So being relatively new to pheasant hunting on public lands I thought I'd ask opinions on proper etiquette when you pull up to a public access and see a truck or two already there.

Just try to avoid the guys in the field?

Try to join up and hunt as a single party? Probably would flush more birds this way. Especially in some of the huge public fields where it is difficult to corner birds.

Move onto the next field?

Obviously if there are folk just about to go out, it is nice to talk with them and ask what their plan is.

On opener I just try to avoid folks in the field. There is usually a few people on all public ground. In the later season I'll drive to another spot altogether if someone is already there.

Generally, if I pull up to a spot and see some vehicles already there, I try to find a different area. Saves a lot af hassle and argument. If I pull up and there is just one or two hunters, I will ask if they would like to ad one more hunter and dog. Sometimes the extra help pans out.

I would be careful joining random hunters on public land for a few different reasons. You dont know how safe they hunt, some people carry their gun with the safety off all the time. They may ground pound birds with dogs around or they may shot over your head. I would really think twice before going into a WMA with people you know nothing about who are carrying loaded weapons.

I totally agree with 2thepointsetters. I wouldn't even think of hunting with total strangers. There are plenty of people who I know that I would never even consider hunting with much less strangers.

Good points by all!!! Where we hunt in SoDak, we sometimes get thrown together with other 'hunters'. I start right out with the lecture about NO ground pounding birds because my dogs will be right behind them, and if my dog gets shot, the next thing they'll see is my gun butt coming between their eyes. We also ran into one of the guys that left his safty off all the time, I couldn't convince him that with badger holes and such around, that it was unsafe, so I refused to hunt with him.

Nice post guys. Great info, better to be safe than sorry. Courtesy can go a long way. Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Hopefully there will be fewer people out next time I go and it will be less of an issue.

I meant to add to my post above that I think it also depends on the size of the public area, if its 80 acres or less you'll end up crowding the other hunters and it will ruin the hunt for both groups, I think you should go find another area. Even if its 160 acres, if I have 2 hours until sundown, I can cover most of the prime spots and I'm not going to be very courteous to you if you crowd me or rush and cut me off from the far corner. I know its public hunting cut other hunters some slack. Do onto others as you want them to do onto you.

Dont forget about proper etiquette towards hunters in the field pursuing other game birds. I hunt waterfowl allot and i cant believe pheasant hunters judgment sometimes. They know im hunting ducks so they decide to hunt the same wma(which is fine with me I dont care if they do) but they will walk within 50 yards of myself while hunting or walk around the pond im hunting. First this is very dangerous, second Im not going to shoot a single duck while 3 guys are walking around the 2 acre wetland im hunting in blaze orange, or walking 50 yards away. Bottom line, if you see a guy duck hunting and you know where he is, give him some space. I get screwed over by pheasant hunters at least a dozen times a year, and they think their actions have nothing to do with me since im not hunting pheasants. Wrong. Plus, i have a dog and there will be no pheasants in the swamp grass within 50 yards of me, because my dog already chased them out. I had a guy on monday that i talked to in the parking lot of a WMA that was over 400 acres, i told him where i was set up and went back to my spot. He pushed right to me, and kicked around the swamp grass within 40 yards, unbelievable! While he was doing this a flock of ducks locked up on my decoy spread only to see this man and flare.