Early camp set up

[coachcw]

A crappy tent and an old chair is no diffrent then your trail cams! If its not your leave it the hell alone...  There is enough camp spots to go around. 

I hear a bunch of whining, grow up act like adults. 

I set my camp up early, if you want your spot set up camp and go from there. 

Argue, argue is all hunters do these days!

oh shut up ! 

[pianoman9701]

A crappy tent and an old chair is no diffrent then your trail cams! If its not your leave it the hell alone...  There is enough camp spots to go around. 

I hear a bunch of whining, grow up act like adults. 

I set my camp up early, if you want your spot set up camp and go from there. 

Argue, argue is all hunters do these days!

Actually, there is an established difference between cams and abandoned tents and chairs in the rules. You may not see the difference, but the NFS sees the difference. I have to respectfully disagree with you, Kurt. If you're not staying there, you don't get to hold the spot. It's greedy, it's entitled, and it's against the rules that keep everyone on equal ground, ground that each of us pay for. This is no different than putting a reserved sign on a public park bench so that you and no one else can use it at lunch, or before lunch or after lunch. I don't care if you've eaten on that park bench for 20 years. People may recognize you when you come and move off the park bench out of courtesy. But that's up to them. You can't reserve it. Period.

[h20hunter]

The writing is on the wall. There is more hunter participation, less public land, more and more areas affected by fires every year. This year, next, or 5 years from now folks will show up the week before, set up camp wether it be a pos tent or full blown trailer, abandon it for a week, and come back to find everything gone. They will jump up and down. Yell about the audicacity of those that moved their abandoned posessions, threaten and berate those that are now camped legally in "your" area. Those that feel their history gives them an entitlement to the spot, the area, the land around it will be up a crick. It is inevetible. The rules are in place and are very clear. If you, I, or anyone else wishes to abide by them and those that don't are affected in a manner that upsets them....sorry, tough luck.

[Bean Counter]

A crappy tent and an old chair is no diffrent then your trail cams! If its not your leave it the hell alone... 

Actually, it's NOT the same. A trail cam secured to a tree is in it's implied state of usage. The law states that you must use the site for camping within the last 24 hours. Would my car parked in a parking lot be abandoned property?

[Bean Counter]

Now if I caught you in my stand......

If its on public land and you just left it there i'm using it, you should of gotten up earlier....

 

In my state (not WA) the law specifically states that putting up a ground blind over water doesn't reserve that spot for you. First come, first served, EVERY HUNTING DAY. I once arrived first to commonly used tank on public land where there is only one logical spot to put a ground blind and Lo and behold there was a blind that morning. I quietly disassembled the blind and tossed it aside, set up my own ground blind and say there for the day. In the process of taking it apart I accidentally broke one of the poles. If the owner had shown up it might have gotten interesting because I had no intention of reimbursing him or her for the damage. Had I been borrowing the tent It would have been a different story.

Otoh I hunted over a tank this January where there was a blind set up a few days prior but wasn't blocking where I wanted to hunt so I left it be. Still would have told the dude to get lost had he shown up later but he never did.

[kentrek]

im never leaving camp again 

[turkeyfeather]

Wow, the arrogance displayed here in this topic is unbelievable. 

[Buckmark]

Now if I caught you in my stand......

If its on public land and you just left it there i'm using it, you should of gotten up earlier....

How does the law state if the owner of the tree stand started chopping the tree down as the public intrudent was sitting in the owners stand?

Might be his tree stand but not his tree, we all own the trees  , and if he wishes to chop it down does he have the permit to do it? And if so does said tree fall under the rules, correct species, diameter, standing dead, 300ft or less from the road   

[h20hunter]

Wow, the arrogance displayed here in this topic is unbelievable. 

Arrogance is an interesting term. I'd say also very accurate depending on which side of the discussion you are on. For the sake of the discussion let me ask this. I'm going to use Kurt, Rtspring, ONLY AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF ONE SIDE of the discussion. I'll use myself for the other side. Remember, I'm only using the two of us as a discussion. I'm not implying anything what so ever.

So, with that in mind. If Rt has camped in one area with friends and family for years on end in one spot. There are stories, tales of good and bad, toasts made, memories rehashed...everything that makes year after year gathering great. They show up a week early, set up camp, head back to work for the rest of the week, come back and hunt. This has been done for many years rarely missing a chance to put up camp in the same spot. Is Rt the arrogant one for feeling he and his group have claim to this spot? Besides, they have all the words to back that claim up that we like to talk about. Heritage. History. Tradition. Kurt has a passion for the area, his hunting family, and the spot they call camp year after year.

Other side of the coin. I'm a newbie. I really am and will be for the discussion. I don't have a chance to set up camp a week early. No big deal. I look up the regs and head out two days before season starts. I want to start traditions. I want to develop a long history with the area. I want to earn those stories that will be told around the fire in later years. Am I the arrogant one think that I have just as much of a right to camp there if I follow the rules? Am I the arrogant one that thinks regardless of how long your tradition has gone on I have just as much right to begin my own?

See, for me. There is no right answer once we get into opinions. There are rules that are an attempt, whether they succeed or not, to protect those that are on either side and simply want to follow the rules. A real possiblity I see down the road is what nobody wants. I can see the WDFW, DNR, whomever, allocation campsites based on a lottery. Off site camping will be strictly enforced and everyones traditions, whether they are first year or 20 years old, will be gone. I agree fully with support, continuing, and fighting for the traditions and heritage that fuel your passion. However, it can not be done at the expense of those that want to utilize the same resources and do it by the book.

[turkeyfeather]

I am all for heritage, history, and traditions. I am trying to get my own going with my boys as well. I am for them as long as they are within what's legal and within the law. Those that say to hell with the law it's tradition, that to me is the arrogance.

[rtspring]

If you feel the need to destroy or tamper with anyones personal property for your own personal gain, you have issues.   Thats what Im saying.

People break laws all the time, that dont give you the authority to discard property.  So a chair hasnt been used in three days or one hour. Big deal. Find another spot.

Im guessing this is mostly a wetside deal?

And Coach, Im only packing backstraps out now and then heading home, with said backstraps!!!!

[h20hunter]

If you feel the need to destroy or tamper with anyones personal property for your own personal gain, you have issues.   Thats what Im saying.

People break laws all the time, that dont give you the authority to discard property.  So a chair hasnt been used in three days or one hour. Big deal. Find another spot.

Im guessing this is mostly a wetside deal?

And Coach, Im only packing backstraps out now and then heading home, with said backstraps!!!!

Not at all. I have not said destroy or discard. If it is abaonded it should be taken care of so the owner can claim it at a later date. I'm not making the rules. I'm just asking for discussion to show why some don't need to follow them. I don't see any east/west angle to the discussion. Rules that are in place apply to all sportsmen and women regardless of where the tag designation says they will be hunting.

Big deal, find another spot. Okay....so, as spots become limited where do we draw the line. If I know one group shows up a week ahead why should I not then show up two weekds ahead and put up a basic tent two weeks, or three weeks ahead. See, now that I've one upped on group another can do the same to me. Nobody wins.

Regarding personal gain. If one group has camped in a spot for one year, ten, or twenty, why is their "personal gain" more important than mine if I want to follow the rules in place and have access to the spot?

[MADMAX]

When I scout on public land, I plan to look for and find 4 spots to park and make camp.
I rank my choices in my head and am sure I can see everyone of them before I pull my trailer in somewhere that I maybe cant  turn around in when I come in a couple days before season.
If there a tent there already then its occupied, if theres a lawn chair, it gets used and left there, if theres an established outhouse its a bonus round and throw in a meat pole and a campfire ring I'm golden.
Its public land.

[Jonathan_S]

I've never had not had a private place to hunt deer or elk in the NE corner   

That includes camping too.

If you camp where you hunt, you are doing it wrong    unless it's not a good spot to hunt in which case, again, you're doing it wrong.

[Bean Counter]

...
People break laws all the time, that dont give you the authority to discard property.  So a chair hasnt been used in three days or one hour. Big deal. Find another spot.
...

I guess it depends on applicable laws. To return to my ground blind example: an unattended ground blind in my state is considered abandoned property. That is the LAW. It says that in the regs. I can legally take the blinds I find but don't. But just moving them out of my way is enough to "have issues" in your book because its for my gain (to hunt the area that I got to first--as the law states).