Now don’t storm over there to argue about whose spot it is, or just climb up and hunt anyways. Don’t sneak off fifty yards and turn your light out, then sneak back just after first light to climb up. Even though you're probably disappointed that your game plan has been blown, resist the temptation to clank your stand around, and storm off through the brush cracking sticks and twigs. I’ve had all these things happen. Not only is it really annoying, it will probably blow your hunt when the other guy decides to climb down and leave you with a piece of his mind, and a lot of noise, right at prime time.
A savvy public land hunter will have a spot picked out a short five or ten minute hike away to fall back on. With a handheld GPS, he will even have his chosen trees plugged in as waypoints, and the quickest, quietest route there noted well before the hunt. Do what those two hunters I encountered on that oak flat did. The right thing. Move off quietly, to minimize disturbance, and go to your second choice. That way, both hunters can enjoy a pleasant morning.
If you're squirrel or grouse hunting, don’t just “hunt through” if you see others in a stand, or on a choice looking oak drop. Slip off quietly back the way you came in. If you're waterfowl or dove hunting in a public area, don’t move in and cut off a flyway because someone did their homework and knew where to set up, and you found yourself off to the side, out of the action.
You also should not expect to show up ten minutes before legal shooting time and be welcomed to wandering in and setting up with other hunters twenty yards on either side of you. Those guys have be sitting there for hours to claim their spot. Not only is conduct like this simply rude, it’s unsafe as well. Give others a good buffer zone. You should be spaced out not only for safety reasons, but also far enough apart that two hunters are not shooting at the same bird in the same moment. This is usually seventy or eighty yards. If a bird is in range of you and another hunter at the same time, you're too close together. If you do arrive late and find the field or marsh full, move on to a less crowded location on this occasion, and try to be earlier for your next hunt.
> Continued P34