Too close??

Blake K

Blake K

Active member
Had my first experience in quite some time with some unruly hunters. They were set up within 75 yards of my property line, approx 200 yds down from me, and set up shooting directly at my property(there is a levee no more than 4 or 5 feet above the water line, which I own, dividing the properties. I actually own approx 20 yards on the outside the levee as well). I was set up on my levee shooting towards the middle of my property--away from the other property . All the birds were working my spread and they were getting upset. At one point they shoot at geese across my levee as they knew they were banking back to my spread(easily 125+ yards when they started shooting). Later when we shot a couple of geese, one of the "hunters" stood up and shot 3 shots as fast as he could and was voicing his displeasure. Are they tresspassing when they shoot towards my property at such close range? Or is it harassment/tresspassing when they purposely shoot as geese which are clearly above my property? Thoughts? What should/could I do?
 
Are they tresspassing when they shoot towards my property at such close range? Or is it harassment/tresspassing when they purposely shoot as geese which are clearly above my property? Thoughts? What should/could I do?
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My advice would be (a) put your local CO's phone number on speed dial (b) invest in a video recorder to document as many details as possible during the event (c) report the situation ASAP and let the law sort it out.
 
Sounds more like hunter harassment than actually trying to shoot birds. Call the game warden and make him informed of the situation. If they are on private land someone, like the warden, could hopefully have a talk with the landowner. If it is public ground call the warden next time they mess with your hunting.
 
Welcome my world. This describes many of my public land hunts here in Ohio.

It's a shame it happened on your place though.
 
No person shall willfully and knowingly prevent, obstruct, impede, disturb, or interfere with, or attempt to prevent, obstruct, impede, disturb, or interfere with any person in legally hunting or fishing pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the law of the State of Alabama.
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Here in Alabama they would be breaking the law if they shot with the intention of preventing you from taking the geese. Might be hard to prove but I would call the game warden and discuss the situation.
 
I would alert the local CO. Call him before next season too and let him know he is welcome to patrol your property anytime he wants to.
 
Blake
Is your property posted?
wis boz
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one of my favorite responses to a trespasser was from a friend whose property I hunted

he caught someone (whom he knew) on his land and confronted them, the intruded said

"i didn't know this was your land"

Tom replied

"well you sure as heck knew it wasn't yours didn't you"
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My grandpa saw some guys cross a fence onto the property he was hunting. He went and spoke to them. The guys played dumb and said they didn't know where the property line was.

He laughed and told them, heck even the cows know to stop at the fence....
 
Yes my property is posted and the other hunters knew the property lines as I had talked to them before legal shooting hours just to let them know I was there and the property owner. The other hunters were not the landowner but said they had permission to hunt the property they were on.

I plan to have a discussion with our local CO about this situaiton to see what if anything can be done to prevent this in the future.

I may also talk to the neighboring landowner. This is the first time he ever let anyone hunt this piece of property and maybe will keep hunters from coming back if he knows how they reacted.
 
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Blake
Our former psychologist had hunters on his posted land several times. The last time, without saying a word, he circled around them, found their car and let the air out of all four tires. They never hunted his land again
wis boz
 
Blake

Have you considered asking him to lease his hunting rights to you?

Eric
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I think this is probably the better way to go. Landowners often don't want to deal with the drama that may get stirred up and shut down hunting all together. You might find that a safe haven that close by sucks in all the ducks that otherwise might come your way. You could always bring in some friends to help you hunt it and keep the birds moving. Then if they come back you've got a legal leg to stand on. Right now, not much, and with seasons closing, you've got a good while to organize a lease.
 
Hi Blake,

I see this entirely as ethics and greed and why I ran away from deer hunting. Here in the Northeast we have the same ethics driving deer hunting but we do have one thing going for us and that is very little pressure and you seldomly need to worry about to close. Sorry for your misfortune and hope it can be resolved. I guess I would try touching lightly with owner especially if a neighbor. You may find sympathy or they could be friends or family and out of luck outright.
 
Unless these hunters are friends of the other landowner, he will want to know what happened and if like most other landowners I know, he will not like having law breaking hunters on his property.

Go talk to the landowner. Keep it short, stick to the facts and keep the emotions in check.

For what it is worth.

Mark W
 
Agreed that harrassment is legal issue but that will be a tough one to prove. While we all recognize sky busting what law says if you shoot a bird that is more than XX yards it is a violation. Even if so how would it be measured since bird is flying? More importantly any law breaking is ethical since only someone of low character would stoop to such level and merely out of greed and selfishness. Now if he was starving or needed to feed family that is another issue in of itself but hopefully with all the social programs that shouldnt exist.

When ethics and law is discussed as is this case with a particular incident it liken it to what came first the chicken or the egg?

I sense I am stepping into it on this one???
 
While it may be a legal issue, your CO has to preserve his credibility with the local judges, so hunter harassment prosecution would be a stretch. The only successful cases I have heard of have been shoreline landowners harassing hunters on public waters. It would be impossible for your local CO to prove intent or that they weren't actually shooting at birds unless he was hunting with them.

You really disrespect what the COs do if you expect them to be your "attack dog" when another hunter is intentionally messing up your hunt. I've had sky busting/shooting swings out of range happen to me on public land out of pure ignorance before- and the guys were hunting with me! I wouldn't jump to conclusions until you have had a talk with the other party. He may be totally inexperienced and not have a clue.

This will be a tough one to crack. With any luck, the other guy(s) got frustrated at you working birds and them having no success and will move on.
 
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