twhrider Loc: Indiana

There is a bald eagle nest not far off of a nearby two lane highway. There are several signs posted advising people to not enter the field and disturb the nest, but that doesn't stop a stream of cars going by and stopping in the road way to get pics. So far, it hasn't disturbed the birds enough to cause them to abandon the nest. Another site I'm on is having a similar discussion, and one of the birders there made mention of a great horned owl next that had been active for many years that was abandoned because of too much human disturbance once it was "discovered".

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

You quoted a comment about San Diego but you're in Indiana so I'm wondering whether your comment refers to Indiana or San Diego.

We do have a similar problem here in San Diego although the bald eagle nest is up in the Ramona grasslands, about 30 miles away from Adobe Falls.

SilverthorneRuth Loc: Silverthorne, Colorado

Here's one issue we've had in Colorado. There were a lot of photographers posting pics of a bull moose herd (about 8 of them) last summer that had become habituated to humans, as the site was near a campground. Lots of people found out about it through a FB photography page, including some hunters. The first week of the archery season, a hunter went in and shot one of the bulls....with people watching. I hear it was devastating to some viewers.

If I find a wildlife spot, I will not share specifics (I normally say "Eagle County", for example), just to protect the critters. I know I can trust myself - after the above incident, I'm not so sure about others. Scenery is not an issue to me, but critters are.

fyrlife

I agree with you 100%. This was no "Hunter" either. What a lazy, heartless person. The bottom line is people cannot be trusted and social media is a huge negative to Wildlife once specific locations are posted. I prefer also to keep it general, and let the people who really want it go work for it.

13oct1931 Loc: Lebanon, Indiana

Jerry: I'm with you ! Alyn

twhrider Loc: Indiana

The eagles nest is here in southern IN. There are actually several close to me, two that I know of that are in (relatively) close proximity to roads. The second one though is close to a chip/seal/gravel road that doesn't get much traffic, so it's not as big of a deal, and to try to deter people from harassing the eagles the parks department built a hiking trail/observation tower that is far enough away to not bother the birds, but close enough that they can be seen. That keeps most people away from the actual nest area.
The owl nest I'm not sure where it was, but I thought the guy who posted on the other group about it is an east coast person....New York area somewhere I believe.

Gendarme Loc: Katy, TX

Don't even ask about my fishing spot. Even the NSA can't find it.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

For landscape photography, I still think creating a left/right flipped mirror image of the original in editing and releasing that to the public is the best way to obsure the exact location where you shot the scene. You can always keep a copy of the original, unmirrored version for yourself.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Yes.
I keep secrets from the trampling hoards.
Some of the spots that I go to are very delicate environments where a footstep or two in the wrong place can take years to recover.
Some of these spots I am deliberately vague about where they are.
I will go with small groups of friends there that i know will respect the place, but we always personally vet who we take.
And we emphasise the issues while there so newcomers can notice first hand what we are talking about, and why we are so cautious and protective.

I was at a place the other day, not a secret place, only 50 metres from the road, but not well known by the masses apparently until me and a couple of other photographers posted our images from there about 3 or 4 years ago.
Four years ago we walked around on animal pads there.
The other day the human tracks broadening and deepening the animal pads had squashed and killed the small low growing scrub.

Another delicate spot I was at few months ago, one of the photography tour operators sent me a message after seeing my pics, asking if I minded telling him where it was. I told him I did mind because it was a very delicate spot and we did not want it publicised.
He understood.
Some wouldn't.

There are many reasons not to disclose "your spots" and selfishness is not always a part of it.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

It was my impression that the reason you might want to keep the location private is to keep nut jobs away from someone's personal property.

JoeDesertrat Loc: Daytona Beach, FL

If you really like it I'll sell it to you!