Well, I talked to him last night. At the recommendation of Jeff,(GMMAT), I simply asked my BIL what he was afraid of if I hunted that bottom. He told me he was afraid I would kill "his" deer. This selfish attitude, ( he also told me that I'm being selfish for wanting to hunt in his honey hole), is coming from a man I consider a friend. Had I asked him for a kidney he would ask me which one I'd prefer. This guy offered me several thousand dollars in financial aid when I missed a month of work due to meningitis. He came out in a torrential downpour to tow my dumb a$$ out of a ditch I had foolishly driven into. In any other area of life I could turn to this guy. I would think he would be happy for me to have the opportunity to kill a big deer, and he would be, as long as its not "his" deer.
This is the guy that got me interested in archery 3 1/2 years ago. He got me interested in hunting after I took a 22 year layoff.
I'm not sure what to do. I feel somewhat indebted to him on one hand and on the other feel as if I should have equal rights on the place. I have several options. One is to walk away from the lease after this season. That would be hard to do. It is 6 miles from home, cheap at $500 a year, only hunted by 2, and has hogs I can hunt year round. I would have to find something else similar. Option 2, say to hell with my BIL and hunt where I want to. I would have to live with the loss of a friend then and family gatherings could get a bit tense. Not an option I'm interested in. Option 3, Make the area I hunt desirable to deer. Through the use of food plots and feeders I could try to attract the deer to my end of the lease. I own a tractor and the implements I need to put a bunch of acreage under plots and I have the owners permission. This is the option I'm leaning towards. Although I will be looking at other area properties to see if I can find a similar deal that gives me a better opportunity.
I told my BIL I may be looking for a new lease and he got pretty upset with me for that as well. If I leave the owner will want someone else hunting out there and my BIL will have no say in where on the land they hunt. So he thinks I'll be screwing him out of his sweet spot that way.
So in the interests of whirled peas and global harmony I think I need to start making improvements to my end of the lease. I can have 3 feeders up and running by the weekend. I usually only use feeders for hog hunting but I believe I'll now use them as a deer attractant. (I doubt I'll be hunting over the feeders for all you holier than thou types).
Our discussion ran on and on and was rather heated at times. It turned from hunting to business, ( I subcontract for him), and back to hunting. What a pain in the butt!