Dad has hunted on the land that houses the Sky Condo for the better part of his life. About six years ago, we built the SC and started hunting there full time. At that time, there were no other hunters near by. A few years ago, a hunter bought a bordering piece of property, re-did the old camp that was there and brought his buddies along.
We haven’t had a lot of incidents with them (trespassing last year, putting pink ribbon on my tree seat and lying to us when we asked them what they shot – a search through the list at the tagging station said an 8-point buck).
Two years ago, Dad bought a piece of land that is separated from the Sky Condo property by a powerline and a driveway that is privately owned by our hunting neighbor. The land was bought in May and once October came, our neighbor put a treestand up along the edge of the powerline, facing our new piece of property and right next to our traveling path. We were cautious from that point on, making sure we were not seen as we crossed from the powerline and into the woods. We never saw anyone actually sit in the stand. Until this year.
After reviewing the pictures on our trail cameras, Dad and I figured we would head down to my tree seat mid-morning. As we made our way down our path, Dad stopped suddenly and pointed to the treestand. A blob of orange sat there. We backtracked and went elsewhere.
In the afternoon, we were prepared to walk right past the stand, hunter or no hunter, and go immediately into the woods and then travel to where my seat is. But, no one was there. Still, from now on, we will have to strategize how we get from point A to my tree seat. Our hunting neighbor has other treestands along the powerline and we are polite and stay clear of them. It is how you hunt; have courtesy for those around you. Apparently, they did not get that memo.
Next weekend, I will be walking down the powerline in the dark so that I am settled in my seat before sun up. It’s unsettling to think that there could be someone so close to where I will be walking. I will make sure that I have a very bright flashlight and I may even talk to myself or sing so there is no question that I am not a deer.
So, what is your take on this? How disrespectful is our neighbor? Would you put a stand up where you knew other hunters travel? Am I totally blowing this out of proportion?
This is opening day of Careless Hunter Season in my neighborhood. They arrived over the weekend from New Hampshire. They will drive like maniacs up and down the road before sunrise, at lunch time and again after sunset. They disregard parked vehicles that indicate a hunter is in the area. They heater hunt. A couple of them were convicted of driving deer two years ago. We heard them shooting at 8:30 last night. They are slob hunters.
Do these hunters know you now own the property and have a stand there?
Oh yes! They know where both the Sky Condo and my tree seat are. They are quite aware of the fact that we hunt in the area
Hmmmm. I think neighbor is being a bit careless. Does he know that's your access? I hunt on public land only. I have a "spot" I like because I know there's a big buck out there. I know at least one other local hunts out there because last year during small game we walked up on their trail cam. I was scouting last week (small game & bow are open here, gun next week) and walked up on an empty self-climber. My solution is to stay out of there during bow season to be polite to him since it's public land. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who still hunts out there during general gun, so I just have to wait to scout. It's a small area so if I see a car out there it just makes sense to go elsewhere to avoid getting shot.
Yes. The neighbor knows where we cross, that we hunt on both pieces of land and he knows exactly where our stands are. One of his hunting buddies was caught trespassing on our land last season.
Have you guys discussed the matter with him or do you not have a good relationship? Is he a transplant from MA? :-p So you have to walk in his shooting lane to get to your stand? I say get up earlier than he does and wear a couple of weird colored glow sticks and your blaze orange & a big ol' light. Plus put all his info in a folder & leave it home with hubs. That way if the neighbor does shoot you the criminal investigation & lawsuit can get rolling faster.
HA! The guy knows us, we know him. Its a small town where we hunt so everyone knows everyone else. Putting a stand (and a hunter in that stand) up where he did was more of a dick move than anything else. He has other land and other stands to hunt on.
I don't think you're making too much of it. One sneeze could ruin an opportunity. An unfamiliar scent on his boots could make the deer nervous.
I think it's disrespectful that they did that. Are you telling me there is no other place on their whole property they could have set up that stand?
We're having issues with the hunters on the property next to ours. We don't have to cross each others property at all, and yet last week they felt it was their right to come onto the property we rent, steal our trail camera and our deer blind. We know they did it and yet, we can't prove it. Some people are just jerks.
If he stole our cameras, I would nail him. Luckily, our stands are built on the trees so he cant steal them but he did put pink ribbon on one of them. I think for him, it is like trying to cut in line so he can see the deer before we do.