Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

No Respect for landowner or the DEER!

iowabruce

iowabruce

Active Member
My family has a small 80 acre tract that I bowhunt and we have a small cabin with some out buildings.....nothing huge at all, but when the slug season rolls around it's really surprising how people think this peace is the holy grail of hunting utopia!!!! Guy's I'm not against the gun hunter's but the disrespect a landowner can get for denying people access to their land is crazy. .... No one lives on the property and the locals sure know it. A couple of close friends help me keep the trespassers at bay, but we can't watch it 24/7. Yesterday, I arrived to find 2 fresh gut piles "IN THE DRIVEWAY!!!!" And to add insult to injury, they dragged the deer right past my cabin.....I've had people try and throw me off my own familie's land, and been called all sorts of names when I've asked people to leave the land. So guy's what's up with the average joe shotgunner? Anybody else have some "good" stories of trespassers?........ Oh and by the way I do know that all slug hunters aren't like this at all........OK.. off the soap box.
Bruce
flaming.gif
 
Iowabruce,
I know what you mean. I hunted my property last weekend, went down to cut firewood this weekend.
I know the locals push through my ground, and I can't say I blame them.
They left a bunch of thrash up on one of the ridges where I have a fourwheeler path.
It was like they wanted me to find it.
They could at least pick up their trash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
It is to bad these things happen; although I don't slug hunt it doesn't make any difference. harvesting deer on some one elses property with out permisson is bad for all hunters.I don't know why some guys drag their deer to road before they gut them, alot of extra weight to drag. In my area I am hearing the late muzzleloaders are getting larger groups together for deer drives, just like in the slug seasons, 6 to 10 guys and a half of dozen pickups around the sections. I imagine in time it will be the same as in slug season, alot of the slug hunters are also buying late muzzle loader license's. Al
 
I CAN FEEL FOR YOU. IOWA DNR NEEDS TO TAKE A LOOK AT WI LAWS PERTAINING TO TRESPASSING AND FOLLOW IN TOE. IF CAUGHT TRESPASSING AND PLEAD GUILTY THERE IS A FINE----IF CAUGHT PLEAD NOT GUILTY AND FOUND TO BE GUILTY THE FINE IS HUGE--- YOU HAVE LEGISLATURES IN YOUR AREA. CALMLY EXPLAIN YOUR SPECIFIC PROBLEM AND GET THE LAW ON THE BOOKS... M350 OUT
 
M350,
You are right , sometimes it's easy to complain and expect the problem to fix itself, which I'm probably guilty of. I'm going to make some calls this time and at least be a well informed landowner. Thanks.
wavey.gif
 
I think most shotgun hunters are the guys who only hunt one or two weekends a year. They hunt opening day of pheasant and deer shotgun. It's a festive weekend of getting together with family and friends.

Some of the tresspassing is accidental by some of the hunting party. But others in the party know and do not say anything. I have hunted in parties where the hunt coordinator will say , just keep walking a straight line til you hit the ridge and then angle left. I end up wandering around all day! On land whose I don't know and my only purpose after an hour or two is to find a road!

But it is no excuse. I don't like getting lost and nobody knowing where I am and they still shoot at deer! Not knowing where i am. Finally I said enough of the parties and went out on a friend's little tract and had the same thing as IowaBruce happen to me.

I just gave up and lump most shotgunners as weekend warriors. I went out to my bowhunting area on Sunday and kept some shotgunners at bay by parking 50 yards from a hunter and then driving and parking 50 yards from another one. I know they make drives thru the area. Couple guys were trespassing, but only by a few feet so they could stand by a tree for their safety. But interesting thing is the deer they shoot at would be on my hunt property. So I waited for the drive to finish and left.

I don't know how they could possibly make drives thru a picked bean field without trespassing onto the neighboring timber. That's where the deer are.

This is lengthy but I hate shotgunning. It's a dangerous necessary evil, it's sole purpose is to wipe out the deer population every year. Without those brave people we would have major herd problems.
 
A couple years ago we went down to southern Iowa by centerville for the doe season that ran after regular season.We had a friend of a friend showing us around where we could hunt and getting us into some private ground.

First thing is you guys got a lotta hills and timber down there compared to the flatopen ground we got up here and it was totaly different hunting for us.Anyway we started to do a drive through a chunk of private ground.The plan was to go through it and we would comeout on a chunk of public ground where the rest of the guys would be posting and pick us up.

Apparently we went down the wrong ravine somewhere in between and wound up in the middle of another hunting party trying to do a drive on the neighboring property.The landowner was standing there and asked if we knew whos property we were on.I admitted i was somewhat lost and thought id been on public ground since crossing the fence.His party seemed to get a kick out of that and invited us to join them for the weekend.Turned out he was from up here to and had bought a chunk of ground down there for deer hunting.He only lives about 30 miles from me.Anyway he got us straightened back out and told us we could hunt there if we ever got back down there as long as we let him know.When we finally found the rest of our group we tried to hook back up with them but never did figure out where it was we had run into them at.There, a good tresspassing story
smile.gif
 
I don't lump all shotgun deer hunters in "all bad" or "all good". I hate the deer drives with 20 to 25 gunners that only hunt that weekend of the year. Most of them have no idea where the property lines are or even care. People get real brave when they are in a large group. There are groups in SE Iowa and am sure in each area that just try and beat there last years "deer take numbers". I heard an individual in the gas station last weekend say " Our numbers are really down so far, we have only killed 42 so far. Makes me sick!!! That to me is not hunting. All drive groups are not like this I know, some act responsibly and make good shots and respect private property. Everyone has their own idea about how to hunt and what is enjoyable to them. For me, I'm going to be sitting in an oak tree making one shot a year if I'm lucky enough to be given a good shot on a Buck I want to harvest. I hate slob hunters giving the rest of the hunting community a black eye!!!!
 
Nobody can say that bow hunters aren't opinionated.
I've hunted solo and in a group and both have pros and cons. Each also have their share of bad apples (IMHO, I don't think Ted Nugent does bow hunters any good).
I would actually like to take up muzzleloading, but solo in a tree stand (if possible).
It all comes down to ethics and integrity. Unfortunately, not everyone has these virtues (bow and slugger included).
 
Bob J

I was not compairing gun hunting vs. bow hunting. I gun hunt and love it. I just choose not to particpate in the large group gunning.
 
I also think that most of the shotgun deer hunters only hunt one or two weekends a year. That makes it hard to teach them the ethics and morals, and safty of this sport. This becomes the responsibility of the group leader. Every group should have one, and he should know where they will be hunting and make sure that they have an ok to hunt there. I can't lump these people together as bad just because they choose to hunt with party drives, and only once a year. These people may love this hunting as much as we love ours, and don't have the chances we do to hunt more often.

Until the last couple of years we had a hunting party made up of my two brother-in-laws and our children and some other family members.
we made drives with 10 to 14 people and filled most of our tags. With the onset of leased land we have lost most of the ground we hunted in the past, and so have gone to more individual stand type hunting. Honestly I miss the group hunts, not so much for the number of deer killed, but because I miss the fellowship and good times. I hunt deer during the bow season, muzzle loader season, shotgun season, and late season. Most of these are solitary hunts, so I really looked forward to the family gatherings for shotgun season. I miss the opening morning planning seassions, the good humor and the excitement . We always stressed safty and said a prayer before we headed out. After each drive we met at the end to dress deer, drag out and joke and tease each other about misses or barbed wire fences or lots of other things. We still get together as family but it isn't the same as with the hunts.

All this is no excuse for tresspassing. There will always be some people who will tresspass whether they are shotgun hunting or bowhunting or any other kind of hunting because they think they have the right to. The only way to stop them is to prosecute them, and maybe they will get the message. I don't think that only shotgunners tresspass, but it becomes much more visable and concentrated during these seasons. Honest mistakes can be made, I have done it, but not year after year. If they won't stop by themselves the have the law stop them.
 
I think I've come full cicle on this subject. For years I hunted deer with a shotgun and never thought twice about it. Then I started bowhunting and enjoyed it so much that I gave up hunting during the shotgun seasons. I missed the fellowship with my family and friends. Usually, there was about 5 or 6 of us that hunted land we owned for many years. Most of it is 80 acres or less. I went first season this year with that same group and had a great time.
As far as the trespassing and other unethical things, I have had more problems with fellow bowhunters and turkey hunters in the past 3 years than I ever did while shotgun hunting. I've had people sitting in my stands, setting stands within 30 yards of my stand, stealing my stands, walking through my turkey set up, and shooting birds that I was working.
I also believe that this type of behavior is more visible during shotgun season but I'll bet that a lot of those same people pick up a bow in October and turkey tag in the spring. Just my opinion.
 
iowabruce,
I would buy a camcorder and when you get them on film and turn them in.
rambo.gif
 
Hey Bruce,

I have a better idea, let me hunt your land and I will keep everyone else off of it, rest assured!!

Just kidding Bruce, how are you doing? Ready to go Boar hunting again?
 
John,
I appreciate your offer, and yes the boar hunt sounds good after the last year. Tell the boy congrats on "all" of his deer this year. It even looks like granda had a good slug season. We'll have to talk someday, I have some good stories to tell.
Bruce
wavey.gif
 
Leaving gut piles in your drive is their way of sending you a message to you that they will tresspass and hunt your lands anytime they want. Asking them to leave won't cut it with these outlaws. The sad fact is that too many ethical hunters know firsthand who the people are who do this, but turn their backs and do nothing in response. Even worse, they continue to associate and be pals with these law breakers.
 
JohnV,

You are totally right about the gut piles, in fact they do it about every year. Also a group of Coon hunters usually leave me a dozen or so carcasses in the same driveway every November. Ofcourse they did it this year too, I think it's probably the same "chaps" that do the deer. I'm sure these are some locals I denied permission to one year. The guy argued with me saying he always went thru this timber and it didn't spook the deer at all. Eye-chee-wa-wa!!!!!!!!!
Bruce
wstupid.gif
 
A friend told me the following true story which I think illustrates the mentality of some people out there.

He and a buddy saved for years and finally bought their dream piece of hunting ground. They worked hard putting in food plots, developing habitat, passed small bucks, posted and patrolled it but continued to have trespassers sneak in.

Early one morning he was in his stand when another bowhunter crossed the fence and proceeded to unknowingly sneak under the tree stand. When confronted the trespasser looked up at the landowner and said, "You know what the trouble is? You guys buy this land and then act like you own it!"
 
Bruce,

Obviously you can not be there 24/7 to watch your property and the law breakers know it! I would stongly urge you to invest in an infrared trail camer which will take pictures day and night, without using a flash to alert the intruders. Find a good spot to hide the camera and perhaps you will get the law breakers on film. Once that happens, you are in a position to swear out warrants with proof to back up your claims of tresspassing and perhaps vandalism. Good luck.
 
I just bought my dream acreage in SE Iowa and thought I was alone in experiencing what you all have talked about. The local neighbor was offended that I put up no trespassing signs without his/her permission after I bought the land and last year other neighbors said the shotgun season was like a war zone and when the neighbor was confronted about wounded deer running onto their property, the reply was "those were only small ones" and the wounded deer(multiple deer) were not retrieved. I had camcorder in hand opening weekend but didn't catch anyone in the act. I am finding it hard to be "liked" as a landowner because this is dream property and I can hunt it the way I feel comfortable with so turning down would be hunters is always an uncomfortable situation. We have found one deer body with the head cut off and one dead eight pointer in the last three weeks...very sad and infuriating. I hunted with a muzzleloader for the first time this year and I think that may make hunters think twice about the marginal shot they take thus finding wounded/dead deer if they too had a muzzleloader in hand versus a shotgun but who knows.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom