Pheasant Tail

Same thing happened to me five years ago. I hunted grouse and deer with my uncle and cousins on some property that changed owners and was turned into a hunting preserve where everyone now has to pay to hunt. I feel your pain, but it's time to find a new location.

m.t.hands

hey hunter 60 around here and just about everywhere its the way things have gone the day of walking up to the farmers front door and asking permission is all but gone, and you can't blame a landowner, he has the property to make money not cost him as bobco mentioned. if you had a ranch say 5000 acres would you let just anybody hunt or would you charge people, i know what i'd do. and as bad as i hate to say this and i'm sure ar34 will agree right now, but it is really his sharing information that has caused this whole situation the best policy is to keep what you see, kill, who owns the land, where you hunt, to yourself.

Trushot_archer

Hi Mark,

That does suck. I know how hard it can be to have to leave a property that you've hunted for a long time. I do feel for you.
I know the shop owner your talking about very well and I will say this in his defense.

He had no idea that it was you on the property. He knew the property and knew the owner and they leased it. I know it seems too coincidental that he'd seen pics from your game cam and "Swiped your property" but that just isn't the case. Jeff can , indeed, be a knucklehead sometimes but he wouldn't do that to a valued customer like you.

I saw him that afternoon and he was flat out bummed and felt bad about the whole thing. He told me if he had known it was you...he never would have pursued the lease and let it lie...

But let's be realistic....you and I both know how hard land like that is to come by these days. It's only getting harder. If he didn't lease it someone else would have.

Like I said...I know it sucks but Jeff honestly wasn't malicious in the deal. It just happend like that.

BTW I saw the buck you took last year as well...nice critter and good luck this season bro...

Handles

Sure he was...If he feels that badly about screwing a valued customer, then he should apologise and ask AR34eightpoint to hunt the land as he originally planned with at least three of his six stands going back in their same location, and the option to be included in the lease for next year. For an archery dealer to squeeze out an archery hunter is pretty bad JuJu. Since you know Jeff so well I think it is your job as a valued member of this forum,Trushot, to bring this up to Jeff. Depending on if Jeff says "Yes" or "NO" then you will know what type of a ethical hunter, promoter of the hunting sports and buisnessman he really is. I hope that we all will hear that Jeff said yes, and he and AR34eightpoint can continue their relationship and perhaps become hunting buddies.

m.t.hands

very well put, this will give us an idea of what kind of person he really is, if nothing else he could let him hunt out this season, i mean if he really feels that bad about it, ar may even be willing to help out on the lease

silentassassin

Some of these comments are rediculus. He didn't screw anyone. He was offerered an oppurtunity to secure hunting rights for himself where he didn't have to worry about other potentially dangerous hunters and he took it. The man wants to hunt in a more controlled environment and the land owner wanteto lease it. The guy hunting has not right or claim to the property. The landownder is the one with the rights. If AR wanted to lease the property then he should have done so. Don't hate the player, hate the game. This guy did nothing wrong!!!!

huntingmichigan

i agree with handles

Handles

Silent,
Trueshot was the one who talked to Jeff the archery dealer, who said how badly he felt, and that if he KNEW that AR34eighpoint had permission to hunt the land he would have forgone the whole lease (did he ever ask if anyone else had permission to hunt??). Well, now he KNOWS that AR34 had permission from the LANDOWNER and therefore he should try to make ammends. With all the trail cam photos, and stories shared at the archery shop, Jeff should realize that he might be better off hunting with someone who has known the territory for several years.

m.t.hands

for us to know this for sure ar needs to tell us if he ever told the shop owner that he hunted this property, if he did the shopowner is scum, yes he has every right to lease the property, but doing it underhanded and sneaky is not a good practice.

i may have missed the part where the land owner came to him and offered him a lease?????????? to me this is where the underhanded part comes in, if the landowner approached him and the shop owner did not know about ar hunting this property then i'd say its just tuff luck for ar, if he did know he needs to remember what goes around comes around.. and he'll get his

IL_BOW_MAN

Maybe that is why he is called silent. Maybe he silently sneaks in and steals peoples hunting spots. If you don't see anything wrong with what he did, you must do things the same way.

In my opinion, there is this unwritten hunters code. There are many things in this code. But one would have to be - Under no circumstances do you steal a fellow hunters spot out from under him. As a fellow hunter he could have presented what he was doing and offered a partnership. He could have even let the guy know a little before season that he needed a new spot. the owner knew someone was going to be hunting there and I am sure he even knew his name and maybe even mentioned it to the guy leasing it.

If this is the case, why isn't he offereing up the right to hunt there? Maybe not feeling all that guilty?