You done great. Cool is cool!!!!

You should have gotten down and whooped his tail!

Just kidding!! You handled it well IMO. If he does it again then you can go to the land owner and see what he wants to do.

better the land owner find out from you, than from someone else.
i would get a lil upset if someone was coming on my property and no one told me, and i found out from someone else that you didnt tell me.
so maybe just throw it into a conversation with the land owner...
let him know you dont think you have to worry about this guy anymore and he seemed honest.
this way if it goes down again, you have the land owner on yer side, and ya dont have to back peddle bout why ya didnt tell him the 1st time.

Yeah, I'm thinking that this one time I'm gonna let slide. Like I said, the guy seemed like a decent dude. I made sure to emphasize that I was going to be in there several nights per week.

If I find him again, I'm just gonna tell the land owner. I'm doubting I will have any trouble. Like I said it was a small plot of land, and its pretty well visible from two roads. The landowner also lives right up on top of the hill maybe 600 yes away.

Doubtful he returns. Well just see I guess...

Let it be. Report to landowner or warden if thee is a second encounter .... or if you find clear signs that trespassing is going on.

My suspicion is that this is not the first time nor will it be the last time this guy trespass hunts on that property. He'll just be looking closer for you now before "crossing the fence".

glad to see more people saying to let it be than to make something out of it. I add to the notion to let it be.

Hey everyone I just deleted my post as after rereading it I felt like maybe It could be miss read as if I was promoting a confrontation and that was not my intent. Always be safe and there is no hunt worth getting into a confrontation.
Take care
Treebeard

Would you want your neighbors to tell you if they found someone in your house or on your property? Or would you only want them to tell you if they found the same person on your property twice?

It's the landowner's property. Why are you the one deciding if a trespasser should be charged or not?

In all likelihood, you will tell the landowner, and the landowner won't care. But at least you told him.

If I gave someone permission to hunt my land, and they saw illegal activity on my property and didn't tell me, their permission would probably be revoked.

What is the harm in telling the landowner?

There is nothing wrong with telling the land owner. You did the right thing in not being confrontational with the guy. But if something happens on the property you could get the blame. Better to let the land owner decide. My family had permission to hunt property for many generations. The farmer treated us like family and it was great. One day we came across some trespassers on his land. We did everything the way you did . Talked to them and let them know that we were the only people with permission for that property. And the property was clearly marked. We wound up getting two stands and a trail camera stolen. The farmer had started having issues with as trespassers were causing problems on his land. We no longer have permission to hunt the property. And it is all marked No Hunting No Trespassing. Maybe if we had let him know what we encountered things might have turned out differently. I still talk to that farmer like I said we are like family. He said something that I will consider on every property I hunt. We are the eyes and ears of the land owner. We may see things he would not.

You did well in the field, now you need to make sure you understand what your landowner expects from you.

I am routinely asked to patrol private land, uninvite interlopers, and confiscate any unattended gear. I have never had to buy a tree stand or blind. I collect them instead.

The landowners where I hunt are explict: I am their eyes and voice when in the field. I am to report all human, canine and predator species I see, and kill canine and predator species I encounter when possible.