Im not sure but maybe there is a reason he had everything sprayed. Its kind of one of the situations I think you might be overreacting to. Everything has its price. Sounds to me you worked real hard to please the old man and maybe hes returning the favor in some strange way. Maybe hes going to leave you the land and would just like to see it looking real nice before he passes away. Maybe he knows he doesnt have much time left, maybe hes leaving the property to you in his will...There has to be a reason for it.. have actually asked him what the reason was behind having the property sprayed? I dotn think id cut all ties quite yet with the oldman. Maybe sit down with him face to face and have a talk about the entire situation. Tell him how you feel but be gentle about it. He is old and may keal over from a heartattack if you **** him off too much...but seriously have a good talk face to face with him. I feel something good is to come out of all of it.

Dang man that sucks I would be pissed if I could help you I would, fellow Cincinnatian.

I think your dreaming, but it's a good one. Love to here it turned out that way.

First, for those that have mentioned sending this guy a bill or filing a lawsuite, it will not fly. You and the old man made a verbal contract, your labor for hunting rights. He is not telling you that you cannot hunt, he is just doing some stuff on HIS property that may have a negative impact on the hunting. It will never fly in court.

Second, as for the sign, IMHO, it really does not matter much. If you think it will make you feel better to take it back or burn, go for it. Myself, I don't think I would even mess with it.

Third, should you hunt there this year? If it is your only option, you bet your ass you should hunt there. However, I would not lift a finger to help this old man out again. Hunt your stands, take your deer and find some new ground for next year. You mentioned that you already have some new ground lined up, so I would think it would be best just to move on and chalk this one up as a loss. I do not believe you can win this battle, so why spend the time.

I know how bad this must suck, sorry to hear about it.

Sorry to hear about your situation and hope it works out.
I'm fortunate in that I have a land owner that does not take advantage of my free labor. He has two farms that I have nearly exclusive rights to and in return I help out cutting trees, clearing brush and recently picking grapes in his wine vineyard because they were a few hands down on a heavy picking day. I actually went to the farm to hunt that day and stopped in to say hello when I saw them in the fields. They told me they were in a pinch so I skipped hunting and picked grapes for a couple of hours. No doubt in my mind that that gesture when a very long way...and we had a good time and some laughs to boot.
My wife sometimes thinks he asks a lot of me, but when I explain to her how much it would cost me to lease this land, she understands.

Wow, tough situation. From a legal perspective, nothing you can do. From a moral, make-yourself-feel-better perspective, burn the sign on the post it sits.

Perhaps that's a bit extreme...

I would take my sign back and tell him to **** off.

Sometimes it's best to wait and see what happens. You hunt it this year, next year, you'll have some good areas probably to plant small "No-plow" food plots, just enough to keep em in the area, and there's reasons for everything. If you've always tried to do the right thing, I wouldn't try to end it on a sour note. He may have done it to benefit you and him.

He did not do it to benefit me in any way. He is obsessed with stopping the invasive honeysuckle species. He could have had it sprayed this spring or summer, but chose to wait til now for whatever reason. As far as him leaving the property to me lol, not gonna happen. I actually asked him what his plans were for the property when he passes. He said that he is leaving it to his son, and that his son has mentioned selling it right away. His son is a city boy attorney who is not into the outdoors at all.

i fell asleep thinkin about your situation last nite...and i thought of having you hunt this year and when the season was over to have some guys go get the sign and tell the ol' man not to interfere with what they are doin!!!!!!!!!!!gl