what would you do?

[vandeman17]

I ran in to a bit of a dilemma last weekend and would like to know what you guys would have done in this situation. My buddy, another friend who wasn't hunting and was actually experiencing her first duck hunt, and I headed out to one of our spots on Saturday. We decided to get out there extra early because the past few times the birds came into the pond hard for a little while before shooting time. We got out there about an hour and a half before shooting time and snuck up on the pond to see how many birds were sitting on it. When we got there, there were already decoys out, a blind built and not a soul in sight. We looked inside the blind and there was a chair and empty casings so I am confident it wasn't built that morning. We stood there for a bit trying to decide what to do and ended up hiking to a different spot to set up. My thing is that some ass hat left his decoys out over night to hold his spot and that makes me mad, especially doing it on the last weekend of the season. To make matters worse, I am not even sure if they got to the pond at shooting time because we didn't hear a gun shot until like 9 and am sure there were birds that went into the pond. At least we ended up having a good shoot and got way more shots then we heard from that pond. Thoughts on what you guys would have done?

[Special T]

If it was public land i would have hunted it... Says righ in the regs no decoys in the water before 5am i think... Blinds on public property are first come first served...  Might not have made a good impression with a first time hunter tho...

[ducksdogsdownriggers]

Make the call:    1-877-933-9847

Federal Hunting Restrictions IT IS UNLAWFUL TO: • Place waterfowl decoys prior to 4:00 a.m.;
allow or permit waterfowl decoys to be unattended or not in your immediate control for a period greater than one hour; or fail to remove waterfowl decoys within two hours after the close of established daily hunting hours on days open to waterfowl hunting on department owned or controlled lands, waters, or access areas.

[vandeman17]

Special T- We considered hunting it because there is no "saving spots" without actually being there but decided to take the high road for many reasons but the main reason being that I wanted to show the first timer that it is better to just be the bigger person and move on.
Ducks- This spot is like a mile and a half hike in through some ponds and such so we figured that there was no way anything would be done and that if anything, it would turn into a he said she said and there is no way to prove that they weren't there without an officer actually seeing it. Its just frustrating because we know the rules and follow them and other people don't and get away with it. 

[CP]

If it was public land I’d pick up the decoys and toss them in a pile somewhere out of sight and then put mine out.

[h20hunter]

I think all of the above suggestions are good. First time hunter out...off the path a bit...you had other places you could hunt. Sounds like you would have been plenty in right either way.

[h20hunter]

I guess the post was what would I do.

Throwm 'em in a pile, plant my butt in a chair, shoot me some ducks. The regs are the regs. You will have some p'd off hunters IF they show up to hunt or you could shoot your limit and be gone. They could also show up and ruin the whole hunt.

Another suggestion is to help them by clearing all the left decoys to "help" them avoid breaking the rules stated in the regs. That way when they show up they will have a chance to arrange them in a fresh new pattern prior to hunting.

[vandeman17]

I guess the post was what would I do.

Throwm 'em in a pile, plant my butt in a chair, shoot me some ducks. The regs are the regs. You will have some p'd off hunters IF they show up to hunt or you could shoot your limit and be gone. They could also show up and ruin the whole hunt.

Another suggestion is to help them by clearing all the left decoys to "help" them avoid breaking the rules stated in the regs. That way when they show up they will have a chance to arrange them in a fresh new pattern prior to hunting.

We discussed picking them up and putting them off to the side and hunting the spot. They had a jerk cord and a pull string wing duck out as well. Pretty gutsy to leave that stuff out because we could have easily had ourselves some nice new gear. 

[h20hunter]

Don't know if I would agree that "gutsy" is the right term. I can think of a few others. Did you shoot some birds where you ended up? If you shot some birds elsewhere then I would say you did right with your newbie along.

[vandeman17]

Yep, we actually ended up doing pretty well. My buddy was able to get a bull can and a nice sprig so it all worked out. I will admit that I was pretty dissappointed when we were making the move because I didn't have as high of hopes for the spot we were moving to.

I was trying to be polite when I said "gutsy" 

[jordano]

yeah that is just ridiculous.. a few people have already stated the rules and they definitely broke them. you just can't do that. you would have totally been in the right to get the decoys out of your way and hunted there. or called a game enforcement officer and reported it. I'm sure they were out in full force on closing weekend. I'm sorry a first time hunter had to deal with something like that, at least you showed them the high road. Good for you! I just wish we didn't have idiots like this to put dampers on our awesome sport.

[gaddy]

i think you did the right thing in moving on. could have gotten ugly. ive seen it on the columbia where people would come in & set up late eve or after thier swing shift & then crawl into a sleeping bag in the brush to sleep. it isnt right but it happens alot. we spooked a couple guys that way after they had drank a bunch of boose before going to sleep and dealing with some pissedoff,hung over guys with guns isnt worth it. we quit hunting that area soon after because it got way to common. and like you we found other productive spots that werent as pressured and did well

[vandeman17]

I have no problem with a guy getting out there early, setting up after 4 am and sitting with his decoys until shooting time. I have done it before and while it can make for a longer day it can be worth it to get a decent spot. We did bring up the thought that maybe the guy(s) got a bit away from the pond so they wouldn't spook any birds coming back in and were sleeping until just before shooting time but we had 3 sets of headlamps, made a decent amount of noise and walked around the area and didn't see anything or anybody. I just wish it wouldn't have been so foggy so we could have watched for headlamps to show up once we got to our new spot but we couldn't see that far.

[Madison]

An hour and a half before shooting time is not getting there very early in my book.
This is definitely after 4am and they could have been gone for less than an hour based on what you have described. 
I think you did the right thing by moving on. If you had been there at 2 or 3am, different story.

In this situation as described and based on the knowledge you have at the time;  There is no call to make, no decoys to move and no option other than to just move on.

[elkinrutdrivemenuts]

Yeah in my experience people are usually out very early on the public spots, sometimes they camp by a blind to be the first ones there.  Probably smart to just move on as they could have had some emergency and had to leave before you even showed up or maybe they forgot something.  They should have picked up their decoys, but what would you do in that situation.  I can't see people leaving expensive decoys out like you described and not having a good reason to leave them.  Then again they could have been sleeping and didn't set an alarm 

[vandeman17]

Yeah in my experience people are usually out very early on the public spots, sometimes they camp by a blind to be the first ones there.  Probably smart to just move on as they could have had some emergency and had to leave before you even showed up or maybe they forgot something.  They should have picked up their decoys, but what would you do in that situation.  I can't see people leaving expensive decoys out like you described and not having a good reason to leave them.  Then again they could have been sleeping and didn't set an alarm 

We have done the get out there early and sleep by the blind plenty of times. For the opener we usually get there the night before to get our spot. I feel like we made the right move because so many things could have been the reason that all the stuff was there. I just wish I knew so that if it was some jack wagon holding his spot and breaking the law we could have let him know it wasn't legal. Now he might think he got away with it and will do it again... 

[Gopher]

Unless I missed it, Vandeman17 didn't say he was on WDFW lands or WDFW controlled lands waters or access areas.  That's the only place the 4AM and over night restrictions apply.  If this was on WDFW lands, a call to the game warden probably would have resulted in a ticket to the offender.   

[400out]

If he didn't come back to them then hunt over his dekes, and if he came back and was a dick then shoot every sitting duck   

[sakoshooter]

An hour and a half before shooting time is not getting there very early in my book.
This is definitely after 4am and they could have been gone for less than an hour based on what you have described. 
I think you did the right thing by moving on. If you had been there at 2 or 3am, different story.

In this situation as described and based on the knowledge you have at the time;  There is no call to make, no decoys to move and no option other than to just move on.

I ageee. They might have had to make an emergency run somewhere.

[vandeman17]

Ya, there were alot of scenarios that we talked about as far as "acceptable" reasons for the person not to be there. I just hope it was a valid reason and that he or she was not breaking the law on purpose.

[Gopher]

Again, breaking what law?  Was this on WDFW owned or controlled property.  If it wasn't, there was no law broken as far as I can see.

[vandeman17]

Again, breaking what law?  Was this on WDFW owned or controlled property.  If it wasn't, there was no law broken as far as I can see.

If it has the WDFW sign where we park to access the property then does that mean it is WDFW land?

[ICEMAN]

Any overturned boats nearby?  



Yeah, too many variables to be mad at someone for the dekes and abandoned gear. Someone could have had a medical emergency or...?

[vandeman17]

There is no boat access, it is strictly walking so that isn't possible. It would have been one thing to leave your blind that you built and even your little chair out there but to have your decoys set, your jerk cord and pull string decoy set and all seems fishy. I find it highly unlike if there was some kind of "emergency" that he would have come back and hunted it by 9 in the morning. Something smells fishy... 

[Gopher]

If it has the WDFW sign where we park to access the property then does that mean it is WDFW land?

Sounds like WDFW land alright.  That would make it illegal if the stuff was left over night or set before 4AM or left unattended for more than an hour.

[somethinsmellsfishy]

I was not there but I am "smellsfishy" so do not hold that against me!

I am new to waterfowling but follow the rules in all the sports I take up and this would have been a difficult call for anyone. After hiking in and finding this scenario I am not sure what I would have done but I think you did the right thing with the new hunter and all.

Good on you for taking the high road and hope that karma looks their way and yours.

Fishy

[Fishnclifff]

The fed rules apply to all lands.
We encountered the same scenario years ago.
Dekes were out at 0315.
We gathered them up, threw them in a pile in the bushes.
When the owners showed up, we had  a, uh, chat about the regs.
they called the gammie.
they were issued 2 citations.
We had a good hunt.

[vandeman17]

The fed rules apply to all lands.
We encountered the same scenario years ago.
Dekes were out at 0315.
We gathered them up, threw them in a pile in the bushes.
When the owners showed up, we had  a, uh, chat about the regs.
they called the gammie.
they were issued 2 citations.
We had a good hunt.

Sounds like they learned the value of reasing the regs. I thought that the rules, like the 4 am rule, applied to everyone and everywhere but didn't know for certain. We don't know if they were out before 4:00 but we do know that nobody was there so the unattended law could have come into play. We ended up having a good, fun hunt so all ended well.

[Madison]

The fed rules apply to all lands.

would you care to post the federal law on time of decoys placement? 

This law does not apply to all Lands. 

[Fishnclifff]

My bad . it is a state rule.

According to  RCW 77.12.047, the commission making up these rules , can apply the rules to private land as well as public land.

[Gopher]

Right, I think it is only a law that applies to WDFW lands.  I know of many private duck clubs that leave decoys set from day one of the season to the last day.  I suspect that because those WDFW lands are public, it gives a fair shake to everybody who might want to use them.  First come, first served......