wahoohunter

I hunt at a small hunting camp where only 4 people (myself, my father, brother and cousin) hunt each year. We "own" about 250 acres so there is plenty of land for us to practice QDM and we have even spoken with the landowners around us too and they have agreed to not harvesting deer unless they are atleast 8 pointers and over 3.5 years old to the best of their knowledge, so we feel we have a good thing going here.

Here in lies the proble, I put "own" in quotations because the land is actually owned by my grandmother. Myself, Dad and brother live on the land, maintain our 3 food plots, keep the field brush hogged and take care of all the land. Well, this is the first year we have been really really serious about our QDM and not harvesting any smaller deer. We sent out a newsletter to all of our family explaining what we were doing and wanted to accomplish. My grandmother took great offense to this saying that on her command our cousin would kill any deer that he saw be it a four pointer, spike or whatever. She beleives that the sport is in killing the animal regardless of size.

I was just wondering what you all though as to how to handle a situation like this. My brother, father and I have put in hours of work maintaining our land and impriving our deer herd and its just hard to swallow someone wanting to kill something so badly that they can not adhere to guidlines (guidlines which I believe to be pretty lenient anyways). My cousin is 21 years old, if he were 10 it may be different because then you want to turn a person on to hunting. For me, however, if someone is kill happy that they do not care what they shoot, they do not deserve to be in the woods and give good hunters a bad name. Theres so much more to hunting than the kill, its about camaraderie and enjoying God's creation.

I just thought I'd post on here to see what you all recommened and if you've ever had to deal with a situation like this. Please respond!

130woodman

In every group there is 1 that will shoot anything.Since it is your grandmothers property there is not much you can do. My propety there is enough 1.5 year old bucks that if 1 gets shot it is no big deal. He will change his mind in a couple of years when the rest of you start shooting the good bucks. It is not the end of the world if 1 person don't follow the guidelines since you really can't enforce the rules.

corndog09

on my grandfathers land, only 2 people hunt, me and his close friend. every year he kills anyhting he sees, last year he killed a four pointer that he shouldve let walk and wonders why there aint good quality deer there to hunt, i keep tryin to stress to my grandfather that we need to practice good deer managment becasue pretty soon there wont be any left in the area i try to practice it myself but it doesnt do any good

Steve F.in MD

Sounds like you should have talked to your Grandmother first and explained the situation. Sending out a newsletter without consulting her first may be what REALLY offended her more than the QDM ideas you have put forward. I'm just sayin'.

CamoCop

x2

kevin1

Not your property, not your call.

Dixon

I agree that you should have consulted your grandmother first before sending out the letter to the family.

eatsleephunt

That's pretty much how I see it too. Your grandmother is your elder, as well as your fathers' elder, and should be respected as such. Particularly in the case of her own property, and how that property in managed or used within the family.

I had a similar situation with my own grandmother's property in Illinois when I was younger, although I didn't have to worry so much about others shooting little bucks on the property. It was the neighbors on all sides of us that didn't care what they shot. Talk about a tough deal. We had 320 acres, but you didn't dare hunt it very hard or those big bucks you struggled to keep alive for 3-5 years would get whacked in a hurry.

Your situation seems much better to me, with maybe one small buck a year or so shot...what's the big deal? Your cousin will soon want a big buck, and he'll realize that the only way to do that is not to shoot the little ones.

DBerrard

Is he truly kill happy or does he consider his youngin's a personal trophy? big difference imo

bawanajim

Maybe you should buy your self some land then it would be yours to do with what you want.
If I were your grand mother I would tell you to mind your own business.I mean if in your heart you feel that that one six point he shoots per year is going to ruin your hunting then maybe you need to get another hobby.
Are you going to be this upset when you find a four point hit on the road? Maybe you could send all local drivers a news letter and tell them not to drive by your land. []