Hey y'all. Recently married within the last year and came to find out my wife's grandmother owns 108acres of prime deer land. (State trust woods all around it). She found out I hunted and said she would be thrilled if I would hunt it, but the farmer that takes care of her land also has permission to hunt it. Now I went and scouted it this evening and the main chunk of timber is 25acres. Pretty decent size for around here. Also ran into 5 trail cams and numerous stands, although in horrible locations with no sign of deer movement. The section that looked most promising and had most deer sign to me was untouched on other end of woods. Do I go hang my stand this season yet, or let them know I plan to hunt it and wait til next year? Btw I have no idea whether they hunt archery season or just firearm.
You go talk to the farmer and let him know you are going to be hunting . Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I got permission on 50 acres that another guy has hunted for a few years already. I texted him to ask where he hunts the most and I stay completely out of that area. I will probably just hunt the outskirts until he stops hunting the property or we have a good enough relationship to share.
So I’m assuming from the context of your post that the farmer is the lease holder to the property and your wife’s grandmother is the owner? Or is he just helping her out by taking care of it? If he holds a lease on her private property, he does have some legal rights... I’d find out more information about that from your wife’s grandmother. Then contact him. If he isn’t actually renting the property, it’s still probably best to just get ahold of him and talk to him. Let him know who you are and that your wife’s grandmother wanted to let you hunt out there. Otherwise he might come to bust up your stand while you’re out there if he sees somebody he thinks is trespassing. Better and safer for everybody if everyone knows what is going on.
He rents only the farm ground around the woods not all of the land. Yes I planned to get his number and contact him this week yet considering I ran into a few of the cams and waved and said hi. I'm sure that would make them real happy to find when they pull cards next.
100% contact them. His impulse response to seeing someone or a stand would go straight to trespasser. He has at the moment, unless the grandmother takes it back, the exact same right to be there as you do AND some would argue more having been there longer. Respect him, breach a conversation with him and stress you don't want either to have interference while hunting. Discuss things like when he normally hunts, does he just gun hunt? Try to get a feel for what type of hunter he is, if he ignores wind and such you may have to switch some of your scouting to acknowledge this and you will hunt his actions as much as the deer's. He could become a great asset and who knows, if he has a few farms spread everywhere that he has permission you could walk into an awesome friend to have down the road a few years.
I contacted the farmer and discussed it with him. Turns out his sons and their sons hunt it the most. He seemed a little disturbed about me planning to hunt it but agreed that if i hunted away from them and texted him that I was hunting out there it should be fine. Found out they shot some beauties out of there and have some on camera this season. Excited to see what shows up
I am not surprised that he sounded disturbed, he probably feels threatened by the thought of You intruding on “Their” prime hunting area. I have tried the situation you described above in the past and it leads to a lot of frustrating situations, people not caring about others hunting or “I forgot” to let you I was going to but hunting..... Making it work is a lot of work but it can be done, and if it doesn’t you can phase them out.
I'm only posing this question for discussion, but can you elaborate on this. In what fashion does the OP have the authority to do what you pose? If I understand the entire situation correct; they've been there longer, they have a lease agreement for the farming operation, they also have the permission to hunt from the same landowner. Now I get that the OP has now married into the family of the owner, but that doesn't give him any more say or right. Should the landowner decide to pull permission that is on them to do so, and the OP should in no way attempt to appear as if he has more say or permission than the others.
I told them if they felt threatened or didnt want me there this season that I would wait until next season and they said no you're fine this season. I plan to completely avoid their hunting area and walk around the opposite end of woods. I'm very respectful and plan to do everything I can to avoid them and not mess their hunting up, as long as they leave mine alone
Now if I find them to be baiting or any of those sorts of shenanigans, then yes I will make sure they are dealt with and wont touch that ground again.
I see what you are saying, he doesn’t directly have the power to get rid of them or tell them no. It is always best to try and work together in matters like this. Yes the farmer has been there longer, and has certain rights. But Usually if there any “problems” with this situation he would have to have a conversation with his wife’s grandmother. The point I was trying to make is Family usually gets put above others first, but not always.
True...I lived out an example differently though on a piece my father and I have hunted for years. Family got booted and now continues to be told no...not normal but does happen. Now granted these were ungrateful family, which never communicated with us or landowner, refused to assist around the farm and just always assumed permission every year instead of asking....so made it very easy for landowner to say done.
Hope it works out for the OP. Typically you can make good friends out of a situation like this. Some guys get hostile though. Only time will tell! I wouldn’t worry about it at all. They sound pretty friendly. May have just been a dry personality. He said to go ahead and get out there and get at it! Good luck! Let us know how it goes! As for the situation. Typically, since the land is being commercially used. It will swing that way. Family and business don’t mix well. Small businesses die or suffer from being too nice to family and friends. Not to sound like a ****, but I hate when a friend or family member ask me for a “discount”. I usually reply, “What? Since we’re family you should pay me a little extra to help me out!”. No family or friend discount. They pay what everyone else does. Unless we do a trade. I’m sure the property owner could just tell the farmer that that he’ll just have to deal with her family hunting the property. Laws will vary by state though. I’m sure some states do have laws that once the land has been leased it’s up to the lease holder to determine who has access outside of maintenance and such. You can’t just send your Brother’s family to crash in your rental house or park his RV in the back. Lease holders do have rights to what they’re leasing. Best thing to do in situations like this is tread lightly till you know what is what. Don’t step on toes. The OP seems to have handled it awesomely. Hopefully he’ll have a good time now!
I think you've handled it well so far, contacting them was the right move. Time will tell what kind of people they really are. If you shoot a great buck in there this year, that will be the ultimate test of what kind of folks they are.
I have a few of my families farms leased out to a couple of farmers. This may just be me but if they have the farm leased they have leased it in its entirety. Even if I wanted to hunt it I would have to gain permission from the farmer that holds the lease and I do when I go hunt Sandhill Cranes. I do believe the OP has handled this particular situation well and considering the grandmother's blessing but this should be entertaining to watch if a nice buck is taken.
Well I got out to the property last night and hung a stand and got a trail cam put up on the side I suspect the most deer movement and Wahlah! Got 54 pics overnight when I came back to finish clearing shooting lanes today. A cute little 6 point buck and a few big does. Hoping nobody shoots him and he'll be a nice one in a few years.
