Deer hunters

[whitney]

I got creative too. I have my next door neighbor who is VERY horse careful, hunt my property. He is very territorial and if he sees someone else hunting my property he very politely (He's 6'4" and rides a harley, you kinda get the picture) tells them they are trespassing and they leave.....QUICKLY! It provides venison for my freezer and gives Lem a nice place to hunt. This year he got an 8 point with his bow and an 8 with his gun and a turkey earlier this year. Before Lem I would braid bells into the horses manes on opening morning the new sound would keep the deer and hunters away.

 

[minie812]

I HATE HUNTING SEASON! I nearly got shot on opening day of pheasant season while in our yard exercising my minis on the golf cart! I did get the license plate number but nothing ever came of it! Tried to flag the guys down to talk to them, but they just waved and drove off. I guess I had to be shot for them to be cited

Can you believe some people- stopping right in front of my yard and shooting into the trees ???

Yikes!

Peggy

PS-- The best way to get a deer right now is drive a car down our road--three have been killed right by our pasture on the road just in the past few days. You don't need a gun!

PEGGY- That is bad. The deer population here is out of control. There were six deer hit in one morning close to Wichita. Last year a guy was killed in a mini van. His family survived. It came right thru the windshield, missed his wife & kids but got him

 

[georgiegirl]

I am sure there are responsible hunters out there, the problem is how can you tell one from the other ?

As far as I am concerned, anyone who crosses my property during hunting season, with the idea of killing an animal, is not a responsible hunter.

I just mentioned a couple of stories in my last post, but there are many more stories to go with those.

 

[Shari]

Yes, I have an on going problem with Poachers,,, they have even cut my fence in the past in a number of areas. Taken my No tresspassing signs.

They have pretty much have killed all the Deer in the area. We used to have a family of Does.. I know unusal.. but the poachers killed the last Doe and left her spotted Doe motherless. Who was killed by the local predators. DH did not let them get that last Doe.

Have been working with Fish & Game but the problem is rampant in this area.

I do let my horses out in the main pasture,, just because I always have poachers out and leaving them up near the horse during the day is no different than them being out. But I do put on bright sheets and sleigh bells on them.

Best way to keep them off.. walk or ride your proptery,,every day if you can.. all different hours. Wear hunter orange and fairly loud bells. Replace any stolen No Tresspassing signs. Something we will be doing... getting an InfraRed no flash Weather proof hunters camera to use on them. Cabela's has a good one for sale around $300.00. If we can get photos of them, the Troopers can come pick them up and fine them.

I have a friend that has done this.... if you come up to the hunters tell them you already gave permission to ..say.. your cousins to shoot on your property. Most hunters/poachers will respect that ..and no bother your area any more.

Or you can start target shooting on your property.. most smart hunters/poachers will steer well away..if they know you shoot and shoot at various times.

There are a number of things you can do.. you just have to figure out what works best in your area.

 

[minie812]

I agree you have to be pro-active with your property during hunting season. We post and I also check our property several times a day (I do this year round anyway because the neighbor cattle could tear down the fencing)and that does include walking it with my dogs and binoculars. We have never had anyone trespass but it is not to say it could not happen. I carry a cell phone with me to speed dial if anything was to happen and YES there are bad hunters out there & I have no problem turning anyone in that is breaking the law. I have had hunters come and ask if they were to shoot a deer and if it came on our property could they come and retrieve it. No problem but come to the house first & let me know about it. I think alot of states are understaffed with game wardens and poachers and bad hunters know this.

 

[pepperhill]

We had a terrible time last year. Our neighbors across the section gave permission to their relatives (one of which was a cop) to hunt their land. The problem is, they apparently did not care where the boundaries were to our land, or where our house was located. I was our hunting deer with my daughter when the shots started. We were trying to run back up to the house the nearest cover) and the shots were zinging right past us into the dirt in front of us! It was terrible. I got my daughter to safety and headed back out to confront. He had come right onto our land and shot a little spiked buck. But then the two bigger bucks stepped out, so he shot both of them too. By the time I got back out there he had left the little buck laying half in our pond, right where he fell, as he was too small. He had dragged the other two big ones just under the fence. He knew he was doing wrong or he wouldn't have bothered to drag the two big, heavy bucks the 100 yards necessary to get off our land before field dressing them. The blood trail and drag marks told the story. I was furious. When I got there he was on the phone with someone and a little bit later a pickup and another guy showed up and loaded the deer into it. They wouldn't tell me who they were so I took down their plate number. The neighbors denied knowing them so I called the game warden. The next day they were back out again and the warden busted them for not wearing orange, trespassing and poaching. I believe they had over $1000 in fines and lost a gun out of the deal. I guess they had far more deer hanging in their barn then they had permits for. I didn't find out until after all the arrests had been made that it was, in fact, our neighbors and their relatives. Needless to say, they aren't speaking to us anymore, but frankly, they shouldn't have lied to us about knowing the poachers. I still wouldn't have been happy, and we would have had a strongly worded conversation about their hunting practices, but I probably wouldn't have called the game warden. Now we have signs everywhere around the perimeter and I always stay home during hunting season. It is a miracle we weren't shot! The thing that really gets me is that we only own 40 acres. Our neighbors own 160 acres, including a long stretch of river line. Why on earth did they have to come onto our little corner of the world when they had plenty of other areas they could be?

 

[txminipinto]

Our 10 acres is a favorite for the local deer population to bed down in and the locals have known it for years. When we first bought the place, a neighbor informed us that the year previous an 8 point had been taken. Currently we have about 5 different does that come through with their yearlings. They have become so used to our presence that I can bang away in the barn and clank the gates as much as I want, and they will continue to graze just 50 yards away occassionally looking up. It's very peaceful. Fortunately, our neighbors have been respectful.

This past weekend, I went out and walked the property checking on pasture and noticed a huge area of grass that had been laid down. I asked hubby if he had laid down the grass in that area for any reason and he hadn't. We must have a large number of deer using this particular area to bed down since it's next to the pond. I'd love to set up a game camera to see who's coming through!

As far as dealing with hunting season and horses, I've moved the mares up to the pasture closest to the house and put out a round bale for them. The more secluded areas needed a rotational break from grazing anyway. Come the close of deer season here, we'll turn them back out to graze down some thicker areas towards the front of the property.