Private Land Predicament

[longspeak74]

Looking for a little directional advice here...I have hunted a great piece of property for the last 4 years. Land owners are a very elderly couple and wonderful people. I am the only one who bow hunts the place, but he let's others rifle hunt (9 days) and occasionally squirrel hunt when I am not bowhunting.

I hung a cell camera in a new area this Spring that I wanted to hang a stand; instantly started getting some nice bucks and consistent. Hung the stand and left the area alone. Three weeks ago, I get some joker on my camera carrying a stand in. I talk to the land owner. Seems he gave permission to an adjacent land owner (who owns 40 acres himself) to hunt periodically. Irritating, but oh well.

I hunted last weekend for my first sit of the year; in an hour before daylight. Sun comes up and the first thing I notice 15 yards away is this guys stand! The tree he hung the stand in is literally 6 paces from my tree. He can clearly see my hang on. Speak to the land owner after the days hunt and he says he will reach out to him. Beautiful buck came through this morning on my cam at 6:06 am...7:12 am I get a picture of the guy walking to his stand. I have the guy's contact info (OnX and the internet are wonderful things) so thinking to reach out. My initial thoughts are that the conversation won't go well based on events up to this point.

 

[SpookySpectre308]

Oh man that's rough. I can commiserate. Do you lease or pay anything to have the privilege to hunt? If so I would be contacting the landowner. If not, the neighbor would be your best bet but it may be a battle.

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[Tod osier]

Given his actions you know what kind of sportsman and person he is.

I appreciate your predicament, but there isn't much you can do if the landowners won't oust him. Given that he is a neighbor, there is always strong pressure for them not to rock the boat with him. Out hunt him or hope he gets bored of the property. Keep your coming and goings (including stands and camera locations secret).

 

[TSAMP]

Slippery slope here. Id encourage you to reach out to the hunter if I suspected he was unaware of your setup. However since we know he knows your there, and still chose to set his stand there, it would lead me to believe he wont be sympathetic to your cause. So id adjust my setup knowing he has or will likely blow that spot out and maybe you can connect on an alternate trail. Sounds like you have him and the deer patterned. Good luck.

 

[longspeak74]

I don't have a lease agreement, but that will be my next conversation with the land owner. He was surprised when I told him of the stand placement.
The neighbor CLEARLY can see both my camera as well as my stand.

 

[TSAMP]

Id be cautious of making this a problem for the land owner. I dont know your relationship but if I was an elderly non hunter and letting folks hunt for free, I wouldn't be interested in hearing of their squabbles and eventually my resolution would be no one is allowed to hunt it. Thats fair, right?

 

[longspeak74]

I understand your thought process. The land owner and I have a great relationship, so I think I'll start with the lease conversation...as well as a "friendly" call to the neighbor and see how that fares.
My biggest concern is I am driving 2 hours to access the property, so the last thing I want is to be sitting in my stand and this jagaloon comes strolling in.

 

[Billy Goat]

Tread lightly. It's tough, however it's easy for a landowner to simply tell people it's leased, then it's not their problem. However an elderly couple might have more to gain from a helpful neighbor than a little bit of money from someone two hours away.

 

[Coveyleader]

You have to love the world of WT hunting. Of all the species we have to hunt in the US, nothing brings out the idiots like a WT deer. Good luck, been in your spot many times.

PS....... I killed a 204 inch net buck years ago. I was walking to my "A" stand and a guy runs across the field no bow, nothing, but dressed in camo to tell me he's hunting in there. I was like serious? I let him hunt, drove to my public ground spot a little pissed, but I ended up shooting a great buck.

 

[Eagle]

I’d say he’s an idiot, and just deal with it if you enjoy the property and don’t want to lose it. Not worth reaching out, as neighbors are generally pretty close in rural situations, especially when they hunt on each other’s property.

Here’s a separate question for you, was he hunting the wind this morning he showed up after 7? If not, the worst thing he can do is burn the spot out, and he’s not likely to kill anything. If he was hunting the wind, it may have been a fluke given he showed up at 7 on an early season hunt when most seasoned hunters know that morning movement this time of year is generally pretty minimal, and it’s best to be in the stand well before first light.

 

[FLS]

I would contact the adjacent landowner and try to coordinate your hunting with his. Any drama and you will lose a place to hunt. They will want to keep a neighbor happy.

 

[wind gypsy]

IMO it's easy to assume someone is an Ahole prior to having a conversation with them. I'd give the guy a call. Worst case, he's an Ahole and you get no where. Maybe you guys can coordinate days and plans of attack, best case: he moves his stand.

 

[huntngolf]

I had a situation kind of similar to this last year. I've had permission to archery hunt this property for 8 years now, and another guy and his kids have permission to rifle hunt it. Everything was working out great. Put up my trail cameras in June and checked my treestand and all was good. Came back in mid august and trail camera and treestand were gone, but there was a ground blind and different camera set up not 20 yards from where my set up was. I look at the camera and it has the name of the guys son that has permission to rifle hunt. I called the landowner (who is a non hunter) and he said he would look into it. Didn't hear anything for a week or so and I called the guy who has rifle permission. He said his son is getting into bowhunting now but there is no way his son would have taken the camera and treestand. About 3 days later I get a text from the landowner and he said the problem was fixed. No details. The guy with rifle permission then calls me and said his son did in deed take the camera and stand because he took the card out and saw there was a big deer on it. That guy and his kids no longer have permission to hunt on that land from the landowner.

Moral of the story I guess would be to just be open with your communication to everyone and level heads seem to generally prevail

 

[longspeak74]

He was hunting the wind this morning; first time this week the wind has been right for that stand.
In the years I have been hunting there, I have done more for the elderly couple than this guy. In fact, they call me when something needs to be done and I drive up. This situation is more irritating than anything as I do a lot of work on the property in preparation for the season.

 

[mmcdonough]

I don't know why white tail hunting seems to bring out the worst in people. As the neighbor he's probably known for a while that bucks run through that spot. At least I'm sure he asked for permission real quick after he figured it out. Got his permission and definitely saw your stand. Then decided to be lazy and say **** it to putting his own up.

My wife's family and I have a pretty icy relationship with the leasers who hunt on the property next to us. They come up from the cities and blow all the deer out every year. It's not fun, they put their camp on a major traffic funnel for some reason and they let their kids shoot off 22's at squirrels right in the middle of the rut. They even tried to deny us access to the driveway that leads into our hunting cabin. It's technically on their lease but there's an easement on it. My brother in law got so mad he ran over the sign they put up lol.

I would try to work it out since these things can just continue to escalate. If anything, just setup further up where you think they're coming out and beat him to the punch.

 

[Erict]

You never stated if this other hunter KNOWS that you have permission to be there. Even though he sees your stand, perhaps he thinks he's the only one with permission and/or only one with permission during bow? A simple "Hey, I had a camera and stand in the woods and found another stand next to it - is that yours?" as the icebreaker.

I have seen something similar where larger landowners really don't care or never venture out back to see what happens on their property (like elderly farmers or absentee owners). "A" walks on from adjoining property, then B walks on from somewhere else. Everything fine until A and B decide to have it out and get landowner involved then neither A nor B nor anyone else allowed to hunt. Posted signs come out. Everyone loses.

Right or wrong, he has permission and so do you. Get in a pissing match with him and then you have to wonder every time you leave the woods if your camera and/or stand will be there the next time you come back.

 

[Billy Goat]

Worst case....



Think you used enough dynamite there Butch?

 

[WannabeHunter]

Contact the neighbor to get a feel for the situation.

A similar scenario is why I've gone saddle. Too many new guys in our club, seem like legit guys by all accounts. But I don't like giving away my spots to guys I don't know. With the saddle, I can hunt anywhere leaving very little sign I was there.

 

[longspeak74]

Yes, the neighbor knows I have permission to hunt there.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

best whitetail I ever killed w/ archery I shot in a similar situation and made it a point to make lemonade out of lemons. I had sole permission to hunt a beautiful 400+ ac farm for several years. The farmer, retired sold his house but retained the land. The individual that bought the house and his kids were given permission and really messed things up in terms of deer patterns and behavior. Things that I pay very close attention to like access, sccent, bedding areas, etc.. they didn't. I don't fault them, they were just doing what they thought was best but it was entirely different how I hunt. I knew based on their stands, how they got there andd what winds they'd sit in them for that they had very little chance of ever killing the type of deer I'm after. So I changed things up, knew there were good deer there and decided to push into areas I knew they wouldn't have the know-how or ability to do and killed whopper on one of my first sits. Deer don't care at all about bad moves or poor decisions. If it annoys you it probably certainly annoys them. They'll move but seldom leave. Find out where they went and shoot one.

One thing I've gone to over the last several years is not hanging any permanent stands. Even on private every hunt for me is a hang and hunt. Keeps the deer and other hunters guessing.