Yes, that’s why I said I’m not familiar with the etiquette of the situation. As I said, this is just a hypothetical for me anyway, because none of my ride routes lead away from the suburban/urban center, because the infrastructure I prefer, MUP’s and dedicated trails, plus a steady supply of 24/7 restaurants and stores for bathroom breaks and provisions, are lacking outside of the Metro area.

I don’t think a prudent cyclist would ride in public “hunting land” during hunting season anyway if it’s optional. If someone’s daily commute were along rustic rural roads where they might enter the range of fire of a hunter in a deer blind and they had no realistic alternate route, I would say safety should trump pleasure for both sides - but that doesn’t mean the cyclist should be a jerk about it either. Consideration both ways is the best route. I guess from the hunter’s perspective, if you’re on public land, you probably expect some intrusion by others, hunters or hikers or cyclists, whoever, that may scare away the game for a certain length of time.

I remember back in the 70s when anti-hunting sentiment was stronger, fueled by people like Cleveland Amory. I was a kid, but I thought it was misguided even then, because predator species disproportionately diminish in the ecoscape as humans move in, at least until species adapt to fill an empty niche, such as coyotes adapting to suburban/urban life and filling the large predator niche wolves and bears did in pre-development times. Now when I observe the behavior of certain species here, whitetail deer, Canada geese and wild turkeys - I really see the value of hunting to help control populations. Here, no hunting means overproliferation and nuisance or even public safety issues. Our deer are NOT affraid of humans, and come out evenings and mornings in my yard, even know when my dog is on his tie-out vs. radio collar. They generally don’t move away until I’m 25-50 feet. They also graze roadside and generally only large noisy trucks scare them. Geese - well, we have those, what bothers me is the vast amount of feces that must be full of fecal coliform. Turkeys can be agressive as well as destructive. Believe me, if hunting were legal and possible on my 4 acres, I would gladly invite hunters in to reduce the numbers / even the playing field a bit. Unfortunately the only deer control is the automobile - a lot of collisions, fortunately safer cars usually mean the people are ok, but the damage is expensive.

I guess bottom line about sharing public spaces is mutual consideration. My “bluetooth on high” comment may sound contrary to that spirit, but I didn’t intend it to be - I based it on the theory that my loudest bluetooth at 100 feet under “typical” weather and ambient sound levels can be heard but isn’t very loud. Here, deer wouldn’t even flinch at it. However, I am not aware of how rural deer would react. My theory is just that I would briefly scare off deer and alert hunters within 100 to maybe 200 feet max. Not clearing out the woods for miles, just a “safety bubble”.