There is no greater supporter of public lands and public lands hunting than me.
You have certainly heard me say this before. With the great gift of public lands comes the responsibility to care for them and manage them to their highest potential. Most citizen-owned lands in my part of the state are managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and they do a fine job with the limited resources they are allotted every year. They take care of the habitat and make all of the wildlife management decisions.
The other side of the equation is the care of the property outside of habitat management. This responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of every person who steps on the land. It seems that not all of the citizen-owned land utilizers understand or feel this same responsibility.
I have a few citizen-owned land rules that I follow and would expect every other user to follow as well. As you all know, it is a very small 5 percent of any population that makes life for the other 95 percent more difficult. My rules are not written down anywhere, but they should be in the memory of any person who calls themselves a hunter/conservationist.
The first rule is pick up your trash. Leave the area just like you found it. In fact, leave the area better than you found it. This can be as small as getting back out of the truck to pick up a sheet of paper towel that fell out when you got in. Too often I see users just not really give a hoot if they act like slobs.
These citizen-owned lands are often used for dumping sites for furniture and other big stuff like micro-waves and mattresses. They are not lighted so a person can get in and out without being seen. Last year I traveled my entire county and towed an ATV trailer behind my Ranger and in a day I filled it to capacity.
The other thing I have seen this season that is totally unacceptable is folks cleaning birds in the parking lot. This act alone is not an offense if done properly. Many hotels have no cleaning facilities so the hunter makes due with an outside cleaning site. Make sure you bag all of the remains and dispose of it properly. I have seen bird carcasses just tossed in the tall grass next to the parking area and my dogs, or the next hunter’s dogs, will find that right away and start on those remains as an afternoon snack.
Leaving any bird parts is a total breach of public land etiquette. A few little feathers floating around should be the only indication you were even there.
Cigarette butts are another peeve of mine. I smoke a little here and there, but I never leave a butt behind. It takes 10 years for a cigarette butt to decay. Police those butts and keep the spot looking good for the next user.
The last public lands “shall do” item is to share the space. If there is already someone else that beat you to the spot, move on to the next one. Pulling in 10 minutes before shooting time on a weekend and piling up a group that has been waiting in the spot for two hours is totally uncool. If the hunting spot is a large one that can handle more than one party, I ask the person who was there first which direction they intend to go, and then I go in the opposite direction.
There is nothing that can kill a great day outdoors better than a group showing up really late and walking in on top of your party, causing unsafe hunting conditions. A quarter of a mile separation between hunting groups is an absolute must.
None of these items are very difficult to do and adhere to, but not all users practice them correctly. Be the responsible user and make sure that other users can have the same great experience that you had.
There is about one month left of chasing roosters, and the bird numbers are pretty solid in most areas. Get out there and take advantage of this gift, and make sure when you leave, no one can even tell you were there.
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com. or on Twitter @habitat champion.