Stay safe

[Northern]

I'm very familiar with Winchester. If I recall, there are three different launches on the east side of the 'lake'. The most northern one being the most popular. My take is that the launch is the launch and it isn't a one truck only kind of place. Way back in the day, when I was a duck hunter (I only do upland these days), we would launch our boat and usually go to the west side, where there are more coves and inlets. I cannot imagine anyone seriously setting up a blind right next to the launch. It's kind of ridiculous. Which leads me to wonder if they were hunting pheasant. It's a very popular spot for upland bird hunters and deer (archery) hunters as well. Too popular. Roosters will usually make their way from the crops through the sagebrush and then take cover in the reeds/cattails. Those cattails are nearly impenetrable. I could see un upland hunter walking the edge of the cattails with their dog and putting up a rooster only to miss. It's possible that they didn't know you were there. If they fired a shot with the intention to intimidate you, that would be a serious crime. It's also a crime to harass a hunter. Etiquette, in this scenario would be for a hunter or the fisherman to communicate that they are in the area depending on who saw who, first.

I’ve stumbled into areas being duck hunted a couple times while fishing. Both while living in CO. Both on a river and each time the hunters saw me before I saw them. Each set of hunters was courteous and called out something along the lines of “Hey, heads up, we’re hunting here”. To which I responded, “fuck off, this is my favorite hole!!!”

I kid. I said something along the lines of “gotcha, thanks for heads up” and moved off to the next spot. I think most hunters out of courtesy would let you know if they saw you. At the very least because your likely pushing ducks from the area they’re set up on.

Or maybe the shotgun blast was their heads up. In that case, you just happen to cross paths with an a$$hole or two…

I guess I prefer to assume they just didn't know I was there. Although it was dead calm and I dont know how they could have missed the sound of a trailer bouncing through the lot.

So... would it be acceptable to call out a "Hey, anybody hunting here, I don't wanna get shot?" or would that disrupt their hunt? I don't know much about hunting and have no desire to mess up anyone's day!

 

[jasmillo]

I guess I prefer to assume they just didn't know I was there. Although it was dead calm and I dont know how they could have missed the sound of a trailer bouncing through the lot.

So... would it be acceptable to call out a "Hey, anybody hunting here, I don't wanna get shot?" or would that disrupt their hunt? I don't know much about hunting and have no desire to mess up anyone's day!

If they are duck hunting it’s usually pretty obvious because of the decoys. In the two scenarios I encountered they were out of view due to bends in the river. I essentially walked up behind them. There was also nothing in the main river channel, which I assume is normal because it’s be tough to anchor decoys in current? I wouldn’t know, I’ve never duck hunted a river before. Had I saw them, I would have given them a really wide berth or turned back the direction I came (what I did). In your case, if someone truly was hunting that close to the launch and you saw them, I’d call out. Seems like a poor place for them hunt if the launch is used at all. Due to safety and lack of ducks coming into their set due to boaters. Maybe they were pheasant hunting like replicant said.