Finding ribbons and tacks all over

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tutone84
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Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby tutone84 » Mon Dec 24, 2012 2:53 am

While scouting in a public marsh, I've been finding a lot of orange ribbons and tacks. Because I spent quite a bit of time in this area during the season and didn't see a soul, I assume they are either from years past or from the gun season. One trail in particular goes straight thru the marsh but as hard as I tried could not find any markings on the trees from where someone may have set up a stand. You can tell whoever it was had put a lot of time in making the trail as there are a lot of clipped (older) branches along with ribbons and tacks. Normally I would shy away from human intrusion but the buck sign is phenominal in this general vacinity as I found quite a few beds and rubs. My brother and I once layed out a trail in the spring time where we hunt, that was about a quarter mile long and never hunted it once for whatever the reason. What would you guys do in this situation, hunt it or move on, the deer are there.


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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby BigHunt » Mon Dec 24, 2012 2:58 am

i see that all the time ..i think its gun hunters who dont know the area and don't want to get lost on opening mourning going to "there" spot!

when i see the orange ribbons i just ripe them off the branchs :lol: :whistle:
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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby dan » Mon Dec 24, 2012 3:47 am

Most of the ribbon guys are one time hunters. They don't know the area so they mark a trail. If you can't find sign of where they are hunting, and don't think they are in there, go ahead and hunt it.
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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby Bowhunting Brian » Mon Dec 24, 2012 4:07 am

now the question is, do you take down the ribbons as you walk in or out as well? do you leave them up? I always left them alone. a ribbon doesn't bother me being left on a tree.
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Dewey
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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Dec 24, 2012 4:53 am

I take the ribbons down. Really bugs me when people leave stuff in the woods. As cheap as GPS's are now does anybody really need orange tape anymore? Never could understand leaving a trail to your hunting spot for everyone to see.

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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby bowhunter15 » Mon Dec 24, 2012 5:18 am

Dewey wrote:I take the ribbons down. Really bugs me when people leave stuff in the woods. As cheap as GPS's are now does anybody really need orange tape anymore? Never could understand leaving a trail to your hunting spot for everyone to see.

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I always just use my GPS, mainly to avoid having anyone find out where I'm headed. But I will say, that even with a GPS, there are some spots where if you're off by 15 yards in the dark, you have a heck of a time getting through a certain patch of brush. Which is when a couple tacks or ribbons could really help. I typically leave them up as they are not hurting me, but I see what you're saying about leaving stuff in the woods though. I was scouting with a friend a few weeks ago, and we found a treestand on public. The stand was locked onto the tree and he had treesteps all the way up. He also had about a 10 inch dagger laying on the ground. I stuck the dagger into the bark of the tree by his first step, just to let him know that his stand isn't a "secret" anymore. If I ever plan on hunting there, I may let alert the land officials, but his presence really doesn't hurt my hunt.
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Kodiakman
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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby Kodiakman » Mon Dec 24, 2012 2:02 pm

I would look at them and decipher if they are old, you can tell if they are weathered, sun faded, brittle, etc. If they are old, I take them down and with me, all of them. It is nothing but trash in the woods at that point. If they are new I leave them. Tacks can be pulled out and look for rust on the back. I have a nice little stock pile of these things that have been forgotten about for years. The nice thing about them is the tree just pushes them out as they grow so even 3 years later they remove easliy. When it comes to tacks, I don't pull those for a few seasons just to make sure no one is using that trail by chance. You can tell.

Another large use for the marking tape is marking a blood trail. Its about the only thing I use it for really. It seems when used for this they never, ever, come back and remove the markers. I have figured this when I came across mutiple marking trails all crossing each other at some point. I wanted to know what the heck was going on since they all were the same blue flagging tape and obviously from different years. I found a ground blind not too far tucked in some smaller pines. That tape and spot was obviously not being used. I take that stuff down.

If you are seeing sign, and the only thing there is tell tale signs of past hunters that gave up..... I say hunt it. Just hunt it smarter than the way they did.
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Dewey
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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Dec 24, 2012 2:25 pm

Kodiakman wrote:I would look at them and decipher if they are old, you can tell if they are weathered, sun faded, brittle, etc. If they are old, I take them down and with me, all of them. It is nothing but trash in the woods at that point. If they are new I leave them.


Good point. If they appear new I also leave them and avoid the area since somebody is obviously hunting there. The faded ones are the ones I remove as well.

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magicman54494
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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby magicman54494 » Mon Dec 24, 2012 3:08 pm

There's no reason you can't / shouldn't hunt the spot.
Tape and tacks are fine if you need them to safely find your way. If you leave them behind after you are done hunting they should be considered litter and the person leaving them should be fined accordingly. It's sad to see all those ugly eye sores in nature and they take away from the beauty of the forest.
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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby hoyt » Mon Dec 24, 2012 3:17 pm

Those ribbons or survey tape drive me crazy. I've seen it so thick on some public land that whoever put it out must have a strip tied to his truck door handle. Close as 5 long steps apart..really.

There was a guy hunted a piece of public land I did in Fl. and I called him the Ribbon Man. He was following me around anyway and when he started putting out all that survey tape in areas I hunted I let him know about it. Told him he was making my spots look like a construction site. Deer have to be able to smell all that tape anyway.

You can turn on a light in some spots in Fl. WMA's and it looks like Xmas decorations in the woods. No way anybody could find their way out with so many glow tacks and twist on limb lights on everything going in every direction.
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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby BowtechHunting » Tue Dec 25, 2012 2:16 am

Ribbons and trash burn me up. Take them down new or old. If you cant walk into an area using maps and some common sense, then your chances getting on a mature buck is slim in my opinion. I hate to think I need to alert everyone where i'm huntung. Hunt it dude!
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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby seeds » Tue Dec 25, 2012 4:08 am

I remove all tape if it looks old,I sometimes remove old tacks. I wouldn't want to leave someone in a bad spot in the dark....I might have removed fresh tape when it led to a permanmant stand on public land.

I know that there are spots where it's easy to miss a turn and if I do,I'm screwed. Ya,of course I can find my way in or out of the woods but with a climber on my back I'd make a racket if I didn't follow the exact path. The alternative is to trim some branches - especially overhead. I'd rather not make a paved highway to a tree I've prepped....Some soils stick to fresh cuts to hide them,some soils don't. Even nice black soil doesn't stick as well (and last) on smaller cuts.

I have placed two tacks on one trail,one tack on another trail,and one tack on a stump in the river. If I don't slide the canoe in the exact right spot,I get hung up 15' out. That tack is the only one I have left out there. The other three I removed before gun season.

BTW,I got the idea of rubbing dirt on fresh cuts from back when i worked for a furniture moving company on weekends. They issued everyone a brown crayon to immediately "touch up" any scratches. Now I cut trees for a living. Sometimes a small branch gets broken on an adjacent tree. Cut it clean,rub dirt into the cut and it doesn't stick out like a neon sign.
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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby dan » Tue Dec 25, 2012 4:23 am

BTW,I got the idea of rubbing dirt on fresh cuts from back when i worked for a furniture moving company on weekends. They issued everyone a brown crayon to immediately "touch up" any scratches

Wow, I never want them moving my furniture! :shock: :lol:
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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby Czabs » Tue Dec 25, 2012 8:08 am

Absolutley hate it. As Magicman explained they are nothing but eye sores. I hate any kind of junk in the woods. It is littering and I think ribbons should be illegal. I take anything down I find, its trash. Period.

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Re: Finding ribbons and tacks all over

Unread postby PK_ » Tue Dec 25, 2012 6:29 pm

lol I remember hunting a new area and entry trail was a lil tricky so I pin'd it, came back in the morning whole woods looked like christmas trees. There were tacks everywhere it was crazy. You had to be there.
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