Public Land Hunting Ethics

  First and foremost, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this blog, I hope you will find the information helpful and applicable to wherever you live.

  It seems these days there is a lot of confusion, or perhaps just a lack of caring, on the proper ethics we as hunters need to follow on the public land areas we hunt. More and more often, I continue to hear stories of how someone has taken the time to scout out a new area before season, set up trail cameras, hung treestands, and cut shooting lanes, only to find out on opening day that there are three to four people hunting right on top of them. Whether its a lack of communication with our fellow hunters, or a lack of respect for the hard work someone has put in, I will never know. I can only hope that it comes with others simply not knowing any better.
 On one of the forums I'm apart of, I recently saw a question posed about what they should do when they come to a ribbon marker on a trail or in an area they intended on hunting. I was appalled to find out that the general consensus on the topic was to remove the ribbon, with the reasoning being "it's public land, there's too many markers, who cares". Fact of the matter is that ribbon markers alone can have multiple reasons for why they're there; whether it's for marking a trail to a treestand, marking a tree for a logging company, marking a property boundary, the uses are endless. Personally, I leave the marker alone, not everyone knows their way around the woods, so to remove what may possibly be the only way they know how to get in and out, you've basically caused them to get lost; all because "it's public land". If there's a marker where you intended to hunt, then by all means, leave the marker alone, and continue on your way to the area you want to hunt, if someone is already there, then quietly back out, and go to another area. There's no reason to ruin someone else's hunt, simply because they got up earlier than you did.
  When I was just starting out hunting public land, I ended up learning this lesson the hard way. I had done my scouting, sat a few areas where there was an abundance of sign, and set up my dad's aluminum Amacker climber on a tree where I was certain I was going to see some action. After a few days of hunting that area, I had a group of hogs come in about a hundred yards out, so the next morning, I moved out 100 yards to the area where I had seen them. I hunted that afternoon and left the stand out there to return the following days after work. As soon as I got to where I was going to hunt, I realized, my stand wasn't there! I looked up and down on every tree, praying I was off on where I thought I was, and then I saw it. On the tree I had my climber on, there were the teeth marks from where I had climbed up and down, and there on the ground were tire tracks running right to that tree. Someone had stolen my stand.
I learned a valuable lesson that day, always lock up your treestands when leaving them on public land. I know that times have certainly changed, words like honor and integrity, qualities that were once a major part of how we lived our lives have become very hard to come by; but that's the world we live in. If you come across a treestand in the woods, just leave it be. Don't get me wrong, I've been guilty of climbing up in someone's stand just to see what they look at, but afterwards, I climb down and move on. This has also been a topic of discussion on many forums across the internet, on whether or not it is ethical to hunt another person's treestand. Personally, I leave the stand alone unless I have talked with the owner of the treestand and he/she has given me specific permission to hunt it. Something you may want to think about doing, leave your name and number on the stand, that way if someone were to find it, they have the option to call and ask your permission to hunt it. Now, I know that isn't the most popular choice, but it is an option; and in my opinion, it's better than either a.) walking out to your stand just to find someone sitting in it, or b.) finding out someone tampered with or moved your stand.

  Now that I've covered a few deer/hog hunting ethics as pertaining to treestands and marking "secret spots", lets talk about duck hunting.
I'm new to the duck hunting world myself, but in this short amount of time, I have learned so much about proper ethics and I feel the need to share them here as well.
When you take a shot, you want to make sure that it will be the best possible shot you can make. That's why its imperative that you don't "Skybust". What is skybusting? It's where you take "pot-shots" at ducks that are flying too high and/or out of range. Most shotguns shoot 50 yards or less, so you owe it to yourself and the game you pursue, not to take these type of shots. Best case scenario is that you'll miss and scare away any birds that may have come in to your decoys, worst case, you hit and wound one, just to have it fall hundreds of yards away from you to where you will never be able to recover it. Plainly stated, don't do it.
  Decoys; if you are not apart of the group that set out the decoys, don't hunt near them! I've heard countless veteran duck hunters complain about someone using their decoys to shoot at birds that otherwise would've been theirs. It's simple, you didn't buy them, you didn't set them out, you don't hunt over them. While we're on the topic, say you weren't paying attention and a couple ducks landed in the decoys; nothing wrong with that at all, in fact, take pride in the effectiveness of your setup, but please, don't shoot the decoys just to get the duck. Nowadays a dozen decoys can run anywhere from sixty to well over a hundred dollars, one bird isn't worth it, just walk out and flush them up, and take your shot once they're clear of the decoys, it gives the duck a better chance and it's the more ethical way to duck hunt.
One major question that gets disputed over is, "who gets to shoot first?" I've ran into a few of these situations myself and after asking around, I have general sense of what's considered proper. Whoever spotted the duck first and has the best shot gets first shot with the others being as a follow up. If the duck lands, then it's whoever gets up to flush the duck that gets the first shot. Personally, when I'm among friends, it's whoever has the best shot and is fast on the trigger, it makes it more fun and all in all seems to be fairly effective.
I've also heard story after story of "stolen birds", where two people shot at the same duck and once it hits the water, it's a dispute over who's bird it is. No duck is worth a friendship, if you truly know deep down, that it is without a doubt your duck, then claim it, otherwise, let the other person have it. The way I see it, that's one less duck they can legally kill and as you begin to approach your limit, they will ultimately be sitting out before you do. There will always be more ducks, there will always be more hunts, don't let something small and petty ruin a friendship.

In closing, I just want to thank you for reading this post, I hope it was helpful or at the very least entertaining, thank you so much for your support and good luck on the rest of your hunting season!

-Chris Johnson