Anything I can do? Hunter Harassment?

[wind gypsy]

This is actually a common practice with whitetail hunting consultants. If a property line is being hunted hard by the neighbors or is getting trespassed on they’ll either put up a fence or drop trees and brush on that property line to discourage deer travel.

If I were in your situation I would

A) back off that property line so you don’t have as many to retrieve off his land

B) make your property more desirable for the deer.

2 ways you can bring the deer on to your land. The first is controversial but if legal, bait. The second, on the property you own, cut down your trees. Open your canopy 40% or more, grow natural thick undergrowth or do some shrub plantings and you’ll own all the deer bedding in the area. A lot of suburban wood lots are old growth. Deer like thick stuff for bedding, browse, and security. Give it to them and you’ll have all the deer you want.

Agreed about this being common practice specifically for deer hunting so it would be funny to think of it as hunter harassment. Not sure about the specifics of this location/parcel but typically blocking a natural travel path just redirects travel elsewhere. I wonder if OP is overlooking a new funnnel created by this brush wall? Here's a video covering this exact thing..

Since we're talking about suburban home lots here I'd bet most want their 5 acre ranchette to be more mature open park like than thick early secessional growth for hunting.

 

[NYSKIER]

This is actually a common practice with whitetail hunting consultants. If a property line is being hunted hard by the neighbors or is getting trespassed on they’ll either put up a fence or drop trees and brush on that property line to discourage deer travel.

If I were in your situation I would

A) back off that property line so you don’t have as many to retrieve off his land

B) make your property more desirable for the deer.

2 ways you can bring the deer on to your land. The first is controversial but if legal, bait. The second, on the property you own, cut down your trees. Open your canopy 40% or more, grow natural thick undergrowth or do some shrub plantings and you’ll own all the deer bedding in the area. A lot of suburban wood lots are old growth. Deer like thick stuff for bedding, browse, and security. Give it to them and you’ll have all the deer you want.

Appreciate the input, yes the forest is mature and in the future I will be thinning it. For the record I’ve only ever had to retrieve a deer on his property once in six years, all shots are limited to fifteen yards and under so this doesn’t happen but you can’t control what a deer does after it’s shot. Additionally I’m the only hunter in the general vicinity from what I can tell. I only approached him as a common courtesy. The wall is not on his property line it’s in the middle of nowhere his purpose was clearly to cut off deer traffic

 

[go_deep]

Appreciate the input, yes the forest is mature and in the future I will be thinning it. For the record I’ve only ever had to retrieve a deer on his property once in six years, all shots are limited to fifteen yards and under so this doesn’t happen but you can’t control what a deer does after it’s shot. Additionally I’m the only hunter in the general vicinity from what I can tell. I only approached him as a common courtesy. The wall is not on his property line it’s in the middle of nowhere his purpose was clearly to cut off deer traffic

Naturally or unnaturally things change and you need to adjust. While I understand you see the wall of wood as the problem, what if it's really not? Look around for other options for places to hunt, that's where your at now.
Good luck!

 

[Spoonbill]

Appreciate the input, yes the forest is mature and in the future I will be thinning it. For the record I’ve only ever had to retrieve a deer on his property once in six years, all shots are limited to fifteen yards and under so this doesn’t happen but you can’t control what a deer does after it’s shot. Additionally I’m the only hunter in the general vicinity from what I can tell. I only approached him as a common courtesy. The wall is not on his property line it’s in the middle of nowhere his purpose was clearly to cut off deer traffic

I’m confused, is he building he wall on property he owns? Or is this wall bding built on somone elses land/public land?

Those details kind of change how to approach this

 

[AKG]

This is actually a common practice with whitetail hunting consultants. If a property line is being hunted hard by the neighbors or is getting trespassed on they’ll either put up a fence or drop trees and brush on that property line to discourage deer travel.

If I were in your situation I would

A) back off that property line so you don’t have as many to retrieve off his land

B) make your property more desirable for the deer.

2 ways you can bring the deer on to your land. The first is controversial but if legal, bait. The second, on the property you own, cut down your trees. Open your canopy 40% or more, grow natural thick undergrowth or do some shrub plantings and you’ll own all the deer bedding in the area. A lot of suburban wood lots are old growth. Deer like thick stuff for bedding, browse, and security. Give it to them and you’ll have all the deer you want.

" If a property line is being hunted hard by the neighbors or is getting trespassed on they’ll either put up a fence or drop trees and brush on that property line to discourage deer travel." I've been considering this on my place, some Illinois people bought the 200 foot wide parcel next door, turned the house into an Airbnb, with some of the tenants then deciding my place was a good place to explore when they were staying there, then had their kid and his girlfriend hunting the property line all archery and rifle season. The parents introduction to me was to complain about my dogs barking in the middle of the night and talking about how I was affecting their Airbnb business (on a day in the mid 90's while I was roofing my house-so not in the best temper to tolerate fools). My dogs are inside dogs- the middle of the night barking was coyotes. The kid has since started living in the house with the girlfriend and have a baby seem like decent people so I'm no longer irritated about the deer hunting on the line.

 

[NYSKIER]

I’m confused, is he building he wall on property he owns? Or is this wall bding built on somone elses land/public land?

Those details kind of change how to approach this

Picture a square parcel with a house smack in the middle. Then a line coming from one side of the house perpendicular to the square sides. Thats what he did with the wall

 

[NYSKIER]

Thank again everyone for the input, hope this didn't sound like a complaining post I just wanted to know what you guys though of the situation. Going to try and get my micro plot going again next year and will see if I can get the time to do some thinning in the future!

 

[NYSKIER]

I might have missed it. But just how tall is this giant wall of sticks that he hauled in with his van?

Gotta be like 5ft tall and super wide. Think a huge brush pile in a line. Took him like three years to complete

 

[Fordguy]

What is the overall length?

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I'd apologize and mention that we got off on the wrong foot. Invite him to breakfast and talk like neighbors/men. Apparently people don't do this kind of stuff these days.

 

[go_deep]

Gotta be like 5ft tall and super wide. Think a huge brush pile in a line. Took him like three years to complete

In Wyoming that would be a fire hazard and the city or county would make them clean it up.

 

[Fordguy]

In Wyoming that would be a fire hazard and the city or county would make them clean it up.

Agreed. It would be a fire hazard in a lot of states.
In Michigan a deliberately constructed obstruction running the length of a property would probably meet the definition of a fence, and at 5' tall and visually obstructive (if it met the length requirement) would probably be subject to the regs I mentioned earlier.

People do stupid things to mess with other people's hunting. It's quite possible to harass or deliberately interfere with the lawful taking of a game animal on one property from a separate property. Proving intent may be difficult.

I've had plenty of conversations with DNR/conservation officers/game wardens on this topic in multiple states ( a consequence of hunting smallish properties). They usually do what they can to help. If they feel that they can't help they've suggested alternate routes (DEQ or other agencies).

Maybe something can be done about the fence, and maybe not. Rather than speculating here, it's probably a good idea to call your local wildlife/conservation dept. or game warden and find out for certain.

 

[roosterdown]

"Thank you for building that wall - it funnels the deer right to me and the hunting has never been better. Can't thank you enough!"

 

[Spoonbill]

Picture a square parcel with a house smack in the middle. Then a line coming from one side of the house perpendicular to the square sides. Thats what he did with the wall

Misread what you wrote. Maybe offer the guy some venison or some other peace offering along with what others have suggested.

 

[KenLee]

Not so. Several states have laws regarding the fencing of property to change wildlife travel.
For example, in Michigan unless you high fence your property in its entirety and remove all deer, you need a section every 400 yards that is no more than 4' (might be 4'6") tall to allow for deer travel. The crossing areas must be visually unobstructed. You're also not allowed to fence below the highbwater line of any stream or drainage.
Other states have more or less restrictive laws regarding fence construction for the purpose of restricting wildlife movement. The land is yours, the wildlife upon it is not.

Those sized lots, the dude doesn't have 400 yards

 

[Rich M]

I'd leave him completely alone - he has already shown you what he thinks of your hunting. To further pursue him is gonna piss him off.

You've already talked with him, what's breakfast or lunch or even drinks gonna do? Answer is no and he spent X hours building a wall to confirm his stance. That's what telling him where the deer come & go did.

You can open a hole in his wall and have a serious hunting funnel. Shoot em as soon as they get thru it so they run the other way.

Most folks don't really care for hunting, or they'd do it. Some dislike it - as this guy apparently does.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I'd leave him completely alone - he has already shown you what he thinks of your hunting. To further pursue him is gonna piss him off.

You've already talked with him, what's breakfast or lunch or even drinks gonna do? Answer is no and he spent X hours building a wall to confirm his stance. That's what telling him where the deer come & go did.

You can open a hole in his wall and have a serious hunting funnel. Shoot em as soon as they get thru it so they run the other way.

Most folks don't really care for hunting, or they'd do it. Some dislike it - as this guy apparently does.

You can still share a meal with someone who you disagree with... It's impossible to tell "tone" and "opinions" on the internet or from one potentially heated conversation across a lot line... I promise, he'll be just fine, and maybe even grow as a person from it. The guy will likely say "no" anyway but the neighborly thing to do is to extend the olive branch just about every time.

 

[Rich M]

You can still share a meal with someone who you disagree with... It's impossible to tell "tone" and "opinions" on the internet or from one potentially heated conversation across a lot line... I promise, he'll be just fine, and maybe even grow as a person from it. The guy will likely say "no" anyway but the neighborly thing to do is to extend the olive branch just about every time.

My folks have 10 acres in VT - the neighbors on all 4 sides (200, 60, 5, and about 5,000 acre size parcels) have rescinded hunting rights over the past 25 years. I grew up hunting grouse, hares, and deer all over them mtns, now can't hunt off dad's land... Those folks don't even hunt, just don't want folks around - even folks they've known for 40+ years.

That's the same kind of response the man has physically shown. He built a fricking wall and you are gonna talk him down? LoL! Leave him be.

 

[Jethro]

Got to tip your hat to the guy. Corner of the house to the the property line, in 2 directions, 5 feet tall, 1 van load at a time. That took some effort.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

The goal isn't to talk him down, you completely missed the point. No worries.

My folks have 10 acres in VT - the neighbors on all 4 sides (200, 60, 5, and about 5,000 acre size parcels) have rescinded hunting rights over the past 25 years. I grew up hunting grouse, hares, and deer all over them mtns, now can't hunt off dad's land... Those folks don't even hunt, just don't want folks around - even folks they've known for 40+ years.

That's the same kind of response the man has physically shown. He built a fricking wall and you are gonna talk him down? LoL! Leave him be.