Post by bsutravis on Oct 17, 2009 5:45:39 GMT -5
I've hunted a small woodlot in Hendricks County for 7 seasons now. The lot, although small (8 acres) has nice deer movement through it and I can almost always see deer when I am out there. It's a good property, or else I wouldn't drive the 75 minutes there from my house! This season when I talked to the landowner about permission to hunt again he said yes, but told me that he was considering letting one of his kids coaches hunt also...since the coach had asked about hunting his property. The landowner and I have a great relationship and I feel he trusts me as I've never broken any of his rules regarding the property. I wasn't happy to know I'd be sharing the woods, but that's not my decision to make....... so I told him that I would only hunt Wed-Thur-Fri since those are my days off, and I assume that he told the coach he could hunt the other days.
Fast forward to Thursday.... it was my first time in the woods since opening day, but some of you might recall I forgot my release so I didn't hunt that day...but did take a quick look around at the wood lot. On that day everything looked good.... So on Thursday I had an odd hunt where I didn't see any deer at all. The ENE wind made me hunt from a corner of the woods I rarely am in, so I chalked it up that the wind messed me up....as I usually see SOMETHING when hunting this property. So I get down and am walking out...and I glance towards the middle of the woods and see something white on the ground. I thought it might be a puff ball, but it was BIG.....so I walked toward it, only to discover it was a large salt block. This wasn't a 40lb block but a BIG block....at least 80lbs. The deer had wore several curves into the block in the short time it had been there. To say I was furious is putting it mildly! I scanned the area and discovered a ladder stand about 50 yards off the trail leading to the block. At that point I got out of the woods....not wanting to be caught anywhere near that block with a bow in my hand.
So now I am stuck..... I'm furious that someone who is hunting this woodlot is stupid enough to bait for deer KNOWING that another hunter hunts also in the same woods. Plus, I now risk the landowner getting so ticked that he shuts his woods down to the guy and myself. I decide that this guy getting what he has coming to him is worth me losing this spot....so a few calls puts me in touch with the C.O.. I explain everything to him and voice my concern about not wanting to lose the spot. He advised me to not say anything to the landowner, and that he would watch the area this weekend and hopefully he could catch the guy in the stand. He said that he will act like he came upon the salt on a normal foot patrol versus being told about it. I told him I wanted the landowner notified and he said that he indeed would tell the owner. He advised me that I couldn't hunt the woods for 10 days after the salt was removed, which I already knew. He told me he'd get with me early in the week to tell me if he caught the guy. If he doesn't catch the guy this weekend he advised that I should go ahead and talk to the landowner and explain how this coach's actions prevent me from legally hunting the land....and how the guy is breaking the law. I'd love to let the C.O. watch the spot for longer, but he said his work load is huge right now, and it's a cat-and-mouse game to try and nail the violator while he is in the stand. If I have any hope of returning to the woodlot before the rut is over I need for that salt to be removed ASAP.
My hope is that this guy gets caught....and the landowner realizes that I had nothing to do with this idiots method of "hunting" and I get the property back without having anyone else on it. Some things in my favor are that I think the guy drove through the cut bean field to bring the block and his stand into the woods...otherwise it would be a 1/3 mile walk with that huge block of salt. The landowner knows I ALWAYS have my climber treestand, and that I don't have a ladder stand in the woods. I'm certain he will know that it was the new guy that is 100% at fault. By making the decision to bring the C.O. into the picture I know that I'm risking the spot, but I feel that it's the right thing to do.......so I hope this doesn't backfire on me. I think I've earned the landowners trust and hopefully things will return to normal.
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Update 10-19
I got a call from the CO this afternoon. After 3 days of watching and lurking in the shadows he was unable to catch someone in the stand. He located the block easily and even noticed some cigarette butts on the ground under the ladder stand. Keeping my abiltiy to hunt the property during the prime part of the season here in a few weeks, he suggested that I go ahead and contact the landowner and notify him of my discovery.
I called the owner immediately and appologized for having to notify him of the illegal activity, but I had no choice if I wanted to utilize his property. Much to my surprise, he never granted the other guy permission to hunt.....and he assumed that his daughters boyfriend had placed it there. He was very sympathetic to the situation I was placed in unknowingly and appologized. He told me to consider it removed and that he was going out immediately after he hung up and was taking the block out of the woods. He was aware that the boyfriend had placed a ladder stand, but wasn't aware of the salt....nor the illegal situation that hunting over salt created. I'm unaware if there will be any reprocussions on the boyfriend in terms of him no longer being allowed to hunt..... I must assume that he will still be in there on days I am not. I warned the owner that the woods could not be hunted for 10 days, so if the young man shows up and gets caught in the stand he'll still be in trouble with the law.
I called the CO back to let him know the details of my conversation. He told me he would keep an eye on the area and probably check early in the week to make sure the block was gone....and if it was not gone he would call me back....otherwise I'm good to go anytime after the 28th.
Fast forward to Thursday.... it was my first time in the woods since opening day, but some of you might recall I forgot my release so I didn't hunt that day...but did take a quick look around at the wood lot. On that day everything looked good.... So on Thursday I had an odd hunt where I didn't see any deer at all. The ENE wind made me hunt from a corner of the woods I rarely am in, so I chalked it up that the wind messed me up....as I usually see SOMETHING when hunting this property. So I get down and am walking out...and I glance towards the middle of the woods and see something white on the ground. I thought it might be a puff ball, but it was BIG.....so I walked toward it, only to discover it was a large salt block. This wasn't a 40lb block but a BIG block....at least 80lbs. The deer had wore several curves into the block in the short time it had been there. To say I was furious is putting it mildly! I scanned the area and discovered a ladder stand about 50 yards off the trail leading to the block. At that point I got out of the woods....not wanting to be caught anywhere near that block with a bow in my hand.
So now I am stuck..... I'm furious that someone who is hunting this woodlot is stupid enough to bait for deer KNOWING that another hunter hunts also in the same woods. Plus, I now risk the landowner getting so ticked that he shuts his woods down to the guy and myself. I decide that this guy getting what he has coming to him is worth me losing this spot....so a few calls puts me in touch with the C.O.. I explain everything to him and voice my concern about not wanting to lose the spot. He advised me to not say anything to the landowner, and that he would watch the area this weekend and hopefully he could catch the guy in the stand. He said that he will act like he came upon the salt on a normal foot patrol versus being told about it. I told him I wanted the landowner notified and he said that he indeed would tell the owner. He advised me that I couldn't hunt the woods for 10 days after the salt was removed, which I already knew. He told me he'd get with me early in the week to tell me if he caught the guy. If he doesn't catch the guy this weekend he advised that I should go ahead and talk to the landowner and explain how this coach's actions prevent me from legally hunting the land....and how the guy is breaking the law. I'd love to let the C.O. watch the spot for longer, but he said his work load is huge right now, and it's a cat-and-mouse game to try and nail the violator while he is in the stand. If I have any hope of returning to the woodlot before the rut is over I need for that salt to be removed ASAP.
My hope is that this guy gets caught....and the landowner realizes that I had nothing to do with this idiots method of "hunting" and I get the property back without having anyone else on it. Some things in my favor are that I think the guy drove through the cut bean field to bring the block and his stand into the woods...otherwise it would be a 1/3 mile walk with that huge block of salt. The landowner knows I ALWAYS have my climber treestand, and that I don't have a ladder stand in the woods. I'm certain he will know that it was the new guy that is 100% at fault. By making the decision to bring the C.O. into the picture I know that I'm risking the spot, but I feel that it's the right thing to do.......so I hope this doesn't backfire on me. I think I've earned the landowners trust and hopefully things will return to normal.
-------
Update 10-19
I got a call from the CO this afternoon. After 3 days of watching and lurking in the shadows he was unable to catch someone in the stand. He located the block easily and even noticed some cigarette butts on the ground under the ladder stand. Keeping my abiltiy to hunt the property during the prime part of the season here in a few weeks, he suggested that I go ahead and contact the landowner and notify him of my discovery.
I called the owner immediately and appologized for having to notify him of the illegal activity, but I had no choice if I wanted to utilize his property. Much to my surprise, he never granted the other guy permission to hunt.....and he assumed that his daughters boyfriend had placed it there. He was very sympathetic to the situation I was placed in unknowingly and appologized. He told me to consider it removed and that he was going out immediately after he hung up and was taking the block out of the woods. He was aware that the boyfriend had placed a ladder stand, but wasn't aware of the salt....nor the illegal situation that hunting over salt created. I'm unaware if there will be any reprocussions on the boyfriend in terms of him no longer being allowed to hunt..... I must assume that he will still be in there on days I am not. I warned the owner that the woods could not be hunted for 10 days, so if the young man shows up and gets caught in the stand he'll still be in trouble with the law.
I called the CO back to let him know the details of my conversation. He told me he would keep an eye on the area and probably check early in the week to make sure the block was gone....and if it was not gone he would call me back....otherwise I'm good to go anytime after the 28th.
