Saving camping spots on dispersed public land

[MNElkNut]

We recently went on an elk hunt and wanted to camp along a road that went along a ridge. There is one great place to camp on that ridge and the rest of the spots are less than ideal. So we get to the spot and there is a wall tent set up there. Nobody is there and it is apparent that nobody has been there for a couple days. For the next 10 days, we drove by and nobody shows up at that camping area. So the wall tent was set up a minimum of 12 days without being used. Have you encountered this? How did you handle it/what are your thoughts on this practice? Obviously, it was on public land. Does the 16 days in one spot for dispersed camping rule apply as the tent is there but nobody is actually "camping"? Total guess, but I am thinking it may have been rifle hunters reserving their spot a month in advance.

 

[Gellar]

We saw that often on our elk trip this year. It was very apparent because the snow and no tracks in or out to the campsites. Luckily, the spot we wanted was open and we were able to set up camp at it.

 

[2rocky]

It happens.

One thing that is legal is some outfitters pay for campsites they use year after year, Usually there will be a sign that designates as a special operating permit site. Usually yellow with black letters and a USFS seal.

 

[diamond hitch]

Sort of like every camping spot filled with a camper for the fourth of July. That's about normal.

 

[ashersdad]

Pretty normal but I sure wouldn't dare do it. I know there has been a bunch of camps getting robbed here in Oregon that I have heard about this year. One in particular where the people were actually there and hunting and when they came back that night the wall tent and everything in it was just gone.

 

[Baerman]

if you can't beat them...join them. happens in Idaho ALL the time and it's gotten worse since so many people are moving in.

 

[npaden]

On our last trip to Utah I would bet the trailers parked in a campsite "saving" a spot outnumbered the ones that actually had people in them. I think they count toward the 16 day limit whether someone is in them or not.

I don't think anyone enforces the 16 day limit though.

 

[beginnerhunter]

Probably going to be reservation only designated spots for $ in some high use areas one of these days. Especially if the practice of "saving" increases.

 

[LuketheDog]

Well, on the bright side, you know if they aren't staying in their camp it's less hunters to deal with while you're in the woods. I'd rather have a crummy campsite with good hunting than a nice camp with lots of other clowns around though...

 

[JLDemo]

Happens often. A few years ago I had been using an old logging road to access a drainage a few miles back in. Due to the wind not being right I didn't go back in there for a few days, when it was right, I headed straight there to find a wall tent and two older gentlemen who made a camp at the logging road entrance/road block. I parked down the road a ways and walked around their camp and back onto the logging road. They waved me over on the way back and admitted that they had hoped to keep people off that road by camping there. They weren't rude, just hoped they could keep access at a minimum, up to about a mile or so in it was easy hiking which they enjoyed. Hunted that drainage a few times while they were camped and never saw them out and about. I've never seen or heard of any camping limitations being enforced in primitive location.

Bottom line I guess is people will do some funny stuff to make a "claim." Ignore the smoke screen and keep on keepin' on.

 

[COEngineer]

On our last trip to Utah I would bet the trailers parked in a campsite "saving" a spot outnumbered the ones that actually had people in them. I think they count toward the 16 day limit whether someone is in them or not.

I don't think anyone enforces the 16 day limit though.

A quick google search says it's 14 days in most Forests, but there may be exceptions. Either way, I think you have to call and get hold of the local game warden. If he/she doesn't know that people are upset about it, they won't make it a priority.

 

[SFC B]

The spot we like to use regularly is (thankfully) NOT and easy drive to get to. You have to have a purpose to use the jeep trail most years. This keeps a large number of folks out BUT we still usually come up at least 2, if not 3, days prior to our hunt starting. Good for us to cut wood, look around and still have at least a day of quiet buffer in the area. In the last few years we have had at least one vehicle a year start poking up the valley the day before the season thinking they were coming to our spot only to be disappointed. In 8 years we have only had to change spots once.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

We recently went on an elk hunt and wanted to camp along a road that went along a ridge. There is one great place to camp on that ridge and the rest of the spots are less than ideal. So we get to the spot and there is a wall tent set up there. Nobody is there and it is apparent that nobody has been there for a couple days. For the next 10 days, we drove by and nobody shows up at that camping area. So the wall tent was set up a minimum of 12 days without being used. Have you encountered this? How did you handle it/what are your thoughts on this practice? Obviously, it was on public land. Does the 16 days in one spot for dispersed camping rule apply as the tent is there but nobody is actually "camping"? Total guess, but I am thinking it may have been rifle hunters reserving their spot a month in advance.

All the time. It's pretty infuriating. I have also met quite a few hunters who would come in on a weekend, sometimes weeks before their hunt, and set up those camps, then turn around and drive back to the city the same day. There aren't enough FS officers to enforce the camping limit, and everyone knows that.

Then there are always the guys that see no problem with setting up right on top of you the night before the season starts. I had that happen last year. 10 p.m. and I was already in the sack, a group comes rolling in, stops 10' from my tent, has a loud "he's in our spot" conversation, then commences to set up a wall tent about 60' from me, talking loudly until probably midnight. Then next day, one of them felt compelled to come tell me I was in "their normal spot" as if I was supposed to give a (you know what). I had been there for 4 days already, scouting the entire time. This was the third time in 3 years I had residents feel like they had to tell me I was in "their" spot. Pretty unbelievable really.

I guess that's how it goes on public land though. Just gotta learn to expect it.

 

[Nameless Range]

All the time. It’s bullshit. this summer I witnessed it not for hunting, but for camping in general.

Some bastard finds a good camping spot in May, and leaves his camper there all summer. All they Gotta do every Friday is throw the kids in the suburban and drive into the mountains.

I suppose the correct answer is to document when you saw them first, and if they exceed the limit of allowed days, report them. Problem is if you’re on a 10 day hunting trip you’ll never catch them over the allotted amount of days.

Personally, I would cut the camping day limit for one spot in half, and as I’ve said before. we need an order of magnitude more LEOs on the landscape to enforce these rules.

Just west of me a few miles, there are people literally living on public land. They migrated their camp once this summer. Maybe it’s just a sad fact that our public lands are going to become a relief valve for homelessness.

I’m done ranting. Happy Saturday

 

[Slm864]

I see that happen pretty much every year. I’ve come to just ignore it now. Walk or drive right by everyday if needed. It’s just more of an inconvenience. I think some people use the public land as there storage area instead of leaving it in their yard or garage.

 

[2rocky]

I dub it "Recreational Homesteading". If you have it happening in a place you can monitor weekly you might be able to bend the USFS district LEO's ear about it, but in most jurisdictions they have bigger issues like pot grows and meth labs. I think it would take an NGO like BHA to police it at the risk of incurring displeasure from the 6hour away locals.

 

[Islander]

Set up camp. If they show up, move?

 

[44hunter45]

Most USFS sites and many of the corporate timber sites have a 14 day limit. You can drop a dime on them.

 

[ibehuntin]

Interesting topic to be sure and controversial. It's illegal to attempt to reserve a dispersed camping spot on NF lands. You can't setup a camp for that purpose and then basically abandon it. We've had issues ourselves in the past. People would come up the weekend before the opener and put out a crummy little kids tent and a chair then beat it back home. We always go up 3 days prior to get to our desired spot and cut wood, scout around etc. Twice we had just that happen.. Folded up the tent and chair and burned em in the fire. Friday night they come rolling up and screaming we're in their spot! Really? How do you figure? We just play dumb and look at them like they're off their nut. They go away eventually. Its getting tougher to find good dispersed spots when the FS is actively DCing a lot of them throughout some forest lands.

 

[PrairieHunter]

Unfortunately the lack of law enforcement is a major problem on USFS and other federal land. The vandalism, off road driving, reserving camping spots etc all goes on with little to no care around here. I would love to see how many tickets they have written for violating the occupied camp site or 14 day rules around here recently, if the over/under was 1 and I would take the under.

There are families that block off the best spots up at Rob Roy most of the summer with multiple campers which are empty the majority of the time. Same happens when the hunters start blocking spots in August preparing for archery season. They close all the USFS gates at public access points before hunting season, but the gates coming in from private are open and they the roads all season riding around in 4 wheelers. The BLM South of Laramie is a free trash dump. The NWR next door has has the office door ripped off for several years and nobody has even bothered to put it back. Until the USFS LEO in the area starts enforcing laws then this kind of stuff will continue to happen, I'm sure this similar in other areas.

I just avoid the conflict and find another spot as the kind of people who do this are also the kind of people who will vandalize your stuff if they think you took their camping spot. They likely are paranoid since they know they are breaking the law and reducing the recreational opportunities of others who know what's going on so they are likely have cameras set up.

Best solution is likely to just throw hot bacon grease all over their tent and hope the bears/racoons have fun.