# Flagging Tape Etiquette



## bogeyfree31 (Dec 27, 2011)

What do you do when you see it on a WMA quota hunt?

1. Avoid the area.

2. Must be a good spot, so you check it out.

3. Remove the litter and go on.


I hear some people saying it is an honor system and if you see flagging tape move on.

I also know that some people will Tape off 4 or 5 consecutive "No Access Roads" to keep people 1/4 mile away from them.

Personally, I think you should remove it when you come out of the woods and re-mark it each time you walk back in.


----------



## leemckinney (Dec 27, 2011)

If there is a vehicle around then I avoid it.  I just wish they would not use orange tape to mark a trail.  I kept seeing orange and thought it was hunters.


----------



## deadend (Dec 27, 2011)

It comes down when I see it being another form of litter.  My pack also fills up with beer cans, water bottles, dip cans and other crap inbreds leave behind.


----------



## DEERFU (Dec 27, 2011)

deadend said:


> It comes down when I see it being another form of litter.  My pack also fills up with beer cans, water bottles, dip cans and other crap inbreds leave behind.



lmbo  somebody at BFG likes marking a LOT of places with budlight cans


----------



## bogeyfree31 (Dec 27, 2011)

Saw a tree on the road marked with a McDonalds french fry container yesterday.  Looked 40 yards into the woods and saw a ground blind on a food plot.

They must have a REAL bad sense of direction.

Also why use marking tape all the way down to your stand, when you have a GPS or GPS app on your phone to get you in and out.


----------



## southGAlefty (Dec 27, 2011)

I always take it down after the hunt and try not to mark more than is absolutely necessary to get me in and out of my stand. I do tend to walk a good bit but still don't use a whole bunch. 

As far as hunting around it, unless it's dated I don't pay any attention to it. The only thing I avoid is trucks and deer stands.


----------



## ridgestalker (Dec 27, 2011)

I usually take all i see down before,during,after a hunt dont matter its just trashy an if you cant find your way to were you want to hunt hunt close to the rd.An folks who think you have sole access by marking it your crazy.Seen where a guy had used walmart bags about every 30ft for a 1/4 mile one time to a spot.I am sure i have caused a few to get turned around without there bread crumb trail an few might have followed there tape to end up back at the truck.
I am respectfull to those who are there first or that are hunting the area but i just laugh when i see all the tape.
Cause it dont mean nothing.


----------



## 7Mag Hunter (Dec 27, 2011)

If it is a quota hunt, I will check to see if it has initials and dates
of the hunt on it...If it is new tape, I will likely move on unless it is
a big area and I have a spot I would like to hunt, then I will try to 
talk to the other guy to share the area if safe....
If I use tape to mark and area, I take it down when I leave..

If it is an open WMA, I will pull it down if it looks old.....I got 1/2 a
fanny pack full of the stuff now...I will not need to buy tape for 3-4 yrs!!!!


----------



## tree cutter 08 (Dec 27, 2011)

never use it. dont like seeing it in the woods. if ya cant find your way around without it you dont need to be in the woods


----------



## GMARK (Dec 28, 2011)

*Date the tape*

I used flagging tape once on a State Park hunt.  I had scouted the day before the hunt and found a good spot.  There was no sign of anyone else around.  I put up a couple a pieces of flagging tape at the head of the trail.  I included the date on the tape so people would know it wasn't old and that someone was hunting in that spot.  The idea seemed to work.  No one walked in on me and no one took the tape down.


----------



## RNC (Dec 28, 2011)

Every lease I was ever on had old flaggin here an there ;[

At least folks could take the stuff down  , most dont care tho I guess !


----------



## bogeyfree31 (Dec 29, 2011)

trucknhunter said:


> I flaged a good spot down at mayhaw the night before the hunt the next morning after walking way back in the woods a hunter is already there in the tree this is before sunrise. He had to follow my tape I almost set up close to him just because.



So a hunter scouted the area before you did, but didn't use tape.

Same hunter beats you to the stand the next morning.

However, since you taped it off, after he had already scouted, and he beat you to the spot the next morning, you were thinking of messing up his hunt?


----------



## Fishin & Hunting (Dec 29, 2011)

I don't use tape, I do scout the public land I hunt weeks before the season.  And I scout it out each year because things and memories change.  I use a GPS.  

Now just because some one uses flagging tape, does not give them the right to hunt the area before me.  

Getting there first in the morning will give them that right in my mind.

P.S. I take flagging tape down.  Once or twice I was know to take it down and then string in the opposite direction.  I know, I am the devil.


----------



## oldways (Dec 29, 2011)

I hunt wma's all year flagging tape and bright eyes will confuse you in the morning before light sometimes. I try to remove mine after the hunt. I pay more attention to trucks than flagging tape but it does help to write the dates of the hunt on it.


----------



## bogeyfree31 (Dec 30, 2011)

Or maybe this person was already familiar with the area from years past and didn't need to mark off the road.


----------



## southGAlefty (Dec 30, 2011)

Same thing happened to me on Chickasawhatchee this year. Scouted week before and opening morning guy was in the tree I marked but he walked in from other side so I wasn't mad. He just beat me to it. I moved a few hundred yards around the bend and we both saw deer. He ended up shooting one too. First come first serve folks.


----------



## southGAlefty (Dec 30, 2011)

trucknhunter said:


> First come first serve never saw that in the regulations. I've hunted at rum creek within eye shot of another hunter maybe 40 yds away i set up because he didn't flag it. So if i walk with all my gear 1/2 mile to a spot i'm setting up you don't own the wma.



Well I certainly hope I never have the pleasure of sharing a WMA with you boss man but wish you the best of luck in your tactics.


----------

