Need thoughts or advice

[Strother23]

I have 150 acres I'm able to hunt through a family friend. Me and my dad has been the only people aloud to hunt for the last 4yrs. This year the land owner/family friend wanted to do a lease but refused to sign a lease agreement and the whole thing seemed shady and I refused to pay if nothing was signed. He also eats every week at our family Sunday dinners. My thought process is he gets a good home cooked meal every Sunday and we get to hunt. Kind of a barter situation. Since the lease deal kind of went sour he has been rude with a lot more tension during conversations. He has been letting random people hunt out there now and telling them to use my dad and i's tree stands. We have put in the time with hanging them and trimming shooting lanes and mowing trails and keeping corn piles out. I am beyond frustrated with this whole situation. Am I being over sensitive or is the land owner just being a dick??

How would you deal with this?

 

[Bigslam51]

I'd definitely stop putting corn out, and maybe have a talk with the landowner about other guys using your stands. Tell him you would hate to have someone fall out of one your stands.

 

[Joel]

That's a tough one. Wish people would just not be assholes sometimes but I don't know what to tell you.

 

[hickslawns]

Tough spot to be in if he is truly a family friend. What do you value more? Your hunting or your friendship? Stuff like this zaps all the fun out of hunting. Ruins friendships. Just plain sucks. Want a friendship or business relationship? If he wants a lease, then it needs to be a legal agreement in writing and should have zero bearing on your friendship. Very difficult to separate business and friendship.

I'm thinking my corn piles and stands would be gone. I would be using a climber or I would be hanging and hunting each time out. I would not like other people using my stands. That really bothers me. You do all the work. You spent the time to prep them. You spent the money on them. Then some other person comes in and hunts them? Ah. . . .No. Not going to happen.

 

[Strother23]

I'm thinking my corn piles and stands would be gone. I would be using a climber or I would be hanging and hunting each time out. I would not like other people using my stands. That really bothers me. You do all the work. You spent the time to prep them. You spent the money on them. Then some other person comes in and hunts them? Ah. . . .No. Not going to happen.[/QUOTE]

This is the mindset I went into. Just hard to undo all that work I have put in. Just say f-it and use a climber only. Just sucks to take down 6 tree stands at this point in the year. I would like to thinks it hunter Etiquette not to hunt out of other people stands. I know this is not the case. Just frustrating

 

[giles]

Have you expressed this with him?

 

[Strother23]

I haven't talked with him in person yet. Just over the phone, he just beat around the bush the whole convo.
Just some much tension right now. Almost hesitant to be to aggressive due to possibly getting kicked off the hunting property.

 

[bigten05]

I have been shit on by landowners before help and do anything the ask then they do the complete opposite they said they were gonna do or something changes it sucks but is part of it. But if I had a guy hunting my stand he would most likely get an ear full or take an ass whipping because as a hunter he should know better.

 

[giles]

I haven't talked with him in person yet. Just over the phone, he just beat around the bush the whole convo.
Just some much tension right now. Almost hesitant to be to aggressive due to possibly getting kicked off the hunting property.

Make it happen brother...put this behind you one way or the other. Doesn't sound like you are enjoying hunting right now. Go get some beer and sit down with this guy. Spill your guts and let it be.

 

[xbowguy]

I am going through a similar situation right now. I am going to finish out this year and then I am done with it. I am also ALREADY done with the person who is being a pain. This person is loosing much more than I am in the long run. I have helped him quite a bit with hunting prep and even butchered his deer for free! What bothers me most is when they "Play dumb" and act like they didn't know it was wrong. Doesn't take a genius to know touching someones property is wrong. Or placing a stand in between the deer and another hunter is double wrong. People anymore are ALL ABOUT what you can do for them but expect x2 for what they do for you.
I had an uncle once who came to our house for coffee and doughnuts EVERY sunday morning. He got a large box (about 300) of misc. badges in an auction. My Mom wanted a couple of them and before he left, he told her it was $1.00 for the 2 badges. (he paid like 5.00 for the whole box) The very next Sunday, the outside door was locked and a closed sign was in the window. My Dad didn't play well with stupidity.

 

[Blan37]

Definitely sounds like a situation that needs a sit-down.

IMO, you've been getting off pretty cheap the last 4 years by trading access to 150 acres for a weekly meal. Maybe he feels like he's being taken advantage of and should be getting a little more but doesn't want to give up that much control? Maybe he's pissed that you wouldn't agree to a gentleman's handshake on it and that he isn't trusted? Hard to say. Only way to find out is to ask.

BTW - I'm not trying to imply that you're taking advantage of him, just trying to put myself in his shoes and trying to imagine what might be the issue from his perspective.

Good luck. Hope it works out for you.

 

[teej89]

Tell him you would hate to have someone fall out of one your stands.

Nailed it. :smiley_clap:

 

[Bigslam51]

Nailed it. :smiley_clap:

I mean seriously, it's one thing if I fall out of a stand I hung, but I'd feel pretty bad if someone else did even though they didn't have my permission.

 

[Blan37]

While that's true, I don't think it's the right approach to de-escalate things. JMHO.

 

[Bigslam51]

While that's true, I don't think it's the right approach to de-escalate things. JMHO.

I don't see anything wrong with bringing that up. It's a serious matter.

 

[Blan37]

I don't disagree with you that it's serious. I just think there's a bigger fish that needs to be fried first. I think the 'other people in the stand' issue will get resolved on it's own once the OP is back on friendlier terms with the landowner.

 

[Boarhead]

Could be that he has been offered by others to do a lease and wanted you guys to have first shot at it.
While it is your right to refuse to do it his way, in the end it is his land and he pays the taxes on it so he can pretty much do what he wants.
Does that make him a dick? No.. again he is the landowner,i realize he eats with you guys once a week and i would say you are getting off pretty cheap.
I would say somewhere along the line he has heard what kind of money guys are paying to have a place to hunt and he wants a piece of the pie.
If you guys dont want to do it his way believe me someone else will and you will be on the outside looking in.
Wouldn't doubt if the new guys he told to hunt your stands have already offered and he may be hoping you get mad enough to pack up and leave.
Sorry i know it's probably not what ya wanna hear but it seems to be the norm today,Sucks but it is what it is,..I guess if ya cant work it out ya can do what Rick's dad did and put a closed sign on the door. Ha!

 

[Bigslam51]

What Boarhead said

 

[Blan37]

Yep, Good post boarhead. Hopefully they can sit down and get it all figured out.

BTW Chad - Wasn't trying to be an ass. Hopefully it didn't come across that way.

 

[Strother23]

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I can see all sides of the situation. I will just have to sit down with him a figure it out.

The whole deal with the lease is it's technically his mothers and she is in her 80's. So I wanted her signature also. She lives out of state and I felt like he was trying to "lease" her land without her knowing. Just didn't feel right. Didn't think a contract with his name would hold up if things went bad.