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Acreage

Ski said:
Depending on whether or not I can be certain I can recover my deer, I'd hunt any size. One of my spots right now is 4.5acres. I often have to recover animals on neighboring properties that I don't have permission to hunt but do have permission to recover deer. I got it before hunting and reaffirm it every season. IMO respect for other properties is key. It's a pre-check criteria for me, not an afterthought. If any one of the neighboring properties within reasonable tracking distance was not on board then I'd not hunt that spot. Plenty places to hunt without the hassle of disrespecting or inconveniencing someone.

Something I've not heard mentioned but matters to me is the aftermath. I'd feel terrible if somebody gave me permission to hunt then had to fight with a neighbor because my deer died on their property. Even if I don't have the trouble, the permission giver might have to deal with the negativity long after I'm gone. That's not fair so I strive to avoid putting anybody in that position.
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Very well said.
 
There is a great deal of difference in keeping a hit deer on "your" property depending on the weapon. Anyone that is bowhunting a one acre parcel and thinks that they will anchor the majority of their deer on that acre either hasn't killed very many deer with a bow, or is living in la-la land.

Without permission to retrieve for a pretty good distance in all directions, it is piss poor ethics to shoot deer that you can't legally retrieve. And, the retrieval permission needs to be there before the shot is taken and not tried to be secured after the fact.
 
My place is 34 acres. But it buts up to national forest. The other sides I'm allowed to hunt and recover deer. But my boy has laid a bunch of deer down on it. The best being a 148 inch 10 point.
 

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Hillbilly Hunter said:
Not to highjack the seek one thread, what do you think is the minimal amount of acerage someone should hunt? I guess for recovery would be the biggest concern. Let's hear everyone's opinion.
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My favorite place to hunt is a 4,400 acre ranch in Oklahoma.

But almost 1/2 of the mature bucks I've killed have come off a 19 acre parcel. :oops:
 
What I struggle with on my mind on small property is do I get recovery permission before or after. I think of it that way because how many of us have done it or seen someone hunting even within 100yds of property line (private or public). One public land spot I had I used to sit used to sit right on fence line as soon as their hoofs hit the ground boom and all in that spot never jumped back across.
 
All of my biggest bucks have come from the same 5 acres I lived on... only one ever ran onto my neighbors place... he did not mind me coming and getting it... All dependent on where it is and who is around you... still wish at times I would not have moved from there
 
Communication and preplanning are essential, get permission before hand. Try to build a relationship with the neighbor, offer to help on fences etc.
Respect is the key, I have heard many a coon hunter say dogs don't know property lines, true but owners do. Don't put yourself in a position to fail.
 
Ski said:
Depending on whether or not I can be certain I can recover my deer, I'd hunt any size. One of my spots right now is 4.5acres. I often have to recover animals on neighboring properties that I don't have permission to hunt but do have permission to recover deer. I got it before hunting and reaffirm it every season. IMO respect for other properties is key. It's a pre-check criteria for me, not an afterthought. If any one of the neighboring properties within reasonable tracking distance was not on board then I'd not hunt that spot. Plenty places to hunt without the hassle of disrespecting or inconveniencing someone.

Something I've not heard mentioned but matters to me is the aftermath. I'd feel terrible if somebody gave me permission to hunt then had to fight with a neighbor because my deer died on their property. Even if I don't have the trouble, the permission giver might have to deal with the negativity long after I'm gone. That's not fair so I strive to avoid putting anybody in that position.
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Wish you hunted next to me .
 
I only own 1.5ac but have killed deer on it, also shot some and had them roll onto my property 🤣 I have permission to hunt the other properties lol bad thing is my hanging tree died and got blown down and a clown shot 1 leg of my tree stand before it did, 🤬
 
I've talked about my neighbor's hunters before, so hopefully I'm not boring you. They would hunt - for free - my neighbor's ~6 acre property next to me. It was a sweet deal I guess even though they had to drive 1 1/2 hours to get here from Moulton, AL. They *routinely* took deer out of here, but they also lost a lot as well; either by missing or by not hitting the deer good enough and it dying 1-2 days later.

The 2nd to last deer that I know of that they got, I helped them load onto to their truck. Even though we had a previous conversation about it, they still trespassed by driving their truck onto my field. I got down there just as they were parking. I helped them load a 14 point on their truck - and then had the conversation - again.

I found the last one they got a day after they shot it. I watched one of them look for it for an hour. He walked about 20 yards away from where it was laying before he trespassed and we had a big confrontation. I found the deer the next day and called the GW. He chewed them the fork out and told them to become better shots. [ETA: To be fair, he hit it with an arrow. According to my other neighbor, a big-time deer hunter, the deer was hit perfectly, nothing wrong with the shot. He just didn't bother looking 20 yards more right along the property line].

After they trespassed, baited and then threw their trash on the ground (that's when the war started), I had enough. I switched from a Live and Let Live Policy to an active Anti-Trespassing Policy. I simply made sure I had work to do on that end of the farm every time I saw their truck in my neighbor's driveway - in my very noisy diesel powered RTV. It didn't take more the 3-4 sad Walks of Shame up the 140 yard hill after only 15-20 minutes of hunting before they stopped coming around.

When they came to get their game cameras and stands the next summer, they gave me the finger from 425 yards away. I thought that was pretty funny.

They also left their dilapidated shooting house (which I helped set up for them) for me to clean up after them - again.


None of this has nothing to do with nothing - except the importance of what Ski was saying. If they had had any respect for other land owners, those hunters would still be bagging good deer to this day.
 
Sorry you had to experience that. Hopefully it never caused any friction between your neighbor & yourself. That is something I'm sure the hunters didn't even consider or care about, but they would have if they were smart. I think it's a matter of perspective. Too often hunters see private land permission as a resource to be tapped rather than relationship to be fostered and grown. They're so focused on the immediate selfish goal of killing a deer that they ignore the generous hospitality of someone allowing them inside the personal sanctuary of their property. How much better would their experience have been if they'd have been courteous & respectful, or even sent you a thank you Christmas card with a venison summer sausage or gift card to Cracker Barrel? Small but genuine expressions of gratitude often make a tremendous difference. At the bare minimum they'd have expressed their respect and you'd have reciprocated with mutual respect to them. But many, many times for me it turns into being invited to hunt new properties. You may not have invited those fellows to hunt your place but another neighbor in the area very well may have.
 
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I gave the landowner next to me my cell number and told him if he shot something and it crossed our line, I would want him to feel free to recover. I just want a text to know someone else is out there.
 

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