Found someone's stand on my father's land....update pg 3

[Bud B.]

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.

   

[4dogs]

Very good! I'm glad he was polite about it. Good job on your part handling it the way you did.

[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.

[rolltidehunter]

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...

[Burnsie]

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.

[YORNOC]

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.

[Knawbone]

What Lin Rhea said I echo, Well handled sir.  

[Rick Richard]

Nice approach Bud B.  We could all learn from your example.

[Jake Diebolt]

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.

[ti-guy]

Well done sir!Does'nt mean using a gun means unsporting...

[ron w]

You are more tolerant than I would have been, and that is most likely a good thing.      

[xtrema312]

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.

[Altiman94]

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.

[Marc B.]

Bud you did good!

[Mike Vines]

Handled it right Bud.  I have always thought you are a stand up guy, now I know it.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Originally 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

[stujay]

Post again with how it turns out.

[NJSwampstalker]

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.

[Justin Falon]

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....

[Bud B.]

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