Im leaving a hunting spot.

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sidney Smith

58 Cal.
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
Messages
2,205
Reaction score
2,312
I've had permission to hunt a piece of private property for about 9 years. Until this year it was great, it was myself, my two sons, and two other guys. We each knew where our stands were, and we never stepped on anyone's toes. Well, the property owner has decided that not enough deer have been removed from his land. My son and I have taken four so far. The other two guys about that many as well. He has valid concerns regarding the deer over browsing, etc, plus potential accidents with vehicles on his private road. The problem is, this man is not a hunter. He thinks that we should be killing a lot more deer than we do. I have talked with him and mentioned that as hunters we can legally only kill so many deer per year, and it's not a given that we will kill any. His answer has been to allow 5 more guys to hunt there as well, one of whom has no regard for placing his stands at least 100 yards from another's stand. This year I found one of his stands within 30 yards of my clearly marked stand. We tried marking all our stands on Google maps so all involved would know where each stand is located. We marked all with surveyors tape. This one man ignored all and placed 4 ladder stands up, all nearby others stands, including the one near mine. I talked this over with the owner, and tried to convey the fact that there is now a real danger of a shooting hazard with the amount of hunters about.. surely not all will be out at the same time, but the idea that one of the hunters is a rogue has me very concerned. It meant nothing to the owner. His only concern, as I later found out is with having deer killed. He doesnt seem to care about hunter safety, which I also brought to his attention. His statement to me to " work it out amongst yourselves" made up my mind. I told the owner thank you for the years of permission but that I would not be hunting his land anymore. He couldn't care less. I can't hunt with others nearby, nor can I justify remaining on this property simply to soothe this man's desire for a large deer kill.

This man doesn't realize he has ruined any chance of having any deer removed from his land. The deer will simply abandon said property until the commotion of deer season is over.

My son's were made aware of what's going on, and they too have said they won't go back there either.

It's a shame because this used to be a deer gold mine. It's just not worth my or my son's safety to continue to hunt a property where the owner has no regard for our safety.
 
Last edited:
I've had permission to hunt a piece of private property for about 9 years. Until this year it was great, it was myself, my two sons, and two other guys. We each knew where our stands were, and we never stepped on anyone's toes. Well, the property owner has decided that not enough deer have been removed from his land. My son and I have taken four so far. The other two guys about that many as well. He has valid concerns regarding the deer over browsing, etc, plus potential accidents with vehicles on his private road. The problem is, this man is not a hunter. He thinks that we should be killing a lot more deer than we do. I have talked with him and mentioned that as hunters we can legally only kill so many deer per year, and it's not a given that we will kill any. His answer has been to allow 5 more guys to hunt there as well, one of whom has no regard for placing his stands at least 100 yards from another's stand. This year I found one of his stands within 30 yards of my clearly marked stand. We tried marking all our stands on Google maps so all involved would know where each stand is located. We marked all with surveyors tape. This one man ignored all and placed 4 ladder stands up, all nearby others stands, including the one near mine. I talked this over with the owner, and tried to convey the fact that there is now a real danger of a shooting hazard with the amount of hunters about.. surely not all will be out at the same time, but the idea that one of the hunters is a rogue has me very concerned. It meant nothing to the owner. His concern, as I later found out is with having deer killed. He doesnt seem to care about hunter safety, which I also brought to his attention. His statement to me to " work it out amongst yourselves" made up my mind. I told the owner thank you for the years of permission but that I would not be hunting his land anymore. He couldn't care less. I can't hunt with others nearby, nor can I justify remaining on this property simply to soothe this man's desourge for a large deer kill. The main reason is, this man has no concern for safety. I can't be part of a potential shooting hazard.

This man doesn't realize he has ruined any chance of having any deer removed from his land. The deer will simply abandon said property until the commotion of deer season is over.
Don't think so , he has plenty of folks who will oblige and you will still be looking! Ed
 
Don't think so , he has plenty of folks who will oblige and you will still be looking! Ed
No doubt my leaving won't matter to this man one iota. Of that I have no doubt. However for me, I'd rather leave and go somewhere else than stay and risk my personal safety. This isn't the only place I hunt, nor is it the only place I have permission to hunt.
 
You may be better off on public land if there is any near by. I can't imagine setting up a stand 30 yds from another's. Thats ridiculous and a shame. Time to move on to a better place
 
You may be better off on public land if there is any near by. I can't imagine setting up a stand 30 yds from another's. Thats ridiculous and a shame. Time to move on to a better place
I see this same thing happen on public land here all the time.

I've had it happen several times on one of the archery only properties I have been hunting for 18 years. As well as stands being stolen then a new one placed nearby by "someone."
 
I've had permission to hunt a piece of private property for about 9 years. Until this year it was great, it was myself, my two sons, and two other guys. We each knew where our stands were, and we never stepped on anyone's toes. Well, the property owner has decided that not enough deer have been removed from his land. My son and I have taken four so far. The other two guys about that many as well. He has valid concerns regarding the deer over browsing, etc, plus potential accidents with vehicles on his private road. The problem is, this man is not a hunter. He thinks that we should be killing a lot more deer than we do. I have talked with him and mentioned that as hunters we can legally only kill so many deer per year, and it's not a given that we will kill any. His answer has been to allow 5 more guys to hunt there as well, one of whom has no regard for placing his stands at least 100 yards from another's stand. This year I found one of his stands within 30 yards of my clearly marked stand. We tried marking all our stands on Google maps so all involved would know where each stand is located. We marked all with surveyors tape. This one man ignored all and placed 4 ladder stands up, all nearby others stands, including the one near mine. I talked this over with the owner, and tried to convey the fact that there is now a real danger of a shooting hazard with the amount of hunters about.. surely not all will be out at the same time, but the idea that one of the hunters is a rogue has me very concerned. It meant nothing to the owner. His only concern, as I later found out is with having deer killed. He doesnt seem to care about hunter safety, which I also brought to his attention. His statement to me to " work it out amongst yourselves" made up my mind. I told the owner thank you for the years of permission but that I would not be hunting his land anymore. He couldn't care less. I can't hunt with others nearby, nor can I justify remaining on this property simply to soothe this man's desire for a large deer kill.

This man doesn't realize he has ruined any chance of having any deer removed from his land. The deer will simply abandon said property until the commotion of deer season is over.

My son's were made aware of what's going on, and they too have said they won't go back there either.

It's a shame because this used to be a deer gold mine. It's just not worth my or my son's safety to continue to hunt a property where the owner has no regard for our safety.
Are there no "crop damage" allowances and exceptions available there that would make it possible for more deer to be taken byvthe smaller group of original people?

Here, with crop damage permits, season dates and bag limits pretty much go out the window for the property the crop damage permit covers.
 
It's a shame because this used to be a deer gold mine. It's just not worth my or my son's safety to continue to hunt a property where the owner has no regard for our safety.
Yea, nothing worse than those prickly landowners that say what they want to be done on their land. Sounds like you should have found a few more friends to add to the group that would have been willing to follow your version of the rules as opposed to trying to convince the owner of something that did not meet his needs. 9 years of your own private hunting grounds for you and your sons with more deer than you can shoot that is owned and paid for by someone else sounds like a hunter's dream - and something that would seem well worth the energy to find a solution for the owner to enable your continued use of his deer-hunting gold mine. Maybe, just maybe, there's a chance that the issue isn't the owner's lack of concern for safety.
 
I've decided I'm leaving the lease I've been on for 12 years after this season, not because of unsafe hunters, but because the land owner's a jerk. We've had unsafe hunters before, and they were immediately eliminated (one shot a calf, mistaking it for a pig!). We have good communication among all 8 hunters, and where there are certain stands that are close together, that if one is used, the other won't be. Fortunately, we have more stands than hunters, so that's not a problem. Most of us are OK with someone else using their stand if they aren't. Also, 3 of us are retired, so we come out during the week, while the others do the weekend.

Communication is the key. If your land owner was smart, he would have a mandatory meeting before the season starts so you all can work out your issues.
 
I'm well aware that what I'm going say is easier said than done, but I urge you all to search until you find a piece of decent land you can afford. You don't have to have 200 acres, or a 100, or even 50. Of course a larger tract makes it easier to attract and hold deer, but with just 20 or 30 well buffered acres you can create a great hunting area that you control and nobody else. There's no better investment for your time and money in my opinion.
 
Hell, 4 deer in 9 years would be a pretty good record where I hunt. I started this year with bowhunting on 9/27/22 and have not filled at tag yet. I envy you guys in states where the deer numbers are good, and people give permission to hunt their land.
hi rawhide, n.y.s. has tons of deer. the dacks are the exception as far as numbers per square mile. i hunted the no.zone [ tupper lake area] for many years took one doe. a actually have seen more bear taken than deer there. i live in suffolk co. long island our estimated deer population is 25,000 - 35,000 deer.more than a lot of states have. nys population est. 1.2 million!!! the few adk. deer i have seen taken were monsters. head south if you can, stay away from the n.y.c. hunter HOT SPOTS and there are plenty of deer and plenty of safe places to hunt.
 
i'm on a lease with three others. The place is in the wetlands reserve program. We get along well and the landowner is easy to get along with. We must obey game laws and can't cut trees or fire full auto weapons on the property, that's about it.

Several years ago i contacted an Oklahoma rancher in response to an advertisement to lease. The guy wanted $3,000 yearly to lease about 400 acres. Went and talked with the rancher, turns out the place was already leased to deer hunters who refused to kill does. He wanted someone else to kill does. NOT!!!
 
Private property land owner rights to do as he pleases, allow who he pleases and room to achieve his goals as he sees fit.

What a concept.

Not as if you were paying for anything so that he had an obligation to make concessions.
 
It's getting like that all over. I even had a guy 2 years age accuse me of stealing his traps so the land owner wouldn't let me hunt anymore! I could care less about his traps. I know I would be pulling ALL of my stands off the property and let the other guys buy their own. Sorry to see you lose a hunting spot because I know it hurts!
 
We were on abt 450 acres where the land owner ran the show! and in a good way. In a protected shack he had a map of the place. When you came in you signed in and marked your hunting location. If you wanted to go to another spot - come back and sign out of this spot and into the new one. Mess up and your name is on the OUT of here door.
 
Back
Top