I hunted Saturday evening on my father's 12 acres. I haven't hunted there since Sept. As I sat in the stand looking I noticed a strap-on stand about 75 yards away with an extension ladder strapped to the tree for climbing up to the stand. It looked to be on Dad's side of the property line. After dark I went and looked. It was, by about 30 feet.
Many thoughts passed through my head but I didn't act in haste. I did some research today and found the adjacent landowner's number and called him. He lives a distance away and rents the home to the suspected stand owner (landowner's granddaughter and her boyfriend rent it). I called and explained my plight and the landowner thanked me for calling. About 30 minutes later the renter called me and we had a good conversation, but I learned that he has already killed two deer (in one day) from that stand. One was a buck that needed to be culled from the herd. (Bad genes and rack on the buck.)
We had a good conversation and we're going to meet up this weekend. He seems young and just starting out on his own. Early 20s I'm guessing. I hope I can end this with both of us being able to hunt but not killing too many deer out of the area. (I'm certainly no threat, but he gun hunts).
I just thought I'd post up and see if anyone has had a similar occurrence with a good ending. The property line is not definitive and I can't really blame him for wanting to hunt. We're going to go over the property boundaries and hopefully find a tree closer to and on his side that will be good for us both.
I can only hope. He was polite and seemed to want to find a way to work together.
Maybe I can introduce him to traditional bowhunting and get him to see things from a differing perspective....We'll see.
:coffee:
Very good! I'm glad he was polite about it. Good job on your part handling it the way you did.
You handled it right. It very well could have went bad if you'd flown off the handle. Now, you might end up with a friend in the long run. Never know.
seems like you were the bigger man and didn't not get mad.
last year i caught 2 people hunting on us. one was during turkey season. this incident did not turn out so good. one neighbor was walking down one of our roads in the middle of our property turkey hunting. i saw him stalking down the road with his shotgun and decoy in his hand ... he was trying to sneak up on the bird i was working. needless to say i surprised him when he tried to sneak past me. i caught him red handed i tried to be nice but he pissed me off when he started lie ing to me he was lost.he was 600 yards across the property line. by the way he hunted that property for 10 years before we got it. so he knows the boundary. the conversation ended with him calling me a little SH*T and me telling him to get his a$$ back on his property. not good when one of them has a loaded gun in their hand.... we have not had a problem since then with him.
The other guy i caught during deer season he was walking down a logging still hunting with his rifle he was was really nice and apologized and said he wouldn't cross the line again...
I like your approach, if the property line is not that clear, he certainly could have made a 30 foot mistake. Either way, I think when calmer heads prevail things get worked out better for all involved. You're going to end up with the same ending (the young man knows where the property line is) without a bunch of drama and hard feelings.
You sir, are better at thinking than most. Good for you, you may just end up with a good friend to help you drag a bruiser out some day.
A lot of these dont end well.
What Lin Rhea said I echo, Well handled sir. :clapper:
Nice approach Bud B. We could all learn from your example.
As a guy who works in land use planning (specifically mapping) I understand that many people have an atrociously bad sense of distance and space. People's ideas of their property boundaries are regularly off by a hundred feet or more when they come and talk to us and see where it really is on the map. It could have easily been an honest mistake.
I tip my hat to you, sir. You seem to have handled the situation very well. Can't say I remember something similar happening to me.
Well done sir!Does'nt mean using a gun means unsporting...
You are more tolerant than I would have been, and that is most likely a good thing. :notworthy: :notworthy:
Sounds like a reasonable deal to me given 30' off on a not clearly marked and I assume not posted property line is kind of hard to get worked up about. Now 30' over a fence line that is posted will lose you your stand and get you a visit from the sherif or CO on or place.
Funny thing is often people think they know where the line is and often unless surveyed they can be way off. We had our farm surveyed some years back after a new neighbor bought a split up section of farm along our line and then fenced about 40' on to our property or what we thought was anyway.
Land disputes don't usually seem to go down well. I've found stands where they shouldn't be and experienced both good and bad circumstances. I've also had stands in areas that they shouldnt be and nicely moved them. Like said, property lines can be hard to distinguish sometimes. You took the high road and deserve kudos for that.
Hopefully you and the young man can work together so you can both enjoy the deer in the area.
Bud you did good!
Handled it right Bud. I have always thought you are a stand up guy, now I know it.
QuoteOriginally posted by Lin Rhea:
You handled it right. It very well could have went bad if you'd flown off the handle. Now, you might end up with a friend in the long run. Never know.
X2
Post again with how it turns out.
Good job. We need to remember that not everyone is malicious. Sometimes people just make honest mistakes. All involved probably respect you for how you handled it.
Yes. I would have torn it down and never thought twice about it. As hunters, we must know where the boundaries are. Honestly, I wish, sometimes, I had more patience for this type of thing....
I'll post up. We plan on meeting this weekend and I'll show him first hand where the line is and also a map to show him how the deer are moving. I think we'll be Ok.
And yes, the lines are unclear and unposted. It's a tight knit area with houses all over. That's why I archery hunt there. Houses too close. But at least it's hilly and there are several avenues of a safe shot even with a firearm. Showing him where everything is located with an overview map will help make things safe, I believe.
Thanks for the kinds words fellers :)
Very well done Bud. Sometimes we all fall a little short in some way. I have always prided myself on learning the boundaries and property lines and respecting other people's land and was quick to criticize those who didn't. Until I found a note on my ladder stand one day. Same deal, about thirty yds too far, river bottom property and fence had long been buried in flooded timber and weeds. Landowner was stand-up guy about it and I promptly apologized to him and his son for any harm I had done to their hunting. He could have easily been much more critical but extended grace instead of a hammer. I have never forgot it and I doubt the young man you dealt with will either.
You done good! 30ft is not much and an easy mistake to make. Now it would be different if he had to cross a fence. We had this problem years ago on my buddy's land. They knew they were trespassing and we kept taking their stands. We scored 3 freebees before they got the message.
It great that you're approaching this in a civilized manner and not coming at with hostility. Who knows, maybe you'll end up with a life long hunting buddy.
Now the downside is he's only perhaps 30 feet onto your Dad's property. If your budding relationship with him goes south, all he has to do is move the stand 10 yards and he's still hunting the same area and there's not much you can do about that. 12 acres isn't much land when considering the home range of deer, so if he's not on your father's property killing deer, he's gonna be on the adjacent property killing the same deer.
I think your best bet would be if you, the renter, and the adjacent landowner can all come to an agreement that both of you can hunt each other's property.
Pay it forward Bud. Remember who gave me that advice? You are a squareshooter and I believe you will find the best way to handle this. Good luck my friend! :thumbsup:
Pay it forward Bud. Remember who gave me that advice? You are a squareshooter and I believe you will find the best way to handle this. Good luck my friend! :thumbsup:
:thumbsup:
Good job. Lost my temper last year with a neighbor and it cost me a lease. Long story short I learned the hard way how to handle neighbors! You did good.
I agree, you did the right thing. And so did he. For now. Keeping cool can get to be tough, but wars are tough on all.
I have our property well posted, but usually meet someone who "didn't see the signs". An outright lie, or they're blind!
Being courteous (but firm) at all times (even when faced with belligerence) is the only way to go. In the end, being reasonable always wins.
Bud,
I have been impressed with your Trad Gang posts in the past and this story confirms my impression. I believe you handled this well and that you show that you are a good man who can help another see a better way. That young man will be fortunate to get to know you.
A situation well handled. My compliments.
Joe
Thanks again guys. I'm going to take an old RH 30# Shakespeare Wonderbow along in the truck just in case ;) You never know when a wayward stump might pop up that needs shooting. It just might create a spark in the process.
Well handled Bud! Sounds like that could have gone alot worse had you handled it differently. Hopefully you can help the young man out and make a friend in the process!
12 acres 30 feet. It sounds like things are pretty tight where you hunt. I think you handled it very well. Supose you had got mad. Thrown the guy off, took his stand and then sometime in the future you hit a deer and had to track it on his land? You did the right thing.
Thank you Bud for sharing.
Great teachable moment with the right lesson as well.
I am very proud to be able to call you friend.
God bless,Mudd
PS: Your actions reminds me of something I've read.~ Romans 13:9 .... and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
You handled the situation well.
I met with the young man today and we walked the property lines and talked hunting. He's just starting out on his own and I think things will be fine from here on out.
He did thank me for not removing his stand and his ladder. I got the impression he doesn't have alot of expendable cash.
I took along a dual shelf Bear Alaskan #33 @28. Just before leaving I took a shot at a target across the small gulley. After shooting a few arrows I asked if he wanted to try. He said he's "never shot one of those" and gave it a whirl. He was all smiles. I talked about why I hunt with traditional archery gear and mentioned the municipal archery seasons we have here in NC. He had never heard of that. His interest grew. Come to find out he know landowners in two nearby municiaplities that allow an Urban Archery Season up to around March. Seems like I may now have a few places to extend my archery season now that he's intereaset in my weird bow and the fact he really liked shooting the bow.
I picked him out a tree near his corner of the land so we're not hunting on top of one another. I'm gonna text him when I'm heading out and he's gonna text me.
Yeah, I think things will be fine.
Thanks again all for the encouraging words.
Bud
I was spot stalking on a property that I have permission to hunt. As I was listening to some brush busting a few yards away, I slowly make out hunter orange coming through the trees. I am livid and ready to pounce as this jackleg was unaware of my presence. I'm thinking to myself, "the nerve of this guy, trespasser, poacher" etc. and other things that I can't mention. I decide to retreat to get a better vantage point to observe his illegal activity and literally trip over the downed boundary fence that I inadvertently crossed without my knowledge. I am that jackleg.
30 feet is definately not far to wander off of your property in the woods with unmarked boundries. You handled the situation well. Hope for the best for both of you.
Very well done. I hunt mainly public land and am always mindful of signs and indication of private property. It does happen that once in a while I will cross and I always will convey my apoligy to the land owner's. An honest mistake is that and should be treated as such. but, one who purposly crosses as the turkey hunt is wrong. I know that if I owned land, and someone make a mistake I would work with them and forgive, but to purposly cross to work and animal would anger me too.
Thats the way to use your head and not your emotions.
Bud B., you are a true ambassador of our sport, thank you!
Well done.
Well done Bud.
You are a great role model. You probably just changed the lives of many.
Bud,
We need more folks like you. You took a potentially bad situation and turned it into something positive. My hats off to you....
I first thought when I read your post X-days ago, Guy is doing the right thing and Gods going to reward him somehow. More hunting land possibily is a great reward, being a mentor and just doing the noble thing. X10 :thumbsup:
Glad it is going o.k. Just remember to define boundries up front and make sure everyone knows the rules.
I think you handled it well. Because 30 feet on an unmarked line is real subjective.
As stated in this thread several times already, people who work in the woods and have to know how to find and mark boundaries will testify, many landowners have no idea exactly where their boundary his. Many will say they do but the compass and hip chain often shows a completly different scenerio. Something that often goes bad, ecspecially with the landowner who actually owns less ground than they thought.
I wish all the fellas who said they would have went ballistic would stop long enough to think, unless your line is marked on good deed calls, a fence, etc..., you might be wrong about your supposed known boundry. And 30 feet is 8 steps. Just cause grandpa said the line went through here doesn't mean it did unless it has been verified. And a property line is that, not a general area, so going through here is subjective to which side of the actual line you are standing on. Just make sure you put yourself on the opposite side before you blast someone for an innocent mistake, cause I am willing to bet you if you have NOT had the line verified, you are going to be wrong 50% of the time. Just my expierence. God Bless
Thirty feet isnt much on an unmarked line so you did the right thing.
However, for me, all my boundries are VERY clearly posted and marked and I call the Game Warden and file on anyone who intentionally hunts across the line. Every time.
As a result, it has been some years since there have been any issues with tresspassing. People talk about giving second chances. It seems that when they come to the fence and posted signs, that IS the first chance.
Intentional trespass is a criminal activity and like other criminal activities, should be prosecuted.
QuoteOriginally posted by slivrslingr:
Bud B., you are a true ambassador of our sport, thank you!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Very glad that you were able to work this out....so often these border disputes turn into really bad situations.
Really we hunters have common goals (enjoy our hunt and bring home some meat)....so it's nice to help each other out when we can.