I'm both sad and pissed off. I got a phone call today that my son and I (and 3 other guys) will no longer be able to hunt the large piece of land we've been on for the past several years. The owner got a complaint from a neighbor. Not a complaint about anything that we did wrong, just a "fear of hunters" complaint. The owner is skittish as it is and we had worked hard to gain trust, now its gone in a puff of thoughtless email. The crazy part is that in the years we've been there, we've never had anyone (Neighbors) complain about anything substantive. And we respected the owner and the land, providing lots of free labor without being asked
It is a special piece of land and not easily replaced here in populated Central CT. My heart is heavy.
bummer to hear about it. i know the feeling man
Hate to hear it, it's getting harder to locate private land to hunt on, good luck in finding a new place to hunt.
So the owner is skittish. Hmmm. Do you know the owner well enough to press them as to whether they plead your case to the neighbor or not? / vouched for you etc?? Or is it safe to say if you got the email that they dealt with said neighbor as best they could? Honestly I'm not sure I'd go down without kicking a little. It almost sounds like a non-confrontational/passive way to get you off the land for the owner's own reasons/ way for them to save face. Its his/her land, why does the neighbor's opinion matter so much? I'm not trying to incite anything, I'm just curious?
Nineworlds9 - I'm not going down without a struggle - I will plead my case with the owner and the neighbor. I've got nothing to lose!
QuoteOriginally posted by dirtguy:
Nineworlds9 - I'm not going down without a struggle - I will plead my case with the owner and the neighbor. I've got nothing to lose!
Good deal, good luck and let us know how it turns out in the end.
Throw the owner a cash offer to lease rights. Money goes a long, long way. No one ever enjoys paying taxes and you helping him or her out might be of value to you. :dunno:
I audited a New Hunter class that is mandatory in our state and I was surprised at how much stress was placed in the course materials and presentation about navigating public perceptions of hunting, how to approach land owners about permission and even how to deal with neighbors, hikers, joy-riders etc. who confront you while you're hunting.
Dirtguy, a strategy I have recommended to many of my clients who get crosswise with neighbors is to be proactive, to reach out and emphasize how positive the relationship has been and how it could be even better. Permission to hunt a good piece of property is important to you, but the land and neighbors are important to the landowner all year long. Is there anything you can offer to do in the off season that would make his land better at the same time it enhances your hunting lease? E.g., walk and repair the fences and gates, identify and maintain signage, put up wood duck nest boxes and martin houses, cut up trees that have fallen across roads, threaten fences and gates? Are your tree stands visible from neighboring lands or roads? That is a common trigger for neighbor complaints in suburban areas.
Man this is a bummer. Sorry to hear about that, but I can sympathize and have been down that road, when you lose a piece of good hunting property due to no fault of your own. But I have learned over the years, that if you don't own the property, it's not a matter of if you lose the property, but it's a matter of when.
Tony
Try money.......that often works!
Me too. Heavy heart. 15 years for me, gone in just a weeks time.
Pulled my last stand today. Was planning on teaching my son back in my area, but not anymore.
Not much left over here Robert.
Fight for it if you can.
Sad stuff! Every year I hear a few of these stories and have set out over the last few years to make my hunting future more flexible. I hunt several public areas, save for out of state hunts, and also hunt a great piece of property which I grew up on and is owned by my parents. In a few years I plan to buy a piece of my own.
I don't want to be in the position of not being able to hunt or depending on others goodwill to hunt their land and plan to continue the footwork necessary to stay in a liquid position.
That being said I'm sorry to hear about this right during the peak of season and encourage you to find other options which may prove great!
"Try money.......that often works!"
Be sure you plead your case face to face and NOT through email ... email is a terrible way to communicate/negotiate. It becomes too impersonal and it makes it too easy to say NO ... go with a smile on your face and your hat in your hand. Let them know your are respectful of their property and are extremely grateful for the opportunity to share in their treasure and will do almost anything to keep the privilege. Make it personal and sincere and in no way be defensive. Talk about the positives of bowhunting, respect for the animals, and your role as stewards of the land they allow you to use for these purposes.
Good luck, Ken
Offer to buy hunters liability insurance to protect the land owner from any accidents that happen on his property. This would cover him if the complaining neighbors kids fall out of a tree on his property and they try to sue him! This is a huge benefit for the landowner!
Good luck with your pursuit.
The private land that I hunt, no one knows that I am there but the land owner. His own daughter that lives 1/4 of a mile away did not know it for 5 years!
Keep a low profile!!!!!!!!!!
QuoteOriginally posted by Izzy:
Throw the owner a cash offer to lease rights. Money goes a long, long way. No one ever enjoys paying taxes and you helping him or her out might be of value to you. :dunno:
Agree, least it is an idea to help the cause?
When I needed to have somewhere to hunt I "purchased" the right by showing up well before season and helped plow one of his fields, helped him roof his shed, etc. Nothing new but it cemented a relationship for years.
Even when I now hunt occaisionally on one of my relatives land I offer to help put up firewood and try to drop off some of his favorite snacks like jerky or pepper sticks after season. I now own my own land, but two nephews have made it very difficult to say no to them just because of all the little things they do to help me out.
One experience was enlightening. Our hunting party was politely told that we needed to find a new place to hunt for rifle season. I was on the "fringe" of this group. The group basically never hunted together again.
The following year I approached the couple and explained that I knew permission to rifle hunt had been denied but wondered if I might be able to hunt a portion of it just during archery season. Their reply began with "you know, sometimes it feels like we don't even own our own land anymore". Nobody even bothered to ask us if they could hunt here, or park their vehicles in our farmyard. They felt we were taking advantage of them. I never forgot that, and never take anything for granted. I was granted permission to hunt their land during archery season. Each year I always ask - even my relatives.
Would suggest offering respect for his decision and genuinely thank him for the gift of hunting rights over the past few years.
Do nothing to burn any bridges and maintain amicable contact. Minds and positions may change in your favor and if not, you maintained the value of friendship. Lost rights years ago because the kids and grandkids of the owner wished to hunt. Three years later, the owner offered me a place to hunt that turned out to be even better ground.
Hunting privilages are a gift to be both highly regarded and highly valued.
Man that is a bummer...
I believe Elken gave some great advice.
Be sure you plead your case face to face and NOT through email ... email is a terrible way to communicate/negotiate. It becomes too impersonal and it makes it too easy to say NO ... go with a smile on your face and your hat in your hand. Let them know your are respectful of their property and are extremely grateful for the opportunity to share in their treasure and will do almost anything to keep the privilege. Make it personal and sincere and in no way be defensive. Talk about the positives of bowhunting, respect for the animals, and your role as stewards of the land they allow you to use for these purposes Be sure you plead your case face to face and NOT through email ... email is a terrible way to communicate/negotiate. It becomes too impersonal and it makes it too easy to say NO ... go with a smile on your face and your hat in your hand. Let them know your are respectful of their property and are extremely grateful for the opportunity to share in their treasure and will do almost anything to keep the privilege.
This has worked for me in obtaining permission, may work in salvaging permission... in the long run, if you are honest about your passion for hunting, even non hunters will understand.
That sucks.
I can relate all too well of this scenario. That, in itself, is why I purchased enough land to hunt for myself, friends and family. While we don't see that many deer in my area I don't have to wonder whether or not I will have a place to hunt.
Best of luck to you. Maybe the land owner will change his mind
Sorry to hear that you lost your spot.
I am more of the mind that if a landowner no longer grants me permission to hunt - then that is their decision. They own the land and pay the taxes - they are free to make their own decisions.
Too bad that it's about the neighbors - but the land owner has to live with them year around. I would personally thank him for the previous years and move on.
Wish I could afford my own land - for now I'm hunting public land a bit of the wife's family farm when I'm able to make it back.
Yep, time to pull out the money! Have the lease for you both to sign along with the cash.
Re-instated!
Well, I had a good talk with the landowner and the neighbor and I'm back on the property!. I have always done things to help the land owner out and this helped a lot. Also, the fact that I have never had any bad encounters with neighbors helped.
I can't tell you how happy this makes me. Once you get to know a piece of land, you become attached to it, even if it is not yours. You talk in terms of specific trees and locations like "the log that we saw the fisher cat on two years ago" or "the place where you saw the twelve point buck." And you develop a real attachment. My heart if full again!
Congrats on the resolution. Glad it worked out for you. Now get out there and kill something. :laughing:
I'm betting something else is going on.
Glad that it worked out for you! As you just found out, permission to hunt another persons land is a privelege not to be taken lightly. I'm sure that your prior efforts to help out the landowner made a big difference, and naturally you will want to do all that you can going forward as well. It might not be a bad idea to drop a note of thanks to the neighbor as well and provide them with your phone number should they ever have any concerns about what they see going on next door. Maybe even a couple of sticks of venison sausage!
That's awesome that you got back in their good graces! I'm happy for you. One thing I noticed about me personally since this thread was started was it seamed like every time I called or txt the owners of a small place that I could only hog hunt it was only to let them know when I would be hunting. So I started just checking in on them and would make small talk and ask if there was anything I could do to help out around the place. And even took them some elk meat. The husband works out of town and the wife isn't in the best of health. They actually gave me permission to deer hunt just a few weeks back. I think the small talk went a long way in helping that along. I also think there is something we can all learn from this. I know I have! One of my favorite threads! :thumbsup:
Glad it all worked out for you! Its hard to lose a good piece of property!
Ray Hammond - I have some worries too.
What else do you think could be going on?
Sounds to me like the land owner is unable to tell you that he really doesn't want you there, so he lays the blame on the neighbor. LF