Bush camping etiquette?

[LaCa]

Just sharing an experience that myself and a few friends experienced while camping/hunting a couple of weekends ago.
We went out in the morning on the Friday and headed up a fairly popular old logging road to camp and hunt for a few days. A lucky friend had drawn a bull moose tag for the area.
We had our spot decided on before heading out, and luckily when we got there it was vacant, so we set up camp by about 11:00 am. At around 5:00 pm a pickup with an enclosed trailer, and an older Motorhome pulling a SXS on a trailer pulled into our camp. They stopped for about a minute side by side chatting in the vehicles. No big deal we thought, they will probably just turn around and carry on to the next camping spot. There are great camping spots every km or so all along the road, with ample space, privacy and cover from the main road. Well, no they carry on right through the clearing we are in, and pull into the trees about 100 yards past where our 3 campers are, and decide to set up camp.
We were a little surprised by this to say the least, this is in the bush, in prime hunting area, not a campsite with stalls. We refrained from approaching them at first, but after about 30 minutes they began cutting trees, and shooting .22's in the jack pines no further than 100 yards from our camp. We yelled out to them asking to stop, which was followed by two more shots. At this point we had had enough. We walked down and asked them to stop, as we had young children and dogs in our camp.
We had many things that we wanted to say to them, but refrained and simply asked them to stop shooting. We shared with them the fact that there were miles of road with plenty of camp sites and it was unnecessary to be where they were. They replied with "We've been coming here for years" and they decided they were staying.
I have never experienced anything like this while camping during hunting season. I had always assumed that everyone had the common sense that if a spot was already claimed, simply move on to the next. They were clearly hunting as well, they went out every morning and evening, which conveniently set off the dogs barking every time they went in and out, through our camp.
Are we the only ones who see this to be completely ridiculous? I hope this isn't a common occurrence and that most of you share our feelings? Maybe they just felt comfort in being close to other people out in the bush.

[LKILR]

Etiquette? Sounds like entitlement. What a bunch of losers.

[JB_AOL]

And this has been my experience as well, with the 2 times I camped In the backcountry. There are no rules/etiquette, so it's luck of the draw. We stick to cg's midweek now. Much more enjoyable.

[Smoky buck]

I have had strangers set up camp 20yards away from mine when there was many other options many times. Same comment “we camp here every year” was their response. Experienced all kinds of special people camping in the bush over the years. I now try to camp in smaller spots and set up camp so others can’t squeeze in. Before someone says anything I am talking about places that you cannot really fit two camps without cuddling

All kinds out there

[RZR]

I have learned that once your camp is set up I always park vehicles on the path into camp and block the entrance.

[Dubious]

I’ve had people come up to me when sighting in a rifle on a logging slash to ask me to stop shooting on crown land because there camp was 2km down the road and it scared there dog. I’ve also had other people set up next to me 20m just to bring out there 22’s and shoot the empty beer bottles that they threw in the creek as they floated downstream. The co’s Wouldn’t do anything about the shooting because it was crown land and didn’t see any of the bottles being shot and just told us they get a lot of complaints of gunfire at this location. When the people finally did leave we went over to there camp and it looked like a land fill there was garbage everywhere I had to clean up. The thing I learned on both of those 2 cases is there isn't enough spots in Alberta to go camping at and everyone who is out there on crown land thinks there in the right.

100 yards away from your camp seems pretty good I know you where there first and it was the spot you wanted but you could have called the co’s Just to learn there nothing there doing wrong or just packed up your self and moved.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Dubious

I’ve had people come up to me when sighting in a rifle on a logging slash to ask me to stop shooting on crown land because there camp was 2km down the road and it scared there dog. I’ve also had other people set up next to me 20m just to bring out there 22’s and shoot the empty beer bottles that they threw in the creek as they floated downstream. The co’s Wouldn’t do anything about the shooting because it was crown land and didn’t see any of the bottles being shot and just told us they get a lot of complaints of gunfire at this location. When the people finally did leave we went over to there camp and it looked like a land fill there was garbage everywhere I had to clean up. The thing I learned on both of those 2 cases is there isn't enough spots in Alberta to go camping at and everyone who is out there on crown land thinks there in the right.

100 yards away from your camp seems pretty good I know you where there first and it was the spot you wanted but you could have called the co’s Just to learn there nothing there doing wrong or just packed up your self and moved.

And I had the opposit happen...CO shows up and tells them in a few hours he will be back and if the garbage etc is not cleaned up the ticket book comes out....they cleaned up, packed up and buggered off.....call the CO.....

[skidderman]

Last yr I had a similar incidence. I came unglued and told the guys that it didn't seem right & they knew I wasn't happy. 20 minutes later they were gone. This yr I got there & someone else was there first so I moved on. It's hard to understand how little respect there is for others these days.

[YYC338]

Originally Posted by skidderman

Last yr I had a similar incidence. I came unglued and told the guys that it didn't seem right & they knew I wasn't happy. 20 minutes later they were gone. This yr I got there & someone else was there first so I moved on. It's hard to understand how little respect there is for others these days.

It's the "me first" society nowadays. You see it in all walks of life.

Kids are taught from an early age, you are special because you're you. Well that has good intentions and can be helpful for self confidence and self expression, the pendulum seems to have swung too far and it gets morphed into a self entitlement mindset.

[35 whelen]

Man I used to have those problems had it this fall again, I still thank every day that I own a nice piece of land even though I don't kill every year around there I don't have to deal with that Crownland mess anymore.

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[Ken07AOVette]

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[MrPants]

Same thing happened while ice fishing. I was having a decent day on the ice with the family. All of a sudden I hear crunching and an auger start right out side my tent. Look out and a guy is drilling a hole 3 feet from my door, no lie. I asked him what he was doing, told me he seen us ice some fish and figured we wouldn’t mind as no one else was catching. I kindly asked him to bugger off and he was miffed. Shocking how many people out there are like this.

[Bigwoodsman]

I had something similar to this happen on a spring fishing trip many many years ago in northern Alberta. lets just say it turned into a barn burner and the good guys one. The bad guys buggered off.

BW

[Tronneroi]

Similar situation happened to me and my dad two years ago. My dad has hunted this northern WMU for the past 29 years, I've been joining him for the last 15. We usually go in October but were drawn for a November moose that year.

A couple days into the trip, five motorhomes show up and camp probably 10 km down the road from our camp. No biggie, it's a large enough area that you'll rarely run into anyone.

Next day the old guy is road hunting and stops us on our way into camp for lunch. He asks us who we were, to which we didn't offer any information... Goes on about how he's been coming to this area for the past 30 years and has never seen us before... Tells us that we should set boundaries and then proceeds to set them. We never really hunt the area that he wanted to hunt in so we agreed just to get it over with.

The next day my dad is lined up on a deer and seven quads come ripping down the cut line behind us. One of the guys blasts a chicken and they all take off at mach 5 back the way they came. My old man caught up with them and let them know that they lacked a serious amount of etiquette.

We never got our moose and we had these jerks ripping circles around us in quads for the entire ten days. Needless to say, that was the one and only time we did our trip in November...

[35 whelen]

Every year it just seems to get worse no one has any etiquette or respect for anyone else out there .it's all about them first come first serve in my books

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[Greatwest]

Originally Posted by MrPants

Same thing happened while ice fishing. I was having a decent day on the ice with the family. All of a sudden I hear crunching and an auger start right out side my tent. Look out and a guy is drilling a hole 3 feet from my door, no lie. I asked him what he was doing, told me he seen us ice some fish and figured we wouldn’t mind as no one else was catching. I kindly asked him to bugger off and he was miffed. Shocking how many people out there are like this.

I hate when guys pull up to a vacant ice shack and drill holes right up next to it and use the vacant shack for a wind break. They don’t realize when they drill there couple holes it floods water underneath the shack and it freezes the shack in real good. See it all the time.

[Sooner]

Originally Posted by 35 whelen

Every year it just seems to get worse no one has any etiquette or respect for anyone else out there .it's all about them first come first serve in my books

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100 % agree and we would always move on if our preferred spot has been taken but what happens when a camp is set up 1/4 km down a well used cut line, basically blocking access behind it. A main cut line that takes you many, many km's behind that camp. By blocking it I mean wall tents and vehicles filling up the cross line so you can't see by it and if you dared, you would have to weave through the camp with an atv to get by.

Those camps are more than frustrating. At least where it happens in my go to zone, I know how to access the area behind the main line through other cut lines as I would not travel through a camp even though I could.

[Indy]

Thanks to the hunter that pulled me out last weekend when I got my truck/boat trailer stuck (Peace River in 359). Much appreciated, guys were from St. Alberta area I believe. I tend to meet hundreds times more respectful hunters than I do ones with poor etiquette.

[CanuckShooter]

[QUOTE=Sooner;4033155]100 % agree and we would always move on if our preferred spot has been taken but what happens when a camp is set up 1/4 km down a well used cut line, basically blocking access behind it. A main cut line that takes you many, many km's behind that camp. By blocking it I mean wall tents and vehicles filling up the cross line so you can't see by it and if you dared, you would have to weave through the camp with an atv to get by.

Those camps are more than frustrating. At least where it happens in my go to zone, I know how to access the area behind the main line through other cut lines as I would not travel through a camp even though I could.[/QUO]

Ran into those before, just rode the atv right through the camp, had to hit a lawn chair and propane tank but they got the idea and moved stuff when I was coming back.

Also had some fellows set up a wall tent about 30 feet from our campers, things were pretty icy around there for a few days but they behaved and we didn't have to run them off.

[Masterchief]

Had the same experience... guns being fired, cutting down beautiful live trees right in the middle of a nice setting, music all night long. We ended up leaving and even though our spot just down the road wasn't as nice, we enjoyed the rest of our vacation in peace. That was one of the last trips with the rv... this was becoming more common for us, so we sold the trailer

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[last minute]

Crown Land get over it suck it up princesses don't like it move on You Don't Own the land or the site you camp on

[RZR]

Originally Posted by last minute

Crown Land get over it suck it up princesses don't like it move on You Don't Own the land or the site you camp on

So your one of those dicks that would set up camp right beside another camp that is already there!

[Puma]

Originally Posted by last minute

Crown Land get over it suck it up princesses don't like it move on You Don't Own the land or the site you camp on

Funny story, well now anyways, wasn't then. We set up a camp, wall tents, electric fence corral for some horses, the whole ball of wax. That night about 8 PM, people start to roll in, and set up camp all around us. More, more, campers, trailers, tents ... generators start up, music starts .... Turns out it was an annual company camp out for a small electrical contractor planned for the same spot. We moved on the next day after a no sleep night.

[338Bluff]

Originally Posted by RZR

So your one of those dicks that would set up camp right beside another camp that is already there!

Define right beside. In the OP's original post it was 100 yards. Nowadays that's probably as good as it gets.

In July that seems acceptable in all the random camping spots. Why is it so different after September 17th.

[270person]

Originally Posted by last minute

Crown Land get over it suck it up princesses don't like it move on You Don't Own the land or the site you camp on

Yep. It's all yours to do whatever you please with it, wherever and whenever you choose. Never mind that theres other people out there trying to enjoy it. Its all about YOU.

[buckbrush]

Originally Posted by last minute

Crown Land get over it suck it up princesses don't like it move on You Don't Own the land or the site you camp on

Wow. This is exactly what is wrong with people.

[Dubious]

Originally Posted by buckbrush

Wow. This is exactly what is wrong with people.

The funny thing is the guys that are going out and camping on crown land and getting upset when other people are doing something they don’t like and running people off are acting just as entitled as the people that come out camp near other people and cause a ruckus. A lot of the pot calling the kettle black on this thread.

[270person]

Originally Posted by Dubious

The funny thing is the guys that are going out and camping on crown land and getting upset when other people are doing something they don’t like and running people off are acting just as entitled as the people that come out camp near other people and cause a ruckus. A lot of the pot calling the kettle black on this thread.

The idea, as anyone who truly enjoys the wilderness would know, is not to run a ghetto blaster to all hours of the night, have a funeral pyre for a campfire, get rip loaded, scream your redneck face off all night, and shoot at anything that represents a target. Stay at home and do it in your own yard if that's your gig.

The only idiots in the thread are the ones claiming they have the right. NO you don't.

Once the maturity factor kicks in, assuming we're dealing with individuals in possession of an IQ above room temperature, they'll be the ones doing the biotching. The idea isn't to take the city to the outdoors. It's to get away from the BS. If you don't get that? ....tough noogs.

[does it ALL outdoors]

Originally Posted by MrPants

Same thing happened while ice fishing. I was having a decent day on the ice with the family. All of a sudden I hear crunching and an auger start right out side my tent. Look out and a guy is drilling a hole 3 feet from my door, no lie. I asked him what he was doing, told me he seen us ice some fish and figured we wouldn’t mind as no one else was catching. I kindly asked him to bugger off and he was miffed. Shocking how many people out there are like this.

Now that's just going too far, I would of yelled at him to get off my lawn!

I have my favourite spots too, if someone beat me to them then tough luck for me, I keep on keeping on. Why would anyone want to camp on top of some stranger? I get out of the city to get away from everyone else.

I wouldn't shoot if I could see another camp within eyesight, I'd take a walk. Common courtesy.

And trash never hits the ground in my campsites. It goes STRAIGHT into the Rubbermaid garbage can I bring with me.

Pigs are everywhere, it REALLY bugs me when they treat the outdoors as their personal trash can.

[lyallpeder]

I think when you were where they wanted to be they proceeded to be the worst neighbors ever so you would move on and they could have the spot they wanted.