What is common courtesy regarding hunting WMA's

I am taking my 8 yr old on the Lake Russell adult/child hunt next week and we attended this hunt last year and many of the places I would have liked to hunted while up there already had flagging tape at various places on the roads. We assumed others were hunting around there, but hardly ever saw any vehicles at the turn out spots. I know it is public land, but boy was there alot of flagging tape, so do you go ahead and hunt in there or do you go find another spot, even though it appears no one is around. Just curious.

Most people on WMA's NEVER remove that stupid tape. If you don't see any vehicles parked in the general area, I'd hunt it.....and take the tape down myself.

I always remove flagging tape, but I never put any out...

It is littering IMHO. And I ALWAYS pull down any that I see in the woods and put it in my pocket for disposal when I leave the woods.

Go hunt it. If there is no one in there, it is free to hunt. There are no private property rights on WMAs. Now if someone is in the area, I will stay out and if I walk in on someone, I will quietly turn around and leave. But if there is not a warm body in there, go hunt it.

Buford- My experience has been to find a place without any kind of markings.
Look for the "overlooked" areas. I look for places that others skip over, usually close to the roads.

Between my dad and I we killed 4 deer on two different WMA hunts last year. These WMA's see a lot of hunters and all 4 of these deer were killed withing 200 yards of the road. Two buck and two does.

Good luck with your son!

Shouldn't be a lot to people on the youth hunt

I took my nephew a couple of years ago. He had his first deer within 30 minutes. No one else around in the area we were at. Get away from the crowds. I would never go off the main roads past the checking station. Grew up in the area, but try to avoid the Adult Hunts "too many people"
Still Lake Russel has more deer than anyplace I have ever been except "Ossabaw"

Buford dog-- Pm me if you want a hint on area's.

I am with the others...no problem hunting an area already marked and am fine pulling the ribbon down.

Dont hunt where a vehicle is already at though, would rather not walk up on folks.

Jim

I agree. No vehicle already there, hunt. I use trail marking tacks and remove after the hunt to use again later. If I mark a place with tacks and get there late or after someone else, I will move on to another place. I think most folks would do the same.

Ladie hunt

this is probally where you are finding all of the ribbons from it is usually a month before or less

I only hunt public land and use these situations to benefit me. Public land is first come first served/flagging tape or not. Hunt there if you are seeing good sign and deer. Most of the time that I see flagging tape on public land though, there is no sign or deer. Seems to me people have habits of hunting the same places year after year. To them they think the flagging tape lays some claim to the land and to deter other hunters from hunting there. Everytime I see flagging tape I tear it down and put it in my pocket. Litter is what it is. Make sure you cover the whole area and find the thickest spots and use their pressure to benefit you. They will be there wondering around the woods in the dark looking for their spot, hence pushing deer to you. I see it this way. You haven't been there enough or you didn't know where you were going in the first place if you had to mark your way. The only markers I use are two bright eyes in the tree I intend to hunt out of. There are quite a few trees in the woods so the bright eyes help once you get close. I have climbed many trees in the dark right next to the one I had marked because I could'nt find the marked one. Makes it interesting when daylight arrives and I'm wondering how close I got. Most of the time I'm twenty feet up the wrong tree looking at my bright eyes in the one right next to me. Good luck on your hunt.

Scrub Buck

No offense to you but IMO if you put flagging tape out, I would respect that this is your hunting spot. I flag my way and when done I take my tape out w/ me. If I have took 4 days of vacation one before the hunt starts to scout, hang my stand and then come back the next morning to find my tape gone cause someone took it down I would be very You have just wasted my first morning hunt, the best morning of the hunt, and you have wasted 1 or 2 days of my vacation. To me you should respect when someone marks thir spot if you walk it and find deer sign and find a place to cut me off then fine, but don't tear my tape down.
OR
I am walking into a thick area in the dark following my tape and all of a sudden I am 100yds back and someone has taken my tape down and I have to stand there 30+ minutes waiting on daylight me and someone is going to have a talk
If its new flagging show respect and move on , cause you will never have me to walk in on you as this is how we respect others hunting areas.

J seph,

Don't get me wrong here. I don't look for it. If I find it it, I'm taking it down. Public land is first come first served. Vacation time, tape, or your claim to the land, it all means nothing more than making sure that you get up early to beat the next person there. If you see two bright eyes in a tree on public land make sure you climb that tree, just make sure I'm not up it first. If you are there before me I would leave. :

I thought flagging tape was against the rules on some wma's ?Far too many hunters liter the wma's with that stuff and leave it for other ppl to clean up. I tear it down too. I've never use it either.

I've hunted several of the WMAs and frequently there is tape everywhere. I won't pull it down on my way in, but on my way out I will remove it.

From looking at most tape you can't tell if its been there 2 days or 2 months.

If you're scouting and want to mark your spot get yourself a compass or a GPS! One piece of tape at the road, and a compass will get you where you want to be most of the time.

I have hiked a mile down a powerline in Paulding forest, got ready to set up on the edge of some hardwoods and the power line and heard "Find Another Spot" - never saw the person who said it and I did find myself another spot.

The advice on finding a thick spot or a funnel leading to the backside of a ridge or mountain is good advice. I'll set up there and let them run the deer to me. If a hunter walks thru in the dark, I'll shine my flashlight at him so he'll know I"m there. During the daylight I just let them walk on thru and only say something if they sit down within shooting range.

Public is public - your flagging tape has no standing. If you sleep late you lose - sorry that's the way it is.

Good luck to you and don't forget to hunt safe!

common courtesy

I have always respected flagging tape because I have been in hunt clubs. I have never thought about throwing other peoples flaging tape away. I guess it is my nature!

From the looks of some of the wmas I've hunted.Their is so much flagging I dont see how some of these folks find there own truck.I'll rip it down if its old.If its new I just go alittle deeper in the woods than they do.If I have a good spot found THEY WILL NOT BEAT ME TO IT.I might have to set in the dark for an hour or so,but its first come first serve.I always have more than one spot to hunt if someone was to be in one of them.

This is such a touchy subject, but I will say this as I hunt wma's most all the time (yeah it suks). I went out this year to find a few spots, when I got there and began to walk through the woods. One guy, and you could tell it was one guy byt the flagging and way it was tied, had marked up almost the entire area, I walked for 3 hrs and everywhere I went he had flagging and lanes cut, Now I was courteous at first, but it gets to a point that you can't have the entire WMA. .......I want some private land next year.

Common Courtesy?????

If you use commom courtesy you will be alright. Meaning that if someone gets near you on a wma hunt I just move myself. It's hard to fathom but a lot of people will just stay where they are and hunt. Look for a funnel point and get in it. My buddy and myself have had good luck making a sign that says two or three hunters here and putting it where it can be seen and that deters the traffic. Of course some people can't read. I'm liking blinds more and more on the wma hunts also. Quick move.

courtesy?

Sometimes it doesn't exist.Even though I have met some good guys here and there on public land,I also have had stands stolen,been walked up on at 8:30in the morning,had guys bust turkeys I was working first,and have found adjoining hunting club guys poaching deer during small game season.I was really aggravated at Cedar Creek Friday.When I got to a spot I enjoy hunting,I was glad to see the gate closed and no vehicles there,meaning foot travel only.As I have hunted there plenty in the past both deer and turkey,I was not surprized to see the gate closed as it often is.I walked in to the bush-hogged foottravel only trail I usually walk in on.There was a red Ford ranger sitting there.As this was a dead end road,I knew they had only one way to come in,and that they had closed the gate behind them to discourage other hunters from using the area.this added about a 1/2 mile to my walk in,I didn't mind until I saw their truck there.There was a tree lounge deer stand and a gun case in the front seat,so I figured they were scouting.I really felt like cutting their tires as they had blocked off several hundred acres of public land(this road is about 2 miles long)from being hunted by other people that probably left at the sight of the "locked "gate.They were gone and the gate was open when I came out of the woods that night.I hid my stand and rifle,walked out to my truck and drove back to pick them up.No,I didn't cut any tires,or anything else stupid like that.The way things are,I'm sure what goes around comes around,and they will enjoy their own ill will in the future.All in all,treat people as you would like to be treated......donnie

Tape Puller

Part of the beauty of a national forest, wilderness area, or WMA is the impression of unspoiled, unmarked territory, or lack of human impression. The Dept of Interrior calls this "Leave No Trace" utilization. Im a tape puller, pull it off the limb and stick in my pocket, even if its still warm. But I will also go out of my way to avoid another hunter on public land. If he rolled out the sack early enough to beat me to a spot, then he/she deserves the right to hunt that trail. Occupancy or possession is the about the only way to keep me out of a tree (on public land)..now, we can tangle if you want to but a simple tip of the hat, wave of hand, blink of flashlight, or whistle will turn me right around on an approach...

I once climbed up in a deadfall on some nameless ridge in the middle of Cohutta an hour before daybreak just to have two gents come through at "deer thirty", stop under the tree, and have a 5 min conversation about all the feeding sign around them. I finally cleared my throat and they looked like God himself had breathed down the back their neck, being that I was only about 3 feet above their heads and in a thick fog that would come and go..it was quite humerous. But no, they apologized and quickly moved on.

There has been a lot of good advice on this thread and I realy like the comments Scrub Buck made & IMO, orange tape is more appropriate for hunting clubs, private land, and long peices of timber sticking off the back of your pickup. Show some love...leave public land primative.

Common Courtesy

I hunt several WMA's and for the most part it is alot of fun. I have only had one real bad situation and I handled it real well. I was at RIVER BEND WMA and I had scouted for two days. I hung my stand the day before the hunt. I was hunting close to the property line. I got in the stand 1 hour before daylight and 20 min before daylight I see a light comeing toward me so I flashed my light in his direction. He was still comeing in my direction so I said something to him to let him know I was there. He said he knew I was there. He walked right on by me went about 60 yds out in front of me and took a poopooheadpoopooheadpoopooheadpoopoohead on a tree.Then he walked back out the way he came. I told him what I thought about what he had done. He told me that we was on public land and he could hunt and poopooheadpoopooheadpoopooheadpoopoohead where ever he wanted. Fellows that day I was proud of my self for not looseing my temper. If that would have happened two years eairler that man would have had a bad day.