hunting ethics

R

rob paetzold

Active member
lets say you pay for a guided hunt and you're friends with the guide( but you still payed).
The guide takes you to a public lake and public access lots of birds. Would it be unethical to hunt the lake on your own? by the way you had no idea the lake existed an never would have if the guide did'nt take you there
should I expect bad-ju ju if I decide to hunt it and he happens to show up ?
 
If he's your friend then why don't you ask him?

If you don't want to ask him, then I think the fact that you have to ask indicates that you have reservations.

Personally, if it was me, I wouldn't hunt there unless I asked him directly and he said yes, but that is just me. I understand that public land is public land, but if someone is good enough to show you one of their "spots" - paid guide or not - then it seems somehow wrong to sneak behind their back to hunt it.

Let your conscience guide you.

Charlie
 
Like Charlie said, ask your friend. He's how I look at it. If it's a public area with public access it's fair game! Here's what happened to me. Years ago we stumbled across a dove heaven. Limited out every day for a week until the weather changed and drove them out. The next year I asked dad if I could bring a friend and he said as long as he understands the hony hole rule. Well dove season came around and I brought my best friend. Same thing the doves were thicker than tics on a hound. Yeah there were a few more hunters but it didn't matter the doves were thick! The following year my buddy shows up with his family and their friends and families. My old man was steaming! I mean he was pissed. But hey it was a public forest and open to everybody. No matter how mad dad was I couldn't be mad at my friend because it was PUBLIC HUNTING. In a matter of 6 or 7 years it was so popular now the DNR has to have a lottery because so many show up. What I'm saying is it'll only be your secret place for a short time until someone else googles and finds it on a map. Hunt the hell out it and thank you buddy for the opportunity when you see him.

Ed L.
 
Here is my thoughts, if you had to pay him to take you hunting, he ain't a friend, he is someone you know (you may think of him as a friend, but he doesn't think of you that way). Going back to that spot, being it's public is fair game.

To expand a bit, if it was private land, sorry your out of luck, no go. On the buddy hunting. I hunt with two different groups of guys. Without permission (which takes balls to ask for), I DO NOT tell or take people to the other spots. Spots found scouting stay with that group ( and yes, I will admit I have steered one group away from the other groups spots). I may go out by myself, but never would I take someone or tell someone about "our" spots. And generally the only way I am going out alone is those guys are busy with something else. I deliver it and except it.

We ran into this as a major issue last year. I believe both groups understood the rules and there wasn't any problems.
 
Yup Uh Huh ! heard this alot as of late,I have a great hunting Buddy tho i have to get him to hunt the whole day and not a few hours lol.But he is the most generous fella i have ever met he will got out of the way to help even strangers no matter what the prob.He has put family life on hold time and time again to take first timers hunting and other hunters met on line..Now this one morning bright and early he gets a phone call from one of his buddies out on the flats and it goes like this"you cant shoot for shit why the hell are you blastin at them burds,??HUH?IM in bed man..Well if you not in your blind someone is and there scaring the hell out of the burds "Well off he goes yes its public land like your sitiuation no monies were exchanged but here in his blind where he had taken 2 fellas the other day are now back in his blind without letting him know.So to say he was mildly upset is an understatement to say the least.these type of guys are Tag alongs as i call them they dont have spots meager gear usualy a gun and a few dekes maybe a boat and use other guys to find spots to hunt..
In a place i used to hunt you would be chased right out of there not to mention you vehicle may indure some damage of some sort if you came back ,,seen it happen back then the locals called them townies ,any way its plan and simple i have lots of fishin buds and hunting buds they call me to go all the time cuz they know they will never see me in there spots .....
 
Andrew, I can see your point somewhat...but..if your friend was a plumber or carpenter would you expect them to come over and work for free? I'd probably hunt the spot by myself after that but wouldn't take a bunch of buddies there. There are a lot of unkowns here..did you hunt up next to shore? Did the guide get permission to be there? In Michigan you can't (legally) just go up and anchor on someones property and hunt..if they come and tell you to "git" you had better "git".
 
Andrew, I can see your point somewhat...but..if your friend was a plumber or carpenter would you expect them to come over and work for free? I'd probably hunt the spot by myself after that but wouldn't take a bunch of buddies there. There are a lot of unkowns here..did you hunt up next to shore? Did the guide get permission to be there? In Michigan you can't (legally) just go up and anchor on someones property and hunt..if they come and tell you to "git" you had better "git".
Click to expand...

I agree with Andrew. I am sure the 'guide' probably brought a shotgun and shot his own limit. If he didn't shoot and did all the set-up and clean-up, he was working. Otherwise, half the gas and lunch between friends is how it should go down.

Public land is public land.
 
its kind of an unwritten rule in my neck of the woods, if you show somebody a spot, they dont hunt there unless they are with you. go ahead and ask him, he will probably say yes and being holding back the real answer. If he showed you then he had to realize the possibility that you would come back.
 
Agree with Keith re the unwritten rule. I showed this guy my little honey hole once and without mentioning it, he started showing up with his hunting partner, he's been hunting it for 4 years, I never go back there, I'm too pissed.

I like to follow the "right thing to do law" in life.
 
Charging a friend for 'guiding' them on public land is an ethical dilema in its own right. No ethcis involved for guides on public land to begin with. Ought to be against the law, and Im for one glad it is beginging to in a lot of our public places.

But, and this is the sticky part, just cause your friend is a peice of crap, doesn't give you the right to be one back to him. 2 wrongs don't make a right. And if someone shows you a hunting spot, a fishing spot, a dog training spot, or any kinda spot or thing that is a realitve secret, going back without them is wrong. If they took you to some community hole, and just showed you whats up, welp, that different but at least a coversation is in order. But if they showed you something you would have never found except by time and dumb luck, you got no business sticking it to the person who showed you, guide or not.
Nothing ruins a good spot faster than sharing it with 'friends'. If i got a really good gig on private land, I still wont take a lot of people. Ive taken people hunting, who ended up trying to lease stuff out from under me. Nothing turns me off faster than taking someone somewhere, and the first thing they want to know is 'particulars'. who owns it, where do they live, how many acres do they have, yada yada yada... none of that is a 'guests' business. If i take someone somewhere they ought to be happy to be there... curoisty killed a cat, and its kept a whole lot of folks from being asked back, thats for sure. If someone takes you somewhere, just be happy to be there, do things there way, never even think about coming back, and pick up any trash you see. Not hard. travis
 
Yes Lee I would, back when I was a home builder/remodeler and even yet today, people expect me to help for free, or they will "return the favor". Problem is they generally have no skills and no tools, one guy still owes me for roofing and siding his house, if his wife was better looking, well let's not go there.

It was kind of a general statement as someone else pointed out, alot depends on how you read into it. I guess I generally read the bad into it.

My thought would be: I better be there when my friends need help with the skills I have and they better do the same.
 
well here on lake champlain every spot is someones honey spot, and luckily you can pull up to someones lakefront property and hunt there as long as your out to 93ft above sea level after that its all public. i hunted this private marsh once, i knew the guys (two brothers) that owned it and had hunted in front of it my first year of hunting via a buddy that showed me his "honey hole." my second year however couldnt pry this kid off his girlfriend with a shotgun to go hunting if i tryed. i asked if i could hunt that spot and he told me yes. so i did but i had to launch from another spot. after finding that launch i was then invited to hunt the marsh (by the owners) that the launch accessed. hunted it two years and was kicked out by the third brother who didnt own shit, because he didnt do any scouting and wanted to have many options open when he got to the marsh that day. personally i think i shot to many of "his" ducks.

thank god for vermont honoring its hunters and not the dirtbag rich flatlander out-of-towners that buy up all our lakefront.
btw you can hunt in burlington to that sealevel thing out on the waterfront, but you should tell the burlington police that you are so that the antis dont call them and say a bunch of mad men are shooting all the little bread feed ducks that hang around there ;)

eddie
 
ive been on guided hunts where in the phone calls leading up too me spending my hard earned cash I explained the only reason i wanted too pay was too know that lake and find a good spot as it was 250 miles from home and a big body of water. Id personally have no problem as this was business not a friend deal or you wouldnt have had too pay.Hunting partners and friends dont charge for services if you were guided and just drank coffee as he set up dekes and worked his dog out of his boat you were guided. Now on the same note i would tell him when i planned on being there if it was a small bodie of water too small for lmultiple groups just too prevent his paying customers not having a place and that head ache thats just being considerate
 
I'm with Andrew Holly on this one. You paid for a guided hunt, you got a guided hunt. If it was private or leased land that would be a different story but public land is public land. Have at it.

Here in VA we can license and build our own blind on public water as long as it is not within 500 yards of some one elses blind. If I take some one hunting with me, he can go back to the area without me but can't hunt within 500 yards of the blind without my permission.
 
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