Public land etiquette?

I hunt 99% exclusively SD public land, walk-ins & CREP. About once every 4-5 years maybe I'll get on some private land. The vast majority of my hunting is on weekends & I hunt every weekend of the season. For the first month of the season or more, I don't hunt the first 3-4 hours of shooting hours. I rarely pull up to a spot only to see it being hunted. And I very, very rarely have run-ins of any kind with other hunters on the piece of ground I'm hunting. And I can't remember the last time that run-in involved an actual GROUP of hunters. So in the last many years, I've determined that the vast majority of public land hunters in SD do it in the first 3 hours of shooting hours. Then they either go home or move on to private land. I get that some of you travel long distances to hunt here & so you want to take advantage of the time you're given. But most of you also aren't the average hunter (big groups, unethical, inexperienced). So once in a while, just consider letting the other "yahoos" have it for the first 3-4 hours. Hit those spots later on. Most of the early bird hunters around here don't know what they're doing. Your success will probably be greater & your headache far less severe.
 
There's a solution to all of this.
1) Avoid opening weekends
2) Avoid public land
3) Hunt during the middle of the week
4) Hunt more the second half of the season

A lot of hunters don't realize that they could gain access to private land if they put more time in scouting and asking for permission. You will likely get rejected at some spots for various reasons but you'll also likely gain permission at some spots that almost never get hunted. I used to hunt public land many years ago and I cursed the experience of running into other hunters (for ducks, pheasants, and deer) so I started avoiding that by asking for permission to hunt private land instead. I don't remember the last time I saw another pheasant hunter after October now.
 
If there is a vehicle in the parking lot, then I move on. When looking for locations to hunt, I try to choose areas that have a lot of public land within a certain radius, so if one spot has someone at it I can easily move on to the next. To avoid the issue (especially early season) of having another hunter move in on my spot, I try to find ones that really only have one access location, no place where another hunter could simply just pull off the road a few hundred yards down and hop right in and start hunting.

Last week I hunted a piece near my home in MN that I would not consider hunting if another vehicle was there (but could understand the argument to be made that it could support 2 groups at once), I was the only vehicle in the parking lot when I entered. When I returned to the parking lot, there were 4 other vehicles in it. I was amazed...

Only time I've really run into another hunter in the field, the group of 3 entered the field after me, and really kind of boxed me into the far corner the way the angled across the middle. Of course they shot a bird about 100 yards away from me (as they were walking towards me, I was really boxed in) that I was pretty sure I had been pushing for a bit because my dog was birdy, so I was fairly confident we had a runner in the area. Of course my dog then retrieved their bird and brought it back to me... Which I then had to deliver it to them and they expressed the disappointment that their dog didn't get the opportunity to retrieve the bird. I could instantly tell it wasn't the type of persons to explain that I was there first and they literally encroached right in on me, they simply weren't going to get it.
 
I cringe to hear some of these stories. Like some other guys on this forum, I'm a life long (or long time) South Dakota boy. I'm not the world's best pheasant hunter by any stretch of the imagination, but I've harvested enough birds in my life that jumping on public ground where someone else is or will soon be hunting is something I absolutely would never intentionally do. I've accidentally entered large public tracts and bumped into folks and had the same happen to me. Anymore, I drive past all parking spots on public land to do my best to ensure that doesn't happen.

That said, I do have a couple observations.

1. Mr. I'm From Here - this guy, by virtue of being a local, has some sort of God given right to public land within a radius of his hometown. He sadistically enjoys confrontation and butting heads with out of state "city boys". This guy is worse when he's with his buddies as he is even more apt to screw up someone's hunt for a laugh. Sadly, no one ever taught him manners or put him in his place.

2. Mr. I Spent Good Money To Be Here - on the other hand, a guy that has paid good money to travel and hunt in South Dakota feels that public land is like a public restroom and he isn't going to wait to piss just because someone else is there.

Both these guys act like they've never shot a rooster before and have zero consideration of others in their efforts to do just that. Sadly, they seem to have one piece of knowledge - how to butt in and flush those birds a person has been working for the past hour.

Again, I'm sorry to hear of these interactions and can only emphasize that not all South Dakotans behave this way. In fact, a lot of us are happy to see others in the field and want to let them enjoy their hunt, and move along to find our own place to engage with creation.
 
My group respects other hunters but I see some that dont. Last year someone parked an empty truck in the small parking space at a public spot we like. The night before. We surrounded the empty (cold) vehicle with our trucks and informed the guys (truck owner) that showed up 10 min before time they were shit out of luck.
 
I ran into a guy recently on public land.I was walking, and it was only a half.I kind of figured it was hunted out, but I needed to get my dog out. He was walking towards me, I told him I really needed the time for my dog, and he said he would hunt with me.I thought that was pretty cool.He was a local, drove a real expensive pickup, had his wife with him, good dude.
 
BRITTMAN said:
John
I found that your answer is very typical (not right nor wrong) of most native Minnesotans that have become desensitized to the issue.
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You caught me.

This past weekend, I hunted both Saturday and Sunday mornings on public land during the Iowa opener.

Saturday morning, I got my people to the parking areas on the land that we planned to hunt about 1.5 hours before the opening hour. We experienced no conflicts with other hunters but, many vehicles containing hunters sped by.

On Sunday, we got to another hunting area (a square quarter section of public land) 1 hour before the opening hour. There are two parking areas one at each end on the south side of the property.

I sat in my vehicle at the east most parking area. One vehicle with a single hunter drove by twice and left.

About 5 minutes prior to opening hour, a second vehicle containing a gentleman and his two young grandsons pulled up alongside mine.

The grandfather asked me if we intended to hunt that property.

I told him, "yes". I then smiled and said: "I am here to keep you away."

He told me that he saw many pheasants fly into that property the evening before and that he would like to hunt it.

I then invited them to hunt with my party. The children's father then showed up. The father was against hunting with strangers and I do not blame him.

The grandfather then asked if they would hunt the east side of the property while we hunted the west side.

I then told him: "This is public land. I do not own it. Please hunt it and enjoy it with your son and grandsons. I gave him some tips on how to hunt it and told him that we would stay to the west.

The grandfather then stated that he wished he could have hunted with my party.

It was a very amicable encounter.
 
Been a bizarre year to date hunting public in SD. Obviously opening day you expect the encounters, you just hope everyone stays reasonable and logical. Got to my spot 1.5 hours early and only one there until 9:45. At 10 I walked into the field with 3 other separate groups. Was a big field, a mile by half mile, but still not enjoyable so I ended up leaving after 400 yards of walking. Ive seen more hunters this year than ever before, which is cool to see, just means more miles to find spots. I pulled up to a spot at 9 and a group of 4 were already hunting 200 yards into the field and on the same day I hunted a spot right to sunset then watched a gentlemen pull up and go into the same field with his dog 10 mins after sunset. All SD plates.
 
Im a solo hunter and I hunt with 1 dog at a time (I have two dogs). Last year I was pushing a very large field and I knew my dog was on birds. She would point and break off and point again as the birds were running out in front of us.
i was about 400 yards from the corner of the field and I knew these birds were going to be forced to fly. I then saw a out of state truck come up fast, two guys jumped out of the truck with a dog and marched into the corner of the field busting all the birds I had been pushing. It looked like about 4 roosters and a few hens. They fired shots and quickly jumped into there truck and left.
I caught up with that truck down the road a few miles and gave them a piece of my mind, they denied the entire thing.
 
SDroosty said:
I pulled up to a spot at 9 and a group of 4 were already hunting 200 yards into the field and on the same day I hunted a spot right to sunset then watched a gentlemen pull up and go into the same field with his dog 10 mins after sunset. All SD plates.
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I thought shooting time was 10 in SD???
 
CREP in SD. A full quarter section. Less than 1/2 hour of shooting hours left.
I pull up & there's a car. I see the guy wearing orange clear out in the NW corner.
What I'm after is the extreme SE corner, an honest 1/2 mile from him. I park near his car so I can quickly & quietly avoid the area I want to hunt & then hunt it back toward the road. I proceed to shoot 2 roosters & flush several hens right in my area of interest. Heard no shots from him.
This whole thing took me under 1/2 an hour, but at some point he'd apparently cashed it in, hurried back to his car & left, beating me out of there.
He'd been nice enough to leave a nasty note on my windshield. Then when I started the truck, there's beeping & blinking!!
LOW TIRE PRESSURE!!! And there was the cap, lying in the gravel right by the tire. He must've seen me on my way to the truck because he'd only gotten it down to 17 psi. Enough to limp into town.
Etiquette sure is subjective.
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A5 Sweet 16 said:
CREP in SD. A full quarter section. Less than 1/2 hour of shooting hours left.
I pull up & there's a car. I see the guy wearing orange clear out in the NW corner.
What I'm after is the extreme SE corner, an honest 1/2 mile from him. I park near his car so I can quickly & quietly avoid the area I want to hunt & then hunt it back toward the road. I proceed to shoot 2 roosters & flush several hens right in my area of interest. Heard no shots from him.
This whole thing took me under 1/2 an hour, but at some point he'd apparently cashed it in, hurried back to his car & left, beating me out of there.
He'd been nice enough to leave a nasty note on my windshield. Then when I started the truck, there's beeping & blinking!!
LOW TIRE PRESSURE!!! And there was the cap, lying in the gravel right by the tire. He must've seen me on my way to the truck because he'd only gotten it down to 17 psi. Enough to limp into town.
Etiquette sure is subjective.
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That is nuts. Whether he thinks you ruined his hunt or not, it takes a certain kind of asshole to mess with a persons vehicle. Did you get a license plate number and report him?
 
KS GSP said:
That is nuts. Whether he thinks you ruined his hunt or not, it takes a certain kind of asshole to mess with a persons vehicle. Did you get a license plate number and report him?
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No, because when I pulled up I thought nothing of it because I knew we'd never be actually hunting within probably 800 yards of each other. Then he beat me out of there. Truth told, I recall kind of looking forward to meeting up w/ him back at the cars afterward to see how he did out on the other end, because it can be pretty good too. I'm guessing he got skunked.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
No, because when I pulled up I thought nothing of it because I knew we'd never be actually hunting within probably 800 yards of each other. Then he beat me out of there. Truth told, I recall kind of looking forward to meeting up w/ him back at the cars afterward to see how he did out on the other end, because it can be pretty good too. I'm guessing he got skunked.
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Yeah that's the most likely scenario. He came up with nothing and blamed it on you because surely it was your fault he didn't get to shoot a bird.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
CREP in SD. A full quarter section. Less than 1/2 hour of shooting hours left.
I pull up & there's a car. I see the guy wearing orange clear out in the NW corner.
What I'm after is the extreme SE corner, an honest 1/2 mile from him. I park near his car so I can quickly & quietly avoid the area I want to hunt & then hunt it back toward the road. I proceed to shoot 2 roosters & flush several hens right in my area of interest. Heard no shots from him.
This whole thing took me under 1/2 an hour, but at some point he'd apparently cashed it in, hurried back to his car & left, beating me out of there.
He'd been nice enough to leave a nasty note on my windshield. Then when I started the truck, there's beeping & blinking!!
LOW TIRE PRESSURE!!! And there was the cap, lying in the gravel right by the tire. He must've seen me on my way to the truck because he'd only gotten it down to 17 psi. Enough to limp into town.
Etiquette sure is subjective.
View attachment 457
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Brent: What were his sentiments? Or can't they be printed...
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
CREP in SD. A full quarter section. Less than 1/2 hour of shooting hours left.
I pull up & there's a car. I see the guy wearing orange clear out in the NW corner.
What I'm after is the extreme SE corner, an honest 1/2 mile from him. I park near his car so I can quickly & quietly avoid the area I want to hunt & then hunt it back toward the road. I proceed to shoot 2 roosters & flush several hens right in my area of interest. Heard no shots from him.
This whole thing took me under 1/2 an hour, but at some point he'd apparently cashed it in, hurried back to his car & left, beating me out of there.
He'd been nice enough to leave a nasty note on my windshield. Then when I started the truck, there's beeping & blinking!!
LOW TIRE PRESSURE!!! And there was the cap, lying in the gravel right by the tire. He must've seen me on my way to the truck because he'd only gotten it down to 17 psi. Enough to limp into town.
Etiquette sure is subjective.
View attachment 457
Click to expand...
That's low down.I had some punk steal my license plate last year.I turned in 2 names to the police.Possibly 2 poachers I used to know.They frequent the Lewistown area.
 
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