elh0146 wrote:

1) Do you hear gunshots all night long at national forests during hunting seasons?

We've never heard gunshots at all when camping in national forests (don't know if we've been there at hunting season, though). However, I can't imagine hunters being out at night trying to shoot animals!
Not many animals that you can hunt in darkness. We've heard some shots in NFS campgrounds but the shooting was being done OUTSIDE of the National Forest.

2) Are national forests much more private that most state parks?

I'm not sure a generalization can be made...it would depend, I suppose, on which state park and which national forest campground you're talking about. However, the national forest campgrounds we've stayed in usually have very private sites.

National forests are NOT private they're PUBLICLY owned by the citizens of the U.S. If you mean are they more ISOLATED or less FREQUENTED, then the answer would be "yes" in most cases.

3) Is there a sense of freedom in national forests over that of state parks?

In what respect?
I tend to feel pretty "free" wherever I'm camping. Thanks to our armed forces for that

4) Is registration mostly on the "honor system" ie- pay in envelope, or do you have to go in and register etc.

Again, it depends. Usually, though, forest service campgrounds are on the honor system.
I've seen just about every variety of registration system in use. A few NFS campgrounds have utility hook ups (though rare) and gate attendents, many have campground hosts and probably MOST just an envelope pay system at a Kiosk of some sort.

5) Is dispersed (or free) camping very private? Can you usually run a generator without problems while camping in these types of sites?

Dispersed camping is usually very private. As long as you're not within ear shot of any other camper, I suppose you could run your generator 24/7 if you chose to.
I've OCCASIONALLY had someone camp near me while camping in disbursed areas but it's an exception. I can't actually think of any REASON to run a generator all night in a NFS campground since those camping there usually have equipped their RVs for dry camping so running a generator just isn't necessary. There's nobody to tell you you CAN'T though.

6) Is safety an issue - such as robberies over that of state parks (never had any problems at state parks

We've never had a problem any place we've camped, including state parks and national forests.
I'd suggest you ask yourself "if I'm looking for someone to rob would I choose a place where there is maybe 2 people in 10 square miles or someplace where there are LOTS of people to choose from?

7) Is there any fee to get into National Forests?

Not for the forest itself, but many times there is a fee to stay at a campground.

8) To "boondock" or "dispersed camping" in a national forest, do you just simply drive in, find a remote site without hookups, and set up? Or do you have to go into the park HQ and tell them?

Pretty much the first, although there may be some restrictions (like camping so many feet/yards from a water source).
In MOST cases disbursed camping is allowed anywhere that it is not specifically DISALLOWED. this could be by signage or by district rules. Best to check local forestry office for local rules.

You might want to check out this website: Forest Camping

Hjudge49 wrote:

I can only answer number one. Even during hunting season, it's illegal to hunt at night, so I guess you shouldn't hear any gunshots. The only exception to that is during the Alligator season in Florida when night hunting is the only legal time to hunt them. But the hunters don't shoot them with guns anyway.

narcodog wrote:

One thing not mentioned forest service property's don't all have the same rules. Also inter dispersed throughout FS property's is private land so you need to look for signage.
Nearly all FS property's allow hunting in some form or other. Most game lands are on FS property that are managed by both the State and FS.

I camp 99% of the time in FS property whether here at home or in the West. There is also a considerable amount of BLM prpoerty.