I have been hunting a small 40 acre plot of land, with landowner permission. I have been hunting this property for 3 years now along with a poker buddy. This acreage holds a ton of deer and is extremely thick. You can only hunt small drainage creek areas where the trees grow big enough to get a stand into. Within the last few weeks I have noticed the deer density drastically decrease. Around the first part of December I was seeing in the range of 25 to30 deer per hunt. I started to notice boot tracks and other things that indicated that another person has been in the woods (Found a bloody arrow that neither of us shoot). I asked my buddy and he claims he has not been in that spot all year. I then found a dead doe with an archery wound and a dead spike buck that I could not determine the weapon used. I have been seeing less deer every hunt, ranging from3 to5 deer per hunt. I have noticed two new vehicles parking at the owners home that have hunting stickers in the back windows and a stand in the bed. I was going to wait till after the season to bring the owner some burger and suasage like I normally due to say thanks. I was going to bring up the topic during that time to see what he says about it. Any suggestions on what to do, I really do not want to loose this deer honey hole (or the honey hole it used to be). The landowner is not a hunter and really knows very little on the topic.

I think you are on the right track. Definately ask the owner if he allows others to hunt on the property. If he says yes, ask them if they had ask for permission to hunt before you did. If they had first crack at the ground then it doesn't look like there will be much for you to do. Unless you ask him if you can exclusively lease the land or something. But then you might be stepping on the toes of the other hunters.

If he claims he hasn't let anyone else onto the property, ask him if you can put up any kind Trespassing or No Hunting signs. Then again, a signdoesn't always stop people from hunting when they havealready trespassed in the first place.

After that, I don't know what else youcould do, maybe talk to the owner and ask if you can havesomeone keep an eye on the land, like a conservationofficer. I don't know if the landowner wouldgo for it, but it is wortha shot.

Basically if he allows other onto the land there isn't much you can do but ask him to lease the land outright. But once again, as stated above, you may be stepping on some toes, especially if they were there first.

I agree. If they were there first or if they are relatives etc. then consider yourself lucky to even be able to hunt there at all. If you were there first I would explain to the landowner about the size of the area not being able to hold alot of hunters (especially if they gun hunt also)etc., etc. and see if you can lease it exclusively. I wouldn't worry about stepping on toes in this case because it looks like your secret honey hole isn't a secret anymore and even worse, if they are going to be stomping all over the place and leaving dead deer around ( I think I readthat you found a bloody arrow and a dead deer?)then the gig is pretty much up anyhow.I think you have nothing to lose by going to the landowner and the quicker the better( get it right for next year).Sorry to hear about this...those small, thick, tucked away spots can be pretty powerful sometimes.Good Luck.

Heres another scenario, just use your noggin...you dont need to ask the landowner if he allows hunting, you already saw the trucks in his driveway, so why stir the s**t up, right? So, heres where your noggin comes in. You hunt the land WITH these guys (not alongside), as theyre going to shoot the first thing they see, the dead buck being proof. They tag out, then you get down to business. So, dont fight it, take what it gives you. Call the landowner for a visit. Tell him you thought perhaps you had the exclusive, and offer to lease it with those two knuckleheads, and lease it tight. Then make them honor their tags. You pay legitimately for a lease now, so you have some say, instead of hunting as a guest, plus you get guys that youll learn to hunt around, like the deer have learned to move around! Presto, a bad deal not so bad. Get used to this, as its happening more and more, where ever you go. I sure hope it works for you...where Im at, you cant argue with new homes.

Just ask him if any one else is suppose to be hunting it. If he says yes then you will have todeal with that, if he says no then you know you have tresspassers and can have him take action on the matter.

Sound's like you may be in a little bit of a tight spot ,but there is one thing you can do and I've used this tactic befopre myself and it does work .This is to find out who they are and explain to them that you have permiission as well to hunt this area and if you's could work together and hunt this particular area as a group or at least work out an agenda and let each other know when you's plan on being there, so as to not disrupt each other's hunt. This won't stop them from hunting the area ,but it will workable agenda to hunt this property together .
I don't see any other way around this and it may not be a total cure for your problem ,but it can work for both of you's .Since this may be a relative ,I don't think you have any other choice . If you raise a problem with the owner you may not have this spot to hunt any more ,but working together can help.

nubo

Bring him the arrow, show him what is happening.

Well if they are parked in the driveway they probably have permission. I would then explain ethical hunting to the land owner and let him know that you are finding unrecovered game in the woods, and that you as an ethical hunter thought you should let him know, as it is not something youwant to be associated with or blamed for. Sharing an area with a "hunter" is one thing. A yahoo with a bow and arrow or a gunin his handis another matter. Good luck.

Shane

Having had that same problem myself, by all means talk to the owner, it can be a safety issue.

Those other hunters might not know your hunting that area and an accident can happen, like getting shot by mistake.

Bill Yox has the right idea , and all of you who suggested locking them out with an exclusive lease should be ashamed of yourselves . Access to good land is hard enough to come by these days without us cutting each other's throats over a recreational activity .

If it must come to leasing rather than a mutually agreed upon set of rules for sharing then this scenario at least saves all who want to hunt there some money on the lease . Childishly fighting over land that doesn't even belong to you is the surest way to turn off that non-hunting landowner enough to lock everybody out . One caveat though , once a lease is started the landowner may just realize that he can turn a buck and raise the price next year , meaning that all of you may get locked out eventually by a higher bidder . Sharing quietly is always better than losing everything .