JakeGrice

no reason for you to complain when you have 70 acres

NJheadhunter71

You tried the civil way now go back up to the door and when he answers ask one more time. If he says no again tase him with one of those pocket model tasers. Nah I'm just kidding. Not much you can do except ask him to mail you the rack if he finds it. The guy does sound like a dutch bag though! LOL

JakeGrice

haha! tase him lol...not a bad idea actually.

Michlw39

To be fair to the landowner, I know plenty of situations where hunters "crowd" someone's private land--and in many of those cases where the deer comes out and gets shot virtually guarantees the deer will run a few feet and be in private land from there on out. In other words, people purposely crowd private land where they only way to keep it legal is if the deer dropped right in its tracks.

Not sure if that's what's happening in this case, but if so I would side with the landowner. A lot of hunters want a free ride, as it were. They want the benefits of hunting a nice private piece of property by hunting right on the border of private land. While technically that's legal, don't hunt anywhere where there isn't a reasonable expectation that the shot deer will STAY on PUBLIC LAND.

By your own admittance, you're hunting a "border area" between public and private land. And my guess is you're doing so on purpose because you think the hunting on that guy's private land is pretty good.

Well, tough luck then, I say. Why should that person who pays taxes on that land year around reward you for essentially shooting a buck on his land? Yeah, yeah, I get it: you were on public land--but you had to know there was almost a certainty the deer would run onto private land if shot, right?

And no surprise, this landowner has had this problem a few times before. Why? Because many hunters want a freebie, as pointed out above.

If it's a private-vs-private dispute (you were on private land and it ran onto someone else's private land), the guy's response is a little shortsighted. I'd want to remain in good with my neighbors--and someday I may need to ask that same favor.

But as someone pointed out, the best way to deal with this is BEFORE season. I'm sure you're response was the typical response that guy gets all the time: not a word of hello or anything until you needed something. Not the smart way to do things.

Michlw39

In Michigan private property is private property. It not being posted does not get one out of a trespass ticket. So be careful of the legal advice you give.

Michlw39

Lol...it's easy to see in this thread who owns private land and who doesn't.

I hunt both private and public. When I'm hunting public, I surely have enough respect for private property that I don't have the entitlement attitude I see displayed in this thread.

You're entitled to NOTHING on private land. Get over it. I love these (I know half-kidding) quips about tasering this guy blah, blah, blah.

Yes, by all means: add a felony (or a list of felonies) to the list! You show him!

Somedays I get dumber reading these threads.

sea_bee77

no i wasnt posted right on this guys property line. i was about a hundred yrds off in a nice little funnel where these deer are pinched in from a cove and his property. i think its bull that most of you private land owners think that no one should hunt public land that boarders yours. so what where suppose to stay out because theirs a chance that that deer may run onto your property. who gives you the right to think that all this land becomes yours since your property boarders it. i bet when you originally bought your property it was an incentive having that public land surrounding your property but sure in the hell doesnt make everything bordering it yours. i think its so funny if someone is a near your propety line were crowding your hunting area. in most cases on public land we have no choice as were fighting to find a spot away from everyone else.

sea_bee77

your right it is easy to see who owns private land and who doesnt. pretty said that this is the attitude of most private land owners. we all know were not entitled to anything but you would think most people would have the decentsy to allow another hunter to retrieve his deer. so all private land owners are telling me youve never had a deer youve shot run onto public land.

Michlw39

No, that wasn't my point. The point was you shouldn't hunt a place if there is no reasonable expectation the deer won't go over onto private land if shot. If you're where you said you were at, fine. You should be able to shoot a deer and have it drop within 100 yards. But you didn't make the shot that did that...so you're now at the mercy of the property owner.

Aside from that, it wouldn't hurt to get to know this guy ahead of time instead of the first time he ever saw your face was after you shot a deer that went onto his land.

Some will let you, some won't. But it does sound like this guy has had some bad experiences and unfortunately took that out on you. That's also part of the game.

In short, live and learn. Now that you know this guy won't let you onto his land you need to evaluate if you're capable of consistently killing deer in that spot and having them drop before it reaches his property line. If not, you shouldn't hunt it. If so, go for it.

That's the only point. Legally you can hunt mere inches inside state land from his property. Legally you can shoot something mere inches inside state land from his property. But if you do you better be able to drop the animal right there in its tracks. I think a lot of hunters make entitlement assumptions (not saying you personally) that they can hunt a border area and just trounce through private property to get anything they shoot.

You did the right thing by going to him and asking...an even better approach would have been to get to know him a bit before the season. Stop by and offer him a beer (or pop or water--never know if someone drinks or not) or something, make some small talk.

Don't consider this a closed case, either. Maybe this offseason go back and introduce yourself to him. Perhaps apologize for not taking the time to introduce yourself to him earlier and ask if there's anyway you can work with him going forward. Who knows...maybe offer to do some work for him or something and he might even let you hunt his land, let alone go retrieve something.

Then again, maybe he still has the same reaction. Well, then you know without a doubt what you're dealing with in that situation and can plan accordingly.

I've found more times than not that even the biggest buttholes become disarmed if you re-approach them straight and take the high road and sympathize with their plight (having had multiple run-ins with trespassers or something) and sincerely ask what you can do in the future to earn their trust.

Terasec

100 yds is basically on the border.
With bow deer easily run +100+200 yds without being pushed
100 yds away that land is probably first direction they will run to.
With bow I try to keep at least +300 yds minimum distance from a border I don't have access to
Also how much time did you give before you started tracking? If not enough time may have pushed the deer onto his land yourself