badshotbob

As I wise up over time (i.e., get older), I see a general disrespect from younger generations toward the older generations.

I've had permission to a 160 acre parcel for 12 years now and have shared access rights with one other hunter for about the last 5 years. The property does not belong to either one of us The other hunter that shares it with me is a neighbor, we get along great, respect each others' areas where we hunt, and help each other out whenever possible. He's slightly younger than I am.

So along comes another hunter (new neighbor) that gained access to the property the same way we did - asked the care taker of the property. The care taker said he could hunt but only after he check in with us first. Fair enough, 160 acres can certainly hold 3 hunters. So we told him where we were hunting, not where he couldn't hunt.

After a few times hunting and exploring the entire property he basically treats the place like it's all his with no regard to where we are hunting at all. When we confronted him that he was hunting too close to set up areas or bedding areas we were hunting, he got extremely offended and stated he had just as much right to hunt wherever he wanted as we did.

I don't understand that attitude. I don't care how you gain access to a hunting property, in my book, the first thing that should be considered is the other hunters that were there before you. In other words, you hunt where they are not hunting and never encroach on their areas.

So, you younger hunters (I'm nearly 50, and am talking about people in their 20's), put yourself in a situation where you've just gained access - do you have the right to hunt wherever you want simply because you've been granted permission or do you follow what should be good ethics and respect hunters already there?

And the old dudes out here, am I looking at this wrong? Am I nuts?

Wisco94

I don't think it's so much an issue of age more so the individual. This year while we were bear hunting, we had an individual who was about 50 come in and set up his deer cameras and mess with our baits even after the land owner had told him to stay out until after we were done bear hunting.

The guy is right that he has as much right to hunt there as you do, but by that I certainly don't think he has the right to push you off your areas or crowd your areas even. 160 acres is a good chunk of land. My family has land in central WI so I generally don't have to worry about that, but that land is 2 hours away so I do hunt a chunk near my house that I share with one other hunter and we just each kinda have our own side that we hunt and I've never had a problem. We're both in our 20's.

So no, you're not nuts. It just sounds like the guy is a dink.

Bob H in NH

To many variable to say:

- You say he is "to close" to your areas. What if he doesn't think it's to close?

- why are they "your areas", he has a point he has just as much right to be there, there should be a way to work this out. Is he encroaching while you are there, or while you are not there?

He has permission, same as you. Yes there needs to be some conversations, but a third person has now joined you and your neighbors "agreement", one he didn't participate in. Time for a new agreement to be discussed.

As for age: I'm 50.

Bocajnala

I'm 24. Yes, he has a "right" to hunt wherever he chooses on that property based on the permission from the landowner. However, a decent person would respect your chosen area (I'd think) and find their own. How I've done this on a few shared properties is I swap numbers with the guys and we share spots and communicate via text where and when we'll be hunting. As long as everyone is good at communication we have no issues. I've also shared a property with a guy who had no respect for anybody and he was just a pain. He eventually got kicked off the property thankfully. Try talking to him, explaining what you want, hopefully he'll come around. If he doesn't, grin and bear it, not much else you can do.
-Jake

ModernPrimitive

I was the (relatively) younger guy fifteen years or so ago when I began hunting a +/- 400 acre farm a customer of mine purchased as a trophy home/money pit.

Worked there rehabbing the buildings for a year and a half before I had the time to hunt and asked permission which was readily granted. Great!
There were two other guys hunting there; now 400 acres sounds like a bit of turf but a good chunk of that is wiiiide open fields, but still more than enough area for 3 guys. I'll call one of these guys "Tony".

This worked out well for a while...one day I watched a guy scampering in to his stand; since we all parked by one of the barns I met him coming out at dark. It wasn't "Tony" , it was his brother trying to convince me he was, in fact, "Tony".hmm...
The next season, "Tony"shows up with his brother and his uncle. Hey, there's still enough turf for all as long as everybody knows where everyone else is, they seem like good guys, so let's hunt....the next year "Tony" brings his brother, his uncle,and his buddy along.

The other two of us start wondering, just what is going on here?

Bear in mind all this time I am actively rehabbing this property, the other guy is doing some caretaking for them, we both are posting the boundaries annually while "Tony" is doing nothing, although he is setting up various ladder stands which controlled the bulk of the open fields. When I stopped counting he had 7 or 8 of them up year round, against the wishes of the landowner; frankly, I sat them at every opportunity and took more than a few deer.

I gave up rifle hunting a few years back mostly because I disagreed, and still do, with the way our state manages the deer herd (buck only w/ no antler restriction in a land teeming with doe) but also because I began to favor the bow hunt and the blackpowder patch & roundball as the means to my venison.
The last opening day I was in my stand for at this farm "Tony" and his crew of now 3 pickup trucks full drove into the heart of the fields just before daylight, unloaded quads and rode a couple hundred yards in various directions to the aforementioned ladderstands. Honestly, they were all, by this point, too fat to walk to their stands and/or drag a deer.

That was maybe 4 seasons ago now. I do know the other fellow had a run-in with "Tony" at one point in regard to respecting space as the OP described.

I can only imagine what goes on there now; I guess "Tony" got what he wanted in the most obnoxious fashion.

banjobill

I am all about respecting other hunters while out in the woods. I'm 32 so I'm not so young but alot younger than 50. When I go to my favorite spots on the WMA I hunt on I hope that no one else is in the area but if someone is parked there then I try to be quieter and if I see someone I ask where they are hunting and I go the other way.
I don't think the problem you are having is an age issue, I think its a jerk issue and they can be dealt with. I also hunt on private land and am the only one that hunts it. 40 acres in the mountain,3/4 wood and 1/4 open, the last time I was there I found a 4 wheeler trail coming from the neighbors land over the mountain and several empty shotgun shells laying around, this guy is in his late 50's and thinks he owns the place, I am actually going to be there early in the morning and I hope to catch him riding his 4 wheeler on the land, he will be given a choice, walk back to his place and stay off mine and I will have a 4 wheeler or he will have one hell of a time pushing a 4 wheeler over the mountain with four flat tires

Bbj270

I had the opposite happen I was 16 and the other hunter was in his 50s. It was my uncle's land he just bought it off his cousin, me and my dad got the rights to hunt it, but we had to let one other person hunt to. It was my uncle's and moms cousin that grew up their. His sister got the land when their parents died he got some other land somewhere else. My uncle told him that my dad was in charge of the hunting and would tell him were he could hunt. Plenty of land to hunt 150+ acres. The first year he bought 3 people with him. Two of them set up 50 yards of my father and he walked past me around 8 when the deer started to move and spooked them. Tried to talk to him and he thought he still owned the land. It's not like he did not have any other land to hunt he had about 120 acres he git from his parents but said he did not hunt their because his son did and he did not want to mess him up. Finally got him straightener out. He ran at lot of deer off I was seeing. Finally my grandmother told him, just not to go up their a and how he like it if we just walked pasted his son and sit down in front off him.

rockport

Don't forget its people around their 50s that raised these people around their 20s.

I always find humor in people complaining about a generation they raised as if they were just born that way.

I also have a couple older guys that hunt on a property I do , they were the last ones in and they expect people to respect them and don't expect to give the same respect. They are blatant hypocrites and think simply being old justifies it.

What I mean by blatant is things like move their blind close to my stand then complain when I hunt close to them.

They seem to think being old gives them some sort of universal seniority.

bronko22000

The owner did state that this new guy check with you first. Being that he is not doing what you asked I would go back to the owner and tell him the situation and respectfully ask him to tell the new guy he can't hunt there anymore.

rockport

Doesn't really make much sense does it?