Dummy camps in the Colockum

[TriggerMike]

This topic seems to come up every year but I was in 328/329 yesterday and noticed several dummy camps already set up for muzzleloader season. More than I've ever seen before. It's pretty clear it's a dummy camp when a single cheap tent is pitched in a giant camp spot with no other sign of recent human activity around. There's a 10 day stay limit within a 30 day time frame in this area so if they're not pulling out by, at the latest, day 3 of the season then they're breaking the law. Beyond that, does anyone know legally how long you can leave a camp unattended in a Washington state forest? I believe in the National Forest it's 2 or 3 days, at which point it becomes abandoned and technically littering. I even saw a tow trailer with a cheap tent in a spot... I'm assuming they dropped the trailer off and went home for the week since nothing was unpacked or setup and the trailer awning was retracted as well as the steps folded in. They could've been out driving around I guess, but I only saw 2 or 3 vehicles driving all day and that doesn't add up to 15+ dummy camps. I personally would never vandalize someones trailer or tent but I also wouldn't feel bad for someone if it happened to them in this situation. I'm also not even sure it would be vandalizing since you willingly and purposefully abandoned your own property on public land for up to a week or longer. Dropping it off and going home for a week or two before you intend to actually inhabit the area is clearly different than spiking out during season or getting a bull down and taking a couple days to get it back to camp. Setting up a dummy camp= BS in my opinion.

[Bucks2Ducks]

Its really frustrating!! I went archery elk on the E side on the Monday after opener and there was ghost camps everywhere. I was seriously debating about doing a dumpster run with a dozen crap tents and chairs in the bed of my truck. What gives someone the idea that this is OK to do, that morally that spot is theirs because they claimed it?

[MADMAX]

This should be good

[Oh Mah]

  

[meatwhack]

There’s a lot of camps that get setup for over a month. I’ve never heard of the forest service enforcing the stat limit on hunting camps but maybe they do.

[ghosthunter]

There is camp in the Nile that comes in during muzzy . Sets up there entire camp covers with plastic and than they are gone till modern season.

Crazy

Soon or later the FS is going to have to crack down or there be camps up week# before the season.

However I got no problem with camps that have one or two guys staying them.

[blindluck]

We have camped in the same spot for 26 years, we arrive 5-7 days early every year to try to ensure we get our spot. This year a guy had a dummy tent set up when we arrived. We set up our camp as usual. He didn't show up until 2 hours befor dark on the eve of the opener then argued first come first serve. He then argued it is illegal to take down someone's tent which we didn't do but seriously thought about doing. He then only hunted Saturday then left Sunday morning then returned again Friday night. i would argue that it is more illegal to set up a tent and abandon it then to tear down an abandoned tent. We all know anybody could be in your spot when you arrive to your favorite camp spot, but setting up a tent to lock up a spot and leaving it abandoned doesn't cut it.

[MADMAX]

It’s even better when they leave a pos truck next to it
Much more effective deterrent
 


I always have at least 4 spots scouted to pull my trailer into
Just in case

For the record
I go up early and stay till the opener
But have had plenty of dbags crowd me over the years
Some friendly target shooting, dogs barking, loud stereos
Always a quality experience on public land

[Bob33]

This topic comes up every year or two.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,79102.0.html

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,157983.0.html

[Oh Mah]

there's a couple dummy camps in every area,yeah some times it sucks but the ones that i know of are a few old timers probably hunting since my dad was a young boy just trying to hold that spot they've been in for 50 years.Them ones don't bother me.

public land if you want the same spot year after year you gotta go a little early?  So how early is too early?If someone is in it a day before you decide to go put yours up then you lost it. 

[buggy]

So my brother and I drew quality tags this year and intended to set up camp the weekend before the opener in the area we scouted the most and intended to spend most of our time hunting but he had to go out of town that weekend so we decided to set it up two weekends before the opener. With limited vacation time we didn't want to get there the evening before opener and set up camp. Once the season opened we stayed in it every night except two nights when we spiked out.

Were we wrong to do this? I thought a camp could be set up on fs land for thirty days. (Not sure where I heard that but never thought to double check.)

I'm genuinely curious if we are dbags for doing this. It never crossed my mind until I saw this thread.

[tritt007]

Up by goose lake one year we took a spot we always camp at around rifle elk season . It had a small propane bbq in 3 pieces spread around and a POS tarp in a tree . Long story short some tweaker tird came by and claimed that was his camps site . We said kick rocks and the guy said f u and "happy 4th of July" About and hour later a huge boom went off right by camp . That POS threw a jenky duct tape pipe bomb at our camp . So we drove down the road and  called the skamania sheriff and they found him at another spot up the road , turns out dude had like 3 warrants . Justice kind of served . Lol

[Mfowl]

Several years back my friends and I were camped out for ML season. We had been in this spot prior to opening day but were in camp each night. A few days into the hunt two rigs show up pulling trailers on a road I would never drag a trailer down. They were showing up to drop their trailers (in our camp) for modern deer season which they then explained would remain through modern elk. Their logic was that this is where they always camp and we better be gone when they showed back up. This was atleast 10 days before modern season started. Given the rude and entitled atitude these guys gave us about camping in "their" spot I was very tempted to leave them some sort of "parting gift" when our hunt ended but I thought better of it and just left it at them being jerks.

[Crunchy]

Oregon is no better.  We arrived 4 days before the archery elk opener to find two of the spots we normally camp at had dummy camps already set up.  So we found another decent spot.  The dummy camps had no one around for at least a week after the opener.  Funny thing was that some Oregon guys we normally see down there thought the wall tent dummy camp was ours, so they pitched their camp right next to it lol.  Trying to show those Washingtonians.  When the real hunters eventually showed up at their camp they probably werent too happy to see camping buddies so close.  Nothing you can really do about it.  Only getting worse.

[Naches Sportsman]

USFS has tried to crack down on it in the past, especially the camps that leave a ton of trash behind. Honestly, most usfs employees don't want to be Forest Protection Officers and write tickets and the LEO's could care less.

The most serious thing is if there's a tent or vehicle blocking any signed road or trail. Turn em in as that's illegal and big issue for fire access. Fine ranges anywhere from $50 to $250 (California) and possible vehicle and property impoundment.


For State WDFW, contact the wildlife area office and let them know. They like keeping their lands clean. For DNR, call them and let them know what's up.