been in that spot since 4:30 AM waiting on sunrise. If you do these kinds of things in the central and south end of the state you may end up with hurt feelings, flat tires or who knows what else. We all have a right to be on the public ground offered to us and I feel like everybody should enjoy their hunt. Just because somebody beat you to a spot or found a bird you know about doesn't mean you should mess that guys hunt up. Seems as if maybe Turkey hunting is the new duck hunting so let's all be Turkey hunters together and show a little respect.

Social media….. if they’d stop public land filming, it would cut half that crap out I think.

A friends has property that leaded to a skyline gate. Opening day 5 trucks at the gate. He tells me Saturday there were 6-7 trucks 3 trucks on Sunday. 4 Monday 2 today. If your not first leave. Who knows may of been 2-3 people per vehicle? I agree don’t walk in on another hunter.

Saturday was the first chance I got to go. Two trucks were unloading 4wheelers at the spot I wanted to go to, so I busted a U turn and went to another area. I got lucky and landed on a hot bird very close to the truck, but he caught me in a bad spot with wide open woods. I knew if he didn’t march right to me, the odds of killing him there were slim. Well, just as I thought, he slow worked to within about 65 yards and wouldn’t budge another inch. I had already stopped calling to him, hoping he’d quit gobbling. At that point, he had gobbled non stop for about 40 minutes and I knew he was gonna gobble up another hunter. I was content to let him walk away in hopes I could move to a better setup. He finally did stop gobbling and started to skirt around me and went up a bluff towards a food plot. After being quiet for about 15 minutes, he gobbled at a woodpecker up on top of the bluff. At the confirmation that he was out of sight, I started gathering my things to move and immediately heard wing beats. I looked up and here he comes sailing over the timber and it looked like he flew all the way to Tennessee. At first, I thought he had seen me, but I couldn’t figure out why he flew right back over the top of me. Confused, I headed on up the bluff because it was the most direct route to the truck and you guessed it, sitting right there on the bluff was another hunter. FYI, if you hear a bird gobbling a quarter of a mile from a parked truck, the person that parked that truck is probably nearby and likely already on that gobbling bird! Go somewhere else! I was pissed, but I halfway expected it. That’s how lots of folks do out here. I got redemption though. That bird came in on a string this morning and gobbled his last gobble.

my $0.02 - but if i were to get back into the public land game i would

> only hunt Tues/Weds/Thurs
> avoid gates & easy access areas
> target over-looked spots and/or terrains that sucked to hunt
> be as tight-lipped as a goat about my areas

i’ve seen a lot of social media posts where public land hunters talk about “my spot” - at the end of the day, you don’t own a spot on public land (by it’s very definition - it’s public) … i agree that there SHOULD be respect & etiquette - many here have already noted that COVID opened the door to a whole new class of turkey hunter that were mentored by YouTube … we’re reaping what was sewn unfortunately

most encounters i’ve had years ago on public were cordial, respectful & courteous - but there’s a new class of hunter out there now thanks to COVID & YT/TikTok/FB/etc …

Last year I parked at a gate that is closed and the road behind it only goes a few hundred yards and ends at private.

I was there at 3:00 AM and no one else pulled in until after 4.

I was in the woods and not at my truck, but because the woods are thinned and burned, I could see the road past my truck. The first truck in slowed down, went on past about 400 yards and parked, within sight.
The next truck pulled in, saw my truck, went on down, saw the next truck, hung a right and pulled down ~300 yards around the curve from the other truck.
The next one pulled in, pulls past my truck and parked within sight of both my truck and the first truck that stopped. They kept their lights on and music on until 5 minutes before gobbling time.

Then 2 more idiots pulled in and parked their 4 Runners next to my truck.

As gobbling time got close, the truck that parked between my truck and the next truck turned off their lights and music, stepped out of their truck and walked to the front of their truck to hoot.

One of the idiots that belonged to the 4 runners walked down the middle of the gravel road, just after daylight, with decoys, vest, and all his stuff. I stopped him, asked him if he parked next to my truck?
“Yes” was his answer…..

Keep in mind I’ve been sitting in the woods since I got there at 3 AM.

Needless to say, I was not happy at all. But really, what can you do?
I’d like to think that people should know better. I just truly can’t even fathom what goes through some of these people’s minds.

^ that’s crazy.

I think a lot of them must not have any earthly idea what they’re doing or the kind of dangerous situation they are creating.

Remember the fella in Missouri that backed up 100 yds and scratched him a line in the road with his heal? lol

Those two words don't go together! public land and etiquette!

Keep a few dove loads in your vest. Yep fire a shot or 3 things are already screwed up. Keep it screwed up. He!! I don’t know. It definitely not first come first serve.

I had this happen opening morning of my Florida hunt. We got to the spot first. Couple young’s guys pull up and park within 10 yds of my truck. We were already standing outside to listen. I said “do you guys have any etiquette? There’s 100k acres to hunt here”. His reply “it’s a small town and this is my honey hole”. He asks where we planned to hunt. I said “right down that road”. He walked to his truck, got his stuff and him and his buddy walked right down the road I said we were going. As they walked off I said “Un-fing believable.” These guys were locals.

We hunted the opposite side of the road. I didn’t hear any shots and they were gone when we got back. We wound up killing a bird in another spot. We plucked that bird and went back and spread feathers all around the spot he parks. Asshole.

I’m all for first come first serve, and I honor it. But if there is a ton of land say on both sides of the road, or multiple roads that split, I will ask a fella which general direction he’s hunting and he minds if I go the other way. I guess that’s more deer hunting wheeler where everyone has bikes, turkey hunting I’d rather not be near another vehicle or person if I can help because I burn a lot of rubber.

My goodness. I nearly forgot that one. Another special ride on the short bus to the woods for that fella.

Fortunately, a large percentage of hunters in the south still have some etiquette. Not all, but most. When I say south, I mean AL, GA, MS, LA, AR. SC. N. FL….. everywhere North or west of those states may have less turkey hunters per acre, but have some of the most magnificent assholes I’ve ever encountered.

I killed a bird in TX last year, after sleeping in the rental at the gate. Felt like duck hunting, shining people off with a flashlight. I know for a fact there were at least 3 groups calling to him when I pulled the trigger. Could hear somebody start cussing when I shot. I took my time and didn’t walk out for about two hours. There were still 8 trucks at the parking spot, maybe 250 acres of turkey habitat behind that gate, and the only gobbling bird got killed hours before..

Had a run in, with some Yankees in RI, that damn near resulted in blood shed. Those stupid MFers parked at my truck, walked up to the edge of the clearing where a bird was roosted (with me hunkered down in the briars close enough to limb launch him) looked at him through binoculars for a minute, then proceed to walk on across the clearing and blow him off the roost. I came unglued. Last day of the season, and that bird was gonna die anywhere he landed in that clearing. They said they saw the bird but were running late to get to their blinds, didn’t think it would bother the bird since he was still in the tree. think I called them every creative name I could come up with.

Private land ain’t any better.

Well, to be fair… you are supposed to get permission to hunt that. 🤣

My private land is. And I’m not far from you. I grew up hunting public in OK n TX for quail and deer. Killed my first buck on public n TX. I don’t miss it. I have been close to catching a few poachers in turkey season, but it’s not been bad. I’ve had coon hunters shoot my lock, pull down a gate, etc. Never had an issue in deer season. Dogs have been an issue some years but they tend to disappear at some point. We had a big lease South of Butler years ago and always had issues there. You never know though.

If somebody runs past me to a gobbling Turkey, ain’t nobody killing that Turkey that day (I promise you).

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems as though there is not a gobbling turkey in our state that somebody or more than 1 somebody doesn't know about.

Caught a trespasser on my property this morning, he walked up on me working a hot gobbler, we had an ugly conversation, he stated the turkey belonged to the State of Alabama and he could hunt it. Interesting thought, just did not end well.