May as well get this one out of the way too. Leaving decoys out does not reserve the spot on public hunting lands.

It's an annual reminder

It is a problem that never seems to go away

Guy's first post ever. My my how far you have come Guy....

Heck of a first post, Guy. I'm going to read this whole thing. Looks like most everyone agreed through the first page of posts, but since it's six pages now, I'm interested to see everyone's opinions through the years.

Good reminder!

Wow, y'all dug up an old one.

Though it was not unlawful to leave decoys out on type II hunting areas in 2005, it was addressed eventually. It is now in the APHP regs.

"leaves personal gear, equipment (including decoys), or floating conveyances unattended for more than one hour following the close of legal shooting hours.

Note: this does not apply to gear or equipment left within a designated camping area or for specific activities scheduled by the department."

It was a good first post John. Still serves as a reminder.

One dollar was worth 3$ when this post was first written

Time flies

Ha ha.

Me and my buddies just put out a couple decoys at the end of each boat launch. That way they known the lakes mine before wasting they're time.

Public blows- sorry guys, and Guy- had to chime in

Leaving gear sitting out in plain view unattended overnight on pub with the expectation of it being there when you go back the next day is silly. if you found a $100 bill laying on the ground while hunting, I doubt you'd leave it there.

There's a few public spots I hunt way off the beaten path and rarely (if ever) hunted by anyone else other than the same few guys year after year. Most of those spots are walk-in and a long haul in and out, but well worth the effort. If I'm gonna hunt that same spot again the next day, I bag my dekes and hide them and anything else I don't want to hump out and the other guys that hunt those spots do it as well. I've come across stashes of dekes, chars, shotshells, etc many times but we have a gentlemans agreement to watch each other's backs.

The increase in the number of hunters on pub over the last few years has increased the amount ()and quality:) of stuff I find when I'm hunting. I've found some cool stuff, quite a bit the last 2 years. Expensive calls, boxes of shells, dekes (thanks for the bag of Avian-X!:) to a nice $300 Leatherman. Makes up for the stuff I've lost over the years.

I carry a bottle of lighter fluid and set fire to all the deks I find on public water..... Kinda like a little Viking ceremony

I've showed up to public hunting areas before and seen that people have forgot to pick up their decoys. So being the etiquette hunter I am, I kindly picked up all of their decoys for them and put them on the bank in a safe spot. I will be happy to do it for any hunter that forgets his decoys over night. Decoys are expensive and leaving them in the water over night can cause unnecessary wear and tear, plus they may get hit by a boat, or even float off.

Free Decoys!!!

Someone on here once said they carried a can of florescent orange spray paint in their blind bag and would hit a few decoys with it if he came up on unattended decoys.

All this post proves is the folks who were DB's 10 years ago still are

please note this is my first post in 5 years on this thread

69,000+ views!

Luckily I've never run into this situation. I'm not sure what I'd do, I guess it would depend on a lot of things at the time. But... I don't think I'd do any damage to left out dekes or take them. 25 years ago might be a different story.