A mentor told me that to use the markers to find my area was also a way for others to find it. like wise i can find other nice spots and or where the deer have ran when hit by following others markers.
If you need to use them, do so but take them down after. I also remove any I see on public land and I have taught my boys to do so also. Thickets, swamps big woods all can  be navigated by old fashioned compass or gps. Old skills are hard won but are not easily stolen.

Take only memories leave only foot prints...

What ever happened to woodsmanship and or blazing a trail?

I hear ya,  I feel for ya,  but by leaving those markers you littered those woods.  

ChuckC

I'm glad to not be alone in removing the things.

Get a gps  

I guess folks told ole Steve from NE, huh!

I tend to agree, though... I've walked into the dead dark woods and it looked like a airport runway some places!

I tend to have a hard time in the dark myself but then using a light in the darkened woods seems to be as bold as crashing around making noise.

Like so many, I do my scouting in daylight, and when I put up a few reflective markers, I'm going in the NEXT day and I carry a small piece of stick or bark with me on the way in and pull each one as I go, if I have to use the light, at least I don't need to lead others.

Just so many reasons "why" they may have been removed (how long you left them out, how many others have been putting up such markers, and local traditions and public land "rules").

Good luck finding another way to mark your trails, Steve!

Sorry double post

Using a compass always seemed like an easier method.

I hate to see litter like that in the woods.

A sign of poor woodsmanship.  If I had to use bright eyes, I would never admit it!

It has been a long long time since I've left anything on public land.
Frank

I use them, I love them. I pull them after the season. Uh Oh, I must not be a woodsman. LOL. I hunt deep in a swamp with Iron deposits. Compass points different directions depending on where your at. Makes for a long night in the woods if you get turned around. Prefer to not put my wife through a long night.

Why ridicule this fella, everyone has their own methods.

Sorry friend- Hope you do not see it as ridicule- I am sure it must have been really discouraging. But many of us are probably trying to say that there are better ways to do it- and many of us see this type of thing as litter.  Even before days of GPS we navigated deep cedar swamps without flagging (besides- why would you want to show others guys where you have scouted and plan to hunt?)

Dan

I don't get this.   the guy vents his frustration and he gets flamed.  If it was someone messin' with his tree stand there would be fire and brimstone.  In severe weather this can be a safety issue of equal gravity .  There are plenty of good reasons to leave the markers where they are and not to judge and criticize.  That said - it happens and I hope you would assume that the people that removed them meant no ill.  If they did - they have other issues to deal with.

PERHAPS, knowing your limits you don't want to take the risk of getting lost on a large tract of public land... or perhaps you have only been in there a few times- not wanting to disturb the area and things look different in the dark.  

I cary a roll of survey flagging wherever I go in the bush - you never know what can happen and you're better to be safe than sorry.  I can't side with the guys who criticize that and neither will any of my buddies who work SAR in the North.  

My suggestion for the original poster-  if people are removing your markers - perhaps you should reconsider the type you used and the number of ones you place.  Also consider putting them out of easy reach.

I also consider trail markers as a blot on the area that I am hunting. I remove them when I see them. These people need to spend more time getting to know their hunting area.

Well, all I have to say on the matter is that if I ever catch anyone removing any of my trail markers  with a 'Holier than Thou' attitude & lecture regarding my morals/ethics/skill/lineage, their probably going to get a punch in the face.

While I agree they are, technically, litter they're still someone else's property & navigation aids. How would you feel if I smashed your compass or GPS?

I personally get lost very, very easily in the woods. Especially at night & especially in woodland with which I'm not intimately familiar, therefore I use reflective tape to mark my way into & out of the woods. If it weren't for reflectors, chances are I'd never venture into the wilds due to a crippling fear of being lost in the dark. I'll admit, I do remove my tape when I'm finished hunting a particular stand, but that may not be until the end of the season.

Some people simply don't have the luxury of time to get so familiar with all the public land nearby, especially on draw hunts where you only have 2 or 3 days at best to scout & hunt. Navigational aids can be invaluable at times like this.

Learning to read a compass is great, but how many of you would honestly take a few simple lessons & the fully trust themselves to be able to navigate into & out of an unfamiliar patch of timber, to an exact spot? Honestly, not many.

Sorry, double post.

Ive tried a compass but carrying my bow and gear crawling/walking through thorny thickets trying to read a compass in the pitch black, good luck with that not for me, why make it harder for yourself. And to say someone is a poor woodsman for marking is a little overboard imo. They get me there faster and safer and aid me to harvesting mature bucks every season on public lands.

People who assume that their old time frontier heroes didn't use trail markers haven't read enough...  The practice of "blazing" a trail/tree was very common. Long hunters were prepared to spend the night out along the trail and did so with regularity.   Daniel Boone was reportedly never lost though he did confess to being "powerfully turned around for three or four days."

There is nothing wrong with using trail markers and I frequently do so when there is an absence of easily recognizable landmarks.  My compass skills are sufficient to find a stand in the dark, but my intention is a stealthy approach not predawn orienteering practice.

Pull someone's trail markers and you have most likely created a scenario where they end up stumbling around in the dark for an extended period of re trying to find their stand.  The only thing that will accomplish is ruining their hunt and possibly yours as they spook off any game in the vicinity...

People who assume that their old time frontier heroes didn't use trail markers haven't read enough...  The practice of "blazing" a trail/tree was very common. Long hunters were prepared to spend the night out along the trail and did so with regularity.   Daniel Boone was reportedly never lost though he did confess to being "powerfully turned around for three or four days."

There is nothing wrong with using trail markers and I frequently do so when there is an absence of easily recognizable landmarks.  My compass skills are sufficient to find a stand in the dark, but my intention is a stealthy approach not predawn orienteering practice.

Pull someone's trail markers and you have most likely created a scenario where they end up stumbling around in the dark for an extended period of re trying to find their stand.  The only thing that will accomplish is ruining their hunt and possibly yours as they spook off any game in the vicinity...

I thought it was worth repeating! Lol