What would you do?

[olympushunt]

Ok….here is the sitchervation. You scout a new area, pouring hundreds of hours on research and boots on the ground. It is an area that you had no prior knowledge of but it looked to have all the ingredients of an awesome area when you did your “office homework” in the off season. The first fall you get to hunt you take off the 3rd week of the season to hunt. You kill a nice 5 point within the first 2 hours of your hunt. Needless to say that has you over the top ecstatic. After spending a few more days in the area after your kill you get even more excited as you see the one thing you have been looking for in an area. NO OTHER hunters. There are camps a few miles away but the draws you are hiking have zero boot tracks. Feeling like you just hit the lottery you head home for a torturous off season having to wait until next season to hunt it. The next summer you, and your buddy that was with you the last hunting season, put out 7 game cameras in the 4 drainages below your spike camp. You camp up on top of a main ridge that provides you the best access to those side draws. It is the best location for access and the ability to hike the side ridges and dump into the draws. You and your buddy leave for home to let your cameras soak and are brimming with confidence. It will be a painful long wait for the opener of the archery season. Finally the season has arrived! You leave from home on Thursday evening to be ready to roll for Saturday morning. When you arrive Friday morning and hike to camp you have a sinking feeling seeing tracks from other people headed in the direction of your camp. To you horror and dismay in the distance you see a camp has been set up right in the very spot you were going to camp. Being kicked in the jimmy would hurt less. All that work and hope has been squashed as there is really no other ideal spot to hunt those draws from. It is quite obvious the hunters that are camped there will be heading into those draws first thing the next morning. It is public land and they simply were there first. One of you suggests hustling out of there and quickly trying to make up a plan b hunt. The other suggests going into their camp and talking with them to see what’s up. What would you do?
As you can guess this happened to me and my buddy a few years ago.

[saddlesore]

As you stated ,they were there first.That is why you need plans B, C,and D. I don't see where talking to them to see "What's Up"has a lot of benefits. They may tag out early and you can move in after that,but they may stay for a week or so.
No way would I camp within a mile of that camp, only to be courteous.

Where I hunt,there are several outfitter's drop camps. I don't hunt close to those camps, and have told the outfitter the same.We have be come good friends over the years..

There are millions of acres of public land , in just one unit alone.. One of the big learned things about elk hunting is figuring out what the elk do because of hunter pressure. I'd go elsewhere.

[Tigger]

Ooooweee! That is a tough one. My first thought is to go talk to them. tell them you had scouted this area all fall and were planning on hunting there but since they got there first, you will back off and try and find somewhere else. They might even have a suggestion for you! I would wish them luck and then head somewhere else. the one thing I would NOT do is infringe upon them.

I cant wait to hear what happened in real life.

These are always tough spots. Bottom line...treat others like you would like to be treated. You will feel better in the long run.

My second thought would be to burn their camp to the ground, then steal their spot when they left! Just kiddin' on that one.

So here is a good question that I don't know if there is a good answer for.....should you have somehow marked the area so that they knew someone else was planning on camping there? You certainly cannot "reserve" public land, but for honest hunters, if they see a spot where someone else is obviously scouting, they would find another place. Is that ethical? I know not. that question could spawn pages of debate I know.

[Swede]

You could stop about 1/2 mile before you get to the camp and send your friend ahead. He would say, "I know I don't know you very well, but I would recommend you leave my camping spot and go somewhere else." He is big and athletic enough to demand respect, and strong consideration when he gives out some friendly advise.

[olympushunt]

My buddy and I sat down for a few minutes and had a long discussion about what to do. We actually did have a legit plan B. Dad was only an hour and a half away with plenty of room for us at our traditional spot. We really did want to stay in that area though. So we talked back and forth about staying in that general area and making a plan C or plan D where we wouldn't infringe on those guys. We didn't have good knowledge of the surrounding areas either. We had a significant investment both in time and money down in those draws below those guys. We had 7 game cams spread down in there and although I wasn't terribly worried they would be stolen (we use lock boxes) I knew we could not get all of them out by Saturday morning. It would be a pain and sacrifice of our hunting time to come back later at the end of our hunt, cut our hunt time short, and collect them. Also just busting in there to collect them and get out would most likely screw those guys. Our original idea was to hunt our way into collecting them .....but these guys put a new wrinkle in our plans! We wrestled (not literally because my buddy could kick my butt) about what to do. I wanted to go talk to them and I think my buddy was leaning towards bogeying out. There is no right or wrong answer I don't suppose on this....just curious what other peeps would opt to do. I will tell you what transpired after more time for replies.

[Swede]

I don't know the entire situation, but I think I would camp well away from the new camp and just drive in somewhat close and go hunt. I would leave them alone and just go about my business, unless I knew another area my friend and I would have to ourselves. In the area you are talking about it is nearly impossible to find any significant place where you can reasonably predict you will be alone.

[WapitiTalk1]

Tough nut to crack for sure. Since you had time invested in the area, had cams already emplaced you needed to recover, I personally would have no problem heading into the camp to talk to the guys. Meet them, tell them that your plan was to camp/hunt in this area but since they arrived first, you have no intentions of stepping on their hunt. For sure, I'd ask them how long they'd be hunting here (perhaps they're just up for the weekend and you could camp away from them and the area till they depart). Heck, they might be camping here and hunting over the other side of the ridge? Even if they are there for a week or longer, they may have minimal elk hunting experience and actually invite you and your buddy to share a camp, hunt with them, and share a bit of what you know about elk hunting. Perhaps they were TS hunters and were only sitting on a couple of wallows, saddles, trail crossings, etc. close to camp and they may tell you to hunt there, just please don't work the areas around where their TS's were. Yep, they may have been a couple of Richard's and immediately assumed the "you're not really even thinking of hunting here are you?". You just don't know what may transpire until you talk to them... I'm sure you'll tell us what happened in your situation.

[six]

Wouldn't hurt talking to the guys. Best scenario they are only hunting deer. Worst they have a half dozen elk hunters in camp. Next year one of you fly out to put out trail cams mid summer and the other fly out a week before season and claim your spot with a pup tent.

[Swede]

I like your idea and RJ's idea of talking to those at camp if you really have some viable option to going into an area. Then you can discuss how, when, and where you are all hunting. Even if they say "we have this area first and really don't want you disturbing it", you can go to plan "B". Since you have all of those cameras down in those canyons and a round trip out of there without them means 20 hours extra driving, your options are excruciatingly limited. Personally I only ask if I am willing to accept a "No" answer. If "No" works for you then certainly talk and see what arrangements you can make to best meet all of everyone's objectives. You might make some new friends and hunting consultants. If "No" is a viable answer you really have more to gain by talking than you have to lose.

[N2mywake]

one of you go talk to the guys to see what's going on, while the other one pics out a tune of Dueling Banjo's while surveying a spot to put the tent

Seriously I would talk to the guys and make it clear from the beginning you're not going to infringe on them but rather just finding out how long they plan to be around so you know when you can grab your cams. Like the others said you may make some new contacts to see how the area played out, OR you may find their time is limited there.

[Elkhunttoo]

I think to me (of course it would stink and ideally no one is there) but it's about the same as camping at the road with multiple camps. Definitely not what you want but talk with them, make a plan and Go from there. Had a similar situation a few years back and we exchanged phone numbers, we both figured if we were going to both drive four or five hours to camp at the same spot we might as well touch base when we were going to go.

[cohunter]

Regarding 'saving' a spot... there is a amp in our area that sets up tents a week before the season. They might start hunting the second weekend, but not frequently. The tents are taken down the week after archery season ends. In all, tents set up from mid august to end of September/first of October. This bothers me for several reasons: 1 - 14 day camping limit 2 - this camp is right in a prime elk corridor 3 - well... I'll just stop there. I need to keep my Blood Pressure down.

We still hunt the same area - hike through their camp every morning before they're awake and have yet to actually see them away from camp. In your situation, I'd talk to them and defer to them. I'd ask where they plan to hunt and then choose one of the other parts unless Plan B seemed more alluring at that point. It's frustrating, but... it IS public land.

[saddlesore]

Cohunter.
I'd sure talk to a CPW officer about that 14+ days. Now days,CPW and NF officers can do each other's legal duty.Explain to them the problem of camping in an elk corridor too

[Swede]

I believe in being considerate of others, but am having a little trouble understanding where people are coming from on this thread. There seems to be two conflicting ideas here. One point is that it is public land. The other is that Oly should go into consultation to hunt there as these first hunters essentially own it now. Everyone where I hunt would seem to claim the public land option.
I doubt that camp will have the only hunters in the area if Oly leaves and comes back for his cameras after the hunters leave the area.
I am almost always the first in my area as I arrive 5 days before the season opens. No outsider has ever asked me permission to hunt the area. I have coordinated with a few folks, but the option of them not hunting there was not on the table. I have never thought of claiming first rights. I would always consider first right on a water hole, but not multiple major drainages.
As I understand it this camp in place is on the high ground over looking several drainages and Oly's cameras. That general un-roaded area is probably over 10,000 acres. I have not measured it, but have seen it, been around the edges, and observed it on G.E. How much land should one camp be given the rights to?
For you guys that will go somewhere else, my advise would to be avoid Oregon. There is no major area like Oly's that is hunter free. For those that are willing to hunt there, be courteous and don't disturb the people camped where you wanted to locate. They have a right to enjoy their hunt without undue interference.

[olympushunt]

one of you go talk to the guys to see what's going on, while the other one pics out a tune of Dueling Banjo's while surveying a spot to put the tent

My favorite reply so far! LOL! Ya...that sure might work!

I definitely do not like infringing on other people. I try to respect others hunt plans as I hope others will respect mine. This past deer season I was driving Swede around looking for a deer and we came across a guy parked along the side of the road. I asked how he was doing and he said he had a hunter just up the road and down in a draw putting a stalk on a deer. I could tell he was not thrilled we were going to be driving down the road so I asked if he would like me to turn around and he kinda sheepishly admitted as much....so we did. It was probably ridiculous for us to not drive down the road but out of respect I turned us around. Oddly a quarter mile back down where we came from Swede almost killed a monster buck that crossed the road. So I try to do right by others. But I'm not perfect. I have terribly misjudged others in the past and I try to learn from my mistakes. It kills me to this day that I thought Stringunner was not the guy I know him to be now. That is one outstanding guy who I would do just about anything for.
Anyway... My buddy and I talked forever about what to do. We didn't want to mess up their hunts but it wasn't a simple situation as just go somewhere else when we had a bunch of our cams out. We could have played dumb and went ahead collecting our cams and hunted it. Maybe, like RJ suggested, they were going to the other side of that main ridge. Maybe they were just deer hunting. Maybe they were just out for some country air and banjo playing. lol I was sick over it because I knew by looking at the number of tracks and looking at the amount of gear/tents they had that they were not weekenders and they likely were there for the same reason we were. It was like somebody just went and took a pee all over my warm campfire. My buddy and I cried in our beer for awhile and I finally said let's just go talk to these jokers and see what's up. What's the worst thing that would happen? So we go....we could hear them jawing long before they saw us and I called out to them. "Anybody home?" They came out of their tents and I introduced ourselves and apologized for intruding on their camp. I complimented them on their campsite choice as it was a great vantage point to those draws. I told them we had camped there the year before and enjoyed it very much. They were super nice. I explained how we had planned on hunting those draws below their camp but seeing how they got there first we would not hunt them but I asked if they minded if we collected our 7 cameras down in those draws. They were shocked we had that many out and said to please stay and hunt them. I insisted we didn't as they were there first and I just was hoping to get the gear...go in quick and quiet and get out...but it may take us 2 days as they were spread out. We chatted for hours. We are still friends to this day and swap info by email. It was 3 guys and turns out they had been hunting that area for over 20 years. Just talking to them we knew they were no BSers. They knew that turf extremely well. We shared info...even about the huge drop tine 7 point we were looking for and they were shocked he was still alive. They said they hadn't seen him for awhile and were happy to know he was still around. They gave us very valuable information including a hidden spring to get water from we didn't know about and some wallows we didn't know about either. We grew to have a mutual trust and even had them collect some cameras for us they were going to hunt their way to. By chatting with them we learned a ton about that area that would have taken us many more years to figure out. They ended up killing two bulls opening day and we didn't score but we learned a ton about that area. So it all worked out. They could have been jerks about it as I have run into those types as well. I just was really torn about leaving that area and coming back for our cameras later that season or year.

[Elkhunttoo]

Sounds like you did right. It's not an exciting seeing other hunters, but most guys understand it's public land. And most hunters enjoy talking about hunting so it's not to hard to strike up a conversation

[N2mywake]

out for some country air and banjo playing. lol

There's always next year..... LMAO

[Tigger]

so you hunted that area with their acceptance? Very nice resolution!

[Lefty]

I need to know the guys. With the expectation of plan b or c.

I left the area I hunted in the desert, in part for the simular reasons. The one one ole timer that I suspect died of cancer shared lots of good information to a local family. While it was the families r hunting pressure/methods , moving the elk ( along with fires) that I had to make the change.

This year sheepman, trapper, bears, and a moose tag were part of our choice to move

[TimeOnTarget]

I found myself in a similar situation this past fall. I was on a great vantage point and had another hunter come up the back side of it. We talked for a bit about each of our plans and he proceeded to just head right down into the areas that I was glassing. I guess this didn't really even bother me. He was a good guy, and after all, it was public land.

I ran into him again a couple days later, he was really worked up about where all the elk in this area had went. He had apparently been seeing them in there for the past month right along and hadn't saw a single elk in their the morning we had talked.

I saw 26 elk from my vantage point that morning.