Bayou Outdoors | Outdoor Etiquette

article by Dan Chason

This topic could go on to the point it would engulf this entire publication.  I have never seen any other area or topic that is so important or so much overlooked or twisted to accommodate one’s own desires.  I’ll start with basic hunting etiquette and then move on to fishing.  There are unwritten rules of etiquette at the hunting camp.  Number one, it is not your place and you are an invited guest.  Don’t show up at anyone’s invitation empty handed.  Ask your host what you can bring.  I cannot count the times I have had guests that don’t even bring a bottle of water with them with the expectation that what they need will be provided.  My favorite guests realize how much time, money and effort is invested in my place and bring bags of corn, bran for the critters,  or some prime steaks for the evening meal.  These guys get invited back as they are showing a sensitivity to the need.  Also, bring your own wheels if approved.  I have had many guests in the past that show up and expect to be guided.  They have to be transported and picked up with little consideration on how that affects other hunters tending to themselves.   My pet peeve are the ones who “only want to shoot a fat doe.”  The expectation is the desire for some deer meat, but there are times when we don’t shoot does.  Ask and abide by the host’s wishes, as going to a new place means abiding by the rules of the host.  Clean up after yourself.  Leave the deer stand, camp and land in better shape than you found it.  I can’t count the times I have gone back to a deer stand to find the door unsecure, windows left open and enough trash to start a recycling campaign.  Nobody likes a slob and the deer camp is the last place to be one.  The maid took the weekend off.  Contribute and abide by the rules and you stand a good chance of being invited back. 

Etiquette in fishing starts when you back your boat down the ramp.  Rule number one is don’t back your boat onto the ramp and then start unbinding or unstrapping your boat.  Your ramp time should be simply back down, drop your boat and clear the ramp.  If it is dark turn off your headlights when backing down.  Nothing is tougher than backing a boat down the ramp and some nimrod has his lights on bright, blinding your view of your rig.

Every boat ramp area is a no wake zone, whether posted or not.  Pull your boat out of the way of other rigs attempting to launch.  If it is dark, put your running lights in and turn them on.  This prevents accidents and another boat from hitting yours.  One of the biggest controversies is boat wake.  Let’s say you are going down the lake and another boat is fishing nearby.  Do you hammer down or do you slow down?  The law says you are responsible for your wake.  However, I throw a much bigger wake by not slowing from a safe distance instead of plowing a wake by slowing down and not idling by.  The right call depends on the body of water.  D’Arbonne Bayou for example is narrow.  If you don’t slow to a idle speed, you will wash a fellow angler into stumps or on the bank.  Someone fishing near a marked channel, for example, takes on the risk of approaching boats coming down the channel.  This is a situation where staying on pad or plane is appropriate.  Bass boats put out a much smaller wake on plane than idling where ski boats must idle or cause huge wakes.

      My number one pet peeve is what I call fish poachers.  If I take you fishing, it is a unwritten rule:  Do not ever return to that spot to fish.  I have experienced this quite a bit as I will take someone fishing, put them on a pattern or specific presentation and they return and poach my spot when I’m not there.  The same goes for “honey holes” with some of them I fish being private lakes.  There is no greater level of disrespect for me to put someone on a pattern and they find an alternative way to access the body of water to fish my stuff.  These anglers do this so they can return with another person to impress them as to their fishing skills.  Find your own place, find your own patterns and knock yourself out.  Don’t use my experience, time and labors to benefit yourself.  That is a great way to never be invited to share a boat with me.

    This should be common sense.  I’ve seen guys who are anal retentive about their hunting and fishing areas only to turn around and violate every ethical thing I know about fishing when it comes to their actions.  I remember when I actively fished tournaments, GPS was pretty young and there was a competitor who thought it was perfectly find to “hole jump” by marking key areas stolen from other anglers.  He didn’t last very long as he did not have the skills or expertise on his own.  Something stolen or means used to take advantage never pan out.  

In closing let me offer this bit of advice.  Professional anglers or anglers who have a gift when it comes to chasing critters are usually very protective of their gift.  When you find someone willing to share that gift which in the end makes you better yourself, honor that by following some of these tips.  The reward of the outdoors is you have developed skills that last a lifetime.  Those skills should come with the pleasure that comes through time on the water and in the woods.  The rewards are lifelong and very satisfying, especially when you come by it in an honest and ethical manner.