I am not in jail but it came close. The meeting took place with Mr. Thomas, his grandson, me and this youngman. So, the conversation starts with me asking how he asked about the property and my stands. He goes on to explain he asked for permission to hunt from the grandson. He also stated the grandson showed him all my stand setups. While he is saying this I notice the grandson starting to get anxious. I look at him and say "whats wrong". He chimes in and says to the guy" I told you could hunt if Dave said it was ok, I also showed you Daves stand sites and told you that Dave is a good guy I am sure he would let you hunt a few of them but call him first. I look at this young guy and ask "is this true"? He replies yes it is. I then ask why he was parking on ajoining property to enter the Farm. This one will get ya going guys, he says "well I did not want you to know I was coming and going, I am new to bowhunting and did not want you to think I was stupid because I do not know much". That statement there about made me grab this kid by the neck and snap it. I asked him, "Did you ever show up and know I was here" he replies "yes and I knew from were you parked your truck what stand you were in so I would hunt another". here is the kicker. He stated that all my stand sites he put out a lot of doe-in-heat scent. He now has learned from the internet it was way to early. Now I have been walking the woods for 2 weeks thinking "man these woods smell like doe in heat, nah way to early I am imagining things....gee I wonder why I thought that now. So to end the conversation I asked if he had any treestands up? He had none up. At that time Mr. Thomas told him he was told by his grandson to contact me before hunting or anything on the property. The guy stated that was true. Then he says this " I really messed up didnt I"? At that point I decided I heard enough and asked Mr. Thomas what he wanted to do? He told me it was up to me. I told this youngman not to return this year, call me next year and we shall see about him hunting on a very limited basis. So now I am sitting here trying to decide how I can recover from this? He hunted all my stands, has been putting out large amounts of tinks 69 at each stand site. He has been busted several times at each stand. I have to come up with a game plan to recoup this season which now looks like it may be a bust. BTW, I told this young fella he was lucky I am older now, if this was 20 years ago he would have a serious problem. He asked "like what"? I replied " I would have have been kicking your arse from one end of this field to another with not one word exchanged between us, matter fact, before old habits resurface you may want to get in that green POS you drive and leave" Dave......screwed
Dave that truly sux I'm glad you talked to him and the land owner. I may be way off but this kid doesn't know much and may just need a sort of mentor to teach him right. I see potential in this kid as he has tried hard and apparently wants to bow hunt. I would maybe try to coach him along so he turns into a good hunter. I don't know his age or background so my opinion may be way off. I hope he learns from his mistake and that he didn't mess up your spots too bad. Good luck buddy Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk
Thanks for the update Dave... glad you got it all worked out... It does sound like the kid needs some direction... I gotta story to tell... When I was younger I took a deer to have it processed by a local meat guy.... well I never picked that deer up... never really thought any harm was done... The next year I took a deer to him and he looked at me and said... "What's your name again"... It kind of hit me then... And he proceeded to lecture me like a red-headed step child... I knew I was wrong... I payed for both deer the one I took and the one I never picked up... We are on a first name basis now, and I take him several deer per year... I deserved it... and I'm glad he jumped on me for leaving him with a processed deer and no income to cover it.
Colby, that is why I told him to contact me next year. I realized he was young (21) and does not know jack about hunting "like most of us when we started". What got me was his attitude, he knew he was wrong for sneaking around, I see that as a respect thing towards me and the property owners. So now I sit and ponder how do I recover a tainted hunting property. I know from years of experience putting doe in heat scent out way early is more of a repellant to doe than bucks. With that said, I also know were the doe go the bucks will follow. He has been busted at every one of my stands multiple times. He used the other property and walked right through the major bedding area " that I have stayed away from for many years and was extemely careful to give the deer that plot of woods as their safety zone so to speak". Basically he ruined this property for awhile. Midway through October with roughly 3 weeks until rut may start. When you only hunting approx. 60 acres between three ajoining properties you have to be very careful how you hunt it to include getting in and out of the woods each and every time you hunt. So I am screwed........................................................................................now is when 36 years of bowhunting knowledge comes in, I need to think on this for the next day or so and try to come up with a recovery plan. Dave
Crazy story Dave, and I can imagine how PO'd you have to be. I bet in a few years, when that kid learns how the whitetail world works, he will realize the severity of what he did. Let that property "chill" for a while, I think you'll be OK for the rut. What else can you do? I didn't make it out last weekend, had to work. We really need some cooler temps to get thing going over here. Good luck!
Feb, I can pack my stuff up for the year, that thought has entered my mind more than once this evening. I do not know at this point. From what I know he did not enter the swamp stand that I put up recently. One stand to hunt the next few weeks is not going to work. Basically I am telling you guys do not expect many if any points from me this year, consider yourself handicapped with one man down. Dave
You must have some sensitive freekin deer there, Dave .... dude, the deer aren't that smart! Just kill already! You should at least be able.to get a doe .... buckle up, buttercup! :D
Going to bed. Tony Deer are a lot smarter than we give them credit. I have always thought and said " you want a real challenge hunt an old dominant doe". Yes the deer in my area are sensistive, trust me, I hunted this property many years now. Anyone got a good recipe for tag soup? Dave
Rain the next two days. Hope it pours so it will dilute that scent he put out. Still deciding on a game plan. One possible quick fix is to try and setup a stand on the southern part of the swamp but that is iffy at best. Hard as heck to get in there. We shall see. Tony, I think you are missing a point I am trying to make here. When you spend several years hunting a property and trying to manage it so you keep an active deer population interested in staying there, it is a big let down when someone comes in and totally thrashes it. You seem to want to make light hearted comments about the situation? Sorry I take this a little more serious then most. Do not worry about the points, I am sure someone on the team will step up and score big time. Catcha all later, Dave
Dave, your comment about the rain is exactly what I was thinking. Between the rain falling and the leaves falling the next couple weeks I like your chances of the deer being in the area. The real problem is him getting busted in your stands, I've definitely seen a old doe that has busted either myself or someone else check that stand every time they walk into an area. The good news is there are usually plenty of adolecent does to pick from the next couple weeks, your standards may have to come down but it is doable. If you don't want to lower your standards, good for you, I've been there and ate tag soup a couple times. I would say during the rut all bets are off, you can recover and will. You are truely Tineacious, any man that will climb a tree with a broken foot will find a way to put one down. Good luck Dave!
Dave, I do understand your point and all your effort pertaining to this property. It is TRULY a matter of keeping deer "home". If it were me, I would back out all together for a few weeks (just after I re-located a few stands to elimate the deer's "that tree" conditioning caused by youngbuck). Your deer have a "home range" and would rather have that which is familiar over that which isn't. They'll need time to settle back into their normal mode of operation (and they will), give it to them. The chasing will start in a few weeks. When it does, all hell will break loose! Patterning, conditioning, and such might as well be tossed out the window! The does will run for cover, again, falling back into those areas which provide the most security. At this point, move a few stands around and then stay out for a couple of weeks...be ready to go back in when the rut starts. During that down time, come out and hunt elk with me! Chin up amigo...things could be worse.
Dave try to stay positive. I would be extremely pissed if I were you too. If need be, just take a break from hunting for a few weeks. The rain will do wonders in washing away the scent from the area. If needed, just change up your set ups a bit, so the deer don't pattern certain trees as "danger". In 2006, my cousin gave his friend permission to hunt our family farm. My cousins friend started hunting one of my areas when I wasn't there, and it took me about 2 weeks to catch on. After talking to him about it, he agreed to back out of there. 2 weeks after that, I killed a respectable 9 pointer out of this stand, after giving the area some rest. BTW, the guy tried to pull the same crap the following year and was politely asked to take any stand and camera of his down and get off the property. Point being, time will do wonders for a stand site, and come the rut, all bets are off as to where those deer will be. They have a home range where they feel comfortable, and it takes quite a bit of pressure to completely bump them from an entire area. I am confident that you will prevail this season, and you will fill your tags. I probably won't have time to hunt tonight, and it's supposed to be raining anyways. I may sneak in and set up a ground blind along a cut cornfield where I found 3 major trails emptying in. Would make for a great decoying setup come November. Temperatures should be down this weekend, and they are calling for highs to be in the 50's next week. Hopefully I am able to get out and lay something down.
Got off work early today, so this is what I decided. Put a stand up at the south end of the swamp " I was told he never went into the swamp. Moved two of my other stands 50-60 yards further down the trails/rublines I was hunting. This is when I got a eureka moment, how many times have I seen deer walking in the pasture in the evenings right through the herd of cows? Many I tell you. So, with shovel in hand and a wheel barrel I shoveled up cow poo. Wheeled it into the woods and put a shovel full in the general area of my old stand sites. I know this will not scare off the deer due to during the hurricane the cows got out and ran nilly willy through the woods for 3 days before we got them back in the pasture. The deer sightings never ceased with the cows or all that cow poo in the woods. Heck, I have seen deer drink out of the cows water buckets. My thought was "Hey if the deer walk amongst the cows to cross the pasture the cow poo is not threatening to them. So I am using the cow poo as a cover/calming scent. Next step is I am building 5 or 6 feeder boxes that I will put around the property to keep their bellies full. We shall see in the next few days what the camera's have to say. Crazy plan but I figure I can not muck it up any worse than it is now. BTW If this works, I will be manufacturing buckets of special Cow poo and calling it "Herd in a bucket" for sale at your local archery store. ))))) Hey I gotta laugh, what choice do I have? Dave
Good plan Dave, darn good plan! Let's see where it goes from here.... I sort of like, "have you herd?"
Dave thats the right attitude buddy. I think the feeders will do wonders for you. The cow crap won't bother them at all where I hunt I watch deer and cows eat less than fifty yards from each other and they travel the same trails. Good luck can't wait to see what you get on camera.
Good thing I went with my lease this year... they're cutting timber on my land beside my house now... I saw one doe tonight.. but I'll probably let it be until they get done with their business... At least they are only taking one section of hardwoods... but there wasn't much there to begin with... oh well, life goes on.
