I know this comes up each year but....
I hunt a lot of walk-in areas throughout the year, before setting foot in a field I always drive the perimeter and check for other hunters. 1. Don't really want to waste time following someone through a field. 2. Don't want to get shot, or shoot someone coming over a terrace, etc when they / I have no idea the other is there.
This weekend I had a few different encounters with others on WIHA's (as expected opening weekend). Sat morning our group got to the field we wanted to start in in the morning early, drove around, no one else there, parked one truck in a very visible spot then drove the other truck around to a corner and parked. Began hunting made our way through the field, made a turn, coming back across, and my son spots 2 guys crossing the same field in front of us, granted they were well out of shotgun range but had they decided to travel in a different direction we could have easily ended up walking right at one another. We decided, not knowing who these guys were and what their plan was, to make our way out of the field and move on.
Same field Sunday morning. I'm getting ready to start, group pulls up rolls down the window, asks which way I'm headed and if I want to either hunt together or mind if they take a portion (which I didn't only a 1/4 section but plenty of ground for us all) We sorted out who was going where so we weren't in each other's way and off I went as did they. While hunting the area I had told these guys I would be in ANOTHER pair of guys jump into the field and just start hunting away, don't think they bothered to see if anyone was around again,
I was able to pretty well keep track of where these two were as I made my way back across the field and to my truck. Went down the road to another spot, that no one bothered to try and shot a rooster, missed another, then headed home.
Ran into the first group I talked to asked how they did, etc., they didn't have much success, unfortunately, seemed like good guys, definitely did things the right way. Don't know if other guys had succes but probably not since I had already hunted much of the area they were in.
Take the time to check fields - particularly relatively smaller spots for other hunters and either move on, or talk with other hunters and make a plan as to who is going where. Just seems to make sense.
I hunt a lot of walk-in areas throughout the year, before setting foot in a field I always drive the perimeter and check for other hunters. 1. Don't really want to waste time following someone through a field. 2. Don't want to get shot, or shoot someone coming over a terrace, etc when they / I have no idea the other is there.
This weekend I had a few different encounters with others on WIHA's (as expected opening weekend). Sat morning our group got to the field we wanted to start in in the morning early, drove around, no one else there, parked one truck in a very visible spot then drove the other truck around to a corner and parked. Began hunting made our way through the field, made a turn, coming back across, and my son spots 2 guys crossing the same field in front of us, granted they were well out of shotgun range but had they decided to travel in a different direction we could have easily ended up walking right at one another. We decided, not knowing who these guys were and what their plan was, to make our way out of the field and move on.
Same field Sunday morning. I'm getting ready to start, group pulls up rolls down the window, asks which way I'm headed and if I want to either hunt together or mind if they take a portion (which I didn't only a 1/4 section but plenty of ground for us all) We sorted out who was going where so we weren't in each other's way and off I went as did they. While hunting the area I had told these guys I would be in ANOTHER pair of guys jump into the field and just start hunting away, don't think they bothered to see if anyone was around again,
I was able to pretty well keep track of where these two were as I made my way back across the field and to my truck. Went down the road to another spot, that no one bothered to try and shot a rooster, missed another, then headed home.
Ran into the first group I talked to asked how they did, etc., they didn't have much success, unfortunately, seemed like good guys, definitely did things the right way. Don't know if other guys had succes but probably not since I had already hunted much of the area they were in.
Take the time to check fields - particularly relatively smaller spots for other hunters and either move on, or talk with other hunters and make a plan as to who is going where. Just seems to make sense.