Getting fed up!!!!!

[phatadams]

I have been hunting for about 16 years. The last 7 I have been able to do what ive learned. I just trophie hunt because nobody else in the family like deer meat. I know the whole road that I hunt and how they move. Not trying to brag. About 5 years ago I started loosing ground, but I have continuosly kept loosing spots. Witch is very frustrating. But even more frustrating is that every time I kill a good one, see a good one, been watching small ones getting bigger. Just letting the woods be calm. The next year I have people that heard,seen What I got or driven around and seen deer out there. Now people shoot smaller deer bringing all sorts of people out there. I am down to one spott to hunt now. It is 80 acers but they dont hang out on the land, you have to catch them moving through witch they only use about 10-20 acres to to move through the woods. One other guy was suppost to have permission and he is allready bringing people in there. I am so frustrated of puuting work in to get a place nice and people want the glory and none of the time it takes to make spotts nice. I am really looking for advice because I am frustrated so bad I dont even want to run into the knew people out there. I want to be an adult aboput it, but dont know what I would do. Any advice I would love to know?

[Decatur]

There's not much you can do. Buy ground, or lease. There are people on this forum that will tell you "anyone can buy land". I don't know about your situation, but I know I CAN'T buy! Maybe you should approach your landowners about leasing? I think it's getting to be a necessary evil in this day and age.


P.S.- I learned a long time ago, that if you see or kill a big one, keep your mouth shut! Or at least lie about where you saw/shot it! It's also a necessary evil in this day and age! I love to tell people I don't know well or trust that I saw a big one...on state ground!

[Sleazy E]

Like Decatur said.... buy or lease.... I can't afford either right now... lucky for me my family owns some land.... Even leasing is getting to be way to expensive now... I have a little honey hole that my family owns (it is only 40 acres) that only one of my buddies knows about.... While it does not hold a large number of deer.... it is a major travel route for them... so during the rut it is a great place to be.... but before and after the rut.... you would be hard pressed to find decent antlers in there.

[cleetus]

I am very fortunate to hunt private property and I am the only one allowed to hunt. My suggestion would be try to find a land owner that typically does not let people hunt his land. Let him know you only trophy hunt so you only will be taking one deer off his land a year. Make it very clear that you will not bring anyone else with you to hunt and that you will help him out in anyway you can with his land (cleaning up any trash you might see is a big help most people don't think about). If he lives by his property and you have to go by the house let him know you will be very quiet coming in and out with your vehicle so not to disturbed his family. I would also let him know that you will call him periodically to let him know you will be hunting that weekend and appreciate him letting you hunt.

The land I hunt is family owned, but I know from experience that if you let the land owner know right off the get go the respect you have for his land and the sport, they tend to consider it more.

[vortex100]

Sorry about the issues, but it sounds like you might need to start looking for a new property. I have two properties I hunt one is owned by person and the other by a company. The property that the person lives I try to do anything to help him out. I always call before I come and make it a point to see how he is doing etc. The company owned property I know a couple guys hunt during shotgun season. I can't do anything about it, but luckily for me they aren't the best hunters. Good luck finding another property. You will get a lot of No's but eventually you will find one.

I agree that you shouldn't always share the location of your hunting ground if possible. Even tell you buddies not tell people about your area. I shot 142in 9 pointer last year and I told most people I shot the deer down by the White river. Good luck pinpointing that location. Don't stop hunting the property you have now because you never know what might be around, but start looking for a second property.

[hoosieroutdoorsman]

I know exactly how you feel, after elderly family members and elderly friends of the family that allowed me to hunt on their property passed on and their kids sold the land I had to hunt public ground, I kept asking and asking everyone I could to hunt their private land but no one wanted the liability. So I kept plugging away at the public land,,I usually talked with the CO`s at the property and found out what areas got the highest hunting pressure and what areas got the least, usually I would pick the one that had the least hunter interaction and do some major major scouting. I usually found that these areas were merely travel areas or escape routes, so there really wasn`t a how or why to hunt that area just be lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time. It gets to you and gets to you bad if you let it,,I know its a pain in the a$$ but concentrate on the hunt itself, you get to wound up and you will lose the reason you are there to begin with. Try to use the other hunters to YOUR advantage, you have been out here long enough you know what I mean

[phatadams]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Family and friends own the property but they are farmers and they really dont care about about hunting. I cant say anything to them because I dont want any hard feelings with friends and family. Hopefully the hunters wont be where ill be at.

[tickman1961]

Sounds like, if you haven't already, you need to take up all legal methods of hunting deer to explore your passion farther. The late seasons of muzzleloader and bow have less hunting pressure than the firearm season and the big boys want to put the feed bag on - they are more likely to be on their feet during daytime hours.