Hunting Camp location etiquette, gated roads

[OldBroad44]

I'm usually loath to reward aholery. But I've got a highly developed sense of self-preservation too. Shortly after moving to Oregon more than 40 years ago I liked to just drive me and my two dogs into the coastal mountains somewhere in my 18' motor home and just get lost on logging roads. Can I get all the way from Philomath to the Alcea Valley by going straight over the mountains on logging roads? Lets see. I was carrying all my camping gear, a concealed gun of course, food, beds, gas. When I saw somewhere nice or got tired I would just pull over and sleep. No place I had to be.

So I was happily lost in a section of mountains that had a whole lot of roads with a particular family name in them. After a while I came upon a deputy sheriff. He was a bit worried. I explained that yes, I was lost, but no problem. He asked me if I'd seen anybody. Then he explained that the very large extended family that lived in this area thought they owned the whole woods, and didn't like strangers. Then, very hesitantly, he said a couple of outsiders had disappeared back in here. He added that the roads and woods were public, and I had as much right to be there as anyone...but...

I told him thanks for the tip, and said I could be just as happy being lost in some other section of the mountains. He breathed a big sigh of relief.

So this family's bad behavior was allowing them essentially exclusive use of public land, and even LE, in a way, was helping enforce it. Did it bother me? No. The world is full of miscreants, from petty a-holes to murderers. Ya gotta pick your battles. I didn't even know whether the deputy's story was real. For all I knew, the whole thing was an invention and the deputy was protecting a huge pot growing operation. In which case that was nothing I wanted to see either.

When I was a teenager in Georgia my dad taught me proper etiquette for being in a swamp or woods and accidentally discovering someone's still. Pretend you don't see it, get outta there, never say a word to anyone, and never go back. And if the still is actually working there's probably a guy behind a tree nearby, who has a shotgun pointed at your head, trying to decide whether he can afford to let you live. So you encourage him not to shoot you by showing no curiosity and getting out as fast as you can. The ability to mind your own business--an invaluable survival tactic.

 

[Jay Walk]

Gates are made to open for a reason

 

[Stomper]

Set up a camp in front of a gate on the road on land you don't own, blocking the access of the owner to his property? Or the public to public land they have as much right to use as you? Instead of camping somewhere discreetly nearby not blocking anything?

Are you out of your ever luvin' mind?

What's the proper etiquette for taking a dump on the floor in the middle of a fancy restaurant instead of using a restroom?

 

[Stomper]

Bottom line is there are neckbearded, mouthbreathers out there who think they can do anything they want because they have game tags for the area, a bunch of loud vehicles, and a gaggle of their similarly minded friends who have two digit IQs and bully attitudes to match. They also have zero respect for themselves and anyone else they might encounter.

Sad part is these 'types' most likely would claim to be '2A supporters' , republican, conservative etc. and consider themselves 'good ol Americans' yet treat others with zero respect.

Seen 'em all my life, and I simply stay away from them....

I've found there's usually not much behind self-labeling, and you'll just wear yourself out trying to enforce truth in advertising all the time.

 

[Val1884]

My favorite are the weyerhauser lease guys that gate an block mainlines to prevent access to state land beyond it. Then they bully an threaten you for using a legal easement to access our land.

 

[The Heretic]

Depends on what side of the gate the camp is setup and the ownership of the properties the gate is separating.

Neighbor (adjoining property, but not on the same road) has property adjoining mine that contains a logging road that is the main access to my back acreage. There is a gully between the back acreage (about ten acres) and the acreage my house is on (about 5 acres). I have permission from the neighbor to use that access, and I do for about a month in the autumn to get firewood.

The neighbor has the road chained off (chain is removable) but I can easily get around it and I do instead of bothering with the chain.

The last 3-4 years they have relatives/friends(?) who put their trailer on the road blocking it from about Thanksgiving/Xmas to spring. Fortunately, I don't need to access that acreage during that time - the road is too muddy to get out of until late spring/early summer.

In Oregon, hunters/etc. must assume that land is private and that they don't have access to it unless they have explicit permission - unless it is on the published map as public land. I believe there may also be rules/regs/laws about blocking access - gate or not. As others have noted, it is just stupid and inconsiderate to block roads by parking/camping on the road unless you own the land.

 

[Yarome]

Oregon is pretty clear.

(8) Traffic Rules.

(b) A Person may not obstruct or hinder the flow of traffic on a Forest Road.

(c) A Person may not operate a Vehicle in violation of Oregon traffic laws.

(d) A Person may not block, obstruct or interfere with vehicular or pedestrian traffic on a Forest Road, parking area, trail, walkway, pathway or common area.

 

[DirectDrive]

Setting up a camp in front of a locked gate should never be done.
So many reasons not to do that.
The first one is that it's probably not even legal.
The big one is that if there is an emergency down that road, the authorities are driving through and your camp will be unceremoniously dismantled/pushed out of the way.

Just because the road is gated, doesn't mean that you can block access.

 

[parallax]

Tent in front of gate etiquette.
1: unlock gate with your key
2: give 3 courtesy warning honks
3: move selector to 4WD low
4: drive over tent and all debris
5: lock gate behind you and go about your day

 

[OldBroad44]

...As others have noted, it is just stupid and inconsiderate to block roads by parking/camping on the road unless you own the land.

Its not legal to block a road unless you legally own the road and there are no legal public or private access rights. Any road or even major public path that was on your property before you bought it is likely legally a public right of way unless your deed specifically mentions the road or path and says otherwise.

 

[JRuby]

Even when parking in front of a gate I try to make sure other vehicles can still use the gate. I also don't hunt a road that has a vehicle parked on it. If I wanted to hunt that road I should of started earlier.

 

[Tlock]

Working in the woods all spring and into summer you would not believe the things seen at gates. Blocked gates, people shooting at the locked gate right up the middle of the road(that I'm coming down). People doing the nasty at/over the gate, sex toys left at gate. People release there bowels at the gate....the list goes on. I'm afraid stupid is running rampant!

 

[JRuby]

To drive over a tent could turn ugly and lead to criminal charges. I consider it ignorant. How do you know someone is not in that tent
Trying explaining that to a jury.

 

[The Heretic]

Its not legal to block a road unless you legally own the road and there are no legal public or private access rights. Any road or even major public path that was on your property before you bought it is likely legally a public right of way unless your deed specifically mentions the road or path and says otherwise.

In Oregon there are public and private easements. The person that owns a private easement has that access that the easement specifies and in general only that person - e.g., one of my neighbors had an easement to some adjoining acreage - they essentially owned the acreage and I couldn't use the acreage in any way even though it was within my property boundaries.

They did this for "setback" purposes for their shops - at the time WA county did not allow plot line adjustments so they bought the easement. About 5 years ago WA county changed their rules, and we set about going thru the process of adjusting the plot lines, including 1.5 additional acres I sold them. Surveying and paperwork/etc. cost them about $20K and it took about a year to get that done, then another year to get my mortgage lender to approve the acreage sale and the adjustment of the plot lines.

I have a public easement to my property and one on my property.

The former is an extension of an existing public road. The road was never extended across the neighbor's property or mine because it would go down into a deep gully and cross a year round creek, plus another existing public road goes around all the gullies and winds up at the same place. I am not sure if the public easement could be made into a road by me to my property or not - it is the only existing easement to my back acreage. I am not concerned about it because I have permission to use the logging road - for now (the logging road did not exist before 2018 and was created when several land owners, including myself and the previous owner of the adjoining property had the logging done).

The latter is the public easement for our neighborhood private road to on our properties (eight family plots). This easement allows government access for LEOs, fire dept., utilities, etc. Each property owner has access. We can still control private access - access by non-property owners. This is common practice for private roads where the private property owners want government services to their property that is only accessible by that road.

 

[ORhutner]

I have heard of similar in eastern Oregon at popular trail heads during deer and elk seasons where outfitters or large family groups will set up sizeable encampments right at the trail head. It is all of our public lands and if you want to hunt said gate/trailhead then do so. By allowing others to continue these activities without walking right through/past you are only allowing/affirming their ideology.

You get to a gate before me and I respect that as part of the hunting code and will find another place to hunt. If you are camped at a trailhead or gate with clear intentions to block/discourage others use, I will go and park a safe distance away and walk right through and conduct my hunt as planned.

 

[dangerranger60]

To drive over a tent could turn ugly and lead to criminal charges. I consider it ignorant. How do you know someone is not in that tent
Trying explaining that to a jury.

Tell that to the fire department!

 

[sobo]

Tent in front of gate etiquette.
1: unlock gate with your key
2: give 3 courtesy warning honks
3: move selector to 4WD low
4: drive over tent and all debris
5: lock gate behind you and go about your day

To drive over a tent could turn ugly and lead to criminal charges. I consider it ignorant. How do you know someone is not in that tent
Trying explaining that to a jury.

Well, that's what Item 2 is for...

/sarc

Truth be known, when I first read Item 2, my eyes saw "honks" but my brain registered "shots". What does that say about me...?

 

[parallax]

To drive over a tent could turn ugly and lead to criminal charges. I consider it ignorant. How do you know someone is not in that tent
Trying explaining that to a jury.

My logic and advice is undeniable…

 

[JRuby]

Tell that to the fire department!

View attachment 1737443

It's pretty simple to look into a car and see if there is someone in it.

 

[P7M13]

Down in the Siuslaw, I took a BLM forest road that cut through the corner of a farm. The road was numbered, and the gate on the far end of the farm was open.
I'm in an old abandoned quarry on BLM land, about 1.5 miles in, and I set up pistol targets.
After about a half hour, while I'm picking up trash and brass, I can see a truck tearing up the mountainside. The dude exits his truck and approaches me aggressively, so I unsnap my 45 to be ready -- It's the lead farm hand, telling me that I can't be there, that the farm owner is on his way up and I'll regret that. I reply, "let him come."
The hombre left.
I had a half bag of trash already, switchef to my AR and continued to shoot.
No one else came.
Back in Michigan, I knew a man who would block roads with his camp. If there was a gate, he'd cut the lock and put his own on. He was evil juju.
In general, i avoid people on public lands.