# legal/courtesy question



## bigbuckdreamin (Nov 23, 2014)

I guess let's start by saying me and a friend have hunted a Swamp on public land for the last 2 years and never had or seen anyone on this spot. This year we got there at 430 am to find 2 trucks parked. We thought wow maybe we were just late. Come to find out these guys had slept in their trucks, had a fire and camped out on national forest land. Well as we're about to walk in they woke up and told us they had never hunted this pond before but had all their decoys set up the night before. Well being as the pond is fair size we decided to set up anyways on the opposite side. I guess my first question is, is it common practice to set up night before? We never seen a single bird fly out that morning which the past 2 years we see plenty flying out of this pond. Any chance these guys pushed the birds off the night before? Needless to say wasn't a great morning. We seen maybe 20 birds and only half close enough to shoot. Just seemed like a real crap move to go in the night before and then come walking in 20 minutes before legal shooting time. I'm hoping the lack of birds will discourage them from coming back to this spot.


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## Atchafalaya (Nov 23, 2014)

You will deal with all kinds of folks hunting on public land. Just deal with it and and enjoy your hunt as best as possible. If that doesn't work then its time to go scout a new hole.


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## bigbuckdreamin (Nov 23, 2014)

Yah I'm working on finding a few new spots to check out for this coming week. Apparently our secret is out.


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## vrooom (Nov 23, 2014)

How far from the swamp were they parked?  If they're more than 100 yards from their spot when someone else gets there, it ain't their spot


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## Joe Overby (Nov 23, 2014)

vrooom said:


> How far from the swamp were they parked?  If they're more than 100 yards from their spot when someone else gets there, it ain't their spot



Decoys don't hold spots...people do...I'm with you vroom...


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## rnelson5 (Nov 23, 2014)

There is no such thing as a secret public land spot.


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## GSURugger (Nov 23, 2014)

Joe Overby said:


> Decoys don't hold spots...people do...I'm with you vroom...



Agreed. I love when I come up on the "lonely lantern In the tree" trick.


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## bigbuckdreamin (Nov 23, 2014)

It's about a mile walk down logging road then another 400 yes or so off the road. And yah they had a lantern hanging. I'm not saying it was a secret spot, just never seen anyone there.


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## Headsortails (Nov 23, 2014)

I have yet to pick up decoys put out the night before but a light means squat!


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## T-N-T (Nov 23, 2014)

If you aint camping in the blind,  you aint holding your "spot".


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## birddog52 (Nov 24, 2014)

with computers and google earth aint no secret holes anymore ( plus DUCK DYNASTY


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## MudDucker (Nov 24, 2014)

You can't hold or claim anything on public land.  You are at the good will of fellow hunters or the lack thereof.  Legally, if they are hunting too, they can wade in next to you and put out their own decoys in with your spread or just shot over yours.


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## bigbuckdreamin (Nov 24, 2014)

I have only been duck hunting the last 3 years. Deer hunted most of my life, but never had time while in the military (10 years) I absolutely love duck hunting but it has been challenging finding spots to hunt especially since my only choice is public land. I guess i expect a little too much from people when it comes to common courtesy or common sense, something that seems to be lacking in younger people these days...


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## bigbuckdreamin (Nov 24, 2014)

Oh, i did forget to mention late in the hunt that morning, We had 2 woodies come in over our heads and dang near splash down smack dab in the middle of our decoys. Unfortunately nobody was prepared as i told "bird over your head" to my friends to the right. The birds touched the water and quickly took back off to our left. When the morons across the pond thought it was a good idea to try to shoot these birds from 100yds, shot straight at us. Peppered us all with shot.


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## wray912 (Nov 24, 2014)

if you leave your dekes to "hold your hole" and you are not there when i show up...not only did you just loose your hole you might have just lost some dekes


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## GADawg08 (Nov 24, 2014)

wray912 said:


> if you leave your dekes to "hold your hole" and you are not there when i show up...not only did you just loose your hole you might have just lost some dekes





don't be "that guy"....


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## kingfish (Nov 24, 2014)

Several years ago a public lake had been on fire the prior year.  Opening morning of the new year, some south Florida "guides" tried to cover the entire south end of the lake the night before opening morning.  Decoys and lit lanterns on PVC poles.  Last year, a group of hunters tried to blockade a portion of another lake in the dark as hunters started to get on the lake and move to their spots. You really do meet and see all kinds.  Also used to run into decoys out and no hunters on the Florida side of Seminole.  If you want to enjoy duck hunting on public land, you learn to deal and adjust.


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## andyparm (Nov 24, 2014)

GADawg08 said:


> [/COLOR]
> 
> 
> don't be "that guy"....



 Finding some good dekes in the woods?? How is that being "that guy"?


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## wray912 (Nov 24, 2014)

andyparm said:


> Finding some good dekes in the woods?? How is that being "that guy"?



salvage rules apply


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## GADawg08 (Nov 24, 2014)

andyparm said:


> Finding some good dekes in the woods?? How is that being "that guy"?



i thought you were implying the dekes were already in the water..... if I found a bag of dekes laying in the woods, I'd probably throw them just as far out as I could and let the guys who thought they were "holding a spot" go get 'em


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## Nitram4891 (Nov 24, 2014)

They beat you to the spot and were willing to sleep in their trucks for it.  Bring a tent next year.


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## Joe Overby (Nov 24, 2014)

Nitram4891 said:


> They beat you to the spot and were willing to sleep in their trucks for it.  Bring a tent next year.



They didn't beat anybody anywhere. They went the day before and put out decoys to reserve a spot and then vacated said spot to sleep elsewhere. Decoys don't hold spots, people do...had anybody gotten to that spot that am before they woke up, decoys or not, the hole is fair game....don't like it?? Bring a tent.


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## GSURugger (Nov 24, 2014)

Spent many openers sleeping in shifts and making sure the spotlight stays plugged in.  In the spot.  
I'm a nice enough guy, but I guarantee if you leave decoys out and a lantern hanging, you'll find decoys and said lantern piled up waiting on their pickup.


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## Nitram4891 (Nov 24, 2014)

I missed the distance between the trucks and the spot...yeah I would have been sleeping in a tent next to my decoys.


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## rnelson5 (Nov 24, 2014)

I just am not camping out in a GA spot for ducks.... Ain't happening. Then again I also would not dare set up on top of another group who has beat me there. I have gotten up several mornings to find out some one has camped out to get the spot I was going to. More power to ya buddy. You deserve those ducks. Now what they did is not legit and their stuff would be tossed aside if they were not within a reasonable distance of the spread.


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## j_seph (Nov 24, 2014)

wray912 said:


> salvage rules apply


That sort of like fishing noodles left unattended


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## GADawg08 (Nov 24, 2014)

rnelson5 said:


> I just am not camping out in a GA spot for ducks.... Ain't happening. Then again I also would not dare set up on top of another group who has beat me there. I have gotten up several mornings to find out some one has camped out to get the spot I was going to. More power to ya buddy. You deserve those ducks. Now what they did is not legit and their stuff would be tossed aside if they were not within a reasonable distance of the spread.




yep....if you see me "camping" at a duck hole in GA, please check my pulse cause I will probably be about dead.


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## rnelson5 (Nov 24, 2014)

GADawg08 said:


> yep....if you see me "camping" at a duck hole in GA, please check my pulse cause I will probably be about dead.


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## stringmusic (Nov 24, 2014)

GADawg08 said:


> yep....if you see me "camping" at a duck hole in GA, please check my pulse cause I will probably be about dead.



Hunert percent.


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## king killer delete (Nov 24, 2014)

GADawg08 said:


> yep....if you see me "camping" at a duck hole in GA, please check my pulse cause I will probably be about dead.


Can i have your decoys


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## duckyaker90 (Nov 24, 2014)

No camping in GA for me. I'll be in my bed laid up with some warm tail. Not doin that with some dudes in a tent. Just my opinion.


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## MudDucker (Nov 25, 2014)

I don't camp in my boat in Georgia or anywhere else.  I've been known to sleep in a camper and once in a blue moon in my truck.

Now as for these "salvage decoys", I was eating in a restaurant in Florida one morning after a nice duck hunt when a group of about 6 hunters pulled up in three different boats.  One of the guys was begin given a hard time.  When I saw his face, he had a black eye and some bruises.  I could not help but to overhear the conversation.  It seems he too had pulled up in a hole and found some salvage decoys.  It also seems that the owner of said decoys took offense to the theft of his decoys, pulled up to this guy's boat, grabbed him by the coat and proceeded to beat the you know what out of him, then pick up his decoys and leave.

If I were some of these "salvage" folks in here, I would think about that before I entered the salvage business.


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## king killer delete (Nov 25, 2014)

I picked up a guys decoy many years ago that floated off with the tide. It had his home phone number on the bottom of the decoy. I called him the first chance I got and returned his decoy.  It worked out for me. He and I became good hunting buddys and I got invited on some great hunts because of his connections. Its sad he died years ago.


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## andyparm (Nov 25, 2014)

MudDucker said:


> I don't camp in my boat in Georgia or anywhere else.  I've been known to sleep in a camper and once in a blue moon in my truck.
> 
> Now as for these "salvage decoys", I was eating in a restaurant in Florida one morning after a nice duck hunt when a group of about 6 hunters pulled up in three different boats.  One of the guys was begin given a hard time.  When I saw his face, he had a black eye and some bruises.  I could not help but to overhear the conversation.  It seems he too had pulled up in a hole and found some salvage decoys.  It also seems that the owner of said decoys took offense to the theft of his decoys, pulled up to this guy's boat, grabbed him by the coat and proceeded to beat the you know what out of him, then pick up his decoys and leave.
> 
> If I were some of these "salvage" folks in here, I would think about that before I entered the salvage business.



Lucky for me there is not a soul in Florida who could "beat the you know what" out of me so I'd take that chance!  

Honestly I've never had public land problems like I always hear about. I hunt public almost exclusively and am generally able to stay away from other hunters and still kill plenty of birds. Having said that, if I showed up to one of my spots and there were decoys on the water with no one around to claim them I would definitely move them out of the hole and replace them with my own. If the guys came back and had an issue with it I would kindly explain to them why I will be hunting the hole in place of them. If that didn't work refer back to my original statement and just 'insert state here'  

I don't have those problems though...I try to be where the birds are going to be once the yahoos hunting on top of each other run them out of the area they're hunting...that's my strategy in the more populated areas I hunt anyways.


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## Georgia Hard Hunter (Nov 25, 2014)

bigbuckdreamin said:


> I guess let's start by saying me and a friend have hunted a Swamp on public land for the last 2 years and never had or seen anyone on this spot. This year we got there at 430 am to find 2 trucks parked. We thought wow maybe we were just late. Come to find out these guys had slept in their trucks, had a fire and camped out on national forest land. Well as we're about to walk in they woke up and told us they had never hunted this pond before but had all their decoys set up the night before. Well being as the pond is fair size we decided to set up anyways on the opposite side. I guess my first question is, is it common practice to set up night before? We never seen a single bird fly out that morning which the past 2 years we see plenty flying out of this pond. Any chance these guys pushed the birds off the night before? Needless to say wasn't a great morning. We seen maybe 20 birds and only half close enough to shoot. Just seemed like a real crap move to go in the night before and then come walking in 20 minutes before legal shooting time. I'm hoping the lack of birds will discourage them from coming back to this spot.



A Question if the birds are roosting on this pond woundn't you coming in before daylight a putting out decoys or at least first gun shot scare off all the ducks anyway??? If you have a roosting spot wouldn't you hunt it at dark and shoot birds coming into the pond to roost? If the birds are flying into or over the pond in the AM then they probably have shot the crap out of them in days before you got there and the birds are scared off the spot.


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## Core Lokt (Nov 25, 2014)

I hunt public land 98% of the time and really don't have much issues. I don't sleep in boats or at the ramp either. Heck, opening morning I didn't push off until 5:30am. First come serve to a spot. We don't have folks leaving decoys out all night here. The youg bucks do sleep in their boats though.  Only real problem I have is from time to time sky busting. Makes me want to invite the young fella on a hunt and learn him the ins and outs. actually did this once and he turned out to be a respectable and ethical hunter. As much as I love it there's more to life  than fighting over a duck blind or deer stand.

Oh yea, stealing don't go well with me either... if it isn't yours let it be no matter what.

Good luck to all


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## duckyaker90 (Nov 25, 2014)

I've seen better ways to hold a spot. Saturday morning pulled into boat ramp at 2a.m to find three boat trailers there already and 20 vehicles. Two of which were blocking the ramp. These Columbia county boys sure got it figured out......almost


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