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Why we are tight lipped

16K views 24 replies 20 participants last post by  clayshooter25 
#1 ·
The reason we're so tight lipped on where we hunt is. For me, I don't like giving up any info so cyber scouters can zero in on where we're we hunting. You know those pond scum that lurk around sites hoping to get really good info on what body of water is producing birds. Please feel free to give your reason's on why you're tight lipped. After we have a few responses' I'll move it up to announcements. I'll hold it there for all the new guys coming on and asking the "where to" questions. I'm hoping to stop any further smack downs on the new guys
This topic isn't for debate or arguments, on why we shouldn't be this way. If you wish to debate on why we shouldn't be this way, please feel free start a new topic. I'm not looking at anyone or group of people. I just don't like it when we get new guys on here and they ask possibly an innocent question and they get treated in a way that isn't cool. Please try to understand I just want this to be the best State forum this site has. Any info on how we can get this done will be greatly appreciated. PM me please, with any ideas on making this the best State forum. :thumbsup:
 
#2 ·
:hi: 870 and NYS Forum,
The reason I am so tight lipped is to protect my personal spots; plain and simple. Sometimes I will throw a fellow hunter a bone and grant them a one time pass to hunt a honeyhole after that you are just being too lazy to get to your own spot.

On the forum however I am tight lipped and won't even give a rough idea to where I hunt is the result in all my hard work. I have taken days off of work, driven hundreds of miles and sometimes hours just to scout an area only to have it not produce, I have gotten up early and stayed late. I have devoted thousands of hours, thousands of dollars and canceled thousands of plans with wife/friends/family just to fuel this passion or obession we call waterfowling. After all this do you think I will give in to some cyberscouting, weekend warrior, hunt a few times a year skyblaster only to have them shoot my place to $hit and then leave?

:fingerpt: Didn't think so...

Grab a map and get out there , then hunt and tell us about it. :welcome:
 
#3 ·
I'm with you 870. I wouldn't even be participating if there was too much chat about spots. I hunt public land and even there you can find some honey holes if you play the wind and do your homewrk. I wouldn't tell anyone no matter what. These places took me a long time to figure out. All I need is a lurker bringing his buddies to hunt a spot they put no time into.
 
#4 ·
I spend way to much time to give out my spot anymore,if someone ask i will try to get them out hunting but I will not give any info out for the most part,If I do take someone out hunting do not think we are going to my best spot,that is something that comes with trust.One other thing if someone does take you hunting at one of there spots it is NOT OK FOR YOU TO GO BACK AND HUNT THAT SPOT ON YOUR OWN :mad: .Generally I have a small group that hunts with me most of the time so it is hard for me to get new people in for a hunt but I do try to get a few that I think I can trust.The one thing that burns me is when I here people say they can not find a place to hunt ,GET OUT AND SCOUT
 
#5 ·
Ok this is a great thread and I'm a big fan of not SPOT BURNING! Now here is my question. For someone like myself who is brand new to the sport and has zero experience
What should I be looking? Wind, weather, tide, current, Lots of cover…etc.
How does one get started without some sort of mentor? You don't just pick up a couple books read them, than scout and just jump in and go hunting. I understand there is a very fine line here but everyone was a NEWBIE at one point.

:beer:
 
#6 ·
sometimes the best thing to do is just jump in feet first, in my opinion scouting is by far the most important thing you need to do. your not looking for cover or water or anything but birds.... find the birds and you can screw up just about everything else and still be sucessfull, you can find a million posts about decoy placement bla bla bla, watch tv, mojo outdoors has been doing great explaining there tips stratigy and so on , buy a call blow it on your way to work home from work sitting on the couch wherever you can till you get it sounding good, and PS find the birds dose not mean find the pond, feild ect that there landing in you need to find the X, the exact spot they land, not close to it or across the way you need to be in or on that spot or you will be sitting there watching them land somewhere else wondering what you did wrong, if your still unsure take a day trip with a guide or find someone from your area and throw them a couple bucks to let you tag along for the day so you can see what is going on
 
#7 ·
NYTUGS127 we've been doing this so long that whats a big deal to the kids, like 'spot burning' is nothing to get worked up about for us old goats, honestly, and since internet is a young fellas game you'll likely not find the required "old man" that you need to get a proper education.

old men dont get worked up over spots, wars, women or trucks, we've seen it all enough times that you learn what is worth getting up in arms about and what is not.

Tugs, first thing you can do is hire a guide, many people move to an area and call simply looking to learn places to go and the local way to do things, what works and what doesnt

second is simply go out and when you see the old die hard ducking ask him to tag along and learn at his knee, you'll haul the dekes and boat, wash the mud off the gear, most baymen are happy to teach the way of life that is passing if not passed, if you really want to learn it.

some years theres a big push on ducking and the kids pack the marsh and annoy hell out of us and in three years they are gone onto something else or someplace else. a few years or 10 go by and then the new batch show up, and so it goes.

got a blind been in the same spot since hector was a pup, had a blind on that spot since way before Nam, Before Korea, there are blinds pop up like some type of recurring cancer all around us, but in the long haul, they dont impact us much.

seen limits sky high, point limits, 3 duck limits, and now back to days or relative plenty, the guys that stick with it and have the No Hens jar in camp or the blind, the guys who hunt every day day after day in state after state well they are pretty rare and the ones who do it decade after decade are even more rare.

you need a spot, I'll tell you how to find one or send you to one of "mine", I know you'l kill more with me than without me, what do I care if you go there when I'm not, or join us in our boat or blind when we both show up?

I cant help you with the modern gotta have it stuff, I still shoot the same 20 gauge 2 3/4" gun I have for over 50 years but I am happy to help you get going otherwise. also call your game warden, they are all there for you and the biologists too, fisheries are helpful as well and all are happy to send you to spots they ahve seen ducks, and maybe if one fo them is a ducker he will invite you along too. cant hurt to sask.
 
#8 ·
Howdy fellas/ and :welcome: to the site NYTUGS!

I diskappeered from the site for a while, but i am glad to be back with the only guys who are as koo koo about duck hunting as i am. so many people get annoyed over the fact that every other sentace that comes out of my mouth has something to do with ducks, shooting ducks, eating ducks, and again, ducks. but back to the subject, fly buster- i agree 110% about scouting. i usually dont even hunt unless i know that that the birds will be around. and that dosent mean hearin it from the guys at the coffee house. i like most of us, put in the time and money to find my birds before i hunt. and i know this has been said several times, but nothing burns my butt more than taking someone you think is trustworthy out for a hard scouted hunt, pound the birds, and then to take a swing by the spot before work on the following monday morning, just to find that "pond Scum" as 870 would say, sitting on that very rock you hunted :oops: . i know, nothing new. but still, its a "manlaw", not to do that. :fingerpt: and duckbum, im the same way-very small group that hunts with me. most have hunted with me for years. and the messed up part, is that the one that has been hunting with me the longest, is the one that did it :no: . his excuse was "i thought it was OUR spot". i told him yes exactly, it is OUR spot. that means ME and YOU. not YOU and the douche nozzle neighboor of yours and his buddy. needless to say he is done hunting with me. One of my first hunts was with an extrmely knowlegeable veteran of the bigwater, at the age of 14. his name was 870, and the first words that came out of his mouth before we even launched the rig, was "you tell anyone where we hunt, you wont be hunting with me anymore". and sice that day i have taken those very words quite seriously.

Sorry for the superlong post Fellas :no: , but its good to be home

T-MAN
 
#9 ·
I would like to start off by saying thank you to fellas like SimonG and the rest of you "Old Goats", I started duck hunting "feet first" about 12 years ago with a shotgun, a pair of hip boots and NO CLUE! A few season onto it I ran across an old duck hunter who became a mentor and one of my dearest friends. Gathered during a lifetime of hunting, most of his "spots" were on private property so for a while I was a bit spoiled in some respects.
Because most of my "honey holes" are on public land I do feel a bit jaded about revealing them to those that I feel are trying to cheat on their homework! I tend not to get too revved up because they are on PUBLIC land, and there are much larger problems in the world.
Anybody new to the sport, I would have to agree with everyone else: get out there, pick up some maps, burn some gas in your truck, ask permission to hunt the farms, and find the birds. If you do your homework then you WILL reap the rewards.
 
#11 ·
Man! I am glad I read this but wish I read it before I had a post for Cayuga Lake. Whoops!

A quick short story about telling people...One time I was at work and asked a co-worker to go fishing with me. We went to a spot on the river that my father (who lives to fish for walleye) showed me. We had fun and caught to 'eyes' but didn't keep. About a week later I had some time after work so I went to the spot and this guy was there with two other guys (that he brought) and they had 4 fish on the shore. I was pretty burnt up inside about that. It was at that moment I knew he was a greasy dude and I will never again take anyone with me that I did not fully trust.

Turns out since that day, that specific guy has been kicked off of multiple pieces of property for doing the "Hey i have permission so just tell them i sent you there" line.

Anyway, I wanted to apologize for my questions on Cayuga.
 
#12 ·
No need to apologize sprig. We all run across guys like that. I had a guy from work want to go with me and asked if he could bring a friend, I said okay. As we were going to the spot I thought his friend was texing,,, nope he was putting in way spots on his GPS DINK :mad: Anyways they were at the same spot the next weekend. I went to work the next Monday and told the guy from work. You'll never go with me again and he hasn't . :mad:
 
#13 ·
I am at the point where I don't even like to post pics of my hunts if it even remotely may give away my spot. I do a ton of scouting and fuel burning to hand over any of my spots. Case in point.....I used to frequent another forum and posted a pic of a great flooded field hunt. The second post to that thread a guy told the whole world exactly where the hunt took place. :mad: The following week there was a truck parked at the spot I hunted that I have never seen before! They hunted that spot 4 days in a row. The landowner called me and chewed me out for hunting it every day. I explained to him that it wasn't me, so that tells me the guy never even gained permission to hunt there.

The same forum I was posting consistant great goose hunts and I actually had a guy PM me that lives 30 miles away from me asking me to tell him some farmers that he could talk to gain hunting permission in my area because he saw how well I was doing and "wanted to get in on the action". Some people!
 
#15 ·
Wow i totally agree with everyone. Like i have a super stellar spot next to the road that i have posted up. And it is a bear keeping people out of it. I'm a new guy here and i agree i would never ask anyone where they go nor expect them to ask me where to go. We have all hunted to long to hard scouted to hard worked at this gig a lot. I agree **** it. if you did the work you rep the benefits. so i agree. I LOVE NY!
 
#16 ·
also think we should mention how important it is to respect the owners property we hunt on... i know of many goose fields we used to be able to hunt on until "hunters" didnt respect the wishes of the landowners or totally disrespected the property and of course ruined it for everyone else. Just something I thought i should add .. seems to be a problem that is getting worse and worse.
 
#17 ·
I was very lucky to join a private duck hunting club when I was a young man. I did not have to worry about people showing up on "my spot". Now that I have left the coast I am freelancing, like most of you. I had a couple real good spots for the early season, ponds with flooded alders. My "hunting partner" wore out my welcome on both of them. He showed up every day on one and he got ticketed for shooting after sunset on the other. He is no longer my partner. I hunt with my son and with another guy who I can trust, no one else. eGrant
 
#18 ·
I get the honey hole thing having been a hunter for years. I don't have a problem doing my homework and putting in the time. How about this ...

Where can't I hunt?

DEC will give you their info and tell you to contact local law enforcement. Local law enforcement is no help. On top of it all I need to live in that specific town to launch a boat.

So far i understand I can't hunt in Huntington (ironic) nor the marshes making up the oyster bay preserve area. Live in western nassau on the north shore. I hunt out east but the distance doesn't allow me to get out as regularly as I would like to.
 
#19 ·
I learned at the Tender age to keep my " Bill" Shut--my Dad and I enjoyed some great gunning my 1st season in 1973, then my Dad had to work so I took a " Friend " of mine-we were 13..a great grouse covert. we shot a couple of birds and flushed dozens more..well the next weekend my dad and I pull into " our " spot and there where several pick ups there and out of the woods comes my " Friend " and a bunch of older ones..Never shot nor flushed a bird from that cover again..My Father asked me if I learned anything??--Every time we would go after that--he managed to bring up "THE COVER "--hard but good lesson..If you want " Birds" do your own Home Work..
 
#20 ·
Man, this is a great thread. Everythime I come in off the body of water i hunt in my boat some schleppy is standing there at the dock with notepad and paper rubber necking in the boat looking for dead birds. They get tucked away and the guy gets " didnt even have to reload" ...He might say " thats funny i heard alot of shootin out there today" welp wasnt us and go about our business. I hunt big water for divers and its not as bad out there because not every duck commander has a boat. But i feel bad for the guys who have spots that can be found with a pair of waders and binoculars.
 
#23 ·
This is a really great thread. I enjoyed reading all the thoughts. I personally hunt a mix of private and public land. I keep my mouth shut about spots because 1) I like shooting ducks more and 2) generally, people are slobs. I have lost spots because of litter, vandalism and trigger trash left by others. As a farmer myself it is getting very unlikely that you would be granted permission because of the messes left by others. Empty shells, pits dug without permission, food wrappers, blind debris in fields. The list goes on. Its a shame and i figure spots must not be all that hard to come by for most seeing as how they are willing to trash them.
 
#25 ·
Like pretty much everyone else, I do NOT "share" info with anyone (except my sons). But I have a slightly different story...

I had a high school football team mate (from the 1970's) who was a great friend - was one of the ushers at my wedding, the works. He became a rather successful entrepreneur and bought 100 acres of pure hunting land in the Hudson Valley, NY (I don't even want to give away the location today!), which he gave me the OK to hunt whenever I wanted. Prior to that, he hunted with me and stayed & ate at my parent's home when he did. I remember one evening I put him in a stand I had scouted from which he shot a very nice buck with Bow. It was like I was his hunting guide, but we were buddies so it was fine with me. Since my folks lived nearby, my late dad and I would sometimes hunt his property during the week so as not to inconvenience my friend. Evidently he had a couple of his cousins come in to hunt one weekend. A few weekends later he shows up and there is a whole crew of guys hunting his land. His cousins invited them! He got so angry, so he posted the land to cut everyone off - - unfortunately including me!!! It essentially ended our friendship when in our subsequent conversations he basically indicated he felt no one could be trusted. That happened back around 1994 and we have only spoken 1 or 2 times since, just because we were both at the home of a mutual friend.

There's a reason it's your hunting spot - - keep it that way!
 
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