# Field Etiquette



## duck-o-holic (Sep 28, 2007)

Yesterday my buddy and I were set up with our dekes out and a man and three children came in to our area. My buddy stood up to let him know we were there, but the guy continued to come in and set up a tripod right in front of our decoys! Both of us got out of our blind and took a walk to check out another area since we couldn't get any shooting at our spot and the guy picked up and seemed to be following us out to the bluff. The kids were trailing about a hundred yards behind the guy when I went back to our blind. My buddy went over and asked the guy how long he planned on being there. He got upset and was shouting that he had as much a right to be there as any hunter and that he in fact was a hunter himself. It was one of those things that could have ruined the night. 
:******:


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## HATCHETMAN (Mar 15, 2007)

I treat it just like water rights. First in time, first in right. If you were there first, you have the right to be there, but alas on public ground, or ground that many people have access to, it does not work that way. Unfortunately humankinds' most tarnished stars survive the evolutionary chain that nature erases from itself....bottom line is that stupid people are everywhere, and as long as you hunt public land you will have to deal with them. The only way to get away from 'em is get out there a little farther. I was hunting turkeys with my brother in law on Fort Stewart Georgia this spring, and we actually had some Jackass yell at us for crossing a field in the dark (the only access into the turkey hunting location that did not require chest waders) because he was there first. Fact is there were 3 other people set up in that field before he even got there. He actually ended up shooting at us when we got about 50 yards into the woods....good thing I had all the license numbers of the vehicles in the parking lot written down before we went in or else the MP's would have never got to give it to him like he deserved. There's always pros and cons. I normally would have gone somewhere else, but I am not going to wade in chest high black mud when I can walk through a field without disturbing a hunt... I'll probably never hunt a military installation again because of that experience.
HM


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

take up golf. Less stress, golf when you want, tee time reseved, gimmie putts if you have a good partner, oh yeah and mulligans. :beer:


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## chris lillehoff (Jan 9, 2006)

i would have had words..... :******:


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## cedarsedge (Sep 21, 2006)

Last year we found a field when scouting that was loaded with snow, mallards, and honkers. Of cource the next morning bright and early we were not the only ones to have seen all the birds in there the night before.

They other group beat us there, when we were sitting the figuring out our next move the guys came up and offered the other half of the field for us to hunt. It was a very large field, and it worked great5 for both groups to hunt, we were a long ways appart. I could barleyt see there spread, but I thought it was super nice of them to offer.

Dan


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## Triple B (Mar 9, 2004)

if you are the first to the field you should have first choice obviously. if the filed is large enough then i agree that more than one spread can be in the field. if the field is too small be courteous to the earlier than you risers, and find the next best field. go to your plan B-D.(this is why scouting is so important) NEVER, NEVER, NEVER come to a field that has hunters present and set DOWNWIND!!!! this should be a rule set in stone. It is a surefire way to have fisticuffs at 5 AM


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## Nick Roehl (Mar 7, 2002)

I hunt ducks in the SE to SC part of the state and this happens nearly every hunt. People just don't care anymore. If I beat you to a spot stay out of my way, if you beat me it's on to plan B. It's that simple.


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## striped1 (Aug 17, 2005)

I have had people drive write by me in the field as we were setting up to get into the same field and down wind. I kept ooking for that truck in town the rest of the season. I figured four puntured sidewalls would keep him out of the field next time.

I was dumbfounded. We packed up and left. THe real kicker was we had the permission to hunt there and these a**holes didn't. We knew the owner and asked and he didn't and give permission to anyone else that week.


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## fox412 (Mar 18, 2005)

I don't care how big the field is. If someone is in it ask them or go away. I do my best to have two or three options. I have asked and some have let me hunt with them some have told me to set up other places in the field and some have said no.

Last year a group of us were in a field and 2 other groups came and set up in there without asking. One group shot several birds the other shot a few and we got two. I think that we all had high hopes for that morning when we saw about 300 out there the night before. I guess the other groups did as well. It made things worse that one group were a bunch of skybusters.

I am sorry to hear that the guy was such a jerk about the whole thing. There are jerks everywhere. Good luck on the rest of rest of your hunts. Let's remember though he is usually the exception and not the rule.


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## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

striped1 said:


> I figured four puntured sidewalls would keep him out of the field next time.


Way to show your level of maturity. Why didn't you just find out where they lived and burn their house down....better yet hire a hitman.

gimme a freakin break. This is hunting. If you get so peed off at people take something else up.

Are there buttholes out there...absolutley. I about quit hunting last year when, in front of my 7 year old son at about 5:45 am some guy started screaming, cussing, threatening and all else at me and my son. Turns out he posted the field after dark that night and i didn't know it. During his rant he pretty much told me and my son every cuss word in the dictionary and told us to get the bleep off his land and how we were ruining his hunt that morning and making him late he drove off and didn't even use the field.

Should i have tried to locate him the night before and ask permission even though i was under the assumption it wasn't posted...probably. But, as we all know in north dakota that can be difficult. Land atlas's are very inaccurate as land changes hands very often and those aren't updated.

then this year. We found a piece of posted land on a friday night that was loaded with ducks. I knew they guy pretty well that had it posted and was thinking of calling him to see if we could go out there sunday. I worked saturday morning. then some guy drives up and asks me "why are you watching these ducks, this here's posted land." (I don't have permission to watch ducks??? my kids thought it was cool) It's not the landowner. I tell him this and he gets upset because he's already got permission for saturday morning. I interrupt his tangent and asked him to relax, I'm not going out there. this ticks him off, but pretty much shuts him up. At least he wasn't cussing.

point is. I don't understand the whole "competition" thing in hunting? Did these people fail miserably in sports and career's and have some chip on their shoulder? I don't get it at all. To me there are much more important things to be competative in....work, sports, life in general,......but hunting and/or fishing? Don't get it. It's supposed to be something for freinds and family to enjoy each other and watch some magnificent animals work the decoys, flush out of the grass, the bobber go down or what have you.

The next time you get huffy and puffy with someone about hunting or fishing take a deep breath, talk to them, and find out where they are coming from.

Wow, did i get off on a tanget with this one. sorry. my bad.


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## HATCHETMAN (Mar 15, 2007)

> better yet hire a hitman


Or a HATCHETMAN!!!! :thumb:


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## sameyer (Aug 22, 2007)

That's my hunting buddy who posted on this subject. The area we were in is a walk in area about a half a mile off the road. THe only people you ever see on these flats are duck hunters. When this guy showed up with his kids running around I at first thought it was someone from the public who simply didn't know where they were at or what went on out there. Then when the guy continued to hang around and actually circled the pond where the dekes were and had his kids running around I thought he was an anti-hunter who was trying to provoke something. Finally, when he went and stood a couple hundred yards downwind, right in the flight line I decided to go and speak with him. I approached him and asked him how long he was going to be there. He said, "You seem upset, but I am a hunter too and I am not trying to mess with you area but it is public land and I have a right to be here." Now he did not have a gun, didn't have decoys, clearly wasn't hunting at that time. I was about as diplomatic as I have ever been in my life. I said, " I know you have the right to be here just like anyone else, I just want to know how long you are going to be. If you are going to stay around this pond then there is no point in my being here and I certainly am not going to be shooting with your kids running around. THen he tries to justify what he is doing and how mentions again how he is a hunter and blah, blah. I finally said, look, I just want to know how long you are going to stay so I can decide what to do but since you insist on proclaiming yourself as a hunter; do you really think that bringing your kids out to roam a duck hunting area is a good idea? He started to explain again how he had a right to be there and I again told him, look I know, just say your staying or leave, I don't really care at this point and I walked away. He left the area shortly after.

The thing that bothered me so much was his proclaiming to be a hunter. I can understand the non-hunting public doing this and not understanding what they are doing but for this guy to knowingly do what he did and say he was a hunter was fairly astonishing. For the most part we hunt areas that we rarely see other hunters, much less the general public because the areas are too much work to get to. This was a first for me but judging by what I see here, far from the last.

The one thing I am sure of, no matter how ridiculous people are, we as HUNTERS have to put on our best diplomacy when dealing with them, even when we really would like to do what you do to a wing shot drake.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

> ,......but hunting and/or fishing? Don't get it. It's supposed to be something for freinds and family to enjoy each other and watch some magnificent animals work the decoys, flush out of the grass, the bobber go down or what have you.


Well said!!!!!!


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## HATCHETMAN (Mar 15, 2007)

Many states have a hunter harassment laws on the books. Doesn't matter if he was a hunter or not, if he was directly messing with your hunt you had a right to tell him whatever you wanted, and if he had a complaint he could have filed one with the game and fish. All people, even stupid ones should know that you're hunting when you're in a flat with some decoys and guns, and even a mediocre "hunter" as this guy said he was should have known better than to be there in the first place, and sure as heck should have left his kids at home, unless he planned to teach them something monumental. Sounds like you did the right thing. It's really important to keep your composure as it speaks volumes about our sport and our heritage. As easy as it is to get angry, we need to keep it together to continue the success of our sport!!


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

Since you mentioned he set up a tripod one would have to assume he was photographing waterfowl. I'm guessing he picked your spot cause your deks were drawing the birds. Thats probably why he left after you did.

Still darn inconsiderate.


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## sameyer (Aug 22, 2007)

When he set up the tri-pod I thought it was a camera as well but it turned out to be a spotting scope and he was looking at the decoys with it from about 40 yards. It was just a real strange deal.


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## Ac_EsS (Jul 3, 2007)

HATCHETMAN said:


> He actually ended up shooting at us when we got about 50 yards into the woods....good thing I had all the license numbers of the vehicles in the parking lot written down before we went in or else the MP's would have never got to give it to him like he deserved.
> HM


 I live on a military instalation and hunt regulary. Not to mention i live on the largest Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune with thundreds of thousands of hunters and marines shooting all around base (in designated area) and have never once been shot at. Or had some one come on my spot with out saying sorry and moving down the road a few hundred meters. but If someone would deliberatly shoot at me like that, deadly force is authorised and i would have shot him. Thats just me. especialy isf he had arleady acknowledged you. some people :eyeroll:


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## Flyin40 (Jan 12, 2007)

That was hunter harrassment for sure. Here in Ohio a phone call to the game warden with a liscence plate number and this guy would be paying a fine.

Every year people get arrested here in Ohio for harrassing hunters. It was either last yr or the yr before where some Peta people got one of those huge blow up ducks. They had a boat pull them around so they would sit outside the decoys yelling. Quite funny actually. Every single one went to jail. LOL.

Flyin


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## duck-o-holic (Sep 28, 2007)

I remember reading the "what I like best" topic a while back and there's so many things that are "the best." My top 5 are something like:

1. seeing birds
2. coffee in the blind (maybe there's blackberry brandy mixed in)
3. birds falling
4. being out there
5. smell of gunpowder

It's hard to believe that one idiot in the field can take that away, but it's really frustrating to finally get to an escape and have somebody stand in the way. I agree with the guy who said hunter harassment. But I wonder if anyone is ever in trouble for it.


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## duck-o-holic (Sep 28, 2007)

Flyin40 said:


> some Peta people got one of those huge blow up ducks. They had a boat pull them around so they would sit outside the decoys yelling. Quite funny actually. Every single one went to jail. LOL.
> 
> Flyin


Just saw this... I guess people really do get in trouble for it!


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