Its a privilidge, not a right.
Posted By
indiana
at
10/20/2009 12:00:00 AM
"So now what" those are the words that were running through my head Thursday October 15th, 2009 as I stood by my truck with my son Will preparing for an evening hunt. Imagine the scene. You have been given premission to hunt an awesome farm that your wife's extended family owns, you have spent several weeks putting up trial cameras, and learning the deer on the property. You have a stand placed over a key 2 acre field leading into standing corn and you also have ground blind spots picked out for that same area. This is the only day, better yet, evening you will be able to hunt that week. The conditions are perfect, overcast skies, cool temps, and the right wind. You are totally pumped and you just know something special is going to happen over that little 2 acre field. As you unload your truck a four wheeler pulls up, and a young man asks where are you going to be hunting? You let him know and then he informs you he has been given permission to hunt the property as well and he has put a stand 150 yards or so away from yours and plans hunting over the same field that evening as well. So now what? That is what happened to me the evening of October 15th, 2009. Needless to say I was deflated and frustrated. Here is the harsh reality though. He has as much right to hunt the property as I do. I do not own the property and the landowner has given us both permission to hunt the property. Yes ethics and good sportsmanship come into play, so I decided to take the high road. I told the young man to hunt his stand, but I did ask him to take a route into his location that would not disturb me and the alternate location I would now be forced to hunt. Over the next several weeks I will use his prescence on the property to my advantage and I will begin using the change in deer travel routes because of his presence to my advantage! Combine that with the fact that once opening day of firearms season comes in I know that 3-4 more hunters will be on the property hunting that same general area around the little field I have descretely located a place on the farm that I believe these deer will move to for safe haven as human traffic picks up on the farm. Moral of the story, whether it is public land or private land use the other hunters to your advantage. Use their stand locations as markers where the deer most likely will not be as hunting pressure increases. Find those little safe havens and learn how to set up on these deer and it just might yield that trophy buck of a lifetime!
Have a great season,
pastor paul
