POk3s “semi live” hunting trip.

[POk3s]

CONGRATS on a well-earned bird, brother !!!!   

I don't hunt much public.  But, if you haven't OUTRIGHT screwed someone intentionally........may the best man win.

You won.

This right here is how I hunt the thousands of acres in the Allegheny National Forest where I have a camp in Northwest PA. I never intentionally run into anyone or hunt close but it does happen and that, my friend, is just part of public land hunting.

Right I mean definitely the MOST standup thing to do would've been to just leave I suppose but given the amount of pressure I don't know where else I could've fit myself in. I could've woke up sooner and laid claim to a spot! I could've done things differently no doubt....but with that said I don't feel that if the roles were reversed I would've been remotely angry over the whole deal. I would've been mad at myself for not choosing the right setup on hard hunted public land, more than anything.

Like I mentioned in the story I think that they believed I heard the turkeys later in the morning and just walked in there and shot one when that isn't how it happened.

[POk3s]

CONGRATS on a well-earned bird, brother !!!!   

I don't hunt much public.  But, if you haven't OUTRIGHT screwed someone intentionally........may the best man win.

You won.

Thanks Yoder! That's kind of how I was thinking of it. I looped well around one gobbler to hunt different gobblers from another angle. I don't think that's crossing the line but they were definitely mad I won!

[Mossyguy]

You did everything you could to make sure you were out of their way. It's not your fault you got to the gobbler before they did. Congrats on a well-earned bird!

[GobbleNut]

Great read and pics, as always...and congrats on being able to pull off a successful hunt under those conditions.  Also,...great attitude about hunting public land. I go out of my way to give other hunters the benefit of the doubt about who has "first-come preference" in those sorts of scenarios...and it appears you do the same. 

 

[a_jabbo]

Congrats on another great gobbler. You did everything right here. And public is public. There's no pre=hunt meet up to determine where everyone is going to go. I'm sure lessons were taken from the experience and glad the situation didn't go in a worse direction.

[Delmar ODonnell]

Great, Great stories Trent. You are a class act, and I think you handled as well as someone possibly could. It's public land, two respectful people can coincidentally be hunting the same bird, it's an unfortunate reality. It's the disrespectful, "gonna get mine other people be damned" that are the bad apples.

[POk3s]

Thanks guys. Your words have eased my mind. I really kind of doubted myself for a bit. I thought maybe I got too comfortable or too confident with my ways. I hadn't ever had a run in with anyone on public land over a turkey or a spot. I've always talked before that if we were at a gate or something.

Anyway, I still think I'll do things different going forward. Maybe it's not necessary but I like to be happy and calm in the woods, not wondering if I'm making the right choice when it comes to other people!