Wouldn't do it, and have never seen it done.  Take the time to set up camp, it just makes sense.  No one likes to fish more than me, and I would always set up camp before going fishing.

Twice I've had to share campsites with trippers who weren't on the ball all that well.  They got into areas at dusk where the only campsite around was occupied by us.  Both instances were in Lake Superior PP, not the Q.  Both went well, no problem.  Not ideal, but you roll with it.

Mark

Golden Rule? Like I tell my daughter "He who has the gold makes the rules"

I'm sorry, I couldn't help it.

My position? Set up your site. Seems simple enough. Might as well take a 30 minute nap while your at it..........then go catch some dinner.

Azalea makes an important distinction.  To drop some of my gear at a site while I go prospecting for something better is very different from dropping off my gear with a clear intention to stay while I take advantage of the day and go off and fish or check out the lake.  The problem is that for the person coming upon the gear it is impossible to tell the difference.  Personally I would choose to believe the person is doing the latter rather than the former but to be quite honest its never actually happened to me and these days I'm tending to do my tripping in more secluded regions where it is most probably a non-issue anyway.  Philosophically speaking the answer is, as has already been pointed out, adherence to the Golden Rule.

I have seen the practice as my vote would show. Do I think it's a good practice or would I drop a pack to prospect other sites, never.  It's as  simple as the Golden Rule.

People have been describing two different situations: holding a site briefly and reserving a site that you do not even stay in one or more nights.  The later is never acceptable, no matter what you leave at the site.

Leaving just a single thing, even a pack, is iffy because someone could think it was forgotten.  But leaving behind a bunch of stuff (or a pack where gear has been removed to some extent) clearly shows someone is occupying the site.  Setting up a tent is not required.  I can even see a scenario where someone going out for a day trip but returning to the same campsite might take down their tent because of concerns of what weather might do if the tent is left up (maybe the tent is in a location where it is hard to tie it down and the site is quite exposed to wind).

I think it depends where, in BWCAW for example, no, I would not honor it. If I were in a fowl mood I might even throw it in woods and claim "what pack, there was no pack when I got here" In Quetico, maybe. Wabakimi, WCPP, yes.

Note to woman with friend who was bumped off campsite by another group in BWCAW, there is no rule stating that if somebody is camping at a site you cannot. The only rule is that there cannot be more than nine at a site, you could have told them you were camping there and they were welcome to as well.

They sound like pricks though, so maybe not people you want to be around.

You know, I never would have thought it much of a big deal before but I think I'll have to start making sure I always put up at least some shelter when I'm planning on using a site that night. It's usually just for lazyness reasons that I haven't right away other times in the past so I guess this is another reason to avoid lazyness.

solotripper wrote on Oct 5^th, 2010 at 5:56pm:

For me a big pile of gear is a single pack!   

 I don't see it as bad manners at all. While I'm sure single packs have been left by mistake, having a big pile of gear sitting at the campsite certainly tells me that it's taken.

I think part of the problem that some people have, is that leaving packs on the site isn't always apparent from a distance. Depending on conditions, people might fight wind/waves to get to a site, only to find it taken at the last minute as they pull up.

I think you'd be better served, if you took the time to throw up a tarp, or hang a pack. I often use my binoculars to scan for an open site, especially if I have too work to get there. It's not an obligation, but more of a consideration, especially in the BW where available sites might be an issue. You can see a tarp/ hanging pack from a distance.

There are always going too be people who think their choice in campsites should be the one they planned on, but other's might appreciate the heads-up from a distance.

I want to know what you guys think of this. Dumping a single pack on a sight then being far away for long periods of time, that's obviously bad manners. But how about, and I've done this, getting to the sight you know you're going to take, throwing all your gear there, usually pretty obviously in the middle of the sight, and then going out fishing or exploring the lake some more. Basically just not getting to setting up your sight but having every intention of staying at the place you put your gear. When I've done this before I've been within sight, or at least almost within sight of the campsight. Am I being rude when I've done this or is what's being talked about as rude a different thing.
Just to clarify, I'm definetly not dropping a pack at each sight on a lake while looking for hte best one.