What do you do?
I'm at a loss. I hunt private ground (for 12 years now, my dad for 30+) that is owned by a farmer that lets just about anyone hunt. There are a few small plots of ground within a couple square miles of each other. One in particular, until about ten years ago, my dad hunted for twenty years, then we started having issues. His hoist rope was cut, and a pile of human crap & t-shirt (used to wipe) was left at the base of his stand. He quit hunting this plot (about 50 acres) after that, plus the increased number of hunters didn't help. Deer were just not using it like they used to. Since then, we have hunted the property bordering it, which is separated by a large creek, and has much stricter hunting rules. This land can only be hunted by us and is almost landlocked. Still in the last ten years have lost two ladders and a stand. All issues were along this creek.
Until two years ago, we gave the 50 acre plot a rest. I was onto a good buck using this ground, and finally decided to set a stand in there, praying nothing would happen. On Halloween night, I stuck a nice 130 class buck. Grunted and rattled him into 27 yards. Misjudged the distance, shot low, not hitting anything vital and never finding him. (The good news a week later another hunter saw the buck just about 1/2 mile away still alive!)
While we were tracking this deer, a neighbor from just down the road came down to confront my dad and I about hunting this woods. When he did, you can imagine our reaction, "how dare you confront us?" He knew we hunted it with permission, and the longevity in which we'd hunted it in the past. Yes this guy "says" he hunts, but I've never seen him deer hunt, just turkey. We also never found a stand on the property. Anyway, after a long argument on the side of the road, out of respect for the landowner, we told him we'd stay out and let it cool off for a couple years being sure not to cause too much drama.
Well just this year two young guys (18 & 22) just received permission from the landowner to hunt the same 50 acre plot. In one week their camera was stolen. I warned them about the jerk neighbor trying to control that land and the trouble we'd had along that area in the past. They assured me they had talked to him, told him where they would be hanging stands, and he gave them the impression he was fine with them hunting it. The neighbor waited until this morning (opening morning for the county's early archery), to walk up to their stand at 8 a.m. to ask them to leave, totally screwing up their hunt. Not only they, they went through all the work of hanging stands and scouting.
I wasn't crazy about them being able to hunt the property, but it isn't my land, so I accepted it. They seem like good "kids." (I'm not much older) I feel bad for them, but I warned them it could happen. Now it just chaps my a## about how this guy handled the situation. What do you do? I want to hunt it again eventually, but I don't have time to argue with a guys who thinks he owns his entire road. The landowner doesn't like when hunters don't get along, so I want to be careful we don't all lose our rights.
I'm sure he's also the thief in the area. Funny how things don't go wrong or missing until someone moves in next door and constantly being a conniving jerk to people.