How much space to give other hunters?

[Toby]

For the past two years we have hunted an area that has more hunters than our previous area where we rarely saw or heard another Hunter. Our new area has more hunters, some camp near one of several trail heads and some spike camp. We camp at the trailhead and hike in each morning. Due to the location, we can hunt as far in as the spike camps on a long day hunt which we normally do.

My question is, how much room , if any, do we need to give the guys that are spike camping? I have seen two spike camps in the same location the past two years, both roughy 1.5 miles from the trailhead 2/3 of which is accessed by a gated road. I ran into both groups, one was friendly, the other not happy that we were in "their" territory. This is all on public land.

[cohunter14]

Are the spike camps right along the trail? If so, and that is where you see them, I wouldn't worry about it. However, if they are camped well of the trail and you happen to see their camp, I would avoid them if I could. That is just me though. Truthfully, I wouldn't be too thrilled about that location if I was constantly running into people.

[jmez]

Public land hunt where you wish.

[JohnFitzgerald]

I live by, do to others as you would have them do to you.

Maybe I'm just lucky with my honey holes. If someone is hunting one of them, I always have another to go to.

Having crowded grounds is a great opportunity to try new area's. I've found someone pretty sweet spots this way!

[Swede]

Just don't interfere with their camping and hunting.

[JJ Overkill]

personally I hate to see other hunters. I know its all public ground and everyone has the right to be out there hunting. it just pushes me to go farther into the wilderness where less people are present. If I see someone, I try to avoid them at all costs. this is just me though.

[Indian Summer]

I guess a good formula to figure that out would be to reverse the question and ask yourselfm how much space should I give myself so that the hunters from another camp won't affect me?

That fits John's answer of do unto others.

You've hunted it for 2 years. You've seen those camps for 2 years. Yes it's public land but assuming they were there before you I would give them the right of way. It's always a good idea to put yourself in the other girls shoes. Guys too. So here you are... looking for a place to call home. You see there are a few people camped at the trailhead. You decide that some extra effort before the hunt would be a worthwhile investment so you set a spike camp. You figure that if someone else comes along they would, for their own benefit, keep going for 2 reasons: 1) Why hunt where other people are hunting. 2) You'd want them to respect your area as you would theirs or... do unto them as you would hope they would do unto you.

So do what they did and take the time to look around and find a place to call home that nobody else has staked a claim to. If you're camped at a trailhead instead of hunting up the trail, go across the road and hunt the other side or drive a little way and start your hunt at a random or inconspicuous spot. Any time you use the main trail you can expect some overlap of hunting areas. So if the main trail is the only option I'd say instead of simply going further which I realize isn't always possible or even the best solution... pick a spot somewhere along the trail and bail off... gain or lose elevation depending on whether it's a creekside or ridgetop trail... and put some geographic barriers between you and other hunters. The solution to alot of things in finding a good spot often have a common denominator which is work.

Why did you leave the first area where you rarely saw other hunters?

[Swede]

I read some of the recommendations above and realize we all are hunting different areas. The advice of some is totally impractical in much of the general forest, elk hunting land of Oregon. I sit in my camp chair, the Friday PM before the season opens, and watch a couple dozen trailers being towed up the road to be set out not too far away. I pick up several hunters each year on my game cameras. I hear elk callers from my stand. There is no way that we can give each other the kind of space some recommend. That may be possible in the Flathead Wilderness of Montana (fictional), but it won't happen where you have a hundred hunters and everyone can drive within 1 1/2 miles of the remotest hole in the ground. My point is to consider this advise in light of your hunting area. Boy would I love to have no competition. Personally I am just happy to have hunters like Stringunner who sit in a stand and don't run off more elk than they leave.

[Toby]

We left our first area due to a huge fire which burnt most of it. And wolves had really reduced the elk numbers. The new place just doesn't geographically allow us to go further in, we run in to others coming in from another direction. One of the spike camps was there when we came in and is located right in the middle of a great hunting spot, the closest I got was about 3/4 of a mile from it. The second camp was set after we had been camped near the trailhead and hunted the area for 3-4 days. This is just a more highly hunted area. We live 1300 miles from our new area, so off season scouting is out of the question and even if we could scout it wouldn't tell us how many spike camps are there.

[G Posik]

This is one of those questions that does not have a simple answer. If they are on elk then about 10-12' is good, if they are not on elk then I get way way way away from them. (LOL)

Really if I come across someone and depending on the layout of the land I might jump over a couple ridges. If I get to the point where I can talk to them and find out what they have planned then might just move to the next drain. Sometimes you might need to move a couple miles and start over. I have had to change units before. After 3 tries it is time to move to another unit for me.

Glenn

[twinkieman]

I live by, do to others as you would have them do to you.

Maybe I'm just lucky with my honey holes. If someone is hunting one of them, I always have another to go to.

Having crowded grounds is a great opportunity to try new area's. I've found someone pretty sweet spots this way!

I have to agree with this, having other hunters around always helps me find new " holes" to hunt in.

[Indian Summer]

Swede you answer is a classic case of what I mentioned on another thread. Every answer on here is based on a certain area. When I'm in an area that has lots of people, where we all realize that we're not alone, it's different than the vast mountains. My experience with that is deer hunting in the east. I handle it in a similar way. Work a little harder. Back here that means finding the thickest nastiest patch of briars around. Lots of times that means close to housing plans and commercial areas. There is some steep stuff around too dropping down into the Allegheny and Ohio River valleys. Water & food is everywhere. Survival is the #1 factor for where they hang. Find those spots and then going up a tree and putting in your time is the best way to kill animals. The most consistent that's for sure. They are used to seeing and hearing human activity. We don't call them or sneak up on them. Anywhere I hunt like that... or any time I'm new to an area, the places nobody else wants to go is the place to start. But if I run into someone else in there we usually have a pretty good conversation and respect each other for being there and learn to live together.

I've hunted and still do hunt places where there are other elk hunters. Not too many of them. It only took one more miles or 750 feet of elevation to leave most of them behind. Hunting is good enough in reasonable distance from the roads that a lot of people are seeing enough animals to be confident without going any further. But there's always the off chance of seeing someone. None of us live in the upper Yukon right!

[stringunner]

As Swede mentioned in his post, in some areas you simply are just going to have other hunting pressure. Its is your choice as to whether you decide to keep hunting the area or move on to a new area. This is where having plans A-Z come in. In the area I hunt, there are several camps with the same guys in them every year. I try and make a point to stop by and introduce myself to these every year "resident" hunters. Having done this, we have been able to "sort of" figure out the general areas we are all hunting and have made efforts to not cross paths at least intentionally.

[Swamp Buck]

I have learned the hard way that any bull is Fair Game and no one has Dibbs on any elk or any spot. I will always at least circle around you.