Hey Setterman! Googans are on the west side too! (LBL)

[redheadshooter]

My wife and I found a field with some birds at LBL on Saturday morning during the storm. We tried to make a move, but couldn't get to the flock without getting caught. At about noon we walked back to the truck to grab a ground blind to set up for the evening. At around 1:15 (right after the rain stops) we start seeing people come into the same field. I just simply wave my arms to let them know we were there, and they all turned and disappeared in to the tree line. After a couple of hours I notice a black figure about 300 yards to our left, and since I didn't have my bino's I just couldn't quite tell what it was. We saw some hens later that day, and they were all acting spooked. Finally at around 7, we started packing up the blind and decoys and noticed that black figure was somebody wearing a black and blue rain suit, and was now walking across the field to meet his buddy who had set up in the woods 300 yards in front of us. Then we notice a guy that was on our right walking towards them.. So 3 jack@$$es literally surrounded us in this 1 field.. When we got there the next morning their silver jeep was sitting at the gate at 4:30..

I understand it's public land, but seriously learn some respect and public land etiquette.

 

[catman529]

That's what happens when you hunt a big field full of turkeys on a weekend. Can't expect etiquette from people, you can only practice it yourself and try not to mess other people up. And find some backup spots to go in case your hunt gets messed up. Hope y'all have better luck next time


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[Setterman]

That sucks, and it's the way people are now. I'd no more park at a gate with someone else then I would eat dog poop. Nor would most of us ever pull that stunt on another hunter. Sucks it happened to you

 

[redheadshooter]

That sucks, and it's the way people are now. I'd no more park at a gate with someone else then I would eat dog poop. Nor would most of us ever pull that stunt on another hunter. Sucks it happened to you

Yea. Oh well. Like you said, it's becoming the way of the world. Not gonna lose sleep over it, just irritating.

 

[Shanman]

Big "I" little "u" syndrome. Greed, selfishness, jealousy, etc..... When you see these attributes in a person it speaks volumes of where they are at in their life and their level of maturity. That's the hardest part of sharing public land with others, just how it is. That really stinks you guys had to go through that, I know it's frustrating.

 

[X-Tennessean]

My nephew and I were drawn one year for the first hunt, we went and camped a couple days earlier to try and locate some birds. We were successful and not once ran into anyone else, picked the spot we wanted to hunt and roosted them the evening before.
Get there early the next morning and was sitting in the truck till closer to time and noticed a truck come by a couple times....the third time they came flying in throwed it in park and jumped out and took off running!!!
They were in the woods and out of sight before I could even get out of my truck!! Lol

We just left and went to a different spot but I have to say.....they dont know how close they came to needing new tires, I just couldnt bring myself to thier level but it did cross my mind!

 

[TheLBLman]

I do agree it's a problem and can be very frustrating to us.

Big "I" little "u" syndrome. Greed, selfishness, jealousy, etc.....

But this is not the case with all Googans.
Many are simply ignorant,
and have had no one to show them the ropes of decent hunting etiquette.

Some have watched a few turkey hunting dvds, watched competitive crap on TV,
and that's all they know.

That said, some of them are truly despicable, horrible people with no focus beyond their selves.

About all we can do is do teach by example,
maybe befriend a stranger Googan or two.

By the way, if we didn't have a very ethical hunting mentor,
most of us were once Googans.

 

[Shanman]

I agree with you 100% on that LBLman, very good point.

 

[deerfever]

That is a good point LBL man I wish there was a class for hunter etiquette! I enjoy hunting Lbl but man it can be frustrating at times . I love the way it lays and it is a nice place but I am that guy that gets up well before others to go sit in my truck where I am going to hunt with the preconceived notion that people will see my truck and move on like I would. Yeah right! My last two experiences at Lbl have went the same. I set there for well over an hour and guys pull in and start telling me where they are going so we will not be on top of each other. After they finish I always let them know that I am going wherever a bird gobbles! I always just get in my truck and go elsewhere. I do not want to hunt around people like that and again I do not want to put myself in danger over a Turkey! I wish people understood even if there is "plenty of room" if a bird gobbles that is where everyone is going. People need room to turkey hunt as you do not sit still like deer hunting.I tried the approach of I will wait later and just pull in where no one is 30 minutes before gobble time. You guessed it here comes a truck just as I am getting my stuff to start walking in. I barely made it to another place that I keep as my back up! I guarantee I will not come in on you and will scale a cliff to avoid you if I can. I just do not think some people know any better, some do and just believe that is their area. The joys of public land! I am just glad that we do have some to hunt its part of it!

 

[TheLBLman]

Keep in mind just because someone else parks on the same trailhead parking area,
it doesn't mean they'll be hunting within a mile of you.
Sometimes they're hunting on the other side of the road than you,
sometimes they're walking up the gravel or blacktop road (not the trail).

I'm saying this in the context there are some pretty large areas with limited parking/access,
and I personally sometimes park at a trailhead, then walk a mile (at a right angle to the trail) up or down the road I drove in on before going into the woods.

Also, I often see hunters parking at a trailhead, then walking over a mile, but actually getting closer to the other side of the area, where other hunters are meeting them from the opposite direction (with those other hunters being parked on an entirely different road, but basically same trail). Sometimes, it seems all the Googans meet in the middle.

 

[deerfever]

You are right again LBL Man ! They are not hunting within a mile of me because if they pull in where I am at I am leaving! If they beat me to a spot ,I am not stopping anywhere near them. That is just what I do , like I said these guys will pull in and let me know where they are going and its usually the same road I am going to walk in on and listen so there is no point in staying. Who gets to go to a bird if it gobbles and we both hear it? I will never forget as one of them got out with his crew of two and preceded to let me know how it was all going to go down, I sarcastically said" Well I will just move on so I want mess you boys up" He replied" oh its okay you can still hunt here" Thanks but no thanks I had set there all morning! I am certainly not going to guess if someone parked only to walk a mile from there truck to hunt elsewhere. If they park to hunt on one side a bird may gobble on the other and they cross the road so I am just going to give them some room. LBL is 70,000 acres on the Tn side I will find a place to go and leave others alone. Now that's just me! I realize some of the saw horse roads and others have tons of room but I take no chances! It is funny you mention that about some areas having two ways in, I bet guys meet up all the time that think they are in the middle of no where at LBL! Again its public and I do not own it, I don't get mad I just get to leaving!

 

[TheLBLman]

In much of LBL, anytime you walk about 3/4 mile in any direction,
you're about to get closer to a different road than the one on which you parked.

While there are a few places where you can walk over a mile and still be over a mile from a different road, it seems many map studying Googans eagerly find these spots and assault from every direction. No kidding, the Googans often meet in the middle of the hunt compartments. The good news is their movements are usually easy to follow by simply listening to their owl hoots & crow calling.

But, being this is a public hunting area, there is no way to avoid occasionally bumping into other hunters, even if you don't park in the same area. In my experiences, most hunters you encounter will be courteous. It's just sometimes it happens that we mess up each others hunting a bit.

 

[deerfever]

I agree you just have to take it in stride! Most guys are courteous and we have all probably went in on someone at some point and had no clue they were in the area. Some guys travel together and a hunting buddy gets dropped off in a spot and there is no way of knowing anyone is around. I try to go out that way if I get a chance and just enjoy the place. The birds are tough and I wouldn't enjoy it any other way!