About 4 years ago, my best friend got contact information for a landowner near a place that we were leasing. Long story short, the guy has thousands of acres, incredible hunting grounds and allows my best friend (we'll call Mark), my best friends cousin (we'll call Randy) and myself to bowhunt there. His only request is that we don't hunt during gun season because his daughter likes to rifle hunt. We hunt the place generally 4-5 times per season when the three of us come together. We made the agreement that nobody would go without the others unless the third person didn't mind and they were unable to go. A little more about the land... this place is more acreage than we can hunt, but it is simply a travel corridor between a giant alfalfa field and the sand/sage hills. Seeing 150 deer in one morning or evening hunt isnt uncommon and having 30 deer with shot opportunities in one sitting isn't uncommon either. It truly is an incredible place. This works well for 3 years... until this year. Mark was only able to make one trip prior to gun season (we usually make 2) as he has a new baby and is building a house. We had 2 other weekends planned for late season when stuff slows down for him. My friend's cousin (Randy, the third of our group) is a little bit of a pushy person and kind of took over communication with the landowner, letting him know when we were coming that type of thing. He's also the guy that will inch his stand just a little bit closer to the action to make sure he has the first opportunity. I've learned how to deal with it and it's not that big of an issue anymore. The other day Kyle gets slightly intoxicated and tells Mark (who is also his cousin) about everything that's been happening... everything. We (Mark and I) find out that Randy has been hunting "our" place all season. He's been taking his brother (Kyle) and they've been several times and killed several deer one nice deer for sure, not sure about the others. His brother knowing the agreement between the three of us continually asks why Mark and I aren't there... Randy tells him that he's called us several times and neither of us could go. So as great as this place is... it's not worth putting up with that kind of BS, in my opinion. This weekend is supposed to be our last trip, Mark can't go but said he didn't care if I went... I want to go to kill a deer... but the chances of me stringing Randy up in a tree by his toes, spraying him with water in the single digit temps and leaving him to die are about 98%. So my question is what would you do?
Well...I'd figure I wasn't very good at replacing (anonymous) names for a story!....lol (just kidding) Two choices: 1. Ditch the friendship. 2. Accept how he is and let it go. I've seen friendships dissolved over a LOT less.
Go hunting but also tell randy that you know he is a liar without honor or integrity and then ignore him while you hunt. I might let the landowner know the whole deal too. He may very well stop letting all fo you hunt but at least, if randy hunts while his daughter is there, the landowner will knwo that you and mark were not part of that.
Box his ears, just like that guy that was in your stand In reality, just talk with him about it and see where you get.
I would let Randy know that i now consider him a ****** for what he did. But i will still be hunting there because its too good to pass up.
it is a tough call. not knowing how good of friends you are. id say hunt, talk to the land owner and put it all on the table with all parties involved. but definitely tell randy to go ....... himself because there is no excuse for dishonesty such as that.
Karma has a way of working itself out. Go hunting and call him out on the situation and remind him that two of you three kept the agreement in tact. Not sure where your friend's best interest lies but I am hunting new land that my buddy won't let his brother in law on for similar reasons. In the meantime get some Coyote in heat lure and surround his favorite stands with it and kill a nice buck to fill your tags and help Team 12 seal the deal
That would be my main issue as well. I don't know about the hanging by the toes thing, but in all seriousness a "wtf" conversation is in order. No need to ruin either (the hunting or the friendship) but he needs to come up with some answers.
Assuming that I was 100% sure that Kyle was yanking my chain, at a very minimum, I would confront the guy and put him on the spot and try and make him feel like the south side of a donkey. Unfortunately these kind of people seldom ever feel any true remorse or regrets, but knowing the type he will put on a good show and try to come up with some type of convincing story to justify his actions. But at least he would know that I know. Beyond that, if it is that good of a hunting and the landowner allows it, I would openly break up the pact and hunt it alone or with Mark.
Hunt by yourself and enjoy the piece of property for what it is worth. Go take down a nice buck this weekend Dubbya...and take some pics of all the deer!
Friends don't pull that BS he did. I'd be done with It and move on to some where else with out the POS!!
Nuff said right there brother! I don't see why your "friend" feels the need to lie! Thats too bad! One thing I don't like are liars and thieves!
Why not catch him in the act that way there is no way he can squirm his way out of it. Then you can tell him how he is with without accepting any excuses.
Talk to him about it. Sometimes hurt feelings aren't so obvious to see. If he doesn't listen or cares not to listen, smash his head with a rock!
Personally, I would talk to him and let him know he's a d-bag. Then, I would chalk up the season as a loss and do some bird hunting with the dog. Sounds like you've been enjoying the hell out of Hoyt so far and will enjoy the bird hunting more than sitting in a tree feeling ****ty and pissed off about the situation.
