Alright here’s the lowdown on this week. It was pretty damn near uneventful and if anything was slightly aggravating. However, this week brings up two important points that I want to get off my chest. First of which is public land use between fellow hunters. Second, being an unwritten code between hunters (which I guess you could say could fall under morals but I’m not sure.)
First, I’m gonna set the scene for this week. Thursday, I substitute taught and had a class which means no hunting for me. Friday, I substitute taught and lucky for me I don’t have class on Fridays. Which means the second I got out of work I got in my car and sprinted to my tree stand, as fast as I could. I was able to get up in my tree at a decent time. The afternoon sit was quite. I had a little doe come in with a little spike who was acting like he was the man. They came into about five yards and then feed their way up the ridge. The next morning I woke up early to some really windy and rainy conditions. Which against my better judgement, I decided to try my luck and go sit. I knew that it wasn’t the right choice but I had to. I should of listened to myself because I didn’t see a single thing. Sunday came and went, I had work so I wasn’t able to hunt.
I decided to take off of work on Monday because it was cold and the conditions looked great for the morning. This is where the story really begins. I was up at 5:00 am and I was in my tree stand by 5:50 am. Sunrise wasn’t until a little after 7:00 am. I did the right thing and got in my stand in plenty of time. About 8:00 am rolls around and I hear footsteps behind me. I slowly turn my head and see a gentleman trying to walk up the ridge that I am sitting. At this point it’s no big deal, its public land and how would he even know that I was sitting this ridge. This has happened to me before and it’s no big deal. This gentleman has every right to hunt this land as I do. I’m not taking possession of this spot because I’m sitting it. I am all good with what has happened up until this point. It’s what happens next that I am conflicted about.
Now, I hunt a ridge that from the bottom you can access it because it’s public land. At the top end, it is cut off by private land. This ridge is about fifty yards wide and is basically like a thin lane, on either side it drops off by at least a hundred feet. From where I am sitting it is about two hundred yards before it gets cut off by private land. I whistle over to this bowhunter and he stops dead in his tracks! He stops and starts looking for me for about a minute. I keep whistling to him and waving trying to let him see me. I keep whistling and waving and I check my phone. At this point this has been going on for about five minutes.
Now from my previous experience, I have walked in on other hunters and I have backed out and have given whoever was hunting their space because they were there first. I also would like to mention that I don’t even hunt public land if I see another car in the spot during deer season. Every time this has happened to me the person I walked in on must have accessed the spot from another area. I would have no way of knowing they were there from the road.
About eight minutes of whistling and waving go by and he starts to walk up the ridge. Now at this point, I know he knows I’m there. I’ve whistled and he stopped dead in his tracks and was actively looking for me. I let out a quick “YO!” again he stops dead in his tracks. Another two minutes go by and he starts to work his way up the ridge. I then yell “SIR” and finally, this gentleman sees me and waves to me. At this point I’m thinking in my head “ok, you now see me and you know this is a tiny ridge, and you have already blown out the bottom end of the ridge. At this point, the respectful thing to do would be to turn around and at least let me finish my hunt and don’t blow out the top end.” However, this gentlemen keeps walking up the ridge. At this point, my hunt is over. If he’s going to keep walking up the ridge he will spook whatever deer would be working their way down, so there’s no point in me to keep sitting.
I am never the person to go confront people but today I did and I don’t know why. I think because in my head I feel this gentleman had broken some sort of unwritten code that hunters should follow and that he, through his actions was basically flipping me off. I get out of my tree and make my way up to this gentleman. I ask him, “Did you not hear me” he replies, “I have bad hearing”. Which one, doesn’t answer my question. Two is a load of BS because the first time I whistled he stopped dead in his tracks. I tell the man this and he has nothing to say. I then reminded him in case he didn’t remember that he, in fact, waved to me. I then asked him why do you think it would be a good idea to keep going if you know someone was already hunting here? He didn’t have a good answer for that either. I told him I get that its public land and you have just as much right to be here as I do, but you saw me and knew that I was here first and still decided to basically say screw me! And my hunt and keep going! Meanwhile, I was up at 5:00 am and in that tree stand well over an hour and a half before legal shooting light. And your walking up making a racket at the best part of the morning. His only response was I did not see your car in the parking lot (Which was another load of crap because when I got down his car was nowhere to be found and mine was in the designated spot). I told him I parked on this side of the road in the designated spot. His only response was at least your still out here. After that, I walked out of the woods and left.
His last response is what kept messing with me and made me feel even more conflicted about the situation than I already did. I felt bad for giving the guy talking to because I am not a person that wants to cause conflict. However, I felt disrespected by this guy and in talking to him you could tell by his demeanour that he didn’t care about his actions. I felt that he had broken some sort of unwritten code. That as hunters who are respectful of other hunters feel. I know personally if I see another car even parked at a section of state land that allows more than one car to be parked there that I won’t even hunt it in fear of messing up another hunters day. I felt that this gentleman had broken that code and it made me angry. I’m not saying that he needs to follow it as strictly as I do. But if you physically see someone in a tree hunting in a small area of woods and you walked in on him just back out.
Look in Hinze sight is this really a big deal? No, not at all I most likely won’t even remember this hunt in a year or two. However, I really just wanted to use this opportunity to pose the question of this unwritten code? And if you feel there is some invisible code that guides our interactions as hunters? Let me know what you think! Leave a comment if you think I was right in my feelings. Or if you think that I am wrong in this unwritten code that I feel hunters share mutually between us.
-Colin Hickey
Leaky Waders 