Questionable Hunters

[Musky Buck]

Interesting, I might have to do that as far as give up a day or two of hunting. Opening night a few years back my dad watched the field, out came 11 does and fawns, he was sizing up a doe when 12 rifle rounds ripped through the herd, I knew from my stand what happened again, dad was watching college football after that. 1 bambi he said ran off and fell and they were quick to drag it for home. We don't want to be really confrontational and be the snitch type and all of that but with hi-powered rifles being shot by people we don't know and the disregard to ask if ok and stuff, I can typing this still remember jumping off my 14 foot ladder stand to take cover when the bullets came sizzling by, enough of that. If you have had that happen you won't forget it.

[DuckDog]

I have that happen; in fact, it turned me into someone I never want to see again.

I was bow hunting in the Sand Dune State forest. Some (not all) specific hunters are known to shoot almost everything (from experience). I was sitting in my stand and there must have been no less then 12 "whizzzz" going by my head.

About 10 minutes later I see an orange hat and a long gun pointed in my direction. He then shot at a squirrel in my tree just below me.

I yelled, ok I freaked out. All he did was go for the second shot as the squirrel was now above me. I drew back my bow and yelled - STOP NOW.

I left and went to the truck - my dad and friend there waiting for me. They had to literally put me in the truck cuz I was boiling.

[Musky Buck]

alwaysonthe, you are right, I need to get off my horse and provide friendly, positive dialogue to all, gave it much thought last night and am willing to oust myself if I can't keep it upbeat, I wish I lived and hunted where there were less clowns to deal with. I think I might offer up a lease to some of them to hunt the field part and see what they say, then I could work with em and we could get on the same page and some of them would be done if I let them park a stand or 2 in ideal locations. I think that might work and appreciate the responses which will help me sort out my mess, thanks.

[Jameson]

...AFter a couple of year's they would get the hint, most of them do...

Exactly!!

It may take more than an opening day or weekend to get it accomplished. For me I figured out in a real hurry that if I wasn't hunting the land during deer firearms season, a trespasser likely was. So I took to inviting friends to hunt the land when I couldn't. Heck, last year I hunted up north opening Sat-Weds and had a friend and his dad hunt the land. They didn't get anything, but saw a couple out of distance. Thursday I hopped in the stand about 2:00 and had a deer about 4:30. If I wouldn't have let a couple of friends hunt Sat-Wed I am sure that the neighboring trespassers would have tried their usual deer drive right through my sanctuary area, and made my hunting on Thursday less exciting.

[96trigger]

We get some of that down here. Its nice to get somebody on your land during the season, especially if its someone you trust. I have a great relationship with the landowners I hunt on. I do help patrol the area, and when they let other people on during seasons that I am not there, I am more than happy that it is not getting overrun. Land shortages and deer sanctuaries are a big problem in MN.

Musky, maybe the neighbors don't like you because you don't hunt it and don't let anybody else hunt. I know a guy whose land we used to hunt. He quit letting us go in his woods because he claimed that there were no deer. In reality, his son wanted it all to himself, and I am fine with that. Here is the problem, the son only hunts one season, 3A, when we went 3B, it didn't take long for the deer to get pushed into that large tract of land that noone was hunting and there was no way they were coming out. Eventually, we quit pushing deer all together and that helped, but it still made us kind of sore at the guy. Especially if you are sitting on a neighboring farm not seeing them and there is herd two fields away that noone is hunting. I'm not saying that is what you are doing, but if nobody is seeing deer and you have deer in your woods and are not hunting, their could be some animosity. letting them put up a couple of stands and just sit, might go a long ways into helping out your problem and maybe even get a few new friends.

[Bear55]

i got one for you guys. ive had my stand in the same spot for 6 or 7 years. great spot ive shot a lot of deer out of it. its on the edge of our property line. about 4 years ago i had a bow hunter walk right up behind me on the neighbors property with now orange on during firearms season. then the next year they put a treestand 20 yards behind me on the nighbors property. i understand its not ours and they can do what they want but come on people have a little respect. then last year i walked out to my stand and he was sitin in it!!! [PoorWordUsage]??? he said he didnt know where the prop line was but then why is he huntin there? the next morning i was sitnin there and i herd a noise off to my left right at legal shooting hours i start gettin ready for a shot and then i see orange. he walks right in front of me 15 yards and waves right at legal hours and tresspass on our land. again [PoorWordUsage]?????

I understand you were there first but really anyone putting stands on property lines is asking for trouble and it looks like you found some. What if they had put a stand up on the property line first, you would probably be here complaining about it. Just because your stand was there first doesn't make it ok for you to be close to the line and them wrong for doing the same thing.

If guys could just back off 50-100 yards off the property lines and respect the boundrys there wouldn't be nearly as many problems.

[Jameson]

660' x 660' is ten acres. I would rather have my neighbors with 10 acres hunt the line and shoot into their property, than have them sit in the middle of their property and shoot in my direction.

[Bear55]

That makes sense for 10 acres but I was speaking in general terms, most places people hunt are larger then 10 acres. Personally I don't think you could pay me enough to hunt next to someone on 10 acres, archery season would of course be a different story.

[BoxMN]

Just my two cents - but if we are talking two private properties, it would seem simple to go talk to the owners rationally, maybe it takes a couple times, and it should get straightened out. If not, then somebody is crazy and then the CO's get called.

Where we hunt, there are several private properties coming together, and it all works out well, though I am sure each party bizches about the other a little bit back at camp, like they only shoot does, they never shoot does, they shot the big one I wanted, etc. But it all works well and nobody is shooting over fences. Heck I even tagged a buck one neighbor gutshot and it jumped into my field and I dropped it. First time I met that guy, and offered him the buck, and he just said he wanted to see it, and thanked me for keeping him from tracking it for next few hours. I was right on the property line, shooting into our field. We watch deer in his field all the time, and never even think about shooting over the line.

[Musky Buck]

There are 6 stands on about 25 acres right on my property lines, I'm shocked any deer would walk out into that area, there's 3 left year round and 3 more deployed about a week before season. Then on the east 2 more stands, 2 to the south, and 1 guy who just stands in his back yard looking out into my field and sometimes his40 year old son sits with him there. I guess the best news is I can hunt the interior of the area and the bucks are way to scared to leave the cover for the field which actually may have helped me get a few over the years. When I see some does and fawns heading that way I can plug my ears because it's a war zone. I hate this 9 day season, used to split the hunters up more in zone 4A and 4B. Now 9 straight nights it's a war zone waiting to happen, but oh well, time to sell my land and look for a greener pasture and relocate. What's crazy is 5 years ago it was me, dad and 1 neighbor down the way, now 8 more stands are on the boundaries. I just hope I don't get shot like my uncle a few years back.

[Musky Buck]

I think guys many of us just have to live with it unfortunately. 600,000 deer hunters/ 100,000 bow hunters which surprised me a bit, and everyone knows someone who needs or wants a place to sit. Wish we had the split season to spread it out a bit more, seemed to really worsen as zone 4 became 2 in my areas, oh well a sign of the times. I'm getting a grip and focusing on positives to the best I can.

[croixflats]

Musky Buck its easy to get frustrated over the actions of others and its understandable. Vent away. Sadly this happens every year and it will continue. I had a friend of mine that has 180 acres a guy set up a stand along the property line. The sad thing was that guy mistook(?) my friends Irish setter for a deer. Needless to say my bud was not a happy camper to find rufus 200ft away from the house with an arrow stuck in him and dead. That hunter was never found and the neighbors denied letting anyone hunt, but the deer stand was there and the spot was found where Rufus was shot and it was on my buds property.

Rufus was beautiful Irish Setter that I was honered to hunt with but no more. And now that 180 acres is closed off to anyone asking to hunt except for close freinds. To bad because they put a lot of work for pheasant habbitat and it has become a real good producer of pheasant let alone deer.

[Musky Buck]

Just pondering things a bit and I think the 9 day season and anyone can muzzy hunt after that is part of the issue where I hunt. People are constantly pressuring the deer way more now and bow season if I remember right years back, not sure when it changed but it didn't stay open until Jan. 1st or did it ? Anyway, I wish boxmn was my neighbor, the people I am talking about have 10 acres or less of all open terrain. My uncles 8 of them are all having similar issues to some degree and my best friends hunting by ottertail are dealing with the same thing I am, people sitting in their yard watching their land, when my buddies kicked them out they shot over 300 rounds of ammo just to spite my friends not to mention the hundreds of rounds of ammo going off on Lake McGowan, is it legal for those duck hunters to pull their boat onto my friends land and hide in the rushes ? They had a disastorous 2008 rifle season. I went and hunted 1 day with them and it was brutal. But here's to hoping things get better in 2009 !!!

[Musky Buck]

Sad to hear croixflats, my aunt's horse took a rifle bashing a few years back behind her house which is now mine, of course no one would admit to I just stated it didn't shoot itself. My uncle got shot a few miles away on purpose, we found him hanging upside down in his stand, we couldn't quite prove who did it although we are 99% sure, the steel rod in his leg will remind him of that forever, he quit hunting. My shed has a large hole in it from a rifle, couldn't figure out after feeding the dog during season how is there light coming in here, examined closer and no wonder. If this thread does anything I hope it will make everyone talk to each other and fellow hunters about being safe, handling and shooting our guns with care for everyone, realizing getting a deer is way second place to safety, and croixflats I can't imagine seeing my Irish Setter with an arrow in him or a bullet, my heart would sink and it would be tough, very tough to rebound from that, all the work and love that goes into training and the loyalty, heck I could cry just thinking about that.

[hunter322]

bear55

Thats the thing we only have 40 acres for 4 people and most of it is open field. the land owner doesnt even hunt he lets people hunt it. and they have 10 acres of solid pine woods. im not [PoorWordUsage] that they are hunting but im just asking for a little respect between sportsman. i completley understand what youre saying. im the kinda person that lives by the golden rule. do unto others as you want done to you. the respect thing ya know. i would never in a million years put my stand that close to someone else's. and then go and sit in theirs. thats just wrong.

[azsearch]

I dont deer hunt, but if its this bad on private land... is public land a War Zone?

Such as a WMA northeast of the Metro

[Jameson]

It has been described as a warzone many time. If it is within a 2 1/2 hour drive from the cities it is most likeyly a well used piece of public land.

[96trigger]

"Warzone" is definitely how I would describe Whitewater during the firearm season.

[Bear55]

I dont deer hunt, but if its this bad on private land... is public land a War Zone?

Such as a WMA northeast of the Metro

I guess it depends where you go, I am starting to feel lucky for hunting public land way up in the sticks. I almost never see hunters not in my own party and most of the time I have hundreds to thousands of acres to myself. I also bust my a$$ to get miles off any roads trails so that really helps.

[JeffB]

Musky I would get the CO involved if its that bad. I would explain the situation and invite them to put a decoy on your property.

[fr0sty]

Hey Muskybuck, when you have time please email me or call Ron J so we can straighten out the Mills property issue.

My email is gregdomeier AT gmail DOT com.

greg